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Departmental Estate

Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many properties for which her Department is paying rent are empty in (a) the constituency of Ruislip-Northwood, (b) the London borough of Hillingdon, (c) London and (d) England. [52288]

Mr. Byrne: There are no empty properties in either the constituency of Ruislip-Northwood or the London borough of Hillingdon upon which the Department is paying rent. There are two properties in London and a further nine properties in England that are empty and upon which the Department is paying rent. Active attempts are being made to dispose of these interests.

Departmental Information Leaflets

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many information leaflets produced by her Department are published on the internet. [51912]

Mr. Byrne: All departmental publications and leaflets are published on the internet, either on the Department's website, www.dh.gov.uk, or other Department-owned sites, for example, www.immunisation.org.uk or partner websites.

In 2005, 633 publications were published on the Department's website, including information leaflets, command papers, guidance documentation and national health service staff bulletins.

There is currently no mechanism for identifying which of these are specifically information leaflets and attempting to do so would incur disproportionate cost.

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what methods are used by her Department to promote information it makes available on the internet; and how much this cost in each of the last three years. [51914]

Mr. Byrne: The internet is one of a number of media we use to promote information to the general public, national health service and social care staff, the media and key stakeholders. The Department does not promote information vehicles themselves; instead, they are used as channels to reach key audiences. The Department routinely features website addresses in advertising and leaflets, but cannot attribute any specific costs to this.

Departmental Performance Support Team

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2006, Official Report, column 1308W, on the Departmental Performance Support Team, what expenditure on the performance support team has been in each year since it was established. [52956]

Jane Kennedy: The performance support team (PST) was established on 1 April 2005, it is a national health service team hosted by Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Strategic Health Authority and as such, the Department does not directly incur the costs of the team. I am informed that the expenditure of the team is estimated to be £2.1 million for the year 2005–06.
 
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Departmental Staff

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in her Department are paid on a performance-related basis. [50517]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 16 February 2006]: All staff employed by the Department are paid on a performance-related basis.

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether (a) her Department and (b) her Department's associated public bodies have (i) delayed and (ii) withheld payment of (A) pay as you earn and (B) national insurance contributions owed in relation to their employees since 1997. [51754]

Mr. Byrne: The Department and its agencies have a semi-managed payroll contract with LogicaCMG as part of a consortium arrangement, with a large number of Government Departments being members. Each month, as part of the contractual arrangement all payments for tax and national insurance are paid over to the relevant third parties by the required deadline. There are no exceptions where we withhold tax and/or national insurance payments collected from employees.

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any (a) employee of her Department, (b) person engaged by her Department as a consultant and (c) paid adviser to her Department is a member of the House of Lords; and if she will make a statement. [52899]

Mr. Byrne: Following a search of the human resources database, it would appear that no employee, consultant or paid adviser to the Department is a Member of the House of Lords. My noble Friend, Lord Warner is Minister of State.

Early Retirement

David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of her Department's employees have taken early retirement due to ill health in each of the past five years for which figures are available. [46868]

Mr. Byrne: The number of departmental employees who have taken early retirement due to ill health is shown in the table.

	Number of employees who took early retirement
2001	Less than or equal to 5
2002	6
2003	5
2004	8
2005	Less than or equal to 5

Efficiency

Mr. Newmark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when her Department will publish (a) productivity estimates for the NHS as referred to in Section 3.4.2 of the departmental Efficiency Technical Note dated December 2005 and (b) a detailed methodology for assessing productivity; [54604]
 
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(2) what progress has been made in developing the cost efficiency measures referred to in Section 3.4.2 of the departmental Efficiency Technical Note dated December 2005. [54605]

Jane Kennedy: An estimate for national health service cost efficiency was published in the Department's 2005 annual report which showed that in 2003–04 value for money through cost efficiency increased by 2.1 per cent.

On 7 December 2005, the Department published Healthcare Output and Productivity: Accounting for Quality Change", which outlines a detailed methodology for assessing NHS productivity.

Mr. Newmark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what existing processes and measures are used to assess service levels as referred to in Section 3.5 of the departmental Efficiency Technical Note dated December 2005; and if she will make a statement. [54606]

Jane Kennedy: Subsequent chapters in the Efficiency Technical Note provide further detail on processes and measures used to assess service levels and quality for projects within each workstream.

The Department is continuing to develop these processes in conjunction with the Office of Government Commerce and HM Treasury and will continue to update the technical note as appropriate.

Health Service Management

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much will be paid into the pension funds of chief executives who are taking redundancy in (a) health authorities, (b) acute trusts and (c) primary care trusts in the north west region. [57397]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 10 March 2006]: The information requested is not held centrally.

Health White Paper

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence of (a) cost and (b) clinical effectiveness was used to support the proposals for an NHS Life Check, as described in the White Paper, Our Health, Our Care, Our Say, Cm 6737; at what ages she plans for a NHS Life Check to be offered; in which pilot areas the NHS Life Check will initially be introduced; and what resources she plans to commit from central budgets to support the implementation of the NHS Life Check. [49531]

Caroline Flint: The proposals for NHS Life Check are based on evidence for the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions set out in the delivery plan for the White Paper Choosing Health: Delivering Choosing Health, making healthier choices easier", references pages 127–30 (March 2005) and Choosing Activity, a physical activity action plan", references page 47–48 (March 2005).

The Department is developing detailed plans for development and implementation of the NHS Life Check in the first year of life (self-assessment by parents included as an integral part of considering the health of their children) at age 12 to 13 years and around the age of 50 years for use in areas with the worst health and
 
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deprivation as defined by the spearhead group of local authorities and primary care trusts (Tackling Health Inequalities: the spearhead group of Local Authorities and Primary Care Trusts") (November 2004) with a view to wider roll-out thereafter. Funding for development of the NHS Life Check will be allocated in due course as part of the normal process for deciding on central programme funding.

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