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17 May 2006 : Column 1121W—continued
Waiting Lists/Times
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the oral answer from the then Under-Secretary of State of 25 April 2006, Official Report, column 549, from what sources the figures for waiting times for in-patient treatment were taken. [71138]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 15 May 2006]: The figures quoted for waiting times for in-patient treatment in the North Central London Strategic Health Authority area during the Adjournment debate held on 25 April on the future of the Nuffield speech and language unit were obtained from the monthly monitoring return submitted to the Department by the local national health service. I have written to the hon. Member on this subject.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting list time in (a) the Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust and (b) England was in each year since 2003. [71389]
Andy Burnham: The median waiting times in Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust and England are shown in the tables:
| Estimated average waiting times, all specialties, 2003 to 2006—Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust—Commissioner based | |
| In-patients | Average waiting time for elective admission |
| Quarter ended March: | Median wait (weeks) |
| Estimated average waiting times, all specialties, 2003 to 2006, England—Commissioner based | |
| In-patients | Average waiting time for elective admission |
| Quarter ended March: | Median wait(weeks) |
| Source: Department of Health forms QF01 |
Working with Children
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria she uses when deciding who should be placed on her Department’s list of individuals who are considered unsuitable to work with children. [44478]
Mr. Dhanda: I have been asked to reply.
The Secretary of State for Education and Skills has the power under section 142 of the Education Act 2002 to bar an individual from working with children in schools, further education colleges and local authority education services. Education organisations are under an obligation not to allow an individual to work in contravention of the bar. Thelist of those individuals subject to a bar is known as “List 99”.
There are three circumstances in which the Secretary of State must issue a direction barring someone automatically:
(i) Firstly, if on or after 1 November 1995, a person
has pleaded guilty to or been found guilty of a specified offence (or an attempt to commit such an offence) against or involving a child under the age of 16 before or by a court in the United Kingdom;
was carrying out work to which section 142 of the 2002 Act applies before or at the time he committed or was convicted of the offence; and
was aged 18 or over at the time the offence was committed;
(ii) Secondly, if the person is permanently included in the Protection of Children Act List;
(iii) Thirdly, if on or after 1 June 2003,
(a) a person is made subject to a disqualification order (i.e. disqualified by the courts); and
(b) was carrying out work to which section 142 of the 2002 Act applies before or at the time they committed or were convicted of the offence to which the disqualification order relates.
A précis of this information was included in the report of 19 January.
The Department also administers the PoCA list. Following a valid referral the Department can only place an individual on the PoCA list (otherwise than provisionally) if the following criteria apply:
(a) The Secretary of State is satisfied that the referring organisation reasonably considered the individual to have been guilty of misconduct which harmed a child or placed a child at risk of harm (whether or not in the course of his employment); and
(b) The Secretary of State considers the individual to be unsuitable to work with children.
In the 19 January and 1 March statements the Secretary of State referred to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill which was introduced before Parliament on 28 February. The key measures of the cross-Government Bill include
introducing a new vetting and barring system bringing relevant information together in one place for the first time. This will integrate the current List 99 (for teachers), and the Protection of Children Act lists (for those working in child care settings) and also provide for a new list of people barred from working with vulnerable adults to replace the Protection of Vulnerable Adults list.
making it possible for domestic employers such as parents to check whether private tutors, nannies, music teachers and care workers are barred.
for the first time, enabling employers to make a ‘real-time’ instant check of whether a prospective employee is barred with secure online access rather than the current paper-based process.
updating barring decisions as soon as any new information becomes available, and where possible, notifying relevant employers if an employee becomes barred.
removing responsibility for barring decisions from Ministers entirely and transferring this to a new independent statutory board which will take decisions on whether to include someone on the barred list.
In the meantime and also referred to in the statements, the Secretary of State has established a panel of independent experts, chaired by Sir Roger Singleton, to advise the Secretary of State in relation to the exercise of his decision-making powers.
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