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18 May 2006 : Column 1159W—continued
Shostakovich Centenary
Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what support her Department is giving to Shostakovich Centenary events. [72175]
Mr. Lammy: The Government support the arts through Arts Council England. A number of organisations in receipt of regular funding from the Arts Council are holding concerts and other events to mark the centenary of Shostakovich's birth.
The Public (West Bromwich)
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the Arts Council was informed of the legal advice given to the West Bromwich arts organisation The Public. [71729]
Mr. Lammy: Arts Council England was informed by the Board of The Public on 3 March 2006, that, acting on legal advice, they were to register their insolvency.
Tourism
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will place in the Library her Department’s consultation document on the Tourism 2012 Charter strategy; and if she will make a statement. [71621]
Mr. Woodward: My Department is finalising the Tourism 2012 Strategy consultation document. It will be issued shortly, at which time I shall arrange for copies to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate her Department has made of the value of inbound tourism from China in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [71623]
Mr. Woodward: Spend by inbound travellers from China increased by 240 per cent. between 1997 and 2005. Annual figures from the International Passenger Survey (for mainland China only—excluding Taiwan and Hong Kong) are given in the following table:
| Spend (£ million) | |
| Note: 2005 data are provisional |
The UN World Tourism Organisation has predicted that the number of outbound visits from China will grow by 12.3 per cent. a year from 1995 to reach 100 million in 2020, and that China will become the fourth largest source of international travellers, behind Germany, Japan and the United States.
This is why the Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese Government in January 2005, which conferred Approved Destination Status (ADS) on the UK. ADS came into operation in July 2005, meaning that for the first time the UK could be marketed as a holiday destination in China. Prior to ADS it was possible for Chinese nationals to travel to the UK for business or study purposes only.
VisitBritain has launched a major marketing initiative—Britain Welcomes China—to take advantage of ADS. China is now the best resourced of VisitBritain’s emerging markets. VisitBritain has estimated that the Chinese market could be worth £200 million a year by 2010 and £500 million a year by 2020.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total value of the tourism industry to the economy was in each year since 1980; and if she will make a statement. [71628]
Mr. Woodward: Estimates of the value of the tourism industry to the economy for the years 1996 to 2003 are given as follows. 2003 is the latest year for which data have been estimated, and figures prior to 1996 are not available on a comparable basis.
| £ billion | Percentage | |
| (1) Of Gross Domestic Product (2) Of Gross Value Added |
These figures include expenditure in respect of inbound tourists while in the UK, domestic trips with an overnight stay, domestic leisure day visits, fares paid to UK carriers, and imputed rents for second home ownership.
From 2000, the industry's contribution to the wider economy is measured in terms of Gross Value Added, rather than Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This isin line with wider statistical norms across the Government. Also in that year, the estimates used are based on Tourism Satellite Accounting, which gives a more accurate statement of the size of the sector.
Health
Abortions
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will update the table of statistics printed in the special report and report of the Select Committee on the Infant Life (Preservation) Bill, H.L. Paper 153 of 1986-87 and H.L. Paper 50 of 1987-88, on (a) the number of notifications of abortions carried out under the Abortion Act 1967, gestation by completed weeks by statutory grounds and category of premises, residents and non-residents, England and Wales, in the special report on pages 22 to 26 and the report on pages 72 to 73, and (b) the number of notifications of abortions carried out under the Abortion Act 1967, gestation by completed weeks by statutory grounds and mother's age, England and Wales as in the special report on pages 28 to 37 and in the report on pages 74 to 77, to cover each year since 1990. [70371]
Caroline Flint: This information can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The most relevant information available is published within the annual abortion statistics for England and Wales which are available in the Library. The data can also be found on the Department’s website:
www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Statistics/StatisticalWorkAreas/StatisticalPublicHealth/fs/en
www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp%3Fvlnk%3D68 %26Pos %3D2%26ColRank%3D2%26Rank%3D640
Accident and Emergency Departments
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate she has made of the percentage of people who attended Accident and Emergency units who needed emergency treatment in the last five years; [43017]
(2) what estimate she has made of the percentage of people who attended Accident and Emergency units who needed to be seen within four hours in the last five years. [43018]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Data on the level of clinical need of patients presenting at accident and emergency are not collected centrally. Four hours is an access standard. Clinicians use well established triage systems to prioritise patients’ clinical needs.
Acute Services
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions she has had on the delivery of acute services in Surrey. [69975]
Caroline Flint: There have been no recent discussions on the delivery of acute services in Surrey.
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent (a) representations she has received and (b) discussions she has had on the delivery of acute services in south-east London. [70807]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: No representations have been received and no discussions have been held on the delivery of acute services in south-east London.
Advertising
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she plans to publish an impact assessment on the health effects of Ofcom's proposed restrictions on the volume and scheduling of the broadcast advertising code. [67951]
Caroline Flint: A health impact analysis was included in the regulatory impact assessment published by Ofcom alongside the consultation looking at options for new restrictions for television advertising of food and drink products to children on 28 March 2006. As the regulator, it is Ofcom's responsibility to produce an impact assessment.
Audiology Services
Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) existing levels of funding for hearing aid services are maintained and (b) waiting times and waiting numbers are reduced following the exclusion of direct audiology referrals from the 18-week waiting time target. [71477]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department expects to announce final allocations of funding for the national health service, including audiology services, in the near future.
From April 2005, the 164 NHS audiology departments have been able routinely to assess for and fit digital hearing aids. It is for primary care trusts to ensure their local population benefits from the modernised services.
For audiology and adult hearing services, a separate action plan is being developed on improving access to services. This reflects the direction set out in the White Paper “Our health, our care, our say” (January 2006) to move services closer to the patient.
Bone Marrow Register
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many blood donors have been added to the British bone marrow register in each of the last three years; [71847]
(2) what the annual expenditure of her Department has been on the British bone marrow register in each of the last three years; [71848]
(3) what action she is taking to raise awareness of bone marrow donation among ethnic groups. [71849]
Caroline Flint: NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for managing blood supplies in England and north Wales and for managing the British Bone Marrow Register (BBMR). It does this through its operating division—the National Blood Service (NBS). The NBS recruits blood donors from the general public and potential bone marrow donors from the active blood donor populations.
Over the last three years, the NBS has added over 120,000 people to the BBMR:
| People added to the BBMR | |
The Department has provided NBS with £3.3 million for each of the past three years to fund the addition of 120,000 potential donors to the BBMR. The NBS's strategy over the coming year is to maintain the BBMR at its current size and focus their recruitment activity towards under-represented ethnic groups.
In 2004, the NBS commissioned the Central Office of Information (COI) to lead on a long-term strategy to attract more people from ethnic communities to give blood and join the BBMR. A campaign called ‘OneBlood’ is addressing existing barriers by
raising awareness of the importance and relevance of blood donation; encouraging individual and community ownership of the issue; tackling religious objections and myths; encouraging blood donation.
The NBS has also developed an advertising campaign ‘Are you my Type’ which features black and minority ethnic celebrities.
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what value for money assessment has been made of her Department's funding of the British bone marrow register; [71850]
(2) what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of different methods of encouraging bone marrow donation. [71851]
Caroline Flint: The Department has not undertaken a formal assessment of the effectiveness of the British Bone Marrow Register (BBMR). However, the National Blood Service (NBS) has successfully recruited over 120,000 potential bone marrow donors to the registry in the last three years.
The number of procedures undertaken through the BBMR in the last three years are 137 bone marrow transplants and 175 peripheral blood transplants for both United Kingdom and international patients.
We are committed to continued improvements to the BBMR so that patients requiring bone marrow are increasingly likely to find a match. The NBS's strategy over the coming year is to maintain the BBMR at its current size and focus their recruitment activity towards under represented ethnic groups.
Breast Screening
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deliveries at the Eastbourne District General hospital maternity unit have involved significant complications in each of the last 10 years. [68398]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Breastfeeding
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much (a) was spent on supporting breastfeeding during the 2005-06 financial year and (b) has been allocated to support breastfeeding in the 2006-07 financial year; what measures she has taken to promote breastfeeding; and if she will make a statement. [70259]
Caroline Flint: In 2005-06, the Department spent £743,000 on promoting and supporting breastfeeding and infant nutrition.
In addition, a further £309,000 has been spent on materials for the new Healthy Start initiative, which supports breastfeeding. Funding for 2006-07 is due to be confirmed shortly.
Primary care trusts are responsible at a local level for breastfeeding services and support.
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