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8 Jun 2006 : Column 851W—continued
Obesity (North Somerset)
John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the percentage of schoolchildren in North Somerset who are obese. [73983]
Caroline Flint: Following the Department's guidance on weighing and measuring all primary school children issued in January 2006, primary care trusts will be required to return data on obesity prevalence among reception year and year six pupils to the Department's performance management system by end of September 2006.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will answer questions (a) 51633, (b) 51635, (c) 52749, (d) 52765, (e) 52767, (f) 53030, (g) 53840, (h) 55583, (i) 55601, (j) 55743 and (k) 56246 tabled by the hon. Member for Forest of Dean. [58658]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 14 March 2006]: Replies to all the questions listed have been given.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will reply to questions (a) 65773 on the choose and book system, (b) 65781 on waiting times and (c) 70972 on the care record spine tabled by the hon. Member for St. Ives (Andrew George) [72739]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 22 May 2006]: Answers were given on 24 and 25 May.
Sexual Health
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what evidential basis her Department used for the estimate of the number of young people who are sexually active before they reach 16 years in Best Practice Guidance for Doctors and Other Health Professionals on the Provision of Advice and Treatment to Young People Under 16 on Contraception, Sexual and Reproductive Health; whom she consulted while drafting this guidance; if she will list the (a) individuals and (b) organisations who submitted advice; and if she will make a statement; [75530]
(2) if she will list the (a) individuals and (b) organisations she consulted while preparing Best Practice Guidance for Doctors and Other Health Professionals on the Provision of Advice and Treatment to Young People Under 16 on Contraception, Sexual and Reproductive Health; if she will place in the Library copies of any responses; and if she will make a statement. [75622]
Caroline Flint: Evidence for estimating the number of young people who are sexually active before they reach 16 years old is contained in the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal 2000); “Sexual behaviour in Britain: early heterosexual experience”. Lancet. 2001Dec 1;358(9296): 1843-50. Further evidence is contained in the “Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) Report on Teenage Pregnancy” which is available in the Library.
The Department worked with the relevant professional bodies including the British Medical Association, Royal College of Nursing, and Faculty of Family Planning in producing the final draft.
The revised best practice guidance, which replaced and cancelled HC (86)1/HC (FP) (86)1/LAC (86)3 was issued on 30 July 2004. This guidance was recently subject to a judicial review and was upheld to be lawful.
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action the Government have taken to improve sexual health by providing strongly focused prevention messages as identified in the Government’s response to the Health Select Committee Report on New Developments in Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Policy (Cm 6649). [50565]
Caroline Flint: To inform the new safer sex campaign the Department has undertaken market research on what messages are most effective in promoting safer sex to sexually active young adults in addition to consultations with sexual health professionals, potential commercial partners and voluntary sector organisations who will have a role to play in the campaign’s successful delivery. Other action to improve sexual health includes investment to improve and modernise sexual health services and the prioritisation of sexual health and access to genito-urinary services as one of the six key actions for national health service for 2006-07.
SHAs (Senior Staff)
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) chairs and (b) chief executives of strategic health authorities (i) are from an ethnic minority background and (ii) have prior experience of work in the health sector. [72416]
Ms Rosie Winterton: None of the nine chairs and 10 chief executives appointed to the strategic health authorities is from an ethnic minority background. Of the nine chairs, six have prior experience of work in the health sector. All 10 of the chief executives have previously worked in the health sector. Two of the chief executive appointments are interim, pending a further round of recruitment.
TB Immunisation
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what opportunities there are for children to obtain necessary immunisation against tuberculosis; and whether a charge is made. [76081]
Caroline Flint: The changes to the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) programme announced by the Chief Medical Officer in July 2006 have involved replacing the universal BCG immunisation with a programme targeted on higher risk groups within the general population.
BCG immunisation is available free of charge to the following groups:
all infants aged 0 to 12 months living in areas of the United Kingdom where the annual incidence of tuberculosis (TB) is 40/100,000 or greater;
all infants aged 0 to 12 months with a parent or grandparent who was born in a country where the annual incidence of TB is 40/100,000 or greater;
previously unvaccinated children aged one to five years with a parent or grandparent who was born in a country where the annual incidence of TB is 40/100,000 or greater. These children should be identified at suitable opportunities, and can normally be vaccinated without tuberculin testing;
previously unvaccinated, tuberculin-negative children aged from six to under 16 years of age with a parent or grandparent who was born in a country where the annual incidence of TB is 40/100,000 or greater. These children should be identified at suitable opportunities, tuberculin tested and vaccinated if negative;
previously unvaccinated tuberculin-negative contacts of cases of respiratory TB (following recommended contact management advice); and
previously unvaccinated, tuberculin-negative new entrants under 16 years of age who were born in or who have lived for a prolonged period (at least three months) in a country with an annual TB incidence of 40/100,000 or greater.
Therapeutic Services
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what publicly funded therapeutic services are available for victims of sexual abuse; and if she will make a statement. [71695]
Caroline Flint: There are a very substantial number of voluntary sector organisations providing therapeutic services for victims of sexual violence and abuse in receipt of recent, current and newly allocated public funding. Some of these have been or are in receipt of Section 64 funding from the Department. These number 10 and are shown in the table which includes the name of the organisation, the purpose of the grant, the year and the amount of the funding provided.
A larger number of voluntary sector organisations have been in receipt of funding from the Home Office's victims fund grant. The total Home Office provision for victims of sexual offending was 46 organisations in 2004-05, 62 organisations in 2005-06, and 45 organisations in 2006-07. Tables providing the name of the organisation, the year and the amount of funding have been placed in the Library.
The Department and Home Office work closely together on improving services for victims of sexual crime and the Department contributes to the decisions taken by the Home Office on the allocation of the victims fund grant.
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