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MS Treatment

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average waiting time is for multiple sclerosis patients in the Western Health and Social Services Board (WHSSB) area to be added to the waiting list to receive disease-modifying therapy (DMT) treatment; what the average waiting time is for MS patients in the WHSSB area who are on the waiting list to begin DMT treatment; and what the target time is in each case. [79969]

Paul Goggins: Patients with MS who are assessed as eligible to receive treatment with disease modifying therapies are placed on the waiting list following assessment by, and in consultation with, their neurologist. There is no waiting period to be added to the list.

Waiting list information for disease modifying therapies is collected by time band. While these cannot be used to calculate the average length of time waiting, it is possible to identify the median or mid-point waiting time band. The median waiting time band for MS patients in the Western Board area at 30 April 2006 was six to eight months. An additional £2 million has been allocated to Health and Social Services Boards in 2006-07 and 2007-08 which will, by March 2008, allow all those who are currently waiting for disease modifying therapies to start their treatment and ensure that new patients who are eligible for treatment do not face long waits.

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new multiple sclerosis patients in the Western Health and Social Services Board (WHSSB) area have begun receiving disease-modifying therapy in the last three months; how many additional MS patients in the WHSSB area have been placed on the waiting list to receive DMT treatment in the last three months; and if he will make a statement. [79970]

Paul Goggins: In the three month period from1 March 2006 to 31 May 2006, two multiple sclerosis patients from the Western Health and Social Services Board area started treatment with disease modifying therapies. Over the same period, two Western Board patients were added to the waiting list.

Respite Care Charges

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the financial impact on families of respite care charges for adults with learning disabilities; and what plans he has to review the making of such charges. [79968]

29 Jun 2006 : Column 601W

Paul Goggins: The need for respite care and any associated charge is a matter for assessment on a case by case basis. There are currently no plans to review the charging arrangements.

School Transport

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many taxis are being used to transport children to school in each education and library board area; and at what cost. [80102]

Maria Eagle: In 2004-05 the education and library boards used 1,393 taxis to transport pupils to and from school, at a total cost of £8,012,000, broken down in the following table.

	Number of taxis	Cost (£)
Belfast board	195	633,000
North-Eastern board	259	2,095,000
South-Eastern board	298	2,216,000
Southern board	335	2,022,000
Western board	306	1,046,000

Education and library boards only transport pupils via taxi where an existing bus service is not available and it is more cost effective to provide a taxi rather than introduce a new route. In addition, pupils with a statement of special needs may have specialised transport requirements that can only be met through the provision of a taxi. Medical experts make this decision and the requirement to provide transport via taxi is detailed on the pupil’s statement of special needs.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many children have (a) been injured and (b) reported attacks by other children in shared taxis in the last two years, broken down by education and library board. [80104]

Maria Eagle: Four of the five education and library boards have confirmed that there have been no children reported injured by other children while travelling to and from school in shared taxis in the last two years. The Southern education and library board has also confirmed that there have been no serious injuries to children during this period but is not able to provide details of minor incidents.

Schools

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many schools in Northern Ireland which are currently open he expects to have closed by the end of 2007. [79456]

Maria Eagle: Proposals to close a school are subject to the publication of a development proposal, which ensures that all interested parties are informed, and have the opportunity to comment, before a decision is made.

The Department has approved the closure of seven primary schools, six of which are due to close in August 2006 and one to close in August 2007. The Department has also approved the closure of one post-primary school to take effect in August 2006.

29 Jun 2006 : Column 602W

There are currently four other recently published development proposals each for the closure of a primary school, with three proposed to take effect in August 2006 and one in August 2007, on which decisions have not yet been made. There are also two recently published development proposals for the closure of two post-primary schools in August 2007, on which decisions have not yet been made.

In addition, the Department has previously approved the amalgamations of 12 primary schools into four schools—these are all planned to take effect before the end of 2007, and approved a further proposal to support the amalgamation of two post-primary schools to form one school with effect from September 2006. Two Development proposals each for the amalgamation of two primary schools to form one school have recently been published and currently under consideration.

Security Checks

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what security checks are carried out on workers subcontracted to carry out work on school premises, including cleaners and maintenance workers. [78784]

Maria Eagle: It is the responsibility of those contracted by the education and libraries board or other employing authorities, to provide services on school premises, to ensure that their staff pose no risk to children by carrying out a vetting check.

The employing authority must, at the tender stage, make it clear to private contractors that vetting must be carried out on employees before any work is undertaken on school premises.

The arrangements for the vetting and selection of persons to work with children in an educational setting were the subject of an urgent review early in 2006 and new guidance covering all aspects was issued to employing authorities, among others, in March in circular 2006/06, Child Protection: Recruitment of People to work with Children and Young People in Educational Settings (available at www.deni.gov.uk)

Seroxat

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the safety of Seroxat for pregnant women suffering from depression; and if he will make a statement. [80110]

Paul Goggins: On 7 December 2005 the Chief Medical Officer issued an urgent communication to the Health and Social Services in Northern Ireland attaching a letter from the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) which highlighted new evidence relating to a possible risk of congenital malformations following maternal use of Paroxetine (Seroxat) in the first trimester. The CHM letter contained advice to prescribers and patients on the use of Paroxetine (Seroxat) in pregnancy. The advice indicated that Paroxetine should only be used in pregnancy when strictly indicated and only if the benefits of treatment for the mother are thought to outweigh the potential risk to the foetus.

29 Jun 2006 : Column 603W

There is ongoing discussion at a European level on the safety of all selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), including Paroxetine (Seroxat) in pregnancy. Any new advice will be issued as necessary.

Vandalism

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost was to the Department of Education of vandalism at educational establishments in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [78503]

Maria Eagle: The cost of repairing vandalism met by each education and library board in controlled and maintained schools in the last three years is as follows:

	£000
2003-04	831
2004-05	639
2005-06	679

The information for voluntary grammar and grant maintained integrated schools is not readily available and is being requested. I will write to the hon. Lady with the information as soon as possible.

Health

Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who the members are of the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation. [79477]

Andy Burnham: The Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA) is an independent body consisting of national health service management, general practitioners and academics.

ACRA members are shown in the table.

29 Jun 2006 : Column 604W

ACRA membership as of September 2005
	Organisation
Chair
Mr. D. Fillingham	Chief Executive, Bolton Hospital NHS Trust Members
Members
Mr. K. Derbyshire	Department of Health, Senior Economic Advisor
Professor I. Diamond	Chief Executive, Economic and Social Research Council
Mr. F. Dickinson	Department of Health, Economic Advisor
Dr. S. Drage	General Practitioners Committee, BMA
Dr. M. D’Souza	Head of the Unit of General Practice, NH and LI Imperial College, Surrey
Professor H. Glennerster	Professor Emeritus of Social Administration and Co-Director of CASE, London School of Economics
Dr. R. Hussey	Director of Health Strategy, Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority
Professor Sir B. Jarman	Emeritus Professor of the Department of General Practice, Imperial College of Medicine
Mr. P. Lilley	Chief Executive, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Ms R. MacDonald	Chief Executive, Bath and North Somerset Primary Care Trust
Mrs. Candy Morris	Chief Executive, Surrey and Sussex SHA
Dr. N. Rice	Reader, University of York
Mr. D. Roberts	Unit Manager, NHS, Health and Social Care Information Centre
Dr. I. Trimble	General Practitioner, Nottingham
Mr. C. Vincent	Department of Health, Finance

Audiology Services

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to review the decision to exclude audiology from the 18-week waiting time target for treatment. [81155]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The 18-week referral to treatment target covers hospital pathways.

As a result of innovation, the majority of audiology and adult hearing services are accessed directly from primary care and are outside the scope of the 18-week pathway. However, hearing and balance conditions that do need to be referred to a medical consultant will be subject to 18 weeks.

There is no intention to reconsider or review this principle. However, reducing the time that patients wait for directly accessed services is important and an action plan is being developed to improve access to audiology services outside the 18-week pathway.

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting times are from GP referral to final fitting of digital hearing aids for (a) new patients and (b) existing patients with an analogue hearing aid in the Solihull Primary Care Trust area. [80853]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department does not collect waiting time data for hearing aid/audiology services. However, since January 2006 we have been collecting waiting time and activity data for 15 diagnostic tests/procedures, including pure tone audiometry. These data have been shared with the national health service, for performance management purposes since 2 June 2006. These data will be routinely published from July 2006.

Audit Commission Act

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many reports under (a) section 19 and (b) section 8 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 she has received in each year since the provisions were implemented. [81002]

Andy Burnham: Section 8 of the Act requires auditors in auditing the accounts to consider whether, in the public interest, they should report on any matter coming to their notice in the course of the audit, in order for it to be considered by the body concerned or brought to the attention of the public. The auditor can issue an immediate report if the public interest requires it, or can issue a report at the conclusion of the audit.

29 Jun 2006 : Column 605W

Section 19 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 requires an appointed auditor to refer matters to the Secretary of State if he/she has reason to believe that an national health service organisation has made a decision which involves, or may involve, unlawful expenditure, known as referrals to the Secretary of State. These reports are not published.

The number of reports and referrals made under sections 8 and 19 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 are shown in the table.

Number
	Section 8 reports	Section 19 referrals	Qualifications on accounts section 19 referrals( 1)
1998	2	1	0
1999	1	3	0
2000	0	1	0
2001	0	3	0
2002	1	1	0
2003	2	0	0
2004	2	2	53
2005	23	7	93
2006(2)	16	20	n/a
n/a = not available (1) Introduced from April 2000. The section 19 referrals issued to these NHS organisations took the form of regularity reports on the 2004-05 and did not constitute a full report to the Secretary of State. (2) To date.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) pursuant to her answer of 21 June 2006, Official Report, column 1943W, on the Audit Commission Act, how many and which section 19 reports were the result of (a) the organisation breaking its resource allocation limits, (b) the organisation having little prospect of achieving balance within a three or five year period, (c) suspicious payments, (d) fraud and (e) and other reasons; [81231]

(2) pursuant to her answer of 21 June 2006, Official Report, column 1943W, on the Audit Commission Act, what the dates are of each report. [81230]

Andy Burnham: Section 19 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 requires an appointed auditor to refer matters to the Secretary of State if he/she has reason to believe that a national health service organisation has made a decision which involves, or may involve, unlawful expenditure, known as referrals to the Secretary of State. These reports are not published.

Auditors made the following referrals, on the dates shown, under section 19 for:

The organisation breaking its resource allocation limits

Bedfordshire Heartlands Primary Care Trust (PCT)⁽¹⁾

Bexley Care Trust PCT⁽¹⁾

Billericay, Brentwood and Wickford PCT⁽¹⁾

Blackwater Valley and Hart PCT⁽¹⁾

Broadland PCT⁽¹⁾

Burntwood, Lichfield and Tamworth PCT⁽¹⁾

Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire PCTs (December 2005)

Cambridge City PCT⁽¹⁾

Cannock Chase PCT⁽¹⁾

Canterbury and Coastal PCT⁽¹⁾

29 Jun 2006 : Column 606W

Central Cornwall PCT⁽¹⁾

Central Suffolk PCT (February 2006)

Central Suffolk PCT⁽¹⁾

Charnwood and North West Leicestershire PCT⁽¹⁾

Chelmsford PCT⁽¹⁾

Cherwell Vale PCT⁽¹⁾

Cheshire West PCT (February 2006)

Cheshire West PCT⁽¹⁾

Chiltern and South Bucks PCT⁽¹⁾

Colchester PCT⁽¹⁾

Cotswold and Vale PCT⁽¹⁾

Dacorum PCT (April 2006)

Dacorum PCT⁽¹⁾

Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley PCT⁽¹⁾

E Elmbridge and Mid Surrey PCT⁽¹⁾

East Hampshire PCT⁽¹⁾

East Lincolnshire PCT⁽¹⁾

Eastbourne Downs PCT⁽¹⁾

Eastleigh and Test Valley PCT⁽¹⁾

Fareham and Gosport PCT⁽¹⁾

Guildford and Waverley PCT⁽¹⁾

Harrow PCT⁽¹⁾

Havering PCT⁽¹⁾

Hertsmere PCT (April 2006)

Hertsmere PCT⁽¹⁾

Hillingdon PCT⁽¹⁾

Hounslow PCT⁽¹⁾

Huntingdonshire PCT⁽¹⁾

Ipswich PCT⁽¹⁾

Isle of Wight PCT⁽¹⁾

Kennet and North Wiltshire PCT⁽¹⁾

Kensington and Chelsea PCT⁽¹⁾

Kingston PCT⁽¹⁾

Leicester City West PCT⁽¹⁾

Luton PCT⁽¹⁾

Maidstone Weald PCT⁽¹⁾

Maldon and South Chelmsford PCT⁽¹⁾

Medway PCT⁽¹⁾

Mid Hampshire PCT*

Milton Keynes PCT⁽¹⁾

North East Oxfordshire PCT⁽¹⁾

North Hertfordshire and Stevenage PCT⁽¹⁾

New Forest PCT⁽¹⁾

Newbury and Community PCT⁽¹⁾

Newcastle under Lyme PCT⁽¹⁾

North and East Cornwall PCT⁽¹⁾

North Birmingham PCT⁽¹⁾

North Devon PCT⁽¹⁾

North Hampshire PCT⁽¹⁾

North Norfolk PCT⁽¹⁾

North Somerset PCT⁽¹⁾

North Stoke PCT⁽¹⁾

Norwich PCT⁽¹⁾

Oldbury and Smethwick PCT⁽¹⁾

South and East Dorset PCT⁽¹⁾

South Cambridgeshire PCT⁽¹⁾

South West Oxfordshire PCT⁽¹⁾

South Western Staffordshire PCT⁽¹⁾

Selby and York PCT⁽¹⁾

29 Jun 2006 : Column 607W

South East Hertfordshire PCT⁽¹⁾

South Leicestershire PCT⁽¹⁾

South Stoke PCT⁽¹⁾

South Wiltshire PCT⁽¹⁾

Southampton City PCT⁽¹⁾

Southern Norfolk PCT⁽¹⁾

St. Albans and Harpenden PCT (April 2006)

St. Albans and Harpenden PCT⁽¹⁾

Staffordshire Moorlands PCT⁽¹⁾

Suffolk Coastal PCT (February 2006)

Suffolk Coastal PCT⁽¹⁾

Suffolk West PCT (February 2006)

Suffolk West PCT⁽¹⁾

Sussex Downs and Weald PCT⁽¹⁾

Swale PCT⁽¹⁾

Thurrock PCT⁽¹⁾

Vale of Aylesbury PCT⁽¹⁾

Waltham Forest PCT⁽¹⁾

Wandsworth PCT⁽¹⁾

Watford and Three Rivers PCT (April 2006)

Watford and Three Rivers PCT⁽¹⁾

Waveney PCT⁽¹⁾

Welwyn Hatfield PCT⁽¹⁾

West Gloucestershire PCT⁽¹⁾

West Midlands South Strategic Health Authority (SHA)⁽¹⁾

West Norfolk PCT⁽¹⁾

West of Cornwall PCT⁽¹⁾

West Wiltshire PCT⁽¹⁾

Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead PCT⁽¹⁾

Witham, Braintree and Halstead PCT⁽¹⁾

Wycombe PCT⁽¹⁾

Wyre Forest PCT⁽¹⁾

Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT⁽¹⁾

⁽¹⁾ The section 19 referrals issued to these NHS organisations took the form of regularity reports on the 2004-05 accounts and did not constitute a full report to the Secretary of State. These referrals do not have a specific date associated with them.

The organisation having little prospect of achieving balance within a three or five year period

Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust (July 2005)

Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (April 2006)

Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust (June 2006)

North Bristol NHS Trust (April 2006)

Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust (April 2006)

Royal West Sussex NHS Trust (June 2005)

Royal West Sussex NHS Trust (April 2006)

Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust (September 2005)

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (June 2006)

United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust (April 2006)

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust (April 2006)

Weston Area Health NHS Trust (April 2006)

Worcester Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (April 2006)

Other reasons including fraud and suspicious payments

Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA—employment issues (February 2006)

Avon Ambulance Service NHS Trust—employment issues (June 2006)

29 Jun 2006 : Column 608W

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