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Terminal and Palliative Care
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many terminally ill and palliative care beds were available in each primary care trust in (a) London and (b) England for (i) adults and (ii) children in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [82970]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department does not routinely collect data on palliative care beds in each primary care trust. Primary care trusts are responsible within the national health service for commissioning and funding services for their resident population, including palliative care beds. However, Hospice Information, an independent organisation shows the number of beds available.
| Palliative care places | Beds | NHS beds | Voluntary beds |
| Source: Hospice information January 2006: An independent service provided by Help the Hospices. | |||
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets her Department has set for tariff pricing for palliative care services; what progress she has made against those targets; and whether the tariff will reflect the cost of the care provided by (a) voluntary organisations, (b) the state and (c) the private sector. [83050]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Work to develop health care resource groups (HRGs) for specialist palliative care is ongoing. Currently, payment by results tariffs only apply to certain services provided by national health service trusts. Further work will need to be done before tariffs can be introduced for community, independent sector and third sector services.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) pursuant to the Health White Paper “Our Health, Our Care, Our Say”, when the Government will bring forward proposals on the (a) kinds of services required and (b) the mechanism by which funding will be allocated for community-based palliative care and hospice at home services; [83051]
(2) how much the Government have allocated to palliative care in 2006-07; and what plans she has for expenditure on palliative care. [83053]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department does not routinely collect data requested on national health service funding of palliative care.
PCTs are responsible within the NHS for commissioning and funding services for their resident population, including palliative care. It is for them to determine how to use the funding allocated to them to commission services to meet the health care needs of their local populations.
Ministers have asked the National Cancer Director, Professor Mike Richards, supported by Professor Ian Philp, National Director for Older People, to prepare a comprehensive strategy to develop and progress end of life care. The strategy will establish the means whereby the Government’s manifesto commitment on palliative care and also the end of life care strategy outlined in the White Paper “Our health, Our Care, Our Say” will be delivered. Professor Richards has been asked to report back to Ministers in the autumn.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether her Department is committed to full cost recovery for palliative services that are commissioned by the state. [83052]
Ms Rosie Winterton: HM Treasury’s “Cross Cutting Review” recommended that funders should recognise that it is legitimate for voluntary and community sector providers to include the relevant element of overheads in their cost estimates for providing a given service under a contract or service agreement. In the context of hospice care, this does not mean the full costs of the hospice, but rather those services provided by the hospice that are commissioned by the primary care trust. National health service commissioners should be moving towards implementing the Treasury’s recommendation on full cost recovery on those services they commission from the voluntary sector. The emphasis should, therefore, be on effective negotiation between contracting partners as contracts and service level agreements come up for renewal.
Tuberculosis
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of tuberculosis were reported in each of the last five years in the Southport and Ormskirk hospital NHS trust area. [83442]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the following table by primary care trust (PCT) area of residence for the latest years for which data is available.
| Southport and Formby PCT | West Lancashire PCT | |
| Note: Data as at 7 July 2006 Source: Health Protection Agency, enhanced tuberculosis surveillance scheme | ||
UK Pensioners (Overseas Health Care)
Mr.
Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for
Health what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral
arrangements the United Kingdom has with (i) Estonia, (ii) Finland,
(iii) France, (iv) Germany, (v) Greece, (vi) Hungary, (vii) Ireland,
(viii) Italy, (ix) Latvia, (x) Lithuania,(xi) Luxembourg,
(xii) Malta, (xiii) Netherlands,(xiv) Poland, (xv) Portugal,
(xvi) Slovakia, (xvii) Slovenia, (xviii) Spain and (xix) Sweden on the
provision of health care for UK pensioners resident in that country.
[84399]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There are arrangements co-ordinating the social security and health care systems of all the member states of the European Union (EU). This is covered by Regulation (EEC) 1408/71 which is a multilateral instrument.
It provides that pensioners living in another EU member state who are receiving a United Kingdom state retirement, long-term incapacity or bereavement pension, are entitled to health care on the same basis as that country’s own insured persons.
Urinary Reflux
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research her Department has (a) undertaken, (b) plans to undertake and (c) evaluated into the (i) number and (ii) age of (A) males and (B) females who have urinary reflux; and if she will make a statement. [85151]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department has not evaluated, undertaken, or has plans to undertake, research into the number, age and sex distribution of those with urinary reflux.
Walk-in Centres (Funding)
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what meetings (a) she and (b) her officials have had on the review of walk-in centre funding arrangements; what was discussed at each meeting;and if she will publish research her Department has (i) undertaken, (ii) commissioned and (iii) received as part of that review process. [79671]
Caroline Flint: These matters have been discussed at a number of meetings and proposals will be coming to Ministers shortly. No new research has been undertaken, commissioned or received.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Abattoirs
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 26 June 2006, Official Report, column 9W, on abattoirs, how many abattoirs there were in England in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [81800]
Barry Gardiner: The number of red and poultry meat slaughterhouses recorded in England for the years 1997 to 2005 are shown in the following table.
| Red meat | Poultry meat | |
| Source:
Food Standards Agency—December
2005 | ||
The number of slaughterhouses in England has reduced since 1997, reflecting a longer-term trend for consolidation. For example in 1987 there were 790. The Government recognise the importance of an adequate network of slaughterhouses to ensure that all sustainable production needs can continue to be met. I also refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my predecessor, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (Mr. Jim Knight), on 9 November 2005, Official Report, column 476W.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many abattoirs there are in Yeovil constituency; and how many there were in 1997. [82181]
Barry Gardiner: The Department does not keep data on the number of abattoirs by constituency but it is understood that, of the 12 abattoirs in the County of Somerset, one lies within the Yeovil constituency. We have no corresponding data for 1997.
Agency Staff
Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what average hourly rate was paid by his Department to each employment agency for staff employed through agencies in 2005-06. [81497]
Barry Gardiner: Information is not held centrally on the average hourly rate paid by the Department to each employment agency for personnel engaged through agencies in 2005-06. The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Air Conditioning
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the carbon emissions resulting from (a) the generation of heating for buildings and (b) the powering of air conditioning in buildings per head of population (i) in total and (ii) broken down by region. [84071]
Ian Pearson: The information requested is set out in the following tables:
| Estimated annual carbon emissions from the space heating of domestic and non-domestic buildings per capita | |
| Kilograms | |
| Estimated annual carbon emissions from the air conditioning of domestic and non-domestic buildings per capita | |
| Kilograms | |
For Northern Ireland, the annual carbon emissions from the space heating of non-domestic buildings are estimated at 142 kg per capita, and for air-conditioning it is 20 kg. We do not currently have figures for the carbon emissions of homes in Northern Ireland.
Air Quality
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made towards meeting the Government’sAir Quality Strategy targets for (a) carbon monoxide, (b) lead, (c) nitrogen dioxide, (d) particles, (e) sulphur dioxide, (f) benzene and (g) 1,3 butadiene. [85459]
Mr. Bradshaw: Provisional results for 2005, issued at the beginning of this year, show that the UK maintained and met the Air Quality Strategy’s targets for carbon monoxide, benzene and 1,3-butadiene and lead. We missed objectives for nitrogen dioxide (2005) and ozone (2005) and very marginally missed those for particulates (2004) in some parts of the UK. However, we are meeting our current objectives for all air pollutants in most parts of the country—up to 99.5 per cent. in some cases—and only a limited number of hot spot areas remain.
However, based on present measures, more work will be needed to meet the targets for particles and nitrogen dioxide in some parts of our towns and cities. We are currently working with other Departments to review the Air Quality Strategy and explore what additional policy measures could help move us closer to meeting air quality targets. A public consultation on the review of the Air Quality Strategy was launched in April this year and is available from the following address:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/airqualstrat-review/index.htm
Angling
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much angling contributes to the Exchequer; and how much is paid out to assist with angling-related activity. [84676]
Mr. Bradshaw: There are no exact figures on how much angling contributes to the Exchequer, but estimates suggest that the annual economic activity associated with angling is up to £2.75 billion, directly employing around 20,000 people, either full or part-time.
The Department provides Grant in Aid of £5.8 million to maintain, improve and develop freshwater fisheries in England, part of which is paid out to assist with angling related activities.
I understand that Sport England provide £185,000 in funding to Angling Governing Bodies.
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