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Speech Therapy: Children
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how his Department plans to work with voluntary sector providers of speech and language support to ensure high quality provision in all children’s centres; [108444]
(2) whether children’s centres will be able to apply for support from his Department for (a) service delivery and (b) speech and language support as part of the children’s centres rollout; [108445]
(3) what support will be available to local authorities which identify a need for increased language support in children’s centres; and if he will make a statement. [108446]
Beverley Hughes: We have a strong commitment to use children’s centres to provide integrated services including health services for families of young children. Speech and language therapy services are an important priority because foundations of communication skills development in the early years are crucial to maximising children’s outcomes. It is because of thiswe have a programme to support speech andlanguage development in early year settings—“Communicating Matters”—which was developed following consultation with all our delivery partners including voluntary sector providers. PCTs are the main providers of speech and language services through children’s centres and we work closely with the Department of Health on improving these services. Nationally, we are holding discussions with ICAN (a voluntary sector organisation with expertise in speech and language therapy) about a proposal for work in a number of children’s centres. The Sure Start Children’s Centres Practice Guidance supports the development of speech and language services through children’s centres and encourages them to work with PCTs and voluntary sector organisations in their area.
Thorncross Young Offender Institute
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will take urgent steps to ensure that vulnerable young people at Thorncross Young Offender Institute continue to receive their entitlement to services under the Children Act 1989 after March 2007. [108182]
Beverley Hughes
[holding answer 11 December 2006]: The statutory duty to provide services to children and young people in need rests with local authorities and I expect them to act in accordance with this responsibility. My Department has been discussing with local authority representatives, the Home Office and the Youth Justice
Board how local agencies can best discharge their statutory responsibilities in meeting the needs of vulnerable young people in custody, including where they are or may be children in need as defined in the Children Act 1989.
University Campuses: Freedom of Speech of Association
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what legal obligations there are on universities to provide freedom of speech and freedom of association on university campuses to Christian Unions. [108061]
Bill Rammell: Universities have duties under the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, that freedom of speech within the law is secured for members, students, employees and visiting speakers. They must also ensure insofar as reasonably practicable that the use of the institution’s premises is not denied to any individual or body of people on the grounds of their beliefs, views, policies or objectives. In addition, the Education Act 1994 requires university governing bodies to take such steps as reasonably practicable to ensure the student union operates in a fair and democratic manner.
I believe that legitimate faith groups on campus should be affiliated with the students’ union provided that they are operating within the law and thestudents’ union framework. Students’ unions should be inclusive.
Duchy of Lancaster
Social Exclusion
5. Meg Hillier: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what contribution she expects personalised public services to make to tackling social exclusion. [108608]
Hilary Armstrong: The Government have made personalisation of services a key feature of public sector reform. We are stepping up efforts to personalise services for the most excluded through pilots of budget-holding lead professionals for children in care, health-led parenting support projects for disadvantaged families, and pilots to address the needs of adults with chaotic lives and multiple problems. These initiatives will provide more tailored support, empower the service user, and better enable co-ordination of services, thereby improving the outcomes of the most excluded.
7. Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will give an example of early intervention; what assessment she has made of the effect of early intervention on social exclusion; and if she will make a statement. [108610]
Hilary Armstrong:
Early intervention is one of the guiding principles of the Government’s Social Exclusion Action Plan and is vital to breaking the cycle of disadvantage and deprivation. This is not only beneficial to the children and families concerned, but it also saves
the taxpayer from the high costs of treatment and communities from the side-effects of exclusion.
The Nurse-Family Partnership is an excellent example of early intervention. It is a structured programme of home visits by trained nurses to disadvantaged families during pregnancy and the first two years. I visited this programme last week in the United States, where the model has been running for nearly 30 years and has proven to be very successful—particularly for families with complex problems.
8. Mr. McGovern: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what use the Government make of the definitions of relative and absolute poverty when developing policy on social exclusion. [108611]
Hilary Armstrong: This Government use both relative and absolute measures of poverty. Regardless of which measure is used, what is clear is that poverty has been greatly reduced since 1997. Since 1997 there are now 7 million fewer people in absolute poverty;2.4 million adults have been lifted out of relative poverty; and 700,000 children lifted out of relative poverty.
9. Ms Angela C. Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment she has made of the impact of the Government’s policies on poverty and social exclusion in Sheffield since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [108612]
Hilary Armstrong: Sheffield is the key economic driver for South Yorkshire. The Government have supported Sheffield through targeted funding for the regeneration of the city centre and through programmes such as new deal for communities (NDC) and neighbourhood renewal fund (NRF). This has had a significant impact. Between November 1997 and November 2006 the total unemployment claimant count dropped by 48 per cent. with the number of long term claimants falling by77 per cent. The number of long term youth claimants fell by 93 per cent.
Administrative Business Burdens
10. Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what progress has been made by her Department in reducing the administrative burden on UK business. [108613]
Mr. McFadden: As we announced on Monday,19 Departments, agencies and regulators have now published simplification plans, and copies of these plans have been laid in the House. The plans contain details on the measurement of the administrative burden.
All departments have set a target to reduce their administrative burden by 25 per cent. except for the Cabinet Office, which has set a target of 35 per cent.
This first year of plans includes savings which will be worth £2 billion annually by 2010, and we expect next year’s plans to improve on this.
Deputy Prime Minister
Ministerial Committee on Local and Regional Government
16. Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his responsibilitieswith regard to the chairmanship of the Ministerial Committee on Local and Regional Government. [108599]
The Deputy Prime Minister: The hon. Gentleman will be aware that I chair the Cabinet committees on Local and Regional Government, as well as Local and Regional Government Strategy and Performance.
My task is to broker collectively agreed policy,to ensure local government is best empowered to provide excellent services and improve the lives of our citizens.
Pensions
17. Mr. Harper: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what contribution he has made to cross-departmental co-ordination of the development of policy on pensions; and if he will make a statement. [108600]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory) today.
20. Mr. Evennett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent contribution he has made to cross-departmental co-ordination of the development of policy on pensions; and if he will make a statement. [108603]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory) today.
Post Office
18. Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent contribution he has made to the cross-departmental development of policy on the Post Office. [108601]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Joan Walley).
Departmental Finance
19. Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the administration costs of his new Office have been in 2006-07, broken down by main budget heading. [108602]
The Deputy Prime Minister: Audited annual accounts will be published in due course.
Health
“Choosing Health”
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many awards to health champions have been made in accordance with the “Choosing Health” agenda. [105361]
Caroline Flint: The Department has not made any awards to health champions.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health trainers have been recruited under “Choosing Health”; and at what cost. [105362]
Caroline Flint: There are currently 719 health trainers recruited to the programme. It is anticipated that there will be 1,200 health trainers in spearhead areas by the end of financial year 2006-07.
“Choosing Health” money in the sum of £36 million has been allocated to primary care trusts for this purpose. However, it is up to individual PCTs to make decisions about where they allocate resources and how many health trainers they will need to meet the needs of their local population.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) qualifications and (b) training for assessments are required of “Choosing Health” accredited health trainers. [105363]
Caroline Flint: The employment requirements are that health trainers satisfy the mandatory core competencies supplied by the Department. The core competencies, developed by Skills for Health with the Department, were finalised at the end of the early adopter phase, which finished on 31 March 2006. Health trainer training is agreed and implemented at a local level.
Formal accreditation is being developed with awarding bodies and should be in place in the first half of 2007.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of the effectiveness in improving health of the “Choosing Health” strategy for pharmaceutical public health. [R] [105364]
Andy Burnham: No formal assessment has been made of the effectiveness in improving health of the “Choosing Health” 10-year strategy for pharmaceutical public health. However, there are many examples of pharmacy’s valuable contribution, including through improving access to sexual health services, increasing uptake of stop smoking services and better services for substance misusers.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence-based guidelines on occupational health have been brought forward in accordance with the “Choosing Health” strategy. [105365]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The “Choosing Health” White Paper published in November 2004 commits to the development of evidence-based guidelines in occupational health (section 7.38).
The Department has a project in hand to develop such evidence-based guidelines, which will help NHS Plus occupational health units raise the quality, standards and consistency of their work.
The first NHS Plus guideline, “occupational aspects of the management of chronic fatigue syndrome: a national guideline” was published in October 2006.
The following guidelines are currently under development and we plan to publish these during 2007:
the management of latex allergies in the workplace;
the identification and management of infected food handlers;
the management of expectant mothers undertaking shift work and manual handling; and
the management of chicken pox and shingles in the workplace.
In addition, NHS Plus sponsored the development of a new guideline on the identification of alcohol problems in the workplace in July 2007. This guideline is planned for publication in 2008.
Cancer Treatment
Mr. Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department has taken to ensure that the prostate cancer charter for action is implemented by all cancer networks. [106356]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The prostate cancer charter for action was first launched at the House of Commons on 29 January 2003. It represents the coming together of all the key charities and professional organisations working in the field of prostate cancer, speaking with a collective voice. The actions agreed by the charter are being considered by the prostate cancer advisory group (PCAG), chaired by Professor Mike Richards, the National Cancer Director. Some of these actions will have an impact on cancer networks, but not all.
The main driver to improve prostate cancer services is the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance on ‘Improving Outcomes in Urological Cancers’, including prostate cancer, which was issued in September 2002. Each strategic health authority was asked to demonstrate that its cancer network(s) had suitable action plans in place for the implementation of this guidance. Progress towards the implementation of these plans is assessed by both the Department and the Healthcare Commission.
Mr. Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much her Department spent on (a) breast cancer, (b) lung cancer, (c) prostate cancer, (d) colorectal cancer and (e) cancer research in each of the last eight years. [106357]
Andy Burnham: The main part of the Department’s research and development budget is allocated to and managed by national health service organisations. These organisations account for their use of the allocations they receive from the Department in an annual research and development report. The reports identify total, aggregated expenditure on national priority areas, including cancer. Details of individual projects supported in the NHS, including those concerned with site-specific cancers, can be found on the national research register at www.dh.gov.uk/research.
The total of the Department’s annual spend on cancer research as reported by NHS organisations and by the Department’s national research programmes since 1997 is shown in the following table.
The National Cancer Research Institute’s 2004 strategic analysis of the directly funded cancer research supported by Government and charities showed that, as at 1 April 2004, 62 per cent. of total funding was dedicated to supporting research that could be applicable to all cancers.
| £ million | |
| Note: This figure and the figure for 2004-05 are provisional | |
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