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18 Dec 2006 : Column 1726W—continued
Speech Therapy
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children under the age of five are on NHS speech and language therapy waiting lists. [108454]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information is not collected centrally.
Translation and Interpretation
Mr. Stewart Jackson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost of translation and interpretation services was in (a) Peterborough Primary Care Trust and its predecessor body, (b) Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and (c) the East of England Strategic Health Authority and its predecessor body in
the last period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [105234]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not held centrally. It is for primary care trusts and other national health service organisations to ensure that the services they provide meet the needs of the populations that they serve including the provision of interpreting services if necessary.
Vulnerable People: Torbay
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether vulnerable people in Torbay receiving direct payments may choose to employ locally based companies to obtain the provision of services to which they are entitled rather than use Torbay Primary Care Trust’s preferred companies; and if she will make a statement. [109803]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government’s aim in promoting direct payments is to increase individuals’ independence and choice by giving them control over the way the services they are assessed as needing are delivered. The person uses the payment to secure for him or herself the relevant services.
If there is a local register of approved providers of services, the council could bring the register to the attention of the individual. However, councils should not require the individual only to contract with providers from the register.
As a general principle, local councils should aim to leave choice in the hands of the individual by allowing people to address their own needs as they consider best. Councils will want to satisfy themselves that the agreed outcomes are being achieved.
Westmoreland General Hospital
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints about the consultation on the closure of Westmoreland General Hospital were handled by the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust. [110074]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not held centrally.
Constitutional Affairs
Contact Orders
Helen Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many orders for supervised contact were made by the courts in the last year for which figures are available; and how many orders named venues run by charitable or voluntary organisations as the point at which contact should take place. [109151]
Ms Harman: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Legal Aid
Mr. Baron: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether the Court of Appeal case Goodwill v. British Pregnancy Advisory Service (1996) 7 Med LR 129 was legally aided. [109738]
Vera Baird: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. This is because the Legal Aid Board's (LAB) Corporate Information System (CIS) which can confirm whether or not a case was legally aided was introduced in 1997 and this case pre-dates the CIS.
Miscarriages of Justice
Colin Challen: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what record has been kept of miscarriages of justice in criminal proceedings ascribed to the absence of qualified interpreters. [109830]
Ms Harman: The Department for Constitutional Affairs does not keep a record of miscarriages of justice in criminal proceedings ascribed to the absence of qualified interpreters.
Public Finance Contracts
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the total liability to her Department would be in circumstances of immediate termination of all (a) public-private partnerships and (b) public finance initiative contracts. [109297]
Ms Harman: The detailed information on the total liability to the Department for Constitutional Affairs in the circumstances of immediate termination of
(a) public-private partnerships cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.
(b) The total liability on immediate termination of any PFI contracts would be highly speculative as such liabilities would depend on the exact circumstances of termination on a case-by-case basis.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what (a) public-private partnerships and (b) private finance initiative contracts have been entered into by her Department; what assets were transferred to the private sector as part of each deal; what the value of these assets was; what the total cost is of each contract; and what estimate was made of the cost to her Department of traditional procurement over the life of each contract. [109340]
Ms Harman: I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer to the hon. Member for Rayleigh (Mr. Francois) on 23 November 2006, Official Report, column 766W. The projected PFI commitments in terms of the sum of unitary charge payments are conditional on the performance of the private sector contractors. Unitary charge payments are more than capital repayment sums and will include provision of services and inflation.
The Private Developer schemes which are within public-private partnership contracts that have been entered into are:
Huntingdon Justice Centre
Manchester Civil Justice Centre
Shoreditch and Clerkenwell County Courts
Loughborough Magistrates Court
Cambridge County Court.
There has been no transfer of assets in any of the contracts as part of a deal. Detailed information requested on the estimate of the cost to my Department of traditional procurement over the life of each contract cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.
Retirement Age
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the
answer from the Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office to the hon. Member for Blackpool South (Mr. Marsden) of 4 December 2006, Official Report, columns 189-90W, (1) on the retirement age, what her Department's policy is for the setting of retirement ages for staff below the senior civil service under the Civil Service (Management Functions) Act 1992; [108011]
(2) on the retirement age, what her Department's policy is on the application of the national default retirement age to staff below the senior civil service. [109548]
Bridget Prentice: The Normal Retirement Age (NRA) for staff below senior civil service is age 65, which is in line with the default retirement age set out in the Employment Equality (Age) regulations which came into force on 1 October 2006.
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