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8 Jan 2007 : Column 13W—continued
Terrorism (Victims)
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what role her Department has in the ongoing establishment of the charitable fund to help British victims of terrorism; and if she will make a statement. [110253]
Margaret Beckett: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply given to him and my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Dr. Wright) by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr. Woodward) on 11 December 2006, Official Report, column 816W.
Work on establishing the fund is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Tessa Jowell). Officials at both our Departments have worked closely together on the issue, and I look forward to her announcement of its launch during the coming months.
WMD Dossier
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will publish the first draft of the Weapons of Mass Destruction dossier authored by John Williams, then Director of News in her Department, on 9 September 2002. [107884]
Margaret Beckett: There are no plans for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to publish the draft document written by John Williams.
Zimbabwe (Refugees)
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate her Department has made of the number of refugees from Zimbabwe entering (a) Botswana, (b) the Republic of South Africa, (c) Mozambique and (d) Zambia in the last 12 months. [109725]
Mr. McCartney: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, then Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs on 28 February 2006, Official Report, column 636W. It is clear that, as the situation in Zimbabwe declines, the exodus of Zimbabweans into the region continues. It is increasingly a cause of concern for neighbouring countries.
Transport
Car Sharing
Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what information he holds on (a) local authority and (b) business car sharing schemes in (i) England, (ii) the North East and (iii) Gateshead, East and Washington, West; and if he will make a statement; [106931]
(2) what steps are being taken by his Department (a) to encourage the establishment of and (b) to support existing car sharing schemes; and if he will make a statement. [106932]
Gillian Merron: Through the Local Transport Planning system and other initiatives, the Department encourages local authorities to set up authority-wide car share schemes and to promote car sharing as part of site specific workplace travel plans.
The Department also publishes a range of best practice guidance on workplace and school travel planning which covers, car share schemes, and in 2005 published specific guidance on car share schemes “Making Car Sharing and Car Clubs Work”.
Government initiatives such as requiring travel plans for new developments and the School Travel Initiative are increasing the number of workplaces and schools with travel plans.
The Highways Agency are also promoting workplace travel plans for sites near the strategic road network and are developing proposals to pilot the use of dedicated car share lanes on the M62 and M1.
Car share schemes are being set up nationally by commercial operators, by local authorities for their staff or the wider public and by businesses, schools and other organisations as stand-alone initiatives or as part of a travel plan. The Department does not collect or hold information on the number and location of car sharing schemes, therefore, which are being operated across the country.
Gateshead Council's published material on its travel plan includes car sharing and the MetroCentre in Gateshead run a car share scheme for people employed there.
Consultancy Fees
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which 10 consultancy fees charged to his Department since May 1997 were the most expensive. [107181]
Gillian Merron: Individual fees are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the following table shows the 10 highest value consultancy contracts in place since the Department was created in May 2002.
Darlington
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what approvals his Department has given for expenditure in Darlington since 1997. [108170]
Gillian Merron: Darlington has benefited greatly since 1997 from Government support for its transport needs.
Between 1997 and March 2006 Darlington borough council received around £22.2 million in block grant for capital investment for its local transport plans. An assessment of Darlington's second Local Transport Plan running until 2011 and a further funding package of support was published in a written statement by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 18 December 2006, Official Report, columns 132-33WS.
In April 2004, Darlington was allocated £3.24 million over five years as a Sustainable Travel Town. In October 2005 the borough was awarded Cycling Demonstration Town status and allocated £1.5 million over three calendar years.
In the whole of the North East region a total of £457 million has been set aside over the next 10 years for local authority major schemes and Highways Agency schemes of regional importance.
In the advice from the North East to Government on the allocation of these funds, a £33 million scheme to improve the bus network across the Tees Valley, including Darlington, was identified as a priority. The Government have not yet approved this scheme but have confirmed that it would expect it to be added to the regional programme subject to the promoters producing a satisfactory business case that demonstrates value for money and deliverability.
Darlington has benefited from rail and trunk road improvements both across the North East and nationally, but funding for these is neither recorded nor allocated on an individual transport authority level.
The borough has also received very substantial central funding through revenue support grant. This is not allocated by the Government between individual council services.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many temporary employees are contracted to work for his Department; what the total annual salary bill is for such employees; and what the figures were in 1997. [107124]
Gillian Merron:
The Department for Transport was formed in May 2002. The temporary employees currently contracted to work in the Department and its agencies are shown in the following table. Where the
information is available the table also shows the annual salary bill for the Department and its agencies for the period 2005-06 for such employees.
Eddington Report
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the compliance of out-of-town grocery shopping with the recent Eddington report on transport. [110240]
Gillian Merron [holding answer 19 December 2006]: Planning Policy Guidance 13 on planning and transport gives a clear preference for locating new retail development in town centre sites first, followed by edge of centre sites and only then out of centre. This is part of a framework of measures aiming to reduce the need to travel and promote more sustainable transport choices, thereby tackling urban congestion. Government policy on out-of-town shopping is therefore consistent with the Eddington study, which identifies this as a priority.
Health
A and E Admissions
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what projections she has made of the number of accident and emergency admissions at Worthing hospital in each of the next five years. [107881]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Acinetobacter
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of infection with the bacteria Acinetobacter there were in the NHS in (a) 2003, (b) 2004 and (c) 2005, broken down by NHS trust. [110335]
Andy Burnham: Microbiology laboratories are invited to report cases of Acinetobacter bloodstream infections to the Health Protection Agency. Data are not available by trust.
The numbers of Acinetobacter bloodstream infections in England, Wales and Northern Ireland reported in the past three years are shown in the table.
| Number | |
| Notes: 1. Acinetobacter spp bacteraemia in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland: 2001 to 2005 Communicable Disease Report (CDR) Weekly2006; 16 (42) 19 October 2006. 2. http://www.hpa.org.uk/cdr/archives/2006/cdr4206.pdf Source: Health Protection Agency. | |
Acquired Brain Injuries
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding her Department provides for individuals with acquired brain injuries. [112712]
Andy Burnham: The Department does not allocate funding on the basis of individual medical conditions. It is a matter for primary care trusts (PCTs) to decide how funding allocated to them should be used to provide services for their local population.
Acyl CoA Dehydrogenase Deficiency
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to introduce screening for medium chain acyl CoA dehydrogenase deficiency. [109813]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The United Kingdom national screening committee has concluded that the evidence, including that produced from the pilots in England so far, supports the introduction of newborn screening for this condition in principle, but is undertaking further work to support possible implementation.
Admittance Decisions
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) pursuant to table 63a on page Ev 169 of her Department's Memorandum to the Health Committee, HC 1692-i, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the trend in the number of people removed from a decision to admit; [106176]
(2) pursuant to table 63b on page Ev 169 of her Department's Memorandum to the Health Committee, HC 1692-i, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the trend in the number of people who (a) self-defer and (b) are suspended from the waiting list; [106177]
(3) pursuant to table 68 on page Ev 178 of her Department's Memorandum to the Health Committee, HC 1692-i, what assessment she has made of the trend in the column ‘other referrals to first outpatient appointment (consultant led)'. [106178]
Andy Burnham: The number of patients removed from waiting lists rose steadily throughout the 1990s, peaking in 1999 then falling and stabilising. The waiting list rules are clear that patients should be removed from lists if they are no longer waiting or are unavailable for treatment. Patients should also be removed from a provider's list when they are transferred to a different provider for treatment.
The trends in self-deferrals and suspensions closely follow the trend in the inpatient waiting list. The list peaked in 1998, as did self-deferrals, with suspensions peaking in 1999. The reductions in recent years reflect improved management by the National Health Service, which has contributed to the smaller waiting lists and faster times that patients experience today.
The unusually high rates of growth in other referrals, those not from general practitioners or general dental practitioners, in the first three years of the period are likely to reflect improvements in data quality resulting from better recording of this type of activity.
Since 1998-99 the average growth in other referrals is 6 per cent. This growth may be explained by the increasing specialisation of consultants, with more patients being referred from consultant to consultant, and by increases in referrals to consultants from the likes of physiotherapists.
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