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22 Jan 2007 : Column 1602W—continued
PFI
Mr. Hayes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the long-term liabilities of the private finance initiative (PFI) investment referred to on page 44 of her
Department's annual report 2006 are; what the total buy-back option is; and what total annual expenditure on these areas was before the PFI contracts were signed. [115713]
Andy Burnham: The figures for private finance initiative (PFI) investment on page 44 of the Departmental Report 2006 show the Department's estimate for costs that are incurred by private sector contractors during the years in question in building hospital facilities that will be made available to the national health service under PFI contracts. The figures do not represent liabilities because the schemes are regarded under accounting standards as being ‘off balance sheet’.
Under a PFI contract, trusts may terminate the contract with notice at any time, without having to prove right and regardless of any prejudice to the private sector. Under these circumstances, compensation would be payable to the contractor on a trust default basis aiming to put the contractor in a position that is no better, no worse than it would have been had the contract run for its full length. A value-for- money case for exercising this option must be made.
In working up their preferred option in the business case process, which is developed into the eventual PFI solution, trusts re-assess fundamentally their service configuration and patient pathways, taking on board the provision of new IT, equipment, new construction methods and innovations. It is therefore not possible to directly compare like-for-like annual expenditure before and after a PFI contract is signed.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the largest private finance initiative project to date has been; what the Department’s buy-back option on the project is; what the annual cost to the Department is; and what the total cost to the Department will be on reversion of the contract. [115715]
Andy Burnham: The biggest private finance initiative project (PFI) to date is at Barts and the London NHS Trust worth £1 billion.
Under a PFI contract, trusts may terminate the contract with notice at any time, without having to prove right and regardless of any prejudice to the private sector. Under these circumstances, compensation would be payable to the contractor on a trust default basis aiming to put the contractor in a position that is ‘no better, no worse’ than it would have been had the contract run for its full length. A value-for- money case for exercising this option must be made.
A unitary payment of £96.4 million per annum (at April 2005 prices) will be paid by Barts and the London NHS Trust to its private sector partner once the building work is completed. As with all PFI contracts, the unitary payment will increase in line with the retail price index (RPI) each year and is subject to satisfactory performance under the payment mechanism.
No compensation is paid to the contractor when the contract expires at the end of its full length (operational concession period is 32 years on this scheme) and the asset reverts back to the trust at no extra charge.
Physiotherapists
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacancies for physiotherapists are expected in the NHS in each of the next three years. [113738]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.
Political Party Donations
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which (a) chairmen and (b) chief executives of local primary care trusts have made declarations to her Department that they have made donations to the Labour Party; and if she will make a statement. [109313]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information about the political activities of primary care trust chairs is held by the Appointments Commission and I have asked Sir William Wells to respond to the hon. Member’s query directly.
Regarding chief executives, I refer the hon. Member to the Code of Accountability which has been placed in the Library. National health service organisations are required to make their register of members' interests available to the public but there is no requirement for them to declare this to the Department.
Primary Care Trusts
Mr. Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many newly appointed chairpersons of merged primary care trusts established on 1 October 2006 (a) are members of the Labour Party and (b) have previously been elected as Labour councillors. [115400]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not held centrally by the Department. Information is, however, collected by the Appointments Commission on whether appointees have been politically active within the last five years. The Commission has been asked to respond directly to the hon. Member’s question.
Recruitment Advertising
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much her Department spent on recruitment advertising in each of the last three years. [107737]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The budget for recruitment advertising below senior civil service-level has been delegated to directorates over the period in question. The costs of advertising, as opposed to the other elements of recruiting could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Sexual Health
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of sexually transmitted diseases there have been in the Lincolnshire Health Authority area in girls aged (a) under 16 and (b) under 18 in each year since 1999. [115310]
Caroline Flint: Total diagnoses of selected sexually transmitted infections (STIs) attending genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics among females aged under 16 and females aged 16-19, in the Lincolnshire Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT), 1999 to 2005, are shown in the following table:
| Females under 16 | Females 16-69 | |
| Notes: 1. Selected STIs include: infectious syphilis, uncomplicated gonorrhoea, anogenital herpes simplex (first attack), anogenital warts (first attack) and uncomplicated Chlamydia infection. 2. KC60 data is not available by age group 16-18, so the number of diagnoses for the age group 16-19 is presented. 3. Lincolnshire Health Authority has ceased to exist, however the boundaries are coterminous with the current Lincolnshire Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT) boundaries. The table includes data since 1999 from all GUM clinics that currently belong to Lincolnshire Teaching PCT. This does not include data from North Lincolnshire PCT and North East Lincolnshire PCT. 4. The data available relate to diagnoses made in clinics in the Lincolnshire Teaching PCT, but as GUM clinics are open access services the individuals diagnosed are not necessarily resident in this PCT. Source: ST1 KC60 statutory returns from 1999 - 2005, Health Protection Agency. | ||
Skin Cancer
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding her Department provided for (a) skin cancer services and (b) research into skin cancer in each of the last 10 years; and what the planned funding is for the 2007-08 financial year. [113864]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on funding for cancer services is not available by cancer type.
We do not hold information centrally on levels of funding spent on cancer care for each of the last 10 years, however we do have information for the three years to 2005-06. £3.4 billion was spent on cancer care in 2003-04 and this increased by 12 per cent. each year to £3.8 billion in 2004-05 and £4.3 billion in 2005-06.
The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government support medical and clinical research. The MRC is an independent body funded by the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office of Science and Innovation.
Available MRC expenditure on skin cancer research is shown in the table.
| MRC Expenditure (£ million) | |
| (1) The drop in expenditure In 2004-05 is largely due to several grants having ended before expenditure on new awards was incurred. | |
The Department funds research to support policy and to provide the evidence needed to underpin quality improvement and service development in the NHS. Expenditure by the Department's national research programmes on projects related to skin cancer is shown in the table.
| National Research Programmes Expenditure (£000) | |
The main part of the Department’s research and development budget is allocated to, and managed by, 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, however the returns do not identify research by cancer type. 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
Smoking
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she plans to launch the communications campaign informing the public about the change to the law on smoking in public places; how much she expects to spend on the campaign in the financial year 2007-08; and if she will make a statement. [114996]
Caroline Flint: Communications activity is already underway to ensure businesses understand the implications of the legislation. The Department's smokefree communications activities include stakeholder engagement, direct mail to businesses, advertising, a website, freephone public helpline, printed publicity material and ongoing media relations.
The website www.smokefreeengland.co.uk contains up-to-date information and resources about the legislation and regulation. All visitors are encouraged to register for regular email updates. The website is promoted on all smokefree communications.
Although the initial work will take place directly with stakeholders and businesses, we will conduct more specific communications with the general public as we get closer to 1 July 2007. Budgets for 2007-08 are yet to be finalised but our communications plans run through to implementation.
Specialist Nursing Posts
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will meet (a) NHS staff and (b) other interested parties to discuss the provision of specialist nursing services for delivering treatment and care to patients with long-term conditions; [113907]
(2) whether there is a duty on local health trusts to honour written commitments to retain specialist nursing posts which have been funded by charitable organisations in return for that commitment to continue the post to which the agreement relates; and if she will make a statement; [113908]
(3) what her policy is on the establishment of specialist nurse posts through pump-priming schemes based on funding from charitable organisations; and if she will make a statement. [113909]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government have supported the development of a range of specialist roles within nursing. Ministers and officials meet regularly with representatives from the national health service, the Royal College of Nursing and other stakeholder groups, to discuss issues including the nursing work force. There are 404,161 nurses working in the NHS. This represents an increase of 85,305 or 27 per cent. since 1997.
It is for local trusts in partnership with local stakeholders to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health and to commission services accordingly; this includes provision of specialist nursing posts. Where agreements have been made for alternate funding of these posts, this is a local matter and concerns about these arrangements should be taken up locally.
Statistics
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions in the last five years the publication date of statistics produced by her Department has been changed; what the (a) subject of the statistics, (b) (i) original and (ii) final date of publication and (c) reason for the delay was in each case; and who took the decision to delay the publication in each case. [113670]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In accordance with the national statistics code of practice (2002), the statistics heads of profession in the Department of Health and The Information Centre for health and social care have final responsibility for determining, pre-announcing and, if necessary, altering the dates of publication of national statistics and other relevant statistics produced by their bodies.
Any decision to change a pre-announced publication date will be based on a range of purely professional considerations such as the completeness of the underlying data, their fitness for purpose, the need for consistency and coherence, the need to promote widespread access and informed debate, or any earlier accidental or wrongful release. In reaching their decisions, the heads of profession will also take into consideration the detailed procedural guidance given in the national statistics protocol on release practices. Copies of the code and its 12 supporting protocols are available in the Library of the House, and are available at:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/national_statistics/cop/default.asp
The Department’s compliance statement with the code of practice (which currently covers The Information Centre)is available at:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Statistics/CodeOfPractice/fs/en
There have been 11 occasions in 2006 when the statistics heads of profession in the Department of Health and The Information Centre have changed a pre-announced publication date. Records for previous years are not readily to hand and could be accessed only by incurring disproportionate cost. The details for 2006 are as follows:
1. Cancelled Operations, England: quarter ending December 2005 (non-national statistics published by DH)
Original publication date: February 2006
Final publication date: 3 March 2006
Reason: The February month was announced in error.
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