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14 Mar 2007 : Column 429W—continued
(2) what percentage of her Department’s budget will be taken up by public finance initiative commitments in each of the next 10 years, assuming that the budget
grows in line with the Treasury’s estimates for gross domestic product over the period; and if she will make a statement. [125197]
Andy Burnham: The first private finance initiative (PFI) scheme become operational in 2000. There are therefore no payments prior to this date.
Revenue figures are not available beyond 2007-08 as the Department has not yet entered into its Comprehensive Spending Review with HM Treasury. It is therefore not possible to forecast annual payments under PFI as a percentage of overall revenue expenditure.
The information is detailed in the following table.
| Net NHS revenue expenditure (£ million) | Aggregated payments under PFI (£ million) | PFI payments as a percentage of overall NHS revenue expenditure | ||
Departments: Royal Visits
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will place in the Library copies of the (a) agenda and (b) minutes of the meeting on 24 February 2003 between HRH the Prince of Wales and the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health; [126663]
(2) what the (a) purpose and (b) outcomes were of the meeting on 24 February 2003 between HRH the Prince of Wales and the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health. [126664]
Caroline Flint [holding answer 9 March 2007]: A meeting was held on 24 February 2003 between HRH the Prince of Wales and the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, for Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath).
Departments: Smith Institute
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money from the public purse (a) her Department and (b) its agencies gave to (i) the Smith Institute and (ii) its subsidiary SI Events Limited in each year since 1997; and for what purpose each payment was made. [123091]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department has not paid either the Smith institute or SI Events Limited since 2002. Financial data for the years prior to this have been archived and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The Department’s agencies have not made any payments to either organisation.
Emergent BioSolutions
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what payments from the public purse were made to Emergent BioSolutions in each of the last three years. [125938]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department has made no payments to Emergent BioSolutions in the last three years.
Executive Agencies
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much was spent by each of her Department’s executive agencies in each Government Office region in the most recent year for which figures are available; [116669]
(2) which of the executive agencies of her Department have regional offices outside London. [116724]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department has two executive agencies. These are:
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The MHRA does not hold records of spend in each of the government regions. The MHRA have no regional offices outside London; and
The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA). PASA does not hold records of spend in each of the government regions. PASA has three offices in Chester, Reading and Sheffield. The office in Reading is also the agency’s head office. They are not regional offices as such but from where business is undertaken.
Folic Acid
John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice she has received from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition regarding the compulsory fortification of flour with folic acid; and if she will make a statement. [124143]
Caroline Flint: In December 2006, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) recommended mandatory fortification of folic acid as the most effective way to reduce the risk of pregnancies affected by neural tube defects (NTD), providing voluntary fortification of food with folic acid is controlled and guidance is provided on the use of supplements containing folic acid.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is currently consulting on different options to improve the folate status of young women in order to reduce the number of NTD-affected pregnancies.
The FSA Board will consider SACN’s recommendation and the responses from the public consultation in May 2007. It will then provide advice to Health Ministers regarding mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid.
General Practitioners: Finance
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the effects of devolving budget responsibilities to GPs on the quality of patient care. [126736]
Andy Burnham: General practices have been devolved indicative budgets under practice-based commissioning (PBC). By December 2006, all primary care trusts had arrangements in place to support PBC, including providing indicative practice budgets. No full assessment has yet been made of the effects of PBC, but the Department has in place support to drive forward the practical implementation of PBC and a monitoring framework to assess the impact of PBC on patient care and service development.
Health Education: Carbon Monoxide
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to raise awareness of carbon monoxide poisoning; and if she will make a statement. [125858]
Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave my hon. Friend, the Member for Dudley, North (Mr. Austin) on 30 November 2006, Official Report, columns 911-12W.
The Department is committed to help prevent deaths caused by carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and raise awareness of the dangers of CO poisoning. Specific recent actions to achieve this include publications to increase awareness of medical staff and the public.
In his January 2006 update, which is sent to all doctors registered with the General Medical Council in England, including hospital and A & E doctors, and copied to the devolved Administrations for information, the chief medical officer (CMO) provides advice to doctors on CO poisoning, which is available in the Library. CMO updates are also available on the Department’s website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/LettersAnd Circulars/CMOUpdate/CMOUpdateArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4126235&chk=y6qnQn
The Department has produced a public information leaflet “Indoor air pollution—Carbon monoxide. Risks to health and how to avoid them,” distributed early in 2006 to all general practitioners surgeries in England, which provides information on the symptoms of CO poisoning, ways in which to prevent poisoning and the contact details of organisations and other Government Departments involved with the prevention of CO poisoning. This leaflet has been endorsed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Heating Equipment Testing and Approval Scheme, the Council for Registered Gas Installers (CORGI), the national voluntary organisation CO-Gas Safety, the Solid Fuel Association, and the national health service, and includes the CORGI emergency helpline. The leaflet, which is available in the Library, is also available free, from the Department’s publication stores and on the Department’s website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/Publications PolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4123787&chk=sAoYSp
The Department has produced a booklet “Keep Warm Keep Well, a winter guide 2006-07”, which among many subjects, contains useful advice on the maintenance of heating appliances and protection from CO poisoning, which is available in the Library. This has been widely distributed and is also available from the Department’s publication stores and on the Department’s website at:
The Department is also funding a national voluntary organisation, CO-Gas Safety, through the section 64 General Scheme of Grants, in its work in raising awareness about the dangers of carbon monoxide.
As part of the HSE’s “Review of Domestic Gas Safety”, a cross-Government group, which includes officials from my Department, has been set up to consolidate the valuable work that is being done, and to help further raise awareness, particularly through encouraging greater co-ordinated industry actions.
Health Services: Detention Centres
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what allowance is made in formula funding for the treatment of detainees in asylum detention centres. [127089]
Caroline Flint [holding answer 12 March 2007]: The weighted-capitation formula, used to inform revenue allocations to primary care trusts (PCTs), does not take specific account of detainees in Immigration Service removal centres. However, migration is taken account of within the population base used for revenue allocations. The population base is a combination of Office for National Statistics (ONS) populations and general practitioners lists. ONS add asylum seekers to their population estimates using data provided by the Home Office. All removal centres have primary healthcare provision on site. National health service services are only used, therefore, when detainees cannot be treated within the on-site Home Office funded primary care services.
Hearing Aids: Waiting Lists
Derek Conway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the waiting times for digital hearing aid (a) assessment and (b) fitting are in London, broken down by primary care trust. [123588]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The following table shows data on the waiting times for audiology assessments as at end of December 2006. The Department does not collect data on fitting of aids.
| Organisation name | Total waiting | Median waiting time (weeks) |
| Source: Department, DM01 | ||
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