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23 Apr 2007 : Column 955W—continued

Small Businesses: Greater London

Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to improve the competitiveness of small retail businesses in London; and if he will make a statement. [127846]

Margaret Hodge: Responsibility for improving the competitiveness of small businesses in London has been largely devolved to the London Development Agency.

The LDA through funding from the DTI pursues regional economic development and regeneration to reduce economic imbalances and improve competitiveness as well as providing publicly funded business support through Business Link. Small retailers are eligible for the same range of support measures as other small businesses.

The DTI Retail Unit also works with the sector to raise its productivity and improve its competitiveness by facilitating better regulation, incentivising innovation and encouraging good practice in areas such as skills, employment, international trade and environmental sustainability.

Stem Cells: Research

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the evidential basis was for the statement made by Sir David King at a public seminar organised by the Science and Technology Committee that extracting stem cells from human-animal hybrid embryos would enable scientists to learn more about diseases such as Alzheimer's; and if he will make a statement. [130836]

Malcolm Wicks: Because of their ability to differentiate into different cells and tissues, it is generally recognised by the scientific community that stem cells hold potential for the development of new cellular based treatments for diseases and injuries such as spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, diabetes and heart tissue damaged after a heart attack.

23 Apr 2007 : Column 956W

The Government's position is that if we are to find treatments and cures for currently unbeatable diseases, it is important that we do not unnecessarily restrict research avenues that might enable us to learn more about the development of stem cells. Such research must be carried out within a suitable regulatory framework that results from an open debate with the public and the research community and commands broad public support. We welcome the Science and Technology Committee's contribution to this conversation.

As Sir David King is an independent chief scientific advisor, the hon. Member for Southend,West may wish to write to him to seek further information regarding his discussion at the seminar.

Health

Accident and Emergency Departments: Greater London

Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which hospitals in London are considering reconfiguration of accident and emergency departments. [132790]

Andy Burnham: Any proposals for the reconfiguration of services are a matter for the national health service locally.

There is an established and clear process for managing formal public consultations on proposals for major service change so that the public and other stakeholders can help to inform the local debate.

Care Homes

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to publish (a) her Department's response to the consultation on the draft national framework for continuing care and (b) the final national framework for continuing care. [131945]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: On 14 March I announced my intention to publish new national guidance around eligibility for NHS continuing care in June. This will respond to issues raised during the consultation and set out the new national framework.

Chester-Le-Street Community Hospital

Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she decided to visit the Chester-le-Street Community hospital on 9 March 2007; when her Department informed the hospital of her visit; and what the cost of the visit was. [127561]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Secretary of State decided to visit Chester-le-Street Community hospital on 8 March 2007.

County Durham PCT suggested that the Secretary of State visit Chester-le-Street hospital on 7 March. This followed a request from the Department of Health, and in turn NHS North East.

All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers.

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Deep Vein Thrombosis

Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of deep vein thrombosis were recorded in each health authority in England in the last
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12 months for which figures are available; and how many there were in each of the last five years. [131175]

Caroline Flint: The information is in the following table.

Finished consultant episodes( 1) for deep vein thrombosis in national health service hospitals, England( 2)
		Finished consultant episodes
	Strategic health authority of treatment	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Q01	Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire	2,093	2,147	2,207	2,292	2,121	2,097
Q02	Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire	1,188	1,172	1,282	1,426	1,046	786
Q03	Essex	963	884	970	809	782	868
Q04	North West London	1,244	1,380	1,422	1,189	1,176	1,988
Q05	North Central London	625	711	684	782	675	923
Q06	North East London	957	1,162	1,419	1,391	1,545	1,786
Q07	South East London	3,112	1,954	2,856	3,123	2,922	2,729
Q08	South West London	574	584	736	1,141	1,132	1,054
Q09	Northumberland, Tyne and Wear	1,227	1,293	1,233	1,399	1,264	1,355
Q10	County Durham and Tees Valley	775	855	1,482	1,381	1,203	1,325
Q11	North And East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire	1,342	1,529	1,582	1,579	1,343	1,273
Q12	West Yorkshire	1,098	1,198	1,162	2,061	2,032	2,544
Q13	Cumbria and Lancashire	1,000	1,250	2,042	1,991	1,791	1,844
Q14	Greater Manchester	1,738	2,756	3,445	3,558	3,905	3,663
Q15	Cheshire and Merseyside	2,776	3,276	3,031	3,117	2,973	3,322
Q16	Thames Valley	1,271	1,101	1,083	1,194	1,159	1,171
Q17	Hampshire and Isle Of Wight	1,345	1,437	1,532	1,690	1,620	1,545
Q18	Kent and Medway	1,267	1,337	1,695	1,637	1,390	1,551
Q19	Surrey and Sussex	837	834	1,394	1,370	1,422	1,390
Q20	Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire	2,463	2,608	3,052	3,323	2,929	3,470
Q21	South West Peninsula	1,765	1,885	1,527	1,549	1,353	1,362
Q22	Dorset and Somerset	1,269	1,255	1,451	1,089	1,099	1,066
Q23	South Yorkshire	1,246	1,711	1,783	1,805	1,513	1,515
Q24	Trent	2,620	2,502	2,387	2,240	2,302	2,259
Q25	Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland	1,316	1,079	1,082	1,077	932	1,127
Q26	Shropshire and Staffordshire	1,264	1,259	1,258	1,340	1,263	1,368
Q27	Birmingham and the Black Country	1,739	1,938	2,696	2,565	2,330	2,388
Q28	West Midlands South (Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire)	1,106	939	1,049	1,173	1,081	1,183
Y	Not known	5,567	3,574	0	4	0	0
	Total	45,787	45,610	47,542	49,295	46,303	48,952
(1) Finished Consultant Episode (FCE). An FCE is defined as a period of admitted care under on consultant within one health care provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within a year. (2 )The figures are based on any diagnosis rather than main or principle diagnosis. They do not include cases treated by their general practitioner or as an out-patient.

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