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9 May 2007 : Column 278W—continued
NHS: Drugs
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many patients self-funded drugs and were required to meet all other costs of treatment in each quarter of the last five years, broken down by primary care trust; and if she will make a statement; [130977]
(2) what representations she has received on her Department’s policy on the funding of other costs of treatment which would normally be provided by the NHS for patients choosing to fund the cost of a drug privately; and if she will make a statement. [130978]
Caroline Flint: Information is not collected centrally on the number of patients who self-funded drugs and were required to meet all other costs of treatment.
The Department has received a number of representations from hon. Members and the public on the question of combining privately funded and national health service-funded treatments.
We are committed to maintaining the core principle of NHS treatment being provided free at the point of the delivery, based on clinical need and not ability to pay. This means it is important there is clarity on whether a procedure is publicly or privately funded.
NHS: East Yorkshire
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what each of the job titles is of staff employed at Hull and East Yorkshire hospitals; and how many full-time equivalent staff were employed in each role in each of the last five years. [134426]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
NHS: Finance
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance has been issued to NHS trusts in financial deficit by her Department on media management. [124655]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: No guidance on media management relating to financial deficits has been sent to national health service trusts by the Department.
Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the value was of each grant allocated under the capital challenge fund scheme, broken down by NHS trust. [133385]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Under the terms of the capital challenge fund, acute hospital trusts in England were invited to apply for up to £300,000 additional capital finance in 2006-07, to help combat healthcare associated infections. The table showing the allocations from the capital challenge fund and the amounts received has been placed in the Library.
A small number of trusts did not benefit from the full allocation because of an overriding pre-existing agreement with the trust covering all capital finance in
2006-07, and in these cases the amount received (column 2) was less than the allocation from the capital challenge fund.
Ritalin
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in England were prescribed methylphenidate drugs in each year between 1997 and 2006. [130761]
Caroline Flint: The Department does not hold data on the number of patients prescribed methylphenidate hydrochloride drugs. The table shows the number of prescription items dispensed in the community in England.
| Number of prescription items dispensed (thousand) | |
Smoking
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence plans to publish its public health programme guidance on smoking cessation. [130415]
Caroline Flint: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence expects to publish its public health programme guidance on smoking cessation in November 2007.
Testicular Cancer
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking (a) to increase public awareness of the signs and symptoms of testicular cancer and (b) to promote early diagnosis. [132166]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Testicular cancer is almost always curable if found early. The disease responds well to treatment even if it has spread to other parts of the body. More than nine out of 10 patients are cured.
Men should be aware of any unusual changes and consult doctors early in order to ensure the maximum chance of a cure. That is why we have collaborated with Cancer Research UK in the production of a leaflet to promote the public awareness of testicular cancer, ‘Testicular Cancer: Spot The Symptoms Early’. Around 250,000 copies of the leaflet were produced in 2006-07, distributed through Cancer Research UK helplines, at events and in Cancer Research UK shops. The leaflet has been placed in the Library and can be viewed at:
info.cancerresearchuk.org/images/publicationspdfs/leaflet_testicular.pdf
Wheelchair Services
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to ensure that those provided with wheelchair services prior to March 2005 can be issued with replacement wheelchairs to at least the same specification when their criteria remain unchanged and do not meet the revised criteria set out in version 005 of the health care standards for wheelchair services under the NHS published in March 2005; and if she will make a statement. [114636]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The needs of those requiring wheelchair services will continue to be assessed individually on the basis of clinical need and locally determined eligibility criteria. The document ‘Health Care Standards for Wheelchair Services under the NHS’ was not a document published or endorsed by the Department but was produced by the wheelchair managers forum, which includes representation from the British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine, empower, the National Forum of Wheelchair User Groups the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency, the Posture and Mobility group and Whizz-Kidz. The document was issued as guidance and is not mandatory.
Treasury
Departments: Computers
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what (a) instructions are issued to staff in his Department and (b) technical procedures are in place to shut down computers at night. [136105]
John Healey: All Treasury staff are instructed to shut down their computers overnight, through internal guidance and IT induction courses, as part of the Department’s sustainable development strategy to minimise energy use.
Departments: Silverfish TV
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has met representatives from Silverfish TV in the last three years. [133444]
John Healey: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings.
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what payments his Department made to Silverfish TV in each year since 1997; and what the purpose was of each. [133445]
John Healey: HM Treasury has awarded no contracts to Silverfish TV since April 2003. Information relating to earlier years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Hospitals
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many official visits to NHS hospitals he has made since May 2005; and which hospital was visited in each case. [135867]
John Healey: The Chancellor and Treasury Ministers have made a number of visits across the United Kingdom since May 2005, including visits to NHS hospitals. The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, I can confirm the Chancellor most recently visited Birmingham Heartlands Hospital on 27 April 2007.
Inheritance Tax
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of families in Copeland who will be affected by changes made to the inheritance tax allowance. [135492]
Ed Balls: The information which would be needed to produce estimates at local levels is not available.
NHS: Finance
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has estimated the costs to (a) the Department of Health and its executive agencies and (b) the NHS of the proposed changes in the Finance Bill 2007 for tackling the risk posed to the Exchequer of the operational practices of managed service companies. [135757]
Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs. Villiers) on 20 April 2007, Official Report, column 863W.
Office for National Statistics
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the Office for National Statistics (ONS) chooses people for interview in the course of compiling its statistics; what obligation there is on such people to respond; what guidance the ONS gives to such people; and if he will make a statement. [135806]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated May 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how the Office for National Statistics (ONS) chooses people for interview in the course of compiling its statistics; what obligation there is on such. people to respond; what guidance the ONS gives to such people. I am replying in her absence. (135806)
The ONS interviews people as part of its Social Survey Programme. Addresses are selected at random from the Royal Mail’s Postcode Address list. Residents at those addresses are then interviewed. Participation in the survey is voluntary.
All households selected for interview receive an early warning letter from the Office. This letter explains the purpose of the survey, the selection procedures and encourages participation. It also describes on whose behalf the survey is being conducted. In some cases a small reward (in the form of a gift voucher) is
offered on completion. The letter also provides details of the interviewers and offers an inquiry line for questions.
When interviewers call at the address they provide interviewees with a leaflet which covers many of the points referred to above, in more detail. This leaflet also explains to respondents that data obtained in the interview are confidential and are used for statistical purposes only. When asked whether the interviews are mandatory, interviewers are trained to explain that they are conducted on a voluntary basis. I am placing a copy of a sample of the leaflet and introductory letter in the House of Commons Library.
ONS also interviews people at airports for the International Passenger Survey, where people are again selected randomly at the Departures and Arrivals areas of ports and airports. In addition ONS does sometimes interview people via telephone to follow up social survey interviews first conducted face-to-face, as described above.
Official Cars
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 13 December 2006 by the Minister of State, Department for Transport, Official Report, column 1068W, on official cars, how many times his Department has granted permission to a special adviser to use an official car in the last 12 months. [136310]
John Healey: All travel by Ministers is conducted in line with the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers. All travel by civil servants, including special advisers, is conducted in line with the Civil Service Management Code.
Poverty: Children
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many children in Copeland he expects to be helped out of living in poverty as a result of the changes announced in the 2007 Budget; [135495]
(2) what percentage of the additional expenditure on tax credits announced in the 2007 Budget is expected to be claimed by families in Copeland; [135498]
(3) how many families in Copeland will receive the increase in the child element of the child tax credit announced in the 2007 Budget. [135499]
Mr. Timms: HMRC statistics(1) show that, at 3 April 2007, approximately 7,400 children in 4,100 families in Copeland were receiving above the family element of child tax credit and would benefit from increasing the child element by £150 per year above earnings indexation. In addition to this, increasing the child element above earnings indexation will mean that some families in Copeland currently receiving only the family element of child tax credit will also receive some of the child element. It is however, not possible to prevent poverty statistics below the regional level.
Nationally, as a result of the package of measures announced in Budget 2007:
households with children will be, on average, £200 a year better off;
households with children in the bottom fifth of the income distribution will be on average, on average, £350 a year better off; and
200,000 children will be lifted out of poverty.
It is not known what percentage of the additional expenditure on tax credits announced in the 2007 Budget is expected to be claimed by families in Copeland, as we do not break down expenditure to constituency level.
Revenue and Customs: Publicity
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been spent on online website advertising services as part of the “Tax doesn’t have to be taxing” campaign since its launch. [133322]
John Healey: Since the launch in 1999, £2,522,459 has been spent on online website advertising services as part of the “Tax doesn’t have to be taxing” campaign.
The latest tracking research has shown that the proportion of people claiming to have started online filing has continued to increase.
In 2007, 2.9 million filed online, 35.1 per cent. of total returns against a target of 35 per cent.
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