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24 May 2007 : Column 1520W—continued
NHS: Nappies
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the promotion of (a) reusable nappies and (b) disposable nappies in NHS hospitals; and if she will make a statement. [137676]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: It is for individual national health service hospitals and trusts to determine the practicalities of promoting the use of reusable and/or disposable nappies in their maternity units. We believe that parents and carers should be given information on the benefits of using either of these options to enable them to make an informed choice. Two comprehensive information booklets, “The Pregnancy Book” and “Birth to Five”, published by Central Office of Information on behalf of the Department, are given free to all first time mothers. Both booklets give detailed information on both types of nappies.
NHS: Vacancies
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the three-month vacancy rate was for (a) consultant psychiatrists, (b) psychiatric nurses and (c) all medical and dental staff in the NHS in the latest period for which figures are available. [135881]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The latest published three-month vacancy rates as at 31 March 2006 for all medical and dental staff, consultants in psychiatry, all qualified nurses in community psychiatry and other nurses in psychiatry are shown in the table.
| 2006 three-month vacancy rate (percentage) | |
| Notes: 1. Three-month vacancies are vacancies as at 31 March each year which trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (full time equivalents). 2. Three-month vacancy rates are three-month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three-month vacancies plus staff in post from the previous September medical and dental and non-medical work force censuses (full time equivalent). Source: March 2006 NHS Vacancy Survey | |
Primary Care Trusts: Public Appointments
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of the appointees to the boards of primary care trusts in each of the last five years declared political activity for (a) the Labour party, (b) the Conservative party, (c) the Liberal Democrats and (d) other parties. [138066]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The appointment of primary care trusts chairs and non-executive directors has been delegated to the Appointments Commission by the Secretary of State. I have, therefore, asked Anne Watts, Chair of the Commission, to respond to the hon. Gentleman directly with the detailed information requested.
Psychology: Manpower
Kitty Ussher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her Department's target is for the number of clinical psychologists per head of population. [117923]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department does not have a target for the number of clinical psychologists per head of population. However, the number of clinical psychologists in headcount terms has increased from 4,038 in 1997 to 6,820 in 2006—an increase of 2,782 or 69 per cent.
It is the responsibility of primary care trusts and strategic health authorities to analyse their local needs and develop plans, in liaison with national health service trusts and primary care providers, to recruit the appropriate staff required to deliver high quality services.
Radiography: Manpower
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many radiographers were (a) directly employed and (b) employed by contractor in the NHS for breast cancer screening in (i) 2003, (ii) 2004 and (iii) 2005. [138576]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 21 May 2007]: The numbers of radiographers directly engaged in breast screening are not collected centrally.
The overall numbers of diagnostic radiographers directly employed by the national health service for the years 2003-05 were:
| Number | |
The numbers of radiographers employed by contractors are not collected centrally.
Radiotherapy
Mr. Lansley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2007, Official Report, columns 165-66W, on radiotherapy, what the mean length of time between (a) ready to start date and start date and (b) decision to treat date and start date was in the most recent period for which figures are available,
broken down by patient priority classification (i) E, (ii) U, (iii) R and (iv) D. [137372]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The radiotherapy dataset project is not yet complete. Mandating the collection of the dataset is currently being sought through the Review of Central Returns Committee, and if approved, the radiotherapy dataset should become a full national health service operational standard in 2008. It will then be possible to derive radiotherapy waiting times analysis from the dataset.
An audit of waiting times in radiotherapy was recently carried out by the Royal College of Radiologists, and was published in Clinical Oncology. The paper is available at:
A copy has been placed in the Library.
Sight Impaired
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England were registered as partially sighted in each year since 1997; [138218]
(2) how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England were registered as blind in each year since 1997. [138219]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information for Jarrow constituency is not centrally available.
The number of people who are registered as blind or partially sighted in South Tyneside, the North East of England and England, for all ages, at 31 March for the years 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2006 are shown in the following two tables.
| Table 1: Number of people registered as blind at 31 March between 1997 and 2006 | ||||
| 1997 | 2000 | 2003 | 2006 | |
| Note: Registration is voluntary; therefore this does not give the total number of blind people. Source: SSDA902 | ||||
| Table 2: Number of people registered as partially sighted at 31 March between 1997 and 2006 | ||||
| 1997 | 2000 | 2003 | 2006 | |
| Note: Registration is voluntary; therefore this does not give the total number of partially sighted people. Source: SSDA902 | ||||
Statistics on all registered blind and partially sighted persons are collected triennially from all 150 councils in England.
Prime Minister
Departments: Travel
Greg Clark: To ask the Prime Minister whether the cost of his journey to and from Sedgefield on 10 May was met from public funds. [139143]
The Prime Minister: The costs were met by the Labour Party.
Departments: Visits Abroad
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his foreign visits for the period since 10 May 2007; who accompanied him on each visit; and what the total cost was of each visit, including transport and accommodation. [139133]
The Prime Minister: Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. Copies of these lists are available in the Library of the House. Information on the number of officials accompanying Ministers on overseas visits is included in the list.
All Ministers’ travel arrangements are in accordance with the arrangements for official travel set out in chapter 10 of the Ministerial Code, and the accompanying guidance document, “Travel by Ministers”. Information for 2007-08 will be published in the normal way.
Krishna Maharaj
Peter Bottomley: To ask the Prime Minister what representations he (a) has made and (b) plans to make to (i) the Governor of Florida and (ii) the United States Administration on the situation of Mr. Krishna Maharaj. [139184]
Mr. McCartney: I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have not made any representations in this case. On behalf of the Government, I have written to the Governor of Florida in support of Mr. Maharaj’s clemency plea. No further representations are planned at this stage but we will continue to monitor the case closely.
Prime Ministerial Duties and Responsibilities
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2007, Official Report, columns 1120-1W, on Prime Ministerial duties and responsibilities, what the practice under successive Administrations is, referred to in the answer of 9 December 2003, Official Report, column 374W, to the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis), on ministerial duties; and on what occasions appropriate arrangements have been put in place in line with this practice. [139179]
The Prime Minister: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave my hon. Friend on 21 May 2007, Official Report, columns 1120-21W.
Communities and Local Government
Aerials: Planning Permission
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes are planned to the planning guidance in relation to mobile telephone masts; and if she will make a statement. [138105]
Meg Munn: The Government intend to review the permitted development rights contained in Part 24 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 which grant a general planning permission for some types of minor telecommunications development to take place without the need to submit a planning application to the local planning authority. The aim of the review is to ensure that permitted development rights remain fit for purpose, particularly in the light of technological advances in telecommunications. Following the completion of this review, we will consider what, if any, changes might be necessary to Government Planning Policy in relation to telecommunications.
Brownfield Development
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will give the figures referred to in the answer of 22 May 2006, Official Report, columns 1387-8W, on brownfield development, for the latest year available, broken down by region, county and local authority. [136372]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 8 May 2007]: Information on (a) the percentage of new dwellings on previously-developed land (also referred to as “brownfield” land) as a proportion of all new dwellings including conversions (b) the percentage of new dwellings on previously-residential land as a proportion of all dwellings on previously-developed land and (c) the percentage of new dwellings on previously-residential land as a proportion of all new dwellings for 2005 has been placed in the Library.
This information has been taken from the Department’s Land Use Change Statistics (LUCS). Because of the way that LUCS data are collected, the statistics are variable from year to year and are usually given as an average over a multi-year period at a local authority level as this is considered more robust and representative. However, as requested, the latest figures available have been provided.
Buildings: Scotland
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions her Department has had with the Scottish Executive on the implementation of EU Directive 2002/91/EC, on energy performance of buildings in Scotland. [137574]
Angela E. Smith: Communities and Local Government have held several meetings and discussions with Scotland and Northern Ireland to discuss implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. Scotland, as a devolved Administration, is not required to implement the directive in the same manner as England and Wales.
Departments: Manpower
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff funded by the public purse in her Department and its agencies are classified as people without posts. [137707]
Angela E. Smith: On 30 April there were 19 staff in the Department for Communities and Local Government without a post. There is a small team responsible for helping people to find new jobs when they are without a post. We do not hold information centrally about staff without posts in the Government Offices or in the Department’s Agencies.
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