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25 Jun 2007 : Column 240W—continued
Departments: Pay
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in her Department received bonus payments in 2006-07; what proportion of the total workforce they represented; what the total amount of bonuses paid was; what the largest single payment was; and if she will make a statement. [143086]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: 420 staff in the Department received bonus payments in 2006-07. They represented 19 per cent. of the total workforce. The total amount of bonuses paid was £1,400,049. The largest single payment was £22,500.
A significant proportion of bonuses paid were to staff who are senior civil servants, where the Department’s policy is determined by the Cabinet Office guidance on civil service bonuses.
Departments: Political Parties
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which (a) executives, (b) non-executives and (c) officials in her Department’s arm’s length bodies have declared political affiliations to (i) the Labour Party, (ii) the Conservative Party, (iii) the Liberal Democrat Party and (iv) other political parties; and whether declaration of political affiliation forms part of the application process for such posts. [145667]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department does not hold information centrally on the political affiliations of its arm’s length body executives, non-executives and officials and it would be disproportionately expensive to gather this information.
The application process for a post within the Department’s arm’s length bodies does not require applicants to make a declaration about their political affiliations.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which (a) executives, (b) non-executives and (c) officials in her Department’s arm's length bodies have previously worked for (i) the Labour Party, (ii) the Conservative Party, (iii) the Liberal Democrat Party, (iv) other political parties and (v) trades unions. [145668]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department does not hold such information centrally and it would be disproportionately expensive to gather the information.
Departments: Private Finance Initiative
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the value is of the unitary payments of each private finance initiative scheme overseen by her Department over the lifetime of the contract, expressed in 2007-08 prices and discounted to present value. [145869]
Andy Burnham: A full list of unitary payments to 2033-34 can be found on the HM Treasury website at:
The figures in the table are expressed in nominal terms, that is, the Department has applied a deflator (retail price index (RPI)—the one normally used in contracts) to the baseline figure submitted to it by the trust or primary care trust concerned. Figures will therefore vary as a result of changes to RPI.
Unitary payments may also fluctuate both up and down as a result of adjustments made relating to the performance of the contractor, additional services requested by the trust and the effect of refinancing.
Departments: Public Participation
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many public consultations her Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation. [145277]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Over the 12 months to the end of May 2007, the Department launched 43 formal public consultations in order to inform the Department’s policy development.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency launched 16 public consultations in the same period.
The NHS Purchasing Supply Agency did not launch any public consultations in the same period.
Information on the cost of each consultation and the total cost of all consultations could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her Department’s overall expenditure was on public consultations in 2006-07. [145582]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department does not hold information centrally about costs of public consultations. Information on the Department’s overall expenditure on public consultations could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Remploy
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) services and (b) products her Department has procured from Remploy in the last 12 months; and at what cost. [143793]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department’s finance system, Vista, shows one purchase order has been raised for Remploy in the last 12 months. The products procured were a quadrant corner unit and filing cabinet at a total cost of £3,400.31. No services were procured from Remploy.
Departments: Sick Leave
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what average number of days per year was taken by staff in her Department as sick leave in each of the last five years for which records are available. [143060]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is available in a series of annual reports entitled “Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service”, published by the Cabinet Office and is available on their website at:
The latest available information is for 2005-06. The report for 2006-07 will be published in September 2007.
Dietary Supplements: EC law
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps officials based in British embassies to other European Union member states are taking to ensure that the Government's objectives for the interpretation and implementation of the Food Supplements Directive are met; [145630]
(2) what steps the staff of the UK permanent representative in Brussels are taking to ensure that the Government's stated objectives for the interpretation and implementation of the Food Supplements Directive are met; [145631]
(3) what recent representations she has received from consumers on the interpretation and implementation of the Food Supplements Directive; and what steps she plans to take to ensure her objectives for the interpretation and implementation of the Directive are met; [145644]
(4) what meetings have been held by (a) Ministers and (b) officials of her Department and associated agencies with (i) representatives of the European Commission, (ii) Governments of other member states and (iii) officials of other member states on the Food Supplements Directive (vitamins and minerals); what the date was of each meeting; what points were raised at each; and what conclusions reached; [145645]
(5) when she last met Commissioner Markos Kyprianou to discuss the impact on consumer choice and the specialist manufacturing and retail sector of
the implementation of the Food Supplements Directive and the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in supplements under article 5 of that Directive; what the outcome was of that meeting; and when next she plans to meet the Commissioner further to discuss these issues. [145646]
Caroline Flint: Bilateral meetings of Health Ministers were held with Germany, Lithuania and Portugal in November 2006. Bilateral meetings of officials were held with Netherlands, Ireland, Finland, Germany, France and Italy in 2006. Additional meetings were held with the Netherlands in November 2006 and with German officials in March 2007. Officials have regular contact with the Commission and most recently met with Commission officials in November 2006.
The meetings were held to highlight the United Kingdom's (UK) position on supplements and discuss the outcome of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) Board discussions on setting maximum levels of vitamins and minerals. Member states were receptive to the ideas presented by the FSA but had not developed their own definitive positions in the absence of proposals from the Commission. The Commission welcomed the UK Government's response to the discussion document published in June 2006 on issues for setting levels of vitamins and minerals in foodstuffs and commented that previous work taken forward by the UK in 2003 on establishing safe upper levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements will be a key factor in developing future proposals. Ministers of other member states have not been engaged on the issue of setting maximum levels of vitamins and minerals in food supplements to date, but were receptive to the UK's views and wished to learn more about the UK’s position.
A meeting has not been held with Commissioner Markos Kyprianou to discuss the impact on consumer choice and the specialist manufacturing and retail sector of the implementation of the food supplements directive and the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in supplements under article 5 of that Directive. A future meeting has not been planned.
Representations have been received from consumers on the interpretation and implementation of the food supplements directive, highlighting their concerns regarding the possibility that the Commission intends to propose restrictive daily dose levels for vitamin and mineral supplements and the potential consequent loss of consumer choice. The UK's key objective is for levels to be set based on a risk assessment, and for any controls to ensure safety for consumers and allow them to make informed choices. FSA officials will continue dialogue between the Commission and member states on this issue.
Officials based in British embassies to other European Union member states have not indicated that they are taking action regarding promotion of the Government's objectives for the interpretation and implementation of the food supplements directive.
Staff of the UK permanent representative in Brussels have been briefed on the Government’s stated objectives for the interpretation and implementation of the food supplements directive and are speaking to the Commission directly.
Drugs: Misuse
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of people with an addiction to an illegal drug in each London borough in each year since 1997. [144642]
Caroline Flint: The Department has not published estimates on the number of people with an addiction to an illegal drug in London.
The National Treatment Agency’s national drug treatment monitoring system collects data on the numbers of clients in treatment for addiction to all illegal drugs. London data from 2003-04 are shown in the following table. Local level data are not available prior to 2003-04.
| Number in treatment in London 2003-06 | |||
| DAT | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 |
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