You are here: Parliament home page > Parliamentary business > Publications and Records > Hansard > Commons Debates > Daily Hansard - Written Answers
Previous Section Index Home Page

19 July 2007 : Column 536W—continued

Pupils: Mental Health

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his latest estimate is of the number of school age pupils who have been prescribed drugs for (a) depression, (b) behaviour control and (c) mental health problems in each year from 1996-97 to 2006-07; and if he will make a statement. [149151]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.

Information is not available on the number of school-aged children who have been prescribed medication for depression, behaviour control or other mental health problems. However, data are available on the number of prescriptions dispensed to children under 16 years and those aged 16 to 18 years in full time education.

Antidepressant drugs are classified under British National Formulary (BNF) section 4.3.


19 July 2007 : Column 537W
BNF 4.3: Antidepressant drugs
Financial year Items under 16 Items 16 to 18 in full time education

1996-97

78,353

92,569

1997-98

86,796

109,862

1998-99

83,070

108,846

1999-2000

86,152

104,256

2000-01

99,299

119,645

2001-02

112,914

130,887

2002-03

119,566

144,331

2003-04

104,733

144,607

2004-05

94,905

122,246

2005-06

107,965

107,268

2006-07

109,535

103,023


Drugs for behaviour control are classified under BNF section 4.4: Central Nervous System (CNS) stimulants and drugs used for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This section also contains Modafil which is used for daytime sleepiness associated with chronic pathological conditions including narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, and chronic shift work.

BNF 4.4: CNS stimulants and drugs used for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Financial year Items u nder 16 Items 16 to 18 in full time education

1996-97

48,264

2,058

1997-98

86,247

3,388

1998-99

112,294

4,596

1999-2000

144,894

7,698

2000-01

171,244

7,873

2001-02

200,202

9,225

2002-03

247,115

11,935

2003-04

289,009

17,218

2004-05

338,909

24,906

2005-06

379,334

31,694

2006-07

454,797

40,339


Drugs for mental health problems are classified in BNF section 4.2: Drugs used in psychoses and related disorders.


19 July 2007 : Column 538W
BNF 4.2: Drugs used in psychoses and related disorders
Financial year Items under 16 Items 16 to 18 in full time education

1996-97

19,466

25,038

1997-98

21,368

27,807

1998-99

22,666

22,484

1999-2000

22,494

18,242

2000-01

26,187

19,338

2001-02

27,299

18,332

2002-03

35,089

19,666

2003-04

38,687

23,695

2004-05

47,340

27,502

2005-06

59,834

26,002

2006-07

66,961

29,954
Notes:
1. PCA data: Prescription information is taken from the Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system, supplied by the Prescription Pricing Division (PPD) of the Business Services Authority (BSA), and is based on a full analysis of all prescriptions dispensed in the community, i.e. by community pharmacists and appliance contractors, dispensing doctors, and prescriptions submitted by prescribing doctors for items personally administered in England. Also included are prescriptions written in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man but dispensed in England. The data do not cover drugs dispensed in hospitals, including mental health trusts, or private prescriptions.
2. Prescription items: Prescriptions are written on a prescription form. Each single item written on the form is counted as a prescription item.
3. Exemption category estimates: The exemption data are identified from the box ticked on the back of the prescription form and rely on the form being completed correctly which may not always be the case. Information for categories that are not required to pay a charge (e.g. children) is based on a one in 20 sample of all exempt prescriptions dispensed by community pharmacists, appliance contractors and dispensing doctors. The information we have is therefore an estimate and subject to sampling errors. Children are defined as 0 to 15-year-olds, and as 16 to 18-year-olds in full-time education.
4. Dispensing doctors: Data up to 2000 are not strictly comparable with data from later years. Up until September 2000 only patients having their prescriptions dispensed by the community pharmacists and appliance contractors were required to complete the back of the prescription form, but from October 2000 this requirement was extended to patients of dispensing doctors. Therefore data prior to October 2000 do not include prescriptions dispensed by dispensing doctors.
5. BNF classifications: The Prescription Cost Analysis system uses the therapeutic classifications defined in the British National Formulary (BNF). No information on why a drug is prescribed is available and since drugs can be prescribed to treat more than one condition it is impossible to separate the different conditions that a drug was prescribed for.

Schools: Compensation

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what total amount of compensation claims was made against schools in the last 12 months; and if he will list the 10 highest such claims, identifying the nature of each case. [148184]

Jim Knight: The Department does not collect this information.

Teenage Pregnancy

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the rate of conception in young people under the age of 18 years was in each of the last 10 years. [150776]

Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 19 July 2007:


19 July 2007 : Column 539W
Conceptions by age: number and rate for England and Wales, 1996-2005( 1)
Under 18
Number Rate( 2)

1996

43,489

46

1997

43,358

46

1998

44,119

47

1999

42,028

45

2000

41,348

44

2001

40,990

43

2002

41,951

43

2003

42,162

42

2004

42,198

42

2005(1)

42,187

41

(1) Figures for 2005 are provisional.
(2) Rate per 1,000 females aged 15 to 17.

Teenage Pregnancy Unit

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what budget was allocated to the Teenage Pregnancy Unit in each year since 2000; and what budget has been allocated to the unit for the next three years; [150777]

(2) what projects are being undertaken by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit; [150778]

(3) how many civil servants are working for the Teenage Pregnancy Unit; and what their job descriptions are; [150779]

(4) what percentage of teenage (a) mothers and (b) fathers were in education, training or employment in each of the last 10 years. [150780]

Beverley Hughes: The budget allocated to support delivery of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy since its launch in 1999 is provided in the following table. The table identifies separately the amounts spent on: local implementation (paid through a local implementation grant to each top-tier local authority in England); and the amount retained by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit (TPU) to pay for aspects of the strategy that are best managed centrally, such as funding for the national media campaign. Budgets for the next Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) period have not yet been fixed.

£ m illion
Financial year Local implementation Central costs Total

1999-2000

4.5

0.5

5

2000-01

11.5

4.5

16

2001-02

16

5

21

2002-03

16

5

21

2003-04

(1)33

7

40

2004-05

(1)33

7

40

2005-06

(1)33

5

38

2006-07

29.5

5.5

35

2007-08 (provisional)

29.5

5.5

35

(1 )Budgets in years 2003-04 to2005-06 included funding for the Sure Start Plus pilots
Next Section Index Home Page