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15 Nov 2007 : Column 371W—continued
Housing: Low Incomes
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department has issued on the definition of affordable housing to be used by planning authorities when considering planning applications for mixed housing. [164900]
Mr. Iain Wright: A new definition of affordable housing appears in Planning Policy Statement 3—Housing which was published in November 2006. The definition states that:
“Affordable housing includes social rented and intermediate housing, provided to specified eligible households whose needs are not met by the market. Affordable housing should:
Meet the needs of eligible households including availability at a cost low enough for them to afford, determined with regard to local incomes and local house prices.
Include provision for the home to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households or, if these restrictions are lifted, for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative housing provision.”
Local planning authorities are required to use this definition when preparing plan policies and determining planning applications for housing.
Further guidance is included in the accompanying document “Delivering Affordable Housing”. It is for local planning authorities to use these documents to inform decisions on individual cases with reference to local needs.
Local Government: Standards
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the description is of each national indicator for which a description is available. [162539]
John Healey: The 198 national indicators for local authorities and local authority partnerships were announced as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review. In reducing the number of indicators to from around 1,200 to 198 the Government have delivered on the first part of its commitment to streamline the local performance framework.
To be effective indicators need to be clearly defined in a way that is meaningful on the ground. On 8 November we published a consultation seeking feedback on the detailed definitions on the 198 indicators.
The consultation will run until 21 December and seeks views from local authorities and their partners on the methodology, frequency of reporting and data source of each individual indicator. The consultation document contains full descriptions of the national indicators and is available at:
Maps: Licensing
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many licences were granted under section 107 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 for people to use Ordnance Survey maps in each of the last five years. [164138]
Mr. Iain Wright: Ordnance Survey has granted no licences specifically under section 107 of the Copyright and Design and Patents Act 1988 in any of the last five years.
Non-domestic Rates: Small Businesses
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many small businesses in Copeland have applied for small business rate relief over the last five financial years. [163004]
John Healey: The information requested is not available. However, as at 31 December 2006, there were 504 business in Copeland that were in receipt of small business rate relief.
Rented Housing: Rents
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the impact of her policy of rent restructuring. [164195]
Mr. Iain Wright: No formal assessment of the policy has been made since the recommendations of the three-year review undertaken in 2004, which made three recommendations:
higher bedroom weights for three- and four-bed properties, and new, higher weightings for properties with five and six (or more) bedrooms;
from April 2005, using the same formula for restructuring local authority rents as that which is currently used for restructuring RSL rents, and adopting the RPI as the inflation measure used in calculating local authority rent increases.
local authorities should ignore the downward limit of RPI+ 0.5 per cent. minus £2 per week on rent changes, in order to achieve restructuring on all properties for which rents need to fall by 2011-12. The Housing Corporation should also encourage associations to do the same, where their finances permit.
After further consultation with stakeholders, these recommendations were implemented in full from 1 April 2006.
The Government wish to see the policy implemented for a period of time before considering a formal assessment.
Health
Abortion
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of English conceptions which ended in terminations in each of the last five years. [162974]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is set out in the following table.
| Annual statistics on abortions as a percentage of all conceptions (England and Wales) since 2001 | ||
| Conceptions—all ages | ||
| Total (thousand) | Percentage ending i n abortion | |
Alcoholic Drinks: Rehabilitation
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding was available for alcohol rehabilitation services in each of the last five years, broken down by strategic health authority. [163378]
Dawn Primarolo: The information is not held centrally.
Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust: Doctors
Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors and (b) accident and emergency doctors were employed by Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Trust in each of the last 10 years. [162259]
Ann Keen: The following table shows all medical and dental staff working within Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals National Health Service Trust(1) and of those staff, those working in the accident and emergency specialty by year
| Number (headcount) | ||
| As at 30 September each year | All medical and dental staff | Of which: Accident and emergency |
| (1) 1997 and 1998 show Wellhouse NHS Trust and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust. These organisations merged in April 1999 to form Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust. | ||
Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust: Nurses
Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) nurses and (b) accident and emergency nurses were employed by Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Trust in each of the last 10 years. [162260]
Ann Keen: The information is not held in the format requested. Although numbers of nursing and midwifery staff are recorded, the numbers of those working within accident and emergency cannot be separately identified.
The following table lists the number of qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff employed by Barnet and Chase Farm National Health Service Trust.
| Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff( 1) | |
| As at 30 September each year | Number (headcount) |
| (1) More accurate validation processes in 2006 have resulted in the identification and removal of 9,858 duplicate non-medical staff records out of the total work force figure of 1.3 million in 2006. Earlier years’ figures could not be accurately validated in this way and so will be slightly inflated. The level of inflation in earlier years' figures is estimated to be less than 1 per cent. of total across all non-medical staff groups for headcount figures. This should be taken into consideration when analysing trends over time. | |
Breast Cancer: Screening
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what extra funding he plans to make available to primary care trusts to allow them to extend breast cancer screening to women between the ages of 47 and 73 years. [163282]
Ann Keen: In September, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced proposals for cancer services including extending the breast cancer screening age range to women aged between 47 and 73.
We aim to publish the Cancer Reform Strategy, which will set out the future direction of cancer services in England, by the end of the year. Details on the implementation of the proposals already announced will be issued in due course.
Funding for the extension of the breast screening programme has been included in the comprehensive spending review settlement, and will be allocated to and managed by NHS Cancer Screening Programmes on behalf of primary care trusts.
Broomfield Hospital: Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to receive Treasury approval for the Broomfield hospital private finance initiative scheme; and if he will make a statement. [163632]
Mr. Bradshaw: The full business case for the £147 million Broomfield hospital private finance initiative scheme for Mid Essex Hospitals Services NHS Trust was approved by the Department and HM Treasury on 14 November. The scheme can now proceed to financial close.
Cancer: Consultants
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cancer specialists were recruited in each year since 2000; how many full time equivalent cancer specialists there were in each year since 2000; and if he will make a statement. [163285]
Ann Keen [holding answer 12 November 2007]: Figures on recruitment of cancer consultants are not collected centrally but the following table shows the increase in consultants numbers over the previous year.
| Number of cancer consultants( 1) recruited at September each year (by headcount) | |
| Number | |
The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent cancer consultants at September each year.
| Number of cancer consultants( 1) at September each year (by full-time equivalent) | |
| Number | |
| (1) The six main cancer specialists consist of clinical oncology, medical oncology, palliative medicine, haematology, histopathology and clinical radiology. Source: Information Centre, Medical and Dental Workforce Census | |
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