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27 Nov 2007 : Column 414W—continued
Social rent new build is only part of total affordable housing supply. In 2005-06, for example, acquisitions added a further 2,407 social rent dwellings, and total affordable supply including intermediate rent and low cost home ownership was 44,923.
A table showing information of total social rent (registered social landlord plus local authority) new build by local authority has been placed in the Library of the House.
Health
18 Weeks Programme: Finance
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the annual budget of the Central Secretariat for his Department’s 18 weeks programme is. [165699]
Mr. Bradshaw: Departmental servants provide the secretariat to the 18 weeks programme as part of their wider responsibilities. The cost of the secretariat function is not recorded separately.
18 Weeks Programme: Internet
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the annual cost of running the website for his Department’s 18 weeks programme is. [165700]
Mr. Bradshaw: In the period November 2006 to October 2007 the annual cost of running the 18 weeks website was £108,508. This includes staff costs, website development and maintenance.
Nearly 9,000 people are registered with the website and receive regular updates on 18 weeks programme developments and support. Over 1,100 people visit the website every day.
Abortion: Medical Ethics
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce legislation to amend section 4 of the Abortion Act 1967 to remove the duty on a physician with a conscientious objection to treatment under the Act from having to prove it; and if he will make a statement. [167388]
Dawn Primarolo: Section 4 of the Abortion Act provides that, except where treatment is necessary to save the life of, or prevent grave permanent injury to, the pregnant woman,
“no person shall be under any duty, whether by contract or by any statutory or other legal requirement, to participate in any treatment authorised by this Act to which he has a conscientious objection”.
A doctor is only required to prove that they have a conscientious objection should the matter arise in legal proceedings.
It is accepted parliamentary practice that proposals for changes in the law on abortion come from Back-Bench Members and that decisions are made on the basis of free votes. The Government have no plans to change the law on abortion.
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision the alcohol harm reduction strategy contains for the treatment of under-18 year olds; and what associated initiatives are located in Wirral West constituency. [166366]
Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
‘Safe. Sensible. Social’. The updated alcohol harm reduction strategy for England identifies under-18s as a priority group for Government action on alcohol and
sets out the reduction of drinking by young people as a Government objective. Actions specifically aimed at addressing young people's alcohol misuse include producing guidance for young people and their parents about what is and what is not safe; a social marketing campaign to challenge attitudes around drinking; and tackling underage sales.
£25 million has been allocated in this financial year for treatment for under-18s from the adult pooled treatment budget for substance misuse. Alcohol is the biggest presenting problem for those under-18s who access treatment. The adult pooled treatment budget can also be accessed if local strategic partnerships identify greater need and adult targets have been met.
On the basis of information supplied by the Wirral dug and alcohol action team, (DAAT), there are a number of initiatives in Wirral West that aim to reduce the harms associated with substance misuse, including alcohol young people, through the Young People's Substance Misuse Service. They are:
School drug advisers: support all schools in Wirral in developing policies for drug education and managing drug-related incidents;
School nurses/looked after nurses: provide screening and basic information to young people;
Connexions: provides a universal support service designed for and with young people;
Churches Action on Substance Misuse (third sector);
Forum Housing (third sector): provides support to young people living in supported accommodation;
Sports and recreation (regeneration): offers diversionary activity to young people at risk of or involved in substance misuse;
Response: works with organisations, which provide services to young people at risk of or involved in alcohol misuse;
Youth offending services;
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS): responds to the needs of young people with complex substance misuse problems.
Blood: Donors
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much blood was donated via the national blood donor scheme in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [167254]
Dawn Primarolo: The National Blood Service (NBS) is responsible for managing the blood supply in England and North Wales. In the last five financial years, the NBS collected the following amounts:
| Units of blood collected( 1) (million ) | |
| (1) These figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000. | |
Bone Diseases: Medical Treatments
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure that patients with ankylosing spondylitis do not face delays in receiving the two anti-TNF treatments recently approved by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) if the final appraisal decision is delayed by an appeal in support of the one anti-TNF treatment that NICE rejected. [168179]
Dawn Primarolo: Funding for licensed treatments should not be withheld because guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is unavailable. In December 2006, we issued refreshed good practice guidance which asks national health service bodies to continue with local arrangements for the managed introduction of new technologies where guidance from NICE is not available at the time the treatment or technology first becomes available.
Cancer: Drugs
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in trials of the cancer drug sorafenib; and when a decision on the licensing of sorafenib will be made. [166852]
Dawn Primarolo: The European Commission adopted a decision on the licensing of sorafenib on 19 July 2006 for treatment in advanced renal cell carcinoma. This marketing authorisation is valid across the Community. On 29 October 2007, the Commission issued a decision extending the indication for sorafenib to include treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.
Care Homes: Standards
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to review the implementation of the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare; and if he will make a statement. [165821]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The National Framework for National Health Service Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care will be reviewed on 30 September 2008.
Chlamydia Infection: Screening
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what resources will be made available to local chlamydia screening teams to implement the National Chlamydia Screening Programme's men's strategy. [168143]
Dawn Primarolo: In February 2005, individual primary care trusts (PCTs) were notified of their funding for implementing the targets in the White Paper ‘Choosing Health: making healthy choices easier’. For chlamydia screening, £70 million was allocated in PCTs mainstream allocations for 2006-07 and 2007-08. It is for strategic health authorities and PCTs to determine how this funding is allocated to meet the health care needs of their local populations. A copy of the White Paper is available in the Library.
The men's strategy, launched in conjunction with the Men's Health Forum in November, identifies how the Health Protection Agency, who manage the programme, will work with PCTs and local chlamydia screening programmes to increase screening in men.
Clinical Trials: Advisory Services
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will hold discussions with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on improving access for the general public to information relating to (a) drug trials and (b) timetables of drug trials. [166851]
Dawn Primarolo: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has no role in the timetabling of drug trials or in the provision of information on drug trials to the general public. NICE'S role is to provide national guidance on promoting good health and preventing and treating ill health, including advice on the clinical and cost effectiveness of medicines and other treatments.
Clinical trials are registered on the publicly accessible International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number Register which is available at:
and the UK Clinical Research Network Portfolio Database which is available at:
Connecting for Health Programme: Finance
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much he expects Connecting for Health to cost in each financial year from 2007-08 to 2010-11, broken down into (a) resource and (b) capital costs. [165708]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department’s NHS Connecting for Health agency is responsible both for ensuring delivery of the IT systems for the national programme for information technology, and for maintaining the critical business systems previously provided to the national health service by the former NHS Information Authority. Information covering all the agency’s responsibilities is in the table.
Figures for 2008-09 to 2010-11 are those used to inform the comprehensive spending review, announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 9 October. However, these will be subject to revision as the agency responds over time to the evolving IT needs of the NHS.
| £ million | ||
| Revenue | Capital | |
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide a breakdown of his Department’s capital underspend in 2006-07; and how much of that underspend was due to changes in the timetable for the delivery of the Connecting for Health programme. [165706]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department’s Resource Accounts 2006-07 includes a breakdown of the capital underspend in 2006-07. These accounts were laid before Parliament on 15 October 2007 and a copy is available in the Library. Changes to the timetable for the delivery of the Connecting for Health programme has resulted in capital slippage of £466 million in 2006-07.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date his Department’s proposals for (a) the outsourcing of NHS logistics and (b) the advanced contract for pandemic influenza vaccine were (i) referred to and (ii) approved by HM Treasury. [165711]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department’s proposal for the outsourcing of national health service logistics was referred to HM Treasury on 3 August 2006 and approval was granted on 4 September 2006. The Department’s proposals for advanced supply contracts for pandemic influenza vaccine were referred to HM Treasury on 9 May 2007 and HM Treasury approval was granted on 1 June.
Depressive Illnesses
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were treated for depression in each primary care trust in each of the last 10 years. [167642]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information is not collected centrally about diagnoses for any condition in primary care, so reliable data is not available about the number of people who have been treated for depression in each primary care trust for any year.
We estimate that around seven million adults in England have a common mental health problem, which will include depression, and that approximately 90 per cent. of those people are managed entirely within primary care.
However, we know that there is a significant level of unmet need for people suffering with depression. This is why the Government announced on 10 October its commitment to building a new psychological therapy service, with additional investment rising to £170 million over the next three years. By 2011, this service will help to treat 900,000 more people with depression, anxiety and other conditions.
Drugs: Internet
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce regulations to restrict the (a) supply and (b) prescription of drugs over the internet. [166606]
Dawn Primarolo:
In the United Kingdom there are strict legal controls on the retail sale, supply and
advertisement of medicinal products. It is unlawful for medicinal products for human use to be marketed, manufactured, imported from a third country, distributed and sold or supplied in the UK except in accordance with the appropriate licences or exemptions. These legal controls apply equally to medicines for human use sold or supplied via internet or e-mail transactions.
Medicines legislation does not prohibit the remote prescribing of prescription medicines by a practitioner. These prescriptions must meet the usual requirements set down in medicines legislation.
Medicines that are brought into the UK by an individual for his or her own personal use or that of a member of his/her family, including those purchased via the internet and by mail order, are not regarded as being imported for sale or supply, because they are not going to be placed on the market by that individual and accordingly are not subject to the controls of medicines legislation. There are no plans at this time to change the legislation.
Websites based overseas fall outside the control of UK medicines legislation. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency works closely with international regulatory authorities to ensure that, wherever possible, offending websites are amended to reflect the law.
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