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10 Jan 2008 : Column 781W—continued
Regional Development Agencies: South East Region
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of whether the South East of England Regional Development Agency offers value for money. [176365]
Mr. Timms: SEEDA's performance, like that of other RDAs, is assessed in a number of ways:
Performance against targets: In all except three cases SEEDA has met or exceeded the thirty-four targets set over the last five years.
Independent Performance Assessment: The NAO assessment last year found that SEEDA was performing strongly. This judgement was based on performance on: ambition; prioritisation; capacity; performance management; and achievement (report available on www.nao.org.uk.)
Regional Economic Strategy: SEEDA's review of the Strategy in 2006 and subsequent development of the RES action plan has demonstrated its strengths in achieving wide regional backing for the Strategy and its delivery.
Evaluation: SEEDA and other RDAs have a major programme of evaluation of the impact of their spending. Results from this will be available later this year.
Skilled Workers: English Language
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the likely effect on the UK restaurant trade of skilled chefs from abroad needing to pass the English language test requirement. [175496]
Mr. Byrne: I have been asked to reply.
The Government have not yet made a full assessment of the likely effect on the UK restaurant trade of skilled chefs from abroad needing to pass the English language test requirement. Full impact assessments for each tier of the PBS will be published in due course.
Small Businesses
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many small to medium sized businesses there were in each region of the UK in each of the last 20 years. [177513]
Mr. Timms: The number of small to medium sized businesses in each region of the UK is shown for 1991, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005. BERR’s small and medium sized enterprise statistics were only published to the regional level in these years. Regional data for 2007 will be available by the end of 2008.
The number of small to medium sized businesses increased in all regions between 1997 and 2005. Overall, the number of small to medium sized businesses in the UK increased by 635,000 (17 per cent.), from 3,701,070 to 4,336,070 between 1997 and 2005.
| Number of small and medium-sized businesses in the UK, by region | |||||||
| 1997( 1) | 1998 | 1999 | 2001 | 2003 | 2005 | Percentage change 1997-2005 | |
| (1) Regional data for 1997 and 1998 are not directly comparable to other years because they include employment agencies. (2) UK totals may not equal the sum of the regional figures. This is due to rounding, and in the years 1997 and 1998 because employment agencies were excluded for the UK, but not at the regional level. Source: BERR Small and Medium sized Enterprise Statistics for the UK and Regions, 1997-2006 available at: http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/sme/index.htm | |||||||
Health
Broadmoor Hospital
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many attacks on staff were recorded at Broadmoor Hospital in each year since 1997. [170334]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: This information is not held centrally. However, to improve consistency in reporting incidents by the high secure hospitals, a new national reporting policy which includes information on assaults was introduced in January 2007, and this information is reviewed regularly by a dedicated performance manager for each hospital.
Carers
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) financial support and (b) advice on rights is available to carers who (i) live and (ii) work in (A) Leyton and Wanstead constituency, (B) Redbridge and (C) Waltham Forest. [177051]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: This information is not held centrally.
Drugs: Misuse
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to receive the report into the findings of the National Treatment Agency survey into drug treatment projects. [169574]
Dawn Primarolo: We have received the report from the survey of drug treatment prescribing services, independently undertaken by the Central Office of Information, on behalf of the Department and National Treatment Agency (NTA) for substance misuse. The NTA published the results from the report on 14 December 2007.
The results provide a robust representation of treatment services.
The results of the survey were published alongside a detailed statement from the Clinical Guidelines on Drug Misuse and Dependence Update 2007 Working Group. The chair of the working group summarised the message of the statement as follows:
“The objective in prescribing is to give the patient the right medication at a dose that produces the greatest therapeutic benefit, without incurring unnecessary risk of harm. It is inappropriate for medications to be used as a reward, or to be withheld, or dose reduced solely as a punishment or sanction. Our new guidelines clarify this beyond doubt.”
A full copy of the Audit of Prescribing Practitioners Summary Report has been placed in the Library.
Henderson Hospital: Closures
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had on the planned closure of the Henderson Hospital; and if he will make a statement. [176859]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Secretary of State for Health, (Alan Johnson) has had no discussions with the local national health service regarding the proposed closure of the Henderson Hospital, as this is a matter for the local NHS.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Care Services the hon. Member for Bury, South (Mr. Lewis) spoke to Peter Houghton, Chief Executive of South West London and St George’s Mental Health National Health Service Trust by telephone regarding the Trust’s proposals to close the Henderson Hospital on 17 December 2007.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Care Services also met with clinicians from Henderson Hospital, the National Clinical Director for Mental Health, managers from South West London, and St. George’s Mental Health National Health Service Trust, the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Mr. Burstow) and the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake) on 8 January 2008 to discuss this issue.
Mental Health
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the ability of patients with (a) mental illness and (b) learning difficulties to access (i) NHS emergency treatment and (ii) respite care; and if he will make a statement; [177018]
(2) what assessment he has made of the ability of carers of patients with (a) mental illness and (b) learning difficulties to access NHS emergency treatment. [177019]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In 2003 we published guidance entitled “Improving the Management of Patients with Mental Ill Health in Emergency Care”. This provides practical support and guidance for those working in accident and emergency departments, mental health trusts and ambulance trusts to help improve the care of patients with mental illness when they access emergency care. We have not published similar guidance for people with learning disabilities.
The Carers Grant, which we introduced in 1999, provides financial support for carers to have breaks and to provide respite care. The Grant, which is worth £185 million in 2007-08 and £224 million in 2008-09, includes £25 million from which councils can provide emergency cover for carers. We have also issued guidance to councils about using this additional funding. We want to ensure that each council is able to provide short-term cover for carers in emergency situations, and that these monies are available for carers of people with mental illness, learning disabilities and all other conditions.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 5 December 2007, Official Report, column 1318W, on mental health and employment: meeting the challenge, how much of the £173 million will be spent in each year to 2010-12. [177240]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The comprehensive spending review (CSR) covers the period to 2010-11. Additional investment in the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme, identified in the CSR 2007-10 will be in excess of £300 million, with an investment of £33 million in 2008-09, £103 million in 2009-10, rising to £173 million by 2010-11.
Mental Health Services: Greater London
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many successful appeals against involuntary detention for treatment there were in each London mental health trust in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement. [176028]
Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only by means of a manual sift of some 10,000 files, incurring disproportionate cost.
The Mental Health Review Tribunal considers whether people should continue to be detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. The Annual Report of the MHRT records that, in 2005-06 it received almost 22,000 applications and referrals of which 57 per cent. progressed to a substantive hearing. Of those applications 11 per cent. resulted in an order for discharge from the relevant provision of the Act.
A new database is being built for the Tribunal and is estimated to be live from summer 2008.
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