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21 Feb 2008 : Column 963W—continued
This document provides a useful guide for service providers, users and carers on the principles and practice of service user payment and reimbursement in health and social care.
Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will issue guidance to local authorities on the establishment of LINks; and if he will make a statement on progress towards establishing LINks. [186499]
Ann Keen: The NHS Centre for Involvement is in the process of pulling together a compendium of guidance, which will be made available from 1 April 2008.
Since the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 was enacted in October last year, a great deal of work has been done to ensure that a local involvement network (LINk) is established in each local authority area.
A programme of tools and services will be available to all 150 local authorities, to support them in making arrangements for LINks activities in their area.
Organs: Donors
Mr. Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people carry donor cards; and how many transplants took place where consent was given by the existence of such a card, in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [185298]
Ann Keen: We do not know exactly how many people carry an organ donor card but a recent survey concluded that around 21 million people carried the card, about 36 per cent. of the population. Almost 15 million people, around 25 per cent. of the population have registered on the Organ Donor Register.
Of the 2,339 organ transplants in the United Kingdom in 2007 from deceased donors, 674, about 29 per cent. were from donors who were registered on the Organ Donor Register.
Palliative Care Standards
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to fund the continuing work of the Gold Standard Framework Programme to improve end-of-life care in primary care teams and in care homes with central resources. [187270]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Funding has been incorporated into strategic health authority (SHA) NHS bundle to support the continuation of the End of Life Care programme, of which the Gold Standards Framework (GSF) forms an important part. It is for SHAs to decide how this funding should be allocated.
The central team for the End of Life Care programme has also received further funding to support its developing role as the national support team for the future implementation of the End of Life Care strategy. An important part of the team’s work will be the continuation of existing initiatives, including the roll out of supporting tools such as the GSF.
Patients’ Prospectus
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he plans to publish a patients' prospectus, as referred to by the Prime Minister in his speech to King's college London and the Florence Nightingale school of Nursing of 7 January; and if he will make a statement; [183556]
(2) what programmes and services will be provided under the (a) active patient and (b) care at home care options announced by the Prime Minister in his speech to King's college London and the Florence Nightingale school of Nursing of 7 January; how many patients he expects to be cared for through each care option in (A) 2008-09 and (B) 2009-10; whether the care options will receive central Government funding; and if he will make a statement. [183557]
Ann Keen: Departmental officials will be working collaboratively with key stakeholders to develop further detail on the framework for the Patients' Prospectus. A timeframe for publication in 2008 has still to be finalised.
However, in line with the Departments “Supporting people with long term conditions to Self Care—A guide to developing local strategies and good practice” (February 2006), we envisage the Prospectus would illustrate what people might expect broadly under four key areas (care options) for self care/self management:
information;
skills;
equipment, tools and devices; and
support networks.
The Prospectus might also cover the wider aspects of self care such as choices about healthy lifestyles.
The number of people who will be cared for through each care option will be locally determined as individuals will make different choices depending on their needs and lifestyle.
This is in keeping with proposals (trailed in “Our NHS, Our Future”) to provide greater personalisation and control for people with long term conditions, and the “Operating Framework: for the NHS in England 2008-09”, published 13 December 2007, which expects primary care trusts (PCTs) to improve care for people with long term conditions and to ensure more choices for these patients. We expect PCTs to roll out choice to all people in their area with a long term condition, with local flexibility on the pace and priorities.
Funding to support the delivery of improved care and support for people with long term conditions is
included in PCTs main allocations. Consistent with shifting the balance of power, local empowerment and local area agreements, decisions on the level of investment in this approach will be decided locally.
Prostate Cancer
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many radical prostatectomies for the treatment of prostate cancer were carried out in the NHS in each year since 1997-98 (a) in total, (b) broken down by commissioning authority and (c) broken down by provider organisation. [184264]
Ann Keen: Information on the number of prostatectomies broken down by primary care trust and national health service trust for the period requested has been placed in the Library. It is not possible to identify separately the number of radical prostatectomies.
Justice
Community Service Orders: Foreigners
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many foreign nationals are serving community sentences. [187109]
Mr. Hanson: Information on the nationality of offenders being supervised by the Probation Service under community sentences is not collected centrally.
Debt Collection: Standards
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice who in HM Courts Service is responsible for ensuring compliance with the national standards for enforcement agents by (a) county court bailiffs, (b) authorised High Court enforcement officers and their bailiffs and (c) enforcement companies and their employees contracted for magistrates enforcement; what compliance checks were undertaken in 2007; and if he will make a statement. [187008]
Maria Eagle: County court bailiffs are subject to civil service recruitment and the civil service code governs their behaviour. They are subject to strict controls over their conduct, exceeding the national standards, and discipline under civil service disciplinary procedures.
Oversight of the conduct of authorised High Court enforcement officers (HCEOs) is delegated by the Lord Chancellor to the senior master of the Queen’s bench division of the High Court.
The principles and concepts contained within the national standards for enforcement agents are encapsulated in the contracts that HMCS holds with those firms employed by them to enforce warrants issued by the magistrates courts. Management of these contracts is the responsibility of regional contract managers employed by HMCS.
During 2007 the regional contract managers received monthly performance reports and held regular meetings to discuss issues, complaints and the provision of services generally. Centrally a review of both performance and
compliance with the terms of the contract is undertaken bi-annually. In addition these companies were audited against their ability to meet contract protocols during 2007. As a result no contract breaches were identified.
Departmental Consultants
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what consultancy contracts his Department issued in each year since 2005; what the (a) value, (b) purpose and (c) contractor was in each case; and whether the consultant's report is publicly available in each case. [181881]
Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice was established on 9 May 2007. For the years 2005-06 to 2006-07, information for contracts awarded by the former Department for Constitutional Affairs and those bodies that were formerly part of the Home Office and which are now part of the Ministry of Justice is available in the Library of the House.
Information on contracts awarded in the first half of the current financial year across the Ministry of Justice is also provided.
The information on contracts awarded by the National Offender Management Service in 2005-06 and the Office for Criminal Justice Reform in the years 2005-07 is not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Full information on contracts awarded by HM Prison Service in 2006-07 is not available.
Engaging consultancy support offers the Ministry of Justice a fast and flexible way of obtaining skills and experience that are not available in house. Additionally, it is an efficient and cost effective way of meeting ad hoc requirements and provides better value for money than expanding our permanent workforce.
Departmental Official Residences
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many ministerial residences were available to his Department's Ministers and those of its predecessors in each of the last 10 years. [178884]
Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Watson) on 19 February 2008, Official Report, column 688W.
Driving Offences: Cycling
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many cyclists, broken down by (a) sex, (b) age group and (c) police area were (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted of going through a red traffic light in each of the last five years for which information is available; [186394]
(2) what the average fine was for a cyclist convicted of going through a red traffic light in each of the last 10 years. [186395]
Maria Eagle: Information held by my Department cannot separately identify cyclists from other road users who have been prosecuted under various statutes that cover “going through a red traffic light”.
The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and convicted at all courts for offences that cover “going through a red traffic light”, by gender, age group (under 18 years, and 18 years and over), and police force area in England and Wales for the years 2002 to 2006 can be found in the following tables 1 and 2.
The average fine given to those convicted of offences which cover “going through a red traffic light” in England and Wales for the years 1997 to 2006 can be found below in table 3.
| Table 1: Number of persons under the age of 18 years proceeded against at magistrates courts and convicted at all courts, for offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec 35 and 36, by gender, and police force area, in England and Wales, for the years 2002 to 2006( 1, 2, 3, 4) | ||||||||||||
| Defendants | ||||||||||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | ||||||||||
| Prosecuted | Found guilty | Prosecuted | Found guilty | Prosecuted | Found guilty | |||||||
| Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | |
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