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27 Feb 2008 : Column 1768W—continued
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list his Department's (a) current and (b) planned private finance initiative and public private partnership contracts by (i) total end of life debt owed by the state by final year of payment and (ii) annual state payment by year; and what the total comparative value is of the assets provided. [170540]
Mr. Bradshaw: There are many hundreds of contracts negotiated annually between national health service bodies and private sector suppliers for a full range of services and equipment that involve elements of public private partnerships. These range from service contracts with private hospitals and social care placements to leases of equipment and private finance initiative contracts.
Of the three major areas of public private partnership contracts for which information is collected centrally—private finance initiative (PFI) schemes, NHS local improvement finance trusts (NHS LIFT) and independent treatment centres (ISTCs)—lists have been placed in the Library. For PFI and NHS LIFT the lists show only those schemes which have reached financial close as it is not possible to predict final capital values and annual payments on schemes which are still in the planning or procurement stages. The lists show the estimated capital value of each scheme (an approximation to asset value), where appropriate, as well as the annual unitary payment made by each NHS body to their private sector partner.
For ISTCs, the table shows the total contract value for Wave 1 schemes. The total contract value represents the estimated nominal value at the time of signing, calculated in accordance with an estimate of the inflation index as specified in each contract. Procurement of Phase 2 of the ISTC programme is ongoing and all contractual values remain commercial in confidence at this time.
In the case of the PFI schemes, under current accounting standards the facilities do not appear on the balance sheet of the NHS body during the life of the contract; and by the end of the contract all the debt raised by the private sector has been paid back. So although the facility will have a residual value when it reverts to the ownership of the NHS trust or primary care trust at the end of the contract, it will go on their balance sheets as an asset without an off-setting liability or ‘debt’.
In the case of NHS LIFT schemes the facilities also do not appear on the balance sheet of the NHS body during the life of the contract. However, the shorter contract lengths (typically 25 years compared with 30 or more in a PFI scheme) mean there is a small outstanding debt owed by the NHS LIFT project company at the end of the contract (i.e. their outstanding borrowings). In NHS LIFT this is a project company ‘risk’ in terms of recouping enough from the future use or disposal of the asset to meet this debt (known as ‘residual value risk’). The NHS body has an option to buy the facility or walk away from the contract, in which case the project company must look to sell the facility on the open market or lease it out again. So again, there is no ‘debt’ owed by the NHS body at the end of the contract.
In the case of the ISTCs, where the contract lengths are much shorter, many of the contracts involve a residual value payment to the contractor at the end of the term. This means that in this case the ‘residual value’ risk lies with the NHS (i.e. the risk here is that the theoretical residual value will exceed the actual market value that can be achieved). So there is a ‘debt’ owed by the NHS body at the end of the contract.
Information on the ISTC contracts that involve residual value (RV) payments and the amounts in each case have also been placed in the Library.
Psychiatry: Waiting Lists
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what average length of time a patient waited to be referred for psychological therapies in (a) England and (b) Wirral, West constituency in the last 12 months. [187847]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The length of time a patient treated by Wirral primary care trust waits for psychological therapies varies with the severity of their condition. However, since December 2007, waiting times for mild to moderate mental health treatment are under 18 weeks, and waiting times for more complex therapies and cognitive behaviour therapy are, in the vast majority of cases, a maximum of 18 weeks.
Average waiting times for psychological therapies are not collected centrally. These waiting times will improve over the next few years as the Government’s substantial additional investment in improving access to psychological therapies, announced in October last year, begins to be rolled-out across England.
Regional European Offices: Health
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the address is of each of the regional health Brussels offices. [184646]
Dawn Primarolo: Where health is covered at a European Union (EU) level by regional offices in Brussels, it is addressed as part of a broad range of policies. Decisions to fund and prioritise health in regional offices in Brussels are the responsibility of Regional Assemblies and local authorities.
At present, the Northwest Health Brussels office is the only office established by a United Kingdom region to work solely on health affairs at an EU level. This is the office is located at:
North West Health Brussels Office
North West House
Rue du Marteau 21
Brussels
Belgium
B1000
Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Young People
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many under 25-year olds received treatment for sexually transmitted infections in (a) Romford, (b) Essex and (c) Greater London in 2007. [179664]
Dawn Primarolo: Currently data are only collected nationally on diagnoses in genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics and at primary care trust (PCT) level in the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP).
Information on the diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in GUM clinics is only available at strategic health authority (SHA) level. The London SHA includes Romford and the Greater London areas. The East of England SHA includes Essex.
The number of selected sexually transmitted infections diagnosed in those under the age of 25 in the London SHA and the East of England SHA represented by gender in 2006, the latest date for which information is available, is shown in table 1.
The total number of chlamydia screens and chlamydia positive screens done by the NCSP, by PCT of residence in 2006 for the London SHA and East of England SHA is given in tables 2 and 3.
| Table 1: Number of selected STIs diagnosed in those under the age of 25 in the London SHA and the East of England SHA represented by gender: 2006 | ||||
| SHA | Male diagnoses | Female diagnoses | Total diagnoses | |
| Notes: 1. Data by age group are only available for the five main STIs, primary and secondary syphilis, uncomplicated gonorrhoea, uncomplicated chlamydia, anogenital herpes (first attack) and anogenital warts (first attack). As such the figures provided in table 1 are for these five STIs only. Data on the treatment of STIs are not available. 2. Data by age group are only available in the following age groups: <20, 20-24, 25-34, 35-44 and 45+. 3. The data available from the KC60 statutory returns are for diagnoses made in GUM clinics only. Diagnoses made in other clinical settings, such as general practice, are not recorded in the KC60 dataset. 4. The data available from the KC60 statutory returns are the number of diagnoses made, not the number of patients diagnosed. For example, individuals may be diagnosed with chlamydia several times in one year and each diagnosis will be counted separately. 5. The information provided has been adjusted for missing clinic data. 6. Data are unavailable for 2007. | ||||
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