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21 Apr 2008 : Column 1785W—continued
Community Hospitals: Closures
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many community hospitals in England have (a) closed and (b) partly closed since May 2005. [198450]
Mr. Bradshaw: Figures are not routinely collected. However, since May 2005 we have announced 23 schemes to develop or refurbish local community hospitals and services. These schemes have a total value of £272 million of which £190 million is funded from the community hospitals and services budget. These are in addition to the 158 new primary care and community facilities already delivered through the Local Improvement Finance Trust programme.
Departmental Domestic Visits
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what visits he made to (a) Harrogate International Centre, (b) International Conference Centre, Birmingham, (c) Manchester Central, (d) Scottish Exhibitional and Conference Centre, Glasgow, (e) Edinburgh International Conference Centre, (f) Bournemouth International Conference Centre, (g) the Brighton Centre, Brighton, (h) the Riviera Centre, Torquay, (i) Queen Elizabeth Centre, London, (j) Excel Conference Centre, Docklands, London, and (k) Business Design Centre, Islington, London, in the period 1st January 2005 to 31st December 2007; and what events he attended at each. [197161]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is as follows:
Harrogate International Centre
18 October 2006—Speech to CPHVA & Amicus Mental Health Nurses Association
Professional Conference
International Conference Centre, Birmingham
18 September 2007—Health Day Event
11 October 2007—Speech to NHS Employer's Annual Conference
23 November 2007—Speech to NHS Alliance Annual Conference
Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow
No records held.
Edinburgh International Conference Centre
No records held.
Bournemouth International Conference Centre
26 April 2006—Speech to Royal College of Nursing Congress
23 November 2006—Speech and present Awards to NHS Alliance Annual Conference
28 March 2007—Speech to MIND Annual Conference
18 October 2007—Speech to LGA/ADSS National Children and Adult Services Conference
No records held
10 May 2006—Speech to Royal College of Midwives Annual Conference
6 June 2006—Speech to Public Service Reform
23 October 2006—Speech to International Society for Quality Conference
Excel Conference Centre, Docklands
20 June 2007—Speech to NHS Confederation Annual Conference
22 November 2007—Speech to NHS Next Stage Review Clinical Summit
Departmental Internet
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2008, Official Report, column 1179W, on the departmental intranet, whether his Department's activity on Wikipedia was in keeping with the Civil Service Code; and if he will break down the number of creations and amendments by month. [195343]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information on Wikipedia is in the public domain and could have been edited by civil servants within the Department using departmental resources up until August 2007 in either a professional or private capacity. The Department's IP address has been refused editorial rights since August 2007 in line with Wikipedia policy to block anonymous contributions to the site. Reasonable use of departmental resources for personal reasons is permitted and any activity should be in line with the general principles:
it does not break the law;
it does not risk bringing the Department into disrepute or place it in a position of liability;
it does not violate any provision set out in this or any other departmental policy, or go against the Department's standard of conduct; and
it does not cause damage or disruption to the Department's systems or business.
Using information available from the Wikipedia site, between 22 August 2005 and 3 August 2007, the number of occasions when the Department's IP address has been associated with the creation or amendment of entries on the Wikipedia site has been broken down by month in the following table:
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
The Department reaches the world wide web via the Government Secure Intranet (GSI). The internal IP address is changed on the route out. This means that external web sites and the Wikipedia site would see a centralised GSI gateway address rather than a specific individual internal personal computer (PC) IP address. Internally the IP address is set dynamically rather than being static, e.g. fixed. This means that when someone logs in, their PC is given an IP address from a central
pool of any one of around 4,500 IP addresses in daily use in the Department. To collect the information about who edited the Wikipedia site and for what purpose on the approximate 1,800 occasions reported by the Wikipedia site reporting tool would incur disproportionate cost.
Departmental Marketing
Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on publicity and advertising in 2007-08. [198986]
Mr. Bradshaw: The following table outlines cost of departmental spending on publicity and advertising during 2007-08.
| Departmental spending on publicity and advertising, 2007-08 | |
| £ million | |
| (1) Including the Department for Health's (DH) contribution to joint campaign with the Department for Children, Schools and Families. (2) DH's contribution to joint campaign with the Home Office and the Department for Children, Schools and Families. (3) DH's contribution to joint campaign with the Home Office. (4) DH's contribution to cross-government campaign. | |
Departmental Public Expenditure
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether consideration has been given to applying gender responsive budgeting to his Department's budget. [192115]
Mr. Bradshaw: The United Kingdom Government are supportive of efforts to achieve gender equality and continue to work very closely with both the Women's National Commission and the Women's Budget Group on promoting gender equality within the UK.
In 2004, HM Treasury undertook a pilot project on gender analysis of expenditure with the Women's Budget Group. The project demonstrated the value of gender analysis in some areas and identified what tools and expertise were necessary within Government to carry out gender analysis, but concluded that further work was needed before gender responsive budgeting could be implemented.
In 2008, HM Treasury will be conducting further work that will determine whether it is prudent and feasible to disaggregate departmental expenditure statistics by gender.
The Department is committed to creating a patient-centred health service that extends choice and is responsive to all patients and users, in particular ensuring that any gender inequalities in treatment and access are eliminated.
The weighted capitation formula used to determine primary care trusts' (PCTs) target share of available resources is designed to enable them to commission similar levels of health care for populations in similar need. To determine the relevant population for each PCT, factors including gender are considered. In addition, the prescribing and primary medical services components of the formula take into account gender in determining the need for these services.
To support the national health service in taking forward gender equality legislation, the Department published guidance in March 2007—‘Creating a Gender Equality Scheme: A practical guide for the NHS’—to ensure that all NHS organisations understand their responsibilities. Similar guidance on transgender issues—‘Transgender: A practical guide for the NHS’—is planned for publication in April 2008.
In addition, the Department has commissioned the Men's Health Forum to conduct a review of the different ways women and men access health services. This review will provide evidence to help determine key gender health priorities for the Department and the NHS. The Department is also in the process of appointing a ‘gender champion’ to promote gender equality in the NHS.
Departmental Publications
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is issued to members of his Department on the authorship and publication on the internet of material relating to their official duties; and if he will make a statement. [196750]
Mr. Bradshaw: The ‘Civil Service Code’, the ‘Civil Service Management Code’ and ‘Propriety Guidance on Government Communications’ all provide guidance to staff on the publication of material relating to their official duties. Copies of each of these publications are in the Library and are also available on the Cabinet Office website at:
Departmental Training
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in his Department and its agencies have attended the (a) Influencing with Integrity, (b) Emotional Intelligence, (c) Counselling Skills for the Workplace, (d) Managing your Confidence, (e) Balancing Work/Life Realities and (f) Working Assertively training course run by the National School of Government in the last 12 months for which information is available; and at what cost. [197063]
Mr. Bradshaw: The following table shows the numbers of departmental staff attending the courses enquired about in 2007-08 and the costs incurred.
| Course title | Number of departmental staff attending | Cost (£) |
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