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6 Jun 2008 : Column 1196W—continued

We will continue to work with our EU and US partners to raise our concerns and push for improvement.

The recent crackdown on civil society is worrying. We are particularly concerned by the Belarusian government's actions against protesters involved in the demonstrations on 25 March and 26 April and the severe sentencing of two more political prisoners, Sergei Parsyukevich and Andrei Kim on 22 April and 23 April for their participation in demonstrations in January 2008. The recent re-arrest of five individuals recognised by the EU as political prisoners soon after their release is also very worrying.

Democracy

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the number of states with a majority Muslim population that are likely to become democracies within the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [207735]

Meg Munn: We have not made a recent estimate but in his speech—“The Democratic Imperative”—in Oxford on 8 February, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary argued that

We support democratic processes in all states and work through the UN and the EU to extend the implementation of democratic rights through multilateral processes. Through the Human Rights and Democracy programme fund, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office works with all governments and civil society to promote better electoral processes, the role of civil society and the freedom of expression.

Iran: Sanctions

Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects the European Union to agree new sanctions on (a) Iranian oil and gas and (b) the Iranian financial sector. [207812]

David Miliband: We are pressing for a new EU Common Position to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1803, including a provision on increased vigilance over the activities of Iranian financial institutions. We are pursuing additional EU listings of entities and individuals based on the previous EU Common Position. We are also discussing a range of possible EU measures which would go beyond the scope of Security Council resolutions should Iran continue to fail to implement its international
6 Jun 2008 : Column 1197W
obligations. As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has signalled, this could include a ban on investment in Iranian liquefied natural gas.

Lebanon: Politics and Government

Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the contribution of recent mediations of the Arab League to peace and stability in Lebanon. [207831]

Dr. Howells: The announcement of an agreement for Lebanon, ‘the Doha Accord’, on 21 May and the subsequent election of President Suleiman on 25 May are important steps forward for Lebanon. The UK pays tribute to Qatar and the Arab League whose efforts, both in Beirut and Doha, did so much to make the agreement possible. It is now important for Lebanon's future peace and stability that the agreement is implemented. We will continue to support the government and people of Lebanon over this important period.

Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the work of the Assessment and Evaluation Commission on a settlement for the Abyei region of Sudan. [208190]

Meg Munn: Following the fighting of 14-21 May in Abyei, the Assessment and Evaluation Commission (AEC), chaired by Sir Derek Plumbly, has been engaging with all the parties. There was an extraordinary plenary meeting of the AEC in Khartoum on 25 May to discuss Abyei. An AEC Working Group visited the area on 28 May to assess the situation and to urge both sides to resolve the conflict in Abyei.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on progress on the formation and integration of joint integrated units in Sudan under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. [208191]

Meg Munn: We monitor closely the formation and integration of the Joint Integrated Units (JIUs), which were established under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to improve security in disputed areas between north and south Sudan. The JIUs are made up of equal numbers of the Sudan Armed Forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. We are encouraging donors to provide resources to the JIUs in order to improve their effectiveness.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has raised the issue of Abyei with the other international guarantors of Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement; and if he will make a statement. [208192]

Meg Munn: Since the fighting in Abyei broke out on 14 May, we have discussed Abyei frequently with the other international guarantors of Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). We support the work of the Assessment and Evaluation Commission as a suitable
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international body to monitor the implementation of the CPA and to broker a resolution for the dispute over Abyei.

Sudan: Peacekeeping Operations

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the role played by the UN force in Abyei in trying to bring peace to that area of Sudan; and what representations he has made to the UN to bolster the effectiveness of that force. [207923]

Meg Munn: Observers from the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) were in Abyei during the fighting of 14-21 May and UNMIS senior officers played a supporting role in the brokering of a ceasefire. UNMIS has restricted movement within the Abyei region. The UK worked with UN Security Council partners to ensure that UN Security Council Resolution 1812, which renews the UNMIS mandate, makes reference to Abyei and calls on the parties to allow unrestricted access and operations in the disputed area.

Health

Accident and Emergency Departments

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department provides on the facilities each NHS accident and emergency department should have. [208423]

Mr. Bradshaw: The services it is appropriate for any national health service organisation to provide is a matter for local, not central decision. What is key is that patients have timely access to high quality, safe care, as close to home as is compatible with clinical safety.

Departmental Compensation

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much compensation has been awarded by his Department to its staff since May 1997; and what the reason for compensation was in each case. [206160]

Mr. Bradshaw: The Department awards compensation to staff for a variety of reasons. The total value associated with each reason and the period this covers are presented in the following table. Figures are not available prior to 1 October 2003.

Reason Period Amount (to the nearest £000)

Untaken annual leave or flexileave

1 October 2003 to 31 March 2007

1,209,000

In lieu of notice when employment is terminated

1 October 2003 to 31 March 2007

3,561,000

Ex-gratia payments

1 October 2003 to 31 March 2007

54,000

Redundancy/severance

1 October 2003 to 31 March 2007

88,000


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Health Services: Newcastle upon Tyne

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Newcastle City Overview and Scrutiny Committee has asked him to consider (a) the transfer of the Sir Martin Roth Unit, Newcastle General Hospital to Prudhoe and (b) the closure, and partial transfer to Prudhoe, of the Nuffield Unit, Newcastle upon Tyne. [206723]

Ann Keen: The North East strategic health authority reports that a joint committee of the Newcastle City Overview and Scrutiny Committee is considering these transfers. However, referral has not yet been made to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.

Medical Records: Databases

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 22 April 2008, Official Report, column 1990W, on medical records: disclosure of information, where each of the NHS care records service registers are held; whether each is held electronically; whether each is accessible through the internet or N3; what security measures are in place to protect them; and on how many occasions they have been illegally accessed. [207657]

Mr. Bradshaw: The National Electronic (‘spine’) Database of Patient Information that forms the core of the national health service care records service (NHS CRS) is hosted in secure data centres. The location of data centres is not made public to avoid compromising security arrangements and potential criminal exploitation of the information they hold.

Data centres must conform to the British Standards Institution information security management code of practice, referred to internationally as ISO17799:2005 and

ISO27001:2005, and must meet strict standards in terms of both the structure of, and control of physical access to, the buildings. There is a contractual requirement for staff employed in data centres to be security cleared. Regular review arrangements exist to ensure compliance with the relevant standards, and other contractual information security requirements.

To date there have been no identified breaches of the physical security at any of the ‘spine’ data centres, and no identified cases where unauthorised access to the database has been gained electronically from outside the NHS.

All patient-identifiable data transmitted to, from and via the spine travels exclusively over the N3 secure electronic network, which is protected using various network security controls and encryption. Access requires the use of a smartcard with a linked username and alphanumeric pass code. Smartcards are issued by a NHS CRS registration authority only when satisfactory evidence of identity and residence is provided in person by NHS staff.

Regular reviews of the end-to-end security infrastructure are undertaken to identify where industry best practice has changed or technologies improved so that these can be incorporated into the overall system.


6 Jun 2008 : Column 1200W

In addition, the NHS maintains an effective liaison with the United Kingdom's information security authorities and others for the sharing of relevant advice and guidance on known information security threats and vulnerabilities.

Together these safeguards provide high levels of security assurance.

Mental Health Services: North East

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what average waiting times were for (a) adult, (b) adolescent and (c) child psychiatry in each mental health trust in the North East in each year between 2002 and 2007; and how many people were on waiting lists in each category in each year. [206719]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS: Databases

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which trusts have (a) completed mapping and reviewing of all person-identifiable data flows, (b) made movements of data secure and (c) identified risk areas in data security. [207116]

Mr. Bradshaw: Effective information governance is the responsibility of individual national health service bodies. The NHS chief executive received assurances on 31 March from all trust chief executives that they had identified data security risk areas and were either meeting appropriate security standards or were actively managing risks whilst necessary improvements are made.

Information is not held centrally on which trusts have completed work on mapping and reviewing all person-identifiable data flows.

NHS: Finance

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the weighted capitation formula figure is for each primary care trust in England in terms of (a) per capita target and (b) per capita allocation for 2008-09. [206721]

Mr. Bradshaw: The following table provides the target allocation per head and the allocation per head of unweighted population for all primary care trusts (PCTs) in England for 2008-09.


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6 Jun 2008 : Column 1203W

6 Jun 2008 : Column 1204W
£
PCT 2008-09 allocation per head 2008-09 target allocation per head

Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT

1,563

1,602

Barking and Dagenham PCT

1,702

1,764

Barnet PCT

1,442

1,348

Barnsley PCT

1,609

1,667

Bassetlaw PCT

1,394

1,445

Bath and North East Somerset PCT

1,269

1,264

Bedfordshire PCT

1,215

1,257

Berkshire East PCT

1,300

1,282

Berkshire West PCT

1,230

1,236

Bexley Care Trust

1,406

1,401

Birmingham East and North PCT

1,605

1,641

Blackburn with Darwen PCT

1,565

1,618

Blackpool PCT

1,708

1,704

Bolton PCT

1,542

1,574

Bournemouth and Poole PCT

1,510

1,502

Bradford And Airedale Teaching PCT

1,503

1,520

Brent Teaching PCT

1,650

1,574

Brighton and Hove City PCT

1,562

1,559

Bristol PCT

1,425

1,410

Bromley PCT

1,405

1,361

Buckinghamshire PCT

1,216

1,221

Bury PCT

1,439

1,471

Calderdale PCT

1,454

1,417

Cambridgeshire PCT

1,230

1,256

Camden PCT

1,737

1,646

Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT

1,340

1,324

Central Lancashire PCT

1,441

1,432

City and Hackney Teaching PCT

1,972

2,043

Cornwall and Isles Of Scilly PCT

1,395

1,442

County Durham PCT

1,646

1,666

Coventry Teaching PCT

1,548

1,604

Croydon PCT

1,444

1,418

Cumbria PCT

1,437

1,445

Darlington PCT

1,590

1,507

Derby City PCT

1,407

1,449

Derbyshire County PCT

1,395

1,411

Devon PCT

1,363

1,374

Doncaster PCT

1,567

1,598

Dorset PCT

1,388

1,403

Dudley PCT

1,423

1,433

Ealing PCT

1,595

1,495

East and North Hertfordshire PCT

1,275

1,299

East Lancashire Teaching PCT

1,554

1,566

East Riding Of Yorkshire PCT

1,276

1,300

East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT

1,451

1,414

Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT

1,455

1,468

Enfield PCT

1,508

1,505

Gateshead PCT

1,716

1,717

Gloucestershire PCT

1,309

1,303

Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT

1,493

1,547

Greenwich Teaching PCT

1,665

1,654

Halton and St Helens PCT

1,645

1,675

Hammersmith and Fulham PCT

1,737

1,639

Hampshire PCT

1,288

1,281

Haringey Teaching PCT

1,688

1,679

Harrow PCT

1,463

1,364

Hartlepool PCT

1,653

1,701

Hastings and Rother PCT

1,639

1,606

Havering PCT

1,481

1,478

Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT

1,685

1,746

Herefordshire PCT

1,337

1,385

Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT

1,603

1,627

Hillingdon PCT

1,450

1,403

Hounslow PCT

1,563

1,493

Hull Teaching PCT

1,524

1,515

Isle of Wight IMHS PCT

1,524

1,579

Islington PCT

2,067

1,907

Kensington and Chelsea PCT

1,512

1,441

Kingston PCT

1,345

1,232

Kirklees PCT

1,413

1,403

Knowsley PCT

1,886

1,954

Lambeth PCT

1,858

1,650

Leeds PCT

1,444

1,399

Leicester City PCT

1,487

1,535

Leicestershire County and Rutland PCT

1,190

1,218

Lewisham PCT

1,799

1,616

Lincolnshire Teaching PCT

1,346

1,389

Liverpool PCT

1,917

1,977

Luton PCT

1,433

1,485

Manchester PCT

1,759

1,823

Medway PCT

1,326

1,374

Mid Essex PCT

1,187

1,215

Middlesbrough PCT

1,711

1,737

Milton Keynes PCT

1,251

1,297

Newcastle PCT

1,725

1,697

Newham PCT

1,828

1,889

Norfolk PCT

1,333

1,365

North East Essex PCT

1,388

1,435

North East Lincolnshire PCT

1,464

1,461

North Lancashire Teaching PCT

1,436

1,443

North Lincolnshire PCT

1,368

1,392

North Somerset PCT

1,311

1,359

North Staffordshire PCT

1,430

1,425

North Tees PCT

1,405

1,456

North Tyneside PCT

1,541

1,542

North Yorkshire and York PCT

1,269

1,266

Northamptonshire Teaching PCT

1,304

1,355

Northumberland Care Trust

1,461

1,458

Nottingham City PCT

1,509

1,509

Nottinghamshire County Teaching PCT

1,370

1,379

Oldham PCT

1,573

1,618

Oxfordshire PCT

1,221

1,219

Peterborough PCT

1,552

1,486

Plymouth Teaching PCT

1,454

1,447

Portsmouth City Teaching PCT

1,313

1,313

Redbridge PCT

1,392

1,384

Redcar and Cleveland PCT

1,635

1,646

Richmond and Twickenham PCT

1,449

1,283

Rotherham PCT

1,549

1,569

Salford PCT

1,792

1,776

Sandwell PCT

1,616

1,667

Sefton PCT

1,639

1,605

Sheffield PCT

1,574

1,512

Shropshire County PCT

1,315

1,326

Solihull Care Trust

1,323

1,329

Somerset PCT

1,331

1,363

South Birmingham PCT

1,544

1,546

South East Essex PCT

1,409

1,421

South Gloucestershire PCT

1,178

1,188

South Staffordshire PCT

1,283

1,304

South Tyneside PCT

1,724

1,749

South West Essex PCT

1,392

1,425

Southampton City PCT

1,398

1,427

Southwark PCT

1,826

1,770

Stockport PCT

1,418

1,408

Stoke On Trent PCT

1,618

1,626

Suffolk PCT

1,274

1,300

Sunderland Teaching PCT

1,744

1,738

Surrey PCT

1,316

1,254

Sutton and Merton PCT

1,395

1,333

Swindon PCT

1,355

1,351

Tameside and Glossop PCT

1,572

1,576

Telford and Wrekin PCT

1,332

1,381

Torbay Care Trust

1,525

1,581

Tower Hamlets PCT

1,903

1,972

Trafford PCT

1,500

1,458

Wakefield District PCT

1,530

1,561

Walsall Teaching PCT

1,586

1,596

Waltham Forest PCT

1,628

1,616

Wandsworth PCT

1,579

1,411

Warrington PCT

1,419

1,420

Warwickshire PCT

1,321

1,350

West Essex PCT

1,377

1,366

West Hertfordshire PCT

1,324

1,291

West Kent PCT

1,297

1,297

West Sussex PCT

1,400

1,368

Western Cheshire PCT

1,459

1,459

Westminster PCT

1,627

1,458

Wiltshire PCT

1,246

1,247

Wirral PCT

1,680

1,675

Wolverhampton City PCT

1,606

1,664

Worcestershire PCT

1,311

1,335


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