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11 Jun 2008 : Column 283W

	(i) Received	Decided	(ii) Allowed	Percentage allowed
(a) Wolverhampton
2003	60	58	24	41
2004	80	60	20	33
2005	67	74	30	41
2006	73	62	24	39
2007	69	62	20	32
(b) Sandwell
2003	37	34	13	38
2004	53	24	13	54
2005	23	41	18	44
2006	42	35	19	54
2007	38	32	16	50
(c) Walsall
2003	47	32	19	59
2004	73	46	19	41
2005	78	76	27	36
2006	68	58	17	29
2007	72	60	24	40
(d) Dudley
2003	67	64	20	31
2004	76	50	18	36
2005	90	80	37	46
2006	85	88	46	52
2007	64	62	34	55
(e) Birmingham
2003	154	157	55	35
2004	206	126	39	31
2005	171	182	47	26
2006	161	152	51	34
2007	183	154	48	31
(f) All local planning authorities
2003	20,594	18,067	6,051	33
2004	25,139	16,509	5,584	34
2005	20,768	22,367	7,434	33
2006	23,058	19,863	6,754	34
2007	22,827	20,536	7,336	36

Regional Planning and Development

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how the Government plans to reduce the gap in growth rates between the regions. [208823]

Mr. McFadden: I have been asked to reply.

The Government are committed to improving the economic performance of all English regions and reducing the gap in economic growth rates between English regions. The 2007 comprehensive spending review confirmed this commitment in the regional economic performance public service agreement (PSA). The delivery plan for the public service agreement, published in October 2007 and available on the HM Treasury website, sets out how contributing Departments and partner organisations will achieve the target.

Health

Ambulance Services

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of regional ambulance emergency operation centres. [209295]

Mr. Bradshaw: Arrangements for where ambulance service control rooms are situated are a matter for the current local national health service.

The Department has made no assessment of the effectiveness of the current regional ambulance emergency operation centres. However, in order to help inform trusts' decisions on control rooms, the Department commissioned a report on operating models for NHS ambulance trust control rooms in England to help assess the likely requirements of control rooms and supporting technology requirements, given that trusts would need to respond to higher levels of activity following reconfiguration of services which commenced in July 2006. Copies of this publication have been placed in the Library.

11 Jun 2008 : Column 284W

Departmental Public Expenditure

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to page 148 of his Department's annual report 2008, if he will provide a breakdown of strategic health authority (SHA) running costs by SHA; and what percentage of these costs would be classed as (a) administration and (b) frontline service delivery. [209135]

Mr. Bradshaw: The running costs of each strategic health authority (SHA) in 2008-09 are shown in the following table, the allocations do not make a distinction between administration and frontline service delivery.

SHA running costs 2008-09 (including estates advisers)
SHA	Total (£000)
North East	9,756.5
North West	10,672.6
Yorkshire and Humberside	9,756.5
East Midlands	9,987.5
West Midlands	10,105.1
East of England	10,109.3
London	13,981.1
South East Coast	10,001.4
South Central	9,988.6
South West	10,081.7
Total	104,440.3

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) with reference to page 148 of his Department's annual report 2008, for what reasons EEA medical costs are expected to rise by £100 million from 2007-08 to 2008-09; [209136]

(2) what the reasons are for the difference between the £709 million listed for EEA medical costs in Figure 9.19 and the £0.8 billion in Figure 9.5. [209186]

Mr. Bradshaw: The European economic area (EEA) medical costs budget forecasts in figure 9.19 of £673 million for 2007-08 and £709 million for 2008-09 were made early in the calendar year 2008.

The EEA medical costs budget is a demand led budget and the key drivers include:

the number of United Kingdom citizens who are retired, working or travelling in other EEA countries;

the growth of health expenditure in other member states; and

the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

Most of the EEA medical cost claims are paid in the euro currency. The recent strength of the euro has led to an upward revaluation of budget forecasts. The final outturn for EEA medical costs for 2007-08 will be published in the ‘Public Expenditure Outturn’ White Paper in July 2008.

Figure 9.5 anticipates the impact of the change in exchange rate in 2008-09, so shows a higher rounded estimate forecast of £0.8 billion.

Departmental Vocational Training

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what proportion of its staff his Department has provided vocational training in the last three years. [209425]

11 Jun 2008 : Column 285W

Mr. Bradshaw: Around 3 per cent. of staff have received vocational training through corporate channels over the last three years. However, records of other vocational training—provided at a local level within the Department—are not held centrally and would incur disproportionate cost to survey.

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