| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
2 July 2008 : Column 929W—continued
The consultation closes on 15 August 2008. Subject to the outcome of consultation, the Government plans to amend legislation before the end of the year.
In addition, the European Commission is currently formulating proposals to strengthen the EU system for monitoring the safety of medicines. The MHRA has
proposed that the EC take this opportunity to introduce a number of additional changes in the light of the investigation into GlaxoSmithKline. We expect European proposals to be published later this year.
Bone Marrow: Donors
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent steps the Government has taken to increase the number of bone marrow donors; [214820]
(2) what steps the Government plans to take to encourage more people to become bone marrow donors; [214821]
(3) what steps the Government plans to take to encourage young people to become bone marrow donors. [214824]
Dawn Primarolo: There are currently 300,000 donors registered on the British Bone Marrow Registry (BBMR), 150,000 have been recruited in the last three years.
The National Blood Service (NBS) ask new blood donors about joining the BBMR when they first become a blood donor. Volunteer bone marrow donors are especially needed from black and minority ethnic backgrounds as currently just five per cent. of registered donors on the BBMR are from these backgrounds. The NBS has introduced the ‘One—Blood’ campaign, to attract more people from these groups to become blood donors and join the BBMR.
To ensure young people understand the importance of donation of blood, organs, tissue and bone marrow, and to encourage them to become donors in the future, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) has developed the ‘Give and Let Live’ educational pack and website. The pack was launched in September 2007 and all secondary schools were contacted. The pack is designed to dispel myths and give 14-16 year olds accurate information about the need and use of blood, organs and tissue.
NHSBT is currently updating the pack and website and a revised version, based on feedback from schools, will be launched in this year’s autumn term.
Byotrol
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what payments have been made by his Department to Byotrol plc in each of the last five years. [215131]
Mr. Bradshaw: Byotrol have received no payment from the Department.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what contracts his Department has signed with Byotrol plc in the last five years. [215132]
Mr. Bradshaw: Byotrol has no contracts with the Department.
Departmental Buildings
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the value of the property held by (a) his Department and (b) associated public bodies was at the most recent date for which figures are available; [212884]
(2) how frequently his Department restates the asset values of its building estate. [213402]
Mr. Bradshaw: The value of property held by the Department at the 31 March 2007, as stated in the “2006-07 Resource Accounts”, is £6,360 million. This figure includes all those organisations within the departmental boundary including the Department itself, the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency, those special health authorities not funded by trading activities, strategic health authorities and primary care trusts.
Details of the arrangements for the valuation of the Department’s fixed assets are set out at section 1.4 of the “Department of Health Resource Accounts 2006-07”, a copy of which has been placed in the Library and is also available on the Department’s website at:
Information on the Department’s arm’s length bodies is not collected centrally.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) new builds and (b) major refurbishments were completed by his Department for a cost in excess of £0.5 million in (i) 2005-06, (ii) 2006-07 and (iii) 2007-08 to which the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method or equivalent was applied; how many such buildings were assessed as (A) pass, (B) good, (C) very good and (D) excellent; and if he will make a statement. [213698]
Mr. Bradshaw: Since 2002, the bespoke National Health Service Environmental Assessment Tool kit (NEAT) has been the Department’s response to the Government’s objective of a sustainable construction programme through the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM).
All NHS capital development schemes have to submit a NEAT score as part of the business case or scheme approval process. To be approved, the business case has to demonstrate a commitment to meeting the NEAT score rating of ‘excellent’ for a new build or ‘very good’ for a refurbishment scheme. All business cases approved by the Department in the last five years, and for which records are held centrally, have done so.
No information is held centrally on those capital schemes developed by NHS bodies which do not require departmental approval, although the guidance is that they should also achieve the appropriate NEAT scores.
The NEAT process is being revised for re-issue as BREEAM Healthcare with effect from 30 June 2008 and will follow the same procedural and score rating requirements for health care construction projects.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) new builds and (b) major refurbishments for a cost in excess of £0.5 million were completed by his Department in (i) 2005-06, (ii) 2006-07 and (iii) 2007-08. [213736]
Mr. Bradshaw: The construction of most health facilities by national health service bodies is undertaken by means of three particular procurement methods. These are the private finance initiative (PFI) for hospital facilities, ProCure 21 to deliver public capital funded hospital and primary care facilities, and the local improvement finance trust (LIFT) initiative in respect of primary care and hospital facilities that are commissioned by primary care trusts (PCTs).
Information on the number of completed projects in these three programmes is given in aggregated form in the table. Detail on the proportion of new build to refurbishment on each project is not routinely collected.
The figures given do not include those construction projects undertaken by the NHS by means other than the three procurement methods identified. These are predominantly the smaller public capital funded schemes commissioned locally by NHS trusts and PCTs and which are below departmental delegated approval limits.
| Number of projects completed | |
As part of the Department’s evidence to the Health Select Committee’s 2007 Public Expenditure Inquiry, a survey was undertaken to identify the proportion of new build and refurbishment that featured in major hospital capital projects completed since 1997. An extract is shown in the following table.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |