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15 July 2008 : Column 326W—continued


Social Security Benefits: Manpower

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were employed in each benefit delivery centre in each month since they were established; and if he will make a statement. [215755]

Mr. Timms: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 15 July 2008:

Social Security Benefits: Overpayments

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) in how many cases debt collectors visited individuals to reclaim overpayments of benefits following the death of a claimant in each year since 1997 for which information is available; [211149]

(2) what contractual arrangements his Department has with companies for the recovery of overpayment of benefits where the claimant has died. [211218]

Mr. Plaskitt: The Department does employ debt collectors to recover overpayments of benefits where the debtor cannot be traced or is refusing to pay. However, it is not departmental policy to use debt collectors to reclaim overpayments following death of a claimant.


15 July 2008 : Column 327W

Social Security Benefits: Telephone Services

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many calls were made to each benefit delivery centre in each month since they were established; and if he will make a statement. [214967]

Mr. Timms: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 15 July 2008:


15 July 2008 : Column 328W

Duchy of Lancaster

Teenage Pregnancy

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many births were recorded to mothers under 16 years of age in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in each year since 1997. [218736]

Mr. Watson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 15 July 2008:

Live births to women aged under 16( 1) in England, Wales( 2) , Scotland and Northern Ireland( 3,4) , 1997 to 2 007
Number of live births

England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland

1997

1,477

124

178

39

1998

1,429

113

137

56

1999

1,372

99

142

63

2000

1,376

106

136

58

2001

1,340

93

132

41

2002

1,254

97

110

36

2003

1,177

69

105

33

2004

1,155

67

96

39

2005

1,102

87

104

35

2006

1,154

79

110

35

2007(5)

1,064

75

107

36

(1) Age refers to mother’s age at the time of the birth. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, age of mother is imputed where it is not stated at birth registration. Figures for Scotland exclude births where age of mother is not stated at registration.
(2) Live births registered within England and Wales are assigned to England or Wales based on the usual residence of the mother at the time of the birth—births are excluded if the usual residence is outside England and Wales.
(3) Figures for Northern Ireland exclude births to mothers not usually resident in Northern Ireland at the time of the birth. Figures for Scotland include births to mothers not usually resident in Scotland at the time of the birth.
(4) For Northern Ireland and Scotland, figures relate to the number of live births registered in a calendar year. For England and Wales, figures relate to the number of live births occurring in each calendar year.
(5) The first release of live birth figures for 2007 for England and for Wales occurred on 10 July 2008. Figures for 2007 for Scotland and for Northern Ireland are provisional.
Source:
Office for National Statistics, General Register Office for Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

Health

Abortion

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to require abortion clinics to inform women seeking an abortion about alternatives to abortion; what guidance he has (a) issued and (b) plans to issue on this matter; what recent representations he has received (i) supporting and (ii) opposing the issuing of such guidance; and if he will make a statement. [217728]

Dawn Primarolo: The following guidance recommends that women should be provided with information on alternatives to abortion:

Further guidance will be included in the forthcoming Department of Health document “Good Practice Guidance for the Commissioning of Contraception and Abortion Services” due to be published later this year.


15 July 2008 : Column 329W

As such, we have no plans to bring forward proposals to require abortion clinics to inform women seeking an abortion about alternatives to abortion.

The Department has received around 200 letters on abortion during 2008. We are unable to break this down in the format requested.

Alcoholic Drinks: Young People

Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people aged under 18 have been admitted to hospitals in England and Wales with illnesses associated with the consumption of alcohol in each of the last five years. [218995]

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) on 8 January 2008, Official Report, column 461W.

Brain Cancer

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding the National Cancer Research Institute has provided for (a) brain tumour research and (b) other cancer-related research (i) in cash terms and (ii) as a proportion of its expenditure in each of the last 10 years. [R] [216380]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 9 July 2008]: The National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) was formed on 1 April 2001. The NCRI brings together the major funders (including government, the voluntary sector and industry) together with cancer patient representatives, to ensure a national strategic approach on cancer research. The information shown in the following table relates to research directly funded by NCRI partners.

£ million

Brain and central nervous system (CNS) expenditure Total site-specific expenditure (and brain and CNS expenditure as a percentage of that total) Total expenditure (and brain and CNS expenditure as a percentage of that total)

2002

1.6

104 (1.6)

258 (0.6)

2003

1.9

121 (1.6)

284 (0.7)

2004

1.8

114 (1.6)

304 (0.6)

2005

2.5

128 (1.9)

348 (0.7)

2006

3.1

159 (1.9)

393 (0.8)


Cannabis: Nicotine

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned or evaluated on the physical and psychological effects of (a) using cannabis and nicotine together and (b) using each substance individually. [215722]

Dawn Primarolo: At the request of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, the Government's advisory committee on drugs, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), recently carried out a substantial review of the harms associated with cannabis use, including the physical and psychological effects of cannabis.


15 July 2008 : Column 330W

The report, ‘Cannabis: Classification and Public Health (2008)’, was published in May 2008 and copies have already been placed in the Library and are also available on the Home Office's website at:

Recently, the Department commissioned a systematic review of studies in this area. The peer-reviewed results of this review were published in The Lancet in July 2007 and confirmed the increased evidence of an association, possibly causal, between prior cannabis use and later development of psychosis and schizophrenia with a 40 per cent. increase in risk reported (up to 200 per cent. increase for at-risk heavy users).

The Department has also commissioned research into the harmful components of cannabis and tobacco smoke. This work is well advanced and a publication date will be set in due course.

The Department keeps the evidence of the physical and psychological effects of cannabis under review and has commissioned the National Addiction Centre to review the evidence of harms for the Department's publication, ‘Dangerousness of Drugs (2001)’, copies of which have already been placed in the Library. The Department has identified funding for the review to be updated later this year.

Dental Services: Cumbria

Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the number of dentists required in (a) Cumbria and (b) Copeland constituency to meet demand for NHS dental care. [217427]

Ann Keen: Decisions on the provision of dental services are left to local national health service organisations, who are best placed to judge the requirements of the communities they serve.

Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many Copeland residents access NHS dental treatment outside Copeland; [217429]

(2) how many dental practices in (a) Cumbria and (b) Copeland constituency have stopped accepting NHS patients in the last 12 months; [217430]

(3) how many dental practices in (a) Cumbria and (b) Copeland constituency are accepting new NHS patients. [217431]

Ann Keen: The requested information is not collected centrally. However, my hon. Friend may wish to approach the chief executive of Cumbria primary care trust, which might hold some of the information that has been requested.


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