Percentages are based on numbers of staff in post at the end of each financial year.
David Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in his Department have had five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days in two or more of the last five years. [218968]
Mr. Bradshaw:
Information is not available in the format requested. However information is available for the last three years on the numbers of staff who have had five or more periods of sickness of less than five days. This is given in the following table.
Number
2007-08
95
2006-07
95
2005-06
87
Information is not available before 2005-06.
15 July 2008 : Column 335W
Dietary Supplements: EU Law
Mr. Austin Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when (a) he and (b) officials of the Food Standards Agency last met counterparts from each of the other member states of the European Union to discuss the Government’s objectives for the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements under the provisions of Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive; and what the outcome of each of those meetings was; [216281]
(2) when the Chief Executive of the Food Standards Agency last met officials of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Affairs to discuss the Government’s objectives for the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements under the provisions of Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive; whom he met; and what the outcome of that meeting was; [216282]
(3) how many representations he has received from (a) right hon. and hon. Members and (b) others on the process of setting maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements under the provisions of Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive in 2008. [216283]
Dawn Primarolo:
No recent meetings have been held between Health Ministers and their counterparts in other member states on setting maximum levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements.
Food Standards Agency (FSA) officials met their counterparts from other member states at a European Commission working group meeting to discuss this issue on 27 June 2008. A summary of the meeting will be made available on the Food Standards Agency’s website.
We have been advised by the FSA that their officials are planning a series of bilateral meetings to discuss the setting of maximum levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements in the near future.
No meetings have been held between the FSA’s chief executive and officials of the European Commission’s directorate-general for health and consumer protection specifically to discuss setting maximum levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements.
In 2008, Health Ministers have received 24 written representations on setting maximum levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements from right hon. and hon. Members and peers and five from others.
Drugs: Misuse
Mr. Jenkins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the relationship between ecstasy use and psychosis. [215764]
Dawn Primarolo:
The Department keeps the evidence on the relationship between ecstasy use and psychosis under review and it 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 15 July 2008 : Column 336W
Library. The Department has identified funding for the review to be updated later this year.
Additionally, the Government's advisory committee on drugs, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), has undertaken to provide advice on the harm and prevention of harms caused by ecstasy (MDMA) in the form of a published review.
The ACMD review will draw from a recent Health Technology Assessment review of ecstasy and is expected to be available to Ministers in the later part of 2008.
Mr. Jenkins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the relationship between crystal methamphetamine use and psychosis. [215765]
Dawn Primarolo:
Although the Department has not commissioned any specific research into the relationship between crystal methamphetamine use and psychosis, it does keep the evidence base 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 this publication have already been placed in the Library. The Department has identified funding for the review to be updated later this year.
In addition, the Government's advisory committee on drugs, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) carried out a substantial review entitled ‘Methamphetamine Review’ of the harms of methylamphetamine, including the risks of psychosis in 2005 prior to its reclassification as a Class A drug. This review is available on the Home Office's website at:
Methylamphetamine is also a standing item on the ACMD's Technical Committee agenda.
Food: Genetically Modified Organisms
Mr. Peter Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Food Standards Agency is taking to ensure that food containing genetically modified organisms which is sold in restaurants and public houses is identified as such to customers; and if he will make a statement. [217152]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 8 July 2008]:The labelling requirements for genetically modified (GM) food are set out in the directly applicable Regulations (EC) Nos. 1829/2003 (GM Food and Feed) and 1830/2003 (Traceability and Labelling of GM Organisms). GM food may only be marketed in the European Union (EU) if it has been authorised following a process which involves a rigorous safety assessment. GM organisms which have not been authorised for use in the EU are prohibited.
Regulation 1829/2003 states that its labelling requirements apply to foods which are to be delivered as such to the final consumer or mass caterers in the Community.
Local authorities are responsible for enforcement of the legislation in catering establishments and checks for the presence of GM material in foods on the basis of sampling and analysis as part of their enforcement activities.
15 July 2008 : Column 337W
General Practitioners
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were registered with general practitioners in England in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area. [218644]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The number of patients registered with general practitioners in England, by primary care trust (PCT) is shown in the following table.
15 July 2008 : Column 338W
Data at this level has been published online by the Information Centre for health and social care (IC) since 2006 and are available on the IC’s website at:
