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9 Oct 2008 : Column 764W—continued
SunSmart
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the timetable is for rolling out the SunSmart campaign; when he plans to evaluate the effectiveness of the scheme; and by what means; [224571]
(2) what timetable is in place for gathering more information about the effects of sunbed use. [224885]
Dawn Primarolo: SunSmart is the United Kingdom's National Skin Cancer Prevention and Sun Protection Campaign, run by Cancer Research UK on behalf of the UK Health Departments. The campaign runs on an annual basis, between April and September, and activities are evaluated by Cancer Research UK on an ongoing basis including both quantitative and qualitative factors.
The Department is not currently collecting information on the effects of sunbed use. However, it is taking steps to gather information on the distribution and extent of sunbed use by young people, as mentioned in the Cancer Reform Strategy, copies of which have already been placed in the Library. A report is expected in 2009.
Tobacco
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will respond to the consultation on proposals for the next steps in (a) tobacco control and (b) the further regulation of tobacco products. [224572]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department has received nearly 100,000 responses to the "Consultation on the future of tobacco control". A summary of consultation responses will be made available on the Department's website before the end of 2008.
The Government have committed to developing a new national tobacco control strategy to build on the achievements made since the publication of the "Smoking Kills" White Paper in 1998. The "Consultation on the future of tobacco control" is the first stage in developing this new strategy. A publication date for the new strategy will be announced in due course.
Transforming Community Equipment and Wheelchair Services
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will publish the output data from the pilot studies conducted as part of the Transforming Community Equipment and Wheelchair Services programme; [225527]
(2) what guidance he is issuing to local authorities on the implementation of the new Transforming Community Equipment and Wheelchair Services programme model. [225528]
Phil Hope: The retail model developed for community equipment met with overall approval from the sector. The outline business case was sufficiently robust to support developing the outline model to operational status. This is currently being undertaken through a shadow running process in the north west with local authority (LA) and health partners in Manchester, Oldham and Cheshire.
The shadow running process demonstrated improvements in the user experience and efficiency of the service.
Cheshire and Oldham have decided to implement the model locally. This confirms that, in their areas, the new prescription processes have been demonstrated to be effective and are capable of being scaled up to support full implementation of the retail model.
The business case for a new model of delivery of wheelchair services is currently being considered by senior officials in the Department. At the present time we are unable to specify a timescale for any future decisions to be made and announced.
There are no current plans to issue guidance to LAs. LAs and health partnerships continue in their statutory duty to meet the needs of those individuals eligible for support. Retailers also continue to offer a range of services, including installation and personal advice, to those who self fund.
Home Department
Antisocial Behaviour
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 24 June 2008, Official Report, column 259W, on antisocial behaviour, what the timetable is for implementing the provisions of the 2006 Act; and whether she plans to implement the Act before implementation of the provisions of the Community Empowerment Bill. [222780]
Mr. Coaker: We have always been clear that the implementation of these proposals must give proper consideration to the wider local accountability agenda. We are therefore keen to ensure that implementation of these provisions properly takes into account the findings of Sir Ronnie Flanagan's Independent Review of Policing, along with the proposals from Louise Casey's review "Connecting Communities with the fight against crime".
The Policing Green Paper "From the neighbourhood to the national: policing our communities together" set out proposals for improving local accountability, and specifically asks for views on how the Councillor Calls for Action might complement the broader agenda.
The formal consultation period for the Green Paper runs until Friday 10 October. Any implementation timetable for the Councillor Calls for Action will need to be developed in light of the responses received.
Assaults on Police
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many assaults on (a) police officers and (b) police community support officers there were in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area. [224291]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is collected on behalf of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).
(a) Data for the numbers of assaults on police officers and operational police staff for 2003-04 and 2004-05 can be found in the HMIC Annual Report, available in the Library of the House and from:
These data are not available by individual rank and therefore have been provided for police officers and operational staff as a combined figure.
Data for the numbers of assaults on police officers for 2005-06 to 2007-08 can be found in the supplementary tables of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 08/08 "Police Service Strength, England and Wales", available in the Library of the House and from:
(b) Data for the numbers of assaults on police community support officers for 2003-04 and 2004-05 were not separately identifiable in the information published by HMIC and are not available.
Data for the numbers of assaults on police community support officers for 2005-06 to 2007-08 are given in the following table.
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