| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
28 Oct 2008 : Column 889W—continued
Public Works Loan Board
Mr. Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the value of loans to be made by the Public Works Loan Board in each of the next 12 months. [230937]
Angela Eagle: The information requested is available in table C12 of Budget 2008 (HC 388).
Regulation
Ann Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the European Union to change the mark or marking to market rules. [227657]
Ian Pearson: The International Accounting Standards Board and the European Commission have acted very expeditiously to introduce the necessary changes already.
The EU website carries full details of the changes
These are summarised in a press release which can be found at:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/1513&;fomiat=:HTML&aged=Q&language=EN&guiLanguage-en
Revenue and Customs: North West
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) plans to spend on (a) maintenance and (b) upgrading of its offices at (i) St. Helens and (ii) Blackburn in each of the next three years. [229978]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC’s) offices are occupied under the terms of an estates private finance initiative (PFI) contract. HMRC’s estates partner, Mapeley, is responsible for maintenance of the sites to the required contractual accommodation standards.
HMRC pay a unitary Facility Price to Mapeley in return for fully serviced accommodation. In view of this there is no requirement for HMRC to spend additional sums on the day to day maintenance of the sites; HMRC has no plans to implement any works to upgrade the sites over and above the current contractual agreement.
Seafarers' Earnings Deduction
Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to issue revised guidance on eligibility to claim the seafarers’ earnings deduction. [230018]
Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 23 October 2008, Official Report, column 548W to the hon. Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle).
Swimming
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions his Department had with (a) local authorities, (b) the Local Government Association and (c) the Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers' Association before his announcement of free swimming for the over 60s. [223382]
Andy Burnham: [holding answer 10 September 2008]: I have been asked to reply.
Before my statement to the House of 17 July in which I set out the details of the Government's free swimming programme, my Department held several discussions with representatives of local authorities, of the Local Government Association and of the Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers' Association.
Welfare Tax Credits
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons his Department sends a standard tax credits renewal pack to the next-of-kin of deceased tax credit claimants. [225398]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 9 October 2008]: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) fully recognise the distress that bereavement causes for families.
When a customer dies HMRC has a statutory obligation to ensure the correct amount of tax credits was paid prior to the death. These cases are dealt with by a dedicated team in the Tax Credits office.
In these circumstances HMRC send a sensitively worded letter to a personal representative of the deceased explaining why the annual declaration is required.
Mr. Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were in receipt of tax credits at the end of each of the last 10 fiscal years. [230926]
Mr. Timms: Estimates of the average number of families benefiting from child and working tax credits are available in the HMRC publications ‘Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Finalised Annual Awards’, for each relevant year. These publications are available on the HMRC website at:
Child and working tax credits replaced working families’ tax credit in April 2003.
Estimates of the number of recipient families of working families’ tax credit are available in the HMRC publications ‘Working Families’ Tax Credit and Family Credit Statistics. Quarterly Enquiry’, for each relevant quarter. These publications are available on the HMRC website at:
Welfare Tax Credits: Hertfordshire
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints related to tax credits his Department has received from customers in (a) Hertfordshire and (b) Hemel Hempstead in each year since their inception. [231105]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is not available at county or constituency level.
Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments
Jenny Willott: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much, on average, his Department clawed back per case of tax credit overpayment in each (a) month of 2008-09 and (b) of the last five financial years; and if he will make a statement; [231027]
(2) how much his Department has recovered in tax credits overpayments in each (a) month of 2008-09 to date and (b) year from 2003-04 to 2007-08; and if he will make a statement. [230442]
Mr. Timms: The information which can be provided on the total recovery of overpayments of 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 tax credit awards is contained in Part 2, Table 11 of the Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, in the HM Revenue and Customs 2007-08 Accounts. This is available on the HMRC website at:
The additional information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Health
Accident and Emergency Departments: Admissions
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of patients required emergency readmissions within 28 days of emergency admission to hospital in each of the last five years. [228986]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information is not available in the format requested. The information that is available (from the National Centre for Health Outcomes Development (NCHOD) is provided for three different age groups.
| Percentage of emergency readmission to any hospital in England occurring within 28 days of discharge from hospital | |||
| Age group | |||
| Ages 0-15 | Ages 16-74 | Ages 75 plus | |
| Note: Indirectly age, sex, method of admission of discharge spell, diagnosis (ICD 10 chapter/selected sub-chapters within medical specialties) and procedure (OPCS 4 chapter/selected sub-chapters within surgical specialties) standardised rates. Standardised to persons 2002-03. Source: Compendium of Clinical and Health Indicators/Clinical and Health Outcomes Knowledge Base www.nchod.nhs.uk or www.nchod.nhs.uk released October 2008. | |||
Alcoholic Drinks: Health Education
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on advertising his Department’s alcohol strategy through (a) television, (b) radio and (c) print media. [228980]
Dawn Primarolo: There has been no spending on television, radio or print media advertising for either the Government’s alcohol strategy, “Safe. Sensible. Social—The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy” or the public consultation on alcohol, “Safe. Sensible. Social—Consultation on further action”.
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
Mike Penning:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department took to ensure neutrality in the wording of questions issued to the
public in relation to his Department's recent consultation on alcohol strategy; and whether the consultation’s content was tested with an independent polling organisation before being issued. [229265]
Dawn Primarolo: Prior to being issued, care was taken to ensure that the content of the consultation, including questions issued to the public, was neutral and clearly presented the facts and issues in compliance with the Cabinet Office code of practice on consultations. The consultation is not intended to be an opinion poll.
Alzheimer’s Disease
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government has introduced to alleviate the condition of those with Alzheimer’s disease. [229867]
Phil Hope: The Department’s service development guide for older people’s mental health services, “Everybody’s Business”, describes the range of services, which ought to be in place to support people with dementia and their carers.
In addition, in August 2007, the Government announced work on the development of the first ever National Dementia Strategy and Implementation Plan. A draft strategy was issued for consultation in June 2008, and a final strategy will be published in the near future.
Copies of both documents have been placed in the Library.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in (a) the UK, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley district and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each of the last 10 years. [229868]
Phil Hope: The Department does not have data for the number of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in the last 10 years. However, for 2006-07 and 2007-08, the General Practitioner Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) has recorded the number of people with a diagnosis of dementia.
The figures are given in the following table. They are the totals for patients with dementia. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for approximately 50-75 per cent. of cases of dementia, so the count of patients with dementia gives an indication of the number with Alzheimer’s disease.
| Financial year | ||
| 2007-08 | 2006-07 | |
| (1) This PCT was formerly known as North Tees. Note: We are unable to supply information for all the areas requested, as some are non-health regions. Where this occurs, we have supplied information for the health areas that best fit those requested. | ||
Ambulance Services: Manpower
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many part-time employees work in NHS ambulance service trusts; and what percentage of all employees of these trusts this figure represents. [230004]
Ann Keen: The number of part-time employees who work in national health service ambulance trusts and the percentage figure this represents is detailed in the following table:
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |