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3 Nov 2008 : Column 86W—continued
Prescription charges were first introduced in 1952. They were abolished in 1965, but then re-introduced in 1968. Revenue from prescription charges and pre-payment certificates in England is shown in the table. Information for 2007 is not yet available.
| Revenue from prescription charges and pre-payment certificates (£ million) | |
| Source: Annual Abstract of Statistics, Office for National Statistics. | |
Wigs and fabric supports are provided by the NHS but patients are charged for them unless they qualify for help with charges. These charges have been in place since 1971. Information on the charges collected for such items is not collected centrally.
Overseas visitors: Hospital services provided in respect of persons not ordinarily resident in Great Britain are not provided free at the point of delivery unless that person is considered exempt from having to pay the charge. Charges for such persons were first introduced in 1982. The number of persons treated or charged under these regulations and the costs involved are not collected centrally.
Sight tests: There are no charges for sight tests provided under NHS arrangements. Sight tests are free to certain priority groups and private sight tests are available for all other patients from independent optical practices, and any income from the charges they choose to levy is retained by those practices.
NHS: Finance
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to page 35 of his Department's resource accounts for 2007-08, whether his Department has retained the £1.67 billion NHS surplus for expenditure in 2008-09. [229972]
Mr. Bradshaw: The £1.67 billion surplus generated in the 2007-08 financial year sits within national health service organisations and, as discussed in the Department's 2008-09 Quarter 1 edition of “The Quarter”, the £1.667 billion surplus from the 2007-08 financial year has been brought forward to the 2008-09 financial year. “The Quarter” has been placed in the Library.
The 2008-09 Operating Framework made it clear that we expect the NHS to plan for a surplus broadly similar to the surplus in 2007-08. This enables the full deployment of baseline and additional resources for 2008-09 and continues with our strategy for flexibility to respond to fluctuations in demand whilst maintaining sufficient funds for investment in new services.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to page 27, paragraph 16 of his Department's resource accounts for 2007-08, from which organisation each named individual was seconded. [229973]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information was provided on pages 23 and 24 of the resource accounts and is presented in the following table:
| Secondee in | Organisation of origin |
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what dates Ministers in his Department met representatives of HM Treasury to discuss NHS surpluses in the past two years. [231066]
Mr. Bradshaw: There have been no meetings between Ministers of this Department and representatives of HM Treasury to discuss national health service surpluses.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health where the NHS surplus generated in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 has been (i) held and (ii) allocated. [231067]
Mr. Bradshaw: Under the financial regime applied to the national health service, surpluses are reported in the accounts of the individual organisations that generate them. The surpluses generated in 2006-07 and 2007-08 sit within the NHS, and are reported within NHS accounts.
The surpluses are not lost to the NHS, but are available to be carried forward for use in future years.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has received from HM Treasury on the (a) generation and (b) use of surpluses in the NHS. [231068]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has received no guidance from HM Treasury on the generation and use of surpluses in the national health service.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether NHS trusts which generate a surplus in (a) the latest and (b) the present financial year are to be permitted to carry over the surplus into the next financial year. [231087]
Mr. Bradshaw: Under the financial regime applied to the national health service, surpluses are reported in the accounts of the individual organisations that generate them.
NHS trusts that generated a surplus in 2007-08, recorded this surplus within their income and expenditure accounts, and carried the surplus forward to 2008-09. Any further surplus achieved in 2008-09 added to the brought forward surplus from 2007-08 and carried forward to 2009-10.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his current estimated outturn is for capital expenditure in 2008-09 attributable to the National Health Service including funding available to NHS Foundation Trusts, in terms consistent with the calculation in Figure A3 of his Department's 2008 Departmental Report. [232691]
Mr. Bradshaw: The requested statistic will be included in the HM Treasury pre-Budget report.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether strategic health authority or primary care trust revenue resource limits for 2008-09 have been adjusted to take into account (a) surpluses carried forward from financial year 2007-08 and (b) the return to primary care trusts of top-sliced funds held back in 2007-08 by strategic health authorities. [232702]
Mr. Bradshaw: Strategic health authority (SHA) revenue resource limits for 2008-09 have been adjusted to take account of surpluses made in 2007-08 by the primary care trusts (PCTs) in their health economy area and by the SHA itself.
It is for each SHA to manage both the timing and method for repaying top-slice contributions made by their PCTs. Where an SHA has repaid top-slice, the revenue resource limit of the PCT will be adjusted by means of an inter authority transfer.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the top-sliced primary care trust allocations held back by strategic health authorities at 31 March 2008 had been allocated to primary care trusts for 2008-09. [232703]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is not available from data collected during the year, but will be derived from 2008-09 draft accounts data collected from the national health service after the end of the financial year.
NHS: Per Capita Costs
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent per head on health services in (a) Bexley Care Trust and (b) Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust areas in the latest period for which figures are available. [231144]
Mr. Bradshaw:
Expenditure per unweighted head of population in 2007-08 by Bexley Care Trust was £1,320.91. Spend in Bexley Care Trust is based on the net operating cost reported in the primary care trust's (PCTs) audited financial monitoring and accounts forms. This does not include all expenditure as the majority of pharmaceutical services expenditure is accounted for by the NHS Business
Services Authority rather than by PCTs. Population figure used is Office of National Statistics 2007 estimate for Bexley Care Trust.
Expenditure per head of population cannot be calculated for national health service trusts as they do not cover specific areas and may receive income from commissioners throughout England.
NHS: Security
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each NHS trust spent on (a) security guards and (b) other security measures to protect patients and staff in each of the last three years. [232141]
Mr. Bradshaw: This information is not held centrally and could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
Palliative Care
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which (a) hospitals and (b) hospices use the Liverpool Pathway for terminal care of patients. [231591]
Phil Hope: This information is not held centrally. The NHS End of Life Care Programme, which ran from 2004 to 2007, supported the roll-out of three end of life care tools, the Gold Standards Framework, the Liverpool Care Pathway and the Preferred Priorities for Care. Data collected by the programme show that, at December 2007, one or more of these tools was being used in 74 per cent. of general practitioner practices, 85 per cent. of hospitals, 41 per cent. of community hospitals, 74 per cent. of hospices and 7.4 per cent. of care homes.
Plain English
Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent by his Department on Plain English Campaign training courses for its staff in each year since 2005. [230606]
Mr. Bradshaw: Decisions on staff attending Plain English Campaign training sessions are taken locally. The Department therefore does not hold a central record of such attendance and is unable to provide costs in each year since 2005.
Political Impartiality
Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Commercial Director of his Department is permitted to make donations to a political party in (a) the UK and (b) the USA under the terms of his contract with the Department. [230648]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 30 October 2008]: Members of the senior civil service cannot take part in national or international political activities, including making donations, and must seek written permission to take part in local political activities.
Rural Areas
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in respect of which of his Department’s public service agreements rural proofing of departmental policies is stipulated. [230740]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department of Health leads on two cross-government public service agreement(s) (PSA)—Better Health and Well Being for all PSA 18 and Better Care for all PSA 19. The Department has signed up as a formal delivery partner for the following 11 PSAs:
Socially Excluded Adults PSA
Housing Supply PSA
Young People on Paths to Success PSA
Child Safety PSA
Children and Young People Health and Well Being PSA
Science and Innovation PSA
Later Life PSA
Employment PSA
Equalities PSA
Alcohol and Drugs PSA
Safer Communities PSA.
It is a requirement for all new policies and programmes to be subject to an impact assessment which includes rural proofing.
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