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12 Jan 2009 : Column 177W—continued
Power Stations: Health Hazards
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to issue guidance on any known effects on humans of prolonged residence in proximity to power stations to families who live near such installations; and if he will make a statement. [244213]
Dawn Primarolo: The Environment Agency regulates emissions from power stations, which have an important influence on air pollution levels but do not alone lead to local breaches of the air quality objectives in the Air Quality Strategy. There has been no specific study of the health of people living around power stations but the health benefits of reductions in emissions from power stations overall (locally and nationally) have been assessed in reports available on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website:
Guidance on the health effects of air pollution in general is available on the website of the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants:
There have been studies of the incidence of childhood cancer undertaken around nuclear power stations in particular and these have been reviewed by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE). In its 10th report, it concluded that there was no evidence of excess numbers of cases in any local 25 km area around any of the nuclear power stations:
Prescription Drugs
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps his Department is taking to (a) ensure equitable payment to dispensing appliance contractors and pharmacy contractors for equivalent services under Part IX of the Drug Tariff proposals and (b) extend the expensive prescription fee to dispensing appliance contractors; [245704]
(2) what assessment his Department has made of the competition implications of not extending the same prescription fee structure to dispensing appliance contractors and to pharmacies; and if he will make a statement. [245703]
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the competition implications of not extending the same prescription fee structure to dispensing appliance contractors and to pharmacies; and if he will make a statement. [245798]
Phil Hope: A review of the arrangements under Part IX of the Drug tariff for the provision of stoma and urology items—and related services—in primary care is currently under way. One of the stated aims of the review is that it seeks to make service provided by and payment provision to dispensing appliance contractors (DACs) and pharmacy contractors more equitable. A number of proposals have been put forward in consultation issued by the Department and extending the expensive prescription fee to DACs has been raised by respondents and will therefore be considered. The consultation closed in September 2008; details of the how this work will progress in light of responses and a final impact assessment will be published in the new year.
Primary Care Trusts
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish his national support programme for primary care trust board development. [245741]
Mr. Bradshaw: As part of the World Class Commissioning Programme, “PCT Board Development Framework” can be found at:
and a copy has been placed in the Library.
Primary Care Trusts: Finance
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health to what proportion of primary care trust revenue allocations for the 2009-10 financial year the health inequalities formula has been applied, with the meaning described on page 28 of his Department’s Report of the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation published 8 December 2008. [245627]
Mr. Bradshaw: One Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA) objective is to help to reduce avoidable health inequalities through resource allocation. To achieve this objective, a separate health inequalities formula has been developed which targets funds at the places with the worst health outcomes. This is a more transparent way of contributing towards the reduction in health inequalities through resource allocation, and highlights our commitment to tackling the issue of health inequality.
ACRA could not determine the proportion of allocations to apply the health inequalities formula to and left it to ministerial decision. Ministers decided to apply the formula to 15 per cent. of the allocations, excluding the mental health component of the formula (which already includes an adjustment for unmet need) and HIV/AIDS. This keeps the distribution of funding between the most and least deprived areas in line with the previous formula.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what variables are included in the weighted capitation formula used to inform primary care trust revenue allocation for 2009-10; and what the data sources are for each. [245628]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The variables included in the weighted capitation formula for 2009-10 primary care trust revenue allocations and their data sources are set out in the
Department’s publication Resource Allocation: Weighted Capitation Formula (Sixth Edition), which has been placed in the Library, and which is also available at:
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the weighted capitation targets per (a) unweighted and (b) weighted head are for (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10 (A) for England on average and (B) for each primary care trust. [245629]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information is provided in the table for 2009-10. Weighted capitation targets were not calculated for 2008-09 because the formula which determines them was frozen while the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation were granted more time to conclude their review.
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