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12 Jan 2009 : Column 188W—continued
Tobacco
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to publish the responses made to his Department's consultation on the Future of Tobacco Control; and if he will make a statement. [244755]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement made by the Secretary of State for Health on 9 December 2008, Official Report, columns 46-47WS.
The Government have published a report summarising the more than 96,000 responses received during the consultation. There are no plans to publish specific consultation responses.
The report has already been placed in the Library and is also available on the Department's website at:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Responses toconsultations/DH_091382.
Transsexuality
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the average waiting time between a patient being accepted for NHS gender reassignment surgery and completion of the operation was in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley district and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in the latest period for which figures are available; [244893]
(2) how many people are waiting for NHS gender reassignment surgery in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley district and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency; [244894]
(3) how many people have unsuccessfully applied for NHS gender reassignment surgery in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley district and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each of the last five years. [244895]
Mr. Bradshaw: This information is not collected centrally. The Department's guidance for general practitioners and other professionals on the care of gender variant people, was published in May 2008.
Tuberculosis
Dr. Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of tuberculosis cases notified in England were of (a) homeless persons, (b) problem drug-users and (c) prisoners in the last 12 months; and what proportion of such people in each category received directly-observed therapy from the start of their treatment in that period. [245427]
Dawn Primarolo: No data are collected on these risk factors, nor on the proportion of people receiving directly observed therapy. The Health Protection Agency has recently redeveloped its surveillance system to collect this information about risk factors and whether patients started on treatment are under direct observation, and the new system is currently being rolled out nationally.
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many instances of tuberculosis have been recorded in (a) Gravesham, (b) Kent and (c) England in each quarter of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [246003]
Dawn Primarolo: The following table indicates the number of tuberculosis cases in Gravesham, Kent and England for the calendar years 2000 to 2006.
| Area | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
| Notes: 1. Cases in Gravesham and Kent were determined on the basis of local authority (of patient's residence). 2. Data for Gravesham are for Gravesham local authority; data for Kent comprise: Medway, Ashford, Canterbury, Dartford, Dover, Gravesham, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Shepway, Swale, Thanet, Tonbridge and Mailing, and Tunbridge Wells local authorities. 3. We have not provided data by quarter because the case numbers per quarter would be very small and would have to be suppressed due to the risk of deductive disclosure. Local authority information is not yet available for 2007. Source: Enhanced Tuberculosis Surveillance, Health Protection Agency | |||||||
Vitamin B12
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons the guideline thresholds for vitamin B12 levels set by his Department and the World Health Organisation differ; and if he will make a statement. [244917]
Dawn Primarolo: The “guideline thresholds” have been taken to refer to the recommended or reference nutrient intakes for vitamin B12.
In 1991, the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy (COMA) set the Reference Nutrient Intake (the amount of a nutrient which meets the needs of almost all individuals) for vitamin B12 at 1.5 micrograms vitamin B12 per day for UK adult men and women.
In 2004, the World Health Organisation (WHO) revised its recommended nutrient intakes for vitamin B12 upwards, from 1.0 microgram per day (set in 1988) to 2.4 micrograms per day for adults. The WHO recommendation appears to be largely based on the USA Institute of Medicine's (IOM) Dietary Reference Intakes for vitamin B12 published in 2000. The Institute of Occupational Medicine recommendation was based on a review of evidence some of which was not available to COMA in 1991.
The most recent National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) of adults aged 19-64 years reported mean daily vitamin B12 intakes exceed both COMA and WHO recommendations at 6.8 micrograms and 5.1 micrograms for men and women respectively.
Written Answers to Questions
Monday 12 January 2009
Wales
Departmental Assets
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assets of his Department are planned to be sold in each financial year from 2007-08 to 2010-11; what the (a) description and (b) book value of each such asset is; what the expected revenue from each such sale is; and if he will make a statement. [245407]
Mr. Paul Murphy: My Department has no plans to sell assets, our main asset is Gwydyr House, which we occupy.
Departmental Correspondence
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) letters and (b) e-mails received by his Department had not been responded to as at 15 December 2008. [244719]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. Information relating to 2008 will be published as soon as it has been collated. The report for 2007 was published on 20 March 2008, Official Report, columns 71-74WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House. When responding to all correspondence, the Wales Office abides by the guidance set out in ‘Handling correspondence from MPs, Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Assemblies’ which was published by the Cabinet Office in July 2005.
In respect of emails, the information is only available at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Data Protection
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of contractors and suppliers to his Department has reported compliance with the Government's security standards following publication of the report, Data Handling Procedures in Government, and the accompanying document, Cross-departmental Actions: Mandatory Minimum Action, on 25 June 2008. [245306]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office does not directly use external suppliers or contractors to carry out its responsibilities. The Wales Office is provided with its IT and support services by the Ministry of Justice, who place an obligation on all of their contractors to provide IT and data management systems that meet Government security standards.
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many contracts his Department has which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; for which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each contract is held; and how many people have their data stored overseas in the case of each such contract. [245334]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office does not store or process personal data overseas.
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when his Department appointed a senior information risk owner in accordance with the report, Data Handling Procedures in Government and the accompanying document Cross-departmental Actions: Mandatory Minimum Action; and what grade the person holds within the Department. [245372]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The responsibility of Senior Information Risk Owner was transferred to the newly-created post of Head of Corporate Services in November. The postholder is a member of the Department's Management Board.
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of the IT systems in his Department is fully accredited to the Government's security standards. [245377]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office's IT services are provided by the Ministry of Justice. These IT systems are fully accredited to Government standards.
Departmental ICT
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what IT projects his Department is undertaking; and what the most recent estimate of (a) the cost and (b) the completion date of each is. [245403]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office is provided with its IT services by the Ministry of Justice. Consequently, the Department does not directly undertake IT projects.
Departmental Information Officers
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many press and communications officers are employed by his Department. [245402]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office has three press and communications officers.
Departmental Internet
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent maintaining its website in each of the last five years. [245397]
Mr. Paul Murphy: My Department has spent the following on maintaining our website.
| £ | |
The 2007-08 figure includes the cost of designing and establishing the new Wales Office website.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department has spent on broadband internet in each of the last five years. [245399]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office installed two broadband lines in January 2008, prior to this, we did not have any broadband. The cost of each line is £111 per quarter.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales for which websites his Department provides funding. [245411]
Mr. Paul Murphy: My Department funds two departmental websites:
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department work to assist special advisers; and what the cost of employing such staff was in each of the last three years. [245408]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office has no full-time support staff for special advisers.
Departmental Pensions
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many civil servants working in his Department have pensions with a cash equivalent transfer value of over £1 million. [245409]
Mr. Paul Murphy: It is not appropriate to disclose pension information for civil servants other than board members, whose details are shown in the remuneration report in annual resource accounts for the Ministry of Justice.
A copy of the resource accounts for financial year 2007-08 can be found in the Library, or accessed electronically using the following link:
Departmental Sick Leave
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many hours of work were lost through sickness absence on the part of staff working in his Department in the last 12 months. [245405]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office does not record the sickness absence of its staff in terms of hours, but in terms of days and half days.
In the year to March 2008, 505.5 days were lost to sickness absence.
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