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22 Jan 2009 : Column 1612W—continued
Trade Unions
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what meetings staff of the Courts Service have had with the relevant trades unions to discuss resources for the Courts Service in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11 in the last 12 months; [248343]
(2) what plans he has to consult the relevant trades unions on (a) his Department's budget and (b) planned alterations to that budget for 2009-10 and 2010-11. [248344]
Mr. Straw: Planning work has been underway since September 2008 to determine how the Ministry of Justice will live within its spending review settlement, secure £1 billion of savings by 2010-11. Regular meetings have been held with the unions throughout this period, with the next planned meeting at the corporate level provisionally scheduled for 22 January 2009. Regular engagement has also been maintained at the business group and business area levels, where business area specific issues have been consulted, including HM Courts Services (HMCS).
The budgets for business groups for 2009-10 will be published in the MOJ Corporate Plan on 19 January 2009, a copy of which together with other performance and efficiency related communications to staff will be shared with the unions ahead of wider circulation. The Corporate Plan will also be available in the Library of the House.
Following issue of the Corporate Plan, business groups will work in earnest to develop their own business plans. These plans will address in detail how the Department will meet the performance and efficiency challenges. Going forward consultation will take place with the unions at a local level or, when appropriate, at a corporate level. For example the chief executive of HMCS plans to discuss budgetary allocations with the unions on 17 February.
The recent pre-Budget report contained an announcement of an additional £5 billion value for money saving to be delivered in 2010-11 across the public sector. Decisions have yet to be made as to how those savings will be allocated between Departments but once this is clear we will need to consider the implications for us. This means it will be a little while before we can publish figures for that year. Once they have settled, we will share again details of the allocations with union colleagues.
Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will place in the Library a copy of each of the responses to his Department's recent consultation on the implementation of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. [245975]
Bridget Prentice: There have been several consultations by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) relating to the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. The consultation “Transforming Tribunals Implementing Part 1 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007” ran from November 2007 to February 2008. Responses were published on the 19 May 2008. A copy of the response document was placed in the Library of both Houses.
The consultation “Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007— Eligibility for judicial appointment” ran from February to April 2008 and responses were published on the 27 August. The response document is available on the MoJ website at:
A copy of the response document will be placed in the Library of both Houses.
The consultation “Administration and Enforcement Restriction Orders: setting the parameters” ran from January to April 2008 and a response paper will be published shortly.
As with most MoJ consultations, all of these consultation papers contained a standard confidentiality clause. The individual responses of consultees, that did not indicate
to the contrary, would therefore be available in an anonymised version from the MoJ for the first two consultations mentioned above. The response paper for the “Administration and Enforcement Restriction Orders: setting the parameters” consultation has not yet been published.
Victim Support Schemes
Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how much has been distributed from the Victims Fund in each year since its creation in 2004; [249662]
(2) which specialist services for victims of particular types of crime have received funding from the Government in each of the last five years; and how much was granted in each case. [249663]
Maria Eagle: Organisations providing specialist services for victims of crime receive resources from a wide range of funding streams. Information on this funding is not collated or held centrally.
The Victims Fund was established in 2004 to help top-up local funding for specialist services for victims of crime. The following table shows the total distribution since its commencement:
| £ | ||
|
Sexual Assault Referral Centres and Sexual Violence Third Sector |
Young Offenders: Reoffenders
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps the Government is taking to reduce reoffending among young offenders. [249479]
Mr. Hanson: There has been an 18.7 per cent. reduction in the frequency rate of youth reoffending between 2000 and 2006. The Youth Crime Action Plan, published in July 2008 details the cross-Government approach to reducing youth crime, including youth reoffending. It sets out a ‘triple track’ approach of enforcement and punishment where behaviour is unacceptable, non-negotiable support and challenge where it is most needed, and better and earlier prevention. The Youth Justice Board leads on the target of a 10 per cent. reduction by 2011 of the frequency rate of youth reoffending against the 2005 baseline, and is working with Departments, to influence the key services to ensure young people have access to mainstream and specialist services before, during and after justice.
Health
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people aged 11 to 18 years resident in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire were treated for alcohol-related problems in each of the last five years. [249063]
Dawn Primarolo: Information is not available in the format requested. Data are available for treatment of alcohol-related health problems, the number of admissions to hospital for alcohol and alcohol-related health problems. An individual may account for more than one admission.
While it is possible to analyse the admissions data to determine the number of individuals aged 11-18 years admitted to hospital for alcohol and alcohol-related health problems, this could be done only at disproportionate cost.
The following table gives the number of alcohol-related finished admissions for patients aged 11-18 by primary care trust (PCT) in the Hertfordshire area for each year from 2002-03 to 2006-07. 2006-07 is the latest year for which data are available. The figures relate to the number of admissions rather than the number of individuals: an individual may account for more than one admission.
Antidepressants
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of anti-depressant drugs prescribing in (a) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency, (b) the Tees Valley, (c) the North East and (d) England in the last 12 months. [249542]
Dawn Primarolo: The following table provides the net ingredient cost (NIC) of anti-depressant drugs prescribed in the community listed in British National Formulary (BNF) section 4.3 for the latest available 12 month period. Information is only available by health area and the information provided best fits the areas requested.
| NIC of anti-depressant drugs listed in BNF section 4.3.— November 2007 to October 2008 | |
| £000 | |
| Source: Prescribing Analysis and CosT tool (ePACT) system | |
Aphasia: Research
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned into the causes and treatment of aphasia. [249823]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has funded the following current or recently completed projects of relevance to aphasia:
assessing the effectiveness of communication therapy in the North West (Dr. Audrey Bowen, university of Manchester);
the phoneme factory: producing a multimedia screening and therapy system for children with phonological disorders (Professor Sue Roulstone, North Bristol NHS Trust);
speech-driven environmental control systems: new assistive technologies for disabled and elderly people (Professor Mark Hawley, university of Sheffield and Barnsley Hospitals NHS Trust); and
evaluating communication impairment using technology-based transcriptionless discourse analysis measures: a demonstration of reliability and validity (Dr. Marian Brady, Glasgow Caledonian university).
The NIHR clinical research network is also supporting a number of related studies. Details are available on the network’s portfolio database at:
The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government support medical and clinical research. The MRC is an independent body that receives its grant in aid from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.
Over the last five years, the MRC has funded four projects relevant to aphasia:
finding the right words: predicting, and treating, spoken language production deficits after aphasic stroke (Dr. J. Crinion, University college London);
normal and disordered language comprehension: a cognitive science approach (Professor L. Tyler, Birkbeck college);
neural basis of words, meaning and syntax (Professor F. Pulvermuller, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit); and
stroke recovery (Professor R. Wise, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre).
Chronic Disease Management
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many Expert Patients programme course places there have been in each year since the programme was established; and what proportion of these course places were specific to musculoskeletal problems. [249268]
Ann Keen: Expert Patients Programme Community Interest Company was established in April 2007. For the period April 2007 to March 2008 they report that the number of course places delivered was 24,660. Figures for 2008-09 are not yet available. The Expert Patients Programme is a generic course and is open to anyone with a long term condition. Details are not available relating to the specific conditions that course participants live with, however Expert Patients Programme Community Interest Company estimate that 25 per cent. of course places are taken by people with musculoskeletal conditions.
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