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27 Jan 2009 : Column 416Wcontinued
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the average waiting time for a knee operation in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire was in the latest period for which figures are available; [250563]
(2) what the average waiting time for a hip operation in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire was in the latest period for which information is available. [250565]
Ann Keen: Information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows the median and mean time waited for hip and knee replacements of residents in the of East and North Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust and West Hertfordshire PCT in 2006-07.
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will offer financial assistance to small businesses to cover the costs incurred in removing cigarette displays in shops. [250718]
Dawn Primarolo: The Government currently have no such plans.
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of people who presented with tuberculosis in 2008 were subsequently diagnosed with acquired immune deficiency syndrome. [250127]
Dawn Primarolo: Data for tuberculosis (TB) and HIV co-infection for 2008 are not yet available. The most recent data available are for 2005.
Data from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) indicates that, in 2005, the proportion of cases of tuberculosis in England aged 15 years and over co-infected with HIV was 7.9 per cent.
Notes:
1. This figure is based on the retrospective matching of the national Enhanced Tuberculosis Surveillance database (ETS) and the national HIV/AIDS reports database.
2. Matching is carried out retrospectively because there is often considerable delay in reporting of cases and data are, therefore, available for 2005 only at present.
3. This figure also includes HIV/AIDS patients with TB as an AIDS defining illness who were not identified in the national TB database.
4. The proportion provided is for all cases of co-infection with TB and HIV because we do not have information on which infection was acquired first.
5. This figure does not include cases of co-infection in children because HIV in children is reported separately.
Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the NHS of a single dose of DTP vaccine was in each year since 2000. [251409]
Dawn Primarolo: A vaccine containing diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP) only, has not been distributed since October 2004 because DTP has been combined with other vaccines. The individual cost of vaccine and the total cost to Government, is commercial-in-confidence.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to which (a) charities and (b) voluntary organisations his Department has provided funding since it was established; and how much funding was provided to each. [247361]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I am advised that this question can be answered only by incurring disproportionate costs.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much coal from what countries of origin was imported in the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available. [250054]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The following table shows how much coal has been imported by country of origin in 2007. Data for 2008 will be published in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics in July 2009.
Thousand tonnes | |
Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2008 |
Mrs. McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps the Government are taking to ensure that energy companies reduce diesel prices in line with both crude oil and petrol prices. [250305]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I recently met with the UK Petroleum Industry Association, which represents fuel retailers, to impress upon them the urgency in passing on any reductions in costs to consumers. Recent increases in the difference between petrol and diesel retail prices are due to a relative shortage of the availability of wholesale diesel due to constraints in refinery capacity.
The Office of Fair Trading is responsible for ensuring that UK markets are competitive.
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to encourage energy suppliers to (a) publicise the availability of and (b) maximise take-up of social tariffs by eligible customers. [249200]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Suppliers agreed at the fuel poverty summit organised by Ofgem in April 2008, to provide greater visibility of their offers. Following this Ofgem has worked with the suppliers to ensure that information about their social tariffs and programmes and a contact phone number for consumers to check their eligibility, is available on all the suppliers' websites.
Energy suppliers have committed to collectively spend £100 million this year, rising to £125 million next year and £150 million by 2011 on social assistance. In order to meet this commitment to Government the suppliers need to inform their customers about the assistance available to vulnerable groups through their social tariff scheme.
Expenditure on suppliers' social assistance is monitored by Ofgem and they estimated, in a report published in December 2008, that over 800,000 customer accounts are now benefiting from a social tariff. This is a significant increase, almost doubling, since March 2008 which is a good indication of the level of awareness of the assistance suppliers offer.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his most recent estimate is of the number of people (a) in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency, (b) the Tees Valley, (c) the North-East and (d) the UK who are living in fuel poverty; and what forecast he has made of the number of people in the North-East who will be living in fuel poverty in 10 years' time. [249566]
Joan Ruddock: The most recent year for which sub-regional estimates of fuel poverty are available is 2003. The data for fuel poverty levels for 2003 come from the fuel poverty indicator dataset available online at:
In 2003, there were around (a) 2,400 fuel poor households in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland; (b) 17,700 fuel poor households in the Tees Valley; (c) 95,000 fuel poor households in the North-East; and (d) two million fuel poor households in the UK.
No regional projections have been made of fuel poverty.
Fuel poverty is not measured at an individual level.
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with the French Government on nuclear fuel recycling following the agreement between the UK and France to co-operate on nuclear energy. [248541]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: No further discussions yet have taken place with the French Government on nuclear fuel recycling following the agreement between the UK and France to co-operate on nuclear energy.
Dr. Starkey:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what information his Department holds on the number of F16 jets used by the Israeli air force in the
recent military operation over Gaza which contain British-made components; and what steps the Government have taken to ensure that none of the British-made heads up units were incorporated in Israeli F16 jets involved in bombing Gaza recently. [249635]
Ian Pearson: This Department does not hold any such information.
The UK operates a licensing system built around pre-licensing assessment whereby it assesses the risk of misuse of UK supplied equipment before deciding whether or not to grant a licence. All export licence applications are carefully assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. Judgments on export licence applications take account of the information and circumstances at the time of application. HMG seeks advice from its advisors in its diplomatic posts overseas in relation to all export licence applications, including for Israel.
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will take steps to ensure that construction companies undertaking public sector infrastructure works are required to employ apprentices. [244277]
Mr. Simon: I have been asked to reply.
Over the last 10 years this Government have rescued the apprenticeships programme, more than doubling the number of starts to over 180,000 in 2006/07.
To support apprenticeships in construction, Government Departments and agencies have now committed that when they let a new construction contract, they will consider making it a requirement that successful contractors employ apprentices as a proportion of the project work force. We estimate that this will support some 7,000 apprenticeships over the next three years.
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