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4 Feb 2009 : Column 1356W—continued
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which websites were operated by his Department in addition to its main website in the last five years. [251481]
Mr. Bradshaw: Under the Transformational Government agenda, the Department completed an audit of the websites that it operated in March 2007. In addition to its two main websites:
it identified 224 websites. A copy of which has been placed in the Library.
As at 26 January 2009, this figure had reduced to 91.
To establish the number of websites operated between January 2004 and the Department’s website audit would incur disproportionate costs.
Departmental Lost Property
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to recoup the value of Department property lost by officials from those officials. [252572]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has no plans to implement a policy to recoup the value of Department property lost by staff.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether civil servants in his Department who have lost laptops that were the property of his Department have been charged the full value of the item in the last 12 months. [252649]
Mr. Bradshaw: When a laptop is reported lost by a member of staff, the Department does not seek to charge that individual for the full replacement or residual value of the laptop.
Departmental Recycling
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much (a) paper, (b) plastic and (c) other waste was produced by his Department in each of the last three years; and what proportion of such waste was recycled. [252870]
Mr. Bradshaw: Information requested is shown in the following table.
| Tonnes | ||||
| Paper (including cardboard and newspapers) | Plastic | Other waste | Proportion of total waste recycled (Percentage) | |
These figures represent waste removed from the Department’s London administrative estate. They differ from those shown in the annual Sustainable Development in Development (SDiG) report, published by the sustainable development commission, which also includes waste removed from the Department’s Executive agencies. The buildings included are as follows:
2005-06: Skipton House, Wellington House, Richmond House, Eileen House (closed July 2005), Hannibal House (closed September 2005).
2006-07 and 2007-08: Skipton House, Wellington House, Richmond House, New Kingsbeam House (paper only; other waste is collected by the landlord’s contractor).
Waste from Quarry House in Leeds is collected by the Department for Work and Pensions contractor.
Departmental Training
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which external organisations his Department has engaged to provide training for fast stream civil service staff in the last three years; and how many civil servants in his Department have participated in provision of training for external organisations in that period. [252223]
Mr. Bradshaw: Most fast streamers’ training is booked directly by the individual fast streamers themselves. The Department only records fast stream training that requires payment from the central training budget. To obtain a full record of all training that fast streamers have taken from external providers, would incur disproportionate costs.
Over the last three years, the Department’s human resources (HR) central records show that the generalist Fast Streamers have used the following providers:
National School of Government
Westminster Explained
Government Exchange
Suzanne James Associates
Common Purpose
Birmingham University
Reed Training
The Emergency Planning College
Neil Stewart Associates
Axon Solutions
Penna plc
Industry and Parliament Trust
Eastmeade EU Training
Hemsley Fraser Group
Parity
Department of Culture, Media and Sport
Clutterbuck Associates
3E Training
Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).
The Department’s HR division only took on oversight of training for specialist fast streamers in 2007 and therefore only information about the last two years is available. Prior to that fast stream training was not dealt with centrally and to obtain information before that would incur disproportionate costs.
Over the past two years, the Department’s HR records show that specialist fast streamers have used the following providers:
National School of Government
London School of Economics
Luigi Siciliani—University of York
Paul Kind Quality Outcomes
Government Economic Service
Birkbeck University
University of Manchester
Oxford University
JHA HR Consultancy
The Outlook Training Organisation
Saxton Bampfylde
Royal Statistical Society
Government Statistical Society
Imperial College
Institute of Education
HM Treasury
Remarch Technologies
University of London
Brunei University
Royal Economic Society
Bath University
University of Southampton
Good decisions partnership
Leeds University
Office for National Statistics
Cambridge Econometrics
Modern Government.
No records are held centrally about the number of civil servants in the Department who have participated in provision of training for external organisations, and would incur disproportionate cost to establish.
Mr. Hoban:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on digital media training courses provided by the Internet Advertising Bureau in 2008; how many such training sessions were
held in 2008; and how many staff in his Department attended at least one such training course. [252269]
Mr. Bradshaw: Training for staff within the Department is paid for by individual business units and this information is not held centrally.
In addition, the Department has no record on its finance system of any payments to the Internet Advertising Bureau in 2008.
Departmental Working Hours
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the policy of his Department and its agencies is on granting staff time off in lieu for working (a) in lunch breaks, (b) in evenings and (c) at other times outside contracted working hours; and if he will make a statement. [252025]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department and its agencies operate the flexible working hours scheme which aims to provide staff and line managers with as much flexibility as possible to accommodate their domestic and other responsibilities without impairing the efficient and effective running of the Department and its business.
The scheme gives staff the opportunity to vary their times of arrival and departure from work, around core hours, vary the timing and length of their lunch break, and take time off in lieu if they work extra hours. These principles apply to all staff unless standard hours are in operation (such as where a team has to provide a customer service between certain times). There may be occasions when the operational needs of the work performed to be given priority. In such circumstances staff and line managers agree suitable arrangements. This scheme is managed locally by line managers, and therefore we do not hold central details.
Part-time staff may choose to work additional hours if the arrangement meets operational needs. Staff are entitled to pay for additional hours above their normal part-time hours, up to the conditioned hours of the grade, when necessary for attending a training course. Line managers may allow time off in lieu to be taken as an alternative to payment subject to the needs of the work.
Staff working additional hours at weekends and/or on public holidays outside contracted hours will be paid at the enhanced rates for all additional hours worked.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many days off in lieu were granted to staff in (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies for working (i) in lunch breaks and (ii) at other times outside contracted working hours, in the last year for which figures are available. [252026]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department’s flexible working hours scheme, which sets out how days off in lieu are earned, is managed locally by line managers using individual timesheets (‘flexisheets’).
These records are therefore not held centrally and to collect them would incur disproportionate costs.
Dietary Supplements: EU Law
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent discussions the Food Standards Agency and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency have had with the authorities in Jersey on implementation of the (a) Food Supplements Directive, (b) Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation and (c) Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive; [252576]
(2) what recent assessment he has made of the progress of (a) Jersey and (b) Guernsey in ensuring their compliance with the (i) Foods Supplements Directive, (ii) Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation and (iii) Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive. [252886]
Dawn Primarolo: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) was advised by the Government of Jersey on 28 January that work is progressing under its programme to update Jersey’s food safety legislation. On the same date the Government of Guernsey advised the FSA that discussions at official level on implementing the food supplements directive are ongoing, but that priority is being given to drafting the secondary legislation necessary to ensure that the Medicines Directive 2001/83/EC, which will prohibit and allow enforcement action to be taken against food supplements marketed with medicinal claims, is fully implemented.
Jersey and Guernsey officials had undertaken to work with companies based on the Islands to prevent the sale of food supplements that would be illegal in the United Kingdom. They have made visits to several companies to ensure that they are fully aware of relevant concerns. FSA officials continue to liaise with officials in Jersey and Guernsey to keep abreast of developments and on direct action with companies where examples of marketing of illegal products have been identified.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will be meeting the Government of Jersey on 11 February 2009 to begin discussions on the implementation of the medicines directive, including the implementation of the traditional herbal medicinal products directive. The MHRA continues to assist the Government of Guernsey in the development of the additional legislation required for the implementation of the medicines directive.
Drugs: Rehabilitation
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for drug rehabilitation in Crosby; what the budget was for the drug action team in Crosby in 2007-08; and how many people have been seen by the drug action team in each year since 2003. [253413]
Dawn Primarolo: The Crosby area is served by the Sefton Drug Action Team (DAT), which is the partnership responsible for delivering the drug strategy at a local level.
The funding of local drug treatment services is the responsibility of local primary care trusts (PCTs). The Department, in association with a small contribution from the Ministry of Justice, provide specific resources,
through the pooled drug treatment budget (PTB), to local partnerships for drug treatment services. In 2007-08, the Sefton area DAT spent £5,514,382 (PTB and local national health service investment) on drug services.
The number of people of Sefton residents in contact with structured drug treatment in each year since 2003 is shown in the following table:
| Number of People | |
|
National Drug Treatment Monitoring System, The National Treatment Agency for substance misuse | |
Waiting times are monitored quarterly by the National Treatment Agency’s North West regional team.
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