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16 Mar 2009 : Column 888W—continued
Data on the proportion of domestic properties these figures represent have not been included as the figures are too small to be significant.
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what revenue she estimates will accrue from the increase of 4.9 per cent. in the uniform business rate in 2009-10. [263864]
John Healey: For England, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 January 2009, Official Report, column 1081W, to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill).
Business rates in Wales are the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government.
Planning Permission: Beverley
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to make a decision on the planning application for the Flemingate development proposal in Beverley; and if she will make a statement. [262259]
Mr. Iain Wright: The target date for the decision on this case is 1 May 2009. However, if the Secretary of State is able to issue the decision any earlier than this, she will do so.
Regional Planning and Development: South West
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent progress has been made in assessing the responses to the consultation on the South West Regional Spatial Strategy; and if she will publish her revised timetable for the Government’s response to the consultation. [263375]
Mr. Iain Wright [holding answer 13 March 2009]: Significant progress is being made in assessing the 35,000 representations to the south west regional spatial strategy.
The Secretary of State will publish a revised timetable shortly.
Sleeping Rough: Sefton
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2009, Official Report, columns 1284-85W, on homelessness, how many rough sleepers there were in Sefton in each year since 2001. [R] [263000]
Mr. Iain Wright: Annual rough sleeping figures are based on local authority street counts and estimates where a street count did not take place.
| Number of rough sleepers in Sefton | |
Social Rented Housing: EC Nationals
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what rights to social housing are granted to nationals from other EU countries in accordance with EU legislation. [263738]
Margaret Beckett: EU nationals are eligible in principle for an allocation of local authority housing in England where they: are exercising an EU treaty right to reside as a worker or as a self-employed person; are an accession state national registered on the worker registration or worker authorisation scheme; have a right to reside permanently in the United Kingdom; or, subject to also being habitually resident, are exercising an EU treaty right to reside as a student or self-sufficient person.
Although the above EU nationals are in principle eligible for an allocation of housing, to receive an allocation they must have sufficient priority under a local authority’s allocation scheme.
Travelling People: Caravan Sites
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 15 January 2009, Official Report, columns 947-48W, on Travelling people: caravan sites, what the level and structure of the appropriate fee that should be charged for rubbish collections is; and what guidance her Department issues to local authorities in the event of Travellers refusing to pay. [262671]
Mr. Iain Wright: Section 45(4) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 provides the appropriate power to enable local authorities to seek payment of a reasonable charge for the collection of waste from an unauthorised site. The issue of whether a fee should be charged for the collection of such waste, and the level of that fee, is a matter for the relevant local authority to consider in the light of the circumstances that apply in each individual case. Local authorities have strong powers under section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, as amended by the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, to deal with any incidences of fly-tipping that might arise if the council cannot come to an agreement with the occupiers of the site about the level of fee.
Health
Abortion
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prosecutions for procuring an illegal abortion have taken place in each year since 2003. [263282]
Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
Information showing the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 (as amended by the Abortion Act 1967) in England and Wales 2003 to 2007 are in the table. The Criminal Statistics data for 2008 are due to be published in November 2009.
Allergies
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what tertiary allergy services are being provided in each strategic health authority in England; and if he will make a statement. [263253]
Ann Keen: The Department does not routinely collect these data.
In 2007, the Department published a review of allergy services, which identified that there were approximately 94 allergy clinics in England, of which six were services led by full-time specialist allergists. Three of these clinics were in London Strategic Health Authority and one each in East of England Strategic Health Authority; South Central Strategic Health Authority and one in East Midlands Strategic Health Authority.
The North West Strategic Health Authority has been appointed as the lead for allergy. They are developing a network, of provision centred around the major population centres of the region through building additional capacity and capability in existing providers of tertiary allergy services.
This work has started with steps to appoint a full time (adult) consultant allergist. Subject to agreement of North West primary care trusts, this will be followed in 2009-10 by the recruitment of (paediatric) consultant allergist. Plans then exist for the development of additional capacity and capability in other centres across the region and also in primary care.
The learning from this pilot site will form the basis of a model to be shared with other regions of England to encourage the development of locally appropriate provision in those areas.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to increase the level of provision of immunotherapy services through specialist allergy centres for people with severe uncontrolled allergic rhinitis; and if he will make a statement; [263254]
(2) what progress he is making in increasing the number of regional specialist allergy centres in England; and if he will make a statement. [263255]
Ann Keen: The Department has appointed NHS North West to lead improvements in allergy services. This work is being taken forward by the North West Specialised Commissioning Team (NWSCT), acting on behalf of the strategic health authority (SHA) and primary care trusts (PCTs) in the region.
Working with key stakeholders, including patient groups and clinicians, the NWSCT has developed an implementation plan for the delivery of network based, integrated allergy services for children and adults across the region. A project manager has been appointed to take this plan forward, commencing with the appointment of an additional, full-time (adult) consultant allergist at University hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust.
The learning from this pilot site will form the basis of a model to be shared with other regions of England to encourage the development of locally appropriate provision in those areas.
Specialist allergy centres will be required to treat patients with a range of conditions, including severe uncontrolled allergic rhinitis, with a range of treatments. Such treatments may include, if clinically appropriate and evidenced, immunotherapy.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been admitted to hospital as a consequence of an allergic reaction to food in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [263278]
Ann Keen: The following table provides data from the NHS Information Centre on finished admission episodes in 1997-98 to 2007-08 where the primary diagnosis is specific to food allergies.
| Count of admissions to hospital where the primary diagnosis is specific to food allergies in 1997-98 to 2007-08, activity in English NHS hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector | |
| Finished admission episodes | |
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost to the NHS of treating an individual for food allergies was in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [263288]
Ann Keen: The Department does not hold data on the cost of treating an individual for food allergies.
A review of allergy services, published in June 2006, estimated the cost to the national health service of managing all allergic disease to be in the region of £1 billion per annum in the United Kingdom.
Blood Transfusions
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that patients are not infected by blood transfusions. [262918]
Phil Hope: The quality and safety of human blood and blood components are regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency under the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005 (as amended). The Regulations transpose into UK law European Blood Directives 2002/98/EC, 2004/33/EC, 2005/61/EC and 2005/62/EC, which set standards of quality and safety for the collection, testing, processing, storage and distribution of human blood and blood components.
There are strict selection criteria for anyone wishing to give blood, and mandatory testing of all blood components for HIV, Hepatitis B and C, syphilis and human T-cell lymphotropic virus. Depending on the donor's responses to questions regarding their travel history, tests may also be carried out for malaria, Trypanosoma cruzi, and West Nile Virus. Tests for Cytomegalovirus are also carried out on a number of donations to meet clinical needs. Risk management measures to protect the blood supply are kept under regular review by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs.
As yet, there is no available blood test for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). However, there are a number of measures in place to reduce the risk of vCJD transmission via blood transfusion. A copy of these will be placed in the Library.
There are additional measures in place for the reduction of risk of donor skin contamination of blood during donation, such as diversion of the first portion of blood into a sample pouch rather than the main pack, and enhanced arm cleansing prior to venepuncture. Both measures significantly reduce risk of contamination.
No blood donation is 100 per cent. safe, and therefore blood should be used only when clinically appropriate. Significant action has been taken to promote appropriate use of blood and tissues and alternatives throughout the national health service, such as the Better Blood Transfusion programme, see “Health Service Circular 2007/001”, a copy of which has been placed in the Library and is available at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersand circulars/Healthservicecirculars/DH_080613
National support and advice on the most appropriate use of blood is provided by the Chief Medical Officer's National Blood Transfusion Committee.
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