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20 Apr 2009 : Column 444W—continued
Autism: Health Services
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many providers of NHS services for people with autism are (a) direct NHS, (b) private, (c) voluntary and (d) independent providers; and how many such providers are classified as social enterprises; [269523]
(2) how much funding his Department provided for the commissioning of autism services in the last year for which figures are available. [269524]
Phil Hope: National health service services are commissioned locally and information on the types and numbers of providers of NHS services for people with autism is not held centrally.
For 2007-08, and also for the Comprehensive Spending Review 07 (2008-11), the Department did not provide grants for the commissioning of autism services.
A statutory duty of partnership requires primary care trusts and NHS trusts to participate in local strategic partnerships and the development of local area agreements when agreeing commissioning plans for the delivery of autism services in their locality. The Department published on 2 April this year “Services for adults with autistic spectrum conditions (ASC): good practice advice for primary care trust and local authority commissioners”, which reminds commissioners of the need to plan for autistic services and provides best examples of how they may be implemented. A copy of this publication has been placed in the Library.
Blood
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what records (a) his Department and (b) NHS bodies hold on the (i) source of individual blood batches used in the NHS and (ii) destinations to which blood batches used in the NHS have been forwarded; and on how many occasions his Department has sought to trace the (A) origin and (B) destination of blood batches in the last 12 months. [268663]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department holds some records on the source of individual donations of blood and blood components given by donors who subsequently developed variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. However, these records contain no information that identifies the patients concerned.
The Department holds no records on the hospitals or other destinations to which individual units of blood components are sent, or on the number of occasions the Department sought information on the origin and destination of blood components.
In England and North Wales, the collection, processing, testing and issue of blood products to hospitals is the responsibility of NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT).
In accordance with the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations (2005), records kept by NHSBT uniquely identify each donor, each blood unit collected, and each component prepared, whatever its intended purpose. These records contain sufficient information to ensure each donation, unit and blood component can be identified and traced at each processing stage, and as far as the hospitals which receive the products. The time limit for retention of records is for a period of not less than 30 years.
Cardiovascular System: Children
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what funding is available for measures to reduce extreme vascular malformations in children in Gloucestershire; [269331]
(2) what guidance his Department has issued to primary care trusts on the reduction of extreme vascular malformations in children. [269332]
Ann Keen: The majority of cases of congenital heart disease are isolated defects and not associated with any other disease. Many cases have no clear cause. However, the Department and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence have issued advice and guidance to help reduce known risk factors. This covers: vaccination against rubella; ensuring that diabetic women achieve good glycaemic control prior to conception and throughout the pregnancy; encouragement to women to seek the advice of their family doctors before conception if they are taking any medicine, as some prescription drugs increase the likelihood of congenital heart disease; and advice to avoid alcohol during pregnancy.
Funding is a matter for the national health service locally.
CJD: Screening
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 27 March 2009, Official Report, columns 756-7W, on CJD: screening,
what the criteria are for validation of a test for variant Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease. [269064]
Dawn Primarolo: Any item of equipment for a variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease test kit must meet the essential safety requirements specified in the In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Directive.
The device must perform as intended by the manufacturer and meet criteria relating to sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, repeatability and reproducibility.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what rights family members of those who have died of variant Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) have in relation to the use of their relatives' blood samples for the purposes of (a) research into and (b) validation of a blood screening test for vCJD. [269218]
Dawn Primarolo: Such samples can only be used for the purposes for which consent was given. Consent may be withdrawn at any time.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 27 March 2009, Official Report, column 757W, on blood donation screening, if he will make an assessment of the merits of giving access to blood samples of those who have died of variant Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) to companies which have developed a blood screening test for vCJD. [269219]
Dawn Primarolo: A process, overseen by the independent OD Resource Centre Oversight Committee, is already in place to enable appropriate access to the small number of blood samples from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob (vGD) disease patients. Companies developing vCJD screening tests are already participating in this process.
Congenital Abnormalities: Compensation
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much compensation the Government has paid out to people who had birth defects caused by the side-effects of pharmaceutical treatment in the last 30 years. [269030]
Ann Keen: The Department’s financial records indicate that no such compensation has been paid in the period since 2001-02.
Information prior to this date could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Contraception
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has (a) undertaken and (b) evaluated to determine whether there is a relationship between access to emergency contraception and teenage sexually-transmitted infection rates; and if he will make a statement. [268436]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department has not undertaken or evaluated any research on the relationship between access to emergency contraception and teenage sexually transmitted infection rates.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which schools are taking part in the project to allow girls to ask for emergency contraception by text message; on which basis each school was selected; and if he will make a statement. [268522]
Dawn Primarolo: This information is not collected centrally. However, the Department supports innovative approaches to ensuring that young people have access to sexual health advice.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has adopted the Carbon Trust's Carbon Management Programme. [266733]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department's consultant, Clouds Environmental Consultancy Ltd., is currently working with the Department and the Carbon Trust to produce a report recommending the appropriate scope for the full Carbon Management Programme. Once this is completed we intend to commence the full programme by early summer 2009.
Departmental Computers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many laptop computers have been provided to (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) civil servants in his Department in each year since 2005; and at what cost. [268265]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department issues laptop computers to individuals conducting work on behalf of the Department based upon business need. No distinction is made between the allocation of such devices to Ministers, special advisers, civil servants or other staff working on behalf of the Department. Historical records of the allocation of laptops to specific individuals are not kept.
Based upon current allocation we can state the following:
Ministers, three laptops;
Special advisers no laptops allocated currently; and
Civil servants and others, working on behalf of the Department have 2,346 laptops.
The costs of the specific laptops allocated to individuals are not held.
Departmental Domestic Visits
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times (a) he and (b) each other Minister in his Department has visited his Department’s offices at Quarry House, Leeds since June 2007. [268233]
Mr. Bradshaw:
Ministers of this Department have had a number of meetings with Leeds departmental staff in Leeds and by videoconference. The Department makes as much use as possible of technology in holding meetings between Ministers and staff based in Leeds to help reduce both travel costs and carbon emissions. In 2007, the Secretary of State for Health, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, South (Mr. Lewis) and the Minister of State my right hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, South (Dawn Primarolo) and met staff at an all-staff event at a conference venue in Leeds. In 2008, the Secretary of State my hon. Friend the Member for Brentford and Islesworth, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State my hon. Friend the Member for
Brentford and Isleworth (Ann Keen), the Minister of State my right hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, South (Dawn Primarolo) and the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, South (Mr. Lewis) met staff at the next all-staff event in Leeds, which was also based at a conference venue. In 2009, Ministers attended the Leeds all-staff event by videoconference. The dates on which Ministers have had meetings within Quarry House itself are in the following table.
| Date of visit | Minister |
|
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health services (Ann Keen) | |
Departmental Energy
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies to improve the thermal efficiency of their buildings in the last 12 months. [266759]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department and its agencies (Medicines and Healthcare product Regulatory Agency and NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency) have not undertaken any steps to improve the thermal efficiency of our buildings in the last 12 months.
We have been working with the Carbon Trust over the past two years to identify energy saving measures, and this has been reflected in an improvement in our performance on energy efficiency in 2007-08, compared with 2006-07. We have a number of further initiatives planned, which should improve these figures further in the coming year.
On 12 December 2008, the Sustainable Development Commission published its latest annual Sustainable Development in Government report, which sets out Government's performance against these and other targets. The Department was ranked in fourth place across Government, with an overall mark of 87 per cent.
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much (a) electricity, (b) gas and (c) other fuel was used by (i) his Department and (ii) each of its agencies in each of the last 10 years. [267333]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department and its Executive Agency NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA) have used the following amounts:
| Department | NHS PASA | |
| Electricity | (kWh) | (kWh) |
| Gas | (kWh) | (kWh) |
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