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12 May 2009 : Column 709W—continued
Influenza: Vaccination
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that immunosuppressive people with a prescription for influenza vaccine have access to the vaccine; and if he will make a statement. [274943]
Dawn Primarolo: The national policy is that seasonal influenza vaccine should be offered to all those aged six months or over in a clinical at-risk group, including immunosuppression. The responsibility for ordering seasonal influenza vaccines for the target population lies with general practitioners (GPs). GPs have a contractual responsibility to their primary care trust under the Primary Medical Services (Directed Enhanced Services) (England) Directions 2006 to develop a proactive and preventative approach to offering immunisation against influenza with the aim of maximising uptake in the interest of at-risk patients.
Injuries: Children
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children aged under 10 years attended hospital accident and emergency departments where the primary or secondary diagnosis was a stab wound or other injury inflicted by a sharp or pointed instrument in each health trust area in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [273863]
Dawn Primarolo: Information about the number of children aged 10 years or younger, who have been admitted to hospital accident and emergency departments where the primary or secondary diagnosis was a stab wound or other injury inflicted by a sharp or pointed instrument is not collected centrally and it is therefore not possible to specify numbers.
Lyme Disease
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has issued on the treatment of borreliosis. [273621]
Dawn Primarolo: Clinical guidelines for the treatment of borreliosis, commonly known as Lyme disease, are provided to general practitioners and other physicians by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and published on the HPA’s website at:
www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&;HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1204031510081?p=1199451958599
The treatment guidelines published by the Infectious Diseases Society of America in 2006(1) are included within the HPA’s advice, together with published guidance for the diagnosis and treatment of neuroborreliosis(2,3).
In addition, the HPA’s Lyme Disease Reference Unit advises clinicians directly on treatment and patient referral as appropriate.
(1) The Clinical Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention of Lyme Disease, Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis and Babesiosis: Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Wormser GP, Dattwyler RJ, Shapiro ED, et al. Clinical Infectious Diseases 2006; 43: 1089-34. Available at:
(2) Halperin JJ, Logigian EL, Finkel MF, Pearl RA. Practice parameters for the diagnosis of patients with nervous system Lyme borreliosis (Lyme disease). Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Neurology 1996 46: 619-627.
(3) Practice Parameter: Treatment of nervous system Lyme disease (an evidence-based review). Report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. E-published ahead of print on 23 May 2007. Available at:
www.neurology.org/cgi/rapidpdf/0l.wnl.0000265517 .66976.28vl
Methadone
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of prescribing methadone was in each NHS trust in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [273864]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
NHS: Theft
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many thefts from NHS premises have been recorded in each of the last five years. [274989]
Ann Keen: The information is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Radon Gas
Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department plans to provide (a) high level alerts and (b) public health advice to those resident in areas prone to high levels of radon gas. [273618]
Dawn Primarolo: Householders and employers are able to find out the risk of a high radon gas level in a property from the radon probability maps of the United Kingdom published by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and, for England and Wales, the British Geological Survey.
It holds annual radon forums with local government, the national health service, the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and other stakeholders to publicise the radon programme, to receive feedback, and to explore any policy gaps. HPA also supports regional radon steering groups comprising groupings of local authorities in high risk areas of England and recommends testing homes in radon affected areas (that is where 1 per cent. or more of homes are estimated to be above the Action Level of 200 Bequerels/m(3)).
The basis of the Government radon programme in England for existing homes is to target the higher risk areas, where 5 per cent. or more of the houses are estimated to be above the action level. Radon testing programmes are run in partnership between HPA and local authorities, with radon tests offered free to householders in these areas. The local primary care trust and the BRE provide support and registered social landlords such as local councils and housing associations are encouraged to extend the radon testing programmes to all their properties in radon affected areas. HPA informs householders and landlords by letter of the result of the radon test and whether it is near to or exceeds the action level. If so, remediation is advised and householders are encouraged to attend special local events to discuss remediation organised jointly by the HPA, the relevant local authority and the BRE. A small number of homes in England have been found to have radon levels in excess of 10,000 Bq/m(3) (50 times the action level). HPA offers financial help and works with the local authority to remediate these homes, using advice from the BRE to help local contractors.
Devolved Administrations generally mirror English policies and contribute proportionate funds to HPA for each initiative. In particular, a similar radon programme has recently been announced by the Scottish Government, to accompany publication by the HPA of new radon maps for Scotland.
Social Services
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the job descriptions of his Department’s Deputy Regional Directors for Social Care and Partnerships are; and who has been appointed to each such post. [272548]
Phil Hope: The deputy regional director’s job description is contained in “Job Proforma—Deputy Regional Director” which has been placed in the Library.
The appointed deputy regional directors are:
| Deputy regional d irector | |
Swine Flu: Health Education
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken to make swine influenza information distributed by the Government accessible to deaf people who use British Sign Language. [274725]
Dawn Primarolo: A British Sign Language version of the swine flu information leaflet will be available to download from the NHS Choices and Directgov websites from Thursday 14 May and by DVD from Wednesday 20 May.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provisions his Department will make to ensure that deaf and hearing-impaired people have access to the same information as hearing people in respect of the National Flu Helpline. [274940]
Dawn Primarolo: The Swine Flu Information helpline is automated. It offers recorded information but no interaction with call handlers and is not therefore accessible to deaf or hearing impaired people. However, deaf and hearing-impaired people may access the same information through websites and a British Sign Language version of the swine flu information leaflet, available from the NHS Choices and Directgov websites from Thursday 14 May and on DVD from Wednesday 20 May.
Communities and Local Government
Community Development
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which organisation was awarded the contract as the national partner for the Community Builders programme. [272445]
Mr. Khan: The competition for the contract to act as national partner for the Community Builders programme is still in progress. The Department is currently evaluating tenders and expects to make an announcement in June.
Council Tax
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the contribution of the Minister for Local Government on 26 March 2009, Official Report, column 473, on council tax, what ideas were submitted to the Minister by the hon. Member for Southampton, Test (Dr. Whitehead). [273339]
John Healey: The contents of letters from an individual Member to Communities and Local Government Ministers are treated as private; and, unless the sender specifies otherwise, are not released for public consumption.
Council Tax: Valuation
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) of 12 March 2009, Official Report, column 736W, on council tax: valuation, how many domestic dwellings in England were assigned the code CL26 in each year between 1997-98 and 2005-06. [273685]
John Healey: The number of properties in England reviewed and cleared with the notification code CL26 in each year between 1997-98 and 2005-06 is shown in the following table.
| Number | |
Departmental Complaints
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what procedure her Department follows for dealing with complaints received (a) by e-mail, (b) by post, (c) by telephone and (d) via her Department's website. [274529]
Mr. Khan: Full details of how Communities and Local Government handles complaints via all these channels can be found on the Communities website at:
Departmental Internet
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding has been assigned to the production of video content for her Department's YouTube channel in 2009-10. [273758]
Departmental Procurement
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2009, Official Report, column 1279W, on departmental procurement, what the title was of the digital mapping project; and what services that project was commissioned to provide. [273595]
Mr. Khan: The project is called the Pan-Government Agreement, which provides a portfolio of geographical information to central Government Departments. We procured aerial photography from Infoterra.
Departmental Responsibilities
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which Minister is responsible for each regional spatial strategy. [273598]
Mr. Khan: The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has overall responsibility for regional spatial strategies.
Day to day responsibility for the eight regional spatial strategies is divided among the CLG ministerial team as follows.
South East;
East Midlands;
East of England;
Yorkshire and Humber.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, The Baroness Andrews has responsibility for:
South West;
West Midlands;
North West;
North East.
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