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24 Jun 2009 : Column 1002W—continued
A further £31.6 million is expected to be allocated to additional projects in December 2009.
MyPlace is a capital programme and therefore includes no running cost funding. It is a programme that local authorities, third, private and public sector partners and young people work together to plan, deliver and operate financially sustainable projects. As part of the MyPlace assessment process, projects were asked to provide robust plans and commitments for financing ongoing running costs and to ensure long term sustainability. Information on estimated running costs for each MyPlace facility is not currently held centrally.
Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 24 June 2009
Health
Alcoholic Drinks: Consumption
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of (a) male and (b) female average weekly alcohol consumption in each of the last 15 years. [281277]
Gillian Merron: Information about alcohol consumption is collected as part of the General Household Survey (GHS), including average weekly alcohol consumption.
The following table gives the average weekly consumption for the last 15 years, broken down by gender. It should be noted that information on average weekly alcohol consumption is not collected every year.
| Average weekly alcohol consumption (units), by sex for persons aged 16 and over, 1994-2006 | ||
| Men | Women | |
| (1) 2005 data include last quarter of 2004-05 data due to survey change from financial year to calendar year. (2) Results for 2006 include longitudinal data. (3 )Original method. (4 )Improved method. Notes: 1. Weighting is a process in which GHS results are adjusted for non-response and to account for differences between the distribution of persons by age and gender; and region in the sample when compared to the population of Great Britain. Weighting is an improvement to the methodology from 1998; however, weighted data are not available before 1998, so cannot be supplied. Source: General Household Survey 2006: Smoking and drinking among adults 2006. | ||
An improved method to calculate alcohol consumption was introduced in 2006, this was done to reflect increases in wine glass size, the increased alcoholic strength of wine and better estimates of the alcoholic strengths of beers, lagers and ciders. This is likely to mean that data for the years before 2006 understate consumption levels.
Audio Equipment: Health Hazards
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) with reference to the answer of 6 May 2008, Official Report, column 746W, on MP3 players, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the findings of the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks on noise from personal music players; [279809]
(2) with reference to the answer of 6 May 2008, Official Report, column 746W, on MP3 players, what his Department’s policy is on the determination of safe levels of noise in relation to the use of personal music players; [279832]
(3) if he will take steps to increase levels of public awareness of the potential effects on hearing of listening to personal music players at high noise levels; and if he will make a statement; [279833]
(4) if he will take steps to encourage manufacturers of personal MP3 players to provide users of such players with information on levels of noise which may damage hearing; and if he will make a statement; [279834]
(5) whether his Department has had discussions with manufacturers of personal music players on the potential effects on hearing of their use; and if he will make a statement. [279835]
Gillian Merron: The safety and regulation of consumer products, such as personal music players is, within Government, primarily a matter for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. The Department welcomes the report of the European Union’s Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks. The Department, advised by the Health Protection Agency, keeps under review the risks to health which may be attributed to various kinds of noise. The Department has no plans at present for an information campaign on the risks to hearing posed by the use of personal music players.
Breast Cancer: Males
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to improve services for men with breast cancer; [281626]
(2) what recent representations he has received on breast cancer in men. [281637]
Ann Keen: No recent representations have been received on male breast cancer.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published “Improving Outcomes in Breast Cancer” guidance in 2002, which addresses services and treatments for breast cancer patients, including men.
In February 2009, NICE also published guidance on the treatment and diagnosis of early and locally advanced breast cancer, and advanced breast cancer, which complement the cancer service guidance.
Cancer: Surgery
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) prostatectomies and (b) cystectomies for cancer there were in the latest year for which figures are available; and which NHS trusts performed (i) fewer than 10, (ii) between 10 and 39 and (iii) 40 or more such procedures in that year. [281584]
Ann Keen: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave to the hon. Member for South-West Norfolk (Christopher Fraser) on 20 March 2009, Official Report, column 1361W. A table showing the count of finished consultant episodes for cancer-related prostatectomy, prostatectomy and cystoprosatectomy by trust in 2007-08, the latest year for which this information is available, has already been placed in the Library.
Chiropractic: Complaints
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the General Chiropractic Council on trends in the number of complaints received regarding chiropractors; and if he will make a statement. [281774]
Ann Keen: Departmental officials have held discussions with the General Chiropractic Council about their plans for handling the steep recent increase in the number of complaints received.
Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) members of the public, (b) health professionals, (c) journalists and (d) representatives of patient or service user groups have attended meetings of the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence since 1 January 2009. [280790]
Ann Keen: Since 1 January 2009, there have been three Council meetings of the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence. Over this period, one member of the public, no health professionals, no journalists and two representatives of patient or service user groups have attended Council meetings. Minutes and papers from Council meetings are available on the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence's website:
Dengue Fever
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the NHS’s expenditure on the treatment of dengue fever in the last 12 months. [280698]
Gillian Merron: There has been no estimate made of national health service expenditure on the treatment of dengue fever in the past 12 months.
Dengue fever does not naturally occur in the United Kingdom. Cases in the UK are imported and are associated with travel to areas where the disease is endemic, such as, South East Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the Caribbean and South and Central America.
The following table shows the number of cases diagnosed in the UK in 2007 and 2008 by the Health Protection Agency’s special pathogens reference unit.
| 2007 | 2008 | |
| Source: Data provided by the Health Protection Agency as at 17 June 2009. | ||
Departmental Energy
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of water consumption on his Department’s office estate in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07, (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff; [280934]
(2) what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions from offices in his Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff; [280935]
(3) what estimate he has made of the energy consumed per full-time equivalent member of staff in his Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08; [280936]
(4) what estimate he has made of the percentage of electricity used by his Department which was derived from renewable sources in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08; [280937]
(5) what estimate he has made of the amount of waste arising from his Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff; [281022]
(6) what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions arising from road-based transport used for administrative operations by his Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff; [281023]
(7) what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions arising from air travel by staff in his Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff; [281024]
Phil Hope: The Department and its Executive agencies, NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency and Medicines (PASA) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) take part in the annual Sustainable Development in Government exercise, which enables Departments to report on their activities against the sustainable operations targets published in June 2006. For 2007-08, NHS Connecting for Health was also included.
The following figures detailed for 2006-07 total and full-time equivalent (FTE) and for 2007-08 totals (with the exception of carbon emissions from air travel) have been published as part of the Sustainable Development in Government Report for 2007 and 2008. Copies of both reports have already been placed in the Library.
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |||
| Total | Per FTE | Total | Per FTE | |
|
Carbon dioxide emissions arising from road based transport (tonnes CO2) | ||||
|
Carbon dioxide emissions arising from air travel (tonnes CO2) | ||||
For the core Department, the information in this answer (with the exception of carbon dioxide emissions arising from road based transport and air travel) covers the Department’s central administrative estate of Richmond House, Wellington House and Skipton House. The Department is a minor occupier in New Kings Beam House (HM Revenue and Customs) and Quarry House in Leeds (Department of Work and Pensions) and the data for these sites are not available to us.
The carbon dioxide emissions arising from road based transport and air travel cover the whole Department office estate including New Kings Beam House and Quarry House.
For 2007-08, for the first time, NHS Connecting for Health (CfH) submitted data along with the Department and our agencies NHS PASA and MHRA. In practice, however, MHRA and CfH were only able to provide limited information because they occupy rented accommodation for which energy and water consumption data are not available. This means that the 2007-08 FTE figures for water and energy consumption are slightly skewed.
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