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30 Jun 2009 : Column 210W—continued
Valuation Office Agency: Pay
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any performance-related incentives are available to staff of the Valuation Office Agency. [282631]
Mr. Timms: The Valuation Office Agency operates a performance related particularly significant contribution award scheme which rewards staff who consistently deliver a level of performance above expectations while meeting all of their objectives throughout the performance year.
In conjunction with the annual performance process, the Agency operates a recognition voucher scheme which can be used to recognise specific examples of commendable performance at the time it is achieved.
Health
Abortion
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of legal abortions carried out on women aged under 18 years in the latest period for which figures are available. [282864]
Gillian Merron: There were 19,387 abortions performed on women under 18 in 2008 in England and Wales.
Alcohol and Drug Misuse: Elderly
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people aged over 65 years old resident in each local authority area were treated for (a) alcohol-related and (b) drug-related health problems in each year since 1997. [280666]
Gillian Merron: The information available on the number of people aged over 65 who received specialist treatment for drug dependence from 2004-05 by local drug action team and alcohol related admissions from 2002-03 by local authority has been placed in the Library.
Note s :
The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse began collecting data on the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) in April 2004. The NDTMS collects information about clients in contact with structured drug treatment in England.
Others may have received treatment for drug related health problems in other settings, which do not report via the NDTMS.
The number of alcohol-related admissions provided is based on the methodology developed by the North West Public Health Observatory (NWPHO). Following international best practice, the NWPHO methodology includes a wide range of diseases and injuries in which alcohol plays a part and estimates the proportion of cases that are attributable to the consumption of alcohol. However, data using this methodology is only available from 2002-03 onwards. Details of the conditions and associated proportions can be found in the report Jones et al. (2008) “Alcohol-attributable fractions for England: Alcohol-attributable mortality and hospital admissions”, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital admissions there have been for alcohol-related conditions for (a) males and (b) females aged (i) under 10, (ii) 10 to 13, (iii) 14 to 17 and (iv) 18 or more years old in (A) each region and (B) each primary care trust in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [281300]
Gillian Merron: The information requested has been placed in the Library. However, it should be noted that to protect patient confidentiality it is not possible to provide primary care trust (PCT) level data for the age groups under 10, 10 to 13 and 14 to 17-years-old. Therefore, data have been provided for under 18 years old and over 18 years old, additionally for some PCTs it has been necessary to combine these two age groups to protect patient confidentiality.
Carer's Allowance
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the level of the carer's allowance will next be reviewed. [281397]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 19 June 2009]: I have been asked to reply.
The level of carer's allowance is reviewed annually in order to establish whether it has retained its value in relation to the general level of prices in Great Britain. Following the last review in 2008, the rate was increased from £50.55 to £53.10 a week from April 2009. The next such review will be conducted in the autumn.
Drugs: Rehabilitation
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) people, (b) under 18 year-olds, (c) under 16 year-olds and (d) under 12 year-olds were given repeat drug rehabilitation treatment for each type of drug in each of the last five years. [282765]
Gillian Merron: Data regarding the number of people undergoing repeat drug rehabilitation treatment are not collected centrally.
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the reasons are for the 9 per cent. reduction in the pooled treatment budget for Milton Keynes from the National Treatment Agency in 2009-10; [280678]
(2) what funding has been given to Milton Keynes from the National Treatment Agency in each of the last five years; and how much has been so allocated in the next two years; [280679]
(3) how many problematic drug users (a) there were in Milton Keynes and (b) received treatment in Milton Keynes in each of the last five years. [Official Report, 9 September 2009, Vol. 496, c. 32MC .] [280680]
Gillian Merron: Until 2008-09 the pooled treatment budget (PTB) was allocated against a basket of indicators of social and economic deprivation known to reflect drug use as the best available proxy of treatment need. As a result of differences in performance between drug partnerships in getting people into treatment this funding formula was resulting in unjustifiable variations in the amount of central subvention for each person's treatment.
2009-10 is the second year of a process which seeks to produce a fairer allocation system which more accurately matches need, activity and resources.
The new process is based on three elements:
25 per cent. of the allocation is based on the indicators underpinning the previous formula to reflect the differential cost of responding to different levels of complex need such as homelessness, mental heath, family breakdown and unemployment;
75 per cent. is based on activity in the treatment system with areas being allocated a set amount per person treated effectively; and
The final element is an area cost adjustment figure to reflect the varying costs of delivering services in different part of the country.
To promote an orderly alteration to service planning, the change is being introduced over three years with the annual maximum reduction set at 5 per cent. in 2008-09, 15 per cent. in 2009-10 and 30 per cent. in 2010-11.
Funding allocated to Milton Keynes in each of the last five years is tabled as follows:
| £ | |
For the next two years, the indicative amount for 2010-11 is £925,000 (announced January 2008). This, however, was based on performance at the time predicted to grow at 1 per cent. a year. Growth in Milton Keynes is currently anticipated to be in excess of this so the final allocation may increase. The exact allocation will not be known until January 2010.
Based on data collected by the university of Glasgow covering the period 2004-05 to 2006-07, the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse have advised Milton Keynes that an estimated 930 problematic drug users (PDUs) should be used for planning purposes. However, there is insufficient data on the number of PDUs to determine how the PDU population has changed over time.
The number of PDUs in treatment in Milton Keynes for each of the last fives years is tabled as follows:
| Number | |
Elderly: Health Services
John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to publish his Department’s prevention package for older people; and if he will make a statement. [282263]
Phil Hope: We aim to publish the prevention package for older people in the summer.
Fluoridation
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many letters his Department received requesting fluoridation of the public water supply in each year since 2000. [282243]
Ann Keen: Section 58 of the Water Act 2003 made strategic health authorities responsible for responding to requests to fluoridate a water supply. We have no record of any letters requesting the Department to fluoridate a water supply since 2000.
Fluoridation: North West
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many members of the North West Fluoridation Evaluation Group set up by the North West Strategic Health Authority have expressed public opposition to fluoridation of public drinking water in the North West. [282241]
Ann Keen: This information is not held centrally.
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated capital cost is of implementing the fluoridation of public drinking water in the North West. [282242]
Ann Keen: The capital costs will depend upon the extent of the areas it is proposed to fluoridate and are likely to be spread over a number of years. We understand that the North West strategic health authority has received estimates of between £24 million for fluoridating one area of the region and £105 million for a scheme extending more widely across the region. The figures must be seen in the context of the £2.7 billion spent annually on national health service dentistry.
Fractures: Elderly
John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 11 May 2009, Official Report, column 623W, on fractures: elderly, to which independent inspectorates primary care trusts have to demonstrate that they are meeting their responsibilities with regard to implementing National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence clinical guidance on fragility fractures, falls and osteoporosis. [282264]
Phil Hope: The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. They are the body to which primary care trusts have to demonstrate that they are meeting their responsibilities with regard to implementing National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence clinical guidance on fragility fractures, falls and osteoporosis.
Health Services: Islington
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of expenditure on (a) primary care and (b) hospital care in the London Borough of Islington in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) each of the next four years. [283091]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The information requested is not held centrally.
The London borough of Islington is covered by Islington primary care trust (PCT). PCTs fund primary care and hospital care services from their revenue allocations. The following table provides the funding allocated to Islington PCT for 2009-10 and 2010-11.
| A llocation ( £000 ) | Two year increase | |||
| PCT | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | £000 | Percentage |
Revenue allocations post 2010-11 have not yet been determined.
Once the allocations have been made, it is for PCTs to commission the health care services they need to meet the needs of the populations they serve, taking into account both local priorities and the NHS operating framework.
Hospitals
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what records his Department holds on the average period between the arrival at (a) Papworth Hospital, (b) Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, (c) Basildon Hospital and (d) all hospitals in England of a patient needing an emergency angioplasty to the time at which the balloon begins to inflate in the patient’s artery. [282136]
Ann Keen: Data from the national audit of treatment of heart attack(1) show that the average periods between arrival at hospital for emergency angioplasty and balloon inflation are:
Papworth—32 minutes;
Norfolk and Norwich—77 minutes (five patients in 2008-09);
Basildon Hospital—no data—primary angioplasty programme due to start in the autumn; and
All hospitals in England—73 minutes (see following note).
Note:
The average of all hospitals includes hospitals with large numbers of emergency angioplasty patients and hospitals which have recently started an emergency angioplasty programme with small number of patients. A more meaningful figure is the average for all patients in England which is 60 minutes.
(1)( ) Source:
Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project—data for 2008-09 based on admission diagnosis.
Local Investment Finance Trust Schemes
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects of changes to international financial reporting standards on (a) capital accounting in relation to and (b) recurrent costs of (i) existing and (ii) proposed local investment finance trust schemes; and if he will make a statement. [282521]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) apply to public sector accounts with effect from 2009-10. Departmental end-of-year accounts will be prepared on this basis, including those of national health service primary care trusts.
In preparation for the introduction of IFRS from 2009-10, the Department assessed the impact should all NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) projects come on to the public sector balance sheet. It was estimated that NHS LIFT assets with an aggregate value of £105 million could come on balance sheet in 2009-10.
Schemes coming on balance sheet will also create a recurring additional revenue impact in the NHS accounts. For 2009-10, it was estimated that this would amount to a total of £36 million for NHS LIFT schemes. The Department's assessment also included consideration of proposed NHS LIFT projects.
HM Treasury published consolidated budgeting guidance (IFRS updated) on 12 June 2009. This included a chapter on the budgeting treatment of private finance initiative schemes, including NHS LIFT, under IFRS. The Department is working to establish exactly how this guidance will be applied in the health sector and will issue advice and guidance to the NHS in due course.
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