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9 July 2009 : Column 974W—continued
Heroin
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many items of heroin substitute in each category were dispensed to patients in each of the last six years. [284841]
Gillian Merron: Section 4.10 (Drugs used in substance dependence) of the British National Formulary (BNF) lists two drugs classified as heroin substitutes, Methadone and Buprenorphine.
The following table shows the number of prescription items written in the United Kingdom and dispensed in the community, in England.
These figures may underestimate use as these drugs are also licensed for use as a cough preparation and analgesic. Some prescriptions intended for use as a substitute for heroin may be recorded in BNF Sections 3.9 (Cough suppressants) and 4.7 (Analgesics).
Hospitals: Admissions
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people aged (a) under 16, (b) between 16 and 18, (c) between 19 and 65 and (d) over 65 years old were admitted to hospital in each strategic health authority with a primary or secondary cause of admission listed as (i) sunburn, (ii) sunstroke and (iii) dehydration in each of the last five years. [284850]
Gillian Merron: The available information has been placed in the Library.
Kidneys: Research
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on research into (a) chronic kidney disease, (b) acute kidney injury, (c) kidney cancer, (d) dialysis, (e) end-of-life care for kidney patients and (f) other kidney disease in each of the last three years; and how much it plans to spend on such research in 2009. [284484]
Gillian Merron: Both the Department and the Medical Research Council support kidney disease research. Available annual expenditure data are shown in the following table.
| Expenditure on renal disease research | ||
| £ million | ||
| Department( 1, 2) | Medical Research Council | |
| (1) Includes NIHR expenditure and reported spend by NHS organisations from the transitional research and development funding allocations made to them over the three-year period. (2) Excludes the cost of relevant work undertaken by three of the research units funded by Department’s Policy Research Programme as it is not separately identifiable. (3) The estimate of NHS spend included in the total figure given here is provisional. It will be revised when a full analysis of the returns from which it derives has been completed. (4) Not yet available. | ||
The National Institute for Health Research’s (NIHR) clinical research network is currently supporting 38 studies concerned with renal disease.
Local Government Finance
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which (a) specific and (b) area-based grants are distributed to local authorities by each division of his Department. [285049]
Phil Hope: The Department does not distribute area- based grants (ABG) direct to local authorities.
The Department contributes to the ABG in the form of monthly payments to the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG). CLG then distribute these grant monies direct to local authorities.
The Department of Health does distribute adult personal social services capital grants and specific revenue grant monies directly to local authorities, via regular grant payments. The capital grant monies are either paid directly to all local authorities or issued, via a bidding process, to specific local authorities.
Details of all adult personal social services specific revenue and capital grant allocations and contributions to the ABG for 2008-11 were announced in LASSL(DH)(2007)2 and LASSL(DH)(2007)3. In addition, details of the grants included within the bidding processing were also published in these documents. Local authority social services letters (LASSLs) and local authority circulars are published by the Department of Health.
A copy of the respective LASSLs has been placed in the Library and is available at:
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate has been made of the annual costs to (a) his Department of distributing each grant made by it to local authorities and (b) local authorities of administering each such grant. [285050]
Phil Hope: This information is not collected centrally.
The Department uses an in-house electronic information system, the business management system (BMS), which brings together the Department’s human resources, procurement and finance information and processing into a single integrated system. The Department uses the BMS system to process and issue adult personal social services grants.
The Department contributes to the area-based grant in the form of monthly payments, via BMS, to the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG). CLG then distribute these grant monies direct to local authorities.
The Department distributes capital grant monies and specific revenue grant monies directly to local authorities, via regular grant payments, again using the BMS. Information on costs to local authorities of administering each grant is not collected by the Department.
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) eligibility conditions and (b) compliance measures are in place in respect of the expenditure by local authorities of each grant distributed by his Department; and what recent estimate has been made of the annual cost to his Department of monitoring the compliance by local authorities with such measures in respect of each such grant. [285121]
Phil Hope:
Grant eligibility conditions and compliance measures are set out in local authority social services letters (LASSLs) and local authority circulars (LACs), as published by the Department. These official circulars notify local authorities of their specific revenue and
capital grant funding and the Department’s contributions to the area-based grant (ABG) in support of social care policies (including children’s personal social services funding insofar as this is provided by the children and adolescent mental health services contribution).
From April 2008, the majority of revenue grants will be delivered to local authorities through the Department’s contribution to the ABG. The ABG is paid on an unringfenced basis and as such local authorities are able to determine locally how best to spend these grants in order to deliver local and national priorities. As an unringfenced grant, there are no restrictions on carry forward between financial years. This represents a considerable increase in the flexibility open to local government to take local spending decisions in line with the new performance framework. The ABG is administered by the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) and paid to local authorities on a monthly basis.
For the small number of ring-fenced grants, these are allocated via a bidding process. Therefore, there are ‘eligibility’ criteria and compliance measures attached to the use of these monies in order to meet the specific social care policy.
Copies of LASSL(s) and LACs are available at:
Meat Hygiene Service: Manpower
Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many meat hygiene inspectors were employed by the Meat Hygiene Service (a) at its inception and (b) at the latest date for which information is available. [284753]
Gillian Merron: Figures solely for the number of meat hygiene inspectors (MHIs) when the Meat Hygiene Service was established on 1 April 1995 are not available.
However, the average number of meat hygiene inspectors and official veterinarians employed by the MHS in 1995-96 was 1,007 and in 2008-09 was 876. These numbers exclude casual and contract staff.
Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the ratio of veterinary to administrative staff in the Meat Hygiene Service was (a) at its inception and (b) in the latest period for which figures are available. [284756]
Gillian Merron: A breakdown of headcount numbers at the establishment of the Meat Hygiene Service on 1 April 1995 is not available in sufficient detail to calculate the ratio of veterinary/inspection staff to administrative/managerial staff.
Veterinary/Inspection staff—1,254
Administrative/Managerial staff—166
Veterinary/inspection:administrative/managerial—7.6:1
Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost of employing a meat hygiene inspector to the Meat Hygiene Service was (a) at its inception in current prices and (b) at the latest date for which information is available. [284757]
Gillian Merron: The average cost of employing a meat hygiene inspector when the Meat Hygiene Service was established on 1 April 1995 is unavailable.
The salary scale for a meat hygiene inspector as at 31 March 2009 is £20,974 to £25,541(1, 2).
(1 )Member of principal civil service pension scheme.
(2 )Pay award pending.
Meat Hygiene Service: Slaughterhouses
Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many visits were made on average by meat hygiene inspectors to abattoirs (a) in the first 12 months after the establishment of the Meat Hygiene Service and (b) in the last 12 months. [284754]
Gillian Merron: The Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) is responsible for official controls in all approved fresh meat establishments including abattoirs. Since establishment on 1 April 1995, the MHS has carried out these controls in abattoirs through daily attendance to undertake ante and post-mortem inspection of every animal/carcase. The MHS also audits, on a risk based frequency, operator compliance with all relevant legislation.
Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abattoirs there were when the Meat Hygiene Service was established; and how many there are now. [284755]
Gillian Merron: The number of abattoirs operating when the Meat Hygiene Service was established on 1 April 1995 is unavailable.
However, at 31 March 1997 there were 715 abattoirs and at 31 March 2009 there were 369 abattoirs.
Medical Treatments: EC law
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Medicines (Human and Veterinary) (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law has come into force in Guernsey. [284939]
Mr. Wills: I have been asked to reply.
The Medicines Law is not yet in force in Guernsey. It remains the intention of Guernsey's administration that the law will commence with effect from 1 October 2009, through seeking approval of a Commencement Ordinance in the States of Deliberation shortly beforehand.
National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse:
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people are employed by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse; [284836]
(2) which treatment facilities the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse operates; [284837]
(3) how much funding his Department has provided to the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse in each of the last five years. [284839]
Gillian Merron: As at 6 July 2009, the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) employed 191 full-time equivalents staff.
The NTA does not operate any drug treatment facilities. The NTA is a special health authority within the national health service, established by Government in 2001 to improve the availability, capacity and effectiveness of treatment for drug misuse in England. The NTA works with local partnerships and providers to develop more effective local treatment services and collects and publishes monthly data showing how well each area, and treatment service, is performing.
The Department has provided funding to the NTA, a combination of core and project funding, over the last five years, as follows:
| £000 | |
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