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9 July 2009 : Column 979W—continued
NHS Productivity Unit
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the priorities of his Department’s new NHS productivity unit are. [283928]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The NHS productivity and efficiency unit has been established to work with the national health service to identify opportunities for improved productivity and efficiency.
Investment in the NHS will continue to increase in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Departmental allocations beyond 2011 have not yet been set but the NHS chief executive, David Nicholson, has asked the NHS to prepare for a wide range of funding scenarios. The unit will therefore work with both the Department and NHS to:
identify the scale of the likely challenge;
identify potential opportunities for improving quality and efficiency simultaneously because getting it right first time for patients is both efficient and delivers better quality of care; and
identify the work which needs to be done nationally to support this agenda, contributing to the overall Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention agenda.
Screening: Companies
Dr. Desmond Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the terms of reference are of the National Screening Committee’s inquiry into private screening companies; [284630]
(2) when the National Screening Committee is expected to publish its report on private screening companies; and which (a) companies and (b) other organisations have been consulted by the committee in its inquiry. [284631]
Ann Keen: No such inquiry is currently under way.
Wales
Departmental Databases
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what databases managed by his Department and its agencies hold personal information on members of the public; on what date each such database became operational; and if he will make a statement. [285977]
Mr. Hain: The Wales Office does not maintain such databases.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which of the planned databases that will be managed by his Department or one of its agencies and which will hold personal information on members of the public are expected to become operational in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [286148]
Mr. Hain: The Wales Office has no plans within the next five years to manage any databases holding personal information on members of the public.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much has been spent on salaries and pensions for Ministers in his Department since 2005. [284859]
Mr. Hain: Ministerial salaries are paid in accordance with the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975. Details of ministerial salaries are available in the Library of the House and at:
Ministerial pension costs are published in the Ministry of Justice Resource accounts each year.
Departmental Secondment
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many employees of his Department have been posted to work in offices of hon. Members of each political party in each of the last five years. [284884]
International Development
Departmental Pay
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 3 June 2009, Official Report, column 499W, on departmental pay, who the employers are who are paying less than £7.45 an hour for work contracted out by his Department; what the nature of the work undertaken on each contract is; how many staff at each (a) pay band and (b) location are working on each contract; what the duration of each contract is; and what union recognition agreements are in place with each contractor. [285511]
Mr. Michael Foster: Charlton House Catering Services Ltd. who provide the staff restaurant facilities, and GBM Support Services Ltd. who carry out the office cleaning are contractors with staff working in 1 Palace street who are paying less than £7.45 an hour.
The Department is currently reviewing options to meet the London living wage pay levels for these staff.
India: Overseas Aid
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which of his Department’s programmes in India aim to reduce levels of poverty in the rural and tribal regions in that country. [284454]
Mr. Michael Foster: We estimate that around 75 per cent. of the Department for International Development’s (DFID) committed expenditure in India will be spent primarily in rural areas. This includes both our national level programming and our support to the state governments of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. DFID ensures that the programmes we support are designed to particularly help the poorest and most excluded groups, such as scheduled castes and tribes. A full list of the DFID programmes which benefit rural and tribal communities in India follows:
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of his Department's assistance to India is being provided through the Indian Government in 2009-10. [284455]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development has provided £780 million as bilateral assistance to India over the last three (2006-09) years. Of this, 74.6 per cent. was provided as targeted financial assistance to the Indian Government at both the State and Central levels.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the merits of providing funding for the rebuilding work required in Orissa following the violence against Christians in that region. [284453]
Mr. Michael Foster: According to official figures, the majority of people displaced by the violence in Orissa have already returned to their villages. There are now only three functional relief camps managed by the Government of Orissa, in which about 1,000 people are housed. A process is currently under way to resettle these people in their villages at the earliest opportunity.
In keeping with its standard policy, the Government of India have not requested bilateral assistance to deal with rehabilitation work in the aftermath of the violence. Accordingly DFID has not made any assessment of funding for rebuilding work. We have, however, raised the issue of social exclusion and violence against minorities in our discussions with the Government of Orissa.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development to which projects in Orissa his Department is providing assistance. [284456]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) is currently providing assistance to four projects in Orissa:
£32.75 million to the Western Orissa Rural Livelihoods programme, to improve livelihood opportunities for poor people (2000-10);
£9.76 million to the Orissa Tribal Empowerment and Livelihoods programme to improve the access of tribal communities to livelihoods, food security and water and sanitation (2005-10);
£50 million to the Orissa Health Sector Programme to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates, infectious diseases and malnutrition (2007-12);
£7.5 million to the Industrial Policy Resolution Project to improve the climate for socially and environmentally responsible investment and enterprise development in Orissa (2003-09).
In addition to these four programmes, Orissa also benefits from DFID's support to national level programmes and civil society partnerships.
Kosovo: Internet
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to the answer of 7 March 2008, Official Report, column 2875W, on Kosovo: internet, what recent estimate he has made of the number of internet users in Kosovo; and if he will make a statement. [284547]
Mr. Michael Foster: There has not been a more recent estimate of internet usage in Kosovo since that cited in the answer of 7 March 2008, Official Report, column 2874W.
Overseas Aid: Health Services
Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 4 June 2009, Official Report, column 676W, on overseas aid: health services, how much bilateral aid was provided for expenditure on (a) reproductive health and (b) HIV and AIDS in (i) 2003-04, (ii) 2004-05, (iii) 2005-06, (iv) 2006-07, (v) 2007-08 and (vi) 2008-09. [284471]
Mr. Michael Foster [holding answer 7 July 2009]: Details of Department for International Development (DFID) bilateral expenditure on projects which directly target reproductive health and health-related aspects of HIV and AIDS are provided in table 1.
Maternal Health spend data have also been included as there are considerable overlaps in the OECD-DAC definitions for reproductive and maternal health, for example, programmes dealing with the prevention and management of the consequences of abortion are included under the maternal health definition.
| Table 1: DFID bilateral expenditure directly targeting reproductive and maternal health and HIV and AIDS, 2003-04 to 2007-08 | ||||
| £ million | ||||
| Reproductive health (RH) | Maternal health (MH) | Total RH and MH | HIV and AIDS | |
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