House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 15 July 2009 (pt 0035)

15 July 2009 : Column 525W—continued

General Practitioners: Finance

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate has been made of the likely effect on the number of GP surgeries upgraded to training practices of the £100 million in capital funding brought forward from 2010-11 to 2009-10 and 2008-09; and how much of the funding has been spent in each month since it was announced. [286650]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Our initial indications are that over 700 general practitioner practices have made bids for funding to upgrade their practices. It is too early in the programme to indicate the amount of money spent.

Health Hazards: Mobile Phones

Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent representations he has received on (a) the adequacy of recommended safe levels of exposure to electromagnetic radiation and (b) the adequacy of guidelines for protection from such radiation established by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection; [285235]

(2) what steps the Government has taken to implement the recommendations of the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones; and what measures are in place to protect children under the age of 12 years from exposure to potentially harmful radiation from mobile telephones; [285236]

(3) what discussions he has had in the Council of Ministers on the recommendations concerning EU member states contained in the European Parliament's
15 July 2009 : Column 526W
Resolution of 2 April 2009 on health concerns associated with electromagnetic fields; and if he will make a statement; [285239]

(4) what steps he is taking to (a) identify and (b) protect against the effects of mobile telecommunications radiation emissions those categories of people who have particular susceptibilities to them. [285241]

Gillian Merron: Between 1 June 2009 and 8 July 2009 the Department received one letter and one e-mail, both from the same member of the public, that mention guidelines for exposure to electromagnetic radiation.

In 2004 the National Radiation Protection Board (NRPB) recommended adoption of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) exposure guidelines for occupational and public exposure to electromagnetic fields between zero and 300 gigahertz (GHz). The NRPB's recommendations can be found in the document "Advice on Limiting Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields (0-300 GHz)" Documents of the NRPB volume 15 number 2, on the Health Protection Agency (HPA) website at:

www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&;HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1195733817602?p=1219908766891

The NRPB's scientific review underpinning their recommendations is entitled "Review of the Scientific Evidence for Limiting Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields (0-300 GHz)". Documents of the NRPB volume 15 number 3 are on the HPA website at:

www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&;HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1195733787839?p=1219908766891

The Government response to the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (Stewart) report was reviewed in the report "Mobile Phones and Health 2004: Report by the Board of NRPB" Documents of the NRPB volume 15 number 5 which is on the Health Protection Agency (HPA) website at:

www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&;HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1195733821582?p=1219908766891

A departmental leaflet on mobile phones and health, published following the Stewart report recommendation for further public information, includes advice concerning children's use of mobile phones and can be seen on the Department's web site at:

www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4123979

A copy has been placed in the Library.

In response to the Stewart report, the Government have supported research on exposure to radio waves in the independently managed Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme (MTHR). A copy of the MTHR report of 2007 has already been placed in the Library. Information on a further phase of research is available on the MTHR website at:

www.mthr.org.uk/research_projects/MTHR2_projects.htm

The HPA report on electrical sensitivity "HPA-RPD-010-Definition, Epidemiology and Management of Electrical Sensitivity. Report for the Radiation Protection Division of the Health Protection Agency" cab be found on the HPA website at:

www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&;HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1195733810369?p==1197637096018

15 July 2009 : Column 527W

United Kingdom Health Ministers have not had any discussions in the Council of Ministers on the recommendations concerning European Union member states contained in the European Parliament's Resolution of 2 April 2009 on health concerns associated with electromagnetic fields.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money was (a) claimed and (b) recovered from each partner nation for medical claims under the provisions of (i) form E111 and (ii) the European Health Insurance Card in each of the last five years. [285456]

15 July 2009 : Column 528W

Gillian Merron: The following table shows the amounts actually claimed to date by the United Kingdom against other European economic area (EEA) member states and the actual amounts paid to date against those claims for each of the last five calendar claim years.

The amounts are combined claims for temporary visitors (via European Health Insurance Cards (EHIC), or form E111 prior to its replacement in 2005 by the EHIC), posted workers (via form E106) and referrals for treatment in other EEA countries (via form E112). Due to the nature of the claims system between member states, it is not possible to disaggregate these data consistently for all member states by either type of claim or type of treatment. The figures in the tables reflect the fact that EEA medical costs are typically submitted by member states (including the UK) one to three, and sometimes more, years in arrears.

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15 July 2009 : Column 530W

EEA health care cost claims: Claims under Article 93 of Regulation (EC) 1408/71: UK claims against member states
		2004^{( 1)}	2005	2006	2007	2008
Austria	Initial claims total	101,281	14,617	-	14,673	50,750
	Total paid to date	101,281	14,617	-	14,673	14,929

Belgium	Initial claims total	1,295,401	1,394,748	1,369,548	6,277	36,075
	Total paid to date	1,295,401	1,394,748	1,369,548	6,277	32,976
Bulgaria⁽³⁾	Initial claims total	-	-	-	-	-
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	-	-

Cyprus⁽²⁾	Initial claims total	-	-	-	382	4,515
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	0	0

Czech Republic⁽²⁾	Initial claims total	-	-	-	-	2,260
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	-	2,260

Denmark⁽⁴⁾	Initial claims total	-	-	-	-	-
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	-	-

Estonia^(2,6)	Initial claims total	-	-	-	-	-
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	-	-

Finland⁽⁷⁾	Initial claims total	-	-	-	148	1,873
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	148	0

France	Initial claims total	2,164,442	2,164,442	2,223,048	2,223,048	-
	Total paid to date	2,164,442	2,164,442	2,223,048	2,223,048	-

Germany	Initial claims total	18,431	15,265	74	12,633	53,611
	Total paid to date	0	15,265	74	12,633	45,774

Greece	Initial claims total	398,318	581,601	36,410	108,948	594,653
	Total paid to date	274,413	489,230	0	0	0

Hungary^(2,7)	Initial claims total	-	-	-	10,658	8,219
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	10,658	8,219

Iceland	Initial claims total	-	-	-	-	24,942
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	-	24,942

Ireland⁽⁸⁾	Initial claims total	10,504,622	11,365,387	10,023,000	12,174,837	12,488,558
	Total paid to date	8,633,491	9,339,096	8,092,946	9,407,794	10,370,960

Italy	Initial claims total	1,804,107	912,920	131,826	147,251	708,649
	Total paid to date	1,443,286	730,336	105,461	117,801	566,919

Latvia⁽²⁾	Initial claims total	-	-	-	-	-
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	-	-

Liechtenstein	Initial claims total	-	-	-	-	-
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	-	-

Lithuania⁽²⁾	Initial claims total	-	-	-	-	-
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	-	-

Luxembourg⁽⁵⁾	Initial claims total	-	-	-	-	-
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	-	-

Malta^(2,7)	Initial claims total	-	-	-	-	-
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	-	-

Netherlands	Initial claims total	5,414	-	-	6,691	41,428
	Total paid to date	0	-	-	0	0

Norway⁽⁷⁾	Initial claims total	-	968	-	-	-
	Total paid to date	-	0	-	-	-

Poland⁽²⁾	Initial claims total	-	-	-	-	-
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	-	-

Portugal	Initial claims total	22,773	44,614	-	12,887	172,331
	Total paid to date	9,097	20,251	-	3,481	0

Romania⁽³⁾	Initial claims total	-	-	-	-	-
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	-	-

Slovakia⁽²⁾	Initial claims total	-	-	-	-	-
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	-	-

Slovenia⁽²⁾	Initial claims total	434	-	-	-	5,991
	Total paid to date	434	-	-	-	5,991

Spain	Initial claims total	1,762,209	2,234,214	2,489,817	65,005	85,501
	Total paid to date	1,588,438	2,017,951	2,237,251	0	74,829

Sweden	Initial claims total	1,334	17,710	-	-	18,160
	Total paid to date	1,334	17,710	-	-	18,160

Switzerland	Initial claims total	-	-	-	-	-
	Total paid to date	-	-	-	-	-

	Initial claims (all countries)	18,078,766	18,746,486	16,273,723	14,783,438	14,297,517
	Total paid to date (all countries)	15,511,616	16,203,647	14,028,328	11,796,512	11,165,960
⁽¹⁾ Under European Union regulations claims are made on a calendar year basis. Totals for each calendar year are based on actual claims submitted to date. ⁽²⁾ Acceded to the European Union in 2004 ⁽³⁾ Acceded to the European Union in 2007 ⁽⁴⁾ Total waiver. ⁽⁵⁾ Previous total waiver, expired on 30 June 2008. ⁽⁶⁾ Waiver, excepting Article 22.1c (patient referral) and Article 55.1c (industrial injury) claims. ⁽⁷⁾ Waiver, excepting Article 22.1c (patient referral) claims ⁽⁸⁾ Totals for Ireland for 2008 and previous years are estimated and subject to negotiations.

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