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10 Nov 2009 : Column 264W—continued
Smoking
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assistance with smoking cessation his Department makes available to prisoners. [298086]
Gillian Merron: National health service primary care trusts have had responsibility for the provision of healthcare services in publicly run prisons from 2006. Nicotine Replacement Therapy and professional NHS Stop Smoking Services support are now available to prisoners who want to give up smoking, on a basis broadly equivalent to that in the outside community.
Last year (2008-09), nearly 10,000 prisoners (9,907) set a quit date with NHS Stop Smoking Services provided to them in prison. These services follow the standard effective service provision, including medication, which is guided by the annual "NHS Stop Smoking Services: Service and Monitoring Guidance" produced by the Department. The most recent guidance has been placed in the Library.
Social Services: Elderly
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent assessment is of the adequacy of arrangements for the provision of social care for older persons on their discharge from hospital. [297967]
Phil Hope: We have made no recent assessment of the adequacy of arrangements for the provision of social care for older people on discharge from hospital.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has a responsibility to assess how well adult social care departments at councils have commissioned services for the people in their areas. This will be done through periodic reviews of their performance.
In addition to the CQC's own assessment regime, Comprehensive Area Assessments will provide an overview of how successfully local organisations are working individually and together to improve services in their area.
Furthermore, the Department recently published the document 'Use of Resources in Adult Social Care' to help local authorities to benchmark against other authorities on a range of measures, including examining the outcomes for the older people from the local arrangements between health and social care for hospital discharges. The guide promotes best practice. Finally, the Department is also focusing its resources on the prevention and early intervention to avoid older people entering hospital and retaining a healthy and independent life.
Swine Flu: Greater London
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in (a) the London Borough of Bexley and (b) Greater London have been diagnosed with swine influenza. [298110]
Gillian Merron: Estimates of the numbers of people who have had swine flu are only available for the whole population. Therefore the Department does not have estimates of the number of people who have been diagnosed with swine flu in Bexley or Greater London.
Swine Flu: Vaccination
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of all documents held by his Department relating to the decisions on priority access groups for the swine influenza vaccine. [298962]
Gillian Merron: Copies of relevant meeting minutes from the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) about their advice on the high priority at risk groups for swine flu vaccination have been placed in the Library. JCVI is the statutory body with responsibility for providing Ministers with advice about vaccination programmes.
These minutes are also displayed on JCVI's website at:
Communities and Local Government
Coastal Areas: Housing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many full-time equivalent employees had responsibility for the (a) Seaside and Country Homes scheme and (b) housingmoves.org website in each of the last three years. [296924]
Mr. Ian Austin: Since July 2007 the Department has employed eight full-time equivalent (FTE) employees responsible for the delivery of (a) the Seaside and Country Homes scheme and 0.05 FTE for (b) the housingmoves.org website.
To enable these high value and high demand moves the staff provide:
A brokering service to match registered applicants with suitable homes as they become available
a 'drop-in' service for older and often vulnerable applicants where they can meet with an adviser face to face to assist with enquiries, housing options and applications
a telephone helpline for applicants to advise on housing options; the progress of applications; and the availability of alternative accommodation
marketing for the scheme to increase landlord and tenant participation including the identification and use of hard to let social stock (such as sheltered housing)
Each move results in a net saving to Treasury of about £12,000 (or £2.4 million for 200 moves each year-based on a 2004 departmental economic study) based on savings: in the cost of temporary accommodation; in the cost of managing empty properties; and the costs of housing benefit payments
In addition the staff provides the housing brokerage service for vulnerable British Nationals returning under the Zimbabwe Resettlement programme.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department spent on the Seaside and Country Homes scheme under each budgetary heading in each of the last three years. [296925]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Department has spent the following amount on the Seaside and Country Homes scheme:
| July 2007-March 2008 | April 2008-March 2009 | April-October 2009 | |
| Notes: 1. The housingmoves website went on-line in July 2007. 2. Data for October 2009 are current up to and including 27 October 2009 | |||
The resource investment supports the delivery of high demand social mobility schemes. The Department (Secretary of State) has nomination rights to specific properties under the Seaside and Country Homes scheme. The service employs staff in discrete premises (until the lease expires in February 2011) providing: a front line delivery service; a telephone help line; an informative website with on-line registration and an accessible 'drop in centre' for older and often vulnerable applicants. The service also provides the housing brokerage service for vulnerable British Nationals returning under the Zimbabwe Resettlement programme.
There are between 170-250 moves arranged per year that enable London based applicants to give up their social letting in the capital and move to more appropriate properties in preferred locations. Each move results in a net saving to Treasury of about £12,000 (or £2.4 million for 200 moves each year-based on a 2004 departmental economic study) based on savings: in the cost of temporary accommodation; in the cost of managing empty properties; and the costs of housing benefit payments.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many tenants applied for alternative accommodation under the Seaside and Country Homes Scheme in each of the last three years. [296929]
Mr. Ian Austin: The number of tenants applying to move to alternative accommodation through the Seaside and Country Homes Scheme is detailed in the following table.
| From | To | Number |
| (1) The housingmoves website went online in July 2007. (2) Data for October 2009 are current up to and including 27 October 2009. | ||
Each move results in a net saving to Treasury of about £12,000 (or £2.4 million for 200 moves each year-based on a 2004 departmental economic study) based on savings: in the cost of temporary accommodation; in the cost of managing empty properties; and the costs of housing benefit payments.
To enable these high value and high demand moves, the staff provide:
A brokering service to match registered applicants with suitable homes as they become available.
A 'drop-in' service for older and often vulnerable applicants where they can meet with an adviser face to face to assist with inquiries, housing options and applications.
A telephone helpline for applicants to advise on housing options; the progress of applications; and the availability of alternative accommodation.
Marketing for the scheme to increase landlord and tenant participation including the identification and use of hard to let social stock (such as sheltered housing).
In addition, the staff provide the housing brokerage service for vulnerable British nationals returning under the Zimbabwe Resettlement Programme.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many tenants moved from each local authority area under the Seaside and Country Homes Scheme in each of the last three years. [296865]
Mr. Ian Austin: The number of tenants moved from each local authority (London borough) under the Seaside and Country Homes Scheme is detailed in the following table.
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