| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
11 Jan 2010 : Column 744W—continued
Tony Blair
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many officials of his Department are presently seconded to support Tony Blair in his role as Middle East peace envoy; what procedure is in place for those officials to report formally to their home Department; and whether they remain subject to the Civil Service code. [309247]
Mr. Michael Foster: At present the Department for International Development (DFID) has one person seconded to the Office of the Quartet Representative (OQR). This secondee is tasked on a day-to-day basis by the Head of the OQR, but reports formally to the Head of DFID's office in Jerusalem. As the secondee continues to be a UK civil servant, they are still subject to the Civil Service code.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on what date (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department last met Tony Blair in his capacity as Middle East peace envoy. [309249]
Mr. Michael Foster:
Tony Blair was appointed the representative of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet (the United Nations, Russian Federation, United States, and European Union) in June 2007. There have been no
formal meetings between Tony Blair and the Secretary of State for International Development, or other Ministers in the Department of International Development, since he was appointed to this role.
Staff from the Department for International Development's office in Jerusalem are in regular contact with the Office of the Quartet Representative, which is also based in Jerusalem.
World Food Programme
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department's assessment of the benefits of the World Food Programme has changed in the last three years. [309793]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) delivers more humanitarian assistance through the World Food Programme (WFP) than through any other agency.
The UK Government continue to recognise the vital role of the WFP in responding to emergencies around the world, saving millions of lives. The WFP plays an important role in emergency logistics, preparedness and disaster risk management and in fragile and post-conflict situations is often uniquely placed to help deliver effective transitions to stability.
WFP is also increasingly working to enhance long-term food security. Examples include programmes to improve nutrition and using their local purchasing power to create markets for smallholder farmers. However the evidence base for the effectiveness of some interventions, especially in more stable development contexts, requires strengthening.
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development for what reason the UK contribution to the World Food Programme has been reduced in real terms since 2008; on what projects or programmes expenditure has been reduced as a consequence; and if he will make a statement. [309795]
Mr. Michael Foster: UK direct contributions to WFP in 2008 and 2009 were £89.9 million (equivalent to US$169 million) and £81.7 million (equivalent to US$127.6 million) respectively. These are the two highest contributions in the period 2004-09. Our ranking among WFP's donors was similar (seventh in 2008 and eighth in 2009) and our share of WFP's total income (in US$ terms) was almost the same (3.3 per cent. in 2008 and 3.2 per cent. in 2009). In both years we contributed more to WFP than to any other humanitarian agency or fund.
Our contributions to WFP take into account the different ways in which we can help protect the most vulnerable. The main reason we contributed less to WFP in some countries in 2009 is that while the food price crisis of 2008 required an exceptional food assistance response, the persisting problems of food insecurity required a broader range of actions-not all involving WFP. For example in Bangladesh we are tackling chronic food insecurity through our social protection, livelihoods and health/nutrition interventions. In Kenya we are supporting non-governmental organisations that who are specifically working on child malnutrition.
Our 2008 funding was also boosted by the response to Cyclone Nargis (£12.6 million equivalent to
US$24.8 million) and the final year of our institutional strengthening programme with WFP (£2.8 million equivalent to US$5.0 million).
Health
Alcoholism: Health Services
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many alcohol-related admissions there were for 16 to 24 years olds in (a) Northamptonshire, (b) the East Midlands and (c) England in each of the last three years. [308647]
Gillian Merron: The number of 16 to 24-year-olds admitted to hospital with an alcohol-related diagnosis in Northamptonshire, the East Midlands and England for the last three years is given in the table. The Department does not collect data on the number of alcohol-related hospital admissions in Wales.
Data on alcohol-related admissions in Wales were published by the Welsh Assembly Government in their annual publication Substance Misuse in Wales. However, it is important to note that the methodology used to produce these data differ from that used for England and so the two sets of data are not comparable.
| Number of hospital admissions of patients aged 16 to 24-year-olds with an alcohol-related diagnosis, 2006-07 to 2008-09 | |||
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
| Activity: Includes activity in English national health service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. Alcohol-related admissions: The number of alcohol-related admissions is based on the methodology developed by the North West Public Health Observatory. Ungrossed data: Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed). Data quality: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. Data are also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Assessing growth through time: HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. The quality and coverage of the data have improved over time. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. Some of the increase in figures for later years (particularly 2006-07 onwards) may be due to the improvement in the coverage of independent sector activity. Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example, a number of procedures may now be undertaken in out-patient settings and may no longer be accounted for in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time. Assignment of episodes to years: Years are assigned by the end of the first period of care in a patient's hospital stay. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for Health and Social Care | |||
Babies: Screening
Mr. Clelland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to implement the recommendations of the NHS Human Tissue Authority Research Project entitled "Routine examination of the newborn: the EMREN study". [308273]
Ann Keen: Recommendations from research funded by the Health Technology Assessment Programme "Routine examination of the newborn: the EMREN study" (2004) have been taken forward through:
the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence clinical guideline "Intrapartum care: care of healthy women and their babies during childbirth" (2007) which can be viewed at:
the Royal College of Midwives' practice guideline: "Evidence-based guidelines for midwifery-led care in labour" (2008) which can be viewed at:
"Standards for Maternity Care" (2008) which include examination of the newborn, jointly developed by The Royal Colleges of: Midwives, Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Anaesthetists, and Paediatrics and Child Health. The document can be viewed at:
Carers
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate has been made of the number of people who have left full-time employment in the last three years to become a carer. [308149]
Phil Hope: This information is not held centrally.
Carers: Tamworth
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people resident in Tamworth constituency and aged over 60 were registered as carers in each year since 2007. [309444]
Phil Hope: Carers may register with a range of organisations for different purposes-there is no single register as such.
The NHS Information Centre for health and social care does not collect the number of registered carers.
The number of carers aged 65 and over offered an assessment or review by Staffordshire county council was 1,130 in 2007-08 and 1,260 in 2008-09 (provisional).
Data at constituency level are not centrally available.
Children: Obesity
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of children between (a) five and 10 and (b) 11 and 16 years old have been diagnosed as clinically overweight in (i) England and (ii) Milton Keynes in each year since 1997. [308086]
Gillian Merron: The information is not available in the format requested. Data are not held nationally on children who have been diagnosed as clinically overweight.
Children trend table 4 in the "Health Survey for England-2008: trend tables" contains the percentage of children aged 2-10 and 11-16 in England who are overweight in each year between 1997 and 2008. This publication has been placed in the Library.
Further information on the proportion of children who are overweight in England is collected through the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP). Table A in the NCMP main report shows the prevalence of overweight children aged 4-5 years and 10-11 years in Milton Keynes primary care trust area for 2006-09. Copies of the publications have been placed in the Library.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many children under the age of 16 years old in (a) Leicester and (b) England were classified as (i) overweight and (ii) obese at the latest date for which information is available; [308742]
(2) how many children under the age of 16 years old diagnosed as diabetic were overweight or obese in each of the last five years. [308745]
Gillian Merron: The data are not available in the requested format.
Data showing the number of children in England who are overweight and obese have been published in the Health Survey for England-2008: trend tables. In the Population Number Estimate Tables, Table 6 contains the numbers of children aged two to 15 years old who are overweight and obese. This table is available from the following link:
A copy of the full report is available on the Information Centre website at:
Data on the number of children under 16 with diabetes who are overweight or obese are not collected centrally.
Continuing Care
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients qualified for continuing healthcare in each primary care trust area in each of the last three years. [309312]
Phil Hope: The requested information is provided in the following table.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |