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27 Jan 2010 : Column 936Wcontinued
The current consultation on the Nuclear National Policy Statement does not include the geological disposal facility development. The MRWS White Paper makes clear that no decision on whether geological disposal will be considered by the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) has yet been made. However, the Government are currently inclined to look towards applying the new planning system and we consider that a geological disposal facility is likely to be regarded as a nationally significant infrastructure project. Should the
Government decide in future that radioactive waste should be dealt with by the IPC, the Government would set out the national policy in a National Policy Statement, which would be finalised following an appraisal of sustainability, public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the potential for the generation of electricity from tidal power off the south coast of England. [313409]
Mr. Kidney [holding answer 26 January 2010]: The Government commissioned the updating of the UK Marine Renewable Energy Resources Atlas
in 2007. The charts in the Atlas indicate the distribution of potential resource for the future deployment of renewable energy technologies-wind, wave and tidal. The Atlas represents the most detailed regional description of potential marine energy resources in UK waters completed to date at a national scale, and will be used to help guide policy and planning decisions for future site leasing rounds.
We also commissioned in 2009, a screening study for marine energy development in English and Welsh Waters and we will be considering the findings of the report before deciding on whether to progress with a strategic environmental assessment for English and Welsh waters.
Analysis of the data suggests there are pockets of potential for generating energy from tidal resource, in particular off the Isle of Wight and the Dorset coast, but these are at a level significantly lower than elsewhere in the UK. At present the South coast is not viewed by the commercial sector as a prime area for tidal resource but as technologies develop we may see devices which are well suited to the lower velocity of tidal flow available from the region.
Mr. Dai Davies:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much reprocessed uranium in (a) oxide and (b) uranium hexafluoride (UF6) has been exported to each destination since January 2009; for what purpose in each case; who the
owner is of each consignment; and what transport route was used for each consignment. [312699]
Mr. Kidney: Since January 2009 there has been only one export of reprocessed uranium from the UK. In compliance with all appropriate transport regulations, 107.5 tonnes of uranium in the form of uranium trioxide was exported from Sellafield to Russia on behalf of two existing reprocessing customers in Germany and the Netherlands. The uranium was transported by rail from Sellafield to Hull and then by ship to Russia. The uranium will be processed for manufacture into nuclear fuel.
The export licences for this shipment were approved following the receipt of satisfactory end user undertakings from the consignee. The details of the specific customers involved is commercially confidential information, contained in appropriate contractual documents.
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many alcohol-related (a) deaths and (b) hospital admissions there have been in each year since 1997. [313640]
Gillian Merron: Information on alcohol admissions is available at:
Information on alcohol related death is available at:
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children under the age of 18 were admitted to hospital with an (a) primary and (b) secondary diagnosis related to alcohol in each strategic health authority in each of the last three years. [312632]
Gillian Merron: The number of admissions of patients under the age of 18 with a primary or secondary alcohol-related condition by strategic health authority of residence is presented in the following table:
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made by each primary care trust in the provision of inhalers which do not contain chlorofluorocarbons. [313530]
Ann Keen: This information is not held centrally. However the vast majority of inhalers containing chlorofluorocarbons have now been phased out and those remaining are expected to be discontinued during 2010.
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has made to encourage general practitioners to implement the 2008 National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on inhaled corticosteroids for the treatment of chronic asthma. [313560]
Ann Keen: The Department is currently preparing good practice guidelines for children and adults with asthma, for use by general practitioners and other health care professionals, that will make reference to existing National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on the management and treatment of asthma.
Mark Hunter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to ensure
that all asthma patients have personal asthma action plans. [313531]
Ann Keen: The Department has a commitment to ensure the national health service offers everyone with a long-term condition a care plan by the end of 2010. The NHS Next Stage Review 'High Quality Care for All' re-states this commitment. The Department has provided a range of support for implementing personalised care plans, including: publishing guidance for NHS commissioners on what care planning and self-care is (January 2009); support for NHS work force, through publishing an information booklet (April 2009); and publication of a Primary Care Service Specification (November 2009) to support commissioning from primary care providers.
The Department is currently preparing good practice guidelines for children and adults with asthma that will reinforce the value of personal asthma action plans and continue to encourage clinicians to ensure that every patient has one tailored to their needs. This is entirely consistent with the recommendation that all patients with long-term conditions should have a personalised care plan by the end of 2010.
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what preparations his Department has made for managing the symptoms of asthma patients who contract (a) swine influenza and (b) seasonal influenza during the winter. [313532]
Ann Keen: Every year people of all ages, including those with asthma, are eligible for vaccination against seasonal influenza, and can have this at their general practitioner's (GP's) surgery. This year all people with asthma should also have been contacted by their GP's surgery in order to receive a vaccination against swine influenza. This measure was introduced to ensure that people with asthma were protected from influenza of both kinds.
GPs were advised by the Royal College of General Practitioners that people with asthma who contracted swine influenza may have additional respiratory difficulties. GPs were advised to follow the clinical guidelines for management of asthma in the event that a patient's asthma control worsened as a result of contracting swine influenza, in addition to prescribing antiviral therapy such as Tamiflu in order to shorten the course of swine influenza.
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