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24 Feb 2010 : Column 598W—continued
International Development
Developing Countries: Overseas Aid
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department has spent in each developing country on promoting good governance in 2009-10 to date; and how much it spent in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09. [317199]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) spent £688,453,000 in 2007-08 and £684,014,000 in 2008-09 bilaterally on promoting good governance. The figure for 2009-10 is not yet available.
DFID supports a broad definition of good governance and the above figures include funding for elections, civil society strengthening, security sector reform, post-conflict peace building, legal and judicial development, corruption and public sector financial management.
DFID bilateral spend by country, by sector and by year is available on DFID's website at:
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding his Department has allocated to supporting Parliaments in developing countries in 2009-10 to date; and how much funding it allocated in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09. [317200]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) supports Parliaments in our partner countries as part of our overall support to governance. We do not track absolute values of support to Parliaments within this category. DFID bilateral aid for promoting good governance totalled £688,453,000 in 2007-08 and £684,014,000 2008-09. The figure for 2009-10 is not yet available.
Remittances
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 25 November 2009, Official Report, columns 229-30W, on remittances, what information he sought from offices of his Department in African countries on remittance flows in the last quarter of 2009-10. [316927]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not independently compile data on remittances. We monitor trends in remittance flows using data compiled by the World Bank, which sources its information directly from Central Banks. Based on the information currently available, the World Bank is expecting remittance flows to Sub-Saharan Africa in 2009 to have remained stable at 2008 figures of $21 billion.
Health
Blood
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provisions exist in the NHS blood and transplant contract in respect of the re-sale of blood and blood components by private hospitals; and on what date the contract entered into force. [317272]
Gillian Merron: The current NHS Blood and Transplant contract for the supply of blood to hospitals stipulates that blood components, whether purchased directly or on behalf of a third party, must not be sold on for a profit. This contract came into force on 1 April 2008, and runs until 31 March 2011. Current contractual arrangements allow hospitals to supply blood to other NHS or private hospitals and pass on the costs, provided no profit is made.
Crimes of Violence: Females
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been allocated to his Department's taskforce on the health aspects of violence against women and girls in 2009-10. [316956]
Ann Keen: The Department has allocated approximately £335,000 to the taskforce on the health aspects of violence against women and girls in 2009-10. This funding has paid for a series of detailed focus groups to explore the experiences of women and children who are victims of violence and the national health service response, employment of staff, a literature review, publication of associated reports and ongoing support for the running of taskforce itself.
Health Protection Agency
Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the consultants' reports on (a) the outline business cases for the Porton Down and Terlings Park options and (b) the preferred option analysis for the Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response Developments at Terlings Park or at Porton Down. [318206]
Gillian Merron: The documents to which the hon. Member refers have not been submitted to the Department.
The Department does not disclose business cases, such as this, which contain commercially sensitive information.
Health Protection Agency: Location
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements are being made for the relocation of Health Protection Agency staff and activities from Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle; and how many such (a) staff and (b) activities have so far been relocated and to each site. [318000]
Gillian Merron: The Health Protection Agency's (HPA's) clinical microbiology activity at Newcastle is to be transferred to other national health service accommodation in Newcastle as a result of redevelopment plans for Newcastle General Hospital. No clinical microbiology staff or activities have yet been transferred.
The HPA's Food, Water and Environmental Unit at Newcastle is transferring to Leeds as part of a phased transfer. Three senior staff will transfer to Leeds or will work remotely, as part of this transfer. The remainder of the staff have been offered alternative employment within the Newcastle Clinical laboratory and will re-locate with these units to sites within Newcastle Trust. The HPA is aiming to complete this process by 31 March.
Health Protection Agency: Porton Down
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the terms of the Health Protection Agency's (HPA) recommendation to his Department to close the HPA site at Porton Down. [318172]
Gillian Merron: The Health Protection Agency has made no recommendation to the Department to close its site at Porton Down. The Department does not disclose business cases, such as this one, which contain commercially sensitive information.
Muscular Dystrophy
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to increase the number of centres for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. [316865]
Ann Keen: It is the responsibility of local health bodies to ensure they have appropriate facilities available for the care of those living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Neuromuscular services, including those for muscular dystrophy, are included within the Adult Neurosciences Chapter of the Third Edition of the Specialised Services National Definitions Set (SSNDS). SSNDS helps hospitals to provide soundly based costings and commissioners to effectively plan, procure and monitor specialised services activity. The third edition of the set will improve the precision and coverage of the definitions, incorporating the most up to date diagnosis and intervention codes to make the SSNDS as comprehensive as possible.
The National Specialised Commissioning team has brought to Specialist Commissioning Groups attention the key issues arising from the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign ongoing awareness campaign.
The Government's National Service Framework (NSF) for Long-term Conditions focuses on improving the standard and quality of services for people with neurological conditions including muscular dystrophy. The aim of the NSF is to ensure all those with these conditions will get faster diagnosis, more rapid treatment and a comprehensive package of care.
Prostate Cancer: Medical Treatments
Christopher Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people with a diagnosis of prostate cancer were recorded as having received treatment by (a) watchful waiting, (b) active surveillance, (c) radical prostatectomy, (d) laparoscopic prostatectomy, (e) robotic prostatectomy, (f) low-dose rate brachytherapy, (g) high-dose rate brachytherapy, (h) cryotherapy, (i) external beam radiotherapy, (j) hormone therapy, (k) high intensity ultrasound, (l) chemotherapy, (m) bisphosphonates and (n) another method in each primary care trust commissioning area of responsibility in each year since 1997-98. [317710]
Ann Keen: This information is not held in the requested format. We are not able to provide figures relating to watchful waiting, active surveillance, radical prostatectomy and bisphosphonates, as these are not captured in Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS)-4 codes.
We have provided a count of finished consultant episodes where the primary diagnosis was prostate cancer and this information has been placed in the Library.
Christopher Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on hormonal therapy prescriptions for prostate cancer in (a) England, (b) each primary care trust area and (c) each constituency since 2007. [317715]
Ann Keen: The information requested has been placed in the Library, apart from constituency information, which is not collected centrally.
The tables provide the net ingredient cost of prescription items dispensed in the community by primary care trust (PCT) and nationally. Information on usage in hospitals is available and has been included in the response for England but is not available at PCT level.
Swine Flu: Musgrove Park Hospital Taunton
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been treated for symptoms of swine influenza at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton in the last 12 months. [317973]
Gillian Merron: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is collected at trust level. Musgrove Park Hospital is part of Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has treated an estimated 62 in-patients with swine flu (H1N1 swabbed or clinically presumed) from 8 am 6 July 2009 to 8 am 11 February 2010. The Department did not collect data prior to 6 July 2009.
Turning Point
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has evaluated the effectiveness of the Turning Point charity's handling of the Connected Care programme on behalf of his Department; and if he will make a statement. [318199]
Phil Hope: Delivering Connected Care in Hartlepool is one of the Department's social enterprise pathfinder projects. The Department's 26 social enterprise pathfinder projects have been collectively evaluated but no specific evaluations of Turning Point in this regard was undertaken. The evaluation focused on the processes, barriers and enablers to social enterprise in the health and social care sector.
Cabinet Office
Central Office of Information: Contracts
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) of 5 January 2010, Official Report, column 101, on the Central Office of Information: public relations, if she will place in the Library a copy of the Building Britain's Future Urban Youth contract; which firm was awarded the contract; and what the monetary value is of the contract. [314846]
Tessa Jowell: Livity Ltd were engaged by Cabinet Office to work on communicating the themes in Building Britain's Future to young audiences. The total value of the contract was £20,000 (excluding VAT).
The Cabinet Office does not place contracts with its commercial suppliers in the Library as they are classified commercial in confidence. In this instance, the contract with Livity Ltd was drawn up by COI. The standard Terms and Conditions were those as per the COI's Cultural Diversity Framework. A copy of these has been placed in the Library. Future COI Framework Terms And Conditions will be published on the COI website when renewed.
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the predicted monetary value is of the Branding lot of the Central Office of Information's Marketing and Brand Strategy Consultancy Framework; what contracts have been awarded under that lot; to which public bodies; and what estimate she has made of the total monetary value of all contracts under the Framework agreement. [315231]
Tessa Jowell: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Central Office of Information to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Mark Lund, dated 8 February 2010:
As Chief Executive of the Central Office of Information (COI), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question [315231] asking for information regarding the Strategic Consultancy Framework.
There is no estimated monetary value of the Branding lot of the Central Office of Information's Marketing and Brand Strategy Consultancy Framework.
Two contracts have been awarded from the lot to Dept for Innovation and Shills and the National Fraud Authority Development Board.
The estimated total monetary value of all contracts under this Framework agreement is £13-14m over 4 years.
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the predicted monetary value is of the Brand and Values lot of the Central Office of Information's Internal Communication, Engagement and Change Consultancy Framework; what contracts have been awarded under that lot; to which public bodies such contracts have been awarded; and what estimate she has made of the total monetary value of all contracts to be let under the Framework agreement. [315232]
Tessa Jowell: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Central Office of Information to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Mark Lund, dated 2 February 2010:
As Chief Executive of the Central Office of Information (COI), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question [315232] on the Internal Communication, Engagement and Change Framework;
No contracts have been awarded under Lot 3 (Brand & Values) of the Internal Communications, Engagement and Change framework.
Total estimated monetary value of all contracts to be let under the duration (4 years) of the ICEC Framework Agreement is £9-10 million.
Departmental Computer Software
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what her policy is in respect of the installation and use of (a) Internet Explorer, (b) Firefox and (c) Opera website browsers by Government Departments. [318248] [Official Report, 1 March 2010, Vol. 506, c. 12MC.]
Angela E. Smith: Government policy regarding installation and use of web browsers is that all decisions must be in line with value for money requirements. In addition, the Open Source, Open Standards, Re-use strategy requires Departments to consider open source browsers such as Firefox and Opera on a level basis with proprietary browsers such as Internet Explorer. The strategy can be found at:
Departmental Freedom of Information
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2010, Official Report, column 1140W, on departmental correspondence, what her Department's policy is on the target for providing (a) an acknowledgement and (b) a substantive response to a request made under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. [318340]
Tessa Jowell: Requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 are handled in accordance with the Act. Section 10 of the Act deals with the time for compliance with requests. Requests must be responded to promptly or in any event not later than 20 working days following receipt. In certain circumstances this 20 working day deadline can be extended.
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