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UK-Indonesia Working Group on Environment and Climate Change

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much funding he has allocated to the work of the UK-Indonesia Working Group on Environment and Climate Change; when and where the group will next meet; and which civil society organisations are expected to participate in the group. [320090]

Joan Ruddock: In this financial year (2009-10) DECC has allocated just over £18,500 to the work of the UK-Indonesia Working Group on Environment and Climate Change. The second meeting of the group will be hosted by the Indonesian Government in July 2010. This is a working group between the UK and Indonesian Governments and as such no civil society organisations are expected to participate in the meetings.

The UK Government have an overarching memorandum of understanding covering its work with Indonesia in addressing climate change. Provision is made within this for enhancing capacity building and engagement of key stakeholders, including civil society, compatible with strategic directions developed under the Indonesian National Climate Change Council.

Wales

Departmental Advertising

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much was spent on advertising by (a) his Department and (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which his Department is responsible in 2009. [319585]


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Mr. Hain: The Wales Office does not have any non-departmental public bodies or executive agencies, and we have not spent anything on advertising in 2009.

Departmental Plants

David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent on pot plants in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09 and (c) 2009-10. [319208]

Mr. Hain: Nil.

Departmental Theft

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many thefts from his Department have been recorded in the last two years. [318992]

Mr. Hain: During the last two years there has been one recorded theft from my Department.

Health

Accident and Emergency Departments: Alcoholic Drinks

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated research on the proportion of accident and emergency admissions on Friday and Saturday nights attributable to alcohol-related incidents. [319603]

Gillian Merron: The Department has not commissioned research on the proportion of alcohol-related accident and emergency (A&E) attendances on Friday and Saturday nights. However, in March 2008, as part of its review of the impact of the Licensing Act 2003, the Government looked at the impact of alcohol and the new licensing act on A&E services.

The review noted that

Autism: Health Services

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assistance his Department plans to provide to local authorities and primary care trusts to develop (a) local autism teams and (b) local planning groups as part of implementation of the adult autism strategy; and if he will make a statement; [320003]

(2) when he will publish the delivery plan for the adult autism strategy; and if he will make a statement. [320004]

Phil Hope: It will be for each local area to develop its own commissioning plan for services for adults with autism-building on the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.

The delivery plan, scheduled for publication by the end of March 2010, will set out in more detail the timescale for delivery in the first year, including examples of possible structures for such boards, drawing on best practice that already exists around the country.


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Further delivery plans will be prepared for the second and third years of the strategy.

Dementia

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms are in place to identify people with dementia when they are admitted to general hospitals; and whether steps are taken to provide additional care for those people in respect of (a) dehydration and (b) confusion during their stay. [319924]

Phil Hope: The National Dementia Strategy calls for all acute trusts to identify a clinical lead for dementia to take the lead for quality improvements in dementia in hospitals, including the development of an explicit care pathway for the treatment and care of people with dementia in hospital.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what written information is provided to people with dementia and their carers (a) at the point of diagnosis and (b) by a general practitioner during subsequent consultations. [319925]

Phil Hope: Provision of information to people with dementia and their carers was identified as a priority in the National Dementia Strategy. The Strategy states that following diagnosis people with dementia should be given access to information. The demonstrator site pilots are also looking at how to provide information to people with dementia following a diagnosis.

The Department has commissioned the Alzheimer's Society to bring together evidence about information that people need following diagnosis and report back to the Department on what might be done to improve the information available. The results of this review are expected shortly.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are recorded on the Quality and Outcomes Framework registers kept by general practitioners as having dementia; and what estimate he has made of the number of carers of those patients who have been reviewed by a general practitioner within 15 months of the diagnosis of the person for whom they act as carer. [319967]

Phil Hope: In 2008-09 there were 232,430 people with a diagnosis of dementia, recorded on practice disease registers in England under the national Quality and Outcomes Framework scheme.

No data are held on the number of carers of people with a diagnosis of dementia. However, guidance issued to support the Quality and Outcomes Framework makes clear that practices in reviewing the needs of people diagnosed with dementia should focus on support needs of both the patient and their carer.

In 2008-09 there were 169,438 people diagnosed with dementia whose care had been reviewed in the previous 15 months and for whom practices received a reward payment under the national Quality and Outcomes Framework.


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Departmental Data Protection

Christine Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to revise his Department's Caldicott Guardian Manual 2006 on data sharing. [319895]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department's Caldicott Guardian Manual has recently been revised in collaboration with the UK Council of Caldicott Guardians. The revised manual will be published shortly.

Health Services

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the designation of specialist providers as recommended in the Carter Report of 2006 to have been completed. [319478]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: There has been a lot of progress in specialised commissioning since the publication of Sir David Carter's Review of Specialised Commissioning Arrangements for Specialised Services in 2006. Specialised Commissioning Groups (SCGs) are working towards designating providers of specialised services.

To date, national designation standards have been agreed for five specialised services. The National Specialised Commissioning Group is due to consider a plan for the development of further designation standards at its meeting on 3 March 2010. This plan will make recommendations about which sets of designation material are a priority for development. It will remain for individual SCGs to decide which services they choose to designate locally, a decision based on local priorities and discussion with their constituent primary care trusts.

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards implementation of the 2008-09 Operating Framework which required Specialised Commissioning Groups to create pooled budgets for commissioning specialised services. [319479]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Some Specialised Commissioning Groups (SCGs) operate a system of pooled budgets for some services. Others, while not formally contributing to a shared budget, are working towards the principle of risk-sharing.

The SCG Finance Network which includes representatives from each of the 10 SCGs have a work stream on pooled budgets. They are currently mapping the position in each SCG.

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms are in place to assure the performance of (a) specialised commissioning groups and (b) the national commissioning group under the World Class Commissioning programme. [319480]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: In 2009, a system for examining the skills and capabilities of specialised commissioners was developed, closely based on the primary care trust commissioning assurance process. This has been made available on a voluntary basis to strategic health authorities for them to assess specialised commissioning groups. The national specialised commissioning team is based
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within NHS London and could be assessed using the same system with some adaptations. The national specialised commissioning group is an advisory group reporting to Ministers on the commissioning of specialised services and the assurance process would not be suitable to assess its performance.

Strategic health authorities also assure the performance of specialised commissioning groups on an ongoing basis as part of their management of the local national health service.

Health Services: Crown Dependencies

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish his Department's review of the discontinuance of reciprocal health arrangements with the Crown Dependencies. [318221]

Gillian Merron: The review of the ending of the reciprocal healthcare agreement with the Isle of Man will take place in the autumn, around six months after the ending of the agreement. We will publish the findings as soon as we are able following completion of that review.

Health Services: Equality

Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who the members are of the Cross-Government Health Inequalities Programme Board. [320067]

Gillian Merron: The Cross-Government Health Inequalities Programme Board is a director-general level board. Its remit is to oversee the development of a cross-government health inequalities strategy post-2010 following the report of the Marmot review (the Post-2010 Strategic Review of Health Inequalities).

Its members are:

The following observers attend from the devolved administrations:-

A Secretariat to the Board is provided by the Department of Health.


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Health Services: Isle of Man

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether subordinate legislation is required to give effect to the decision of the UK Government to end the reciprocal health agreement between the UK and the Isle of Man with effect from 1 April 2010; and if he will make a statement. [320155]

Gillian Merron: No subordinate legislation is required to give effect to the decision to end the reciprocal healthcare agreement between the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man. The UK Government agreed a one year notice period with the Isle of Man Government to end the agreement, double the six months notice period contained within the agreement.

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will negotiate an agreement with the Isle of Man Government to ensure that elderly persons and chronically sick and disabled persons who wish to make visits between the UK and the Isle of Man will continue to be eligible for free emergency hospital admission and treatment in either jurisdiction, providing that they are unable to obtain travel and health insurance at a reasonable cost due to their medical condition. [320188]

Gillian Merron: The UK Government have committed to working with the Isle of Man Government to carry out a review of the ending of the reciprocal healthcare agreement with the Isle of Man. The review will take place around six months after the agreement ends and will address any unforeseen consequences, including access to insurance. Accident and emergency treatment will continue to be free.

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) with reference to paragraph seven of the Minister of State's letter of 22 January 2010 to the co-chair of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly on the UK's decision to terminate reciprocal health arrangements with the Isle of Man with effect from 1 April 2010, under what arrangements free emergency hospital admission and treatment will continue to be afforded to visitors to the Isle of Man who are visitors to the UK from a country which has a bilateral healthcare agreement with the UK; and if he will make a statement; [320189]

(2) with reference to paragraphs six and seven of the Minister of State's letter of 22 January 2010 to the co-chair of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, under what agreement or authority (a) all UK pensioners visiting the Isle of Man who have lawfully lived in the UK for 10 continuous years will receive free emergency hospital treatment and admission and (b) there will be no variation in such provision following the termination of the reciprocal health arrangement; and if he will make a statement. [320190]

Gillian Merron: Free emergency hospital treatment will continue to be afforded to visitors to the United Kingdom from a country with which the UK has a reciprocal healthcare agreement. This provision does not extend to those visiting the Isle of Man, given that is not part of the UK.


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The exemption from national health service charges for UK pensioners who have previously lived in the UK for 10 continuous years, under the national heath service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, as amended, applies only to UK pensioners visiting the UK. It does not apply to UK pensioners visiting destinations outside of the UK, including the Isle of Man.


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