Prisons: Contracts
Mrs Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to review personally the market testing evaluation process of prisons. [124231]
Jeremy Wright: The Secretary of State has reviewed the evaluation process and recommendation for Stage 1 of Phase 2 of the prisons competition programme. He is content that the evaluation process was robust. He plans to make an announcement shortly.
Sexual Offences
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many (a) women and (b) men are subject to risk of sexual harm orders in each police authority area; [123420]
(2) how many convicted sex offenders are eligible for a review of their indeterminate notification requirement in each probation service area; [123423]
(3) how many applications were made to courts in England to (a) vary, (b) renew and (c) discharge a risk of sexual harm order in each police authority area in each of the last seven years; [123419]
(4) how many convicted sex offenders have applied for a review of their indeterminate notification requirements since July 2012. [123408]
Mr Jeremy Browne: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Department.
Home Office IT systems will need to be interrogated to ascertain whether the relevant data is held in the format requested. Where it is available, it will take a considerable period of time to extract the relevant data. As such, I will write to the hon. Member by Wednesday 7 November with responses to these questions. I will place a copy of that letter in the Library of the House.
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Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost to the public purse is of a review of an indeterminate notification requirement for a convicted sex offender. [123421]
Mr Jeremy Browne: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Department.
It is estimated the average cost of a review is in the region of £760. An impact assessment providing full details of costing has been published on the Home Office website:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/legislation/sexual-offences-remedial-order/review-offenders-indef-notif-ia?view=Binary
A copy has been placed in the House Library.
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what plans he has to increase the number of years before an application may be made by a convicted sex offender to review an indeterminate notification requirement; [123422]
(2) what plans he has to increase the notification period for sex offenders sentenced to a prison sentence of (a) more than six months but less than 30 months, (b) six months or less and (c) a caution under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. [123403]
Mr Jeremy Browne: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Department.
The Government are confident that we have a robust framework in place to manage registered sex offenders and have no plans to increase the notification periods for sex offenders or to increase the number of years before an offender is eligible to apply for a review of their indefinite notification requirements.
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders convicted of a sexual offence under schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 are on licence in each probation service area. [123424]
Jeremy Wright: The following table shows the number of offenders being supervised after release from custody for all indictable sexual offences, by probation trust as at 31 December 2011. It is not possible to separately identify those offenders convicted of a sexual offence under schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Figures for specific offences under schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 could only be derived by matching individual level sentencing records back to probation records; this would incur disproportionate cost.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
| Offenders supervised by each probation trust at 31 December 2011 for indictable sexual offences | |
| Probation trust | Total offenders |
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Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average age is of (a) male and (b) female prisoners serving a prison sentence for a sexual offence under schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003. [123425]
Jeremy Wright: As of 30 June 2012, of those in prison under an immediate custodial sentence for all sexual offences, the average age of males was 43 years and for females it was 37 years. It is not possible to separately identify those offenders convicted of a sexual offence under schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many (a) male and (b) female prisoners convicted of an offence under Schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 are serving prison sentences in each probation service area; [123426]
(2) how many prisoners were charged with a sexual offence under Schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in each probation service area in the last year for which figures are available. [123427]
Jeremy Wright:
The data given in the following tables provide information on the number of prisoners under an immediate custodial sentence for all sexual offences by probation trust in which the prison is located. It is
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not possible to separately identify those offenders convicted of a sexual offence under schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
| Male prison population serving an immediate custodial sentence for sexual offences by probation trust in which the prison is located, England and Wales, 30 June 2012 | |
| Probation trust | Number of prisoners |
| Data sources and quality: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. | |
| Female prison population serving an immediate custodial sentence for sexual offences by probation trust in which the prison is located, England and Wales, 30 June 2012 | |
| Probation trust | Number of prisoners |
| Data sources and quality: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. | |
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| Total prison population serving an immediate custodial sentence for sexual offences by probation trust in which the prison is located, England and Wales, 30 June 2012 | |
| Probation trust | Number of prisoners |
| Data sources and quality: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. | |
Squatting
Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) if he will estimate the total cost of damage to buildings by squatters in the latest period for which figures are available; [123497]
(2) if he will estimate the total amount that property owners spent on removing squatters in the latest period for which figures are available. [123499]
Damian Green: Figures are not held centrally but responses to last year's consultation on ‘Options for Dealing with Squatting’ showed that property owners could spend hundreds or even thousands of pounds seeking to evict squatters and repairing any damage they had left behind. The new offence of squatting in a residential building should mean that residential property owners no longer need to spend time and money seeking to evict squatters because they can report them to the police.
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Health
Abortion
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what medical evidence his Department holds which supports a reduction in the period of time within which an abortion may lawfully be carried out. [123361]
Anna Soubry: The Department keeps the international evidence on this issue under review. Decisions on changing the law on abortion are a matter for Parliament, as it is established practice that any proposals to change the law on abortion come from backbench members and are made on the basis of free votes.
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions have been undertaken (a) up to and including and (b) after the twelfth week of pregnancy in each year since 2008. [123364]
Anna Soubry: The information requested is set out in the following table. 2011 is the latest year for which data is available.
| Abortions by gestation group, residents of England and Wales, 2008-11 | |||
| Under 13 weeks | 13 weeks and over | Total | |
James Wharton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements are in place to ensure the minimum clinical standards which the NHS requires for treatments provided in house are maintained by those organisations to which the NHS contracts out the carrying out of abortions. [124021]
Anna Soubry: Termination of pregnancy is regulated and all providers must be registered with the Care Quality Commission and meet essential standards of quality and safety. Regulation 20 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 also sets out a number of requirements relating to a termination of a pregnancy and independent sector providers.
The Abortion Act 1967 requires that any treatment for a termination of a pregnancy outside of a national health service hospital may only be carried out in a place approved for that purpose by the Secretary of State for Health. The Secretary of State's continuing approval requires that all providers ensure compliance with all legal requirements, provide the best quality of care for women and have in place sound management, organisational and clinical governance arrangements. These requirements apply equally to all places the Secretary of State for Health approves, regardless of whether they hold contracts with the NHS or not.
Accident and Emergency Departments: North East
Tom Blenkinsop:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the capacity of accident and emergency departments in hospitals in the North East Ambulance Service area;
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and what steps he is taking to ensure they have the capacity to treat promptly patients admitted by emergency ambulance. [124330]
Anna Soubry: The Department has made no assessment of the capacity of accident and emergency departments in hospitals in the North East Ambulance Service area. It is for local NHS trusts to ensure capacity when patients are admitted to hospital by emergency ambulance, and to have strategies and procedures in place to cope with unexpected periods of increased pressure.
Alcoholic Drinks: Nitrogen
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the risk to public health from the use of liquid nitrogen in drinks; whether the Government plans to introduce regulation governing its use in drinks; and how many people have been admitted to hospital for conditions associated with the ingestion of liquid nitrogen in drinks in each year since 2010. [123363]
Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has responsibility for food safety issues.
All food and drink sold to consumers has to comply with the general requirements of food safety legislation under which it is an offence to sell food which is injurious to health.
The sale of food or drink which is unsafe is prohibited under food law. The FSA considers there is no need for additional legislation in this area to govern the use of liquid nitrogen in drinks. The FSA is making local enforcement officers aware of. the practice of using liquid nitrogen in the preparation of cocktails. If businesses selling alcohol are convicted of food safety offences, this can lead to their alcohol licence being reviewed by the local licensing authority.
There are industry safety and handling guidelines around the use and storage of liquid nitrogen. It is the business owner's responsibility to make sure that their staff have been trained and are aware of potential risks of using liquid nitrogen. They also have to have appropriate safety measures in place to protect both their staff and consumers.
The clinical coding classification for hospital admissions does not allow identification of the number related to the ingestion of this type of drink.
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will issue a warning against the danger of drinks containing liquid nitrogen; and if he will make a statement. [123597]
Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has responsibility for food safety issues.
The FSA issued advice on 8 October 2012 to consumers on the dangers of consuming drinks containing liquid nitrogen. Although liquid nitrogen is not a toxic substance, its extreme cold temperature makes it unsafe for people to drink and eat because the human body is unable to cope with such a cold internal temperature.
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The FSA is making local enforcement officers aware of the practice of using liquid nitrogen in the use of cocktails, and is also working with other Government Departments and agencies to investigate the issue further and whether any further action needs to be taken.
Food manufacturers, retailers and businesses in the United Kingdom have a legal obligation to make sure that any and all food they are serving to the public is fit for human consumption.
Bisphenol A
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what medical devices Bisphenol A has been authorised for use; and whether this list includes medical devices designed for delivering chemotherapy to cancer patients. [123313]
Norman Lamb: As the regulatory authority in the United Kingdom, The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is not directly involved in the approval of individual devices. No central lists are kept as to what medical devices have been authorised to be placed on the market. However Bisphenol A is a common constituent of polycarbons and will be in most devices made out of plastics including those designed for delivering chemotherapy.
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he plans to include environmental exposure to chemicals such as Bisphenol A as a preventable risk factor in the UK Strategy for Cancer and NHS Cancer Plan; and if he will make a statement; [123315]
(2) what research his Department has funded to investigate the links between exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as Bisphenol A and the risk of developing breast cancer; [123316]
(3) what steps his Department is taking to reduce the risks of breast cancer caused by modifiable environmental factors; and whether this will include steps to reduce exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as Bisphenol A. [123317]
Anna Soubry: There is an active network of officials across the United Kingdom Governments who keep each other appraised of developments in the regulation of Bisphenol-A (BPA) specifically and endocrine disruption more generally. This group is also engaged at European Union level.
It is well established that BPA can disrupt the endocrine (hormone) system, but only extremely weakly. A well-designed study published in October 2009 found no adverse effects in rats exposed to levels 4,000 times higher than the maximum exposure of human adults in the general population.
BPA has been found not to produce significant carcinogenic responses in rats and mice. Further reassurance arises from BPA's lack of mutagenicity in relevant animal studies; substances that otherwise produce positive results in such tests are generally viewed as a carcinogenic threat to humans.
In 2006, the European Food Standards Agency (EFSA) assessed the health impact of BPA and established a Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI), which is the amount that can be eaten every day, over a whole lifetime, without
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causing appreciable harm. The TDI is well above general levels of human consumption. A further Opinion by EFSA on BPA was published on 30 September 2010 and took into account more recent studies on possible BPA enhancement of breast cancer, but concluded that the existing TDI did not require adjustment.
In the light of the EFSA assessments published so far, the Government does not propose to limit further the use of BPA in food or non-food applications beyond current levels, which have been set following already rigorous risk assessment.
BPA is registered under the EU REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals) regulation. According to REACH provisions, the German Competent Authority is already evaluating its registration with a view to deciding whether any more information or regulatory action is needed. We should know more about the outcome of this process early next year. While there is currently no reason to believe that robust evidence will arise requiring further controls on BPA, the Government remain alert to any evidence derived from this or other sources, and to expert opinions from authorities such as EFSA.
On 12 January 2011, we published ‘Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer’, which set out actions to tackle preventable cancer incidence; improve the quality and efficiency of cancer services; improve patients' experience of care; improve quality of life for cancer survivors; and deliver outcomes that are comparable with the best in Europe.
The World Health Organisation International Agency for Research on Cancer lists over 40 workplace agents or activities as definitely or probably carcinogenic. Our strategy highlighted that protecting people from cancer-related workplace risks has an important part to play in reducing preventable cancer incidence, setting out that research undertaken by Imperial College London for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimated that over 8,000 cancer deaths per year are due to occupational exposures in Great Britain. The HSE is committed to reducing these numbers and has a range of activities in place, including interventions with industry stakeholders, targeted inspection initiatives and awareness raising initiatives.
The board of the HSE has acknowledged that occupational cancer is a serious issue and the profile needs to be raised. We understand that the HSE is planning to host a conference in 2012-13 to engage other stakeholders with a view to ensuring that all parties understand the role they need to play in this matter and to share knowledge.
The Department has not funded research specifically on links between exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals and the risk of developing breast cancer.
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what applications the Government has approved the use of Bisphenol A. [123669]
Anna Soubry:
We are advised by the Food Standards Agency that Bisphenol A (BPA) is approved according to European Union legislation for use in plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. There is one exception to this. The EU banned the use
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of BPA in polycarbonate baby bottles for infants up to 12 months of age in 2011. The ban has been implemented into United Kingdom law.
Caesarean Sections
Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the tariff for caesarian sections has been in each year since 2008-09. [123409]
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Dr Poulter: The information requested is shown in the following table.
The tariffs for each year are not directly comparable due to changes in the design of the HRGs which are the currency used for cost collection and tariff payment.
The actual price paid to the provider will have been the national tariff plus an adjustment known as the Market Forces Factor (MFF), which recognises the unavoidable cost differences of providing healthcare in different parts of the country. Each provider has its own individual MFF.
The price paid to the provider may also include a 'long stay payment' in circumstances where the length of stay of the spell exceeds a ‘trim point’ specific to the HRG.
Care Homes: Finance
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide financial assistance to small care homes to help them meet the costs of (a) the increase in the rate of the national minimum wage and (b) automatic enrolment pension plans. [123596]
Norman Lamb: Care homes, like any other business, must meet their operating costs, including those incurred complying with employment law, out of the fees they charge. Care home fees come from local councils, which commission services for their populations, and self-funding residents, who purchase their own care.
Local councils are free to decide how best to contract with providers of residential care to meet the needs of their populations. The Government do not set or recommend the fee rates which local councils agree with care providers. However, councils are expected to take the actual cost of providing care into account when negotiating with providers.
The Government have allocated an additional £7.2 billion over four years for adult social care—in the context of a challenging local government settlement; this provides the resources for local authorities to protect access to care.
Carers: Nottinghamshire
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were registered as carers in (a) Ashfield constituency and (b) Nottinghamshire in each of the last five years. [123540]
Norman Lamb: The Department does not hold this information centrally. However, some local authorities and general practitioners may maintain their own registers of carers.
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We have provided funding of up to £850,000 in 2011-12 to the Royal College of General Practitioners, Carers UK and the Carers Trust to develop a range of initiatives to increase awareness in primary health care of carers of all ages. Further work is underway this year with these organisations and other nursing bodies and medical Royal Colleges with a view to raising awareness in other parts of healthcare.
Chemicals: Health Hazards
Zac Goldsmith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department's Committee of Experts which replaced the Committee on the Carcogenity of
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Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products last met; who sits on the committee; what interests they have declared; and if he will make a statement. [123314]
Anna Soubry: The Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COC) last met on 12 July 2012. The following table contains the declared interests of the current membership. Further information on the COC can be found at:
www.iacoc.org.uk/membership/index.htm
It is planned to change the status of the COC from an advisory non-departmental public body to Departmental Expert Committee on 1 December 2012.
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Catering
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) brand and (b) supplier was in respect of all expenditure by his Department on (i) tea and coffee, (ii) wine, (iii) alcoholic refreshments other than wine and (iv) bottled water in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [123372]
Dr Poulter: It is only possible to respond to the question with reference to the Department's central catering and hospitality contracts. In London buildings, coffee is Fairtrade, provided by United Coffee and Peros. Tea is PG Tips, provided by Unilever, and Twinings Speciality Tea from Twinings. Water is Vivreau and filtered and bottled on site. In Quarry House, Leeds, coffee and tea are Fairtrade and provided by Peros. Water is Vivreau which is filtered and bottled on site.
Wine and alcoholic refreshments are not provided at any sites.
It is possible, subject to finance and hospitality rules, to order refreshments or hospitality using a Government Procurement Card. However the records do not show a level of detail sufficient to enable the Department to say what brands of goods were purchased.
Genetically Modified Organisms: Maize
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect on human health of the consumption of Monsanto NK603 Roundup-resistant genetically-modified maize. [123687]
Anna Soubry: The genetically modified (GM) maize variety NK603 was approved in the European Union for food and feed use in 2004, following a rigorous safety assessment. The original evaluation was reviewed and updated in 2009 and NK603 maize is considered to be as safe as its conventional counterpart with respect to potential direct effects on human and animal health and the environment.
New information has recently been published concerning an animal feeding trial carried out in France, where the authors highlighted an apparent difference in the incidence of certain tumours between animals fed NK603 maize and non-GM maize. However, no statistical analysis was provided to show that these differences were other than chance observations. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the body responsible for carrying out the safety assessment for GM food and feed, is reviewing this new study. In its initial statement EFSA advised that the published report cannot be used in the safety assessment of GM maize NK603 and it does not see a need to reopen the existing safety evaluation of GM maize NK603. The Food Standards Agency agrees with this conclusion.
EFSA is contacting the authors of the paper to obtain further information about their work and to review additional results obtained from this study that were not included in their original publication.
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Health Services: Homelessness
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to improve health services for homeless people. [123430]
Anna Soubry: We are taking steps to address the poor health outcomes experienced by the homeless and the difficulties that they, and other vulnerable groups, face in accessing some health services. For the first time, we have introduced legal duties on national health service commissioners to reduce inequalities in access to and outcomes from health services.
In addition, we have developed an Inclusion Health programme, through which we are working with other Government Departments, the NHS and the third sector to tackle the poor health of people in vulnerable groups and to ensure everyone gets the care they need, regardless of their needs or circumstances. As part of this broad programme, we are looking at how to improve access to primary care services and to improve hospital discharge arrangements for the homeless.
Herbal Incense: Health Hazards
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the risk to public health from the use of the substance known as herbal incense; and how many people have been admitted to hospital for conditions arising from the use of that substance in each year since 2010. [123362]
Anna Soubry: Synthetic cannabinoids have been marketed as 'herbal incense'. Information on the health harms of synthetic cannabinoids is included in “A summary of the health harms of drugs: A guide to the risks and harms associated with substance misuse” published by the Department in August 2011. A copy of this document has already been placed in the Library.
Hospital admissions are recorded using the International Classification of Disease (ICD) codes, the international standard diagnostic classification for diseases and other health problems. Information about hospital admissions due to synthetic cannabinoids is not collected centrally because the ICD code for cannabinoids does not distinguish between synthetic and plant-derived cannabinoids.
Homeopathy
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent from the public purse on homeopathy in each year since 2010. [123513]
Anna Soubry: Data on how much the national health service spends on the provision of homeopathy are not separately identifiable from data collected centrally.
Hospitals: Sexual Offences
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints of sexual abuse have been recorded by NHS hospitals in each of the last 20 years. [123365]
Dr Poulter:
This information, in relation to written complaints to the national health service, is not collected centrally. Individual hospitals would be expected to
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record the subject matter of each complaint made under The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009 but the Department has no access to this information centrally.
Infectious Diseases
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in each age group have been admitted to hospitals in each region for treatment for each type of tropical disease in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [123373]
Anna Soubry: The information is not available in the format requested.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) collects data on reported cases of tropical infectious diseases of public health significance such as cholera, leprosy, malaria, yellow fever, chikungunya, dengue fever, filariasis, Japanese encephalitis, schistosomiasis and trypanosomiasis. Their epidemiological data on travel-related tropical infections is published on the HPA's website at:
www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/TravelHealth/EpidemiologicalData/
Food Storage
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the Government's policy is on the re-use of jam jars by individuals; and if he will make a statement. [123376]
Anna Soubry: We are advised by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that there is European Union legislation in place, that applies to food businesses, that are designed to protect consumers from the migration of materials that may be used in the manufacture of containers used to store food. These rules do not apply to subsequent re-use by individuals.
The FSA is not aware of any evidence that reusing jam jars presents a food safety concern for consumers in terms of materials which may migrate from jam jars into food. Separately, good hygiene needs to be observed in cleaning jars and food preparation.
It is for local authorities to decide how they enforce the rules with respect to charities and the like. The FSA's view is that the legislation needs to be applied with common sense and it is clear that local authorities are doing so. The FSA is not aware of any prosecutions for reusing glass jars for jam making since the legislation was introduced in 2004.
Kettering Hospital
Mr Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy that the accident and emergency department at Kettering General Hospital will not be downgraded or closed as part of the Healthier Together South East Midlands Acute Services Review; and if he will ensure that patients and clinical staff at Kettering General Hospital will be fully involved in that review. [124296]
Anna Soubry: This is a matter for the local national health service. The Government have pledged that, in future, all service changes must be led by clinicians and patients, not driven from the top down.
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Any proposed significant changes to services are subject to the strengthened four reconfiguration tests, which are:
support from general practitioner commissioners;
arrangements for public and patient engagement, including local authorities, being further strengthened;
greater clarity about the clinical evidence bases underpinning proposals; and
proposals taking into account the need to develop and support patient choice.
Learning Disability: Ashfield
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the standard of care provided to people with learning disabilities by Mental Health and Learning Disability NHS trusts in Ashfield constituency. [123549]
Norman Lamb: Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust provides services for people with learning disabilities in Ashfield constituency.
As the independent regulator of providers of health and adult social care providers in England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is responsible for inspecting and assessing providers against a set of registration requirements that set the essential levels of safety and quality. The CQC's current assessment of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust is that it is compliant with the registration requirements.
London Ambulance Service
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) ambulances and (b) motor cycles were available for use by the London Ambulance Service to respond to 999 calls on 30 September (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012; and if he will make a statement. [123253]
Anna Soubry: This information is not centrally held. The hon. Member may wish to contact the London Ambulance Service.
NHS Blood and Transplant: Floods
Mr Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the effects of flood damage on blood stocks at the NHS Blood and Transplant Centre in Filton; [123890]
(2) what assessment he has made of recent flood damage to the NHS Blood and Transplant Centre in Filton and its effect on (a) patients and (b) staff. [123893]
Anna Soubry: NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) activated its contingency plans on 24 September 2012 due to flooding at its site in Filton, near Bristol, following heavy rain affecting much of the country. Prompt activation of its plans allowed NHSBT to redirect blood stocks from Filton to other NHSBT sites at Manchester and Colindale, for testing and processing, and specialised services were also transferred to other sites where possible. Only a very small number of unvalidated units of fresh frozen plasma had to be destroyed.
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In addition, NHSBT carried out short term media activity and local donor communications to help boost platelet, O negative and B negative blood collections which were impacted as the bad weather spread across the country. This meant that for the areas served by Filton, but also for the rest of England and North Wales, NHSBT was able to meet all hospital requirements for blood and patient care was not affected.
As a result of the commitment of NHSBT staff, both in Filton and across the organisation (which included staff temporarily relocating to other parts of the country to process the blood donations), operations recommenced in several departments at Filton within just few days of the flooding and the site was fully operational again by 4 October.
Mr Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the risks of moving the work of blood testing sites to an area at risk of flooding; [123891]
(2) what steps he plans to take to avoid any further flood damage to the NHS Blood and Transplant Centre in Filton; [123892]
(3) what steps his Department took to prevent flood damage to the NHS Blood and Transplant Centre in Filton prior to the recent flooding; and whether these steps included planning for a once in 200 years scenario. [123894]
Anna Soubry: Over the last five years, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) has been delivering an ambitious, but carefully managed, change programme which has included the removal of significant excess capacity within the blood supply chain. NHSBT has consolidated its processing and testing sites, with most of the sites in the south being consolidated to Filton. As part of this, NHSBT very thoroughly considered business continuity impacts and there are robust protocols for transferring testing to another centre during an emergency, as demonstrated by the recent flood at Filton.
When designing the Filton site, a flood analysis was carried out which calculated the maximum water level that would occur once in every 200 years. This was double the requirements of the original developer's planning application. An additional 20% was also added to the calculated water levels take into account the potential impact of climate change. As a result, the finished floor level was 50.5 million above ordnance datum (sea level).
NHSBT regularly assesses risks that may affect its operation on any site, including flooding and other natural events. When the risk is considered significant, resilience measures are put in place to mitigate risk and response measures put in place that enable NHSBT to continue to provide service to hospitals while managing the event.
During the flood, NHSBT continued to provide an uninterrupted service in which all hospital demands were met and the Filton site was fully operational within a fortnight of the flood. This clearly demonstrates that the contingency plans NHSBT has in place are robust and enable the organisation to maintain delivery of a vital national service in the most challenging circumstances.
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NHSBT has established that the flooding was caused by recent work in the surrounding area outside of the Filton site. NHSBT is following this up with those involved: temporary measures are currently being put in place to mitigate the risk of a further flood, with a long term solution being designed.
NHSBT is. currently undertaking a ‘lessons learned’ review of the recent situation in order to identify any further actions that need to be taken to further reduce the risk of flooding and provide assurance on site protection.
In the very unlikely event of the complete, long term loss of a department or centre, a raft of other emergency plans would be activated including 24/7 operations. In addition there is a memorandum of understanding between the four UK blood services providing support in times of crisis.
NHS: Finance
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on (a) redundancy payments, (b) pay in lieu of notice and (c) additional payments to pension schemes for staff from primary care trusts to date. [123382]
Dr Poulter: Information on redundancy payments is not available in the format requested. The following table contains the cost of "compulsory redundancies" and "other departures" for primary care trusts (PCTs) during 2009-10 and 2010-11.
| £000 | ||
| Category | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
| Notes: 1. "Other departures" include early retirements (except those due to ill health), voluntary redundancies, Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme, pay in lieu of notice etc. 2. Voluntary redundancies are not separately identifiable from other departures; therefore, an overall figure for redundancies is not available. | ||
Information on “exit packages”, (i.e. compulsory redundancies and other departures) was first collected centrally for the 2009-10 financial year; therefore, figures on an equivalent basis for earlier years are not available.
The data are taken from the audited summarisation schedules of PCTs, from which the NHS (England) Summarised Accounts are prepared.
The cost of ‘pay in lieu of notice' is not separately identifiable from the accounting information collected centrally.
Additional contributions to pension schemes made by PCTs includes costs associated with providing ‘premature retirement/ benefits under the NHS Pension Scheme. Premature retirement is currently available to staff who choose to retire early because of redundancy, and are over their minimum pension age. It allows them to draw their pension immediately, without actuarial reduction.
Data relating to PCT employer contributions for the purposes of Premature Retirement are available from 2009-10 and is contained in following table. These data relate to the total contributions PCTs made as capitalised lump sum payments to cover these costs. Up until;
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recently, PCTs could opt to pay the associated costs over the life of the premature pension, however this information can only be obtained within the required timeframe at disproportionate cost for this timeframe.
| Payments made by PCT for the purposes of premature retirement (£) | |
| Source: NHS Pensions | |
Data prior to 2008-09 are not available. Data collected by NHS Pensions have not been separately analysed and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
NHS: G4S
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what contracts the NHS holds with G4S. [123369]
Dr Poulter: The Department does not centrally collect information on the contracts which individual national health service bodies hold with private sector companies. NHS trusts and foundation trusts are now expected to publish all tender and contract information for contracts over £10,000, a requirement which applies to all central. Government Departments.
Nurses
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses were employed by the NHS (a) in 2010 and (b) on the most recent date for which figures are available. [123368]
Dr Poulter: The annual workforce census, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, shows that at 30 September 2010 there were 280,996 full-time equivalent qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff employed by the national health service in England.
The latest monthly workforce statistics, also published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, show that in June 2012 there were 277,085 qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff employed by the NHS in England.
The figures above do not include general practitioner practice nurses as primary care staff numbers are not collected for the monthly workforce statistics.
Obesity
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people (a) under 16, (b) aged between 18 and 24, (c) aged between 25 and 64 and (d) aged 65 years and over in (i) Ashfield, (ii) Nottinghamshire, (iii) the East Midlands and (iv) England were treated for obesity-related illnesses in each of the last five years. [123690]
Anna Soubry:
The information requested is not collected in the format requested. The Health and Social Care Information Centre has provided a count of finished admission episodes(1) with a primary diagnosis of obesity(2) for England, East Midlands Strategic Health Authority(3)
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(SHA) and Nottinghamshire County Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT), for the years 2006-07 to 2010-11
(4). This information is provided in the following table. Information is not collected for Ashfield.
(1) Finished admission episodes. A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
(2) Primary diagnosis. The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. The ICD10 code for obesity is E66.
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(3) SHA/PCT of residence. The strategic health authority (SHA) or primary care trust (PCT) containing the patient's normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another SHA/PCT for treatment.
(4) Assessing growth through time (In-patients). HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in national health service practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care.
| Age | |||||||
| Place of residence | Under 16 | 16 to 17 | 18 to 24 | 25 to-64 | 65+ | Unknown | |
| Note: Small numbers. To protect patient confidentiality, where presented below SHA level, figures between 1 and 5 have been replaced with “*” (an asterisk). Where it was still possible to identify figures from the total, additional figures (with the smallest data loss) have also been replaced with an “*” . Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre | |||||||
Press Subscriptions
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what subscriptions to (a) newspapers and (b) health journals are held by Ministerial offices in his Department. [123366]
Dr Poulter: The following subscriptions are held across ministerial private offices:
Daily Express, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Guardian, Independent, Sun, Times, Economist, Health Service Journal, New Statesman, Nursing Standard, Nursing Times, Spectator, GP Magazine, Pulse, British Medical Journal, British Medical Association News.
Prostate Cancer
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made on the establishment of a national quality standard for men with prostate cancer. [123623]
Anna Soubry: We have asked the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to develop a quality standard on prostate cancer, as part of a library of approximately 180 NHS Quality Standards. NICE is preparing this quality standard alongside an update of its existing clinical guideline on prostate cancer. NICE currently expects to complete the update of its prostate cancer guideline in late 2013 with the quality standard being published shortly after.
Schizophrenia
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made on the role of treatment in enabling people with schizophrenia to remain in employment. [123622]
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Norman Lamb: No recent assessment has been made on the role of treatment in enabling people with schizophrenia to remain in employment.
The NHS Outcomes Framework 2012-13, which sets out the outcomes and corresponding indicators that will be used to hold the NHS Commissioning Board to account for the outcomes it delivers through commissioning health services from 2012-13, includes an improvement area which relates specifically to the employment of people with mental illness. The Mental Health Strategy and its companion Implementation Framework both recognise the vital role employment plays in recovery and set out specific actions which employers and public health services can take to contribute to improving mental health outcomes.
The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Severe and Enduring Mental Illness pathfinders are secondary care services where employment and vocation is central to the recovery approach to psychosis/schizophrenia. Recovery and access to employment are also key elements of Early Intervention for Psychosis (EIP) Services. The psychosis demonstration sites are focused around EIP so will be routinely evaluating employment rates. The pathfinders are using the Work and Social Adjustment Scale as the outcome measure to record the level of self-reported disability by patients. This scale measures patients’ ability to undertake work, education and training as well as measure other social inclusive activity. The pathfinders are also looking at quality of life type measures where work is looked at. People can also identify their own outcome goal in the choice questionnaire which will highlight if they see work as important.
Smoking
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people aged (a) under 16, (b) between 18 and 24, (c) between 25 and 64 and (d) 65 and over in (i) Ashfield, (ii) Nottinghamshire, (iii) the East Midlands and (iv) England were treated for smoking-related illnesses in each of the last five years. [123512]
Anna Soubry: Information is not available in the format requested.
The NHS Information Centre collects data on hospital admissions. Information on smoking attributable admissions is only available for those aged 35 and over, as relative risks are only available for this age group.
Information on smoking-related illnesses among adults aged 35 and over, the estimated number of admissions that can be attributed to smoking and the percentage of admissions that can be attributed to smoking in England from 2006-07 to 2010-11 may be found through the following links and a copy has been placed in the Library.
www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/smoking/statistics-on-smoking--england-2012
http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/smoking11
http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/smoking10
www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/smoking/statistics-on-smoking-england-2009
http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/smoking08
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Speech Therapy: Tees Valley
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the resources available to speech and language therapists in the South Teesside area. [124128]
Dr Poulter: The Department has made no assessment of the resources available to speech and language therapists in the South Teesside area. The provision of services, including speech and language therapy services, is a matter for the local national health service.
Official Travel Costs
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many journeys in an official capacity (a) he and (b) officials of his Department made by (i) train, (ii) coach and (iii) Government car in each of the last 12 months. [123370]
Dr Poulter: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust: Maternity Services
John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust on the future configuration of maternity services at its hospitals. [123978]
Dr Poulter: There have been no recent discussions between the Secretary of State or other Ministers with the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust about the future configuration of maternity services at its hospitals. The provision of services, including maternity services, is a matter for the local national health service.
International Development
Bangladesh
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of her Bangladesh Remittance and Payments Partnership; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh. [123340]
Mr Duncan: The Remittance and Payments Partnership programme, which ended in 2011, had the objective of improving access to and reducing the cost of remittances for the poor in Bangladesh. Key programme outcomes include:
Savings of $66 million by migrants in Saudi Arabia, UK and Singapore by bringing down the cost of formal remittance transfers.
Establishment of the Bangladesh Automated Cheque Handling System that has resulted in a reduction in the time required to deliver a remittance. 95% of individuals surveyed received their remittances in less than 15 days, of which 65% received them in less than seven days compared with 20-25 days.
Increased usage of formal remittance channels, reported to be at 90%.
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Emerging Markets Group implemented this programme in partnership with Bangladesh Bank, the International Organisation for Migration, and the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit.
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of her Preparation of Electoral Roll with Photographs Programme; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh. [123341]
Mr Duncan: The outcome of this project was the preparation by the Bangladesh Election Commission of a credible voter list, with photographs, for use in the parliamentary elections in 2008. The list included more than 81 million voters, and increased public and political parties' confidence in the parliamentary elections in 2008, which had a voter turnout of 86%.
This project was funded by the Government of Bangladesh and a consortium of donors. UK Aid provided approximately 22% of the total finance, which was channelled through the United Nations Development Programme.
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from her Public Service Capacity Building programme; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh. [123342]
Mr Duncan: By January 2013, the intended outcome of the Public Service Capacity Building project (PSCB) is to have contributed to strengthening the leadership competencies and capacity of 1,700 senior level, reform-minded, civil servants. This will translate into more effective leadership for the development and delivery of Government policy.
Some specific outcomes expected of the project include:
the development of human resource policies, systems and procedures to enable effective deployment of staff in the civil service;
the training of 1,700 senior managers and other senior public sector managers.
PSCB is implemented by the company Capita Helm, in consortium with the British Council, in support of Bangladesh's Ministry of Public Administration.
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from the Strengthening Political Participation in Bangladesh programme; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh. [123343]
Mr Duncan: By 2015, the Strengthening Political Participation programme is expected to have contributed to:
Political parties and candidates becoming more responsive to citizens and their needs;
More examples of policy debate around issues, both locally and nationally, as an alternative to confrontational politics;
More channels through which parties, MPs and political institutions can be held accountable; and
Improved public confidence in the Election Commission and the electoral process.
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The programme is implemented in partnership with USAID. Activities are implemented by Democracy International, the National Democratic Institute, The Asia Foundation, Transparency International Bangladesh, the United Nations Development Programme and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from the Underprivileged Children's Education and Skills programme; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh. [123344]
Mr Duncan: By the end of December 2015, expected achievements of the Underprivileged Children's Education and Skills programme are:
34,500 children (50% girls) will graduate from grade VIII;
23,000 children (45% girls) will receive technical training; and
90% of these graduates will be employed.
This programme is implemented through a partnership with a Bangladesh non-governmental organisation, UCEP (Underprivileged Children's Education Programme).
Mrs Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate she has made of the amount of funding from her Department that has been implemented through the Manusher Jonno Foundation in Bangladesh since 2010. [123507]
Mr Duncan: Since 2010, £21,771,118 of UK aid has been implemented through the Manusher Jonno Foundation, under the Rights and Governance Challenge Fund.
Mrs Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from her Department's funding through the Manusher Jonno Foundation in Bangladesh. [123508][Official Report, 16 January 2013, Vol. 556, c. 5MC.]
Mr Duncan: By 2013, the Rights and Governance Challenge Fund, implemented by the Manusher Jonno Foundation, is expected to have enabled 253,000 poor and vulnerable people to benefit from social safety net programmes, 11,700 children to be withdrawn from hazardous work, and 121,000 workers in garments and shrimp industries to be paid on time and have improved working conditions. In 2011 alone, the programme supported 5,755 women to receive Government land that is meant to be allocated to poor people, and 7,000 boys and girls to obtain stipends from the Government to attend school.
Mrs Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how her Department's Manusher Jonno project in Bangladesh is being implemented. [123509]
Mr Duncan: The Rights and Governance Challenge Fund is managed by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF). The fund is allocated through a competitive process and currently supports around 110 small and medium-sized Bangladeshi non-governmental organisations and, through them, 300 community-based organisations across Bangladesh to assist the most marginalised communities to become more empowered and improve the quality of their lives.
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Mrs Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether it remains her policy that her Department's Operational Plan in Bangladesh 2011-2015 should reduce its targets on (a) governance and security, (b) education and (c) poverty, hunger and vulnerability. [123510]
Mr Duncan: DFID policy is that the headline targets in the Bangladesh Operational Plan are adjusted downwards in (a) governance and security, (b) education and (c) poverty, hunger and vulnerability. These revisions were made following a methodological review under which a common approach to attributing results has been adopted based on DFID's financial contribution to each programme. This allows DFID to aggregate results across its country programmes. In some areas, such as governance and security, new data have also emerged since the original Operational Plan was published which change the baseline on which the result targets were based. This does not, however, reflect a change in policy around DFID's overall work in these sectors in Bangladesh.
Mrs Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how she proposes that the wealth-creation pillar in her Department's Operational Plan in Bangladesh 2011-2015 of increasing income for selected groups will be implemented. [123511]
Mr Duncan: DFID is working with a range of partners on projects to deliver results linked to the wealth-creation pillar in the DFID Bangladesh Operational Plan.
This includes tackling the macro issues of an improved investment climate to make Bangladesh a more attractive place to do business, as well as activity on the ground to increase opportunity for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to thrive, in turn creating jobs and income. DFID is also currently developing new programmes to address the shortage of skilled labour, and to increase access to finance for those currently not able to secure it for livelihood and enterprise opportunities.
supporting 2.3 million farmers and small businesses to improve productivity by adapting new cultivation techniques and business processes;
facilitating access to finance for 445,000 additional households, farmers and small businesses;
reducing regulatory burden on businesses, in selected areas, by 25% by 2015.
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from her Accelerating Improved Nutrition for Extreme Poor in Bangladesh project; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh. [123553]
Mr Duncan: The Accelerating Improved Nutrition for Extreme Poor project (2012-15) focuses on the nutrition needs of 600,000 people including children, adolescent girls and pregnant and breast-feeding women. In particular, it expects to improve the quality, quantity and variety of food intake, leading to better health outcomes for the extreme poor.
The project is implemented through DFID's three ongoing poverty programmes:
Chars Livelihoods Programme;
Economic Empowerment of the Poorest Programme; and
Urban Partnership for Poverty Reduction Programme.
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Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from her Technical Assistance to Support Improved Aid Effectiveness in Bangladesh programme; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh. [123554]
Mr Duncan: The objective of this programme is for Bangladesh to achieve better development results through improved management and increased accountability for the allocation and delivery of foreign assistance by the Government of Bangladesh. The expected outcomes are:
harmonising donor/Government practices to reduce fragmentation, inefficiencies and transaction costs;
more efficient use of resources for implementing national priorities, with increased impact by streamlining and speeding up project planning and approval;