Taxation: United Arab Emirates
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to promote tax co-operation and information sharing with the United Arab Emirates. [127739]
Mr Gauke: Following discussions some years ago, officials from HM Revenue and Customs have recently re-engaged with the United Arab Emirates about a comprehensive agreement. The UAE are considering the UK’s proposals and we expect to hear from them shortly.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Apprentices
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many companies to date have participated in the scheme to encourage small firms to take on a young apprentice. [124238]
Matthew Hancock [holding answer 22 October 2012]: Data are not available on the number of firms, by size of the firm employing apprentices. Data from the published 2009 National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) gives the proportion of establishments offering apprenticeships by age group and size of establishment.
http://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/ukces/docs/publications/evidence-report-23-ness-main-report-2009.pdf
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Provisional data for the 2011/12 academic year show that there were 282,700 apprenticeship starts by those aged 16 to 24.
Information on the number of apprenticeship starts is published in a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 11 October 2012:
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current/
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 17 October 2012, Official Report, column 290W, on apprentices, how many apprentices currently employed by his Department are aged (a) 16-18, (b) 19-24 and (c) 25 and over. [127208]
Jo Swinson [holding answer 7 November 2012]: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills currently has two apprentices aged 19 to 24 and 36 apprentices aged 25 and over.
Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many under-19 apprenticeship starts there were in (a) 2011 and (b) 2010; and for what reason there was any change in the two figures. [128166]
Matthew Hancock: The following table shows the number of Apprenticeship programme starts by those aged under 19. Final data are shown for the 2009/10 and 2010/11 academic year and provisional data are shown for the 2011/12 academic year.
Provisional data for the 2011/12 academic year provide an early view of performance and will change as further data returns are received from further education colleges and providers. They should not be directly compared with final year data from previous years. Figures for 2011/12 will be finalised in January 2013.
Funding for programme-led apprenticeships—where the apprentice was not employed—was withdrawn from April 2011. So 2011/12 is the first (academic) year in which there are no programme-led Apprenticeships to bulk out the numbers of under 19 apprenticeship starts.
| Apprenticeship programme starts for those aged under 19,2009/10 to 2011/12 (provisional) | |||
| 2009/10 (final) | 2010/11 (final) | 2011/12 (provisional) | |
| Notes: 1. All figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 2. Age is calculated based on age at start of programme. 3. Provisional data for 2011/12 should not be directly compared with data for earlier years. Source: Individualised Learner Record | |||
Apprentices: Barrow in Furness
John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many apprenticeship starts there have been in each sector for each gender in Barrow and Furness constituency in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2010-11. [127880]
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Matthew Hancock: Table 1 shows the number of apprenticeship programme starts in Barrow and Furness parliamentary constituency by sector subject area and gender. Final data are shown for the 2010/11 academic year and provisional data are shown for the 2011/12 academic year.
Provisional data for the 2011/12 academic year provide an early view of performance and will change as further data returns are received from further education colleges and providers. They should not be directly compared with final year data from previous years. Figures for 2011/12 will be finalised in January 2013.
| Table 1: Apprenticeship programme starts in Barrow and Furness parliamentary constituency by sector subject area and gender, 2010/11 to 2011/12 (provisional) | ||||||
| 2010/11 (final) | 2011/12 (provisional) | |||||
| Sector subject area | Female | Male | Total | Female | Male | Total |
| Notes: 1. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10. '—' indicates a value of less than 10. 2. Geographic breakdowns are based upon the home postcode of the learner. 3. Figures are based on the geographic boundaries as of May 2010. 4. Provisional data for 2011/12 should not be directly compared with data for earlier years. Source: Individualised Learner Record. | ||||||
Information on the number of apprenticeship starts by geography is published in a supplementary table to a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 11 October 2012:
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statistical firstrelease/sfr_current
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statistical firstrelease/sfr_supplementary_tables/Apprenticeship_sfr_supplementary _tables/
British Antarctic Survey
Andrew Rosindell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the Minister for Science's statement to the House on 2 November 2012, whether the Cabinet Office has given any instruction to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to disband the British Antarctic Survey Review Group;
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and whether
(a)
the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
(b)
the Ministry of Defence and
(c)
other departments were consulted in advance of any such instruction. [127968]
Mr Willetts: No direction has been received from the Cabinet Office on the future of the British Antarctic Survey Review Group.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to reinstate the senior management of the British Antarctic Survey. [127969]
Mr Willetts: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has no role in research council appointments at this level. It is a matter for the chief executive of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent decisions he has made on the future of the British Antarctic Survey. [127970]
Mr Willetts: My written ministerial statement of 2 November 2012, Official Report, column 25WS reported the decision of the Council of the Natural Environment Research Council not to proceed with the merger of the British Antarctic Survey and the National Oceanography Centre.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects a new permanent director of the British Antarctic Survey will be approved. [127971]
Mr Willetts: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has no role in research council appointments at this level. It is the responsibility of the Natural Environment Research Council.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent correspondence he has received from the Director of the British Antarctic Survey. [127972]
Mr Willetts: No correspondence has been received from the interim Director of the British Antarctic Survey.
Business: Loans
Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect sustained low interest rates are having on the ability of small- and medium-sized enterprises to access loans. [127861]
Michael Fallon: The Government and Bank of England have acted decisively to ensure that the effective interest rates faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are affordable.
In July, the Bank of England and HM Treasury launched the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) to boost lending to households and businesses. Under the scheme banks and building societies are able to borrow from the Bank of England, giving them strong incentives to boost lending by lowering interest rates and increasing
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the availability of business loans and mortgages. As a result of the scheme, we have already seen a number of participating banks launch new and discounted SME loan products.
However, the Government acknowledges that price is not the only issue affecting SMEs' ability to access finance. The Government's Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme is also in place to enable viable SMEs which lack the necessary collateral for a commercial loan to access Government backed credit.
The quarterly SME Finance Monitor published independently by BDRC Continental shows that over the last year the majority of SMEs which applied for bank finance were successful.
Consumers: Credit
Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how his Department plans to tighten regulations on the consumer credit industry. [128169]
Jo Swinson: The Government has announced its intention to transfer responsibility for regulating consumer credit from the Office of Fair Trading to the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA), subject to the design of a proportionate regime. The FCA will have a wider range of tools to tackle consumer detriment, including the ability to make binding rules on firms and their activities, stronger controls on market entrants, and powers to secure redress for consumers where firms cause detriment. Replacing the current statutory basis of consumer credit regulation with a rules-based approach under FSMA will provide for a more flexible, responsive and proportionate regime that will strengthen protections for consumers while placing a proportionate regulatory burden on business. The transfer is due to take effect from April 2014.
Crossrail Line
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions and correspondence Ministers and officials in his Department have had with (a) Ministers or officials in other government Departments, (b) construction companies, (c) trades unions, (d) Crossrail Ltd and (e) other parties on reports that blacklists (i) were and (ii) are being used by contractors completing construction work on public contracts relating to the delivery of Crossrail. [128139]
Jo Swinson [holding answer 12 November 2012]: There have been no discussions or correspondence between Ministers or officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and other Government Departments, construction companies, trade unions, Crossrail or other parties on allegations of blacklists being used by contractors working on public contracts relating to the delivery of Crossrail.
The previous administration introduced regulations in 2010 to outlaw blacklisting.
I am unaware of any evidence that these regulations are not doing their job, but if any evidence comes to light I would be interested to see it.
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Employment
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people are employed by small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK. [127752]
Michael Fallon: There were an estimated 14.1 million people employed by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, at the start of 2012. This compares to 13.3 million people employed by SMEs at the start of 2010. The definition of an SME used to answer this question, is a private sector business with fewer than 250 employees(1).
(1) Estimates were taken from the BIS National Statistics publication ‘Business Population Estimates for the UK and the Regions 2012’.
Employment Agencies: Performing Arts
Mr Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps Employment Agency Standards has taken to consult the public on fees for agencies in the modelling and entertainment sectors since 2006. [127884]
Jo Swinson: In 2007, the Government announced a consultation on amending the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, including the regulations that applied to the entertainment and modelling sub-sector. The response to the consultation resulted in the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2007.
In 2009, the Government announced a further consultation on amending the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, including the regulations that applied to the entertainment and modelling sub-sector. The response to the consultation resulted in the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2010.
During the consultations in 2007 and 2009/10 the Government sought views from a wide group of stakeholders including trade associations, trade unions, businesses and individuals, regarding changes to the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003.
Mr Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many entertainment agencies have been successfully prosecuted for breaching the cooling-off period for workers joining their agency. [127885]
Jo Swinson: There have been no prosecutions, under the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, relating to entertainment agencies not providing a cooling off period before charging fees to a worker for entry into a publication.
Filton Airfield
Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the future of the aviation manufacturing base Filton Airfield. [128087]
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Michael Fallon: Following BAE Systems’ decision to close Filton airfield, the Department reviewed the impact with other manufacturers. They have confirmed that the closure will not have a material impact on their business operations given the availability of Bristol airport and good road links. They have also confirmed that the loss of the airfield will not affect their manufacturing commitment to either Filton or the UK. Our overall assessment is that we do not believe the airfield's closure will have any material negative impact on aviation manufacturing in Filton.
Local Enterprise Partnerships: EU Grants and Loans
John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether local enterprise partnerships will have a role in bidding for, allocating and managing funds from the European Regional Development Fund. [127879]
Michael Fallon: For the 2014 to 2020 funding period, we are consulting with stakeholders on how to maximise the impact of the European Regional Development Fund in supporting growth and jobs. No decisions have as yet been made on the specific role local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) will play in delivering this.
For the 2007 to 2013 funding period, LEPs currently play a strategic advisory role in the management of the European Regional Development Fund through their membership of the local management committees.
Mature Students
Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 12 July 2012, Official Report, column 35WS, on advanced learning loans, what progress he has made on implementing additional support for older learners who are uncertain about taking out a loan. [128374]
Matthew Hancock: In May, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) published research on learner attitudes to loans in further education. This identified that learners aged 40 and above were less likely to feel positive about loans. Following the commitment in the ministerial statement of 12 July, specific guidance on providing advice to this group will be made available to National Careers Service advisers before Christmas 2012, supported by information on loans available through the National Careers Service website. The guidance for advisers will reflect the findings in the BIS research and subsequent additional focus group work with older learners; and will also cover possible sources of financial advice.
This work builds on the range of information materials for providers on 24+ Advanced Learning Loans published at the start of October on the Student Loans Company's Practitioner website; and the information for learners about 24+ Advanced Learning Loans published on:
https://www.gov.uk/
13 Nov 2012 : Column 185W
Overseas Trade: Uganda
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the level of (a) imports from and (b) exports to Uganda was in each of the last five years. [127666]
Michael Fallon: The value of exports and imports of goods, to and from Uganda, in the last five years is given in the following table. The data are sourced from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Overseas Trade Statistics database and are publicly available on the UK Trade Info website:
www.uktradeinfo.com
| £ million | ||
| UK imports of goods from Uganda | UK exports of goods to Uganda | |
| Source: HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics | ||
Self-employed: Kent
Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of people were self-employed in (a) Gillingham and Rainham constituency and (b) Medway in each of the last five years. [128245]
Mr Hurd: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Glen Watson, dated November 2012:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles employment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.
Table 1 shows the number and proportion of self-employed persons resident in Medway Local Authority and Gillingham and Rainham constituency for the 12 month periods ending in June 2008 to 2012 taken from the APS. This is the latest available estimate, for which figures are available.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS and Annual LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in table 1.
National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at
http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
| Table 1: Proportions(1) of people aged 16 to 64 years who are self-employed resident in Medway local authority and Gillingham and Rainham constituency | ||||
| Medway | Gillingham and Rainham | |||
| Twelve months ending: | Level(1) (thousand) | Percentage | Level(1) (thousand) | Percentage |
13 Nov 2012 : Column 186W
| ‘—’ = Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes. (1) Coefficients of Variation have been calculated as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality below. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220. Key: * 0 ≤ CV<5%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered precise ** 5 ≤ CV <10%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 ≤ CV <20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV ≥ 20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes CV = Coefficient of Variation Source: Annual Population Survey | ||||
Working Hours: EU Law
Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the financial effects of the (a) European Working Time Directive and (b) Temporary Agency Workers Directive on UK businesses. [127770]
Jo Swinson: At the time the Working Time Regulations were amended in 2002, it was assessed that the annual costs of these regulations was £2.6 billion per year. The Temporary Agency Workers Directive impact assessment was completed in 2010 and the cost was estimated to be a £40 million one-off transition and an increased annual cost of £1,898 million. The impact assessment, is available at:
http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/employment-matters/docs/10-582-agency-workers-directive-impact-assessment
Government continually monitors the performance of the labour market using a large variety of information sources, such as the Labour Force Survey:
http://www.esds.ac.uk/government/lfs/
and industry specific research.
International Development
Overseas Aid
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what consideration her Department has given to the inclusion of people's access to security and justice in the post-2015 development framework. [127849]
Justine Greening: Ahead of the UN High Level Panel Meeting on the post-2015 development goals on 1 November, the Prime Minister hosted a day of seminars for panel members on issues that might feature in a new framework. These included sessions on Access to Justice and Personal Security.
13 Nov 2012 : Column 187W
Uganda
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many officials in her Department are stationed in Uganda. [127681]
Lynne Featherstone: The Department for International Development does not publish the numbers of staff in each country where we operate, as this may represent a security risk, especially to our staff serving in hostile environments or fragile states.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what assessment she has made of the implications for UK aid to Uganda of the recent allegations of misappropriation of international aid to that country; and if she will make a statement; [127687]
(2) what recent discussions she has had with her Ugandan counterpart on UK aid provision to Uganda. [127663]
Lynne Featherstone: The Department for International Development (DFID) suspended disbursements to the Ugandan Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in August this year when we became aware of fraud allegations in that office. DFID has set up a team of independent auditors to conduct a detailed forensic investigation into aid to the OPM, and we have instructed the OPM to freeze UK aid held in their accounts with the exception of essential payments to two important programmes in the north, which is the poorest area of the country.
The audit is ongoing. We take any allegations of corruption extremely seriously and if UK money has been misused expect repayment, and administrative and criminal sanctions. The UK is working with the highest levels of the Government of Uganda (GoU) on this issue. UK officials in Uganda have met with the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and the Auditor General to discuss these issues and raise our concerns.
Health
Abortion
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many letters he has received from (a) the public, (b) hon. Members and (c) members of the House of Lords on abortion time limits in the last three months; how many and what proportion of such letters (i) supported and (ii) opposed reducing the abortion time limit; and if he will make a statement. [127807]
Anna Soubry: A search of the Department's ministerial correspondence database has identified 188 items of correspondence received since 1 August 2012 about abortion time limits. Of those, 161 were from the public, 27 were from hon. Members and none were from members of the House of Lords. Of the correspondence from the public, 126 supported reducing the abortion time limit, 33 were opposed to any reduction and two did not specify. Of the correspondence from hon. Members, 22 supported reducing the time limit, three were opposed to the reduction and two did not specify. These are minimum figures which represent correspondence received by the Department's ministerial correspondence unit only.
13 Nov 2012 : Column 188W
Two additional representations have been received through other, one which did not specific support or otherwise for a reduction in the time limit, and one which did not support a reduction.
Addictions
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people with (a) gambling, (b) alcohol and (c) drug addiction in each region in each of the last five years. [127838]
Anna Soubry: Estimates are not available for each of the last five years and could be made only at disproportionate cost.
Problem gambling is the responsibility of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Data on problem gambling, levels is included in the “British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010”. A copy has been placed in the Library.
Data on alcohol dependence, is included in the adult psychiatric morbidity survey, “Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England, 2007” (APMS), which was published in January 2009. A copy has been placed in the Library.
Estimates of the number of individuals who are dependent on opiates and/or crack cocaine are given in the following table. Data on the number of individuals dependent on other drugs are not collected.
| Region | Estimated number of opiate and/or crack cocaine users by region in 2009-10 |
| Source: ‘a summary of key findings’ report and the ‘National And Regional Estimates Of The Prevalence Of Opiate And/Or Crack Cocaine Use 2009-10: A Summary Of Key Findings’ report, published by the. National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse. | |
Alcoholic Drinks: Consumption
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the mean alcohol consumption per week in units for people aged 16 and over in each region in each year since 2008. [127839]
Anna Soubry: Such an estimate could be made only at disproportionate cost.
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by the NHS treating people admitted to hospital as a result of alcohol consumption in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012 to date. [127684]
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Anna Soubry: We estimate the cost to the national health service at around £3.5 billion per year in 2009-10. This was published as part of our written evidence to the Health Select Committee's recent inquiry on the Government's Alcohol Strategy.
Costs for 2011-12 could be estimated only at disproportionate cost.
Ambulance Services: Standards
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average response time was for ambulances in (a) England and (b) each region in each year since 2008. [127848]
Dr Poulter: Average ambulance response times are not collected centrally by the Department.
Data for response times by ambulance service and category of call in England and each region are displayed in the following tables for each year from 2008-12. The yearly data relates to the 12 month period between 1 April of one year and 31 March of the following year.
Category B was abolished in April 2011, during the 2011-12 reporting period. As a result, incidents occurring which were previously category B have been re-classified as category A or C. It is therefore not possible to make direct comparisons between data for 2011-12 and earlier years.
Category C calls are those which are neither life threatening nor serious. The setting and monitoring of Category C call performance is locally determined. Consequently, data on Category C calls is not collected centrally by the Department.
| Emergency incidents: Response times by ambulance service and category of call | ||
| 2011-12 | ||
| Category A calls | ||
| Ambulance service | Response within eight minutes (percentage of total incidents with response) | Response within 19 minutes (percentage) |
| Source: KA34 | ||
| 2010-11 | |||
| Category A calls | Category B calls | ||
| Ambulance service | Response within eight minutes (Percentage) | Response within 19 minutes (Percentage) | Response within 19 minutes (Percentage) |
13 Nov 2012 : Column 190W
| Source: KA34 | |||
| 2009-10 | |||
| Category A calls | Category B calls | ||
| Ambulance service | Response within eight minutes (Percentage) | Response within 19 minutes (Percentage) | Response within 19 minutes (Percentage) |
| Source: KA34 | |||
| 2008-09 | |||
| Category A calls | Category B calls | ||
| Ambulance service | Response within eight minutes (Percentage) | Response within 19 minutes (Percentage) | Response within 19 minutes (Percentage) |
| (1) From 2008-09 the starting point for response time measurement was changed, data relating to eight and 19 minute responses from 2008-09 are not comparable with previous years. Source: KA34 | |||
| 2007-08 | |||
| Category A calls | Category B calls | ||
| Ambulance service | Response within eight minutes (Percentage) | Response within nineteen minutes (Percentage) | Response within, nineteen minutes (Percentage) |
13 Nov 2012 : Column 191W
| (1) On the 1 October 2007 Staffordshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust merged with West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust. For comparability, data for these two trusts have been merged for all previous years. Data Quality: (2) Subsequent to publishing 2007-08 data, East of England carried out an internal audit, the result of this was a reduction of 193 incidents responded to within eight minutes reducing their response rates within eight minutes from 75.1% to 75.0%. The impact on England level data is negligible (15 December 2008). Source: KA34 | |||
Asthma: Children
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many incidents of childhood asthma have been diagnosed in each of the last 10 years. [127675]
Dr Poulter: Information is not available in the form requested. Data on the incidence of the diagnosis of asthma are not collected by age.
Blood Diseases
Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 5 July 2012, Official Report, column 758W, on blood: diseases, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the document, Start Smart then Focus. [127824]
Dr Poulter: A recent survey on implementation of ‘Start Smart Then Focus’ carried out on behalf of the Department's Advisory Committee on Healthcare Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance is due to be published next year. Responses were received from 78 acute hospital trusts. Of those who had assessed their progress against the guidance, between 65 and 75% said it had led to a reduction in the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and between 77 and 85% in a reduction of inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics.
Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 5 July 2012, Official Report, column 758W, on blood: diseases, what plans his Department has to record the number of deaths associated with sepsis. [127825]
Dr Poulter:
Data on the number of deaths caused by sepsis are not collected centrally. However, data on the total number of deaths from septicaemia for England
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and Wales for the period 2007-11 are shown in the following table and also available from the National Office for Statistics.
| Deaths from septicaemia(1) in England and Wales, 2007-11 | |
| Total | |
| (1) These data do not include babies under 28 days old or deaths from septicaemia relating to pregnancy, childbirth or the puerperium (first six weeks following childbirth). Source: Office for National Statistics | |
Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 5 July 2012, Official Report, column 758W, on blood: diseases, by what means his Department ascertains that health care professionals are routinely trained to diagnose and treat sepsis. [127826]
Dr Poulter: Frontline health care professionals are routinely trained to recognise the early signs of sepsis. The Department supports the advice provided in the existing international guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of sepsis. In addition, the Department published ‘Start Smart Then Focus’ in 2011 which is aimed at health care professional and recommends that if there is evidence of bacterial infection, local guidelines should be used to initiate prompt effective antibiotic treatment within one hour of diagnosis (or as soon as possible) in patients with life threatening infections. This guidance also recommends auditing the time to treatment to ensure effective local performance.
Breastfeeding
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on supporting breastfeeding in financial year 2011-12; how much his Department has allocated to support breastfeeding in financial year 2012-13; what recent steps he has taken to promote breastfeeding; and if he will make a statement. [127602]
Dr Poulter: It is not possible to disaggregate the amount of expenditure specifically on breastfeeding from the statutory accounting data collected by the Department.
The Department is committed to supporting breastfeeding through the Healthy Child Programme, as set out in the White Paper, ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our strategy for public health in England’. The Department has also made the challenging commitment to have an extra 4,200 health visitors by 2015 who can provide support to women who want to breastfeed but may find it difficult.
Support and information is currently available to health professionals and parents through NHS Choices, the NHS Information Service for Parents, the National Breastfeeding Helpline, the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative and local peer support programmes. Nationally, support is provided through the national breastfeeding helpline.
13 Nov 2012 : Column 193W
Cannabis
Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether Bedrocan and Bediol forms of cannabis are available (a) under prescription and (b) on the NHS. [127706]
Norman Lamb: Neither Bedrocan nor Bediol are licensed as medicines for use in the United Kingdom.
Clinicians can prescribe any product, including any unlicensed product, subject to their primary care organisation agreeing funding, if they feel it is clinically appropriate for an individual patient after discussing the potential risks and taking into account the patient's medical history. In these circumstances, the clinician is expected to retain clinical responsibility for the patient while prescribing the medicine.
Children's Play
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure children in England are able to play actively outdoors, in streets and other open public spaces as part of the Government's plans for taking forward the Olympic legacy. [128305]
Anna Soubry: Play is a very important part of ensuring that all children get enough physical activity in their daily lives and helping to make sure that we “inspire a generation”. From April 2013 we are putting local authorities in charge of improving the public's health and supporting this with a ring-fenced grant. Local authorities will be in a unique position to bring together and plan leisure, sport and public health services so every child has the opportunity to play.
Clostridium
Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many clostridium difficile infections there were in English hospitals in (a) 2010 and (b) 2012; and if he will make a statement. [128079]
Dr Poulter: For the period April 2009 to March 2010 and April 2011 to March 2012, the rate of trust apportioned clostridium difficile fell by 41% in English NHS acute trusts. The data on trust apportioned clostridium difficile infections for the period requested are shown in the following table for patients aged two years and over reported by English NHS acute trusts.
| Financial year | Number |
| (1) April 2009 to March 2010. (2) April 2011 to March 2012. | |
Consultants
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which management consultancy companies are employed by his Department; and how many staff from each such consultancy are working for his Department. [127837]
Dr Poulter:
The Department does not employ management consultant companies. It contracts for the delivery of consultancy services from companies and
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does not keep central records of the number nor the identities of individual management consultants or staff used to deliver services for each contract to the Department.
Continuing Care
Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason the level of need to qualify for NHS continuing health care identified by the decisions support tool differs from that specified in section 7 of the NHS Continuing Healthcare (Responsibilities) Directions 2007. [128060]
Norman Lamb: The NHS Continuing Healthcare (Responsibilities) Directions 2007 were superseded by the NHS Continuing Healthcare (Responsibilities) Directions 2009.
The purpose of the Decision Support Tool is to support practitioners in the application of the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-Funded Nursing Care and to inform consistent decision-making. This approach builds up a detailed analysis of needs and provides the evidence to inform the eligibility decision.
An individual will be eligible for NHS continuing health care where it can be said that their ‘primary need is a health need’. The decision as to whether a person has a primary health need takes into account the legal limits of local authority provision. Paragraph 2, section 7 of the NHS Continuing Healthcare (Responsibilities) Directions 2009 sets out this test.
Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements his Department has in place to ensure that primary care trusts meet their statutory obligations under section 2 of the NHS Continuing Healthcare Responsibilities. [128064]
Norman Lamb: The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care was published in 2007 and revised in 2009. A copy has already been placed in the Library. It sets out the main responsibilities for the National Health Service and local authorities as provided for in legislation and the principles and processes for assessment and decision-making with regards to eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare, to ensure national consistency. Local primary care trusts processes should accordingly, align with the processes set out in legislation and which are reflected in the National Framework. Strategic health authorities will support the transition of NHS Continuing Healthcare to the new system from 1 April 2013.
The Department collects information on the numbers of individuals in receipt of NHS Continuing Healthcare on a quarterly basis. This information can be obtained on the Department's website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/09/continuing-healthcare-spreadsheet/
Dental Services: Legal Costs
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the costs to his Department of legal disputes over dental contracts since May 2010. [127841]
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Dr Poulter: The Department does not hold any information on legal disputes over dental contracts. Dental contracts are made between primary care trusts and dental service providers. Any legal costs incurred over a dental contract dispute are a matter for those involved.
Drugs: Children
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of children taking (a) heroin and (b) cocaine. [127598]
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Anna Soubry: Data on drug use by young people, aged 11 to 15, is published in the annual National Health Service Information Centre report, ‘Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England.’ The most recently published data on the proportion of young people who had taken heroin or cocaine in the last year cover the years 2001-11 and are given in the following table:
| Proportion of pupils who have taken individual drugs in the last year, 2001-11(1, 2, 3) | |||||||||||
| Percentage | |||||||||||
| Types of drugs taken in the last year | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010(3) | 2011(3) |
| (1 )Because of changes to the questionnaire in 2001,estimates of the prevalence of drug use from surveys in this series carried out between 1998 and 2000 are not comparable with those shown here. Data from the earlier surveys have consequently been omitted from this table; they are available in the 2006 report: Fuller E (ed) Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2006. (2) Estimates are shown to one decimal place because of generally low prevalence rates. (3) The data in 2010 and 2011 were weighted (see section 1.2.4). All bases shown in this table are unweighted. 2011 weighted bases are shown in Table 2.7c. | |||||||||||
Drugs: Misuse
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any of the 29,855 people recorded by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse's statistical report for 2011-12 as having overcome their dependency are deceased; and if so, how many. [128159]
Anna Soubry: The information requested is not collected centrally. The National Drug Treatment Monitoring System collates information on individuals only while they are in treatment and at the time when they leave treatment. Regardless of the cause of death, someone who dies while in treatment cannot be recorded as successfully completing treatment.
The Expert Group on Recovery Oriented Drug Treatment recommended aftercare post-treatment and regular follow-up in order to minimise the risk of relapse. Research led by the Medical Research Council Biostatistics Unit which was recently published in Addiction found an elevated risk of death following discharge from hospital treatment for drug dependence in Scotland in the period 1996-2006 (Merrall, E. L C, Bird, S. M. and Hutchinson, S. J. (2012), ‘A record-linkage study of drug-related death and suicide after hospital discharge among drug-treatment clients in Scotland, 1996-2006. Addiction’).
East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Mr Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will assess the reasons for the performance of the East of England Ambulance Service being below the national average for ambulance services in England; [127831]
(2) what steps he plans to take to improve the performance of the East of England Ambulance Service; and when he plans to take such steps; [127832]
(3) what steps he plans to take to ensure the performance of the East of England Ambulance Service is not affected by the need to make financial savings. [127833]
Anna Soubry: Ambulance trust performance is assessed against three standards relating to response times. Each trust must ensure it performs above all three standards over the year. The latest published data covers September 2012 and shows East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust performing appropriately against one out of the three standards. The Department monitors ambulance trust performance closely, and discusses with the relevant strategic health authority what further action is needed to improve performance where a trust is operating below standard. However, it is for ambulance trusts and their commissioners to plan, develop and improve services.
Ambulance services are commissioned by primary care trusts, which are responsible for ensuring that appropriate services are provided to their populations, wherever they live. In addition, each ambulance trust is required to plan to provide appropriate resources to meet local demand. The hon. Member may therefore wish to approach East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust for information about the plans it has in place to improve performance while making financial savings.
Eculizumab
Mr Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the recent advice from the Advisory Group for National Specialised Services on the funding of Eculizumab in England; and if he will make a statement. [127780]
Anna Soubry: Ministers are not yet in a position to make a decision on advice from the Advisory Group for National Specialised Services but expect to do so shortly.
Electromagnetic Fields: Health Hazards
Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether his Department has undertaken any studies on how many people suffer from electromagnetic sensitivity and how severely they are affected by that condition; [127685]
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(2) whether his Department recognises that electromagnetic pollution has an effect on a section of the public; and if the Department will consider issuing advice on combating such effects and related health issues. [127874]
Anna Soubry: The Department is aware that some people report a range of symptoms which they attribute to hypersensitivity to electromagnetic fields. The Government has funded two studies on symptoms associated with exposure to electromagnetic fields and further information can be found at the following links:
www.mthr.org.uk/research_projects/hypersensitivity symptoms.htm
www.mthr.org.uk/research_projects/mthr_funded_projects/wessely.htm
The independent Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation, which advises the Health Protection Agency (HPA) on science and research priorities, has published a review of the evidence on risks from radiofrequency radiation, including worldwide studies on electrohypersensitivity, and this can be found at:
www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1317133826368
The Department accepts that the symptoms ascribed to electromagnetic radiation cause real distress to the people concerned. Unfortunately few evaluated studies are available on the treatment options available, although some limited information is available from a review published by the HPA in 2005, which can be found at:
www.hpa.org.uk/Publications/Radiation/HPARPDSeriesReports/HpaRpd010/
Nevertheless we will consider what further steps might be taken to provide helpful information and guidance to health care professionals and to the general public.
Female Genital Mutilation
Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will consider including a mandatory data collection question about female genital mutilation on GP registration forms. [127597]
Anna Soubry: We have no plans to introduce a mandatory data collection question about female genital mutilation (FGM) on general practitioner (GP) registration forms.
There are several reasons why it would not be appropriate to ask a woman or girl if they have been subject to FGM on the registration form. Doing this would breach patient confidentiality since the forms are read and used by general practice staff for registration rather than clinical purposes. In addition, it is highly unlikely that those registering at a new practice would wish to reveal something this sensitive on an initial registration form; it can take a long time for a woman to build up the confidence in a health care practitioner to tell them that she has been mutilated. We would not want to deter people from registering with a GP by asking such a
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personal question at the time. In the case of girls, it is unlikely that parents registering their children would reveal this in any case since it is illegal to subject a child to FGM and declaring this would implicate the parents as perpetrators which may deter them from registering their daughters with a GP.
Food: Hygiene
Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason mobile food vendors do not have to display their food hygiene ratings certificate. [127781]
Anna Soubry: The food hygiene rating scheme is a Food Standards Agency (FSA)/local authority partnership initiative for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Ratings for all businesses covered by the scheme, including mobile food traders, are published on the FSA's website at
www.food.gov.uk/ratings
and available via mobile phone apps. Legislation would be required for mandatory display of ratings at food outlets or units but all business that are rated are given a sticker and certificate showing their rating and encouraged to display this where consumers can easily see them.
The Welsh Assembly is currently considering a Bill that will require mandatory display of food hygiene ratings for businesses operating in Wales.
Genito-urinary Medicine
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding his Department has allocated to the sexual health sector in each of the last five years. [127835]
Anna Soubry: Funding for local sexual health services forms part of the general allocations made by the Department to primary care trusts and is not identified separately. However, estimated gross spend on HIV, including expenditure by primary care trusts, is separately identified and set out in the following table.
| £ million | |
The Department provided additional funding for contraception through the Improving Access to Contraception Fund. This programme ran from 2008-09 to 2010-11, and funds were distributed via strategic health authorities. The total amount distributed as part of this programme was £33,062,000.
Details of other funding provided centrally by the Department is in the following table.
| £000 | |||||
| Organisation | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 |
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Further expenditure on contracts and grants may have been made by the Department but this could be provided only at disproportionate cost as spending on the sexual health sector is not separately identified in the Department's financial systems.
Health Education: Sex
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce (a) unplanned pregnancies and (b) sexually transmitted diseases; and if he will make a statement. [127801]
Anna Soubry: The Government's framework for improving sexual health in England, including reducing unwanted and unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, will be set out in the sexual health policy document, which we plan to publish by the end of this year.
Health Services
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with specialised commissioning groups on implementation of Clinical Priorities Advisory Group recommendations. [127596]
Anna Soubry: This is a matter for the national health service.
Ministers have had no discussions with Specialised Commissioning Groups (SCGs) on the recommendations of the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group on treatments for cystic fibrosis. SCGs are aiming to develop a consistent approach for patients.
Health: Finance
Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what representations he has received on the ring-fencing of public health budgets; [128342]
(2) which local authorities have requested that public health budgets being transferred to them from primary care trusts should not be ring-fenced; [128354]
(3) what plans he has to remove ring-fencing from public health budgets being transferred to local authorities from primary care trusts. [128355]
Anna Soubry: The White Paper ‘Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS’, published in July 2010, announced the transfer of public health responsibilities from primary care trusts to local authorities, to be funded by a ring-fenced public health budget. This remains the policy position. The Department consulted on the funding and commissioning routes for public health between December 2010 and March 2011, and has subsequently engaged widely with local government and other interests on the new funding arrangements for public health. A wide range of views have been expressed by different organisations, both for and against the ring-fence.
Decisions on whether to maintain or remove the ring-fence on the public health allocation will be taken in due course.
Hospital Wards: Closures
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in which hospitals in each parliamentary constituency ward closures are planned. [127843]
Dr Poulter: This information is not collected centrally.
Hospitals: Admissions
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were admitted to hospital with (a) gunshot and (b) knife wounds in (i) the London borough of Hackney, (ii) London and (iii) England in (A) each year from 2005 to 2011 and (B) 2012 to date. [127842]
Anna Soubry: The number of finished admission episodes with an external cause code of injuries relating to sharp objects or firearms is shown in the following table. These data are for residents in England, London Strategic Health Authority (SHA) and City and Hackney Primary Care Trust (PCT) for 2004-05 to 2011-12 and 2012-13 April to June provisional data. We have provided the data related to assault by a sharp object, as well as data for firearm wounds.
It should be noted that the vast majority of people who attend hospital due to assault by a sharp object (including knives), are treated without being admitted to hospital—there are no accurate data on the number of people who attend hospital for treatment for this type of assault but are not admitted.
| Number of finished admission episodes(1) where the external cause code was related to sharp objects or firearm wounds(2), for residents of England, London SHA and City and Hackney Teaching PCT(3), 2004-05 to 2011-12 and 2012-13 April to June provisional data(4): Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector— | ||||
| Residents of England | ||||
| Sharp object (assault) | Firearm wound (assault) | Sharp object wound (other) | Firearm wound (other) | |
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| Residents of London SHA(5) | ||||
| Sharp object (assault) | Firearm wound (assault) | Sharp object wound (other) | Firearm wound (other) | |
| Residents of City and Hackney Teaching PCT(5) | ||||
| Sharp object (assault) | Firearm wound (assault) | Sharp object wound (other) | Firearm wound (other) | |
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| (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) Cause code Sharp object wound: W26 Contact with knife, sword or dagger X78 Intentional self-harm by sharp object X99 Assault by sharp object Y28 Contact with sharp object, undetermined intent The above four codes identifies any sharp object, and therefore includes (but is not limited to knife. Firearm wounds: W32 Handgun discharge W33 Rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge W34 Discharge from other and unspecified firearms X72 Intentional self-harm by handgun discharge X73 Intentional self-harm by rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge X74 Intentional self-harm by other and unspecified firearm discharge X93 Assault by handgun discharge X94 Assault by rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge X95 Assault by other and unspecified firearm discharge Y22 Handgun discharge, undetermined intent Y23 Rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge, undetermined intent Y24 Other and unspecified firearm discharge, undetermined intent Y35.0 Legal intervention involving firearm discharge Y36.4 War operations involving firearm discharge and other forms of conventional warfare (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) Provisional data The data are provisional and may be incomplete or contain errors for which no adjustments have yet been made. Counts produced from provisional data are likely to be lower than those generated for the same period in the final dataset. It is also probable that clinical data are not complete which may in particular affect the last two months of any given period. There may also be errors due to coding inconsistencies that have not yet been investigated and corrected. (5) NHS reorganisation In July 2006, the NHS reorganised SHA and PCT in England from 28 SHAs into 10, and from 303 PCTs into 152. As a result data from 2006-07 onwards are not directly comparable with previous years. We mapped the current London SHA to the following SHAs prior to 2006-07: North Central London, North East London, North West London, South East London and South West London. Lambeth PCT remained the same during the PCT changes. Notes: 1. Data quality Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and PCTs in England and from some independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data, and seeks to minimise inaccuracies. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. 2. Small numbers To protect patient confidentiality/ figures between one and five have been replaced with “*” (an asterisk). Where it was still possible to identify numbers from the total an additional number (the next smallest) has been, replaced. 3. Methodology Change A change in methodology in 2011-12 resulted in an increase in the number of records where the PCT or SHA of residence was unknown. From 2006-07 to 2010-11 the current PCT and SHA of residence fields were populated from the recorded patient postcode. In order to improve data completeness; if the postcode was unknown the PCT7 SHA and country of residence were populated from the PCT/SHA value supplied by the provider. From April 2011-12 onwards if the patient postcode is unknown the PCT; SHA and country of residence are listed as unknown. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care | ||||
Hospitals: Parking
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals charge for parking in England; and which hospitals have increased charges for parking since May 2010. [127806]
Dr Poulter: The information is not available in the precise format requested.
Data are collected by the Department from the national health service about parking charges relating to financial year periods.
Based on the latest data for 2011-12, there were 377 hospitals in England that charged for parking. A list of these hospitals and their associated average charge per hour for patient/visitor parking in both 2011-12 and 2010-11 has been placed in the Library. This list will identify those hospitals which increased charges for parking from 2010-11 to 2011- 12.
In some cases there may not be a direct correlation between the data reported by the NHS for 2010-11 and 2011-12 due to organisational boundary changes which have resulted in a change of organisation for some hospitals. Also, in 2010-11 some foundation trusts chose not to provide their data because it was non-mandatory
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for them to report their parking charges. In 2011-12, it was made mandatory for all NHS organisations, including foundation trusts, to provide the data.
All the data provided has been supplied by the NHS and has not been amended centrally. The accuracy and completeness of the information is the responsibility of the provider organisation.
Human Embryos
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department last undertook a review of the scientific evidence on when human life begins that drew on (a) UK and (b) international research; and if he will make a statement. [127802]
Anna Soubry: A court case in 2002 about emergency contraception ruled that pregnancy commences when a fertilised egg is implanted in the womb. The Government has undertaken no further review of when pregnancy or life begins, but we do monitor research and evidence on these important issues.
Influenza
Mrs Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will review the success rate and mechanism for the call-back arrangements for influenza jabs for the under 65s; [128311]
(2) if he will review the rate of uptake of the influenza vaccine for special groups such as carers and increase the publicity campaign to reach those groups. [128312]
Anna Soubry: Influenza vaccine uptake rates for a number of different groups, such as those aged under 65 with a clinical condition and pregnant women, are monitored throughout the influenza season. It is particularly important that carers are vaccinated against influenza as it offers protection to those for whom they care.
The Department has provided guidance to the national health service on the influenza immunisation programme, including in relation to robust call and recall arrangements. However, implementation of such arrangements locally is a matter for primary care trusts and general practitioner (GP) practices to determine and there are no current plans to review this mechanism for call back.
The Department launched an influenza advertising campaign on 5 November. It is aimed at increasing immunisation uptake in groups who are at risk of serious illness associated with or arising from influenza because of existing clinical conditions; and is intended to support local campaigns.
Kidney Disease
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent assessment he has made of the cost to the NHS of polycystic kidney disease; [127725]
(2) what steps he is taking to combat polycystic kidney disease; [127726]
(3) what steps he is taking to raise awareness of polycystic kidney disease. [127727]
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Anna Soubry: Polycystic kidney disease is a genetic disease, which is not preventable. I have recently asked officials in the Department's renal policy team to raise the issues around polycystic kidney disease with the appropriate agencies and consider what further actions can be taken to raise awareness of the disease and the need for guidelines around diagnosis and management.
During the recent adjournment debate (HC-Debate, 6 November 2012, C838) I welcomed the suggestion of a meeting with the leading charity in this area and understand that they are also due to meet with the National Clinical Director for Kidney Disease.
We do not currently collate centrally the direct numbers or costs associated with polycystic kidney disease to the national health service. We are currently reviewing data collection in this area.