Human Papillomavirus
Mr Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the availability of measures to support access to education for girls whose access to education is disrupted as a result of symptoms developed after receiving the HPV vaccine. [142143]
Elizabeth Truss: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has not made an assessment of the measures to support pupils who suffer side effects from the HPV vaccination or the availability of those measures. Those at local level who are responsible for educating pupils with health needs—schools and local authorities—are best placed to determine the most appropriate arrangements for ensuring that health problems of any kind do not prevent individual children from receiving a good education. We trust them to act in their pupils' best interests.
We expect schools to understand and support the educational, health and medical needs of all pupils and that they work closely alongside parents and carers, as well as their local health services, to address any concerns. Where a short-term absence occurs as a result of side effects of any HPV vaccination, we would expect the pupil's school to make arrangements for them to continue their work at home, or to catch up with their work once back in school.
In any case where a pupil has to be absent for a longer period of time as a result of vaccination, their local authority would have a duty to arrange suitable education for them outside of school. In January, the Department
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for Education published guidance to local authorities on ensuring that children who cannot attend school because of health needs receive a good education. This guidance can be found at:
http://tinyurl.com/bxvfy4d
ICT: Curriculum
Mr Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when the final decisions on implementation of changes to the curriculum for schools in relation to information technology will be announced; and if he will make a statement. [141689]
Elizabeth Truss: We published draft programmes of study for all national curriculum subjects for consultation on 7 February. As part of that consultation we are seeking views on a proposal to replace the existing, outdated ICT curriculum with a new computing curriculum with a much greater emphasis on computational thinking and practical programming skills, which will help England to retain a competitive edge in the vital and growing digital economy. The consultation will end on 16 April.
Subject to parliamentary approval, we plan to make the final programmes of study available to schools this autumn so that they can prepare for first teaching from September 2014. More information about our proposals and the consultation is available at:
www.education.gov.uk/nationalcurriculum
Pupils: Disadvantaged
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much pupil premium was allocated to schools in each local authority area in the last year for which figures are available. [142333]
Mr Laws [holding answer 11 February 2013]: The pupil premium was introduced in April 2011. Pupil premium funding is provided to schools which have on roll pupils known to be eligible for free school meals (the deprivation premium); children in care who have been continuously looked after for at least six months (the looked after child premium); and children whose parents are serving in the armed forces (the service child premium).
Pupil premium 2012-13 allocations for schools are published on the Department's website:
http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/xlsx/p/pupil%20 premium%202012-13%20school%20tables%20final.xlsx
In the financial year 2012-13, eligibility for pupil premium was extended to pupils who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years. The service premium was also extended to include children whose parents have died in service and the children are now in receipt of pensions under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) and the War Pensions Scheme (WPS). We are also protecting the entitlement of those who were eligible for the service premium in 2011-12 but who are no longer recorded as a service child on the January 2012 census.
The pupil premium will increase from £623 to £900 per pupil in 2013-14 and the service premium will increase from £250 to £300 per pupil. Illustrative allocations for 2013-14 are available on the Department's website.
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Pupils: Study Leave
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will investigate the benefits and disadvantages of providing study leave for students taking end of year examinations at 16 years old. [142416]
Elizabeth Truss [holding answer 11 February 2013]: The Department for Education has no plans to investigate the benefits and disadvantages of providing study leave for students taking end of year examinations at 16 years old.
Roads: Safety
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to educate children about proper road safety. [142387]
Elizabeth Truss: Road safety education can be covered as part of non-statutory personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education. Schools are free to decide what to include in their PSHE programmes and should tailor the content of PSHE lessons to take account of the needs of their pupils.
Schools: Snow and Ice
David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance his Department gives to schools and local education authorities on contingency planning to minimise school closures in the event of snow; and if he will make a statement. [142298]
Elizabeth Truss: The Department has revised its advice to schools setting out our expectation that, in the event of adverse weather conditions such as heavy snow, head teachers should keep schools open for as many pupils as possible whenever it is reasonable for them to do so. The advice also dispels a number of myths around health and safety and staffing issues relating to adverse weather conditions. The advice was e-mailed to local authorities on 29 January 2013 and can be found on the Department's website at:
http://tinyurl.com/37k7vmp
Teachers: Training
Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he plans to take to ensure that schools offer permanent posts to the teachers they have trained through the School Direct programme. [142394]
Mr Laws [holding answer 11 February 2013]: Through School Direct, schools can choose and recruit the trainees they want with an expectation that the trainee will be employed after successfully completing their training.
We expect schools, therefore, to have a clear capacity to employ the trainees when they successfully complete their training programme. We advise schools to review their previous employment patterns and use current knowledge on staffing issues to make an assessment of future need. This assessment should enable them to request a number of places that broadly matches the future employment requirements.
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The expectation of employment does not need to sit with an individual school; it can be shared collectively. We advise schools to work together in partnerships to deliver School Direct. Larger partnerships of schools mean that turnover of staff can be more accurately predicted and there is enough scale to ensure that trainees can be found work when they qualify.
Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the cost is of training a teacher in each subject through (a) Initial Teacher Training delivered in higher education, (b) the Graduate Teacher Programme and (c) School Direct. [142396]
Mr Laws [holding answer 11 February 2013]: Initial Teacher Training (ITT) is funded through a combination of tuition fees charged by the provider to the trainee (which qualify for student loans accessed directly by the trainee from the Student Loans Company), and grant funding from the Department for Education (which covers training bursaries, under graduate continuer funding and the graduate teacher programme).
While the Department is responsible for the allocation of places to providers, it does not collate the overall costs of teacher training in each subject for the different ITT routes, as decisions on the level of fees are the responsibility of the providers who deliver ITT programmes.
Detailed information on how the Department will fund ITT for the academic year 2013/14 can be found in the published guidance for Training Bursary Guide Academic Year 2013/14 and the School Direct Operations Manual 2013/14.
Health
Horsemeat
Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the Food Standards Agency's statement of 7 February 2013 confirming horsemeat in Findus meat products, which Findus products have been tested; and what the results of such tests have been to date. [143264]
Anna Soubry: On 7 February the Food Standards Agency (FSA) confirmed that the meat content of beef lasagne products recalled by Findus had tested positive for horsemeat. There is no evidence to suggest that this is a food safety risk. However, the FSA has ordered Findus to test the lasagne for the veterinary drug phenylbutazone, or “bute”. Animals treated with phenylbutazone are not allowed to enter the food chain as it may pose a risk to human health. The results of this test are expected in the next few days and will be published on the FSA website.
The FSA has also ordered food businesses, including Findus, to conduct tests for the presence of significant levels of horsemeat on all beef products, such as beef burgers, meatballs and lasagne, and provide the results to the FSA. The deadline for the first set of results to be provided to the FSA is 15 February.
Cancer
Mr Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 26 June 2012, Official Report, column 224W, on cancer, what discussions he has had with (a) the National Institute for Health and
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Clinical Excellence and
(b)
the NHS Commissioning Board on the omission of a potential indicator on patient experience of cancer patients from the consultation of the 2014/15 Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set. [143489]
Anna Soubry: The Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set is a matter for the NHS Commissioning Board.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for advising the NHS Commissioning Board on potential indicators.
NICE makes recommendations based on the best evidence available. We understand that an indicator on patient experience of cancer services is being considered, and then will be the subject of consultation by NICE.
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the commissioning of specialised and non-specialised cancer services will not result in fragmentation of care. [143490]
Anna Soubry: Work has been undertaken to support the development of service specifications for both specialist cancer services, which will be commissioned by the NHS Commissioning Board, and those cancer services that will be commissioned by clinical commissioning groups.
To date, 15 specialist service specifications have been drafted by the Specialised Cancer Clinical Reference group for the NHS Commissioning Board. The National Cancer Action Team has also produced three advisory service specifications for Clinical Commissioning Groups in breast cancer, colorectal cancer and lung cancer. These are included in the Cancer Commissioning Toolkit.
These service specifications cover the whole cancer care pathway and will ensure that patients receive appropriate treatment and support at all stages of the patient journey.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is continuing to build its library of Quality Standards, which will act as markers of high quality, cost-effective patient care in the NHS. Four cancer quality standards have already been published.
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of using (a) the results of the national cancer patient experience surveys and (b) the friends and family test to improve the experience of cancer patients in the NHS. [143491]
Anna Soubry: The national report and 160 bespoke trust level reports from the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey 2011-12 were published in August 2012. These have been made widely available to drive and inform local service improvement. The trust level reports provide benchmarked data nationally and between teams so that priority improvement areas can be identified. We are aware that a number of trusts have produced action plans based on the results of the surveys.
The National Cancer Action Team has been working with Cancer Networks to drive service improvements based on the results of the survey. This has included
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producing the report ‘Improvements in cancer patient experience: how have they been made?’, which will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cancer Patient Experience Advisory Group on 8 March 2013, and then shared widely with trusts.
We have encouraged stakeholders in the third sector to use the survey results to identify and share best practice in patient care and services to support service improvement activity. For example, Macmillan Cancer Support analysed the data and published the 10 best and worst performing trusts in England in 2012, which were also published in the second annual report of ‘Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer’ in December 2012. Macmillan also produced ‘Improving Cancer Patient Experience—A top tips guide’. This document can be found at:
www.macmillan.org.uk
In addition, all the quantitative data from the survey have been sent to the National Data Archive at Essex University and are freely available for access by researchers to undertake a series of analyses under the rules of the archive.
Patient experience is one of three domains of quality alongside effectiveness and safety. This Government is committed to encouraging services to be responsive to patient needs and experiences, and using feedback to make services truly patient-centred.
The Friends and Family test will be implemented nationally from 1 April 2013 for all acute in-patient and accident and emergency (A&E) services. All in-patients and patients in A&E departments will be given the opportunity to answer the simple question ‘How likely are you to recommend our ward/A&E department to friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment’.
The test is unique in that it provides frequent, fast (near-real time) feedback, which is comparable from both patients' and NHS staff perspectives. Alongside other feedback, the test will be used by service providers as a tool for improvement; by commissioners and the public to hold services to account; and by patients to inform choice.
Where a cancer patient is either an in-patient or discharged from an A&E department, they will be asked the Friends and Family test; however, the results will not be differentiated by patient diagnosis.
Care Homes: Fees and Charges
Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps his Department is taking to tackle the cost of self-funded places in care homes; [142866]
(2) what steps his Department is taking to reduce any disparity between the cost of a (a) local authority place and (b) self-funded place in a care home. [142870]
Norman Lamb: The Department does not intervene in the process of setting of care home fees, which are for negotiation between providers and commissioners or purchasers of care.
As major purchasers of care home places, local authorities are able to give care home operators greater confidence about future occupancy levels. The security about business prospects this gives to operators can allow local authorities to negotiate very competitive
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prices. Local authorities are under a duty to secure the best value for the public funds they spend on services. This must, however, be based on due consideration of the cost of providing care.
Through the draft Care and Support Bill, the Government has, for the first time, placed an explicit duty on local authorities to promote a diverse, high quality and sustainable local market for care and support that meets the needs of local people.
Carers: Yorkshire and the Humber
Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of registered carers in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber. [143485]
Norman Lamb: The only regulated part of the social care work force are social workers and nurses, occupational therapists and other therapists.
The number of registered social workers employed by councils with adult social services responsibilities is published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. The data within the publication are supplied by Skills for Care. Data for registered children's social workers are not collected or published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.
Data are not collected at constituency level and are therefore presented for Yorkshire and Humber only and are at whole-time equivalent (WTE) level and individual worker level. As at September 2011 there were 1,820 WTE adult social workers in Yorkshire and Humber, this equates to 2,030 individual social workers employed.
On 11 December, the Office for National Statistics published data from the 2011 Census for England and Wales. These showed that, overall, 5.8 million (10%) residents in England and Wales provided unpaid care for someone with an illness or disability.
Dental Services
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what date he expects the new NHS dentistry contract development to be completed. [143435]
Norman Lamb: No date has been set for the introduction of a new dental contract. The Government made a commitment to introducing a new contract and said there would be thorough preparation including piloting. Piloting intended to test key elements needed to design that new contract began in 2011. A second wave of pilots was announced in October 2012 and will be in place from 1 April 2013. This second stage will allow for further testing of key elements of any new contract.
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to increase access to dentistry care provided by the NHS. [143483]
Norman Lamb:
The Government is committing to improving access to dentistry. Between May 2010 and September 2012, an additional 1.1 million patients have been seen by a national health service dentist and we are committed to achieving further increases. These improvements have been supported by an additional
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£28 million we made available in 2012 to support local access to NHS dentistry and a further £30 million is being made available to support access this year.
Diabetes
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the rate is at which GPs are remunerated for individual diabetes tests. [143438]
Norman Lamb: There is no specific rate or fee for individual diabetes tests. Under the terms of their contract for the provision of national health service primary medical services, general practitioners (GPs) are required to provide all necessary services to their patients. Practices receive annually a weighted price per patient that is intended to cover delivery of the essential and additional services all GP practices are expected to provide to patients who have chosen to register with them to meet their personal medical services needs.
In addition, all primary medical services contractors who are responsible for patients registered with them may participate in the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). This provides additional reward to GP practices for how well they care for patients based on their performance against a number of agreed indicators.
Primary medical care contractors are awarded points under QOF for providing high quality care for patients with diabetes, including carrying out each of the nine diabetes tests. The 2012-13 QOF diabetes mellitus area and smoking area includes indicators which directly reward practices for carrying out a number of clinical measures that have a proven evidence base for improving the care of patients with diabetes. These include tests or processes which are an intermediate outcomes measure for which they must record the results.
The 2012-13 quality indicators for which practices will be rewarded are set out in the Quality and Outcomes Framework guidance for GMS contract 2012-13 on the NHS Employers' website at:
www.nhsemployers.org/Aboutus/Publications/Documents/QOF_2012-13.pdf
The number of points available for each indicator is set out in the summary tables. The proportion of points each contractor receives depends on the percentage of patients for whom they achieve the indicator, within upper and lower payment thresholds (or payment stages). The value of a point in 2012-13 was set at £133.76 per contractor and is adjusted by relative list size and prevalence of the relevant disease.
Drugs: Prices
Mr Jamie Reed:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with (a) the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and (b) other bodies on a value-based pricing
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system of drugs and treatments since his appointment; and which other groups he has met in relation to this issue. [143436]
Norman Lamb: Since 4 September 2012, the Secretary of State for Health, the right hon. Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has met with a number of organisations, including the Ministerial Industry Strategy Group, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and the Life Sciences Champions, where value-based pricing was discussed.
Ministers and officials have engaged with a wide range of patient groups, clinicians, national health service representatives, industry and other interested parties, including the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency as we develop our plans for the new pricing system for branded medicines, including value-based pricing.
Food: Testing
Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many food sample tests (a) the Food Standards Agency and (b) local authorities acting on behalf of the Food Standards Agency have conducted (i) throughout Scotland and (ii) in each local authority area in Scotland in each of the last five years. [143431]
Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is involved in a range of food sampling carried out each year under a range of national and European Union food legislation. The various areas of testing and numbers of samples taken are set out in the annual reports of the Implementation of the UK National Control Plan since 2007.
The FSA also commissions regular surveys of foods to help to protect and inform consumers by alerting the agency to potential food safety issues. The surveys help to judge the effectiveness of regulation and inform negotiations with the European Commission, monitor trends and assess risks. These surveys can also be found on the FSA website.
Local authorities in Scotland reported the following total number of food sample tests in their annual food law enforcement monitoring returns to the FSA:
| Number of analyses (tests) | Number of individual samples | |
| (1) Not yet available | ||
These returns only include the samples tested by Official Control Laboratories and may not reflect the whole of the local authorities’ food sampling activities.
The data by individual local authority are:
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | |||||
| Local authority | Analyses | Samples | Analyses | Samples | Analyses | Samples | Analyses | Samples |
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Health Services: Lancashire
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to improve the health of people with arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions in (a) Pendle constituency and (b) Lancashire. [142929]
Norman Lamb: The mandate sets out the Government's ambitions for the health service for the next two years. It includes an objective for the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) to make measurable progress towards making the national health service among the best in Europe at supporting people with ongoing health problems to live healthily and independently, with much better control over the care they receive.
It is for the board to decide how they will carry this out; the Government will hold them to account for the outcomes they achieve.
The NHS CB will in turn hold clinical commission groups (CCGs) to account. While the board will be expected to give CCGs freedom to commission services tailored to the needs of their local population, CCGs will be accountable to the NHS CB through an annual performance assessment. This will include an assessment of how the CCG has fulfilled its duty to act consistently with the mandate. This will provide a direct line of accountability back to the expectations set out in the mandate. The board must publish a report annually summarising the results of all its performance assessments of CCGs.
Local commissioners have the primary responsibility for determining what steps are needed to improve the health of people with arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions in Pendle constituency and Lancashire. To support local commissioners, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published clinical guidelines and other guidance on a number of musculoskeletal conditions, and NICE Quality Standards for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions are in preparation. In addition the NHS CB are proposing to appoint a national clinical director for musculoskeletal conditions who will consider what other steps could be taken at national level to support high quality local commissioning.
Heart Diseases: Children
Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what regional representation there was on the bodies which advised the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts regarding the safe and sustainable review of paediatric cardiac services; [143206]
(2) which members of which bodies advised the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts as part of the safe and sustainable review of paediatric cardiac services; [143207]
(3) what the recruitment policies were of the bodies which advised the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts as part of the safe and sustainable review of paediatric cardiac services; and if he will make a statement; [143208]
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(4) for what reasons the minutes of meetings of the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts regarding the safe and sustainable review of paediatric cardiac services were redacted when supplied to the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee for Yorkshire and the Humber. [143209]
Anna Soubry: The Safe and Sustainable review of children's congenital heart services was a national health service review, independent of Government. The matters raised, therefore, are for the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts, which undertook the review.
In these circumstances, and given legal proceedings and a review by the Independent Reconfiguration Panel are underway, it would not be appropriate to comment further.
Horse Passports
Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many horses presented for slaughter at UK abattoirs have been rejected by officials because of concerns over their equine passports in (a) the last month and (b) each of the last four years; and at what location each such event occurred. [143434]
Anna Soubry: The following table states the number of horses presented for slaughter at UK abattoirs which have been rejected in the last month:
| Plant | Number of horses rejected by the plant operator official veterinarian (OVs) at ante mortem inspection | |
The following table states the number of horses presented for slaughter at UK abattoirs which have been rejected in each of the last four years:
| Plant | Number of horses rejected by the plant operator (OVs) at ante mortem inspection | |
Horses
Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which horse premises are on the Food Standards Agency's cause for concern list. [143263]
Anna Soubry: There are no slaughterhouses approved for processing horses within the United Kingdom appearing on the Food Standards Agency's (FSA) cause for concern list.
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As part of its ongoing investigation into the mislabelling of meat products the FSA and police entered two meat premises, one in West Yorkshire and the other in West Wales on 13 February 2013.
The plant in West Yorkshire is Peter Boddy Licensed Slaughterhouse, Todmorden, West Yorkshire, and we believe it supplied horse carcases to Farmbox Meats Ltd, Llandre, Aberystwyth. The FSA and the police are looking into the circumstances through which meat products, purporting to be beef for kebabs and burgers, were sold when they were in fact horse.
The FSA has suspended operations at both these plants. Both West Yorkshire and Dyfed-Powys police have entered the premises with the FSA. The FSA has detained all meat found, and seized paperwork, including customer lists from the two companies.
Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the timelines are for the review of the Code of Practice for the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation; and if he will make a statement. [143187]
Anna Soubry: A review of the code of practice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is being taken forward as a result of recent developments, including changes to the health and public health system following implementation of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and the Cabinet Office Public Bodies Review 2012. The revised Code of Practice will be published when finalised later this year.
North East Strategic Health Authority
Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 5 November 2012, Official Report, column 470W, on NHS: expenditure, for what reasons the North East Strategic Health Authority has received the second highest level of funding from the National Specialised Commissioning Team since 2004-05. [143259]
Norman Lamb: Further analysis of the data given in the answer of 5 November 2012, Official Report, column 470W, on NHS: expenditure, would indicate that expenditure at trusts in the North East Strategic Health Authority area was the fourth highest total by area between 2004-05 and 2008-09, the fifth highest in 2009-10 and 2010-11 and the sixth highest in 2011-12.
The National Specialised Commissioning Team (NSCT) in NHS London commissions for the entire population of England. Given the very small number of patients involved, the small number of procedures and the very high level of clinical expertise required to provide such treatments, most nationally commissioned services are provided in a very small number of centres, usually no more than three or four. Providers work collectively to provide a national service to the whole population and must demonstrate their capacity to meet nationally-agreed criteria, detailed service specifications and comprehensive contractual and performance measures, including equality of access.
The NSCT currently commissions from two providers in the North East Strategic Health Authority area. The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
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provides a range of highly specialised services for the benefit of all English patients. Similarly, the Secure Forensic Mental Health Services commissioned from Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust receives referrals and admits patients from across England.
Nurses: Labour Turnover
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of nurses that will (a) join and (b) leave the NHS in 2013. [143442]
Dr Poulter: No central estimate has been made of the number of nurses that will join or leave the national health service in 2013. Local NHS organisations are responsible for the skill mix of their work force as they are best placed to assess the health needs of their local health community and must have the freedom to deploy staff in ways appropriate for local conditions.
The Centre for Workforce Intelligence has been asked to review the nursing work force with more input from employers and to advise whether the current level of training is sufficient to maintain a balance between supply and demand in future years. This report is expected to be published shortly.
Nurses: Recruitment
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time nursing posts were advertised through the NHS Jobs website in each month since January 2010. [143429]
Norman Lamb: The Department is able to provide data about the number of job advertisements placed on NHS Jobs by employers in the national health service. However, the data are provided by whole-time equivalents (WTE), (to the nearest whole number) and not full-time posts (these data are not collected)(1).
The following table shows the number of adverts in each month since January 2010 for ‘Nursing' or ‘Nursing & Midwifery Registered' staff groups. It also includes the sum of the ‘whole-time equivalent' values on each vacancy.
(1 )Adverts are listed for single or multiple full-time and part-time posts. The whole-time equivalent figure adds all these together and is not the same as full time posts only.
| Number of adverts | WTE (rounded to nearest whole number) | |
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| Note: The numbers produced are worked out from those vacancies that are in the ‘Nursing' or ‘Nursing & Midwifery Registered' staff groups, are above band 4 and do not have ‘midwife' or ‘midwives' in the job title. May include a small number of vacancies that are more management than nursing or that are simply mis-identified. Source: Data gathered from NHS Jobs 13 February 2013 | ||
Prescriptions
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2013, Official Report, column 189W, on prescriptions, how many of the items listed under items dispensed, charges applied (million) in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011 were dispensed in (i) the North West and (ii) Liverpool. [143479]
Norman Lamb: The number of prescription items dispensed with the standard prescription charge applied, in the North West strategic health authority and Liverpool primary care trust areas is as follows:
| Million | ||
| North West strategic health authority | Liverpool primary care trust | |
| Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) data provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. | ||
Primary Care Trusts
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated running cost per head of population of each primary care trust in England is in 2012-13. [143481]
Norman Lamb: The forecast running cost per head of population for each primary care trust in England in 2012-13 is shown in the following table.
14 Feb 2013 : Column 815W
| Primary care trust | 2012-13 forecast running cost per head of population (£) |
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14 Feb 2013 : Column 817W
Regulation
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many regulations his Department has repealed in the last six months; and what the estimated cost-saving has been of each such repeal. [141884]
Dr Poulter: The Department laid eight Statutory Instruments (SIs) to revoke 14 Orders and 51 sets of regulations between 1 August 2012 and 31 January 2013.
The information requested has been placed in the Library.
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Wales
Walking
Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the (a) Secretary of State for Health and (b) First Minister of Wales regarding the health benefits of walking short distances on a regular basis. [142979]
Mr David Jones: I have regular conversations with both my Cabinet colleagues and members of the Welsh Government.
Northern Ireland
Regulation
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what regulations her Department repealed between 1 June 2012 and 31 January 2013; and what estimate she has made of the likely level of savings to (a) the Government, (b) business and (c) the general public. [141836]
Mike Penning: As my Department's responsibilities are chiefly confined to constitutional, electoral and national security matters, it is responsible for few regulations and has not repealed any during this period.
Scotland
Government Procurement Card
Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland with reference to his Department's data on Government Procurement Card spend over £500: June 2012, what was purchased at a value of £519.81 at Malmaison Glasgow on 30 May 2012 using the Government Procurement Card. [143480]
Michael Moore: As part of my ongoing engagement with Scottish business, I hosted a dinner for representatives of Scotland's green energy sector at Malmaison, Glasgow on 29 May 2012.
Housing Benefit
Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the number of people in Scotland whose entitlement to housing benefit will cease after the introduction of the size criteria in April 2013. [143421]
Michael Moore: The Department for Work and Pensions provided its estimate of the number of people who will see their entitlement to housing benefit cease in its impact assessment published on 28 June 2012. The impact assessment can be found at:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf
Margaret Curran:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the proportion of housing benefit recipients in Scotland who are affected by the introduction of the size criteria for
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housing benefit who will
(a)
remain in their current accommodation and
(b)
move to different accommodation. [143422]
Michael Moore: The Department for Work and Pensions provided its assessment of the likelihood of those affected (a) remaining in their current accommodation and (b) moving to different accommodation in its impact assessment published on 28 June 2012. The impact assessment can be found at:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf
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Further independent research is also being commissioned that will monitor and evaluate the impacts of the changes in a range of locations.
Official Hospitality
Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to the answer of 16 January 2013, Official Report, column 779W, on official hospitality, if he will publish the cost breakdown of each event. [138956]
David Mundell: The cost breakdown of Scotland Office expenditure for hospitality purposes on events hosted by each Minister in each of the last 12 months is as shown in the following table:
All expenditure incurred is in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
Social Rented Housing
Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the number of households in the social rented sector in Scotland where (a) one bedroom or (b) two or more bedrooms are unoccupied. [143261]
Michael Moore: The Department for Work and Pensions’ impact assessment, published on 28 June 2012, provides estimates of the number of people affected who live in the social rented sector in Scotland and the degree of under-occupation. The impact assessment can be found at:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf
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Energy and Climate Change
Buildings
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the (a) total floor space and (b) floor space measured in square metres per full-time equivalent post is of properties used by his Department. [143354]
Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) occupy space in four buildings. Details of floor space and square metres per full-time equivalent (FTE) post are as follows:
3 Whitehall Place, London—DECC occupy the entire building measuring 8,768 square metres. This equates to 7.4 square metres per FTE post.
55 Whitehall, London—DECC occupy the entire building measuring 1,710 square metres. This equates to 8.4 square metres per FTE post.
1 Victoria Street, London—DECC are minor occupiers of this building, holding 414 square metres. This equates to 3.7 square metres per FTE post. This figure refers only to the space occupied by desks used by DECC and not the surrounding space of the larger building, including break-out areas etc.
Atholl House, Aberdeen—DECC are minor occupiers of this building, holding 1,408 square metres. This equates to 14.9 square metres per FTE post.
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the names and locations are of all properties used by officials of his Department; whether those properties are (a) owned by the Department, (b) leased by the Department and (c) subject to a private finance initiative agreement; when existing lease agreements relating to such properties are due to expire; and what the total floor space is of each property. [143375]
Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) occupies four properties as follows:
3 Whitehall Place, London—On leasehold expiring 23 June 2029 and measuring 8,768 square metres.
55 Whitehall, London—On Crown Estate freehold expiring 4 April 2070 and measuring 1,710 square metres.
1 Victoria Street, London—Building belonging to Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) with whom DECC have a memorandum of terms of occupancy (MOTO) to occupy 414 square metres from 1 February 2012 until 31 March 2014.
Atholl House, Guild Street, Aberdeen—Multi-occupancy building where DECC have a leasehold for 1,408 square metres expiring 18 May 2016.
Fuel Poverty: Kingston upon Hull
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the number of households in (a) Hull and (b) Kingston upon Hull North constituency who were living in fuel poverty in each of the last five years; and how many such households will be eligible for assistance under the Government's proposals for an energy company obligation. [143441]
Gregory Barker:
Fuel poverty is measured at household level. DECC has produced estimates of local area fuel poverty for 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010 (the latest year
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available). No estimate was produced for 2007. The figures for Kingston upon Hull North constituency and Kingston upon Hull are shown in the following table.
| Kingston upon Hull North constituency | Kingston upon Hull | |
We do not have data relating to eligibility for the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) for any given constituency or local authority area. ECO contains three separate obligations, two of which are designed to support low income households. The ECO Affordable Warmth obligation supports means-tested benefit recipients in private, tenure properties. The Impact Assessment published estimates the total size of the eligible pool for this part of the policy as some 2.7 million households in Great Britain:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/42984/5533-final-stage-impact-assessment-for-the-green-deal-a.pdf
The Carbon Saving Communities obligation under ECO will support those living in low income areas. A full list of eligible areas has been published and is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48405/5536-carbon-saving-community-obligation-rural-and-low-.pdf
ECO is expected to deliver support to some 230,000 low income and vulnerable households each year, accounting for some £540 million of the total £1.3 billion annual investment.
Green Deal Scheme
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how the £600 million funding allocated to the Green Deal by the Green Investment Bank will be spent. [143194]
Gregory Barker: £600 million is the upper limit of total public investment from all sources that can be made to support the Green Deal over the next five years, under the terms set out by the European Commission. Any investment will be to ensure that customers have access to competitive finance for their Green Deals.
Solar Power: Manufacturing Industries
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) how many people are employed in solar photovoltaic manufacturing in the UK; [143563]
(2) what proportion of employment in the UK solar photovoltaic industry is in manufacturing. [143564]
Gregory Barker: DECC does not hold the information requested on employment in PV manufacturing in the UK.
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Uranium
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of how many years' supply of uranium exists in global reserves. [142360]
Mr Hayes: The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) undertake a regular and comprehensive analysis of world uranium reserves and envisaged global demand. Their findings are made available every two years in their publication “Uranium: Resources, Production and Demand (The Red Book)”.
The latest edition, published in 2011, concluded that total identified global resources are sufficient for over 100 years of supply, based on current requirements. A further edition is expected this year.
Wind Power
Mr Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of wind turbines accredited at 500kw are based on designs capable of producing more than 500kw. [143703]
Mr Hayes: The Department does not hold this information. There are 37 turbines within the relevant band (>100 kW to 500 kW), representing 1% of wind installations installed under the scheme.
International Development
Afghanistan
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2013, Official Report, column 34W, on Afghanistan, if she will place a copy of the report on proposals for the Bost Agri-Business Park in the Library. [143041]
Justine Greening: The Department does not publish such internal reports.
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2013, Official Report, column 35W, on Afghanistan, which official received the consultant's report on the Bost Agri-Business Park. [143042]
Justine Greening: The report was received by DFID's senior representative in the Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team.
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2013, Official Report, column 35W, on Afghanistan, which official authorised her Department's investment in the Bost Agri-Business Park. [143043]
Justine Greening: Authorisation was given by a deputy director, in line with delegated authority limits at the time.