Dementia
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 17 October 2013, Official Report, column 809W, on dementia, how many emergency hospitals admissions in each hospital trust in England were for patients with a diagnosis of dementia in each of the last five years. [173181]
Norman Lamb: Data on a count of finished admission episodes where there was an emergency admission method and a primary or secondary diagnosis of dementia split by hospital provider for the years 2007-08 to 2011-12, have been placed in the Library.
It should be noted that this is not a count of people as the same person may have been admitted on more than one occasion.
Reference should be made to the footnotes when interpreting the data.
Energy
Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which companies supplied (a) gas and (b) electricity to his Department in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12. [173079]
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Dr Poulter: During both 2010-11 and 2011-12 the Department's utility providers were as follows:
Electricity: Southern Electric
Gas: Total Gas and Power.
Food
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the total amount of saturated fat consumed by the UK population each year; [173256]
(2) what proportion of UK food industry companies are signatories of the saturated fat reduction pledge; [173257]
(3) who the existing Public Health Responsibility Deal partners are; and which other companies and organisations were approached about joining the saturated fat reduction pledge. [173274]
Jane Ellison: Average population intake of saturated fat in the United Kingdom is estimated at 26 grams per person per day (12.7% of food energy), around 15% more than is recommended.
The initial group of signatories to the saturated fat reduction pledge represents 44% of the retail market based on sales of products containing saturated fat.
All relevant organisations were invited to sign up to the pledge, including existing partners and businesses not currently signed to the Responsibility Deal. We will encourage additional sign-up over the coming months.
As of the 29 October 2013, there were 591 Responsibility Deal's partners. A full list of the partners and the pledges they are signed up to is available on the Responsibility Deal's website at:
https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/partners/
The list of partners is updated on a daily basis.
Food: Advertising
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2013, Official Report, column 281W, on Food: advertising, when he will announce action with the food industry to reduce exposure to marketing and promotion of less healthy foods. [173277]
Jane Ellison: Identifying further action on the promotion of food is an important part of the work programme of the Responsibility Deal's food network. Discussions with business and others are under way.
Food: Low Incomes
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department gives to families on low incomes on eating healthily. [173269]
Jane Ellison: We want people of all incomes to have the information to eat a healthy balanced diet, consistent with the United Kingdom's national food guide the ‘eatwell plate’, and helped by the new consistent front of pack nutrition labelling scheme.
In addition, the Change4life social marketing campaign focuses primarily on families on a low income in England and provides advice and support to help people adopt
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healthier lifestyles, including healthier diets. Change4life now has more than 200 national partners and more than a million families have joined the campaign. Through Healthy Start, the Government provide a nutritional safety net in a way that encourages healthy eating to more than half a million pregnant women and children under four years old in very low income and disadvantaged families throughout the UK. Families apply for the scheme via their own midwife or health visitor, who should offer them relevant advice on diet and nutrition at the same time.
Food: Packaging
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned into reference intakes on food packaging and their reliability in relation to children; and what discussions he has held on this issue with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing in Scotland. [172855]
Jane Ellison: Departmental officials have consulted the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition and have had continued dialogue with the devolved Administrations, industry and consumer organisations on the question of reference intakes for children. We are considering if further guidance on this issue is required.
Health: Drinks
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of patients who have been prescribed protein drinks by their GPs. [173255]
Norman Lamb: Information is not collected centrally on the number of people prescribed medicines or the medical condition being treated. However, information is available on the number of prescription items dispensed and the net ingredient cost (NIC) of medicines.
It is not possible to distinguish protein drinks specifically within prescription data. Information is provided for all products within British National Formulary (BNF) Section 9.4.2 Enteral nutrition, which contains more than just protein drinks.
| Number of prescription items written in the United Kingdom and dispensed in the community in England, as classified by BNF Section 9.4.21,2,3 | ||
| Prescription items | NIC (£) | |
| 1 The usual route of supply for protein drinks is unlikely to be by prescription, as many of these products can be bought privately. 2 Enteral nutrition products are also used in secondary care, information on which is not included. 3 Enteral nutrition products delivered to patients in their homes through homecare providers are not captured within the data. Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system | ||
ICT
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 17 October 2013, Official Report, column 810W, on ICT, how many (a) iPads and (b) iPhones have been purchased and at what cost by Public Health England. [173178]
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Dr Poulter: Since Public Health England was created on 1 April 2013, 730 iPhones have been purchased at an estimated cost of £219,000 excluding VAT. 130 iPads have been purchased at a cost of £59,000 excluding VAT.
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 17 October 2013, Official Report, column 810W, on ICT, what each of his Department's non-departmental public bodies has spent on (a) iPads and (b) iPhones since 2011. [173180]
Dr Poulter: The total expenditure on iPads and iPhones since 2011 for each non-departmental public body is as follows:
| Non-departmental public bodies | £ |
| 1. Figures inclusive of VAT. 2. Expenditure relates to hardware procurement only. | |
Medical Records: Databases
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether electronic access to patient records by 2015 will cover (a) pre-existing patient records or (b) new patient records after that date. [173369]
Dr Poulter: Electronic access to patient records will cover new information placed on the patient's record from the point that online access is made available in the patient's general practitioner practice. This will apply to both existing patients and any new patients who register at the practice.
Mental Health Services
Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent assessment he has made of ethnic inequalities in mental health services; and what steps he is taking to tackle any such inequality; [172823]
(2) what recent assessment he has made of emergency mental health care in the NHS; [172889]
(3) how many inpatient beds are available for mental health patients in each mental health trust in each of the last five years; and what the average occupation level was for such beds in each trust in each such year. [172892]
Norman Lamb: The Department will retain responsibility, working with partners and stakeholders to improve outcomes for black and minority ethnic (BME) and other disadvantaged groups. NHS England has a critical part to play and the NHS Mandate makes clear that everyone should have timely access to the mental health services they need.
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The Department's Equality Action Plan for 2012-13 includes a specific focus on mental health, including the objective to ensure that the mental health strategy ‘No Health Without Mental Health’, and further policy development addresses the needs of individuals from BME groups and people with protected characteristics, where evidence shows the greatest need.
The mental health strategy acknowledges the higher incidence of lower well-being and higher rates of mental health problems of some BME groups. It is explicit about ensuring that health promotion and ill-health prevention approaches must be targeted at high risk groups. This means that programmes must be delivered in such a way that they are accessible to them, leading to a narrowing of the health inequality gap between groups.
The Strategy's Implementation Framework also includes actions which a number of partner organisations can take to improve the mental health care and treatment for the most vulnerable in society, including BME groups. It further highlights increasing equality in mental health as one of 10 key challenges to translate the vision into reality, and includes links to work under way across the NHS and Government to tackle inequality, disadvantage and discrimination for people with mental health problems.
The Department is currently working with the Home Office, NHS England, Association of Chief Police Officers, the Royal College of Psychiatry and others to produce a concordat on crisis mental health care. This will set out an agreed statement of principles between these agencies about what a person who needs emergency mental health care should expect from the services involved. We intend to publish the concordat this year.
NHS England is conducting a review into the delivery of urgent and emergency care in England. The first phase of this review involved development of an evidence base and public engagement on the principles for change to the current system. The outcomes of this engagement exercise, and next steps, will be published by NHS England in the next few weeks.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has started a thematic review of emergency mental health care which will report in autumn 2014. This will focus on people's experience of using emergency mental health services and how their needs are met, including access to health-based places of safety.
Information in the format requested in respect of mental health in-patient beds is not held centrally.
However, NHS England publishes quarterly national data on bed occupancy and average stay for mental health in-patients across all NHS trusts. Some of the beds identified as mental health beds in the data are within NHS Trusts that are not specifically mental health trusts.
These data are available on the NHS England website at:
www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/bed-availability-and-occupancy/bed-data-overnight/
Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the recommendations made by Sir Robert Francis QC in his report on care providers by Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust his Department (a) has implemented and (b) plans to implement. [173530]
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Dr Poulter: The Government plan to publish their further response to the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry this autumn. This will provide individual responses to each of the inquiry's 290 recommendations.
Multiple Sclerosis
Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what collaboration there will be between officials working on the update of the NICE guidelines for multiple sclerosis and on the NHS England review of the clinical commissioning policy for the Fampyra form of 4-Aminopyridine; [172740]
(2) how many individual funding requests for the Fampyra form of 4-Aminopyridine and the Sativex form of nabiximols NHS England has received from each NHS region in each month of the last two years; and what the age of each such applicant was; [172744]
(3) how the NHS England review of its commissioning policy for the Fampyra form of 4-Aminopyridine will be conducted; and what the timeline for this review is; [172752]
(4) for what reasons NHS England decided not to recommend that the Fampyra form of 4-Aminopyridine should be routinely prescribed on the NHS; [172753]
(5) what criteria NHS England applied when deciding whether the (a) Fampyra form of 4-Aminopyridine and (b) Sativex form of nabiximols should be considered a specialist treatment. [172754]
Norman Lamb: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently updating its clinical guideline on the management of multiple sclerosis in primary and secondary care. The scope of the guideline states that it will cover the management of mobility with fampridine (Fampyra) and the management of spasticity with Sativex (nabiximols) in patients with multiple sclerosis. NICE currently expects to issue its updated guideline in October 2014. NICE clinical guidelines are developed through consultation with stakeholders.
NHS England advises that since April 2013 it has received six requests for Fampyra. One request was received by the midlands and east region, three by the London region and two by the south region. No requests have been received by the north region. NHS England does not hold this information by month and does not routinely hold information about the age of the patient. NHS England was established in April 2013 and so does not hold any data on individual funding requests prior to this date.
NHS England does not hold information about individual funding requests for the Sativex form of nabiximols as this treatment is commissioned by clinical commissioning groups.
No date has been set for a review of the commissioning policy for Fampyra. There is a rolling programme of specialised commissioning policies taking place during 2013-14 and the policy for Fampyra will be incorporated into that programme.
NHS England decided not to recommend that Fampyra be routinely prescribed on the national health service as it did not consider it to be a cost effective use of NHS resources.
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In line with the Health and Social Care Act 2012, Ministers take into account four factors when considering whether a service should be commissioned directly by NHS England rather than by CCGs:
the number of individuals who require the provision of the service or facility;
the cost of providing the service or facility;
the number of people able to provide the service or facility; and
the financial implications for CCGs if they were required to arrange for the provision of the service or facility.
NHS Property Services
Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2013, Official Report, column 765W, on NHS Property Services, how much money intended for capital purposes was used for short-term financing of NHS Property Services' revenue expenditure; and for what reasons parliamentary question 172325 was not answered fully in his initial response of 25 October 2013. [173309]
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Dr Poulter: We would like to assure my hon. Friend that at no time has NHS Property Services Limited used capital allocation for revenue purposes.
Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2013, Official Report, column 284W, on NHS Property Services, (a) what guidance he received that the identity of purchasers of property sold by NHS Property Services should not be disclosed due to commercial sensitivity, (b) what criteria he used to determine that the identity of purchasers should not be disclosed due to commercial sensitivity and (c) who in his Department made the decision that the names of buyers of property sold by NHS Property Services was commercially sensitive information; and if he will place a copy of any such guidance received on this matter in the Library. [173310]
Dr Poulter: In my previous answer of 25 October 2013, Official Report, column 284W, I said this information was commercially sensitive. However, it has subsequently come to light that some of this information, which is not commercially sensitive, is already in the public domain or will be shortly. This information is set as follows.
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Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2013, Official Report, column 284W, on NHS Property Services, (1) which third party independent valuers and reports were relied upon to demonstrate that sales of property by NHS Property Services were at market value; [173311]
(2) who the bidders were in each sale of a property by NHS Property Services. [173312]
Dr Poulter: The information requested is in the following table.
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Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2013, Official Report, column 284W, on NHS Property Services, how many of the 115 responses received for the non-executive director positions of NHS Property Services were from people working (a) in his Department, (b) in the NHS and (c) outside the public sector; and how such applications in each category were (i) considered strong, (ii) worth further consideration, (iii) considered borderline and (iv) did not meet the criteria. [173313]
Dr Poulter: None of the applicants for the non-executive director positions for NHS Property Service Ltd were from the Department.
None of the applicants for the non-executive director positions were working in executive roles in the national health service at the time of applying, but 22 did have some experience in the NHS as a non-executive director.
The remaining candidates were not from within the public sector.
All candidates were evaluated for their knowledge, skills and strength of experience against the following headings:
Finance;
Property Services;
Asset Management;
Corporate Services;
Business Services;
Strategic;
Non-Executive Director Experience; and
NHS Non-Executive Director Experience.
Each area was scored within a range of 1-3: 1 being insufficient, 2 being good but with gaps, and 3 being strong.
Using this methodology candidates were grouped within the following categories:
Considered strong;
Worth further consideration;
Borderline; and
Did not meet criteria.
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NHS: ICT
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the security implications of a paperless NHS. [173368]
Dr Poulter: An assessment of the security implications was not made at the time of the announcement of the challenge to the national health service to become paperless. The NHS already holds large amounts of patient information electronically, and it is vital for the effective and efficient functioning of our health care system, and to meet the needs of high quality care, that patients' information is able to flow around the health and care system. The NHS has an established information governance framework to protect personal health data, and guidance on how to meet its requirements is provided centrally.
The NHS Constitution makes clear the right to confidentiality and to expect the NHS to keep patients' confidential information safe and secure. Individual NHS organisations are legally accountable for complying with information governance requirements. These organisations must invest in the relevant capability and assure themselves that appropriate security measures are in place to protect patient identifiable data and ensure authorised access by the relevant and appropriate professionals. All organisations that access personal confidential data are required to assess and publish details of their performance through the NHS Information Governance Toolkit.
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposed General Practice Extraction Services; and with what bodies and organisation he has consulted. [173370]
Dr Poulter: The General Practice Extraction Service is run by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), which has published a privacy impact assessment on its website which explains what it does with personal information collected through services such as the General Practice Extraction Service and what effect that might have on privacy. It also explains what steps the HSCIC takes to protect privacy.
As with all information technology related projects, the General Practice Extraction Service has been through the Government business case process to ascertain that it is the right sort of investment, is affordable and value for money.
NHS: Misconduct
Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS employees have been dismissed for misconduct in the last 12 months; whether the records of those employees have been permanently marked to ensure that they will not be re-employed in the NHS; and how many of those employees have been (a) reported to the police and (b) prosecuted. [172891]
Dr Poulter: The Department does not hold information regarding the number of national health service employees who have been dismissed for misconduct, reported to the police or prosecuted. This information is held locally by each individual NHS organisation.
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The Department expects NHS organisations to comply with employment legislation and to follow best practice guidance when managing dismissals and to have robust recruitment procedures in place for new recruits, including the uptake of appropriate references and disclosure and barring service checks as required. Appropriate recruitment checks help employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children.
Where a health care practitioner is dismissed for misconduct, the employer, may decide to refer that employee to the relevant professional regulator. Each professional regulator has a fitness to practise process for handling complaints made by service users, employers and others. The regulator will consider the circumstances for dismissal and, if appropriate, may remove that person's name from their register.
Out of Area Treatment: Wales
Jesse Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the contribution of 25 June 2013, Official Report, column 282, what progress he has made on a review of cross-border health care arrangements for people living in England but registered with GP practices in Wales. [172534]
Jane Ellison: NHS England is looking into this issue and we expect to receive a report from it shortly.
Smoking
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people who smoke in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK who are (i) under the age of 18 and (ii) over the age of 18. [172854]
Jane Ellison: The information requested is not available centrally. This is a devolved matter for the Scottish Government.
Telemedicine
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of telemedicine to the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [173371]
Norman Lamb: The Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) programme, launched in 2008, was funded and run by the Department and was the largest randomised control trial in the world of telecare and telehealth. This WSD evaluated the effects of telehealth service utilisation on 6,191 patients in 238 general practitioner (GP) practices across three sites in Newham, Kent and Cornwall. It was set up to look at cost-effectiveness, clinical-effectiveness, organisational issues, effect on carers and work force issues.
A paper from the London School of Economics (LSE) on cost-effectiveness of telehealth in the WSD study, published in the British Medical Journal on 22 March 2013, found that it was delivered at high cost. The LSE identified a quality-adjusted life year (QALY) figure of £90,000 per patient which is three times the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended maximum level. The LSE paper can be found at:
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www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f1035
We recognise that, when delivered as an add-on to existing services at low volume use and at a high unit price, telehealth and telecare is not cost-effective. This is why the ‘3millionlives’ initiative was developed. This initiative aims to build a different approach to delivery based on a new business model that will help to make telehealth both cost and clinically-effective. WSD clearly shows that using telehealth as an integral part of health and care services can help to reduce hospital admissions. The three WSD sites using telehealth experienced:
a 15% reduction in A&E visits;
a 20% reduction in emergency admissions;
a 14% reduction in elective admissions;
a 14% reduction in bed days;
an 8% reduction in tariff costs; and
a 45% reduction in mortality rates.
Implemented effectively as part of a whole system redesign of care, telehealth and telecare have long-term benefits such as alleviating pressure on national health service costs in the long term and improve people's quality of life through better self-care in the home setting.
The Department is working closely with the NHS, social care and other stakeholders to simplify procurement and commissioning processes for telehealth and telecare services. ‘3millionlives’ aims to work in collaboration with industry, the NHS, social care and professional partners to improve the lives of three million people over the next five years through the introduction of telehealth and telecare technologies into redesigned clinical pathways.
Tobacco: Packaging
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on standardised tobacco packaging; and what recent discussions he has had on this issue with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing in Scotland. [172859]
Jane Ellison: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given by the Under-Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter) to the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Cathy Jamieson) on 8 October 2013, Official Report, column 118W.
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations his Department has received for a public inquiry to be held into maternity and neonatal services at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust. [173276]
Dr Poulter: A search of the Department's ministerial correspondence database identified written representations received between 1 January 2012 and 30 June 2013 from five individual correspondents calling for a public inquiry to be held into maternity and neonatal services at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (FT). This is a minimum figure which represents correspondence received by the Department's ministerial correspondence unit only.
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A search of Private Office diary records was made between 1 January 2012 and 30 June 2013 for relevant ministerial meetings and parliamentary business. The following representations were identified:
On 12 July 2012, the former Minister of State for Health (Simon Burns) met Members of Parliament from the Morecambe Bay area. The hon. Member for Barrow and Furness asked about an independent inquiry.
On 5 February 2013, at a Westminster Hall debate on “Standards of Care and Future Services at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust”, the hon. Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock) voiced concerns about the need for an independent inquiry.
On 12 February 2013, at a meeting with the NHS, a local campaigner and his MP, the hon. Member for Barrow and Furness, and having listened to the concerns raised, I brokered an agreement for an open, transparent and independent investigation into maternity and neonatal services at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS FT. This investigation is now under way.
International Development
British Overseas Territories
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding from the European Development Fund each overseas territory for which Britain has responsibility received in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13; how much it will receive in 2013-14; for what purpose each grant was received; and if she will make a statement. [173174]
Lynne Featherstone: The European Development Fund (EDF) was agreed alongside the current Multiannual Financial Framework, negotiated when the hon. Member was Minister for Europe. EDF has provided funding to the following Overseas Territories for which Britain has responsibility. The EDF reports on calendar years and the information is taken from the EuropeAid Annual Reports for these years.
For the development of the air transportation sector and to help implement the Government's medium-term economic strategy 2010-14.
| EDF disbursement (€ million) | |
To accelerate sustainable economic growth by supporting private sector development in trade and to implement the sustainable development and diversification components of the Islands Plan (2012-17).
A financing decision of EUR 4.13 million was adopted in 2013 with disbursements expected from early 2014.
To support sustainable tourism through infrastructure development, private sector development and ICT development and for the improvement of public administration.
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| EDF disbursement (€ million) | |
For the development of alternative landing facilities to support sustainable tourism.
| EDF disbursement (€ million) | |
A further EUR 2.4 million will be disbursed by the end of 2013.
St Helena (including Tristan da Cunha and Ascension)
To support to transport infrastructure.
| EDF disbursement (€ million) | |
For infrastructure and macro-economic reforms.
| EDF disbursement (€ million) | |
Charities Act 2006
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what reports her Department has laid before each House of Parliament pursuant to section 70(9) of the Charities Act 2006 in 2012-13. [172942]
Energy
Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what costs were incurred by her Department's estate in respect of (a) gas and (b) electricity supply in the 2012-13 financial year. [172794]
Mr Duncan: DFID's expenditure on its UK estate was £83,058 on gas supplies and £569,706 on electricity during the 2012-13 financial year.
Overseas Aid
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discretion (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have over when and where Europe Aid directs aid. [173374]
Justine Greening: Decisions on current allocations were taken at the beginning of the 2007-2013 budget period, when the right hon. Member was Minister for Europe.
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This Government have led the way in pressing for the number of recipients of EU aid under the next MFF (2014-20) to be reduced. Under the changes, upper-middle income countries including Brazil, China and India will no longer receive bilateral grant assistance under the Development Co-operation Instrument. The MFF is now subject to approval by the European Parliament.
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which non-governmental organisations are suppliers of UK aid; and in which countries such aid is distributed. [173375]
Justine Greening: DFID supports Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) through a range of centrally managed funds and country programmes. Details of funding provided to UK based CSOs can be found in Table 19 of the ‘Statistics on international development’ publication which is available online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/table-19-dfid-expenditure-through-uk-csos-2011-12
The Department also provides support to local civil society organisations in the countries where we work as appropriate.
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what role is played by the National Security Council in the decision-making process which determines which countries UK aid is directed to and in what form. [173376]
Justine Greening: The National Security Council, on which the Secretary of State for International Development sits, and the National Security Strategy, set a coherent framework for all of HMG's security and conflict prevention activity, which helps inform decisions as to which countries receive UK aid.
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development to how many countries the UK provides aid via Europe Aid; and which of these are considered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to have humanitarian records which give cause for concern. [173377]
Justine Greening: Under the current Multiannual Financial Framework (2007-13) negotiated when the right hon. Member was Minister for Europe, EU aid investments funded projects regardless of progress on reform. This Government have ensured that under the next MFF (2014-20), where reforms on democracy and human rights have not taken place, funding to Governments can be reduced or withdrawn.
Recipients of the EU budget and the European Development Fund can be found in Table 5.11 of the 2013 EuropeAid Annual report.
South Sudan
Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the development effects of seasonal flooding in South Sudan; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure humanitarian aid is reaching vulnerable people in these areas. [173168]
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Lynne Featherstone: Following the onset of heavy rains in August 2013, seasonal flooding has caused damage to houses, crops and basic infrastructure in eight states across South Sudan. Affected states include Jonglei, Lakes, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Unity, Upper Nile, Warrap, Western Bahr el Ghazal and Western Equatoria.
As of 29 October, approximately 155,000 people were assessed to be in need of assistance. Aid organisations are responding with food, household items, WASH and medical assistance. Almost 100,000 people have received assistance to date. Access challenges remain due to lack of logistics capacity with many flooded areas only accessible by air, but needs assessments are ongoing in areas that are accessible.
The UK has allocated £43 million to meet humanitarian needs in South Sudan in 2013. This includes an allocation
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of £30 million to the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF), which is used to address high priority humanitarian needs and critical events such as seasonal flooding.
Syria
John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate she has made of the proportion of Syrian refugees under the age of 16 years in each host country who are currently in full-time education. [173308]
Justine Greening: UNICEF estimates that there are 600,000 school-age refugee children in the region: 40,000 are enrolled in schools in Lebanon, 81,000 in Jordan and 85,000 in Turkey.