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Justice

Courts: Greater London

Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases referred by either the police or the Crown Prosecution Service to either Crown court or a magistrates court in London were adjourned (a) once, (b) twice, (c) three times and (d) four or more times in each of the last two years; and if he will make a statement. [180912]

Mr Vara: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service can identify the number of cases before magistrates courts or the Crown court in London, and the total number of hearings each case had before it concluded and from that how many times the case was adjourned from its first hearing to its final hearing. There are a number of different types of hearings from preliminary hearings, bail applications, trials and sentence hearings and different cases require different numbers of hearings. These data are management information and not subject to the same level of checks as Official Statistics. We are not able to separately identify CPS and police prosecutions in the Crown court so all trial cases are included. We have presented data for 2011 and 2012.

Table 1 shows data for defendants in magistrates courts in London and Table 2 shows data for trial cases in the Crown court in London. The proportion of defendants whose case is dealt with in one hearing at London magistrates courts increased from 52.6% in 2011 to 54.0% in 2012. Judicially led initiatives in the Crown court, such as the early guilty plea scheme, and in the magistrates courts, such as stop delaying justice, have started to have an impact on the in court culture with challenge on the need to enter a guilty plea early in the process.

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Electronic Tagging

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much he plans to spend on services relating to the electronic monitoring of offenders in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16. [180921]

Jeremy Wright: My Department is not in a position to provide meaningful expenditure forecasts until negotiations under the current competition for electronic monitoring services have concluded.

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with police and crime commissioners about the timing of the roll-out of GPS tagging technology; and if he will make a statement. [180922]

Jeremy Wright: My Department is treating police and crime commissioners as important stakeholders in the use of electronic monitoring technology. My Department intends to bring them into the stakeholder group for the new contracts in the coming weeks. We hope to engage with police forces that are keen to innovate in this area as possible early adopters of the new arrangements.

Legal Aid Scheme

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to exempt all children from the proposed residence test for civil legal aid. [181697]

Mr Vara: The Government believe that individuals, including children, should in principle have a strong connection to the UK in order to benefit from civil legal aid. Therefore as set out in the Government response, ‘Transforming Legal Aid: Next Steps’, we intend to proceed with our proposal that applicants for civil legal aid will need to be lawfully resident in the UK, Crown Dependencies or British Overseas Territories at the time they apply and have resided there lawfully for at least 12 months in the past.

In addition to exceptions for serving members of Her Majesty's UK Armed Forces and their immediate families, and for asylum seekers, we set out a number of modifications to the test in Next Steps. For any case, children under 12 months old would not be required to have 12 months of previous continuous residence. The test would also not apply in certain types of case which broadly relate to an individual's liberty, where the individual is particularly vulnerable or where the case relates to the protection of children.

We believe the exceptions we have made strike the right balance between delivering a legal aid system that is fair to taxpayers and helps command public confidence, while still ensuring legal aid remains available for cases which justify it.

Legal Profession: Bank Services

Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make an assessment of the Caisse Des Règlements Pécuniaires de Avocates (CARPA) system in operation in France and its potential applicability to the UK. [181115]

Mr Vara: In its consultation exercise ‘Proposals for the Reform of Legal Aid in England and Wales’

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20111121205348/http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/consultations/legal-aid-reform-consultation.pdf

the Government examined options for alternative sources of legal aid funding, including consideration of the CARPA schemes in France. In our subsequent consultation response, ‘Reform of Legal Aid in England and Wales: the Government Response’

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20111121205348/http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/consultations/legal-aid-reform-government-response.pdf

the Government concluded that neither the CARPA model nor the related Interest on Lawyers' Trust Account schemes, operating in the United States of America and Australia, should be pursued at that time. The Government currently have no plans to revisit the viability of CARPA schemes for England and Wales.

Magistrates Courts

Sir Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse (a) per hour, (b) per case and (c) per year of deploying (i) a district judge and (ii) a bench of three magistrates to reside over cases in magistrates courts; and what the component elements are of that estimate in each case. [180431]

Mr Vara: The average estimated costs for the financial year 2012-13 are given in the table.

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The component elements of the estimates in each case are:

(i) a district judge—actual average cost of a district judge magistrates court including: salaries (pension and national insurance), travel and subsistence, conferences and courses (external and internal), catering, car hire, training and costs of court associates sitting with district judge magistrates court.

(ii) a bench of three magistrates—actual average costs of magistrates, including: travel and subsistence, loss of earnings for employed and self-employed magistrates and the cost of a legal adviser.

A meaningful cost per case cannot be calculated as a completed case can involve multiple hearings and varying durations to completion.

Previous research studies, including by IPSOS MORI available at:

www.justice.gov.uk/publications/research.htm

have highlighted the difficulty of comparing the relative cost and productivity of magistrates and district judges.

Magistrates' Courts: Prestatyn

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will publish all plans to upgrade Prestatyn magistrates' court made in the last six years; and what the current status of these plans is. [181887]

Mr Vara: In addition to ongoing maintenance work at Prestatyn magistrates court, in 2009-10 a new front entrance was installed to ensure compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act and in 2012 Health and Safety work was carried out in the custody suite to remove ligature points.

In December 2010, as part of the HMCTS Court Estate Reform Programme (CERP), it was announced that Rhyl County Court would close with its work transferring to Prestatyn magistrates court. Since then HMCTS has continued to review its estate to ensure it meets operational requirements. As part of this work HMCTS has submitted two planning applications to Denbighshire County Council for upgrade works at Prestatyn magistrates court to inform feasibility planning. The documents supporting the applications are available for viewing through the Council's online planning application search facility.

Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many prison officers have taken up the voluntary early departure scheme in each month since May 2010; [181116]

(2) how much in total has been paid in severance to prison officers taking voluntary early departure in each month since 2010; [181138]

(3) what the average amount is which has been paid in severance to prison officers taking voluntary early departure since 2010; [181856]

(4) what the average continuous service was of prison officers who have taken voluntary early departure since May 2010. [181137]

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Jeremy Wright: Information of the number of prison officers in the public sector taking up voluntary early departure in each month between 1 May 2010 and 30 September 2013 and the total amount paid in severance to those officers is contained in the following table.

The average payment made to each officer taking up voluntary early departure between May 2010 and September 2013 was £35,550.

The average length of continuous service of each officer taking up voluntary early departure between May 2010 and September 2013 was 18.7 years.

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Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many prison officers have been made redundant in each month since May 2010; [181120]

(2) how much in redundancy pay has been paid to each prison officer in each month since May 2010. [181119]

Jeremy Wright: No prison officers in public sector prisons in England and Wales were made redundant between 1 May 2010 and 30 September 2013.

No redundancy pay was paid to any prison officer in public sector prisons in England and Wales between 1 May 2010 and 30 September 2013.

Prisoners' Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme

Mary Macleod: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress he has made on the rollout of changes to the incentives and privileges scheme in prisons. [900372]

Jeremy Wright: The revised Incentives and Earned Privileges national policy framework came into effect on 1 November 2013. Under the revised framework, prisoners will have to work towards their own rehabilitation, behave well and help others if they wish to earn privileges. The absence of bad behaviour alone will no longer be sufficient to progress through the scheme. We are considering separately a revised system of privileges for young people.

Probation

Sir Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to empower magistrates to require offender supervisors employed by community rehabilitation companies to give evidence in breach proceedings brought before them by the National Probation Service. [180960]

Jeremy Wright: Under the new structure, it will be for the National Probation Service (NPS) to lay information before the court in breach proceedings. Where the case has been referred to the NPS by a community rehabilitation company, the NPS should satisfy itself that the evidence of breach from that provider is robust and legal, and if necessary it can require that the provider produces more evidence before the case is presented to court.

The court should seek the best evidence available and has the power to seek that evidence direct from the provider, and can require the CRC to attend. We will ensure that contractual arrangements require providers to take all necessary steps to support the breach process.

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Sir Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions he has had with the Magistrates' Association and the Council of HM Circuit Judges about the practicability of dividing the responsibility between community rehabilitation companies and the National Probation Service for reporting breaches of supervision orders and community sentences and the enforcement of the breach in the courts; and if he will make a statement. [181088]

Jeremy Wright: Officials and Ministers have regular discussions about the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms with stakeholders including the Magistrates' Association and the Council of HM Circuit Judges.

The National Probation Service (NPS) will decide on action in relation to all potential breaches beyond a first warning. This is in accordance with section 4 of the Offender Management Act 2007 which provides that the function of “giving... assistance to any court in determining the appropriate sentence to pass, or making any other decision, in respect of a person charged with or convicted of an offence” is ‘restricted probation provision’ and must therefore be carried out by a Probation Trust or other public body. In cases where the offender is being managed by the Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC), the CRC will need to prepare all pre-breach paperwork. The NPS will then review the case and decide on the necessary action in consultation with the CRC. This mirrors existing practice in some Probation Trusts where enforcement action is taken by an officer other than the one managing the case.

Probation: Private Sector

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he has taken to ensure the competency of companies who hold Government contracts to provide probation services. [180700]

Jeremy Wright: On 19 September we launched the competition to find the future owners of the 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) which will deliver rehabilitation services in England and Wales, as set out in the Transforming Rehabilitation Strategy, announced in May. A range of providers have passed through the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire stage and will be progressed to the next stage. All of the bidders have experience working with offenders or across the wider criminal justice system. We will be testing bidders thoroughly on the proposals they submit and only bids of the highest quality will succeed. Once appointed, providers will be expected to deliver to the highest standards.

The reformed system will be regulated and held to account through a combination of independent inspection, audit and commercial account management by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS).

Payment by results will provide a very real incentive to providers to succeed.

Health

Abortion

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require an evidence-based psychiatric or psychological

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assessment with an accepted diagnostic protocol which would require a doctor to have training and experience in psychological or psychiatric medicine before being able to authorise abortions under ground C of the Abortion Act 1967. [181343]

Jane Ellison: It is accepted parliamentary practice that proposals for changes in the law on abortion are put forward by backbench Members of Parliament rather than the Government, and that decisions are made on the basis of free votes.

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he holds on (a) the number and proportion of medical practitioners who authorise abortion on ground C who are qualified mental health practitioners and (b) the number and proportion of cases where an abortion is certified on ground C in which the woman seeking the abortion has met the authorising medical practitioner. [181895]

Jane Ellison: Information on the number and proportion of medical practitioners authorising abortions under ground C (section 1(1)(a) of the Abortion Act) who are qualified mental health practitioners is not collected centrally.

In 2012, the latest year for which data are available, the proportion of ground C abortions where one or more of the certifying doctors stated that they have seen and/or examined the pregnant woman was 46% (83,930) cases. It should be noted that where this information is not completed on form HSA4, the default position is that neither doctor saw or examined the pregnant woman. These data should therefore be considered with this caveat as not all doctors have specifically indicated whether or not they have met the woman.

In November 2013, the chief medical officer for England wrote to all doctors reminding them of their duties under the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended).

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2013, Official Report, column 349W, on alcoholic drinks: misuse, how many meetings at ministerial level to discuss matters arising from the strategy have been held; and which Ministers have attended each such meeting. [182228]

Jane Ellison: Issues arising from the strategy are discussed at inter-ministerial meetings and in Cabinet committees concerning broader policy issues. Aspects of the strategy are also discussed at ministerial meetings with relevant stakeholders. It is not practicable to estimate the number of such discussions.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2013, Official Report, column 349W, on alcoholic drinks: misuse, on what date the Government and Partners Alcohol Working Group last met; when the next meeting is scheduled to take place; and which organisations have been invited to attend. [182229]

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Jane Ellison: The Government and Partners Alcohol Working Group last met on 17 June 2013.

The Government remain committed to engaging with partner organisations. Officials continue to meet with partners to discuss alcohol policy and will be scheduling further meetings with relevant organisations in due course.

Beef: Horsemeat

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the decision was (a) taken and (b) communicated to him that charges would not be brought against people implicated in selling horsemeat as beef. [182390]

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advise a decision has not been taken so there has been no communication.

The decision to take forward prosecutions rests with the police and prosecuting authorities not the Government. Investigations into possible criminal activity on horsemeat are ongoing in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe. Progress has been made which has led to arrests in both the UK and in other member states. The City of London police is leading the criminal investigation into the incident. It is not appropriate to comment on the detail of these investigations. This is a criminal investigation and as such details will not appear in the public domain as the investigation proceeds.

Behavioural Disorders

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many cases of Asperger's syndrome were treated by the NHS in each region in each of the last five years; [181873]

(2) how many cases of bipolar disorder were treated by the NHS in each region in each of the last five years; [181875]

(3) how many cases of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were treated by the NHS in each region in each of the last five years; [181877]

(4) how many cases of anti-social personality disorder were treated by the NHS in each region in each of the last five years. [181878]

Norman Lamb: The data requested are not held centrally by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

However, in relation to cases of attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines indicate that 3% and 9% of young people in the United Kingdom now have some form of ADHD, depending on the criteria used. In September 2008 NICE published guidance ‘Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Diagnosis and management of ADHD in children, young people and adults’:

http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/12061/42107/42107.pdf

This was reviewed in 2011. NICE'S conclusion at that time was that there was no new evidence that would invalidate the existing recommendations.

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Brain: Tumours

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will distribute the Brain Tumour Charity's HeadSmart symptoms awareness cards to every clinical commissioning group. [181453]

Jane Ellison: This is a matter for the ‘HeadSmart’ campaign to discuss with NHS England and clinical commissioning groups.

However, we understand that the NHS Choices website, which offers a wide range of resources to support health care professionals in their work with patients, includes a link to the HeadSmart campaign materials at:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/brain-tumours/pages/introduction.aspx

Breast Cancer

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with professional bodies on the use of vitamin D as a preventative measure against breast cancer. [182251]

Jane Ellison: Ministers have had no discussions with professional bodies about the use of vitamin D as a preventative measure against breast cancer.

Cancer

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the symptoms of all cancer types to enable GPs and other healthcare providers to make earlier diagnoses and referrals. [181458]

Jane Ellison: Raising awareness of symptoms of cancers falls within the campaigns that are now the responsibility of Public Health England (PHE). Be Clear on Cancer public campaigns (encouraging symptom recognition and earlier general practitioner presentation) have been running since early 2011 and have covered a number of cancers nationally and regionally; these include bowel, lung, kidney and bladder under the common symptom of “blood in pee”, breast, ovarian and oesophageal.

PHE works closely with the Department and NHS England to ensure that health care professionals are also targeted with campaign information to encourage earlier diagnoses and referrals. Results to date have been very encouraging.

Cancer: Drugs

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of an overspend in the Cancer Drugs Fund on cancer patients' access to medicines. [181352]

Norman Lamb: We are assured by NHS England that any potential overspend of the Cancer Drugs Fund in the current financial year will not affect the ability of other cancer patients to access cancer medicines.

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make an assessment of the effect of negative technology appraisals from the National

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Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the demand for medicines through the Cancer Drugs Fund since

(a)

April 2013 and

(b)

the creation of the fund in 2010. [181353]

Norman Lamb: Cancer drugs that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has been unable to recommend on grounds of clinical and cost-effectiveness are available through the Cancer Drugs Fund subject to decisions by the fund's clinical panel. If NICE is unable to recommend a cancer drug for routine use in the national health service, this will inevitably have the potential to lead to requests to access that drug through the fund.

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) pursuant to the answer of 24 October 2013, Official Report, columns 248-9W, on cancer: drugs, what steps NHS England plans to take to improve the (a) collection and (b) analysis of data about spending through the Cancer Drugs Fund; [181368]

(2) what discussions he has had with NHS England about future publication arrangements for expenditure information on the Cancer Drugs Fund. [181369]

Norman Lamb: NHS England has informed us that data on the applications approved through the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) are reported monthly by the four regional/area teams that operationally manage the fund. This information is published quarterly on NHS England's website.

Alongside this, financial spend data are received monthly from each of the NHS England area teams and reviewed at a monthly national CDF team meeting. This information allows NHS England to review invoiced spend to date (from NHS trusts), review each region's predictions for end of year spend and refine national predictions of end of year spend.

The national prediction of spend is developed by NHS England's Chemotherapy Clinical Reference Group. It is informed by data on applications received to date, as well as predications of likely future demand and costs associated with the drugs available within the national CDF priority list.

We understand that summary expenditure information showing invoiced spend to date, regional predicted spend and the current national predicted spend on the CDF will be published by NHS England in the next few weeks.

Cervical Cancer

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to increase awareness of cervical cancer symptoms and the importance of screening, especially of women aged between 25 to 29 and 60 to 64. [182455]

Jane Ellison: Public Health England has work in hand to improve the performance and quality of the NHS Cervical Screening Programme (NHS CSP), including work to improve screening rates in areas with low uptake.

There is a lack of published evidence regarding the effectiveness of interventions designed to increase attendance among women aged under 35. The National Institute

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for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme has commissioned a £1 million study to determine which interventions are effective at increasing screening uptake among women who are receiving their first invitation from the NHS CSP at around age 25. The “Strategies to increase cervical screening uptake at first invitation” (STRATEGIC) study is trialling interventions such as: a pre-invitation leaflet; internet appointment booking; timed appointments; the provision of personal support through nurse navigators; and human papillomavirus self-sampling. The study began in November 2011 and is due to run until October 2015.

We are aware of falling coverage rates in women aged 60 to 64. This may be because having cervical samples taken is uncomfortable for older women, and it can be difficult for the sample taker to take the sample. However, we do not underestimate the issue, and screening acceptance among women aged 60 to 64 will be a substantive item on the agenda of the Advisory Committee on Cervical Screening when it next meets in the spring.

Regarding awareness, in partnership with the Department and NHS England, since April 2013, Public Health England (PHE) has taken on the running of the Be Clear on Cancer campaigns to highlight the symptoms of a range of cancers and to encourage people with the relevant symptoms to visit their general practitioner.

Our focus so far has been on cancers with the largest number of avoidable deaths, compared with countries with the best survival rates. However, PHE, the Department and NHS England will keep these campaigns under review and work with relevant experts to see what might be done to tackle awareness of the symptoms of other cancers, such as cervical cancer.

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to improve cervical cancer prevention following the recently published Public Health Outcomes Framework. [182456]

Jane Ellison: The human papillomavirus (HPV) is responsible for nearly all cases of cervical cancer. The national HPV vaccination programme, which began in 2008, protects against the strains of HPV which cause 70% of cervical cancer and has among the highest vaccine uptake rates in the world. Evidence from clinical trials has demonstrated a very high vaccine efficacy against the pre-cursors of cervical cancer.

In addition, the NHS Cervical Screening Programme aims to prevent cervical cancer by detecting and treating abnormalities of the cervix which may have gone on to develop into cancer. Over 3.5 million women are screened every year in England, and experts estimate the programme saves around 4,500 lives a year.

The programme is currently being modernised to provide a more personalised service to women and to make it more cost-effective, and from April 2014, HPV testing as triage for women with low grade screening results and for women already treated for abnormalities will be routine. A world-leading pilot of HPV testing as primary screening is also under way which, if proven to be successful, will provide an even more personalised, more cost-effective service to women.

Public Health England has work in hand to improve the performance and quality of the programme, including work to improve screening rates in areas with low uptake.

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Christmas Cards

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on Christmas cards and postage in each year since 2010. [181457]

Dr Poulter: The Department has conducted a search of its own Business Management System which has not identified any expenditure on Christmas cards and postage.

A search to identify any possible expenditure for Christmas cards and postage incurred by the Department through Government Procurement Cards and i-expenses would incur a disproportionate cost for the Department. This level of information is not recorded separately and costs for these items are not available without checking every line of every claim.

Clostridium Difficile

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of c. difficile infection were treated by the NHS in each region in each of the last 24 months. [181876]

Dr Poulter: Although Public Health England (PHE) does not specifically collect data on how many cases were treated for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), as part of its mandatory surveillance programmes it does collect data on the number of cases of CDI.

The data summarised in Table 1 represent the total number of cases of CDI reported to PHE and the rates of CDI across England per quarter for the previous four calendar years (April 2010 to September 2013 inclusive). The data show that the CDI rate has decreased by 40% over this time period from 46.76 cases per 100,000 population in Q2 2010 to 27.89 cases per 100,000 population in Q3 2013.

The data summarised in Table 2 represent the total number of cases of CDI reported to PHE by NHS region in each of the last 19 months which are the most recently available published data.

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Cosmetics

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on cosmetic make-up in each year since 2010. [181456]

Dr Poulter: The Department has conducted a search of its own Business Management System which has not identified any expenditure on cosmetic make-up.

A search to identify any possible expenditure for cosmetic make-up incurred by the Department through Government Procurement Cards and i-expenses would incur a disproportionate cost for the Department. This level of information is not recorded separately and costs for these items are not available without checking every line of every claim.

Depressive Illnesses

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 28 November 2013, Official Report, column 413W, on depressive illnesses, if he will commission research into changes in the average age of the onset of depression over the last 50 years and the consequences of such changes for policy development. [181349]

Dr Poulter: The Department has no plans to commission research into the average age of the onset of depression.

The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds a wide range of research relating to depression. The NIHR Clinical Research Network is currently recruiting patients to 37 studies in depression.

Drugs: Misuse

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many new psychoactive substances have been identified by the National Poisons Information Service in each month since May 2010; and how many such substances have been referred to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. [181938]

Jane Ellison: Identification of Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) requires analytical confirmation of exposure; this is achieved by identification of the responsible NPS in biological samples from the patient, such as blood or urine. This is not performed as part of routine clinical care and there is no current mechanism for obtaining such analyses on a United Kingdom-wide basis for public health surveillance purposes. As a result it is unusual for NHS staff or the National Poisons information Service (NPIS) to be able to identify a NPS formally. Since May 2010 there have been two occasions where NPIS has been able to work with NHS clinicians and an analytical laboratory to provide laboratory identification of a specific NPS. Both episodes were reported either to Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs or the UK Focal Point and subsequently to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

In addition, the Government's Forensic Early Warning System identified 10 substances in the UK in 2012-13. These were reported to the EMCDDA via a submission from the Focal Point.

Food: Contamination

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many food adulteration surveys on foods other than meat the Food Standards Agency has carried out since January 2013. [182391]

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is the central competent authority for food safety and has a statutory function to protect public health and consumers' other interests in relation to food and drink. While the FSA leads on food safety aspects of labelling in England the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is responsible for policy on labelling and non-food safety issues.

The majority of food law enforcement is delegated to local authorities throughout the United Kingdom who carry out checks of food businesses in their area to ensure compliance with food safety, traceability and labelling requirements. The FSA makes funding available

13 Jan 2014 : Column 411W

to UK local authorities and ports for sampling and surveillance of food to help ensure risk-based targeted checks throughout the food chain. Priorities for the National Risk-Based Food Sampling Programme are agreed with DEFRA, and for 2013-14 include the following areas of non-meat food authenticity:

Fish speciation/DNA testing;

Fruit Juice adulteration—To check that no "Made from concentrate" juice is labelled as freshly squeezed/not from concentrate;

Authenticity of durum wheat; and

Authenticity of Basmati rice.

A small study on geographic origin of foods is being carried out by the FSA, in partnership with DEFRA, to look at the geographic origin of foods (including tomatoes, apple juice and honey) claiming to be from the UK. Further information on this can be found at:

http://food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2014/jan/isotopes

General Practitioners

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the potential effect on patient care of raising NHS general practice funding from 8.5 per cent to 11 per cent by 2017. [181434]

Dr Poulter: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has not made a direct assessment of the potential effect of raising NHS general practice funding from 8.5% to 11% by 2017.

Primary medical care is the responsibility of NHS England and it is for that body to determine the level of funding required to deliver those services in order to meet the needs of patients.

NHS England is developing a strategic framework for commissioning of primary care services, strengthening general practice and enabling it to play an even more pivotal role at the heart of more integrated systems of out-of-hospital care for patients and local communities.

The Government recognise the central role that primary care has to play in helping keep people healthy, supporting proactive management of long-term health needs and reducing the need for hospital admissions. The Government will set out, later this year, plans for improving care for vulnerable older people, including the central role that general practitioners have to play in helping people to stay healthy and live independently.

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GPs there were in each (a) parliamentary constituency, (b) local authority and (c) region; and how many patients each such GP was responsible for in each year since 2005. [181665]

Dr Poulter: The information is not collected in the requested format.

Information is available showing the number of general practitioners (GPs) in each strategic health authority and primary care trust (PCT) area, along with the average number of patients per GP in each PCT area for the years requested.

A copy of this information has been placed in the Library.

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General Practitioners: Telephone Services

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on doctors' surgeries using 0844 numbers. [182067]

Dr Poulter: Regulations introduced in 2010 prevented general practice practices from entering into, renewing or extending a contract for telephone services unless it was satisfied that, looking at the arrangements as a whole, patients would not pay more to make calls to the practice than they would to make calls to a geographical number.

It is for NHS England to ensure that practices are meeting the terms of their contracting arrangements.

Health

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff are currently employed by NHS England specifically to work on public health issues. [182467]

Jane Ellison: NHS England have advised that they have 152 members of staff working in the area of public health, although not all of these roles are exclusive to public health work and extend into other areas of NHS England's activities. Within this group of 152 staff there is a balance between managerial and support staff. Around 85% of the people engaged in these roles are based in NHS England's Regional and Area Teams, with the rest in NHS England's national office.

NHS England works closely alongside Public Health England and other relevant bodies to ensure a co-ordinated response on such issues.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff are currently employed by his Department specifically to work on public health issues. [182468]

Jane Ellison: The Department's Public Health Directorate has a headcount of 332 staff. Many others across the Department work on public health issues from time to time. In addition Public Health England, an executive agency of the Department, has a headcount of 5,276 staff. The distribution of Public Health England staff is set out in the table:

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Health Education

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2013, Official Report, column 353W, on health education, what percentage of the Change4Life budget is being spent on (a) alcohol, (b) obesity and physical health and (c) other areas. [182227]

Jane Ellison: Approximately 1.1% of the 2013-14 Change4Life budget can be identified as being spent solely in the alcohol area. Other spend on alcohol cannot be identified separately such as the cost of maintaining the Change4Life website which includes alcohol pages.

The remainder of the Change4Life budget is spent promoting healthy eating and activity in a programme designed to fight obesity, encouraging physical health and mental well-being.

Health: Children

Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of levels of fitness of school children (a) nationally and (b) by region. [181487]

Jane Ellison: The Department has not made an estimate on the levels of fitness of school children either nationally or by region, as we do not collect these data.

We know that too many children are overweight and we want more children to do regular exercise. That is why we have committed to giving primary schools £180 million of ring-fenced funding to improve physical education and sport so that all pupils develop healthy, active lifestyles.

Sir Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's top five children's health priorities are following the publication of the Chief Medical Officer's report, Our children deserve better - prevention pays. [182122]

Dr Poulter: The Chief Medical Officer's report was very helpful in highlighting the case for improving children and young people's health and the need for a greater focus on prevention.

In February 2013, I launched a national pledge to improve the health outcomes of our children and young people so that they become among the best in the world. The pledge, which is entirely consistent with the findings set out in the Chief Medical Officer's report, included five shared ambitions which summarise this Department's top five children's health priorities:

Children, young people and their families will be at the heart of decision-making, with the health outcomes that matter most to them taking priority;

Services, from pregnancy through to adolescence and beyond, will be high quality, evidence-based and safe, delivered at the right time, in the right place, by a properly planned, educated and trained work force;

Good mental and physical health and early interventions, including for children and young people with long-term conditions, will be of equal importance to caring for those who become acutely unwell;

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Services will be integrated and care will be co-ordinated around the individual with an optimal experience of transition to adult services for those young people who require ongoing health and care in adult life; and

There will be clear leadership, accountability and assurance and organisations will work in partnership for the benefit of children and young people.

The pledge has been signed up to by a wide range of organisations. For the very first time, this shows that everyone across the health and care system is determined to play their part in improving health outcomes for children and young people.

Sir Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will revise the methodology for health technology assessments of interventions in children to recognise differences between adult and child health in the light of the Chief Medical Officer's report Our children deserve better—prevention pays. [182123]

Norman Lamb: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for issuing guidance to the national health service on the clinical and cost-effective use of new and existing treatments, including medicines licensed for children, through its technology appraisal guidance.

NICE is responsible for the methods it uses for the development of its technology appraisal guidance and its ‘Guide to the Methods of Technology Appraisal’, available at:

http://publications.nice.org.uk/guide-to-the-methods-of-technology-appraisal-2013-pmg9

recognises that there may be differences in how health benefits should be measured depending on age. NICE recently carried out a periodic review of its methods including extensive engagement with stakeholders.

HIV Infection: Vaccination

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide funding for the Society for General Microbiology for its microbiologists to continue their ongoing research into new treatments for infections and to enable them to carry on their progress in developing an HIV vaccine. [181640]

Dr Poulter: The Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including infection. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and the national health service, value for money and scientific quality. Applications are welcome from microbiologists, including members of the Society for General Microbiology carrying out research at institutions in England.

In 2012-13, the NIHR spent a total of £23.8 million on infection research. This includes research relating to HIV vaccines carried out by NIHR biomedical research centres.

Horsemeat

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Food Standards Agency spent on (a) the sampling regime for testing for horsemeat in

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2013 and

(b)

sampling horse carcasses for phenylbutazone residue in 2013 after the 100% sampling regime was introduced. [182393]

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) set up a United Kingdom-wide sampling programme of beef products in early 2013, initially in two phases. Products were tested for both horse and pig DNA and, where this was found, further analysis was carried out for phenylbutazone. Recommendation 2013/99/EU established a European Union-wide co-ordinated control plan, in which member states were asked to test certain foods marketed and/or labelled as containing beef for the presence of horse DNA. These sampling requests were incorporated into the UK survey as a third phase.

The FSA has met the cost of sampling and analysis and a contribution of £50 towards the costs of sample purchase and handling for food samples. The combined costs of sampling and testing for horse DNA and phenylbutazone residues in the various phases:

Phase 1—£113,800 (224 samples collected)

Phase 2—£73,800 (140 samples collected)

Phase 3—£33,300 (150 samples collected)

(Costs for phases 1 and 2 include testing for pig DNA. Costs for phase 3 include the partial reimbursement from the EU to cover the costs of the horse DNA tests carried out under Recommendation 2013/99/EU).

In addition to the above sampling, the Agency's National Coordinated Food Sampling Grants Programme for 2013-14 includes a priority for meat authenticity samples and an additional £700,000 was made available to support this.

The combined costs for sampling horse carcases and testing for phenylbutazone residues from January 2013 to the end of November 2013, since the 100% sampling regime was introduced, and which the FSA has met are £700,800. A proportion of these costs were reimbursed by the EU under Recommendation 2013/99/EU for testing carried out as part of the EU wide survey.

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the target waiting time is for urgent spinal surgery; how many hospitals are in breach of waiting time targets for urgent spinal surgery; and what the average waiting time for such patients is in (a) Merseyside, (b) the north-west and (c) the UK. [182230]

Jane Ellison: The operational standards for consultant-led elective care waiting times for the national health service in England are that:

a minimum of 90% of admitted patients should start treatment within 18 weeks of referral;

a minimum of 95% of non-admitted patients should start treatment within 18 weeks of referral; and

a minimum of 92% of patients on an incomplete pathway (patients still waiting to start treatment) should have been waiting no more than 18 weeks.

These standards apply to elective spinal surgery; however, all patients should be treated without unnecessary delay and according to clinical need.

Further information requested is not available. NHS England collects and publishes monthly referral to treatment (RTT) data which are used to monitor consultant-led

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NHS waiting times in England. The national RTT waiting times data are not collected at procedure level, but only at treatment function level.

In Vitro Fertilisation

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of his Department's progress on implementing the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's recommendation that funding should be made available to provide patients with three full cycles of IVF. [181523]

Jane Ellison: Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning many health care services, including infertility services, to meet the requirements of their population. In doing so, CCGs need to ensure that the services they provide are fit for purpose, reflect the needs of the local people and are value for money.

To support CCGs in their commissioning of infertility services, NHS England have issued a factsheet to them which sets out how CCGs should approach commissioning fertility services and take account of the revised National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Fertility Guideline.

Meningitis: Vaccination

Sir Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department gives to GPs in England and Wales regarding the use of the Bexsero meningitis B vaccine. [182105]

Jane Ellison: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the independent expert committee that advises the Government, has not yet made a final recommendation about the use of the meningococcal B vaccine Bexsero®. Accordingly, the Department, Public Health England and NHS England have not issued guidance on this topic to general practitioners.

Mental Health

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff are currently employed by his Department specifically to work on mental health issues. [182466]

Norman Lamb: The Department currently employs 16.1 people solely on mental health policy. However, the number of people for whom mental health policy forms a significant part of their work would be much higher.

Musculoskeletal Disorders: East Midlands

Sir Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure the long-term security of the neuromuscular care advisor role in the East Midlands; and if he will make a statement. [181524]

Norman Lamb: NHS England is responsible for commissioning specialised services, including neuromuscular services.

In July 2013 NHS England published the service specification ‘Neurosciences: Specialised Neurology (Adult)’. The service specification describes the service to be commissioned by NHS England for patients with

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a neuromuscular disorder. Care is provided via a managed clinical pathway that supports multi-disciplinary and cross-organisational working. The multi-disciplinary team included neuromuscular care co-ordinators.

The service specification has been implemented from 1 October 2013. NHS England is working with providers to ensure they are compliant with the service description and standards.

Musculoskeletal Disorders: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the demand for neuromuscular care adviser provision and specialist physiotherapy for people with neuromuscular conditions in the Hull area; and if he will make a statement. [182090]

Norman Lamb: NHS England is responsible for commissioning specialised services, including neuromuscular services. As such, the Department has made no assessment of the demand for neuromuscular care adviser provision and specialist physiotherapy for people with neuromuscular conditions in the Hull area.

In July 2013 NHS England published the service specification Neurosciences: Specialised Neurology (Adult). This describes the service to be commissioned by NHS England for patients with a neuromuscular disorder. Care is provided via a managed clinical pathway that supports multidisciplinary and cross-organisational working. The multi-disciplinary team includes neuromuscular care coordinators.

The service specification has been implemented from 1 October 2013. NHS England is working with providers to ensure they comply with the service description and standards.

Musculoskeletal Disorders: North East

Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to create an additional neuromuscular care advisor post for the North East region; and if he will make a statement. [181525]

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure an additional neuromuscular care advisory post is in place for the North East region; and if he will make a statement. [182061]

Norman Lamb: NHS England is responsible for commissioning specialised services, including neuromuscular services.

NHS England published ‘Neurosciences: Specialised Neurology (Adult)’ in July 2013. This service specification describes the service commissioned by NHS England for patients with a neuromuscular disorder. Care is provided via a managed clinical pathway that supports multi-disciplinary and cross-organisational working. The multi-disciplinary team includes neuromuscular care co-ordinators.

The service specification has been implemented from 1 October 2013. NHS England is working with providers to ensure they comply with the service description and standards.

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National Healthy Schools Programme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the potential effect on child health of the Government's decision to abolish the Healthy Schools Programme. [181506]

Jane Ellison: The Healthy Schools Programme has not been abolished but has progressed into a schools-led model following a review in 2010.

Schools continue to play an important role in supporting the health and well-being of children and young people, which is why the Healthy Schools toolkit is designed to help schools to ‘plan, do and review’ health and well-being improvements for their children and young people and to identify and select activities and interventions effectively. This is currently available on the Department for Education's website and remains available for schools to use, should they choose to.

Nurses: Schools

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the number of school nurses in each of the next two years. [181896]

Dr Poulter: Health Education England (HEE) has published the first ever national Workforce Plan which sets out clearly the investments HEE intends to make in education and training programmes to begin in September 2014. This plan is built upon the needs of frontline employers, who as members of HEE's local education training boards have shaped the 13 local plans that form the basis of our plan for England.

For 'registered nurses working in school nursing services', employers have forecast that their future requirements

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will increase by 0.9% in 2013-14 and decrease by 0.7% in 2014-15. It should be noted, however, that approximately 40% of these are recorded as being 'school nurses' (with a post-registration school nurse qualification), with the remaining 60% being other types of 'registered nurse'. There is no specific forecast for the future number of school nurses in its narrower sense.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many qualified school nurses there were in (a) Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency, (b) Birmingham and (c) England in each of the last three years. [181897]

Dr Poulter: The annual workforce census published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre does not capture the number of school nurses (with the post registration school nurse qualification) that are employed by state and independent schools or other non-NHS employers including local education authorities.

The annual workforce census collects the number of school nurses (with the post registration school nurse qualification) employed by the national health service in England at 30 September each year up to 2012. Information on the number of qualified school nurses employed in the NHS in 2013 will be available following publication of the annual workforce census in March 2014.

The number of qualified school nurses employed by the NHS in the Birmingham area and England in each of the last three years is shown in the following table. It is not possible to map organisation level workforce data to exact geographical areas. The organisations listed in the following table employ qualified school nurses in the Birmingham area. While these organisations will be the direct employer, this should not be seen as an exact indication of the area where these staff work.

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Nurses: Training

Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nursing training places were provided in each region in the last year for which figures are available. [181492]

Dr Poulter: The following table contains the number of nurse training places that were provided in 2012-13 in England. The 2013-14 data are not yet available. The table includes the students enrolled on the degree and diploma courses.

Obesity

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Public Health England's work on obesity; and what recent discussions he has had with that body on tackling obesity. [181653]

Jane Ellison: No formal assessment has been carried out but Ministers regularly meet senior Public Health England (PHE) management to discuss and take stock of its work on obesity. Departmental officials also have regular conversations with PHE on priority areas such as obesity. Furthermore, the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt) has met with the chief executive and chair of PHE to discuss the full range of PHE's priorities.

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time staff of Public Health England are working on obesity matters. [181654]

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) has approximately 12 full-time staff working on obesity from the following teams: obesity and healthy weight, obesity knowledge and intelligence and staff working on childhood obesity in the children, young people and families' team. In addition, through PHE's matrix working approach, teams which make a significant contribution to the work on obesity include: Diet and Obesity; Children; Health Equity; Adults and Older People; Marketing which includes Change4Life and PHE Regional and Centre teams.

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps Public Health England has taken to disseminate information about anti-obesity programmes; and if he will make a statement. [181655]

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Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) has taken a number of steps to disseminate information and support local authorities in tackling obesity which includes:

publishing its early programme of work on obesity in July 2013;

running local engagement events around England to engage with local authorities on obesity;

publishing weekly Obesity Knowledge Updates which highlight new research, reports, resources and news relating to obesity and its determinants;

producing and publishing evidence summaries and action briefings for local authorities; and

launching in January2014 the Change4Life Smart Swaps campaign:

https://smartswaps.change4life.co.uk/

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with Public Health England on encouraging directors of public health to compile registers of appropriate community weight management options in their region. [181656]

Jane Ellison: Directors of Public Health (DsPH) offer valued and strategic public health leadership at a local level and therefore it is a priority for Public Health England (PHE) to gain DsPH insights into current key issues to inform its approach to tackling obesity.

PHE working with the Association for Directors of Public Health and the Local Government Association commissioned a survey to explore DsPH views. The results of this survey are due to be published on 15 January 2014.

The survey has two core aims to explore the views of DsPH on:

current strategic issues relating to obesity and how obesity was positioned within local priorities; and

priority areas for PHE action and to ascertain priority for the centres and national teams.

PHE is developing a programme of work that supports local level commissioning of weight management services, involving local level participation in this process. This programme will include looking holistically across the obesity care pathways and reviewing how existing guidance is used; working with our centres; local level commissioning contacts and other partners.