Energy and Climate Change
Electricity: North East
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the average cost per kilowatt hour of electricity used by industrial users in the North East was in each year since 1997. [185137]
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Gregory Barker: Data on average industrial electricity costs in the UK for each year from 1997 to 2012 are shown in the following table. Data are not available for individual regions.
| Cost p/kWh | |
Energy: Prices
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 16 January 2014, Official Report, column 985, on energy bills, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s analysis of the major energy companies' changes to prices following the changes to the green levies. [184476]
Michael Fallon: The details of price changes made by the major energy suppliers in relation to the autumn statement can be found on the relevant pages of each major suppliers' website. We are working with Energy UK on getting this information clearly set out on their website.
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 16 January 2014, Official Report, column 984, on energy prices, what estimate his Department has made of current switching times. [184544]
Michael Fallon: Switching energy supplier is currently expected to take five weeks. Electricity and gas supply licences require suppliers to have a term in their contract providing for transfers to be made within 21-days. This currently takes place after a 14-day cooling-off period.
Ofgem analysis of information provided by the large domestic suppliers for the period Q1 2012 to Q1 2013 found that the proportion of domestic switches taking longer than three weeks after the cooling off period (without a valid reason) was over 20% in electricity and over 80% in gas. Ofgem is currently consulting on modifications to supplier licence conditions to secure a more reliable three-week switch:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/enforcing-three-week-switching
The oral answer given by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), on 16 January 2014, Official Report, column 984, on energy
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prices reflects the work being done with the industry to halve the current expected five week switching time by the end of this Parliament.
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 16 January 2014, Official Report, column 985, on energy bills, what assessment his Department has made of the consequences for customers on fixed-price deals of changes to green levies. [184573]
Michael Fallon: Following the package of measures announced on 2 December, UK households will receive, on average, around a £50 reduction in their energy bill, compared to what it would have otherwise been. Different suppliers have chosen to apply the savings to their customers in different ways, and we are working with Energy UK to set out clearly what customers will be receiving, depending on the particular tariffs they are on.
Women and Equalities
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what proportion of staff of the Equality and Human Rights Commission have indicated that they do not wish to declare their status in answer to any of the questions on the Commission's diversity declaration forms in each of the last five years. [184461]
Mr Vaizey: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an independent body and is responsible for its own staff management, including staff declaration forms. I have asked the Commission to write to my hon. Friend with the information requested.
Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities if she will place in the Library a copy of the materials used by the Equality and Human Rights Commission during its series of conferences on Dignity at Work. [184462]
Mr Vaizey: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
I will arrange for a copy of the material, requested by my hon. Friend, to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities if she will place in the Library a copy of the diversity training materials currently used by the Equality and Human Rights Commission to train its employees. [184464]
Mrs Grant: The Equality and Human Rights Commission uses the Civil Service Learning IT portal to gain access to diversity training materials for its employees. I am therefore unable to place the material requested by my hon. Friend in the Library.
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Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities if she will place in the Library a copy of the guidance entitled Manage a Diverse Workforce through Organisational Change given to managers at the Equality and Human Rights Commission. [184467]
Mr Vaizey: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission does not use a document entitled “Manage a Diverse Workforce through Organisational Change”. I am therefore unable to place the material requested by the hon. Member in the Library.
Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities how many staff currently working at the Equality and Human Rights Commission have not received the Commission's diversity training. [184468]
Mr Vaizey: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an independent body and is responsible for its own staff management, including diversity training. I have asked the Commission to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what grievances have been raised by staff at the Equality and Human Rights Commission in each of the last three years; and what the outcome was in each such case. [184763]
Mr Vaizey: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an independent body and is responsible for its own staff management, including staff grievances. I have asked the Commission to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Deputy Prime Minister
Regional Planning and Development
Mr Hollobone: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will arrange for the Minister of State for Cities and the Constitution to meet representatives of Kettering Borough Council, the Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership and the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership to co-ordinate infrastructure investment associated with a new junction 10A on the A14 at Cranford. [R] [902236]
Greg Clark: I would be delighted to meet as suggested.
Church Commissioners
Bishop of Bath and Wells
Tessa Munt: To ask the right hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the answer of 23 January 2014, Official
29 Jan 2014 : Column 577W Report
, column 317W on Bishop of Bath and Wells, in relation to the Bishop's living accommodation, what repairs or maintenance were identified in the Church Commissioners Quinquennial Review dated 2013. [185017]
Sir Tony Baldry: The reason for moving the Bishop’s accommodation is to give the Bishop more privacy and it is not to do with the cost of repairs and restoration to the flat. A considerable amount of the Palace at Wells is currently open to the public and little private space is available for the Bishop or his family. The Bishop of Bath and Wells and the Bishop of Taunton will continue to use the Palace on a daily basis as their office and to worship and pray in the chapel.
In addition to our original answer of 23 January 2014, Official Report, column 317W, please find as follows some examples of the types of ongoing work needed on the Palace building and surrounding complex, including the areas used by the Bishops as their private accommodation. Repointing of the palace, internal modernisation and refurbishment, rewiring, stabilisation of the ruins of the great hall, roof repairs, repointing of the chimneys, replacing the boiler, water tanks and pipework, installation of a new heating system, upgrading the electrical supply, and works to the kitchen and bathrooms.
Tessa Munt: To ask the right hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the answer of 23 January 2014, Official Report, column 316W on Bishop of Bath and Wells, if he will provide full details of every heirloom of the See in relation to the Bishop's Palace at Wells; and if he will publish an inventory of the heirlooms of the Holy See in that Palace. [185018]
Sir Tony Baldry:
The last inventory of the Palace was undertaken in 2007. It is not possible to transcribe the inventory due to the disproportionate cost involved and
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the length of the document. The Palace Trust, who manage the public rooms of the Palace, are currently lent the ‘heirlooms’ of the See by the Church Commissioners to display. The Church Commissioners intend that these robes, objects, paintings and furniture will continue to remain at the Palace and will remain on public view.
Tessa Munt: To ask the right hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, for what reasons the Church Commissioners found the previous Bishop's accommodation at the Bishop's Palace at Wells to be unsuitable for the new Bishop and his wife. [185267]
Sir Tony Baldry: The Commissioners considered that moving the Bishop’s accommodation would give the Bishop more privacy. Their decision did not relate to the cost of repairs and restoration to the flat. A considerable amount of the Palace at Wells is currently open to the public and little private space is available for the Bishop or his family. The Bishop of Bath and Wells and the Bishop of Taunton will continue to use the Palace on a daily basis as their office and worship and pray in the chapel.
Health
Ambulance Services: East of England
Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been left waiting in ambulances for more than one hour outside each NHS hospital in the East of England in each year since 2010-11. [184739]
Jane Ellison: Information is not available in the format requested. Information about delayed ambulance handovers is collected only over the winter period, as part of national health service acute trusts' daily winter situation reports. The following table shows the number of ambulance handovers delayed for more than one hour at acute trusts in the east of England each winter since 2010-11.
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|
Basildon And Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | ||||
| Source: NHS England, daily winter situation reports | ||||
Blood: Regulation
Mr Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made in his review of regulations involved in the management of supply of blood and blood-derived products; and when the review will be complete. [184530]
Norman Lamb: The blood regulations were considered as part of the Red Tape Challenge and the responses received by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) were in favour of retaining the regulations. European Union blood regulations were overall assessed favourably in the Department's Balance of Competence Review in 2013. Separately, there was a request from the European Commission for suggestions for technical amendments to the blood directives and MHRA consulted with the Department of Health, devolved Administrations and the United Kingdom blood transfusion services. Suggestions were forwarded to the European Commission but the Commission has said that there will be no revisions to the blood directives until 2015 at the earliest.
Departmental Responsibilities
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many meetings Ministers and officials in his Department have had with (a) food, (b) soft drink and (c) alcohol companies since May 2010. [185053]
Jane Ellison: Details of all ministerial meetings with external parties are published quarterly in arrears on the Department's website. The latest publication can be found on the Department's website at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-external-meetings-2012-to-2013?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Officials in the food and alcohol policy teams meet with food, soft drinks and drinks industry representatives on a regular basis in the course of their usual activities, primarily through the Responsibility Deal. Available records indicate that since May 2010 there have been 359 meetings with food companies, 19 meetings with soft drinks companies and 65 meetings with alcohol companies.
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department had with (i) the World Sugar Research Organisation, (ii) Sugar Nutrition UK and (iii) British Sugar since May 2010. [185054]
Jane Ellison: Details of all ministerial meetings with external parties are published quarterly in arrears on the Department's website. The latest publication can be found on the Department's website:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-external-meetings-2012-to-2013?utm_source=twitterfeed&.utm_medium=twitter
Available records indicate that officials have met with Sugar Nutrition UK, formerly The Sugar Bureau, on five occasions since May 2010 about diet and nutrition matters. Available records indicate that officials have held no meetings with the World Sugar Research Organisation or with British Sugar since May 2010.
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish a full list of all the (a) food and drink and (b) alcohol companies that Ministers or officials in his Department have met since May 2010. [185055]
Jane Ellison: Details of all ministerial meetings with external parties are published quarterly in arrears on the Department's website. The latest publication can be found on the Department's website at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-external-meetings-2012-to-2013?utm_source=twitterfeed&.utm_medium=twitter
Officials in the food, drink and alcohol policy teams meet with food and drinks companies on a regular basis, primarily with regard to the Public Health Responsibility Deal.
A list of the food, drink and alcohol companies that officials in the Department have met on an individual basis since May 2010, based on available records is as follows:
3663 Food Service
AB World Foods Limited
ALDI Einkauf GmbH and Compagnie, oHG,
Alliance Boots GmbH
Allied Bakeries
Amadeus
Aramark Corporation
Apetito (UK) Ltd
Asda Stores Ltd
Bar and Restaurant Foods Ltd
BaxterStorey Ltd
Bernard Matthews Ltd
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Booker Ltd
Brake Bros Ltd
Burger King Corporation
Caffé Nero Ltd
Camden Food Co
Catering Services House of Commons
CH&Co Catering Ltd
Coca-Cola Great Britain and Ireland
Compass Group PLC
Costa Coffee
Danone UK Ltd
DC Leisure Management Limited
Domino's Pizza Group Ltd
Elior UK Group
Ferrero UK Ltd
First Milk Limited
Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited
Fuller, Smith and Turner PLC
General Mills (UK) Ltd
GlaxoSmithKline PLC
Good Food Co Dunkleys Ltd
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Greencore Group PLC
Greene King PLC
Greggs PLC
H. J. Heinz Company
Harbour and Jones Ltd
Iceland Foods Ltd
Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC
Intersnack Ltd
J Sainsbury PLC
Jamie Oliver Ltd
JD Weatherspoon PLC
JLM Global Foods Ltd
Kellogg Company
Kentucky Fried Chicken (UK and Ireland)
Kerry Group PLC
Kettle Foods Ltd.
Kraft Foods UK Ltd
Kudos Blends Ltd
Leatherhead Food International Ltd
Lidl Stiftung and Co. KG
Marks and Spencer PLC
Mars UK Ltd
McCain Foods (GB) Ltd
McDonald's Restaurants Ltd
Merisant Company
Mitchells and Butlers PLC
MITIE Catering Services Limited
Mondélez International, Inc
Nando's
Nestle UK Ltd
PepsiCo UK and Ireland
Pizza Hut (UK) Limited
Ponti's Group Ltd
Prezzo PLC
Quorn Foods
Restaurant Group PLC
Sodexo UK and Ireland
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Starbucks Coffee Company
Stateside Foods Ltd
Subway International
Tesco PLC
The Co-operative Group Ltd
The Naturally Naughty Cake .Co
Tragus Ltd
Unilever UK and Ireland
United Biscuits (UK) Ltd
Vacherin Limited
Victoria Foods Ltd
W. Jordan (Cereals) Ltd
Waitrose Ltd
Warburtons
Weetabix Ltd
Whitbread PLC
Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC
Young's Sea Food Ltd
Yum! Brands, Inc.
ABinBev
Accolade Wine
Bacardi Brown Foreman
Beam Inc
Beverage Brands Ltd
Bibendum Wine Ltd
C&C Group PLC
Carlsberg Group
Constellation wines
Diageo
Fuller, Smith and Turner PLC
Greene King PLC
Heineken UK
Molson Coors
Pernod Ricard
Sab Miller PLC
Diabetes
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what latest assessment he has made of the annual cost of type one and type two diabetes to the NHS. [185057]
Jane Ellison: In January 2014, NHS England published the ‘Action for Diabetes’ report.
The report states that diabetes is estimated to have cost the United Kingdom £9.8 billion in health costs in 2010-11. This consists of £1 billion and £8.8 billion for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes respectively.
A copy of the report has been placed in the Library.
Doctors: Working Hours
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 January 2014, Official Report, column 676W, on junior doctors, what steps he is taking to ensure that junior doctors do not under-record their working hours. [185150]
Dr Poulter:
National health service trusts, as employers, are responsible for ensuring that service rotas are designed and staffed appropriately and are in accordance with
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the working time regulations. Failure to comply may result in trusts being held to account either by an employment tribunal or through the Health and Safety Executive.
NHS Employers provides guidance and support to NHS employers on all aspects of United Kingdom employment legislation relating to NHS staff, and the Department sets the broad framework within which NHS Employers operate. Where concerns of non-compliance are raised, NHS Employers will liaise with those involved and explore further.
Individuals must also take personal responsibility to ensure that they record their working time in accordance with their contract.
Eyesight: Surgery
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have presented at NHS services due to complications following commercial laser eye treatment in the last three years. [185045]
Dr Poulter: This information is not collected centrally.
Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department takes to ensure that patients are made aware of all risks attributed to (a) laser eye treatments and (b) other procedures undertaken by private and commercial providers. [185046]
Dr Poulter: A number of steps have been taken to ensure patients are made aware of the risks of laser eye treatment and other procedures undertaken by private and commercial providers.
Information for the public on laser eye surgery, including information about risks associated with the procedure, has been published through NHS Choices.
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The Royal College of Ophthalmologists published a Patients' Guide to Excimer Laser Refractive Surgery in July 2011. It sets out that patients should have the opportunity to discuss the risks and benefits of each procedure.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence published Interventional Procedure Guidance in March 2006, on the use of photorefractive (laser) eye surgery for the correction of refractive error.
The General Medical Council published ‘Good Medical Practice’ on 12 November 2006. This guidance describes what is expected of all doctors in the national health service, private and commercial sector, registered with the General Medical Council. It includes guidance on communicating the risks involved with treatment and that doctors must be satisfied that they have the consent or other valid authority before they provide treatment.
All providers of regulated activities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 must be registered with the Care Quality Commission and meet the requirements of safety and quality.
Registered providers are required to discuss the risks and benefits involved in any particular course of care or treatment.
Health Services: Greater London
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total spending by his Department per head of population was in each London borough in each of the last five years. [184659]
Dr Poulter: This information is not available in the format requested as figures are not collected for expenditure by borough. However, funding figures are available for primary care trusts (PCTs).
The total expenditure per head of population for all London PCTs, in each of the last five years is shown in the following table. Information on the current financial year is not yet available.
| £ | ||||||
| PCT | PCT name | 2012-13 | 2011-12 | 2010-11 | 2009-10 | 2008-09 |
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Heart Diseases
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to diagnose earlier heart problems among people suffering with dizzy spells. [184474]
Jane Ellison: If a patient is experiencing dizzy spells, there may be a number of possible underlying causes, including heart problems such as an atrial fibrillation (AF), which is the most common type of sustained heart rhythm disturbance.
The Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy, published in March 2013, recognised that there were issues around the detection and management of AF. To tackle this, NHS Improving Quality, the new NHS improvement body, is encouraging general practitioners to detect and manage AF as part of its work to deliver the strategy. This includes promoting the use of the of Guidance on Risk Assessment and Stroke Prevention for Atrial Fibrillation (GRASP-AF) tool to improve the detection and management of stroke risk in atrial fibrillation.
In addition to this, in 2006 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a guideline to support clinicians on the diagnosis and management of AF in emergency, primary, post-operative and secondary care. NICE is planning to publish an updated version of the guideline in June 2014.
Hepatitis
Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will increase the level of resources available for the treatment of hepatitis C; and what assessment his Department has made of the effect of such treatment on end-stage liver disease and liver cancer. [184403]
Jane Ellison: The level of resources devoted to different treatments is a matter for local NHS services, taking into account local population needs.
We recognise that effective treatments—when coupled with effective prevention measures—are important to reduce the incidence of hepatitis C, and that by tackling hepatitis C, we will be able to reduce preventable mortality from liver disease and cancer.
Public Health England is currently undertaking modelling work to assess the impact of increasing treatment on averting the future burden of hepatitis C related end stage liver disease.
Hip Replacements
Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in England had hip replacements carried out on the NHS in 2012 and 2013. [184600]
Jane Ellison: This information cannot be provided in the format requested. In the following table, we have provided information concerning the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) in the national health service with a main or secondary procedure of hip replacement for the years 2011-12 and 2012-13.
| FCEs | |
| Notes: 1. Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. 2. A FCE is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. 3. Note that more procedures are carried out than episodes with a main or secondary procedure. | |
Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost to the NHS of a hip replacement in England was in 2012 and 2013. [184601]
Jane Ellison: The Department collects reference costs annually from national health service trusts and NHS foundation trusts in England. In reference costs, diagnostic and procedure codes are grouped into healthcare resource groups (HRGs). HRGs are standard groupings of clinically similar treatments which use similar levels of healthcare resource, and may be distinguished as either diagnosis driven (where there are no major procedure codes in the patient record) or procedure driven.
There are several hip procedure HRGs within the collection. The costs of hip replacements are not collected separately. The following table shows the costs of hip procedures in England as reported in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 reference costs and the total average cost for all these HRGs.
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Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average NHS waiting time for hip replacements was in England in each of the last four years. [184602]
Jane Ellison: The information is shown in the following table:
| Count of finished admission episodes (FAEs)1 and mean and median time waited2 for FAEs with a main operative procedure3 of hip replacement for the years 2009-10 to 2012-13 | |||
| Count of FAEs | Mean time waited (days) | Median time waited (days) | |
| 1 A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period. 2 Time waited (days) statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) for all patients between decision to admit and admission to hospital within a given period. 3 Main procedure is the first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre - activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector | |||
Medical Records: Databases
Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many unique visitors there have been to the care.data page of the NHS Choices website since that page was launched. [184471]
Dr Poulter: There have been 46,560 visits to the care.data page of the NHS Choices website since its launch in August 2013.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the amount of GPs time spent complying with care.data requirements; and what assessment he has made of the effect of such an obligation on patient waiting times. [184515]
Dr Poulter: General practitioners, as data controllers, have legal responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 1998 for ensuring that patients are aware of how their information is used and shared. This is not a new requirement and it does not relate solely to the care.data programme.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what penalties will be incurred by GPs who (a) refuse to take part in care.data and (b) decide to opt-out all their patients from care.data. [184516]
Dr Poulter: There are no agreed plans to penalise general practitioners (GPs).
NHS England and the Health and Social Care Information Centre will work with the British Medical Association, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Information Commissioner's Office and with the Care Quality Commission to review and work with GP practices who have a high proportion of patients who opt-out of care.data.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to produce an estimate of the cost of care.data. [184517]
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Dr Poulter: The Health and Social Care Information Centre is in the process of agreeing the scope of the care.data programme and the associated funding required with NHS England (as the lead commissioner) and with other members of the Informatics Services Commissioning Group.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons he decided against making patient data extracted under care.data anonymous at source. [184603]
Dr Poulter: A key aim of the care.data programme is to link information from all of the settings in which patients receive care in order to provide a joined-up picture of the care being delivered. Given the diverse range of information systems used in primary, secondary, tertiary, community and social care, the Health and Social Care Information Centre considers that the use of pseudonymisation-at-source could, at this time, limit its ability to effectively link data from across care settings.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether it will be possible for patients to sue GPs for releasing their personal information under the care.data scheme. [184607]
Dr Poulter: As data controllers, general practitioners (GPs) must meet fair processing obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), including an obligation to ensure that patients are aware of how their personal confidential data are shared and their right to object. The NHS England leaflet drop campaign will explain how the national health service uses patient data and what patients should do if they have any concerns or if they wish to object.
GPs are responsible for the personal data that they hold and could face civil action if they breached patient confidentiality or they could be fined by the Information Commissioner if their action breached data protection law. However, GPs are required by law to provide data to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) for care.data and provided that a GP releases no more data than that which is requested by the HSCIC, there would be no grounds on which to take action against the GP.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether data entered under care.data will undergo pseudonymisation. [184684]
Dr Poulter: The Health and Social Care Information Centre makes information available in three formats, each protected by a different suite of privacy safeguards:
non-identifiable data (aggregated or completely anonymised data) are published openly after removing all identifiers and removing details of any rare conditions or combinations of characteristics;
potentially identifiable data (pseudonymised data) are made available under legal contract to approved analysts for purposes that will benefit patient care; and
identifiable information (personal confidential data) are made available to named individuals only where there is a legal basis for doing so, such as a public health emergency.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what systems are currently in place at the Health and Social Care Information Centre to inform the public on the personal data it holds. [184747]
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Dr Poulter: The Health and Social Care Information Centre has a public website which lists the data sets it collects from across health and social care. In addition, every household in England is receiving a leaflet called “Better information means better care” that explains how information is used and also signposts to the public website.
Meningitis: Vaccination
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he expects the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to conclude deliberations on the MenB vaccine; [185151]
(2) what plans he has to introduce a MenB vaccine; [185152]
(3) if he will introduce the MenB vaccine for children and adolescents. [185153]
Jane Ellison: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Belfast East (Naomi Long) on 22 January 2014, Official Report, column 234W.
NHS: Finance
Mr Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the level of Government spending on the National Health Service was in current prices in each year since 1984. [184419]
Dr Poulter: The following table shows the total national health service expenditure from 1983-84 to 2013-14.
| NHS total expenditure: England—1983-84 to 2013-14 | |||
| £ million | |||
| Data | NHS Expenditure1,2 | 2013-14 prices3 | |
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| 1 Expenditure figures are not consistent over the period (1983-84 to 2013-14) and this should be noted when making comparisons between years. 2 Expenditure excludes NHS (Annually Managed Expenditure). 3 GDP as at 20 January 2013. 4 Expenditure pre 1999-2000 is on a cash basis. 5 Expenditure figures from 1999-2000 to 2002-03 are on a Stage 1 resource budgeting basis. 6 Expenditure figures from 2003-04 to 2009-10 are on a Stage 2 resource budgeting basis. 7 Expenditure figures from 2009-10 to 2013-14 are on an aligned basis following the Government’s Clear Line of Sight programme. | |||
NHS: Foreign Workers
Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that professionals recruited from non-English-speaking countries to work in the NHS speak proficient English. [184584]
Dr Poulter: Overseas doctors make a valuable contribution to the national health service. However, it is vital that all doctors practising in the United Kingdom have the necessary language skills to help ensure patient safety and quality of care;
All health care professionals from outside the European Union are required to demonstrate their ability to communicate in English before they are registered with the appropriate regulatory body.
For EU professionals, the Department recently consulted on proposals to enable the General Medical Council to carry out proportionate language checks and we expect to have these powers in place by the summer. Officials are also working with all health care regulators to ensure that they have the powers they need to carry out proportionate language checks within the parameters of EU law.
In addition, individual NHS organisations are responsible for ensuring that the people they employ have the required knowledge and skills, including language competency, for the posts for which they are applying.
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Nursing and Midwifery Council
John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will implement the proposals of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry relating to the Nursing and Midwifery Council; and if he will bring forward legislative proposals to enable the Nursing and Midwifery Council to review its decisions. [184421]
Dr Poulter: On 19 November 2013, the Government published ‘Hard Truths: the journey to putting patients first’ (Cm 8777) in response to the Mid Staffordshire Public Inquiry, which is available in the Library. This document provides individual responses to each of the Inquiry's 290 recommendations, including those relevant to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), with implementation timescales where known.
Work is also under way on an order under section 60 of the Health Act 1999 to amend the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 and also on associated amendments to the NMC’s rules. Amendments under consideration include introducing a power for the NMC to review ‘no case to answer’ decisions made in fitness-to-practise proceedings.
Pay
Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (a) how many and (b) what proportion of staff employed by (i) his Department, (ii) agencies of his Department and (iii) contractors of his Department are paid less than the rate defined by the Living Wage Foundation as a living wage. [184447]
Dr Poulter: The Department currently does not employ any civil servants or engage agency workers or contractors on less than the local living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
The Department's Executive Agencies have provided the information in the following table.
| Executive agency | Number paid less than living wage | Proportion of staff paid less than living wage (percentage) |
Social Services: Greater London
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total ring-fenced spending on social care was in each London borough in each of the last five years. [184668]
Norman Lamb: Most central Government funding for adult social care is not ring-fenced enabling local authorities to make their own decisions about spending according to local priorities.
The national health service also transfers funding to local authorities for use on social care with a health benefit. The use of this funding has to be agreed between councils and their local NHS partners.
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The figures in the following tables show how much each of the London boroughs spent on social care in the last five years per head as well as overall spend. These include funding transferred from the NHS.
| Per capita expenditure on social care1 (£) | |||||
| London boroughs | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-132 |
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| 1 Note that this is per head net current expenditure data adjusted for NHS and Learning Disabilities transfers. 2 Does not include £100 million winter pressure transfer for 2012-13 | |||||
| Total expenditure on social care in London boroughs by year1 (£) | |||||
| London boroughs | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-132 |
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29 Jan 2014 : Column 596W
| 1 Note that this is per head net current expenditure data adjusted for NHS and Learning Disabilities transfers. 2 Does not include £100 million winter pressure transfer for 2012-13 | |||||