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Written Answers to Questions

Monday 23 June 2014

Justice

Bronzefield Prison

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether (a) the prison governor or (b) another official gave permission for the performance of Sister Act in HMP Bronzefield in February and March 2014. [201121][Official Report, 25 June 2014, Vol. 583, c. 1MC.]

Simon Hughes: Former employees of the Trusts have transferred to the new organisations, namely the National Probation Service (NPS) and the 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies. A small number of chief executives have taken early retirement or are due to do so over the next few weeks. There have also been a number of departures at Assistant Chief Officer (ACO) level. These were part of the normal turnover of staff; details of these are not held centrally.

Cemeteries

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what estimate his Department has made of the number of local authorities which have adopted powers under the London Local Authorities Act 2007 to re-use graves where burial rights have been extinguished since that Act came into force; [200636]

(2) what estimate his Department has made of the number of grave spaces that have been created in London since the introduction of the London Local Authorities Act 2007. [200635]

Simon Hughes: The Ministry of Justice has not made an estimate of the number of grave spaces created since the introduction of the London Local Authorities Act 2007 or the number of local authorities who have used powers under the Act to re-use graves. However, as the Ministry of Justice has responsibility for burial law and policy, I am keeping the issue of burial space under active review including considering what legislative changes might be necessary to address a shortage of graves.

Chief Scientific Advisers

Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many meetings he has had with his Department's Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months. [200792]

Mr Vara: As was the case under previous Administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

Community Rehabilitation Companies

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether a criminal conviction is a disqualification for a Community Rehabilitation contract. [201106]

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Jeremy Wright: Final bids to run the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) are expected at the end of June 2014, and will be rigorously assessed against robust quality, legal, commercial and financial criteria. In the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire, bidders were required to declare that their organisation, directors or partners or any other person who has powers of representation, decision or control had no convictions in relation to criminal offences such as conspiracy, corruption, bribery or fraud and that their organisation had no convictions for criminal offences relating to the conduct of their business or profession and acts of grave misconduct. As set out in the Invitation to Negotiate, bidders are required to notify the department of any changes to the position set out in their declarations or anything that may affect their continued participation in the competition and the department reserves the right to undertake a full re-assessment and, if grounds for rejection exist, exclude the bidder from further participation in the competition.

The MOJ also undertook extensive due diligence of bidders on a range of matters, including integrity and legal compliance issues. As a consequence we have a robust and diverse market.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many applications were made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority's hardship fund in 2013-14; and what proportion of such applications were successful. [200718]

Damian Green: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority received 10 applications under the hardship fund in 2013-14, of which four were successful.

People who did not meet the fund's earnings criteria lodged the six remaining applications. The fund is there to support low-paid workers and four of these six people earned too much to be eligible, while the other two lost no income as a result of the injuries they sustained.

European Convention on Human Rights

Mr Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will place in the Library a copy of the Government's written submission to the European Court of Justice which was the subject of the hearing before the Court in April 2014 about the EU application to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights. [201111]

Damian Green: The European Court of Justice held a hearing on 5-6 May 2014 before a full court in proceedings under article 218 (11) of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union regarding the European Commission’s request for an Opinion on the compatibility of the draft Accession Agreement with the EU Treaties.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to him on 10 December 2013, Official Report, column 123W.

My subsequent letter to the European Scrutiny Committee of 20 December 2013, as referenced in the Committee’s Twenty-ninth Report of session 2013-14 of 8 January 2014, clarifies the basis on which documents in the proceedings are confidential.

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My most recent letter to the European Scrutiny Committee of 18 June 2014 outlines that the UK’s oral submissions supported the compatibility of the draft Accession Agreement with the EU Treaties, and sought to encourage the Court to robustly test the draft Accession Agreement and its implications while steering clear of making any findings that prejudge the content of the internal EU rules.

Fraud: Sentencing

Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many custodial sentences have been passed for convictions for fraud in the last five years for which figures are available; what the average length of those sentences was in each such years; and what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to increase the maximum sentence for fraud. [200327]

Jeremy Wright: The number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for fraud offences, in England and Wales, from 2009 to 2013 (the latest data available), can be viewed in the table. Average custodial sentence lengths have increased from 12.2 months to 14.9 months over the last five years.

The maximum penalty for fraud is a 10-year custodial sentence. There are no immediate plans to increase the maximum sentences for fraud, but we keep all maximum sentences under review.

Under this Government, if convicted of fraud, you are more likely to go to prison and for longer.

Parole

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) in what circumstances offenders can choose not to attend a parole board meeting when a victim reads a victim personal statement; [201333]

(2) what estimate he has made of the proportion of offenders present at parole board hearings when a victim personal statement is read. [201334]

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Jeremy Wright: The victims of serious violent and sexual offences, where the offender has been sentenced to 12 months or more, may opt into the statutory victim contact scheme, operated by the National Probation Service. Where they do so, they will be informed of a Parole Board review and offered the opportunity to make a victim personal statement (VPS). The VPS provides victims with a valuable opportunity to tell the Parole Board how the offence has affected them or their family, both at the time it was committed and since, and how they think the offender’s release would affect them. The VPS can contribute to a better and more informed hearing, as it may enable more robust questioning of the offender about the offence, remorse and victim empathy.

The independent Parole Board is responsible for the conduct of parole hearings. The normal practice is that the offender will not be present when the victim reads his/her VPS, but there may be circumstances where he/she will be. In many cases, the victim does not wish the offender to be present during the reading. While the conduct of an individual hearing is for the chair of the panel of the Parole Board, the chair cannot insist that the prisoner attends to hear the VPS being read if he/she does not wish to do so. No estimate has been made centrally of the proportion of offenders present at the hearing when the VPS is read out.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many refused claims for personal independence payment have (a) been appealed and (b) been successfully appealed to date. [200966]

Mr Vara: The First-tier Tribunal-Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decisions on a range of benefits including personal independent payment (PIP).

This information is published in Tribunals Statistics Quarterly, available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2014

Prison Accommodation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what new prison accommodation is planned to come on stream and in which locations before May 2015. [201235]

Jeremy Wright: We will always have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts and continue to modernise the prison estate so that it delivers best value for the taxpayer. This Government have a long term strategy for managing the prison estate which will provide more adult male prison capacity than we inherited from the previous Government.

Over 2,000 further places for adult male prisoners will become available before May 2015, including new house-blocks at HM Prisons The Mount, Thameside, Parc and Peterborough. The remainder of the places will come from re-opening refurbished or mothballed capacity.

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Prisoner Escapes

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions the Royal Prerogative of Mercy has been granted in relation to offences occurring as a result and in the course of escaping from or breaking out of prison in the last 25 years; and if he will make a statement. [200853]

Jeremy Wright: We do not centrally hold data on the number of occasions the Royal Prerogative of Mercy has been exercised for the time period in question. Consequently, the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, as it would involve a manual trawl through the records of every prisoner who has formed part of the prison population for the last 25 years, to identify, firstly, if they have ever escaped from prison custody and secondly, if a request to exercise the Royal Prerogative of Mercy was successful.

Prisoners: Radicalism

Dr Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department is taking to prevent the spread of Islamic extremism among the prison population. [201335]

Jeremy Wright: We are alert to the risks posed by individuals who may wish to radicalise others, and we are committed to tackling radicalisation in the prison environment as an important element of our responsibility to protect the public and reduce re-offending.

NOMS has in place a wide-ranging programme of work to manage individuals convicted of terrorist or related offences. This programme focuses on: increasing the counter-terrorism intelligence infrastructure working with partner agencies; ensuring provision of an effective Chaplaincy which can challenge extremist ideology; structured risk assessment tools and bespoke interventions; staff briefing and training, and robust processes for the management of offenders on release.

NOMS contributes to the cross-Government CT strategy CONTEST, and works alongside other Departments to manage the threat posed. As with all significant criminal threats, a multi-agency approach is taken to ensure that information and learning is shared between agencies.

Dr Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment his Department has made of the potential risks of imprisoned extremists returned from terrorist operations overseas (a) radicalising the Muslim prison population and (b) recruiting other prisoners to commit terrorist acts in the UK or overseas. [201336]

Jeremy Wright: I am responding to this question as I am the Minister responsible for the prison estate. We are well aware of the risks posed by individuals who return to the UK having gained experience, through training or participation, in terrorism overseas. At the current time clearly those travelling to and from Syria are of particular concern.

The Prison Service works closely with the Police and other Agencies in all areas of Counter Terrorism work; including where individuals are held in custody having

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returned from overseas. All prisoners are managed according to the risk they pose, taking into consideration all relevant information and intelligence that is identified.

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has long recognised the threat posed by terrorists and extremists, and has considerable experience in managing this threat. The Prison Service will continue to use its well established and effective three-tiered response: to identify behaviour that may indicate extremism, to report it using established intelligence systems, and to manage it through disruption and intervention.

Prisoners: Sanitary Protection

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether a full range of sanitary products is provided free-of-charge to female prisoners. [200773]

Simon Hughes: Women should be given any items required to meet essential personal needs for their first 24 hours in custody, including toiletries, clean clothing and a towel. Women also must have easy access to a choice of sanitary provision. Tampons with applicators must be one of the choices.

All prisons across the female custodial estate provide Interlude tampons and sanitary towels to women free of charge. Other brands of sanitary products are available for women to buy via the National Product list.

Prisons: Employment

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of prisoners were recorded as having had some involvement in purposeful activity; and how many were recorded as unemployed in each prison in England and Wales as at 31 December 2013. [201108]

Jeremy Wright: This information is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Work in prisons is a key priority to ensure prisoners are engaged purposefully whilst they are in custody. It also gives them the opportunity to learn skills and a work ethic which can increase their chances of finding employment on release, a key element to reducing reoffending.

The number of prisoners working in industrial activity across public sector prisons increased from around 8,600 in 2010-11 (the first year for which figures are available) to around 9,700 in 2012-13. This delivered an increase in the total hours worked in industrial activities from 10.6 million hours to 13.1 million hours. Private sector prisons have also been supporting this agenda and have reported that they delivered over 1.5 million prisoner working hours in commercial and industrial workshops in 2012-13 which provided work for over 1,200 prisoners.

In addition there are substantial numbers of prisoners who work to keep prisons running on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning.

Figures for public sector prisons are published in the NOMS Annual Report Management Information Addendum:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf

Figures for 2013-14 will be published in July.

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Our reforms to the Incentives and Earned Privileges national policy framework came into effect in adult prisons on 1 November 2013. Prisoners will be expected to engage in purposeful activity, as well as demonstrate a commitment towards their rehabilitation, reduce their risk of reoffending, behave well and help others if they are to earn privileges.

Information on purposeful activity in each prison and category of prison was published annually in the Prison Performance Digest up until 2011-12 and can be found at the following location:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/163299/prison-performance-digest-2011-12.xls

Please note that figures are not available after 2011-12. Purposeful activity was formerly a performance indicator for prisons, but was discontinued at the start of 2012-13. The indicator was not used in the day-to-day management of prisons and NOMS had concerns over the burden on the front line of collecting the information. Indicators introduced into prison SLAs in respect of rehabilitation, resettlement and work in prisons provide a better demonstration of efforts to prepare prisoners for release and reduce reoffending.

Figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisons: Staff

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which places of detention on the prison estate have (a) a member of staff assigned to the role of foreign national co-ordinator and (b) more than one foreign national co-ordinator; how many such co-ordinators there are across the prison estate; and at what salary grade they are paid. [201107]

Jeremy Wright: While prisons are required to ensure that systems are in place to both facilitate the identification of foreign national prisoners and to meet their distinct needs, there is no mandatory requirement for prisons to have a designated foreign national co-ordinator. It is for Governors and Directors to decide how best to allocate their staffing resources, dependent upon the make-up and needs of their population and their staffing resource. While some will choose to assign dedicated staff to a foreign national co-ordinator role, in either a full or part-time capacity, others will have in place an arrangement that spreads responsibility for this work among a number of staff. Information on the arrangements in place at each prison is not recorded centrally.

Probation Trusts

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) chief executives, (b) deputy chief executives and (c) assistant chief officers of probation trusts have left their posts since 1 January 2014. [201122]

Jeremy Wright: Former employees of the trusts have transferred to the new organisations, namely the National Probation Service (NPS) and the 21 community rehabilitation companies. A small number of chief executives have taken early retirement or are due to do so over the next few weeks. There have also been a

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number of departures at assistant chief officer (ACO) level. These were part of the normal turnover of staff; details of these are not held centrally.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many non-disclosure or compromise agreements have been included in the departure packages of former employees of probation trusts since 1 January 2014; [201123]

(2) how many (a) chief executives, (b) deputy chief executives and (c) assistant chief officers of probation trusts who left their posts since 1 January 2014 had non-disclosure or compromise agreements as part of their departure packages. [201124]

Jeremy Wright: There have been no non-disclosure or compromise agreements included as part of the departure packages of the trust chief executives who have taken early retirement. The terms of departure for other former trust staff were agreed through their own local arrangements.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many former employees of probation trusts received payouts of (a) up to £5,000, (b) up to £10,0000, (c) up to £15,000, (d) up to £20,000, (e) up to £30,000, (f) up to £40,000, (g) up to £50,000, (h) up to £75,000, (i) up to £100,000 or (j) £100,000 or more since 1 January 2014; [201231]

(2) how many probation trust employees who left their jobs received higher than contractual payments since 1 January 2014; [201232]

(3) how much former employees of probation trusts have received in severance pay since 1 January 2014. [201236]

Jeremy Wright: Prior to 1 June, probation staff in England and Wales were employed by the 35 probation trusts. Employment data of the kind requested were held by the individual probations trusts. They were not collected centrally and it would not be possible to obtain the information without incurring disproportionate cost.

Secure Colleges: Leicestershire

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 469W, on Secure Colleges: Leicestershire, what steps have been taken to ensure the safety and well-being of the cohort. [201375]

Jeremy Wright: The requirements set out within the tender for the design and build of the Secure College pathfinder took into account departmental experience of providing safe custodial environments. The initial design for the Secure College pathfinder was evaluated against these requirements as well as design, operation and security considerations.

The Ministry of Justice will be working with Wates, the preferred design and build bidder, over the coming months to refine the initial design. This will include ensuring that different groups of young people can be accommodated discretely, if needed, within the site.

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The safety and well-being of young people is central to all plans for the design and operation of the Secure College pathfinder.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Mr Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what proportion of appeals to the Tribunals Service from appellants in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England relating to (i) disability living allowance, (ii) employment and support allowance, (iii) income support, (iv) jobseeker's allowance and (v) tax credits were successful in the latest period for which figures are available; [200753]

(2) what average length of time was taken by the Tribunals Service to administer a First-tier Tribunal Social Security and Child Support appeal in respect of (a) disability living allowance, (b) employment and support allowance, (c) income support, (d) jobseeker's allowance and (e) tax credits in (i) Coventry, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England in the latest period for which figures are available. [200752]

Mr Vara: The First-tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decisions on a range of benefits.

Table 1 shows the average length of time to complete appeals in respect of employment and support allowance (ESA) in (a) Coventry, (b) the west midlands and (c) England between April 2013 and March 2014, the latest period for which figures are available.

Table 2 shows the proportion of appeals which were decided in favour of the appellant in (a) Coventry (b) the west midlands and (c) England in respect of (i) disability living allowance (DLA), (ii) ESA, (iii) income support (IS), (iv) jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), and (v) tax credits between April 2013 and March 2014, the latest period for which figures are available.

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A significant increase in ESA appeals received by the tribunal resulted in increased waiting times for appeals. In 2011-12, ESA appeal receipts at Coventry were 1,896; west midlands 18,957; and England 145,625. In 2012-13 these rose to 3,025, 33,958 and 200,850 respectively. To meet the increased demand, HMCTS increased the capacity of the tribunal by, among other things, recruiting additional judges and medical members, increasing the number of venues used, extended opening times and introduced more efficient processes.

During 2013-14, the tribunal has experienced a reduction in ESA appeal receipts (2,569 in Coventry, 18,969 in the west midlands, and 190,047 in England). The reduction in receipts and the increased capacity within the tribunal has enabled HMCTS to focus on reducing outstanding workloads. As at the end of March, for the tribunal overall, this stood at 78,347, a reduction of 143,254 (65%) from June 2013.

Action taken to address waiting times specifically at Coventry have included offering appellants hearings at alternative venues in Leamington Spa and Nuneaton and, from June 2013, the number of hearing rooms at Coventry doubled.

These measures have had a positive effect resulting in a reduction in the average waiting time for ESA appeals at the Coventry venue from 35 weeks in 2012-13 to 29 weeks in 2013-14.

Typically, new appellants lodging new appeals which would be heard at the Coventry venue are now being offered a hearing date between 13 and 14 weeks of receipt of the appeal. For the west midlands overall this would be between nine and 14 weeks.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) appeals and (b) successful appeals against Atos assessments in (i) Nottingham and (ii) Ashfield constituency there were in each of the last three years. [201074]

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Mr Vara: The First-tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) decisions on a range of benefits including a person’s entitlement to employment and support allowance (ESA).

While a work capability assessment (WCA) can be a key factor in an ESA decision, it is not the only consideration. Appeals are brought against ESA refusals, and not WCA decisions themselves. The Tribunal does not record information on those ESA appeals in which the WCA decision is a factor, and as such HMCTS does not hold the specific information requested.

Information on appeals against ESA decisions is published by HMCTS in Tribunal Statistics Quarterly. The most recent report for the period January to March 2014, published on 12 June 2014, can be viewed at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2014

Telephone Services

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many telephone lines with the prefix (a) 0845, (b) 0844 and (c) 0843 his Department (i) operates and (ii) sponsors; how many calls each such number has received in the last 12 months; and whether alternative numbers charged at BT local rates are available in each such case. [201387]

Mr Vara: There has been a 79% fall in the Department’s use of higher-rate numbers since 2009.

The Department has received no revenue from higher rate telephone numbers for the period under review.

The information held centrally for the public use of (a) 0845, (b) 0844 and (c) 0843 telephone numbers operated (i) and (ii) sponsored by the Ministry of Justice are as follows:

The majority of these numbers are operated by the County Court Business Centre (CCBC).

Information on volumes for calls to higher-rate telephone numbers for the last 12 months is not systematically collected by the service providers, and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

Nineteen higher rate numbers in the CCBC are in the process of being replaced by 0300 numbers. The four 0845 numbers receiving the highest volumes of calls in the CCBC are being discontinued on 1 August 2014, and when inquirers call these numbers they are being advised to contact an alternative 0300 number.

As stated in previous answers to parliamentary questions, the Department's approach is not to use higher rate numbers and instead, wherever possible, to assign 0300 numbers, for which the tariff is similar to calling an 01 or 02 (geographic) number, whether the caller is using a fixed line or a mobile phone.

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Health

Accident and Emergency Departments

Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the average travelling distance to a 24-hour accident and emergency department for people in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) England and Wales. [200878]

Jane Ellison: No estimate has been made by the Department. NHS England has, however, published best practice guidance “Planning and delivering service changes for patients”. In the guidance, commissioners are reminded that where any changes are proposed to urgent and emergency care services, they need to provide analysis of travelling times and distances, identifying the impact on pedestrians and public and private transport users, as well as the ambulance service where relevant.

Ambulance Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that ambulance crews and dispatch staff are able to access meaningful supervision; and if he will assess the merits of introducing rapid response units similar to those operating in Northern Ireland. [200955]

Jane Ellison: Decisions about workforce issues, such as the supervision of ambulance staff, are a local matter and it remains up to ambulance trusts to decide how this is managed.

However, the Department expects trusts to ensure all their staff are supported in their roles and for there to be effective management arrangements.

Ambulance services, including emergency response services, are commissioned by clinical commissioning groups, which have a responsibility to ensure that appropriate services are provided to their populations.

It is the decision of individual ambulance trusts as to how resources are used to meet local demand.

The Department recognises that having a rapid response vehicle (RRV) to carry clinical equipment and get a clinician to the patient as quickly as possible is beneficial to the care of a patient.

In addition, clinicians using RRVs to arrive first on the scene are able to conduct an assessment of the patient to determine how they should be managed or may be in advance of an ambulance to begin treatment and stabilisation prior to transport.

We are aware that most ambulance trusts utilise RRVs daily as part of their emergency response.

As part of the Urgent and Emergency Care Review, being led by Sir Bruce Keogh, an ambulance task group has been established to look at new models of delivery of care. The first phase of the review was published last November; and we expect NHS England to be publishing further reports later this year.

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Antidepressants

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 19 January 2012, Official Report, columns 932-3W, how many companies hold licences for the manufacture or distribution of (a) nitrazepam, (b) flurazepam, (c) loprazolam, (d) lormetazepam, (e) temazepam, (f) clonazepam, (g) medazepam, (h) midazolam, (i) zopiclone, (j) zaleplon, (k) zolpiden, (l) eszopiclone, (m) SSRI antidepressants and (n) trycyclic antidepressants; and how many of those licences were issued in the last three years. [201050]

Norman Lamb: There are currently 15 products authorised in the United Kingdom containing nitrazepam and 15 different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

There are currently two products authorised in the UK containing flurazepam and one company authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

There are currently two products authorised in the UK containing loprazolam and two different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

There are currently eight products authorised in the UK containing lormetazepam and four different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

There are currently 10 products authorised in the UK containing temazepam and six different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

There are currently six products authorised in the UK containing clonazepam and three different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

There are currently no authorised products in the UK containing medazepam.

There are currently 22 products authorised in the UK containing midazolam and 10 different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

There are currently 17 products authorised in the UK containing zopiclone and nine different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

There are currently two products authorised in the UK containing zaleplon and one company authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

There are currently 21 products authorised in the UK containing zolpidem and 12 different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

There are currently no authorised products in the UK containing eszopiclone.

There are currently 238 products authorised in the UK containing SSRI antidepressants and 57 different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

There are currently 16 products authorised in the UK containing tricyclic antidepressants and 11 different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

One loprazolam, four lormetazepam, two clonazepam, two midazolam, three zopiclone, four zolpidem and 75 SSRI products have been authorised in the last three years.

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Breast Cancer

Mr Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidance he has given to clinical commissioning groups on the use of the NICE breast cancer quality standard when commissioning breast cancer services; [200887]

(2) what responsibilities NHS England has for commissioning breast cancer services; [200870]

(3) what responsibilities clinical commissioning groups have for commissioning breast cancer services; [200871]

(4) what guidance he has given to clinical commissioning groups on their involvement with (a) strategic clinical networks and (b) breast network site-specific groups. [200886]

Jane Ellison: The majority of treatments for cancer, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, are commissioned nationally by NHS England. Commissioning is informed by a range of clinical reference groups established as a primary source of advice on best practice, service standards for commissioned providers and forward strategy and innovation.

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) plan and buy local community and non-specialised hospital cancer services in their local area. This includes the diagnosis, oversight of treatment and surgical management of breast cancers.

NHS England is not aware of any formal guidance being given to CCGs on engagement with Strategic Clinical Networks (SCNs) or breast network site-specific groups. However, it would expect that all health organisations would wish to be part of SCNs. As CCGs are responsible for much of the commissioning of services covered by the SCNs (e.g. cancer, stroke, mental health, and dementia care), they have an interest in their activities.

Breast network site specific groups are specialist groups who focus on protocol development, improving care and the quality and outcomes of services within the SCN area. It would not be expected for a CCG to normally engage directly with that group but they would be part of a process to approve protocols and of any escalation process if there were concerns about a particular service within the SCN.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) quality standards define clinical best practice for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer to help clinicians ensure that patients are given information about the treatment options available and help in choosing the best option to suit them. NHS England would expect CCGs to take into account NICE quality standards when commissioning breast cancer services.

Cancer: Drugs

Mr Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people received funding through the Cancer Drugs Fund in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years. [200879]

Norman Lamb: Prior to April 2013, information on the Cancer Drugs Fund was administered through clinical panels based in each strategic health authority (SHA)

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and data on the number of patients who received funding in each constituency and city were not collected. Information on the number of patients funded in West Midlands SHA and England in 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 is shown as follows:

NHS England has had oversight of the Fund since April 2013 and publishes information on patient numbers routinely on its website at:

www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/

In 2013-14, 5,695 patients in the Midlands and East region and 19,282 patients in England received funding through the Fund. In addition, 28 individual cancer drugs fund request applications were approved by the Cancer Drugs Fund panel in the Midlands and East region with 278 applications approved nationally.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of albumin bound paclitaxel, bevacizumab and cabozantinib since the introduction of those drugs; and what discussions on this matter he has had with his counterparts in the devolved Assemblies. [200953]

Norman Lamb: We have had no such discussions.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has appraised the use of bevacizumab (Avastin) for a number of cancers including colorectal, breast, ovarian, non-small cell lung cancer and kidney cancer and has not been able to recommend the drug's use as a clinical and cost-effective use of national health service resources in any of these appraisals.

NICE is currently appraising the use of paclitaxel albumin-bound nanoparticles (Abraxane) in treating advanced pancreatic cancer with final guidance expected in January 2015. NICE is also appraising this technology for use in the first-line treatment of metastatic melanoma, with final guidance expected in May 2015.

There are no plans for NICE to appraise cabozantinib (Cometriq) for the treatment of thyroid cancer.

Chief Scientific Advisers

Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many meetings he has had with his Department’s chief scientific adviser in the last 12 months. [200789]

Dr Poulter: As was the case under previous Administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

Chlamydia

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage the uptake of chlamydia screening. [201131]

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Jane Ellison: The Public Health Outcomes Framework includes a chlamydia diagnosis rate indicator—one of three sexual health indicators in the framework. Public Health England (PHE) encourages local authorities to work towards achieving a rate of 2,300 diagnoses per 100,000 young adult populations.

The National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) supports this aim through:

Publishing chlamydia screening standards, to form the basis of local screening planning, delivery and quality assurance;

Producing guidance to support local commissioners and providers in the delivery of chlamydia screening, including forthcoming publication ‘Achieving the diagnostic rate indicator’;

Reviewing and summarising the latest evidence to inform evidence-based and cost-effective approaches to chlamydia screening;

Collecting and publishing chlamydia data, at a national and local level, to monitor screening and detection activity;

Providing information to young adults on chlamydia, chlamydia screening and wider sexual health matters (e.g. condom use, contraception), including via a website;

Supporting the implementation of specific programmes to increase chlamydia screening rates, such as the ‘3Cs and HIV Programme’. This is currently being piloted across England to encourage the routine offer of chlamydia screening, alongside information on contraception and condoms, to young adults during primary care appointments;

A team of PHE sexual health facilitators, who are linked closely into local commissioner and provider sexual health networks, with a focus on promoting chlamydia screening; and

Evaluating the impact of the NCSP, including development of different approaches to estimate and monitor prevalence, such as mathematical modelling.

Clinical Commissioning Groups: Suffolk

Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of running and administering the (a) West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group and (b) East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group. [200776]

Dr Poulter: NHS England advises that the final annual reports 2013-14 for the West Suffolk and Ipswich and East Suffolk clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) show the following spend on administration costs:

From 2013-14, the running costs allowance for CCGs is expected to be £25 per head of population per annum. At this level, running costs allowances will be consistent with the requirement to reduce administration costs by one-third.

Cystic Fibrosis

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) number and (b) proportion of adult cystic fibrosis centres in England have (i) reached and

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(ii) exceeded the maximum capacity of 250 patients recommended by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust in each of the last four years. [201133]

Norman Lamb: Information concerning the number of adult cystic fibrosis (CF) patients cared for by CF centres in England in each of the last four years is not available. These data have only been collected since the introduction of the tariff for CF services in 2011.

In the following table we have provided the number and proportion of CF centres treating 250 patients or more in each of the last three years.

It should be noted that the “Standards of Care” updated by CF Trust in 2011 does not state that 250 patients is the maximum number a CF centre should treat, but rather that when a centre reaches 250 patients, and anticipates that numbers will continue to rise, the development of alternative specialist centres should be considered.

Equitable Life Independent Inquiry

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive about the timetable for publication of the Penrose Inquiry. [201168]

Jane Ellison: The timetable for Lord Penrose to complete his report and publish it, is a matter for Lord Penrose himself to decide. Lord Penrose has publicly announced that he will publish his report in the autumn of 2014, but we do not know the exact date. We are keeping in touch with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing of the Scottish Government.

Exercise

Mr Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what definition his Department uses of an adequate amount of weekly physical activity. [200783]

Jane Ellison: The UK chief medical officers' (CMOs) guidelines for physical activity for adults is to be active daily, up to at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week. Children and young people should be active for at least 60 minutes and up to several hours every day of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity. The guidelines were published in July 2011. More information can be found from UK CMOs' report on physical activity 'Start Active, Stay Active'. A copy of the report has already been placed in the Library.

Food

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) on what criteria his Department differentiates a food for special medical purposes and a food supplement; [201119]

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(2) if he will outline the process, criteria and guidelines that his Department follows to evaluate foods for special medical purposes for the UK market; what criteria his Department uses for such evaluations; and what guidance his Department issues on foods for special medical purposes. [201120]

Jane Ellison: The Department's role and the definition of these products are set out in legislation. Information on this legislation is available at:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/food-supplements-guidance-and-faqs

www.gov.uk/government/publications/infant-formula-and-foods-for-particular-nutritional-uses-parnuts-notification-requirements

Local authorities are responsible for enforcement of the legislation and provide advice to businesses on compliance with legislation.

Food Banks

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2014, Official Report, column 281W, on food banks, whether (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department plan to visit a food bank in order to assess the contribution of food banks to public health and nutrition. [201132]

Dr Poulter: There are no current plans for Ministers in the Department to visit a food bank, but this does not preclude planned visits in their wider capacities or as constituency MPs. We would consider undertaking an official visit, if an invitation was received.

Food: Charitable Donations

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 30 October 2012, Official Report, column 146W, on food: charitable donations, and 7 March 2013, Official Report, column 1105, what assessment (a) his Department and (b) the Food Standards Agency has made of the compatibility of legislation to remove criminal and civil liability from good faith food donors with EU food safety laws. [201171]

Jane Ellison: We are advised by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that consideration was given to whether an exemption from European Union food safety law was available in respect of donations of food for charitable purposes in 2012. The FSA's view at that time was that no exemption is available and as the FSA's advice has not changed it does not consider that any further assessment of the issue is necessary.

The FSA published guidance on its website in July 2013 on which charitable and community food provision does not require registration. This can be found at:

http://multimedia.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/hall-provision.pdf

Food supply not requiring registration is exempt from the requirements of food hygiene legislation although all such provision is still required to provide food that is safe.

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Gender Recognition

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients are waiting for gender reassignment surgery; and what the average waiting time for such surgery was in each of the last four years. [201373]

Norman Lamb: Information about how many patients are waiting for gender reassignment surgery and average waiting times for such surgery is not held centrally.

General Practitioners

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what correspondence he has received on concerns over the potential closure of GP surgeries in the last year. [200645]

Dr Poulter: A search of the Department’s ministerial correspondence database has identified 410 items of correspondence received since 1 June 2013 about concerns over the potential closure of general practitioner surgeries. The cost of a more comprehensive search would incur a disproportionate cost to the Department.

Mr Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure GPs are accessible to patients. [200858]

Dr Poulter: Through the Prime Minister's Challenge Fund, more than 7.5 million people in England will start to be offered increased access to local general practitioner (GP) services, including seven-day opening and appointments outside of office hours. The Fund is supporting over 1,110 practices covering every region as part of a pilot scheme.

The PM Challenge Fund is for one year and patients are expected to see positive changes from services from June/July onwards. An interim evaluation report is due in November this year. The full and final report is expected to be published in the early part of 2015-16. There will be a rolling programme of feedback on the pilots with case studies available from the summer onwards to help spread best practice across the country.

In addition, the new GP contract introduced a new Enhanced Service, which includes a commitment to same day phone consultations with a professional in the GP surgery where necessary for the most at risk in the population.

Mr Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department issues on the ratio of GPs to patients; and what that ratio is in Tendring. [200939]

Dr Poulter: The Department does not issue guidance on the ratio of general practitioners (GPs) to patients. It is for each GP practice to ensure they are able to provide services to all their patients as set out in their contract with NHS England.

The ratio of GPs to patients in Tendring is not collected centrally. Figures for North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, which includes the district of Tendring, are shown in the following table.

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Mr Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to train and recruit more GPs in (a) Linton and Walton and (b) nationally. [200958]

Dr Poulter: The Department set up Health Education England (HEE) to deliver a better health and health care work force for England. HEE is responsible for ensuring a secure work force supply for the future balancing need against demand, taking into account factors such as the age profile of the existing work force, the impact of technology and new drugs.

The Department has recognised the need to increase the general practitioner (GP) work force and between September 2010 and September 2013, the number of full-time equivalent GPs has risen by 1,051. Additionally, the Department has included in the HEE mandate a requirement that

“HEE will ensure that 50% of trainees completing foundation level training enter GP training programmes by 2016”.

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of patients who were able to see their preferred GP in the most recent period for which figures are available. [201080]

Dr Poulter: Data from the most recent GP Patient Survey found that 55% of patients have a particular general practitioner (GP) that they usually prefer to speak to or see. Of those, 61.7% of respondents said they could see or speak to their preferred GP ‘always or almost always’ or a ‘lot of the time’.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason callers to NHS England’s EHIC renewal line are assumed to agree to data-sharing if they do not hang up, whilst other Government Departments require legal data-sharing gateways. [201255]

Jane Ellison: The NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) administers the EHIC (European health insurance card) application system and telephone line.

Applicants for EHIC cards are asked to agree to share their application details for the purpose of validating EHIC applications and claims (for which information is shared with the Department for Work and Pensions and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) and in order to prevent and detect fraud and errors (for which information may be shared with NHS Protect and the Department of Health—International Division). The agreement of customers to share their data is sufficient under the Data Protection Act. No personal medical or clinical data is shared as part of this process.

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Callers to the EHIC telephone service are assumed to agree to share their application details. We acknowledge that the current telephone message advising callers about data sharing could be clearer. The NHS BSA has undertaken that they will not share any further EHIC data which is gathered through the telephone service, until the message has been updated.

Health: Business

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 486W, on health: business, whether he plans to make an assessment of the overall (a) number and (b) proportion of those companies which are meeting all of the pledges they have signed up to. [201371]

Jane Ellison: Details of our Responsibility Deal partners, the pledges they have committed to taking action on, their delivery plans and annual updates are all readily available on the Responsibility Deal website at:

https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/partners/

This information is published in full and the Department does not therefore publish an assessment of partners’ achievements under the pledges.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 486W, on health: business, what assessment his Department makes of the annual updates; and what estimate he has made of the number of hours of officials' time spent assessing those updates. [201372]

Jane Ellison: Officials review annual updates to Responsibility Deal pledges on receipt and liaise with partners directly if any clarification is required.

The Department does not record separately the time spent on reviewing annual updates to the Responsibility Deal.

HIV Infection

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost per patient was of antiretroviral therapy for HIV in the latest year for which figures are available. [200862]

Jane Ellison: This information is not collected. In 2012-13, the national health service in England spent an estimated £630 million on HIV services, including treatment. Approximately 60,721 people in England received NHS HIV treatment and care services in 2012.

Magnetic Resonance Imagers

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what records his Department holds on numbers of magnetic resonance imaging scans being undertaken on behalf of the NHS at zoological or veterinary premises. [201245]

Jane Ellison: The Department holds no information on the number of magnetic resonance imaging scans undertaken on behalf of the national health service at zoological or veterinary premises.

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Arrangements for deciding the most appropriate way for individual patients to access NHS services based on their clinical needs is for local determination.

Medical Records: Disclosure of Information

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to ensure that patient data extracted under care.data shared with countries inside the European Economic Area cannot be shared outside that area. [200640]

Dr Poulter: The Data Protection Act 1998 allows personal data to be transferred to countries within the European Economic Area (EEA) on the same basis as transferring data within the United Kingdom. Personal data can only be sent to a country or territory outside the EEA if an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of individuals when processing their personal data is ensured.

Every application for information will be considered by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), in line with the Data Protection Act, taking account of their location if it is outside the UK.

Recipients of data from the HSCIC must agree to certain terms and conditions of use, i.e. a data sharing contract, before any data are disclosed. Those terms and conditions include measures intended to safeguard the use of information that may identify individuals, including:

limiting the use of information to a specific purpose, which must also be both legitimate, compatible and shared only for the benefit of the health and social care system;

prohibiting onward disclosure of information to an additional organisation;

ensuring the security of the data once they are in the possession of another organisation that applied successfully for the data; and

the right of HSCIC to audit where it is suspected the terms and conditions have not been complied with.

The HSCIC announced on 17 June 2014 that a new, strengthened audit function will monitor adherence to data sharing agreements and halt the flow of data if there are any concerns exposed. This will include scrutiny of how the data are being used and stored by those receiving it. This will also monitor that data have been deleted when an agreement comes to the end. Any failure on the part of data users to abide by their agreements will entail no further release of data to them.

Monitor

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether guidance issued by Monitor is mandatory for NHS England to follow. [200737]

Jane Ellison: It is the National Health Service (Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) (No.2) Regulations 2013 that place requirements on NHS England, including requirements as to good practice in relation to procurement.

Enforcement of the procurement requirements by Monitor may only follow its investigation of a complaint that there has been a failure by a commissioner to comply with the requirements. Guidance issued by Monitor

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on the regulations, including guidance issued in April, provides advice for commissioners on compliance with the regulations.

NHS: Disclosure of Information

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government are taking to ensure that hospitals do not discourage whistleblowing by staff; and if he will take steps to issue a UK NHS-wide policy on that matter. [200954]

Dr Poulter: We have been absolutely clear that national health service staff who speak out in the interests of patient safety must be protected and listened to and that we expect all NHS organisations to have whistleblowing policies in place that are compliant with the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. On 5 March this year, the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), wrote to chairs in NHS trusts and foundation trusts in England to express his strong views on this matter and to reiterate the vital importance of fostering a culture of openness and transparency in the NHS.

In addition, the Department recently commissioned the Whistleblowing Helpline to update whistleblowing guidance for the NHS. This revised guidance “Raising Concerns at Work—Whistleblowing Guidance for workers and employers in Health and Social Care” was published on 17 March 2014. This guidance transparently sets out the policies and processes for staff and employers in a single document and is available via their website or as a hard copy. This guidance can be found on their website:

www.wbhelpline.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Raising-Concerns-at-Work.pdf

Employment law and policy (of which whistleblowing law and policy is a part), and health law and policy, are devolved matters in Northern Ireland. In Scotland and Wales employment law is not devolved, but health law is. Decisions about implementation of whistleblowing policy in the NHS in each part of the United Kingdom are therefore a matter for each of those areas.

NHS: Negligence

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funds have been provided from his departmental expenditure limit to meet the costs of (a) clinical negligence and (b) NHS litigation in this financial year. [201347]

Dr Poulter: £1.2 billion has been budgeted by the National Health Service Litigation Authority for the current 2014-15 financial year. £1.1 billion of this is allocated to clinical negligence, by far the most significant proportion of which is funded by members’ contributions, rather than allocated directly from the Department’s expenditure limit.

Nurses: Redundancy

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many registered nurses were made redundant by each NHS health trust in England in 2013. [201092]

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Dr Poulter: The number (headcount basis) of qualified nursing staff made redundant, from national health service trusts, during 2013 is estimated in the following table.

In November 2013 there was a record full-time equivalent number of qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff in the NHS of 312,900.

The 489 redundancies represent just 0.14% of the total qualified nursing workforce in hospitals and community health services.

The data used in this reply have been extracted from the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) Data Warehouse which is a monthly snap shot of the live ESR system. This is the human resources and payroll system that covers all NHS employees other than those working in general practice, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and organisations to which functions have been transferred, such as local authorities. ESR was fully rolled out across the NHS in April 2008. The ESR data used in this response are not centrally validated and their reliability is subject to local coding practice.

Redundancies are identified as those individuals with a reason for leaving of either voluntary or compulsory redundancy. Only those individuals coded as qualified nurses, midwives or health visitors are included in the figures. Only redundancies from NHS Trusts are included in these figures; it is possible that qualified nurses were also made redundant from other NHS bodies.

ESR reports based on the current organisation structure. This means that if organisations merged during 2013 it is possible that redundancies from, now defunct, organisations are recorded as being from the newly created organisation.

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Nursing and Midwifery Council

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will bring forward proposals to financially assist nurses employed by the NHS to pay the increased fee for the Nursing and Midwifery Council when they come into force later in 2014; [201093]

(2) what discussions Ministers in his Department have had with the Nursing and Midwifery Council on its proposals to increase professional fees for nurses by £20 per annum later in 2014. [201094]

Dr Poulter: The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is an independent body and it is therefore for the NMC Council to determine the level of the annual fee it charges for registration. On 26 March 2014, the

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NMC Council reviewed the level of this fee and agreed a proposal to increase it from £100 per annum to £120 in March 2015. The NMC is running a public consultation between 8 May and 31 July 2014, where its proposal is open to scrutiny. No decision on the proposed fee increase has been made at present.

Ministers keep the issue of professional regulation under regular review and the Department has frequent contact with professional regulators, including the NMC. On 12 March 2014, I met with representatives of the NMC for a regular update meeting. This meeting was not specifically set up to discuss the NMC registration fee, but during this meeting the NMC provided information about its fee review process.

Parkinson's Disease

Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps his Department is taking to ensure that clinicians making individual funding requests for Parkinson's disease medication are informed of the outcome within 40 days; and if he will make a statement; [200679]

(2) what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time and resources that clinicians spend on administering individual funding requests for treatments of Parkinson's disease and other progressive conditions; and if he will make a statement; [200677]

(3) what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) prevalence of additional health problems experienced by people with Parkinson's disease due to delays in receiving Duodopa and (b) costs incurred by the NHS as a result of such delays; and if he will make a statement. [200678]

Norman Lamb: We have made no such assessment.

From April 2013, NHS England assumed responsibility for commissioning adult specialist neurosciences services, including the majority of services for patients with Parkinson’s disease, with some being the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups.

NHS England has advised that it does not routinely fund Duodopa (co-careldopa) for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and is currently considering its clinical policy.

Clinicians can submit individual funding requests for this treatment on behalf of their patients as per NHS England’s individual funding requests standard operating procedure, which is at:

www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cp-04.pdf

This process is monitored against the standard operating procedure to ensure that referring clinicians are informed of outcomes in a timely manner.

Once the commissioning position relating to this service area is agreed and service access criteria published, NHS England has advised that the number of individual funding requests from clinicians may reduce.

Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme

Mr Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what payments his Department has made to the devolved administrations as a consequence of rebates paid to it under the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme in each of the last three years. [200803]

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Norman Lamb: The following table provides details of payments made to the devolved administrations under the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) for the last three complete financial years.

Plastic Surgery

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS-funded cosmetic surgeries have been performed in each of the last four years; and what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of those surgeries which were not based on a mental health need. [201374]

Dr Poulter: This information is not available in the format requested.

Public Health England

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) amount and (b) proportion of Public Health England's marketing budget has been allocated to each of the six big ambitions referred to in its 2014-15 business plan. [201129]

Jane Ellison: The core Public Health England (PHE) marketing budget for 2014-15 is £53 million. The allocation to each of the six big ambition areas is as follows:

The current assessment of the evidence shows that a national marketing campaign on TB would not be a cost effective investment so there is no marketing budget allocation to this ambition area.

In addition to the individual campaign costs stated above an additional £3.3 million is also spent on call centres and £2.6 million is also spent on infrastructure costs such as evaluation. The final budget will be subject to clearance by the Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform Group.

PHE’s 2014-15 Marketing strategy is due for publication in early July and will provide more detailed information on the full marketing programme.

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Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) amount and (b) proportion of Public Health England's total budget has been allocated to (i) tobacco, (ii) obesity, (iii) alcohol, (iv) TB, (v) dementia and (vi) the Best Start in Life strategy for 2014-15. [201130]

Jane Ellison: Public Health England’s (PHE) financial reporting is currently based upon the directorates and teams around which their work is focused. The six areas of focus identified in the parliamentary questions are currently supported by individuals and teams across PHE’s various directorates (Operations, Health Protection, Health and Wellbeing, Knowledge etc.), so the total cost of each of the above areas cannot currently be accurately provided.

During the course of 2014-15, one of the priorities identified by PHE’s finance team is to enhance and tailor their inherited financial reporting arrangements so that it can report on their activities and priorities as well as its Directorates and teams. PHE will be able to provide this information in the future, but it is unfortunately not available now. Once PHE has developed new financial reporting arrangements they will ensure that this is published transparently.

Radiotherapy

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) with reference to the answer of 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 132W, on radiotherapy, what reports he has received on the reasons NHS England has paid for Gamma Knife treatment at University College Hospital London (UCHL) for a patient with an acoustic neuroma referred to UCHL from Bournemouth and Poole Hospital; [200728]

(2) pursuant to the answer of 9 June 2014, Official Report, column 61W, on radiotherapy, what reports he has received of the reasons NHS England has paid for gamma knife treatment at University College Hospital London for a patient referred there from Plymouth Derriford Hospital by James Palmer, NHS England's Clinical Director of Specialised Commissioning. [200731]

Jane Ellison: For reasons of patient confidentiality, it is not possible to comment explicitly on either case referred to. However, any primary care trust authorisations made for the gamma knife prior to 1 April 2013 were honoured by NHS England and the invoice associated with the agreed work was paid. University College London Hospitals (UCLH) was required to forward any referrals made after 1 April 2013 to NHS England, along the prescribed pathway, in accordance with the contract between the two. No invoices for work carried out by Queen's Square Radiotherapy Centre at its own risk on behalf of UCLH have been paid by NHS England for referrals after 1 April 2013.

Research

Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent from its research and development budget over the last five years; and how much such spending is planned for (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16. [200997]

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Dr Poulter: Revenue expenditure from the Department’s research and development budget is shown in the following table:

A budget figure for 2015-16 has not yet been set. This will happen as part of standard business planning later in the year.

Sexually Transmitted Infections

Mr Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what progress has been made on the development of the HIV/STI national clinical audit; and if he will make a statement; [201002]

(2) what the current timetable is for the development of the HIV/STI national clinical audit; [201000]

(3) how many expressions of interest from eligible providers to develop the HIV/STI national clinical audit NHS England has received to date. [201001]

Jane Ellison: The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) commissions and manages the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme on behalf of NHS England. The HQIP has asked for expressions of interest from suitable providers who are able to design and complete a one-year feasibility study to inform any future national clinical audit of HIV and sexually transmitted infections. The contract for the work will be awarded this summer. NHS England cannot disclose the number of expressions of interest that have been received at this stage as this is commercially sensitive information.

Sugar

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2014, Official Report, column 293W, on sugar, what discussions he has had and what representations he has received on including sugar in the list of ingredients that companies should work with caterers to reformulate in meals as part of the H4 pledge on Healthier Staff Restaurants; and what response his Department gave in each such case. [201370]

Jane Ellison: There have not been any discussions or representations made to the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), or any departmental officials, on including sugar in the list of ingredients that companies should work with caterers to reformulate in meals as part of the H4 Responsibility Deal pledge on Healthier Staff Restaurants.

There are 169 organisations currently signed up to the H4 pledge which includes a requirement for employers to work with caterers to reformulate recipes to ensure staff meals are lower in fat, salt and energy.

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In addition, 11 catering companies have signed up to take a range of actions to help people consume fewer calories, including through reformulation to reduce sugar content.

Treasury

Bank Levy

Duncan Hames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what revenues have been received under the bank levy in each year since its introduction. [201157]

Andrea Leadsom: The bank levy, a permanent tax on banks’ balance sheet equity and liabilities, was introduced by this Government from 1 January 2011.

It raised £1.6 billion in both 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Following a number of increases to the headline rate, the OBR now forecast it to raise £2.3 billion in 2013-14, £2.7 billion in 2014-15 and £2.9 billion a year from 2015-16.

Chief Scientific Advisers

Mr Byrne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many meetings he has had with his Department's Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months. [200794]

Andrea Leadsom: As was the case under previous Administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

Children: Day Care

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance and support (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) National Savings and Investment will provide for parents who encounter IT problems during the quarterly reconfiguration process for tax-free child-care; and if he will make a statement. [200673]

Nicky Morgan: On 23 May the Government published a further consultation on the delivery of child care accounts within Tax-Free Childcare. The consultation will be open until 27 June and the Government will consider the responses alongside those to the first consultation before it makes its decision on the provision of child care accounts. Following this decision the Government will work with stakeholders to develop guidance to support parents, and assisted approaches will be provided to parents without access to the internet.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance he has given on the role of employers in supporting the uptake and delivery of employer-supported child-care. [201173]

Nicky Morgan: HM Revenue and Customs has published extensive guidance to help employers run successful child care schemes, including the Employer Helpbook E18 ‘How you can help your employees with child care’.

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Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government is taking to ensure that child-care providers receive payments from National Savings and Investments on time. [201174]

Nicky Morgan: On 23 May, the Government published a further consultation on the delivery of child care accounts within tax-free child care. The consultation will be open until 27 June and the Government will consider the responses alongside those to the first consultation before it makes its decision on the provision of child care accounts.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what additional burdens the impact assessment identified for childcare providers operating tax-free child-care scheme. [201210]

Nicky Morgan: Information on burdens for child care providers associated with the introduction of tax-free child-care can be found in the Impact Assessment:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/318698/document2014-06-10-104244-1.pdf