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Millennium Dome: New Ownership
Baroness Goudie asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What progress has been made in relation to the future use of the Millennium Dome.[HL2098]
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: Meridian Delta Limited have today been appointed exclusive partners with English Partnerships for the regeneration of the Greenwich Peninsula and to take over ownership of the Millennium Dome through a 999 year lease.
Once legally concluded the deal will provide a 20,000 seat arena inside the Dome, surrounded by an urban entertainment complex. The total investment in and around the Dome will be £200 million. The deal also provides for the regeneration of the Greenwich Peninsula through a joint venture between EP and MDL which, over its 20-year lifetime, will provide a total investment of around £4 billion, at least 5,000 new homes and an estimated 20,000 full time jobs.
Meridian Delta Limited is a consortium that includes Lend Lease (developers of the Sydney Olympic Village and the Bluewater shopping centre) Quintain Estates and Development and Anschutz Entertainment Group, the second largest entertainment company in the world.
English Partnerships expects to conclude a legally binding contract with MDL by the end of May 2002, but it is intended that it will provide both a guaranteed minimum price for the land that English Partnerships is putting into the joint venture and a substantial share of the overall remaining profits of the joint venture.
The precise amount to be received by EP over the lifetime of the deal depends on the final details of the deal and the amount of development ultimately undertaken.
However, it will amount to several hundred million pounds and is structured in such a way that is likely to generate better value for the public sector than could have been achieved through either the deals with Nomura or Legacy. The deal also provideds for MDL to take on all of the risks associated with operating and maintaining the Dome. The public sector's only remaining interest will be to receive a share of profits once they exceed a threshold, still to be determined.
We welcome the fact that the National Audit Office is scrutinising the sale process and will report to Parliament. We have kept the NAO informed throughout and will continue to do so.
Baroness Goudie asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When a Liquidator will be appointed for the New Millennium Experience Company.[HL2099]
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: Following the orderly winding-down of operations by the New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC), the company's directors today took steps to commence a members voluntary liquidation and I, as NMEC's sole shareholder, have formally appointed Richard Heis and Stephen Treharne, two partners of KPMG, as liquidators.
NMEC's final annual report and financial statements for the period of 1 January 2001 to 18 December 2001 will be available tomorrow and I will be placing copies of the report in the Libraries of both Houses.
Embryonic Stem Cells
Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What guidance they give to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority concerning the status of embryonic stem cells and their understanding of the point at which a human embryo ceases to be a human embryo and, for the purpose of regulation, can be regarded as stem cells; and what advice the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority gives to clinics on this matter.[HL1946]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): It is the responsibility of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to consider each application for a research licence to extract stem cells from fertilised embryos on its individual merits. In doing so it will ensure that the application complies with the requirement of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 that research workers wishing to work on cells or groups of cells derived from an embryo should separate them out either chemically or physically from the embryo within 14 days of its creation.
Gender Reassignment Surgery
Lord Carlile of Berriew asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What financial provision can be made available for gender reassignment surgery in cases where such surgery has been advised by the specialist gender identity clinic at the Imperial College of Medicine but has been refused funding by the patient's home health authority.[HL1982]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: There are a number of specialist centres for treating people with gender dysphoria in England, including the Charing Cross Hospital. Like all other services, decisions about
whether gender reassignment surgery should be funded under the National Health Service are made by individual health authorities, who must take account of the wider picture in terms of local priorities and circumstances when determining how resources are spent. There should be no "blanket ban" on the provision of any service, and each case must be decided on its own merits. The health authority in which a person is resident is responsible for commissioning services for that individual.In the future, commissioning of these services will move to primary care trusts (PCT), and the responsible PCT will be the one with which the person is registered. A number of PCTs may work together to purchase specialised services, such as treatment for gender dysphoria, PCTs will also take account of resources and local priorities when deciding which services to commission.
Health Authorities: Information Management and Technology
Baroness Noakes asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 28 November (WA 53-54), how much new investment on information management and technology has been separately identified within allocations for 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2002–03; and to what extent any amounts so identified in 2000–01 were actually spent on new investment in information management and technology.[HL2022]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The details of specific investments on information management and technology (IM&T) are contained in the health authority allocations circulars for the years 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2002–03. The spend of the funds for 2000–01 were not specifically tracked. In 2001–02 £113 million was hypothecated for IM&T investment; of this £30 million was identified in spending plans. For 2001–02 an additional £50 million capital was made available. All of this was spent on IM&T targets.
- HSC—1999/24 HA revenue cash limits 2000–01
- HSC—2000/034 HA revenue resource limits 2001–02
- HSC—2001/024 HA revenue resource limits 2002–03
National Health Service: Pay Recommendations
Lord Galdwin of Clee asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will publish the reports and recommendations of the Health Pay Review Bodies.[HL2068]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: We are responding on behalf of my right honourable friend the Prime Minister to the reports of the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration (DDRB) and the Review Body on Nursing staff, Midwives, Health Visitors and Professions Allied to Medicine (NPRB), which were published on 17 December. We understand that a similar announcement was made by the Minister for Health and Community Care in Scotland, and the Minister for Health and Social Services in Wales. Copies of the reports are available in the Printed Paper Office and the Library. We are grateful to the chairman and members of both review bodies for their hard work.
The pay recommendations of the two review bodies are being accepted in full and without staging.
Nurses, midwives and health visitors are to get an across the board increase of 3.6 per cent. Some 45,000 of the lowest paid nursing support staff on grade A will benefit from a minimum cash uplift of £400 giving them pay rises of up to 4.3 per cent. Non-registered staff on grades A and B will also have access to an additional incremental point if they achieve national vocational qualifications.
On call and standby payments increase by 50 per cent while psychiatric and regional secure unit allowances are inceased by 32 per cent. Other cash based allowances are increased by 3.6 per cent.
London allowances will be increased by 3.6 per cent and the earnings related element will be consolidated into a new rate of £3,228 for all nursing staff working in inner London irrespective of their earnings.
This year additional action has been targeted to support clinical leadership in the National Health Service. Staff undertaking matron roles will have access to an increased maximum salary up to £32,760. The lowest three incremental points on the nurse consultant scales will be deleted giving a new minimum rate of £33,940. Nurse consultants will potentially be able to earn up to £46,675.
On top of these increases the extension of the geographic coverage of cost of living supplements from 1st April 2002 to a further six health authorities will result in an estimated 20,000 more qualified NPRB staff benefiting from additional increases worth between £400 and £600.
The minimum starting pay of a newly qualified nurse will rise to £16,005. In inner London starting pay for a new nurse will be £19,873, including London weighting and the cost of living supplement.
The NPRB has also recommended an across the board increase of 3.6 per cent for physiotherapists, radiographers and other allied health professionals within its remit. The lowest increment of the basic grade will be deleted with the assimilation arrangements for all existing basic grade staff. Starting pay for newly qualified staff will increase by 7.5 per cent on 1st April 2002 to £17,115 or £21,028 in London, inclusive of London weighting and the cost of living supplement. Cash based allowances are increased in line with awards made to nursing staff.
The Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body (DDRB) has recommended an overall pay increase of 3.6 per cent for salaried doctors and dentists and general dental practitioners. In addition the DDRB has recommended adjustments to the pay scales, including increases in the scale maxima, for senior house officers, associate specialists, staff grade practitioners, and dental officers, and an extension in the dentists' commitment scheme worth around an extra £5 million per year.
For general practitioners, it has recommended an increase in the amount to be delivered through the fee scale of 4.6 per cent, together with an increase in the out of hours supplement for GP registrars from 30 per cent of basic salary to 50 per cent.
The pay rise recommended by the DDRB takes the starting consultant salary to £52,640 and that of a consultant on the maximum of the scale with maximum distinction award to £133,585. The number of distinction awards has also been increased by 186 which will support the Government's proposals to reform the existing schemes to give more opportunity to reward consultants for their commitment and contribution to the NHS.
These above inflation increases are fair and reflect the important contribution that these key staff are making to delivering the modernisation agenda outlined in the NHS Plan.
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