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Baroness Anelay of St Johns asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will publish their targets for the test of availability and accessibility of digital television which must be reached before analogue switch-off takes place, as percentages of defined regions, local areas and different social groups.[HL2177]
Baroness Blackstone: The Government have set targets for availability and accessibility of digital services only for the whole of the UK. We are considering the Viewers' Panel recommendation that the test criteria for digital switchover should not be based solely on national averages and that targets should also be set for particular regions and social groups to prevent social exclusion.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What costs they take into account when assessing the affordability to individuals of the switchover from analogue to digital television.[HL2178]
Baroness Blackstone: When assessing the affordability of digital equipment, the Government will take into account the cost of digital receivers; the cost of installation; and the availability of cheap and simple digital receivers to convert existing analogue sets to receive free-to-air services digitally. We will also take into account the comments and recommendations on affordability to individuals made by the Viewers' Panel in its report to Government: Digital Decisions: Viewer Choice and Digital Television, published on 28 December, copies of which I am placing in the Libraries of both Houses.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What plans they have to supplement their digtaltv.culture website with other more traditional sources of information so that such information may be accessed by those groups, such as elderly people and families on low income, who do not have Internet access in their own homes.[HL2179]
Baroness Blackstone: As part of the Government's Digital Television Action Plan, published on 20 December, the Market Preparation Group will develop and implement a strategic marketing and communication plan to prepare consumers for the switchover to digital. A key element of any information campaign will be the wide dissemination of information in ways designed to reach consumers whether or not they have Internet access in their homes.
On 18 December, in response to the condition set by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in granting approval for new BBC services, the BBC published its plan for the promotion of digital services.
National Insurance Numbers
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether there is a single register for all persons with national insurance numbers whether they be in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland; and, if not, what linkages exist between the registers of the different countries.[HL2075]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Hollis of Heigham): The Department for Work and Pensions has responsibility for managing the Departmental Central Index computer system. All persons allocated with a national insurance number in the United Kingdom are recorded on this computer system.
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many valid national insurance numbers exist in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and whether these numbers are confined to citizens of the United Kingdom.[HL2076]
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: There are approximately 83 million national insurance numbers (NINOs) currently held on the Departmental Central Index computer system, which holds records of all NINOs allocated.
This figure can be broken down into the following categories: 47 million NINOs are used by UK residents aged over 16; 12.5 million child reference numbers for all children included in claims to child benefit; 13.5 million NINOs relating to deceased persons are retained to allow surviving spouses to claim contributory benefits; 2 million are in receipt of benefit abroad. The remaining 8 million will include UK citizens who have migrated to other countries, short-term immigrants/holiday workers and deceased persons where notification of death has not been received.
Podiatrists
Earl Howe asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What assessment they have made of the proportion of unregistered podiatrists likely to put themselves forward for admission to the register of the Health Professions Council.[HL1906]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): We have made no such assessment.
GP Registration: Non-British Subjects
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What conditions have to be met for a non-British subject to register with a National Health Service general practitioner; whether non-British subjects who do register with a National Health Service general practitioner are issued with a National
- Health Service number; and whether the National Health Service central register is necessarily aware that the number has been issued to a non-British subject.[HL2073]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: If a non-British subject presents for registration at a general practitioner the following occurs. If they state they are to be in the country for less than three months, the GP completes a temporary services (GMS3) form. If they state they are to be resident in the country for over three months, the patient is registered with the GP using the GMS1 form. These forms are submitted by the GP to the local health authority.
Only patients that generate a GMS1 form are issued with an NHS number by the NHS Central Register. The NHSCR always checks to see if the patient has already been previously issued with an NHS number.
The health authority registers the patient as an immigrant, but the first acceptance record submitted to NHSCR contains only a place of birth field and a comments field (which may or may not contain the country of origin). Hence the NHSCR is not necessarily aware that the number has been issued to a non-British subject.
NHS Numbers
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What, in summary, is the main difference between the systems of National Health Service numbers used in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. [HL2074]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: In England and Wales, all patients are issued a 10-digit NHS number, made up of a unique nine-digit number plus a check digit.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland, a separate scheme called the Community Health Index number is used. The CHI numbers are the same 10-digit format as the NHS number in England and Wales but contain the patient's date of birth and a sequence number.
Social Services Inspectorate
Baroness Noakes asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the Chief Social Services Inspector has responsibility for the work of the Social Services Inspectorate as well as policy responsiblity for children, older people and social care; and if so, how the independence of the Social Services Inspectorate is guaranteed. [HL2077]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Chief Inspector of Social Services is also the Director for Children, Older People and Social Care in the Department of Health. However, the Social Services Inspectorate is a wholly separate part of the directorate and the chief inspector has a deputy director who also acts as head of policy.
In Vitro Fertilisation: Bone Marrow Matching
Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they agree with the statement by Lord Winston in The Times on 15 December that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's recent ruling authorising the use of in vitro fertilisation with genetic screening to create a child who will be a suitable bone-marrow match for his or her sibling has "given permission for the first British designer baby". [HL2096]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The decision to allow, in principle, the licensing of treatment whereby an embryo is tested for its tissue compatibility with an existing sibling is a matter for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). The HFEA has given the matter very careful consideration. Each application will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The Government are satisfied that as a result the technique will only be used in very rare circumstances and then only subject to very strict controls.
Prostate Cancer Research
Lord Morris of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they expect to be able to announce the outcome of their consideration of the application for funding made by Gordon Muir of King's College Hospital for further research into differences in the rates of both incidence and mortality from prostate cancer in differing racial groups. [HL2120]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Department of Health has agreed in principle to fund a research proposal entitled Prostate Cancer in Ethnic Subgroups (PROCESS): A comparative study of incidence, clinical presentation and access to health care in the UK. The principal investigator for the proposed research is Dr Ben-Shlomo of the University of Bristol. Dr Gordon Muir of King's College Hosptial is a named collaborator on the research proposal. The department recently considered the researchers' responses to scientific comments made by the external peer reviewers of the research proposal and invited the researchers to expand the proposal to include some pilot work for a possible prospective study. The department is currently awaiting an expanded research proposal from the researchers.
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