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Water Fluoridation
Earl Baldwin of Bewdley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the statement reported to have been made recently in a letter by Health and Environment Ministers to the Deputy Prime Minister, that opponents of fluoridation are in a minority, was made; and if so, whether they will specify the sources on which this view is based; and[HL3260]
Whether the view reported to have been expressed recently in a letter by Health and Environment Ministers to the Deputy Prime Minister, that opponents of fluoridation are "insisting on an indefinite research programme", was expressed; and, if so, having regard to the research recommendations contained in the reports from the systematic review of water fluoridation carried out at the University of York in 2000, and by the Medical Research Council working group in 2002, what grounds they have for believing that opponents are calling for an indefinite rather than a definite programme.[HL3261]
Lord Warner: Opinion surveys commissioned by the British Fluoridation Society regularly show that about 70 per cent. of the population are in favour of fluoridation. The Systematic Review of Fluoridation undertaken by the National Health Service Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York identified 3,246 research studies with reference to fluoridation many of which considered claims of an association between fluoridation and different illnesses or disabilities. Further claims continue to emerge. York found no evidence of risks to overall health from fluoridation, other than dental fluorosis, and were critical of the quality of some of the research. Accordingly, we asked the Medical Research Council to advise how the research base could be strengthened. We have already acted on its main recommendation by commissioning a research study into the absorption of fluoride.
Cochlear Implants
Lord Ashley of Stoke asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many adults and children were provided with cochlear implants in 2002; and how the figures compare with those in the previous five years; and[HL3529]
Whether they will publish figures giving the number of cochlear implants funded by primary care trusts in 2002 for (a) adults and (b) children; and[HL3530]
What information they have on primary care trusts delaying assessments and refusing funding for recommended cochlear implants for children becoming or born deaf; and[HL3531]
What steps they are taking to inform primary care trusts and general practitioners of the benefits of cochlear implants.[HL3559]
Lord Warner: The following table gives details of the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) in which cochlear implants were fitted in England for adults and children in the year ending March 2002 and the four preceding years.
| Year Ending 31 March | Children aged 0–17 | Adults aged 18+ |
| 1998 | 147 | 132 |
| 1999 | 179 | 124 |
| 2000 | 180 | 136 |
| 2001 | 196 | 168 |
| 2002 | 203 | 184 |
Notes:
An FCE is defined as a period of patient care under one consultant in one health care provider. The figures do not represent the number of patients, as one person may have several episodes or be admitted several times within the year.
Figures in this table have not yet been adjusted for shortfalls in data.
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health.
While the Department of Health does not collect figures centrally on the number of cases where funding for cochlear implants is delayed or refused, we understand that the Institute for Hearing Research surveys specialised centres each year to find the number of cases for which funding is declined. The last such survey was at the end of 2001. Primary care trusts came into existence in October 2001 and full-year figures for the services they fund are not yet available.
Baroness Hayman asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Warner: The draft regulations are to transpose into United Kingdom law Directive 2001/20/EC on approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the member states relating to implementation of good clinical practice in the conduct of clinical trials on medicinal products for human use. Consultation on the draft regulations closed on 16 May. The Medical Research Council's response is available in full on its website. Its assessment reflected the main concerns expressed by the charitable and public sector.
The Department of Health and the MRC have agreed jointly to lead a project to clarify the arrangements for publicly funded clinical trials involving medicines in the UK. It will draw up practical advice to enable publicly funded clinical trials involving medicines to comply with the law while making best use of existing good practice, minimising additional bureaucracy and making maximum use of public resources to avoid unnecessary expense.
The project is about to start, under the chairmanship of Professor Kent Woods, Director of the NHS Health Technology Assessment Programme. It will draw extensively on expert advice from trialists and from the charitable and public sector.
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord McIntosh of Haringey): The population figures based on the 2001 census are as followed:
Lord Jenkin of Roding asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Baroness Ashton of Upholland): The latest course listing on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) website, which covers undergraduate courses only, shows that no universities currently offer undergraduate courses specifically in nuclear science and engineering. However, a report commissioned by the Nuclear Safety Directorate in autumn 2001 identified the following universities which ran postgraduate or undergraduate courses which contained some nuclear content:
Postgraduate Courses
University of Birmingham
City University
University of Hull
Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine
Lancaster University
University of Liverpool
Loughborough University
Middlesex University
University of Plymouth
University of Surrey
University of Wales, Swansea
University College London
Royal Navy School of Marine and Air Engineering, HMS Sultan
(Department of Nuclear Science and Technology) 1
Undergraduate Courses
University of Bath
University of Birmingham
What were the main concerns expressed by the charitable and public sector in relation to the committee on the draft Medicine for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulation 2003; and what steps are being taken to address these concerns.[HL3557]
Whether they will identify the population of each postcode area in Scotland where stamp duty on non-residential property purchases has been abolished.[HL3360]
Postcode Resident population 2001 Postcode Resident population 2001 Postcode Resident population 2001
AB1 3* 9,508 G22 7 7,226 G72 7 9,927
AB2 1* 12,475 G23 5 7,164 G73 1 3,902
AB2 2* 6,551 G3 8 6,312 G81 1 5,924
DD1 5 3,050 G31 1 4,042 G81 2 7,266
DD11 1 5,244 G31 2 6,723 G81 4 7,477
DD2 3 6,884 G31 3 5,827 G81 5 5,649
DD2 4 11,177 G31 4 4,595 KA1 4 7,018
DD3 0 6,644 G31 5 2,457 KA18 3 5,804
DD3 7 8,051 G32 6 7,342 KA18 4 3,893
DD4 0 7,493 G32 7 7,313 KA3 1 5,553
DD4 6 6,428 G32 8 8,623 KA3 2 8,765
DD4 8 10,847 G33 1 8,142 KA6 7 9,462
DD4 9 11,114 G33 3 6,964 KA7 1 1,737
DG1 2 2,328 G33 4 6,600 KA8 0 7,429
DG9 7 6,452 G33 5 5,418 KA8 9 8,018
EH11 3 9,514 G34 0 5,802 KY1 1 5,928
EH14 2 9,134 G34 9 4,601 KY1 3 4,988
EH16 4 6,063 G4 0 7,082 KY5 8 6,061
EH3 8 2,242 G40 2 2,529 KY8 2 5,435
EH4 4 9,935 G40 3 2,514 KY8 3 6,044
EH5 1 4,475 G40 4 2,570 ML1 4 11,866
EH54 5 7,077 G40 1 2,332 ML2 0 9,991
EH6 6 4,192 G41 1 1,452 ML2 7 10,032
EH8 8 3,039 G42 0 5,365 ML2 9 5,833
FK10 1 5,305 G42 7 4,687 ML3 0 5,320
FK2 7 9,922 G42 8 10,100 ML4 2 10,963
FK8 1 7,811 G42 9 7,850 ML5 2 8,846
G1 5 1,360 G43 1 7,214 ML5 4 10,772
G11 6 2,783 G45 0 5,416 ML5 5 10,719
G13 2 7,567 G45 9 9,010 ML6 0 8,459
G13 3 9,813 G46 8 10,024 ML6 6 8,672
G13 4 6,543 G5 0 5,771 ML6 7 9,497
G14 0 7,766 G5 9 2,415 PA1 1 5,353
G15 7 6,145 G51 1 5,945 PA1 2 7,427
G15 8 4,843 G51 2 6,407 PA14 6 9,182
G20 0 7,355 G51 3 4,566 PA15 2 4,475
G20 7 5,745 G51 4 7,033 PA15 3 3,466
G20 8 7,419 G52 1 7,534 PA15 4 8,346
G20 9 3,267 G52 4 4,160 PA16 0 10,357
G21 1 7,744 G53 5 9,366 PA2 0 7,102
G21 2 5,822 G53 6 7,628 PA3 1 4,295
G21 3 10,707 G53 7 11,300 PA3 2 3,594
G21 4 8,050 G66 2 8,278 PA3 4 6,110
G22 5 5,312 G71 5 6,679 PA4 8 6,915
G22 6 6,049 G72 0 7,178 PH1 5 6,038
* The Scottish Index of Deprivation 1998, on which the exempt areas are based, used postcode areas existing in 1991. Because of changes in postcode boundaries, these three sectors no longer exist. The population figures are for the 2001 areas most closely corresponding to the abolished areas.
The postcode search tool which allows claimants to identify
whether relief is due takes account of such postcode changes,
as do processes in the Stamp Offices.
What courses exist at United Kingdom universities for students wishing to study nuclear science and engineering; and how many of such students are studying these subjects at undergraduate, post-graduate and post-doctoral levels. [HL3405]
1 The report also included HMS Sultan, which is a Ministry of Defence establishment.
According to the report, the number of students on courses containing any nuclear content is around 320 students per year on postgraduate courses and around 1,460 per year on undergraduate courses.
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