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Lord Clement-Jones asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What was the total cost of the work of the Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals; whether they consider it has delivered value for money; and whether they intend to re-examine those areas in which its findings are inconsistent with those of other internationally respected bodies.[HL3442]
Lord Warner: The work of the Export Group on Vitamins and Minerals (EVM) covered a five-year period and has involved expenditure by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Department of Health, and since its establishment the Food Standards Agency. The Food Standards Agency has led on the work of the EVM over the past three years and costs in respect of meetings and publication of the EVM report over this period have totalled £76,000.
The work of the EVM, which considered over 10,000 scientific papers, is a valuable resource on a subject which is the most up-to-date, independent, expert assessment of the issue yet to be published. As such it will inform policy decisions on the safety of vitamins and minerals on a United Kingdom and European basis.
There are no plans at this stage to reconsider specific areas of the EVM's findings. The need for this will be kept under ongoing review as the evidence base in this subject area develops further.
Lord Clement-Jones asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is the membership of the newly established panel of the European Food Safety Authority which is intended to consider the safety of food supplements.[HL3443]
Lord Warner: The scientific panel of the European Food Safety Authority that will deal with food supplements will be the Panel on Food Additives, Flavourings, Processing Aids and Materials in Contact with Foods.
The membership, which consists of individual experts appointed in their own right, is as follows:
- Dr Susan Barlow (Chair)
- Prof Werner Grunow (Vice-Chair)
- Mr John Christian Larsen (Vice-Chair)
- Prof Robert Henri Eugene Anton
- Prof Dimitrios Boskou
- Dr Laurence Castle
- Dr Riccardo Crebelli
- Prof Wolfgang Dekant
- Prof Karl-Heinz Engel
- Dr Stephen Forsythe
- Dr Catherine Leclercq
- Dr Wim C Mennes
- Dr Maria Rosaria Milana
- Prof Ivonne Magdalena Catharina Maria Rietjens
- Dr Kettil Svensson
- Prof Paul P G Tobback
- Prof Fidel Toldra
JPB
- What resources are being allocated by the Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency to delivering their policy objectives for missing nutrients and maximum permitted levels for nutrients within the provision of the Food Supplements Directive.[HL3480]
Lord Warner: The issues of missing nutrients and maximum permitted levels for nutrients within the provisions of the Food Supplements Directive are just two of a number of policy issues being addressed by the Food Labelling and Standards (FLS) Division of the Food Standards Agency. FLS Division has a budget for 2003–04 of £3.187 million and a complement of 37 full-time equivalent staff. The FLS divisional business plan lists work on food supplements as high priority.
Earl Howe asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When last they discussed their policy objectives for food supplements with counterparts in other member states; with whom such discussions were held; and what progress was made.[HL3485]
Lord Warner: The Government are firmly committed to the view that, in the interests of consumer choice, the law should allow food supplements that are safe and properly labelled to be freely marketed.
The most recent formal discussions on this issue took place in the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses in November 2002 and involved representatives of all European Union member states other than Luxembourg; no firm
conclusions were reached. The next key action at EU level will be a proposal for maximum permitted levels of nutrients in food supplements. The Government's view, which we are strongly arguing, is that these should be based on safety considerations rather than supposed need so as to neither unnecessarily limit consumer choice nor unduly restrict trade.The Food Standards Agency, which is responsible for negotiations on this issue, is taking every opportunity to press this case bilaterally with member states. In addition, in May, the Food Standards Agency wrote to EU member states to advise them of the conclusions of the United Kingdom Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals (EVM) on safe intakes of vitamins and minerals. The EVM's advice will form the basis of the UK's position when substantive discussions at EU level take place in due course. Joan
Prescriptions: Electronic Transmission Pilots
Lord Clement-Jones asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How the interests of patients and general practitioners will be protected as the current electronic transmission of prescription pilots are replaced by a national programme for such services; and[HL3624]
What plans are in place to ensure continuity of care for patients who have grown to rely upon electronic transmission of prescription services as part of the current pilots, as wider plans are made to replace the pilots by a national programme; and[HL3625]
What plans are in place to avoid disruption to general practitioner practices that have supported the Department of Health's electronic transmission of prescription pilots, as wider plans are made to replace the pilots by a national programme.[HL3626]
Lord Warner: The electronic transmission of prescriptions pilots have demonstrated that prescriptions can be transmitted electronically in an accurate and secure manner, and now having served their intended purpose they will be formally closed with effect from the end of June 2003. In order to ensure that patients do not experience difficulties in obtaining their prescriptions and to minimise inconvenience to healthcare professionals, an appropriate timeframe for ceasing the processing of electronic prescriptions will be agreed with the remaining pilots.
The pilots have been independently evaluated and this information is being used by the National Programme for National Health Service Information Technology to develop a sustainable, national prescription service.
Carers
Lord Morris of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What consideration they have given to Mencap's recent report on family carers, entitled Breaking Point; and whether they will be taking any action on its findings.[HL3656]
Lord Warner: We appreciate the real contribution carers make in looking after their disabled relatives. We are working to make sure that carers have the information and help they need to support them in their caring role. The Mencap report identifies some areas of particular concern to carers and is a helpful contribution to the work we are already taking forward.
The Learning Disability Task Force, which monitors the implementation of the White Paper Valuing People: A New strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century (Cm 5086), published in March 2001, will be looking in detail at issues affecting family carers at its meeting in September. The Valuing People Support Team, which offers advice and support to Learning Disability Partnership Boards, has work around family carers issues as a priority for 2003. The Learning Disability Helpline, funded jointly by Mencap and the Department of Health, offers advice and information on a wide range of learning disability issues and is already well used by family carers.
The carers grant, worth £100 million this year, provides money for local councils to provide short breaks for carers to enable them to continue in their caring role. Information on the number of breaks for carers is collected annually.
To support provision of good quality carers services the Department of Health published Quality Standards for Local Carer Support Services in February 2000. Monitoring the quality of services for carers is undertaken as part of the Social Service Inspectorate performance assessment function.
Care Direct
Baroness Sharp of Guildford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When the evaluation of the first phase pilots of Care Direct is likely to be published.[HL3678]
Lord Warner: The Personal Social Services Research Unit of the University of Kent (PSSRU) was commissioned to evaluate the Care Direct pilot. Its interim report was completed in the autumn of 2002 and published earlier this year on the Care Direct
website (www.caredirect.gov.uk) and the PSSRU's own website (www.kent.ac.uk).
Baroness Sharp of Guildford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How, given that the evaluation has not yet been published, they propose to take account of the lessons learned from the Care Direct first phase pilots in setting up the new Third Age Service.[HL3679]
Lord Warner: The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for taking forward the development of a Third Age Service. It is doing so in the light of the interim evaluation report, published earlier this year by the Personal Social Services Research Unit of the University of Kent, and the invaluable experience of live running of Care Direct over 18 months.
Baroness Sharp of Guildford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How much was spent, authority by authority, on preparing second phase pilots for Care Direct, including the cost of staff planning time; and what and how much compensation the local authorities involved have received, or are likely to receive, for costs incurred as a result of abandoning the pilots.[HL3680]
Lord Warner: The set-up grant paid to each of the Care Direct second phase authorities was as follows:
| £ | |
| Bath & North East Somerset | 87,716 |
| Bradford | 114,238 |
| Cornwall | 133,247 |
| Dorset | 126,481 |
| Essex | 208,049 |
| North Somerset | 93,069 |
| Nottingham | 96,591 |
| Nottinghamshire | 148,137 |
| Poole | 87,619 |
| South Gloucestershire | 91.949 |
| Surrey | 179,838 |
| Swindon | 85,788 |
| Torbay | 88,432 |
| Wiltshire | 114,428 |
This grant included the costs of the pilot project managers and their support staff and associated expenses; the costs of any voluntary organisation who provided assistance with the pilot project; and the cost of any purchase of capital equipment that would be used in support of the pilot project. Detailed information about the amount of staff time spent planning and setting up the project is not held. None of the authorities has reported any costs incurred as a result of stopping work on the pilots.