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Fur Farming
Earl Howe asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether fur farmers whose businesses were terminated on the bringing into force of the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000 have received financial compensation arising from that Act; and, if so, what was the range of amounts paid to them. [HL3955]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): Eleven former fur farmers submitted claims for compensation as a result of the ban on fur farming under the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000. Four of these claims have been settled. The remaining seven claims remain in dispute and are currently being progressed through formal arbitration.
As seven of the claims remain in dispute, it would be inappropriate to release information relating to the settled compensation claims, as it could undermine the effective conduct of negotiations at a sensitive time and have a prejudicial effect on the outcome of the unsettled claims.
The outcome of arbitration is confidential between the parties. However, information relating to the total amount of compensation paid will be published once all the claims have been settled.
Gambling: Online Casinos
Lord Faulkner of Worcester asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they propose to accede to requests from the Government of the United States for the extradition of British subjects alleged to have infringed United States laws prohibiting online gambling; and whether they have received any such requests to date. [HL3894]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): For any extradition request made by the US to the UK (and vice versa) to succeed, the “dual criminality” test must be satisfied. This means that the conduct for which a person's extradition is sought must be an offence in both the requesting and requested states, punishable by a term of at least 12 months' detention in both territories. Online gambling is not an offence in the UK.
As a matter of policy and practice, the Home Office will neither confirm nor deny the existence of any extradition request ahead of an arrest.
Government Departments: Ecosystem Services
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
Which departments, if any, carry out assessments of ecosystem services as part of their operations; and what guidelines they have issued to encourage departments to factor the economic, social and environmental value of ecosystem services into their decision-making process. [HL3888]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): Defra is leading government efforts to develop means of assessing the state and trends of ecosystem services and of taking the value of ecosystem services into account in decision-making. The department will publish an action plan by the end of 2007 for embedding an “ecosystems approach” to policy and decision-making on the natural environment in England, which will set out how Defra and partners will work towards more integrated management of the natural environment to deliver healthy ecosystems and a sustainable supply of ecosystem goods and services.
Valuation of ecosystem services will be key to the success of this approach, and Defra will be publishing an introductory guide to valuation of ecosystem services in policy and project appraisals later this year to engage other government departments and agencies with this agenda. This is seen as a first step towards development of more specific guidance on the appraisal and valuation of ecosystem services, and further actions for appraisal and valuation guidance will be identified in the ecosystems approach action plan.
Health: Colitis and Crohn's Disease
Baroness Barker asked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment has been made of the special educational needs of children under the age of 19 who have been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. [HL3984]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Lord Adonis): The assessment of children's special educational needs is not a function that is carried out centrally. The SEN code of practice provides practical advice to local authorities, maintained schools, early education settings and others on carrying out their statutory duties to identify, assess and make provision for all children with special educational needs.
Additional guidance Managing Medicines in Schools and Early Years Settings (DH/DfES) and sister guidance Including Me: Managing Complex Health Needs in Schools and Early Years Settings (Council for Disabled Children/DfES) provide help to all schools and early years settings in developing policies on managing medicines, in putting in place effective management systems to support individual children with medical needs and in enabling children with complex health needs to access education and childcare.
Health: Continuing Care
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
How much each strategic health authority in England has spent on continuing care in each of the past five years. [HL3821]
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): Information on the cost of continuing care is not collected centrally.
Health: Dentistry
Lord Colwyn asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many consultants in dental public health were employed by each primary care trust (i) in 2005-06, and (ii) in 2006-07; and how many are currently employed.[HL3801]
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The Information Centre's workforce data are collected annually and are a snapshot of staff in post as at 30 September each year. The most recent data, provided in the Answer given to the noble Lord on 9 May (Official Report, col. WA264), show the headcount position as at 30 September 2006. Data for 2007 are due for collection on 30 September 2007 and although a publication date has not yet been set it is planned to be in the spring of 2008.
Health: Dyspepsia
Baroness Masham of Ilton asked Her Majesty's Government:
What estimates have been made of savings to the National Health Service in the event that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence clinical guidelines for the management of dyspepsia in adults in primary care, published in August 2004, were fully implemented by all primary care trusts; and [HL3877]
What studies have been commissioned on the level of implementation in primary care trusts of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence clinical guidelines for the management of dyspepsia in adults in primary care. [HL3878]
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): We have made no estimate of the savings to the National Health Service that would result from full implementation by all primary care trusts (PCTs) of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline on the management of dyspepsia in adults in primary care. Nor have we commissioned any studies on the level of implementation of the guideline by PCTs.
NICE clinical guidelines are recommendations on the appropriate treatment and care of people with specific diseases and conditions and are intended to support clinical decision-taking. NICE guidance does not over-ride the individual responsibility of health professionals to make appropriate decisions, which may deviate from the guidance, according to the circumstances of the individual patient and in consultation with the patient or their representative.
Health: Medicines
Lord Naseby asked Her Majesty's Government:
What percentage of total National Health Service expenditure was spent on medicines in the latest year for which data are available; and what was the equivalent percentage 10 years previously. [HL3871]
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The following table shows total net drugs expenditure and National Health Service revenue expenditure for the years 1995-96 and 2005-06.
| Total net drugs expenditure (£ million) | Total net NHS revenue expenditure (£ million) | Drugs spend as proportion of total NHS revenue expenditure (%) | |
National Health Service expenditure is the total NHS net revenue expenditure. NHS expenditure is on a cash basis pre-1999-2000 inclusive, and a resource basis post-1999-2000. Resource budgeting (RB) was introduced in two stages. Phase 1 (2000-01 to 2002-03) included debtors and creditors and phase 2 (2003-04 onwards) applies full RB.
As a result of these accounting differences, the two years are not strictly comparable.
Source: Prescription pricing division of the NHS Business Services Authority, England and department finance division.
Health: Prostate Cancer
Lord Morris of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 9 May (WA 267) on screening for prostate cancer, what figures they have for each primary care trust on the numbers of identified cases of aggressive cancers; and whether these figures show any variation in the incidence of such cases by ethnic group. [HL3784]
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): Incidence figures for prostate cancer are not collected based on how aggressive the cancer is or on the ethnicity of the patient. However, latest figures show that 29,406 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in England in 2004 and the table below breaks this down by primary care trust (PCT).
| PCT | Number of patients with prostate cancer |
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