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Compliance with this proposed amendment would be the responsibility of the employer, ie the dispensing appliance contractor or the pharmacist.
As noted, the role of specialist nurses employed by the NHS is not in scope. There are no restrictions on their ability to provide follow-up visits to users of stoma and incontinence appliances. As such, we anticipate that levels of infection should not increase. However, given the role of specialist nurses employed directly by providers to complement the work of NHS specialists, we will discuss this with interested parties when we next meet.
Health: Mixed-sex Wards
Lord Stoddart of Swindon asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 22 January (WA 33), whether they will collect information on the number of NHS trusts which treat patients in mixed-sex wards; and [HL1581]
Whether their assurances that mixed-sex wards in NHS hospitals would be phased out have been based on information from NHS trusts on the number of patients in such wards. [HL1582]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): Guidance issued to the National Health Service requires the provision of single-sex accommodation, not wards. NHS trusts may provide single rooms, single-sex bays within a mixed ward, single-sex wards or combinations of these types. We have never collected information on the number of trusts who have mixed-sex wards per se. Primary care trusts will, under the requirements of the operating framework, set, publish and implement stretching local plans for improvement, but these will again be based on the provision of single-sex accommodation, not wards.
Before including this requirement in the operating framework, we considered a range of information sources, including compliance with the department's core Standards for Better Health, Healthcare Commission inpatient survey data, and Patient Environment Action team assessments.
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Health: Norovirus
Lord Morris of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment they have made of the effects on NHS hospitals of Norovirus; and what arrangements are in place to deal with any worsening of its impact. [HL1400]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The National Health Service has preparation, monitoring and intervention processes in place to successfully manage the extra pressures in the system winter always creates, including Norovirus. The NHS has systems in place to identify pressures locally as they arise and respond appropriately. However, these are local arrangements and there is no national data collection measuring Norovirus prevalence or its day-to-day impact on hospital capacity. The Health Protection Agency assessment is that while Norovirus levels rose earlier than usual in the season, overall the pattern of increase in infections is consistent with that of previous years. All strategic health authorities are continuing active local management of their organisations facing the most pressure.
Identity Security
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any projects in the Department for Health have been suspended or delayed due to concerns about identity security; if so, which projects have been delayed; and what the impact on the overall performance and work of the department will be. [HL1565]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): There are no projects in the department which have been suspended or delayed due to concerns about identity security.
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any projects in the Department for Children, Schools and Families have been suspended or delayed due to concerns about identity security; if so, which projects have been delayed; and what the impact on the overall performance and work of the department will be. [HL1570]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Lord Adonis): No projects in the Department for Children, Schools and Families have been suspended or delayed due to concerns about identity security.
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Iran: Amputations
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are making representations to the Government of Iran concerning amputations inflicted on five prisoners in Zahedan and the hanging of 23 persons in 10 days in January. [HL1673]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): We regularly raise concerns about human rights with the Iranian authorities, both bilaterally and through the EU.
On 22 January the EU presidency raised a number of human rights concerns in a meeting with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During this meeting, the EU expressed deep concern about the 13 executions which took place on 2 January 2008 and the amputations that took place on 6 January 2008.
The EU reiterated its opposition to the death penalty under all circumstances and urged the Iranian Government to abolish the use of cruel and degrading punishments, such as amputations, and give effect to the moratorium on amputations which the Iranians announced in 2003.
We monitor the human rights situation in Iran closely and will continue to raise our concerns.
Northern Ireland: Bill of Rights Forum
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
What process led to the appointment of Chris Sidoti as chairman of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Forum; how many applications there were; and who carried out the interviews. [HL1547]
Lord Rooker: The Government's consultation document A Forum on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland (14 November 2006) and subsequent response to the consultation (12 December 2006) discussed the qualities and competences expected of the chair of the Bill of Rights Forum.
In view of the non-statutory nature of the post, its short and limited lifespan and the need for a chairman to be in place quickly, the post was not advertised and formal interviews were not held. Potential candidates with relevant backgrounds and experience were identified and their relative merits assessed against the criteria.
The Government are confident that Mr Sidoti, who was chosen for the post, fully met the selection criteria, which were:
experience and understanding of human rights, including international human rights instruments, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights;a track record of leadership;proven ability to establish consensus among politically and socially divergent group; andproven ability to analyse and make recommendations on complex issues.
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Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
What expenses the Northern Ireland Human Rights Forum has incurred to date; for what purpose; and how they are monitored. [HL1548]
Lord Rooker: The Bill of Rights Forum is tasked with producing agreed recommendations, by 31 March 2008, to inform the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission's advice to Government on the scope for defining, in Westminster legislation, rights supplementary to those in the European Convention on Human Rights, to reflect the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland.
The forum has been provided with a budget of £441,660 directly from the Northern Ireland Office. As such it is subject to normal departmental budgeting and accounting control regimes. This includes budget setting processes, and monthly reviews of its expenditure.
Northern Ireland Office: Entertainment
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Rooker: Expenditure relating to entertainment is held as part of the Northern Ireland Office's hospitality budgets. A wide range of external organisations use the facilities at Hillsborough Castle for a variety of events; these organisations are then charged for the services they receive.
The following table shows how much the Northern Ireland Office (excluding its agencies and NDPBs) spent on hospitality in each financial year since 1997.
| Year | Expenditure |
Northern Ireland: Bill of Rights
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
How much funding they have made available for the cases to be made in Northern Ireland for (a) the need for a separate bill of rights; (b) the need not to have a separate bill of rights; and (c) the need not to have a bill of rights. [HL1549]
Lord Rooker: The Good Friday Agreement tasks the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission with advising the Secretary of State on “the scope for
5 Feb 2008 : Column WA173
Pursuant to the Good Friday Agreement, the Government made a commitment at St Andrews to establish a Bill of Rights Forum to inform this advice. The forum is tasked with providing agreed recommendations to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission that will inform its advice to Government, by 31 March 2008. The forum has been given a budget of £441,660 for this purpose.
Police
Lord Dear asked Her Majesty's Government:
When they will answer Lord Dear's Question for Written Answer tabled on 27 November (HL607); and what are the reasons for the delay. [HL1279]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): I replied to the noble Lord on 18 January (Official Report, WA 288).
While every effort is made to respond to Written Questions tabled by noble Members within the deadlines set it is not always possible to do so and I am sorry that this has happened in relation to the Question tabled on 27 November [HL607].
Police: Databases
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many individuals' data are stored on the National DNA Database; and, of those, how many (a) are convicted criminals; (b) are currently serving a sentence; (c) have not been convicted of a crime; and (d) have never been charged with a recordable offence. [HL1307]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): On 31 December 2007, there were 4,264,451 individuals with a DNA profile retained on the National DNA Database (NDNAD). Of these, an estimated 4,011,954 were sampled by police forces in England and Wales.
The most recent figures available on the number of convictions of those on the NDNAD were published in an Answer given in another place, (Official Report, Commons, 13 December 2007, col. 761W).
It is not possible to provide details of people who are currently serving sentences except at disproportionate cost. It is not possible to provide details of those who have never been charged with a recordable offence.
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
In the past year, how many sets of fingerprints and biological samples have been taken without consent by each police force in England and Wales. [HL1309]
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Lord West of Spithead: Data on the number of sets of fingerprints taken without consent are not held centrally by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) and cannot therefore be provided.
Available information relating to DNA samples indicates that approximately 690,000 DNA samples were taken without consent by police forces in England and Wales in 2006-07. The numbers of profiles derived from these samples which were actually loaded on to the DNA database, broken down by force, are shown in the attached table. (Three forces did not return data and figures for these have been estimated). The numbers of samples taken and profiles loaded are higher than the number of persons involved, as some persons are sampled more than once.
| Police Force | No. of subject sample profiles loaded to the NDNAD in 2007 |
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