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To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 31 March (WA 220—21), whether the Equality and Human Rights Commission is taking steps to improve staff morale; and what impact levels of staff morale have had on the operational performance of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. [HL2855]
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon): Work has included sharing the results of the survey with staff and a process to establish the priorities for improvement. An action plan is being developed to address these issues. Key areas have been identified and learning and development programmes strengthened to address areas for improvement. Over 40 training courses have been advertised to staff and 140 people have signed up for training. The programmes focus on personal and professional development, a direct response to the issues raised in the colleague survey. We are not aware of the level of staff morale having a significant or adverse impact on operational performance.
27 Apr 2009 : Column WA16
Government: IT Contracts
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government which information technology contracts with a value of £50 million or over have been entered into by the Cabinet Office since 1997; and which of those have been completed to budget, to time and to specification. [HL2715]
Lord Patel of Bradford: Since 1997, the Cabinet Office has not entered into any information technology contracts with a value of £50 million or more.
Health: Former UK Residents
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government which countries are in receipt of annual payments to fund health treatment of those who previously worked in the United Kingdom; and how the amounts paid are calculated. [HL2967]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): Under European Union Regulations (1408/71) European economic area (EEA) member states reimburse each other for the cost of providing healthcare to each other's tourists, workers, pensioners and the dependants of both groups. Under these regulations, payments are either made on an actual or average cost basis, depending on the category of the individual.
The following table shows the breakdown of claims by other EEA Member State against the United Kingdom in 2007-08.
There are no similar arrangements with regard to non-EEA countries.
Claims by EEA member states against UK 2007-08
Resource Outturn Totals: 2007-08 Activity
| Actual Costs | Lump Sum | ||
| Country | Claims | Claims | Total |
To ask Her Majesty's Government what payments have been made to the Republic of Ireland in the last ten years to fund health treatment of those who previously worked in the United Kingdom; whether those payments are net or gross; and whether they are continuing at the same rate. [HL2968]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The United Kingdom makes payments to the Republic of Ireland under a bilateral agreement which is in line with European Union regulations covering patient mobility. The majority of these payments relate to the provision of healthcare for around 50,000 pensioners that the UK pays for each year in the Republic of Ireland. According to departmental data, under the terms of the agreement, the UK has paid the Republic of Ireland around €2 billion over the past five years. This figure is gross of income to the UK. Data relating to payments made prior to 2003, is not readily available. The size of payments made by both countries changes on an annual basis and is based on the numbers each country is liable for, the rate which is used and the size of the average healthcare costs.
Immigration
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord West of Spithead on 30 March (WA 191) concerning the average cost of deporting an illegal immigrant, what is the cost of not deporting illegal immigrants. [HL2953]
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): While research into the costs of illegal migration has been undertaken, this has been conducted with the aim of making general assessments on the impact of such migration, rather than producing definitive financial figures.
The two most relevant recent studies are the report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs regarding the economic and fiscal impact of migration which was published in October 2007 and a Home Office research paper entitled Migration: an Economic and Social Analysis which was published in 2001 and is available on the Home Office website.
Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
Questions
Asked by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many applications have been made to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the last 12 months for licensing immunotherapy products; and [HL2877]
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many applications have been made to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, on a named patient basis, for the import of immunotherapy products which are not licensed in the United Kingdom but are licensed in other European Union countries. [HL2878]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): No applications have been made to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in the past 12 months for licensing of immunotherapy products.
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