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In addition, the UK has implemented a single area licence condition for UK vessels using regulated gear (beam trawls) in the western channel sole fishery to prevent misrecording, and therefore overfishing, of the western channel sole stock. Taken together these measures provide the necessary additional safeguards to ensure that landings of cod and sole are properly accounted for to prevent overfishing from taking place.
Fluoridation
Question
Asked by Earl Baldwin of Bewdley
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answers by Lord Darzi of Denham on 20 May (WA 323-4) and 9 June (WA 143), whether the conclusion of "no clear association" between water fluoridation and cancer as distinct from "no
20 July 2009 : Column WA279
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The systematic review of water fluoridation conducted by the University of York found "no clear association" between water fluoridation and hip fracture, overall cancer incidence and mortality, osteosarcoma and bone/joint cancers and thyroid cancer. The report concluded:
"The outcomes related to infant mortality, congenital defects and Intelligence Quotient (IQ) indicate a need for further high quality research, using appropriate analytical methods to control for confounding factors".
The department continues to fund research into the effects of fluoridation and monitor the outcome of research studies conducted elsewhere. For example, an appraisal of selected studies reporting an association between fluoride in drinking water and IQ commissioned by South Central Strategic Health Authority concluded:
"The lack of a thorough consideration of confounding as a source of bias means that, from these studies alone, it is uncertain how far fluoride is responsible for any impairment in intellectual development seen. The amount of naturally occurring fluoride in drinking water and from other sources and the socioeconomic characteristics in the areas studied is different from the United Kingdom and so these studies do not have direct application to the local population of Southampton".
The report of the appraisal is available at www.southcentral.nhs.uk/fluoridation/page.php?area _id=9996&id=6.
Asked by Earl Baldwin of Bewdley
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 20 May (WA 323-4), whether the Chief Dental Officer will now remove the claim in paragraph 5 of his February 2008 letter to strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and others (Gateway 9361), that the York review confirmed that there was "no evidence of any risk to health"; and whether he will notify the original recipients of the revision. [HL5038]
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 18 May (WA 254) in which they rely on public statements made by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) about its systematic review of fluoridation, whether they also accept the public statements by scientists involved with the York review on which the NHMRC explicitly based its findings that "the review did not show water fluoridation to be safe", and that the evidence for any reduction in dental health inequalities was "of poor quality, contradictory and unreliable". [HL5039]
Lord Darzi of Denham: The Chief Dental Officer is considering issuing further information to the National Health Service in the light of lessons learnt from the South Central Strategic Health Authority's consultation on fluoridation, research published since the York review and statements made by the scientists involved in the review.
20 July 2009 : Column WA280
Asked by Earl Baldwin of Bewdley
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in assessing the findings of Dr Peter Mansfield, based on the most recent published figures of population fluoride intakes by the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, which were communicated to the Chief Dental Officer in December 2008 and discussed with him on 19 January 2009; whether the Chief Dental Officer or a colleague will consider associating themselves as co-authors of any resulting scientific paper; and whether they will promote the adoption of measures to screen for excessive fluoride intake, for example by means of a urine dipstick. [HL5154]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): We have sought advice from the Health Protection Agency and the Food Standards Agency on Dr Mansfield's analysis and we will be letting him have our comments when we have taken their views into account.
Freedom of Information
Question
Asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill
To ask Her Majesty's Government following the publication of the report by the Campaign for Freedom of Information, Delays in Investigating Freedom of Information Complaints, what steps they will take to ensure that the Information Commissioner's Office can complete its investigations in a timely manner. [HL4851]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Information Commissioner regularly review the resources required for the commissioner to discharge all of his freedom of information responsibilities. For this financial year, the Government have identified additional funding of £500,000 for the Information Commissioner's Office's freedom of information work, over and above the baseline funding of £5 million. We are discussing with the office how it can use this additional funding most effectively to reduce the number of outstanding cases.
In addition, the MoJ promoted a scheme last year where secondees from central government departments work for the ICO to help clear the freedom of information cases at their home departments' expense. There are currently seven secondees working at the ICO.
Freedom of Information Act
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government which individuals and organisations have made requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to Government bodies about MPs and members of the House of Lords in (a) each of the last three years, and
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly and annual statistics on information requests received by over 40 central government bodies. These statistics provide information on the volume of requests received, the timeliness of requests and the outcomes of requests. Data regarding the identity of requesters and the nature of information sought in each case are not collected.
To provide this information would require all central government bodies to conduct searches of individual case records and it would incur a disproportionate cost to do so.
Gary McKinnon
Question
Asked by Lord Morris of Aberavon
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received regarding the extradition of Gary McKinnon; and what assessment they have made of the fairness of their extradition arrangements with the United States. [HL5013]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): Representations have been received from Mr McKinnon's solicitors, several members of the public and Members of Parliament regarding the US request for the extradition of Mr McKinnon. The representations have raised varying matters pertaining to the case.
Extradition arrangements with the United States are working well. The current treaty has ensured that a number of fugitives from justice have been brought back to the UK to face criminal proceedings on very serious charges. The treaty, along with the Extradition Act 2003, provides a fair and balanced framework in ensuring that suspected criminals are brought to justice in both jurisdictions.
Health: Aphasia
Question
Asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people with aphasia are receiving Access to Work support; and what steps they are taking to ensure that all applicants with aphasia are assessed appropriately for Access to Work support. [HL4953]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): No breakdown of the number of people with aphasia who are receiving Access to Work support is collected by the department. Each Access to Work
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Health: Contaminated Blood Products
Question
Asked by Lord Roberts of Conwy
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 1 July (WA 55), whether officials at the Department of Health were aware of the risk of vCJD that applied to infected beneficiaries supported by the Macfarlane Trust when they held their discussion with the Association of British Insurers. [HL5032]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The department was aware of the risk of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) that applied to affected beneficiaries supported by the Macfarlane Trust when we were in discussion with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) following Lord Archer's report into National Health Service Supplied contaminated blood and blood products. However, as identified in my Written Answer on 1 July (WA 55), the CJD Incidents Panel has separately discussed with the ABI the issue of patients who might be at risk of having been infected with vCJD after receiving contaminated blood and blood products.
Asked by Lord Roberts of Conwy
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 29 June (WA 15), whether Department of Health officials have been advised by the Macfarlane Trust of the number of applications so far for life insurance that have been made by infected beneficiaries supported by the Macfarlane Trust. [HL5033]
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 29 June (WA 15), whether Department of Health officials have been advised by the Macfarlane Trust whether the Trust would share information in respect of how many applications for life insurance have been made by infected beneficiaries supported by the Trust; and, if so, what is their assessment of that information. [HL5034]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): Department of Health officials have not been advised by the Macfarlane Trust of the number of life insurance applications made by its beneficiaries and have not been advised by the trust about possible sharing of such information.
Health: Dermatology
Question
Asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent research showing that 24 per cent of general practitioners' workload is
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The department does not collect data on general practitioner workload and is unable to confirm or otherwise comment on the information regarding dermatology workload.
The content of curriculum and quality and standard of training for medical professions is the responsibility not of the department but of the appropriate professional regulatory body.
However, the department is committed to working with the professional regulatory bodies, royal colleges and others to promote high standards of education and training to ensure that students and doctors are equipped with the up-to-date knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.
Houses of Parliament: Demonstrations
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Metropolitan Police on the speed of their response to complaints about noisy demonstrators outside the Palace of Westminster. [HL4778]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): The Government have had no such discussions with the Metropolitan Police.
The Government are liaising with Westminster City Council, the Greater London Authority, the Metropolitan Police and parliamentary authorities on identifying powers that exist to deal with noise from loudhailers and the development of alternative arrangements to deal with excessive noise from protests.
Housing
Question
Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): It is estimated that there are 1,651,000 one-person social-sector households. Reliable estimates for council-owned homes are not available. This estimate is based on data from the 2007-08 Survey of English Housing.
Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many council-owned homes with a single occupant have (a) one bedroom, (b) two bedrooms, (c) three bedrooms, and (d) more than three bedrooms. [HL4923]
20 July 2009 : Column WA284
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The table below provides estimates of the number of one-person social sector households with one, two, three and four or more bedrooms. Reliable estimates for council owned homes are not available. These estimates are based on data from the 2007-08 Survey of English Housing.
| Number of one-person social sector households by number of bedrooms, England, 2007-08 | |||||
| Social sector households | |||||
| Number of bedrooms | |||||
Human Rights
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Northern Ireland Office's Political Directorate ensured that during 2008-09 the Government's commitments on human rights and equality were delivered. [HL4872]
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The work of the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) Political Directorate during 2008-09 is described in the NIO's 2008 and 2009 annual departmental reports and the 2008 autumn performance report. Copies are available in the Libraries of both Houses.
Human Rights Act
Question
Asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answers by Lord Bach on 1 July (WA 57) and 8 July (WA 153-4), what is their timetable for the consultation on what constitutes a public authority under the Human Rights Act 1998. [HL4979]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): The Government are committed to consulting on the scope of the Human Rights Act 1998. We intend to set a timetable for this consultation during the next Session.
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