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24 Feb 2010 : Column WA301
| Table 2 Police recorded burglary 1999-00 to 2001-021 | |||
| Number of offences | |||
| Offence | 1999-00 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 |
- 1. The data in this table are prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years.
| Table 3 Police recorded burglary 2002-03 to 2008-091 | |||||||
| Number of offences | |||||||
| Offence | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
- 1. The data in this table take account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.
Health: Republic of Ireland
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Thornton on 8 February (WA 90), why it is for the Irish authorities to establish the entitlement of someone seeking scheduled medical treatment in the United Kingdom; and how NHS staff are advised on ascertaining whether someone seeking treatment is an Irish citizen if they do not present an E112 form. [HL2056]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Thornton): Under European legislation, it is for the Irish authorities to establish whether they wish to issue an E112 form to one of their citizens for scheduled treatment anywhere in the European Economic Area, including the United Kingdom. As the competent institution, in such cases, Ireland would be liable for the cost of that treatment. The hospital providing the scheduled treatment would have been contacted in advance by the Irish authorities. An Irish citizen seeking emergency, or immediately necessary, treatment would be asked for proof of Irish residence, in the absence of which they would be charged for the treatment.
Health: Urology
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government what responsibility they are placing on primary care trusts or National Health Service procurement hubs to ensure that tenders and product formularies for urology products do not negatively affect patient choice or the rights of patients outlined in the NHS Constitution. [HL2066]
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the development of local primary care trusts, tenders and product formularies for urology products does not contradict or negate the outcome of the review into Part IX of the Drug Tariff. [HL2067]
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact that local urology service tenders and locally restrictive product formularies will have on innovation in that product and treatment area. [HL2068]
To ask Her Majesty's Government what legal responsibility resides with primary care trusts (PCT) and continence professionals to ensure that urology patients know they can access and choose any product listed under Part IX of the Drug Tariff, regardless of whether it is on a PCT's local product formulary. [HL2069]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Thornton): Any decisions to undertake local procurement activity rests with the National Health Service organisations that initiate them.
Following the review of the supply of certain appliances for primary care, as listed in Part IX of the Drug Tariff, new arrangements were announced in April 2009 and the relevant amendment Regulations were laid on 22 December 2009. These are accompanied by directions to provide for new advanced services. There will also be changes to the Drug Tariff from 1 April 2010 to take account of associated new fees and allowances and a reduction of reimbursement prices for some appliances.
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The department is in ongoing dialogue with industry, industry trade federations, collaborative procurement hubs and primary care trusts (PCTs) over the use of local tenders and product formularies for products and services covered by Part IX of the Drug Tariff. The aim of this dialogue is to agree clear guidance for PCTs on this matter.
The department is not aware of any ongoing local tenders for Part IX products. Any local procurement or tenders do not override the clinical judgment of the general practitioner, who is still free to prescribe products listed in Part IX of the Drug Tariff to meet the specific needs of patients.
Housing
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of new houses built in England and Wales in (a) 2006-07, (b) 2007-08, and (c) 2008-09 comply with the provisions of Part M of the Building Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/2531), as amended. [HL2035]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The information requested is not held centrally. However, there is an expectation that all new housing should meet the relevant provisions of the building regulations including part M.
We will be shortly commencing an evaluation of part M of the building regulations which will provide an overview of the effectiveness of existing regulations and their supporting guidance.
Immigration: Deportation
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many times in each of the last two years pilots have refused to fly people due to be deported or repatriated on account of their physical or mental condition. [HL2011]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): Information is recorded on the number of occasions where the carrier deemed a person to be medically unfit to fly, of which there were 36 instances in the past two calendar years.
These figures are not provided under national statistics protocols and have been derived from management information which is provisional and subject to change.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what penalties or disciplinary measures they have taken against contractors who have used excessive force on deportees; and how many complaints they have received about the use of such force. [HL2012]
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Lord West of Spithead: We expect all those with no basis of stay in the United Kingdom to leave the country. We would prefer that they do so voluntarily, but where they fail to do so escorts are empowered legally to use reasonable force to ensure they comply with their removal. Escorts are all accredited by the UK Border Agency to exercise their powers, a condition of which is that they maintain the level of training in the use of control and restraint techniques.
Complaints about the use of force by escorts are all subject to a rigorous investigative process by the UK Border Agency's Professional Standards Unit.
Where a complaint is substantiated, the contractor may have performance measures levied under the terms of their contracts, and the UK Border Agency may take action against the individual. This can range from a recommendation for retraining through to accreditation being revoked.
The UK Border Agency received 88 complaints in 2009 concerning allegations of assault by detention custody officers who work in immigration removal centres or as escorts. This figure is based on management information, is subject to change, and does not form part of our publicised statistics.
We do not keep central records of how many of these complaints relate to the process of removal. To do so would require each file to be examined individually which would be at disproportionate cost.
Performance measures were applied on two occasions in 2009.
Influenza
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Thornton on 27 January (WA 357-8), how many deaths have been recorded from all types of influenza this winter compared to last; and what epidemiological advice they received advising against mass purchase of swine flu vaccines. [HL2052]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Thornton): The Health Protection Agency (HPA) uses data on deaths collected by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to estimate the number of excess deaths during the flu (winter) season as a proxy for influenza related deaths. Other factors, for example, hypothermia, are also likely to contribute to the number of excess deaths. These figures are available at www.hpa.org.uk/hpr/archives/2009/hpr3909.pdf.
In the 2008-09 flu season (week 39, 2008 to week 19, 2009) there were an estimated 10,351 excess deaths in England and Wales (95 per cent confidence intervals). Some of these will have had influenza as a contributory factor, but it is not possible to say what proportion. The HPA will estimate whether there have been excess deaths during 2009-10 when the data for this period are released by the ONS later in 2010.
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A short time after the start of the current pandemic, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England set up a confidential investigation into pandemic H1N1 (2009) influenza related deaths in England. From this, we can ascertain with a greater degree of accuracy and with greater speed, when compared to normal measurements of seasonal influenza mortality, the number of pandemic H1N1 (2009) influenza related deaths which have occurred. As of 18 February 2010, there have been 309 pandemic H1N1 (2009) influenza related deaths in England. These figures are available in the CMO's bi-weekly bulletin found on the department's website at www. dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Flu/Swineflu/DH-112078.
The methods for calculating deaths from seasonal and swine flu are not directly comparable.
Throughout the swine flu pandemic, the department received independent scientific advice from SAGE (Strategic Advisory Group of Experts) and JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation). There was no epidemiological advice received advising against the mass purchase of swine flu vaccines.
Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009
Question
Asked by Lord Taylor of Holbeach
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether application W/09/1258 to Warwick District Council for a new marina could, if turned down by the Council, be resubmitted under description 12 of the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2263). [HL2076]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009 apply to applications for development consent for nationally significant infrastructure projects as defined in the Planning Act 2008. The regulations do not apply to applications made to local planning authorities for projects below the thresholds defined in the Planning Act.
Legal Aid: Northern Ireland
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much was spent on legal aid in each of the last five years in Northern Ireland; what was the budget for legal aid in those years; and whether any cases went unfunded because of a lack of resources. [HL1972]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): The costs of the legal aid fund in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years was as follows:
24 Feb 2010 : Column WA306
| Original Allocation (£m) | Final Allocation (£m) | Legal Aid Expenditure (£m) | |
In each of the years the original allocation was increased through the supplementary allocations in the spending reviews. The legal aid expenditure figures reflect expenditure on actual cases including contributions and costs paid into the legal aid fund by litigants.
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