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Question
Asked by Lord Morris of Manchester
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the British Healthcare Trades Association about variations in the provision of stoma and incontinence appliances by Primary Care Trusts under Part IX of the Drug Tariff; and what action they are taking on the matter. [HL2919]
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Thornton): The department is in ongoing dialogue with industry, industry trade federations (including the British Healthcare Trades Association), 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.
Health: Isle of Man
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what will be the arrangements for healthcare for United Kingdom residents on holiday on the Isle of Man from 1 April. [HL2827]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Thornton): The United Kingdom and Isle of Man Governments have agreed to defer the termination of the current reciprocal healthcare agreement by six months. During this period, the arrangements will remain unchanged with immediately necessary healthcare, while on a temporary visit, being provided free of charge.
Homelessness
Questions
Asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many hostel beds are available for those under 18 who have run away from home or care. [HL2968]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Baroness Morgan of Drefelin): Provision of emergency accommodation for young people who have run away from home or care is the responsibility of local authorities, and my department does not hold information about the type and capacity of provision available locally.
Asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recommendations the cross-Government Working Group For Young People who run away from home has made in the past two years; and how many of them have been acted upon. [HL2971]
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: The cross-Government Young Runaways Working Group was not constituted to make recommendations to the Government but was closely involved in the development of the Young Runaways Action Plan which was published in June 2008. Since then, the working group has continued to meet every three to four months to steer the implementation of the plan.
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House of Lords: Members' Children
Question
Asked by Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay
To ask the Chairman of Committees why there are different provisions for a Member's eldest child and a Member's eldest son (where the right has previously been exercised) to watch the proceedings of the House of Lords from the steps of the throne, as set out on page 19 of the January 2010 edition of the Handbook on facilities and services for Members. [HL3025]
The Chairman of Committees (Lord Brabazon of Tara): Until 2000, the eldest sons of Peers of Parliament were traditionally permitted to sit on the steps of the Throne. The practice was changed as a result of the following recommendation made in the 4th Report from the House of Lords Offices Committee, Session 1999-2000:
The Committee has considered the four categories of heirs to peerages currently allowed to sit on the Steps of the Throne:
eldest sons of Peers of Parliament;eldest daughters or grand-daughters of such Peers when heiresses presumptive;grandsons of such Peers when heirs apparent;eldest sons of those who have disclaimed their peerage.In the case of hereditary peerages, these categories all assumed that those exercising the right would eventually become Members of the House. That is no longer true, except as the result of a by-election to become one of the 90 hereditary Peers who remain Members of the House. The chances of the eldest son, daughter or grandchild of a hereditary Peer who had been a Member of the House being elected would be uncertain, though not impossible.
As the original rationale for the four categories no longer applies, the Committee considers that in future the privilege should be granted to the eldest child of a Peer of Parliament, without regard to gender. The Committee was, however, mindful of the need to avoid any unfairness to eldest sons who had previously exercised their right to sit on the Steps of the Throne but who have older sisters, and therefore recommends that the privilege be granted to:
"the eldest child of a Peer of Parliament (or the eldest son where the right has been previously exercised)".
The House agreed the committee's report on 27 March 2000 without a vote.
Immigration
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average annual net immigration in each year since 1997, according to household projections. [HL2628]
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Baroness Crawley: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Media: Women's Magazines
Question
Asked by Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to work with women's magazines to inform women about healthy eating and keeping to a healthy weight. [HL2789]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Thornton): The department's Change4Life campaign began last year with a focus on families with children aged 5-11. In February this year, the campaign was extended to cover adults in the 45-64 age group.
The Change4Life marketing strategy is to use the most effective and relevant communication channels to target our audiences. While the marketing strategy for the adults campaign does not include advertisements in women's magazines, we do target them via public relations to gain editorial content and media partnerships.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has also taken a number of steps to work with women's magazines. These magazines have been a key media channel in all the agency's healthier eating related advertising campaigns. The FSA has placed both advertisements and advertorials covering a wide range of healthier eating topics such as salt, saturated fat, labelling, cooking/recipes and teen healthy eating. Women's magazines are also a key target for the agency's public relations activity on a wide range of diet and health issues.
Medical Research Council: PACE Trials
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding was provided by the Department for Work and Pensions for the Medical Research Council's PACE Trials; from whom they received a request for funding; who authorised the release of funds; and whether the department has funded any other MRC research projects. [HL2623]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): A sum of £90,000, authorised by the then chief medical adviser to the Department for Work and Pensions, was made available as a contribution from the department to the PACE study. It has not been possible to confirm from records the source of the original request. The department's records dating back to 2004 do not show that we have used the Medical Research Council as a supplier of research in that time. Information from before 2004 could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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NHS: Litigation
Question
Asked by Lord McColl of Dulwich
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cases of clinical negligence against the National Health Service funded by conditional fee agreements in each of the past five years were closed; in how many such cases damages were paid, whether by a settlement or award by a court; and, in cases where damages were paid, what were (a) the costs of defending the cases, (b) the legal costs paid to the claimants (including (1) base costs, and (2) success fees), and (c) the amounts paid in after the event insurance premiums. [HL2754]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Thornton): The information requested was provided by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) and is in the following table. With regard to claimants' costs, the NHSLA negotiates with claimant legal teams in order to bring costs down, and a final global figure is agreed on claimant costs on each claim. The NHSLA is therefore unable to provide a breakdown of this figure.
NHS: Staff
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many NHS staff have been (a) dismissed, and (b) made compulsorily redundant, in each year since 1997. [HL2769]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Thornton): Information on the number of staff dismissals is not collected centrally.
Since 2006-07, a collection outlining redundancies within the National Health Service has been carried out by the department. The following table outlines the results of this collection. Data prior to 2006-07 are not collected.
| Financial Year | Total number of compulsory redundancies in the NHS in England |
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many chief executives of (a) strategic health authorities, (b) foundation trusts, (c) primary care trusts, and (d) other NHS trusts, have been recruited from (1) outside the NHS, and (2) the private sector. [HL2770]
Baroness Thornton: Information on the number of chief executives recruited from either outside the National Health Service or the private sector is not collated centrally.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the total continuous NHS service of each chief executive of (a) strategic health authorities, (b) foundation trusts, (c) primary care trusts, and (d) other NHS trusts. [HL2771]
Baroness Thornton: This information is not collated. Information on continuous service of chief executives will be held by individual organisations.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the existing and proposed procedures for (a) dismissing NHS staff, and (b) making compulsory redundancies of NHS staff; and what compensation (including pensions) is payable as a result. [HL2772]
Baroness Thornton: National Health Service staff work for independent and autonomous employer organisations. They are responsible for making decisions on the dismissal of staff but are expected to do so in line with current employment law and human resource good practice. The compensation they receive will normally be dictated by the contractual arrangements in place between employee and employer. Any extra contractual payments are subject to Treasury approval.
Redundancy payments to NHS staff are made in line with the arrangements set out in Section 16 of the Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook. These came into force from 1 October 2006. At the same time changes were made to the National Health Service (Compensation for Premature Retirement) Regulations 2002 and the National Health Service Pension Scheme Regulations 1995. These were also negotiated in partnership with the NHS trade unions. Under these arrangements, the standard redundancy terms are one month's pay per year of reckonable service up to a maximum of 24 months pay. Members aged over the minimum pension age may choose to use their redundancy payment to pay for their retirement pension to be paid on redundancy without reduction. The previous redundancy arrangements
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A further form of early retirement available is retirement in the interests of the service where the employer pays for the cost of the members retiring without a reduction for early payment of pension.
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