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Disability Sports
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Which disability sports governing bodies were in receipt of Exchequer funding in 2002–03; and what was the amount of grant aid in each case.[HL474]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: Sport England provide an annual grant to the English Federation for Disability Sport (EFDS) with the aim of leading a coordinated and unified approach to disability sport in England. They act as an umbrella group for the seven disability organisations recognised by Sport England. The groups are:
- The British Deaf Sports Council
- Cerebral Palsy Sport
- The British Wheelchair Sports Foundation
- The British Amputee & Les Autres Sports
- The English Sports Association for People with a Learning Difficulty
- Disability Sports England
- British Blind Sport
Sport: Anti-doping Policy
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will follow the example of the World Anti-Doping Agency by approaching pharmaceutical companies to sponsor the work of the United Kingdom's anti-doping agency.[HL498]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: At this time, the UK Government do not intend to approach pharmaceutical companies to sponsor the work of the UK's anti-doping agency. We are awaiting the outcome of the review of UK Sport's functions, which includes the role and responsibility for anti-doping arrangements in the UK, before we make any decisions on how the national anti-doping policy should best be delivered.
Carers
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What measures they have put in place to educate carers in safe lifting and handling techniques, particularly those caring for a patient in their own home.[HL290]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner): Regulation 14(8) of the Domiciliary Care Agencies Regulations 2003 requires agencies to make suitable arrangements, by training or other measures, to ensure that domiciliary care workers operate a safe system of working, including in relation to lifting and moving service users. National minimum standards on domiciliary care are taken into account by the National Care Standards Commission in determining whether the requirements of regulations are met.
National Health Service: Waiting Times
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether their records of waiting times for specific specialities are based on England-wide data rather than extrapolated from sample National Health Service trusts.[HL292]
Lord Warner: Waiting times information is collected from all National Health Service trusts and primary care trusts where these organisations provide either a consultant-led inpatient service or a consultant-led outpatient service or both. The information is collected at speciality level and covers waits for elective inpatient admission and first consultant outpatient appointment following general practitioner or general dental practitioner referral. The information is also collected on a commissioner basis and primary care trusts submit specialty level data on patients waiting for services for which they have commissioned.
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether those on the official waiting lists for specific specialities are from general practitioner referrals only; and whether they include doctor-to-doctor or nurse-to-doctor referrals across specialities.[HL351]
Lord Warner: The current outpatient waiting time target applies to patients waiting for their first outpatient appointment with a consultant following a general practitioner or general dental practitioner does not include consultant-to-consultant, nurse-to-consultant or any other referrals.
Darent Valley Hospital PFI
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
- (a) what was the total amount of equity investment by Carillion plc or any of its subsidiaries
- in the Darent Valley Hospital private finance initiative; (b) when that investment was made; (c) for how much and when that equity investment was sold; and (d) what drawback or profit share arrangements were in place in respect of that investment; and, if none, why not.[HL318]
Lord Warner: In 1997 Carillion was awarded the contract for the Dartford and Gravesham National Health Service Trust private finance initiative project, now known as the Darent Valley Hospital. They invested £4.1 million in the project company established to carry out the contract. In November 2003 Carillion announced that it had sold its share of the investment in the Darent Valley Hospital PFI scheme for £5.2 million.
In March 2003 the original loan taken out by the project company to finance the contract was replaced by a different loan—this resulted in a refinancing gain shared between the project company and the NHS trust. The NHS trust share of the benefits from this refinancing amounted to nearly £12 million.
The sale of the equity investment will allow Carillion to crystallise the refinancing gain associated with their investment, which amounted to £11.2 million.
While it is entirely right that the NHS trust should share in the refinancing gain, we would not expect it to benefit from the sale of equity in a project company by one private sector organisation to another.
The recycling of equity is important to fund investment in future health PFI projects. maria
Huntington's Disease
Lord Jopling asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What public funding is currently directed to research into Huntington's disease; and[HL375]
What progress has been made in research leading to curing or arresting the spread of Huntingdon's disease in individual sufferers.[HL378]
Lord Warner: In 2002–03 the Medical Research Council spent around £2 million on research into Huntington's disease. The Wales Gene Park, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and the Department of Trade and Industry, has a programme of work on neurogenetics and neuropsychiatric genetics. Currently research is focused on a number of disorders including Huntington's disease. The Department of Health is funding some research of relevance to Huntington's disease, including £1.6 million spent in 2002–03 on research into dementia.
The Chief Medical Officer's report, Stem Cell Research: medical progress with responsibility, published in 2000, considered the potential of embryonic stem cells as a source of new tissues for the treatment of neurological conditions including Huntington's disease. Such research is at a very early stage and it may be several years before therapeutic benefits are available. The Government have made available, through the research councils, £40 million over two years for stem cell research.
Lord Jopling asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What are their estimates of the number of deaths each year from Huntington's disease, and the number of current identified sufferers from the disease.[HL376]
Lord Warner: The Office for National Statistics estimates that there are about 176 deaths each year from Huntington's disease. The Huntington's Disease Association estimates that it affects around one person in 10,000 in the United Kingdom.
Lord Jopling asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Which organisations currently give support to those suffering from Huntington's disease and to their families.[HL377]
Lord Warner: The organisations currently giving support to those suffering from Huntington's disease are the National Health Service and social services. Additional support is given by the Huntington's Disease Association, a voluntary organisation.
Obesity
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What information they have on the numbers of adults who are (a) overweight, and (b) obese; what is the estimated daily rate of increase in these numbers; and by what percentage they estimate the number of adults who are overweight or obese has increased over the last 10 years.[HL400]
Lord Warner: Figures from the Health Survey for England, which each year surveys a sample of the general population, are set out in the table. Overall numbers of the population who are overweight or obese have been estimated from the health survey only for 2001. The table also gives the proportion of men and women who were overweight or obese in 1991, when the survey began, and 2001 and the percentage increase over that period.
| 1991 | 2001 | Difference | 2001 | |
| Percentage | Percentage | Percentage | Number | |
| Men | ||||
| Overweight | 42.0 | 46.6 | 11 | 8.6 million |
| Obese | 12.0 | 21.0 | 75 | 3.8 million |
| Women | ||||
| Overweight | 29.0 | 32.9 | 13 | 6.7 million |
| Obese | 16.0 | 23.5 | 47 | 4.6 million |
Notes:
The samples sizes in 1991 and 1992 were smaller than in subsequent years and for reporting purposes the estimates from both years were combined.
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