Professional Indemnity Insurance (Hansard, 23 April 2002)

§ Mr. Gray
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many contracts his Department has with consultants; what level of professional indemnity insurance is standard in contracts with small consultants; whether he can make exceptions to the level of professional indemnity insurance; and what recent discussions he has had with other Government Departments about the level of professional indemnity insurance. [50844]

§ Ms Blears
[holding answer 18 April 2002]: The Department does not centrally hold a record of individual contracts.
In the past the Department sought a professional indemnity of not less than £5 million, as the standard sum. Since risks vary between contracts, it is no longer deemed appropriate to resort to a single standard level of indemnity and current Department consultancy contracts include the following paragraphs as standard: 17.2 The Contractor shall effect and maintain with a reputable insurance company a policy or policies of insurance providing an adequate level of cover in respect of all risks which may be

Number of children looked after at 31 March 1997–31 March 2001 and the number of children adopted from care during the years ending 31 March 1997–31 March 2001

England

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

Total number of children looked after at 31 March 51,200 53,300 55,500 58,100 58,900

Of which:

Number in foster placements 33,500 35,000 36,200 37,900 38,400

238W

§ Mr. Hutton
The business cases justifying the individual schemes gave the estimates of the net savings in present value terms (with all future costs and benefits discounted to their present values), compared with publicly funding the scheme, shown in the table.incurred by the Contractor, arising out of the Contractor's performance of the Contract, in respect of death or personal injury, or loss of or damage to property. Such policies shall include cover in respect of any financial loss arising from any advice given or omitted to be given by the Contractor. 17.5 The terms of any insurance or the amount of cover shall not relieve the Contractor of any liabilities under the Contract. It shall be the responsibility of the Contractor to determine the amount of insurance cover that will be adequate to enable the Contractor to satisfy any liability referred to in Condition 17.2.
The Department has not specifically discussed the issue of professional indemnity in consultancy contracts with any other Department. In this and all matters pertaining to commercial contracts, the Department does give all due regard to best practice advice disseminated by the Office of Government Commerce.

Number of children looked after at 31 March 1997–31 March 2001 and the number of children adopted from care during the years ending 31 March 1997–31 March 2001
England
	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Total number of children looked after at 31 March	51,200	53,300	55,500	58,100	58,900
Of which:
Number in foster placements	33,500	35,000	36,200	37,900	38,400