§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people from each parliamentary constituency in the area(a) applied and (b) were interviewed for the post of chair of Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority. [112300]
§ Jacqui SmithApplications were received from people living in the following parliamentary constituencies:
Number of applications City of Chester 1 Congleton 1 Crewe and Nantwich 1 Delyn 1 Ellesmere Port and Neston 2 Macclesfield 1 Southport 2 St. Helens South 1 Wallasey 1 Warrington North 2 Warrington South 1 Wirral West 1 Following sifting of these applications, interviews were held with people living in the following constituencies:
Number of interviews Delyn 1 Southport 1 St. Helens South 1 Warrington South 1 Wirral West 1
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what payments were made to the chair of the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority in the last year for which figures are available. [112301]
§ Jacqui SmithThe chair received £20,420 annual remuneration, plus £3,257.77 or expenses incurred while undertaking her duties on behalf of the strategic health authority.
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§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the names and job titles of those who served on the interviewing panel when the current chair of the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority was appointed. [112303]
§ Jacqui SmithThe interview panel was made up of the following people
Mr. Michael Taylor—National Health Service Appointments Commission regional commissioner for the north west.Mrs. Jane Isaacs—NHS Appointments Commission regional commissioner for the west midlands.Mrs. Dorothy Greenhalgh—independent assessor.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many requests for meetings the Chief Executive of Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority has received from individual hon. Members since her appointment. [112306]
§ Jacqui SmithAccording to records held by the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority, four requests have been received by the chief executive from hon. Members between 1 April 2002 and 12 May 2003, two of which were from my hon. Friend for Warrington, North (Helen Jones).
However, since her appointment on 1 April, the chief executive has been actively seeking to meet with each of the 27 hon. Members whose constituencies fall within the Cheshire and Merseyside boundary. She has met collectively with 17 hon. Members on 29 October 2002 and with 14 hon. Members on an individual basis. Six further one-to-one meetings have been arranged.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the annual salary is of the Chief Executive of Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority; and how much was claimed in expenses by the Chief Executive of Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority in the last financial year. [112311]
§ Jacqui SmithThe annual salary of the chief executive of the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority (SHA) is £118,1041 and the total amount reimbursed to her in respect of expenses incurred while undertaking duties on behalf of the SHA from 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 was £1,317.79.
1 This is within the range specified in the national advertisement for the post, uplifted by 3.5 per cent, (inflationary increase) on 1 April 2003.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average time taken by the Chair of Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority to reply to letters from hon. Members has been in the last 12 months; and what the average time between the receipt of a letter from an hon. Member requesting a meeting with the Chief Executive of Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority and such a meeting taking place was in the last 12 months. [112312]
§ Jacqui SmithThe average time taken by the chair of the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority (CMSHA) to reply to the six letters she has received from hon. Members in the last 12 months is four days. The average time between receipt of a letter from an hon. Member requesting a meeting with the Chief Executive of the CMSHA and the meeting taking place was 26 days.
413W
§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority spent on recruitment consultants during 2002–03; how much is budgeted for 2003–04; and if he will list consultants used. [112385]
§ Jacqui SmithThere was no spending on recruitment consultation by Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority in 2002–03, and there is no expenditure planned on such services for 2003–04.
§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff members of the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority have cars provided as part of their package of remuneration; and at what cost. [112386]
§ Jacqui SmithSome staff who were transferred into Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority (SHA) have cars provided as part of their package of remuneration under preserved terms and conditions of employment.
For new staff, the SHA operates a lease car scheme, which is subject to a value for money test. Under this scheme, 17 staff have lease cars at a total annual cost of £54,167. The average cost is £3,186.
§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Cheshire and Merseyside Health Authority spent on(a) contracted architectural services and (b) controlled chartered surveyors in 2002–03; and if he will list the firms used. [112387]
§ Jacqui SmithNo costs were incurred by Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority on architectural or chartered surveyor services in 2002–03.
§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many visits to EU countries have been made by officials on behalf of the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority during 2002–03; what the cost was of such visits; how many non-executive directors were involved in each case; what the average cost was per visit; and what the purpose was of the visit in each case. [112388]
§ Jacqui SmithOfficials from the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority (SHA) made two visits to European Union countries in 2002–03. The total cost of these visits was £834.20, at an average cost of £417.10. No non-executive directors of the SHA were involved in these visits.
The visits were to Rotterdam to attend a course for SHA medical and national health service human resource directors sponsored by the NHS Leadership Centre and to Copenhagen to present at a conference on health inequalities.
§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many visits to non-EU countries have been made by officials on behalf of the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority during 2002–03; and what was the(a) destination, (b) cost and (c) purpose in each case. [112389]
§ Jacqui SmithThere have been no visits to non-European Union countries during 2002–03 by officials of the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority.
414W
§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many employment tribunals are in progress for(a) staff and (b) former staff of the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority. [112413]
§ Jacqui SmithThere are no employment tribunals in progress involving staff currently employed by the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority (SHA) or involving staff who were employed by the SHA during 2002–03.
§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff directly employed by the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority are in receipt of performance-related pay; what the total cost of performance-related pay for staff is in 2003; and what the average value of such payments is. [112414]
§ Jacqui Smith20 staff employed by the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority transferred from the Department of Health on protected terms and conditions of employment, including performance-related payments. £30,000 was paid to these staff in 2002–03, an average value of £1,500.
§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority spent on entertaining during 2002–03. [112415]
§ Jacqui SmithThere was no spending on entertaining by Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority in 2002–03. There was some spending on refreshments and food at meetings.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many meetings the chair of Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority has had with(a) hon. Members, (b) regional public bodies and (c) individual trust chairs since her appointment. [112302]
§ Jacqui SmithSince the establishment of the Cheshire and Mersey Strategic Health Authority on 1 April 2002, the chair has met collectively with hon. Members on one occasion, on 29 October at the House and individually with hon. Members on six occasions, with ministerial colleagues on four occasions, with representatives of the north west Government Office and/or the North West Development Agency on three occasions and with individual trust chairs on 97 occasions.