§ Mr. WareingTo ask the Secretary of State for (1) Health if he will make public the reports of Professor Robert Tinston, Chief Executive of the NHS North West Regional Office, in respect of the inquiry into the disposal of children's organs at the Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool; [131651]
(2) how many parents of deceased children have been consulted by the Redfern Inquiry; what form that consultation has taken; if he will extend the time of the inquiry; and if he will make a statement; [131649]
(3) if he will call for an interim report from the Redfern Inquiry into events at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool; [131650]
(4) what extra resources have been provided to Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool, to enable it to co-operate fully with the Redfern Inquiry; and if he will make a statement. [131652]
§ Mr. DenhamInternal reports between officials and Ministers are normally exempt from disclosure under exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information that relates to information that would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion, unless justifiable reasons are presented why they should not be covered by this exemption clause.
43WThe independent inquiry should detail in its report the extent and form of parental consultation. The Inquiry has taken longer than first indicated to allow for the work to be completed.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State received the Report on 7 November and will study its findings over the next few weeks before publishing his response.
The National Health Service Executive recognised that extra expenditure would be incurred by the Trust in addressing issues relating to organ retention, including the Royal Liverpool Children's Inquiry. The trust has been allocated additional funding in 1999–2000 and 2000–01 to meet these costs and after that any recurring element will be funded from the normal commissioning process.