§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many letters he has received from health service personnel concerning the Central London congestion charge since the charge began. [127499]
§ Mr. HuttonThe Department has received three letters from national health service professionals about the impact of the congestion charge since the charge began.
§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact of congestion charging in Central London on(a) doctors, (b) nurses, (c) consultants, (d) paramedics and (e) ancillary staff. [127500]
§ Mr. HuttonThe congestion charging scheme includes a number of measures to minimise the impact of congestion charging on National Health Service staff. This includes
Exemption of NHS vehicles currently exempt from vehicle excise duty, including ambulances and paramedic vehicles.A provision to reimburse journeys by NHS staff required to carry specified items, such as controlled drugs or confidential information, as part of their operational duties, that should not be transported on public transport.A provision to reimburse journeys by NHS staff for the purpose of providing emergency on-call services.The NHS steering group on this issue will shortly by writing to all NHS organisations to ask for data relating to the impact of the scheme for the period 17 February to 17 August. This data will be collated through the steering group and it will report on the outcome of this review in September.