§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the(a) budget, (b) administration budget, including payroll, (c) number of staff and (d) capital assets of the (i) Access Task Force, (ii) Adoption and Permanence Task Force, (iii) Cancer Task Force, (iv) Children Task Force, (v) Coronary Heart Disease Task Force, (vi) Cross Task Force Prevention Group, (vii) Herbal Medicines Statutory Regulation Working Group, (viii) Making a Difference, Reducing Burdens in Hospitals Task Force, (ix) Making a Difference, Reducing Burdens On GPs Task Force and (x) Mental Health Task Force; [163515]
(2) if he will list the (a) budget, (b) administration budget, including payroll, (c) number of staff and (d) capital assets of the (i) NHS IT Task Force, (ii) Older People Task Force, (iii) Patient Environment Steering Group, (iv) Practice Learning Task Force, (v) Quality Task Force, (vi) External Project for Reform of Social Work Education and Training, (vii) Reform of Social Work Education and Training, (viii) Practice Learning Project Group for Reform of Social Work, Education and Training, (ix) Qualification Development Project Group for Reform of Social Work, Education and Training and (x) Registration Post-Qualifying, Continuous Professional Development Project Group for Reform of Social Work, Education and Training; [163517]
(3) if he will list the (a) budget, (b) administration budget, including payroll, (c) number of staff and (d) capital assets of the interdepartmental group on the (i) Health Impact Assessment, (ii) Management of Medicines Renal NSF Groups, (iii) NHS Modernisation Board, (iv) NHS FT External Reference Groups for Governance, (v) Nursing and Midwifery Modernisation Board, (vi) SCOTH/ACMD Working Group on Cannabis and Tobacco Smoking, (vii) National Users Panel of the Community Equipment Services External Reference Group, (viii) Interagency Working Group to Develop a Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and the Police and the HSE and (ix) Primary Care Workforce Review External Reference Group; [163516]
(4) if he will list the (a) budget, (b) administration budget, including payroll, (c) number of staff and (d) capital assets of the (i) Strategic Commissioning Group, (ii) Workforce Task Force, (iii) Advisory Committee for Topic Selection, (iv) Advisory Group for Genetics Research, (v) Agenda for Change Central Negotiating Group, (vi) Children's National Service Framework Strategy Group, (vii) Expert Group on Blocked Anaesthetic Tubing, (viii) Expert Group on Mental Health in Prisons, (ix) Forensic Psychiatrists Working Group, (x) Generic Medicines Management Steering Group for Diabetes, Renal and Long-Term Conditions National Service Frameworks and (xi) Implementation Board for Modernising NHS Hospital Medicines Manufacturing. [163518]
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§ Ms Rosie WintertonInformation on the Department's task forces, ad hoc advisory groups and reviews is given in the annual publication "Public Bodies". This publication explains that such groups have a short-term focus and when their work comes to an end they are disbanded. These groups are usually created to give expert advice to the Government on a specific issue and are usually expected to remain in operation for less than two years. They are not separate statutory bodies. As such, they have no capacity to employ staff or hold assets in their own right, and rely on secretariat and other support from the Department and sometimes other interested bodies. They will not normally have any formal separate budget allocated to them, and accountability for expenditure will remain with the body to whom any funding is allocated. A number of those listed have completed their work and no longer exist.