To ask the Secretary of State for Health which statistics are used to determine whether her Department’s public service agreement (PSA) targets have been met, broken down by PSA target; and which of these are classified as national statistics. (115344)

[holding answer 15 January 2007]: The Department’s public service agreement (PSA) incorporates technical notes which contain information about the statistics used to monitor progress towards meeting the Department’s PSA targets. The technical notes are available on the Department’s website at:

www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4133321&chk=xbJnjl

A report by the independent Statistics Commission entitled “PSA Targets: the Devil in the Detail”, which was published on 20 March 2006, contains an independent analysis of each Department’s PSA targets, including notes on National Statistics classification. Copies of this report are available in the Library and can be accessed on the internet at:

http://www.statscom.org.uk/C_467.aspx