To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the services and support which are available at a local level for children aged between five and 16 years affected by continence problems and their families. (130322)

Paediatric continence services are assessed by local primary care trusts (PCTs), in line with standard six of the national service framework for children. This standard includes a specific section on paediatric incontinence. There is a benchmarking tool to assist PCTs to evaluate their paediatric continence services, benchmark against other PCTs, and share good practice. This is available online at:

www.cgsupport.nhs.uk/PDFs/articles/good_practice_paediatric_continence_services.pdf

We have also funded the voluntary organisation ERIC (Education and Resources for Improving Childhood Continence) to a maximum of £90,000 over the three years 2006-07 to 2008-09 for their project on the implementation of national integrated continence services.