To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons his Department’s Gender Equity Project had difficulty gaining access to a contact list of England’s Directors of Public Health, as stated on page 15 of his Department’s Gender Equity Audit Report, published on 8 June 2007; what steps he has taken to ensure his Department has access to an up-to-date contact list of Directors of Public Health; and if he will make a statement. (147556)

At the time of the project the Department had a list of Regional Public Health Directors but did not have a detailed contact list of all Public Health Directors working in over 302 primary care trusts across England. However, 155 of the 279 invitations were sent directly to Directors of Public Health. Further to the reconfiguration in 2006 a more streamlined approach is now taken when seeking information from national health service organisations. The Chief Executive Bulletin is used to filter down information, and requests for information, to appropriate personnel in the NHS.