To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average response time was for (a) air ambulances and (b) road ambulances in areas in which air ambulances operated in the latest period for which figures are available. (170592)

The information requested is not collected centrally. The ambulance response time data that is collected covers ground ambulances in England only. It does not include average response times, but does include data on performance, by each ambulance trust, against current national targets. The data is published annually. The latest statistical bulletin, “Ambulance Services, England, 2006-07” was published in June 2007, a copy is available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average time taken to respond to an emergency telephone call by the ambulance service was in Suffolk in each of the last five years. (171619)

The Department does not collect information on the average response times to emergency calls by national health service ambulance trusts.

The data that the Department does collect on ambulance response times is published on an annual basis in the statistical bulletin, Ambulance services, England. These documents are available in the Library and on the Information Centre for Health and Social Care website at:

www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-datacollections/audits-and-performance/ambulance/ambulance-services-england-2006-07