To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department intends to issue guidance on the duty for primary care trusts and local authorities to undertake a joint strategic needs assessment. (174771)

Guidance on Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) was released by the Department on 13 December 2007 and can be found on the Department website at:

www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_081097

A copy has been placed in the Library.

JSNA will develop and improve over time. The Department has commissioned Yorkshire and Humber Public Health Observatory (Y and HPHO), which has a specialist role to support commissioning, to lead this process. Further developments e.g. of the JSNA ‘minimum dataset’ will be announced on the Yorkshire and Humber Public Health Observatory website at:

www.yhpho.org.uk/viewResource.aspx?id=1299

A draft copy has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department plans to publish new good practice guidelines on care planning, including support for self care; whether his Department intends to consult on these guidelines; and if he will make a statement. (183563)

The Department plans to publish a framework on personalised and integrated care planning in the spring of 2008, which includes support for self care as an integral part of the process. The framework has been developed in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders from the national health service, social care, the third sector and patient and carers representative groups.