Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston Excerpts

Tuesday 7th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

The treatment services for individual patients will be commissioned through GP consortiums, but the identification and preventive work on TB is a public health responsibility. To that extent, I believe that we will be better placed to deal with it in future. Many local authorities—for example, in Birmingham, Manchester or Leeds—will be well placed as cities to respond to any incidence or outbreaks of TB on a preventive basis, using their powers as public health authorities.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

In response to my question on the publication of the White Paper about the more than 500 TB cases in Birmingham the Secretary of State confirmed that there would be no changes to what such cities could do to control TB outbreaks. Will he elaborate on his answer? What more can Birmingham do under the new arrangements to prevent such exceedingly high numbers?