Press briefing from the Prime Ministers Official Spokesman on: Asylum, Flu Vaccinations, Power Stations and Licensing Law
Asylum
Asked if the Prime Minister was going to apologise for the Government’s failure to meet the targets on asylum removals, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that we believed that we would meet the targets in the coming months. What it underlined was the difficulty of what it was we were trying to do, but we believed we would meet it. It was unfortunate that we did not meet it as per the original deadline, but given how far back we started, it still showed a considerable degree of progress.
Flu Vaccinations
Asked if Government departments had offered their staff flu vaccinations, the PMOS said it was important to get the issue in context. 14 million doses of influenza vaccine were ordered this year, and we reckoned that there were 11 million people in the "at risk" group. As with many large organisations, government departments could and did offer priority staff flu vaccines, but that was the same as with any big organisation. What that did not do, however, was impact on the GPs’ flu vaccine stocks, because they were all ordered at the same time. As the DH had made clear, it had released an extra 400,000 vaccine stocks because of the increase of demand and they had also ordered an additional 200,000 which would arrive in time for January. The PMOS told journalists what seems to have happened was that the publicity in terms of avian flu had increased the number of people who were not in the "at risk" category had applied for a flu vaccine, even though we had stressed that we did not believe that the normal flu vaccine would be effective against avian flu.
Asked if all departments would have given key staff a vaccine, and would that include Secretaries of State and Ministers, the PMOS said we did not get into commenting on individual Ministers or their staff. However, it was normal in most large organisations for vaccinations to be given to be priority staff.
Asked if the 14 million figure was the global figure for the entire country, the PMOS said his understanding was that a record 14 million doses of vaccine were available this year, but he recommended that the journalist spoke to the DH for clarification.
Asked if any Minister had received a flu vaccination, the PMOS replied he was going to get into people who had or had not received an injection. He was also, however, not going to be defensive about it, as large organisations, both in the public and private sectors, as a matter of course quite rightly offered this to their key staff.
Asked how many key staff did receive a vaccination, the PMOS said people should not misunderstand the issue. The number of staff who were given a vaccination did not in any way impact on the "at risk" category.
Put that it did impact, because at the moment, the DH had said they were running out of stock, the PMOS said the flu jabs were ordered earlier in the year, and a count was taken of the members of staff who would normally be offered the vaccine. Also taken account of were the 11 million people who would normally be at risk. The additional demand had not come from the "at risk" category, but rather from the increase in the number of people who were the "concerned well" and who had requested a vaccine from their GP.
Asked if they were hypochondriacs, the PMOS said the journalist was entering very dangerous territory!
Asked for further clarification on the term "concerned well" or "worried well", and had it come about as a result of concern over bird flu, the PMOS said that because of heightened media reporting, more people outside the "at risk" category had asked their GP for a vaccination. The difference between 11 and 14 million at risk was to allow a certain number of people outside the "at risk" category to be vaccinated. That number had increased this year.
Put to the PMOS that the Foreign Office (FCO) had said that they were not offering vaccines to their staff because of a shortage, so why did one department offer vaccines, but not another, the PMOS said this was because the number of people who would in any normal year be vaccinated was counted for as part of the advance order made earlier in the year. In other words, whenever the vaccinations were planned, they were counting in the number for the priority staff.
Asked why did the FCO not offer their staff the jab, the PMOS said he would need to speak to the FCO to find out.
Asked for clarification on the 3 million other people who were not in the "at risk" categories, and were they the organisations and companies etc, the PMOS said that was correct, according to his understanding.
Put to the PMOS that the Treasury had said the Chancellor had not had a flu jab, but had the Prime Minister had a vaccination, the PMOS replied that we did not comment on the Prime Minister’s health.
Asked if that was a split story, the PMOS said: no, we were just being consistent in our usual practice in not giving a running commentary on the Prime Minister’s health.
Power Stations
Put forward that there was a breaking story that some power stations were reducing their output because of price increases, and was there anything the PMOS could add, the PMOS said: no. In terms of the gas situation, the vast majority of industry remained unaffected by it.
Licensing Law
Asked if the Prime Minister shared the same view as Paul Goggins regarding the number of incidents reported by police would increase as a result of the introduction of the Licensing Law, the PMOS replied that he presumed what Mr. Goggins was reflecting what Tessa Jowell had said. She said that inevitably, if the police focused on a particular area in policing, then inevitably, the number of arrests in the area would increase because police resources were concentrated on that area.
Put that was not the goal of the Licensing Act was to bring down the number of drink-related incidences over time, the PMOS said: absolutely. However, if an area was concentrated on, then inevitably, in the short term, the number of convictions went up. For example, if speed driving was focused on, the number of arrests would increase.
Asked how long people would have to wait before a decrease could be shown, the PMOS replied what was important was not only that the police applied the law, but that people saw the law being applied, including against problem premises and problem individuals.
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