Department of Health and Social Care

No specific assessment has been made. The Joint Biosecurity Centre is working with regional partnership teams to closely monitor the impact of COVID-19 infections as a result of schools returning.

The Department plans to engage with the food and drink manufacturing industry where appropriate. We will also engage with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as it develops its white paper on the National Food Strategy.

Additional information for parents and children to have supported conversations about the COVID-19 vaccine for 12-15 year olds is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-resources-for-children-and-young-people

A consent form and information leaflet provided by the School Age Immunisation Service (SAIS) team will be used to seek parental consent. Parents will also be provided with a contact number for the SAIS team in case of any queries. The information leaflet is addressed to the child as the recipient of the vaccine and encourages them to discuss the decision about the vaccine with their parents. There are accessible versions of the consent form and leaflets available for those with a learning disability or who live with autism. There are braille and British Sign Language videos to order or download and translations will also be made available.

The Department’s policy position at the ninth Conference of the Parties (COP9) of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control will be determined in advance of the meeting, in accordance with the 2017 Tobacco Control Plan and our ambition to be smoke free by 2030.

Departmental officials will review the agenda items and papers along with relevant required actions for opportunities to present the United Kingdom’s position, in compliance with the rules of procedure at COP9.

A pilot scheme to enable some United Kingdom residents vaccinated overseas to demonstrate their vaccination status through the NHS COVID Pass will be launched in England from the end of September. Further development will be undertaken once the pilot is underway.

The sale of oral tobacco is banned in the United Kingdom under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. The Department is undertaking a post implementation review of these regulations and is analysing the evidence base submitted through a public consultation and external research. This includes evidence on oral tobacco. The Department is due to publish its response later this year.

COVID-19 vaccines authorised for use are commensurate across the United Kingdom and are recognised by NHS England and NHS Improvement. Data sharing agreements are in place to ensure health records of individuals vaccinated outside of their home nation can access their proof of vaccination via the relevant health authority.

The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) is currently considering the evidence for a population lung cancer screening programme. A recommendation will then be submitted to the Department ministers for a final decision alongside a Departmental impact assessment. The UK NSC will assess the effectiveness of the test and subsequent interventions, as well as cost effectiveness and feasibility of implementation in making their recommendation. The Department will review these criteria alongside the recommendation.

A pilot scheme to enable some United Kingdom residents vaccinated overseas to demonstrate their vaccination status through the NHS COVID Pass will be launched in England from the end of September. Further development will be undertaken once the pilot is underway.

The national flu immunisation programme commenced on 1 September 2021.

We have no plans to do so.

From 22 September, international travellers vaccinated with two different doses across approved countries or two different doses of the approved vaccines will be eligible for reduced quarantine and testing requirements when returning to the United Kingdom from non ‘red list’ countries.

Public Health England (PHE) does collect data at local authority level on the ethnicity and socioeconomic status for COVID-19 cases and people who have received COVID-19 vaccination. Directors of Public Health and their teams have access to the COVID-19 Situational Awareness Portal which includes fully identifiable demographic information. The Portal also includes vaccination data by date of vaccinations, sex, age band and ethnicity.

PHE publishes case data by ethnicity at national and regional levels in the weekly flu and COVID-19 surveillance report which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports-2021-to-2022-season

Data on cases and vaccination at local authority level is available at the following link:

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

The Food Standard Agency has been notified of 20 successful prosecutions related to nine businesses since 2016, which is shown in the following table:

Data prior to 2016 is not held centrally in the format requested as individual local authorities, as the bodies responsible for taking enforcement action in relation to food law offences, submitted this information on a voluntary basis.

We have no plans to make such an assessment.

NHS Test and Trace and local authorities already work within a joint framework focused on preventing, identifying and managing local outbreaks and engaging with local communities to support effective testing, contact tracing and self-isolation. Within this framework, local public health teams have more control through community-led testing, expanded local tracing partnerships and the sharing of data, insight and analysis used to identify clusters of new infections and potential local outbreaks.

All countries, including South Africa, are continually monitored as part of the Joint Biosecurity Centre’s assessments which are reviewed every three weeks.

There are currently no discussions planned.

The proposals in the Health and Care Bill will allow NHS England to delegate some of their responsibilities for commissioning services to integrated care boards (ICBs). This will give ICBs the flexibility to decide how to deliver their functions based on the needs of their local population. NHS England will continue to have oversight to ensure that these are being effectively discharged.

No recent assessment has been made.

The data is not held in the format requested.

We replied to the hon. Member on 15 September 2021.

The fourth progress report for the sugar reduction programme is expected to be published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities in late autumn 2021.

Ministers meet regularly with general practitioner stakeholders, including the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association to discuss a range of issues.

A national catch-up campaign was launched in April 2013 with the objective of ensuring that 95% of children aged 10 to 16 years old received at least one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. Subsequent evaluation estimated that vaccine coverage in England following the campaign was close to 95%.

The information requested is shown in the following table.

Source: UK Coronavirus Dashboard - Number of deaths of people who had had a positive test result for COVID-19 and died within 28 days of the first positive test. Data extracted 14 September 2021. https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths?areaType=nation%26areaName=England#card-deaths_within_28_days_of_positive_test_by_date_of_death

Note:

*As the above data is based on date of death, data for the most recent days are subject to reporting delay as death reports can take several days to be submitted to Public Health England following the death of a person.

No doses of the AstraZeneca Covishield branded vaccines have been purchased by the Government. All AstraZeneca vaccine doses approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and administered in the United Kingdom were branded as the ’COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca’ which is now known commercially as ‘Vaxzeria’. The MHRA has not approved doses branded as ‘Covishield’ and none have been administered or rebranded as Vaxzevria in the UK. All AstraZeneca vaccines are the same product and appear on the NHS COVID Pass as Vaxzevria.

No doses of the AstraZeneca Covishield branded vaccines have been purchased by the Government. All AstraZeneca vaccine doses approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and administered in the United Kingdom were branded as the ’COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca’ which is now known commercially as ‘Vaxzeria’. The MHRA has not approved doses branded as ‘Covishield’ and none have been administered or rebranded as Vaxzevria in the UK. All AstraZeneca vaccines are the same product and appear on the NHS COVID Pass as Vaxzevria.

Public Health England has not made a formal assessment.

A local, community-led approach, with support provided from Government, NHS England and NHS Improvement and local authorities to coordinate and enable action, is in place. Directors of public health receive daily updates on vaccine uptake in their areas, broken down to small areas and key subgroups including by gender and ethnicity.

On 25 January £23.75million was invested in the Community Champions Scheme. The Scheme targets older people, disabled people, and people from ethnic minority backgrounds who are more likely to suffer long-term impacts and poor outcomes from COVID-19. Local authorities participating in the Community Champions Scheme provide monthly progress reports.

We have also provided information and advice via TV, radio and social media, translated into 13 languages. Print and online material, including interviews and practical advice has appeared in over 600 national, regional, local and specialist titles including media aimed at Asian, Bangladeshi, Bengali, Gujarati and Pakistani communities. We have met with faith leaders and the Moral and Ethical Advisory Group on COVID-19 immunisation and sought consideration of how best to clearly communicate about the benefits of the vaccine.

The Department is currently developing a new Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy, which will be published later this year. We are considering issues related to equitable access to long-acting reversible contraception across both geographies and demographics and the potential use of targeted interventions as we develop the Strategy.

The Department is currently developing a new Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy, which will be published later this year. We are considering issues related to equitable access to long-acting reversible contraception across both geographies and demographics and the potential use of targeted interventions as we develop the Strategy.

We replied to the hon. Member on 17 September 2021.

International students vaccinated abroad, including a vaccine approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, are required to self-isolate if identified as a close contact. All those testing positive must self-isolate, regardless of vaccination status or where they were vaccinated.

For day two and day eight testing, we closely monitor the performance, including delivery and testing services, of private providers to ensure a high-quality service to customers. Those providing inadequate services receive a five-day warning to demonstrate they have rectified their service and if they do not, are removed from the GOV.UK list. Private providers may be reinstated to the list once they have undertaken corrective action and provided the Department with such evidence.

The recruitment process for these posts is still ongoing and projected overall costs are not yet confirmed. However, NHS England and NHS Improvement have minimised the costs of recruitment through national and regional co-ordination.

Live data flows have been set up by NHS Digital between England and Wales and England and Scotland, which update both the general practitioner (GP) record and NHS COVID Pass status. Those vaccinated in England but registered with a GP in Wales or Scotland, can access the certification services provided in Wales and Scotland and vice versa.

There is currently no data sharing process in place with Northern Ireland, though we aim to put this in place as soon as possible. We are also urgently developing temporary solutions to enable certification until the data flows are established.

Private providers are added to the GOV.UK list once their self-declaration has been assessed by United Kingdom Accreditation Service as meeting the Government’s minimum standards. This includes applying for and progressing through the three-staged accreditation process providing sample collection and/or sample testing services.

Councils should work with individuals to identify whether they can support themselves, seek assistance from family and friends or require additional help. Councils should be ready to signpost assistance relating to mental health, including support groups, charity and voluntary sector services, telephone help lines and online support. Since March 2021, the Government has made £85.5 million available to councils to deliver practical and emotional support and this funding will continue until March 2022. Contact tracers will continue to direct individuals to COVID-19 guidance on mental health, their general practitioner or NHS 111 for the appropriate support.

Several studies have provided evidence that vaccines are effective at preventing infection and symptomatic disease. Uninfected individuals cannot transmit the virus, therefore the vaccines are also likely to be effective at preventing transmission from staff to vulnerable patients. Data from Scotland has also shown that household contacts of vaccinated healthcare workers are at reduced risk, which is in line with the studies on infection. There may be additional benefit due to prevention of infection, if some individuals who become infected despite vaccination are also at a reduced risk of transmitting because of reduced duration or level of viral shedding.

Public Health England assessed that it would be in the public interest to publish data on COVID-19 deaths within 28 days of a positive test by vaccination status. This data is published in the weekly vaccine surveillance report, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccine-surveillance-report

The Department does not hold the information requested.

All providers of goods and services, including National Health Service organisations and others that provide public health services, are required to make reasonable adjustments where physical barriers prevent access in existing buildings under the Equality Act 2010.

NHS England and NHS Improvement produce health building notices to provide best practice guidance on the design and planning of new healthcare buildings and on the adaptation or extension of existing facilities, including to improve accessibility, which are available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/estates/health-building-notes/

In limited circumstances, quarantine exemption is made for arrivals to the United Kingdom. These circumstances are largely job-related and focus on occupations and services deemed essential to enable the country to continue to function effectively through the pandemic. For example, nurses coming from or travelling through red-list countries commencing immediate National Health Service employment in England may quarantine in hospital accommodation. The list of job–related exemptions is reviewed and updated on a regular basis, which includes an assessment of the needs of jobs in all sectors, such as medical staff.

The Elective Recovery Fund threshold for July 2021 was originally set at 85% but was subsequently updated to 95%. Delivery is assessed at integrated care system (ICS) level. While final payment data is not yet available for July, in June, 40 ICSs delivered activity above then threshold of 80%.

There is a cross-Government effort to design a package for arrivals from Afghanistan, including the support that is needed to help these families relocate to the United Kingdom. The cost of managed quarantine is being considered in these discussions and we are actively looking to provide support where the need is greatest.