Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Thailand about the repatriation of Uyghur refugees to China.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Foreign Secretary has made clear through a public statement, the UK disagrees in the strongest terms with Thailand's decision to deport 40 Uyghur Muslims to China. This is despite Thailand's international obligations in relation to non-refoulement and the well-documented ongoing human rights violations in Xinjiang. The Government has made representations to the Government of Thailand at the highest levels: the Foreign Secretary raised this issue with Thailand's Foreign Minister, and the Minister for the Indo-Pacific raised it with Thailand's Ambassador.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that medical-grade probe covers are used in ultrasound procedures instead of non-medical materials, such as condoms.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the regulator of medical devices in the United Kingdom. It works to make sure that medicines and healthcare products available in the UK are safe and effective. We would expect the use of probes that are medical devices to be within their intended purpose as defined by their manufacturer. Use of a medical device outside of its intended purpose can be done at the discretion of a healthcare professional.
The MHRA does not have a role in regulating healthcare practitioners in clinical settings. The MHRA has issued guidance on the off-label use of medical devices, which sets out that an individual should use medical devices as described by the manufacturer in the instructions. If you use the device in any other way, it’s considered ‘off-label’ use.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that known allergens and perfumes present in condoms are labelled on condom packaging.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is continuing its work to strengthen the regulation of medical devices in the United Kingdom and ensure medical devices are safe and effective. A condom is a medical device, and medical devices placed on the UK market are subject to rules requiring labels and instructions for use to contain precautions related to certain materials in the device that could result in sensitisation or an allergic reaction.
The MHRA undertakes a range of compliance and enforcement activities to ensure medical devices being placed on the UK market meet relevant regulation requirements. Once a medical device is on the market, the MHRA continuously monitors their safety, including via reports of suspected adverse events associated with medical devices received through the Yellow Card scheme. Should any new safety concerns be identified, we will take necessary regulatory action to minimise these and ensure the benefits of use continue to outweigh the risks.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to update public health guidance for travellers to the United States of America, particularly in regard to measles, tuberculosis and flu viruses.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Travel Advice provides information to British nationals travelling overseas, including any health risks. Country Travel Advice pages link to the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC)'s Travel Health Pro website, which offers comprehensive health advice and country-specific advice to travellers on a full range of health issues, including measles, tuberculosis and flu viruses where appropriate. NaTHNaC is commissioned by the UK Health Security Agency to provide travel health advice to the British public. Travel Advice pages are kept under regular review.
Travel Health Pro website: https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/countries
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to update the recommendations of the Eatwell Guide to address the health of the gut microbiome, and the environmental impacts of the food system.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans at this time to update the Eatwell Guide, as the key messages conveyed by the guide are up to date with all current dietary recommendations. The Eatwell Guide depicts a healthy, balanced diet that is based on fruit, vegetables, and higher fibre starchy carbohydrates. The principles of the guide are promoted through the NHS.UK website and the Government’s social marketing campaign, Better Health, including Healthier Families and Start for Life.
The gut microbiome is highly complex and varies considerably among individuals. The impacts of dietary interventions targeting the gut microbiome, such as probiotics and prebiotics, are not well understood due to variability in the microbiome itself, differences in diet, and other characteristics among individuals. The evidence base is still developing, and there would need to be sufficient evidence for the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition to conduct an independent full dietary risk assessment, which would be needed before recommendations on the microbiome could be made.
Greater adherence to the Eatwell Guide has been shown to significantly improve both health, with an up to 7% reduction in mortality, and environmental outcomes, with a reduction in emissions by 30%. Given that most people in the United Kingdom do not currently follow a diet in line with Government’s dietary recommendations, moving the population to dietary intakes in line with the Eatwell Guide remains the priority and would go a significant way to meeting sustainability targets.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of unconditional cash transfer programmes to support international conservation and climate resilience projects.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Unconditional cash transfers and other social protection measures can play an important role in helping vulnerable households be more resilient to climate change. These measures have been shown to be deliver positive impacts and good value for money.
Using unconditional cash transfers to support international conservation is not an approach widely undertaken by the FCDO. While we have not formally assessed its effectiveness, we remain open to reviewing the evidence where available and using this to inform our policies and programmes.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 3 February (HL Deb cols 474–5), whether they will publish the analysis which suggests that a third runway is compatible with their net zero target.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
DfT analysis shows that we can achieve aviation net zero 2050 under a range of assumptions about future technology development, without the government needing to intervene directly to limit airport expansion. This analysis is set out in the technical annex of the Jet Zero Strategy, which is published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the meeting of the NHS England's physician associate and anaesthesia associate prescribing working group on 3 July 2024, what action has been taken regarding the concern about the use of patient specific directives, particularly where a range of dosages and frequencies is given, when the drugs are to be administered under the oversight of anaesthetist associates.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The exploratory work undertaken by NHS England’s Physician Associate (PA) and Anaesthesia Associate (AA) prescribing group has been paused in light of the Leng Review.
Following the July 2024 working group meeting, NHS England engaged with NHS Employers, who published updated guidance on the role of PAs and AAs in the National Health Service. The guidance sets out that under locally determined governance arrangements, an AA may administer medicines under a patient specific direction (PSD).
Whilst any suitably trained and competent person may follow a PSD for administration, some organisations may extend or limit those who are authorised to administer medicines under a PSD within their local medicines policies and governance arrangements.
The employer is responsible for ensuring that the healthcare professionals it employs are properly trained, and undertake only those responsibilities specified in the agreed job descriptions.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what advice they are giving to GP surgeries on the recruitment of new physician associates in the light of the recommendations of the Royal College of Physicians' guidance Physician Associates in general practice: Scope of practice (9 October 2024); and what estimate have they made of the number of physician associates recruited by GP surgeries since that advice was issued.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England does not hold data on the number of Physician Associates (PAs) recruited by general practices (GPs) since 9 October 2024.
On 20 November 2024, the Government announced it had commissioned an independent review of PAs and Anaesthesia Associates (AAs), led by Professor Gillian Leng CBE. The review will consider the safety of the roles and their contribution to multidisciplinary healthcare teams. The review will report in spring 2025.
While the review is ongoing, it is up to trusts, Primary Care Networks, and GPs to make recruitment decisions about PAs.
NHS England has issued guidance on the deployment of PAs and AAs in the National Health Service which describes the expectations of how organisations providing NHS care should deploy them so that they can contribute to the delivery of safe and effective healthcare in a supportive environment. This guidance remains in place whilst the review is ongoing, and is available at the NHS.UK website, in an online only format.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) regulation of topical flea and tick treatments for pets; and (2) of a recent University of Sussex study on the impact of these chemicals on songbird reproduction.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
1) Parasiticides play an important role in the protecting of animal health from fleas, ticks, and vector-borne diseases, and in protecting human health from zoonotic transfer of disease. Therefore, their regulation requires a careful balance between effective parasite control for animal health and welfare and human health whilst minimising potential risks to the environment.
To address environmental safety, every veterinary pharmaceutical undergoes an environmental exposure assessment, with products for companion animals usually ending in a Phase 1 assessment. If exposure is deemed high, a more detailed Phase II risk assessment is conducted, evaluating potential environmental impact based on expected exposure and toxicity. The findings from these assessments are considered as part of the final benefit/risk assessment during the approval process. There are also warnings that accompany products advising on use and to mitigate against dogs entering water courses directly after treatment. Environmental assessments are conducted in accordance with international guidelines and data standards.
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is conducting a number of research activities to provide further evidence on environmental impacts and causes. Furthermore, the VMD supports a review of the international environmental risk assessment guidelines for companion animal parasiticides, which has been proposed and is currently under consideration by the body for International Cooperation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Veterinary Medicinal Products (VICH).
2) The VMD is also aware of a University of Sussex study indicating the presence of insecticides, commonly used on companion animals and livestock, in the nests of songbirds. The study suggests a potential correlation between pesticide levels and reduced reproductive success. However, causality has not been confirmed, and further research is required to determine whether the observed effects are due to pesticide exposure or other factors.