Baroness Corston

The floristry services contract is due for re-tender ahead of the expiration of the current contract, in September 2017.

The cost of flowers for the House of Lords is set out in the table below. These costs relate primarily to flowers in catering and retail outlets, and ceremonial events, such as state visits. The cost of flowers in the House of Commons portion of the Parliamentary estate is a matter for the House of Commons Commission.

These figures do not include flowers for banqueting functions and other income generating business as these costs are paid for by the customer or revenue from the event.

Catering and Retail Services keeps its expenditure on flowers under review, to ensure that it is delivering best value to the taxpayer.

We do not currently have a specific policy on the use of public relations companies by private organisations delivering public services under government contracts, but we expect the very highest value for money in all things.

The Government continues to invest in research into new and alternative treatments. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is currently funding 12 projects across three of its councils (BBSRC, EPSRC and MRC) that relate to the use of phages as a response to antibiotic resistance. This represents a commitment of over £6m.

Additionally the Department of Health and Social Care and Wellcome sponsored a strategic pipeline briefing into alternatives to antibiotics in 2015. The briefing reviewed the feasibility and potential clinical impact of alternatives to antibiotics, including bacteriophages, and considered approaches that were most likely to deliver new treatments in the next ten years.

Apprenticeships with a duration of less than 12 months are included in published statistics where the apprentice is 19 years or older on the day they start their apprenticeship and not all elements of the framework are being delivered. This could be because of Recognition of Prior Learning or previously certificated achievement of qualifications. In all cases, the minimum length of the apprenticeship is six months.

The Skills Funding Agency 2014 to 2015 funding rules set out the eligibility requirements for apprenticeships started in 2014/15. These include points (1) to (4).

Only apprenticeships which adhere to this definition of an apprenticeship are recognised within these published statistics. On point (2), the statistics also include apprenticeships with an agreed planned duration of less than 12 months in exceptional circumstances, for example, for apprentices with prior qualifications that cover part of their framework.

The Skills Funding Agency 2014 to 2015 funding rules set out the eligibility requirements for apprenticeships started in 2014/15. These include points (1) to (4).

Only apprenticeships which adhere to this definition of an apprenticeship are recognised within these published statistics. On point (2), the statistics also include apprenticeships with an agreed planned duration of less than 12 months in exceptional circumstances, for example, for apprentices with prior qualifications that cover part of their framework.

The National Health Service is making arrangements to ensure the care, support and safety of women through pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period to mitigate increased pressures on healthcare services during the COVID-19 pandemic. NHS England and NHS Improvement have published a clinical guide for the temporary reorganisation of intrapartum maternity care to ensure the safety of mothers, babies and staff. To reduce the risk of infection, there are now restrictions on visitors in most hospitals and maternity units. Further, the Department is funding several studies researching the impact of COVID-19 on maternity and neonatal care to ensure rapid learning.

We have worked rigorously to make the app as privacy-conscious as possible, only collecting the data necessary to fulfil its epidemiological purpose and save lives. Security and privacy have been prioritised at all stages of the app’s development and we have drawn on expertise from across Government and industry to review our app’s designs.

Any user data collected centrally by the National Health Service will be held to the highest security standards. In addition to the continual monitoring, review and oversight undertaken by the NHS, we have consulted with the National Cyber Security Centre to review and supplement our processes. The app has been designed to calculate a user’s risk of infection using a heuristic model developed in collaboration with expert epidemiologists from the University of Oxford’s Big Data Institute. We have published an explanation of how the risk scoring algorithm works on the online only FAQ page of the NHS COVID-19 website. NHS doctors and scientists will continuously update the risk scoring algorithm to make it as accurate as possible.

The data collected supports the wider public health approach of manual contact tracing and testing. Anyone who has symptoms that are consistent with COVID-19, whether or not they are an app user, will be able to report those symptoms and get a test to find out if they have the virus.

There are no current plans to make bio-identical hormone replacement therapy routinely available on National Health Service prescription. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the Agency responsible for the regulation of medicines used in the United Kingdom. There is a clear regime in place, administered by the MHRA, to enable medicines to be developed, authorised (licensed) and made available to patients in the UK. It is important that authorised medicines meet rigorous standards so that doctors and patients are sure of their quality, efficacy and safety.

Public Health England contributes to the European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies (EUROCAT), which reports on congenital anomaly statistics by country.

The numbers of babies born with neural tube defects from 2012 to 2016 are displayed in the attached table, due to the size of the data. Data for 2017 and 2018 are not currently available. Validated data for 2017 will be available from April 2019.

Meetings of the Advisory Committee on Malaria Prevention held over the last five years are shown in the following table.

The Home Office does not hold information centrally on the amount of police station closures across England and Wales.

Decisions on the use of resources, including police stations, are a matter for Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables as they best understand the needs of the communities they serve.

The Government has taken the unprecedented step to recruit 20,000 new officers over the next three years. This is in addition to the £1 billion increase in police funding this year as a result of the 2019/20 Police Funding settlement, including money raised through council tax and the serious violence funding.

Since the beginning of the conflict around 900 people of national security concern have travelled from the UK to Syria and Iraq, against the advice of the Foreign Office. Of these, around 40% have returned to the UK.

Between 1 April 2007 and 31 December 2014, 16,473 UK Regular Armed Forces personnel were prescribed mefloquine (commercial name Lariam). Up to 31 March 2015, 1,066 (6 per cent) were assessed as having a mental health disorder at their initial assessment at an MOD Department for Community Mental Health (DCMH) or on admission to an MOD in-patient provider. It is not possible from centrally-held data to identify whether an assessment is associated with a patient having taken mefloquine.

Former Service men and women are treated by the NHS and their status as a veteran is not always recorded on their NHS medical records. It is therefore not possible to say how many former Service personnel have required psychiatric treatment after taking mefloquine.

Between 1 April 2007 and 31 December 2014, 536 UK Armed Forces personnel were prescribed mefloquine prior to or whilst on deployment to Afghanistan. Up to 31 March 2015, 43 (8 per cent) were assessed as having a mental health disorder at their initial assessment at an MOD DCMH or on admission to an MOD in-patient provider.

Between 1 April 2007 and 31 December 2014, 16,473 UK Regular Armed Forces personnel were prescribed mefloquine (commercial name Lariam). Up to 31 March 2015, 1,066 (6 per cent) were assessed as having a mental health disorder at their initial assessment at an MOD Department for Community Mental Health (DCMH) or on admission to an MOD in-patient provider. It is not possible from centrally-held data to identify whether an assessment is associated with a patient having taken mefloquine.

Former Service men and women are treated by the NHS and their status as a veteran is not always recorded on their NHS medical records. It is therefore not possible to say how many former Service personnel have required psychiatric treatment after taking mefloquine.

Between 1 April 2007 and 31 December 2014, 536 UK Armed Forces personnel were prescribed mefloquine prior to or whilst on deployment to Afghanistan. Up to 31 March 2015, 43 (8 per cent) were assessed as having a mental health disorder at their initial assessment at an MOD DCMH or on admission to an MOD in-patient provider.

As at 22 June 2015, the Ministry of Defence holds 11,505 packs of mefloquine (commercial name Lariam) each containing eight tablets.

58 UK Armed Forces personnel who have been deployed on Operation GRITROCK before 31 October 2014 have been prescribed Mefloquine (commercially known as Lariam) as a malaria prophylaxis. All of these 58 were Regulars.

The exact choice of antimalarial drug used by the military depends on a number of factors, including the region the individual is deploying to, their health and any past history of side effects. Malarone is the first choice drug for those Service personnel deploying on Operation GRITROCK. For those individuals unable to tolerate Malarone the second choice is Mefloquine. Doxycycline will be offered to those individuals who cannot tolerate Malorone or Mefloquine.

As with all prescriptions the Ministry of Defence follows the drug manufacturer's advice which stipulates that Mefloquine (commercially known as Lariam) should not be taken if you are carrying out complex tasks such as driving, piloting an aircraft or diving. Accordingly, the Department's current policy is that aircrew are not to take Mefloquine.