Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the reclassification of medicines with long histories of safe prescribing to be sold over the counter.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department and regulates medicine, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion in the United Kingdom, with responsibility for ensuring that medicines meet appropriate standards of safety, quality, and efficacy.
A Reclassification Alliance was established between industry, the MHRA, and the Department to explore opportunities for improving the reclassification of medicines in the UK. The MHRA has developed an updated reclassification procedure and in April 2024 published updated reclassification guidance. In November 2024, the MHRA also held a reclassification webinar for industry, which focused on the updated procedure and reclassification guidance. In addition, earlier this year, the Government published a list of conditions and categories identified for potential reclassification.
The Government is committed to ensuring that medicines are available to patients in the most convenient and accessible manner, provided that it is safe to do so. The reclassification of medicines from prescription-only to over-the-counter status is a vital part of this commitment. The reclassification agenda aligns with broader Government initiatives, including the NHS 10-Year Health Plan and the Health Sector Strategy, which aim to improve patient access and reduce pressure on general practice through enhanced pharmacy services.
The MHRA welcomes discussions with industry as to how we can assess more applications, especially of novel types, which will aid patient choice in the UK.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer from Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 7 May (HL6732), when they plan to issue an updated Critical Minerals Strategy.
Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Thanks to the extensive engagement and insights from our industry and expert stakeholders as well as cross-government collaboration, we have developed a powerful new vision and plan for securing critical minerals in the UK.
Following the outcome of the multi-year Spending Review and the publication of the Industrial Strategy, the Critical Minerals Strategy will be published later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to enable Innovate UK to recognise the reclassification of medicines as innovation in their grant assessments.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Innovate UK recognises the role of innovation in the reclassification, repurposing, and reformulation of medicines.
Whilst not all competitions will allow funding for post-market products, Innovate UK has supported projects involving repurposing for new indications, novel delivery models, formulation changes, and wraparound technologies to improve patient access. For example, Innovate UK is currently funding Signacor Therapeutics in Northern Ireland to repurpose an existing chemotherapy drug towards the treatment of heart disease.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential importance of a UK domestic critical minerals supply strategy to underpin economic growth and the UK industrial base.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
A secure supply of critical minerals is vital for the UK's economic growth and security, industrial strategy, and clean energy transition. Building on the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre’s updated criticality assessment, government will work hand in hand with industry to publish a new Critical Minerals Strategy this year.
The Strategy will refine our approach to domestic production and will be explicitly targeted to UK strengths and delivering for businesses.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of critical minerals supply from Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
Whilst Government has not made an economic assessment of the benefits of critical minerals supply from any specific region to the rest of the UK, the new Critical Minerals Strategy will set out how increasing our domestic production of critical minerals in all areas of the UK will support our economic growth and security, industrial strategy, and clean energy transition.
As part of her industry engagement, Minister Sarah Jones MP, met with Ionic Technologies, a cutting-edge permanent magnet recycler based in Belfast, who are a real asset to critical minerals supply across the UK. The world-leading critical minerals innovation led out of Queen’s University Belfast also demonstrates how Northern Ireland can contribute to UK critical minerals supply.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to engage with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to develop a UK-wide critical minerals supply strategy.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
A secure supply of critical minerals is vital for the UK's economic growth and security, industrial strategy, and clean energy transition.
Government is engaging widely in developing the new Critical Minerals Strategy, including in partnership with the devolved governments, to make this Strategy a UK-wide effort.
The Critical Minerals Strategy will be published in 2025, aligning with the multi-year Spending Review and the new Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have engaged with the Northern Ireland Executive about critical minerals supply.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
A secure supply of critical minerals is vital for the UK's economic growth and security, industrial strategy, and clean energy transition.
Government is engaging widely in developing the new Critical Minerals Strategy, including in partnership with the devolved governments, to make this Strategy a UK-wide effort.
The Critical Minerals Strategy will be published in 2025, aligning with the multi-year Spending Review and the new Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are committed to maintaining the Global Mine Action Programme.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's Global Mine Action Programme is being maintained through the financial year 25/26. Beyond this, Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations and the impact on programmes are being worked through following the decision to reduce UK ODA from 0.5 per cent of GNI to 0.3 per cent in 2027. We will be taking a rigorous approach to ensure all ODA delivers value for money. We will set out our spending plans following the completion of the Spending Review and departmental resource allocation processes.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to revise the British knowledge questions on the 'Life in the UK' Test to make them more useful, relevant and familiar.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how the political declaration from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women will support universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights worldwide.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Member states successfully adopted a consensus Political Declaration at the 69th UN Commission on the Status of Women. Our assessment is that new text on maternal and neonatal health, menstrual health and hygiene management are examples of progress supporting access to sexual and reproductive health services. The UK is proud to defend and promote universal and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and has a long history as an influential global leader on SRHR to championing these fundamental rights in multilateral institutions.