Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Greenhalgh on 19 April (HL Deb, col 1639), what assessment they have made of the need to review the Airports National Policy Statement to bring it into line with domestic and international climate targets.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 16 December 2020, the Supreme Court overturned the earlier Court of Appeal decision and declared that the Airports National Policy Statement is lawful. We are carefully considering the Court’s judgement.
The Government have always been clear that Heathrow expansion is a private sector project which must meet strict criteria on air quality, noise and climate change, as well as being privately financed, affordable, and delivered in the best interest of consumers.
In the coming months, we will launch a consultation setting out the steps to reach net zero aviation emissions by 2050.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Greenhalgh on 19 April (HL Deb, col 1639), what assessment they have made of the need to review the (1) National Policy Statement for Ports, and (2) National Policy Statement for National Networks, to bring them into line with (a) domestic, and (b) international, (i) climate, and (ii) biodiversity, targets.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As noted in the Freeports Bidding Prospectus, Government intends to review the National Policy Statement for Ports in 2021. In deciding when to review the NPS, due consideration will be given to the impact of changes in policy of both climate and biodiversity targets.
The case for reviewing the National Networks National Policy Statement remains under active consideration as part of the Secretary of State’s duties under the Planning Act 2008. Developments in domestic environmental policy and our international commitments, are assessed against the three considerations the Secretary of State must take into account in deciding whether to review an NPS set out in section 6 of the Act.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why the Department for Work and Pensions classifies ME/CFS as a musculoskeletal disease for the purposes of statistics and for the guidance and training of their health professionals, rather than as a neurological disease.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Assessment of entitlement to benefit does not depend on the condition itself, the underlying cause or how the condition is classified, but on the disabling effects of the condition(s) present.
The condition insight reports for Personal Independence Payment Health Professionals state that ME/CFS is classified as a neurological disorder; the guidance for CHDA Health Professionals who conduct Work Capability Assessments make no reference to the classification of ME/CFS.
The issue of classification for coding and statistical purposes has recently been brought to our attention. In light of this we are currently exploring moving ME/CFS from the musculoskeletal to neurological section for coding purposes.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they expect general practitioners to use their clinical judgement in including patients with existing diseases in Group 6 for COVID-19 vaccinations if they consider them to be at risk of exacerbation of their underlying disease should they become infected with COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Clinicians, including general practitioners (GPs) are able to use their clinical judgement to categorise patients as clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) because they consider them to be at very high risk of serious illness from COVID-19. Those categorised as CEV are in priority group four of phase one of the vaccination programme. Those who are not categorised as CEV but have underlying conditions that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises have increased clinical risk from COVID-19 are in priority group six. Within the broad set of clinical conditions within priority group six, GPs and other clinicians are able to add individuals to this group. They are able to use clinical judgement to take into account the risk of COVID-19 exacerbating any underlying disease that a patient may have, as well as the risk of serious illness from the virus itself.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many applications have been received for the Kickstart Scheme; how many have been approved; and how many individual participants this includes.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
As of 18th March 2021 there have been over 15,000 applications received for Kickstart Scheme, we have approved over 150,000 jobs and over 6,000 young people have started their placements.
As of the 12th March 2021, there had been over 900 unique gateway applications approved and over 1,200 unique employer bids accepted on the Kickstart Scheme.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system which has been developed quickly. The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics, but is provided in the interests of transparency.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they recommend graded exercise therapy for patients with post COVID-19 symptoms.
Answered by Lord Bethell
On 18 December 2021 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network published a guideline on the management of the long term effects of COVID-19. A copy of COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing the long-term effects of COVID-19 is attached. In developing the guideline, an expert panel undertook an evidence review into self-pacing and graded forms of exercise.
The panel considered the careful self-pacing of exercise to be an important element of self-management. However, they concluded that in the absence of evidence relating to people with ongoing symptoms from COVID-19, it could not make specific recommendations. A copy of COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing the long-term effects of COVID-19 (NG188). Evidence review 5: interventions is attached. COVID-19 is a new disease and therefore it is not yet clear what the physical, psychological and rehabilitation needs will be for those experiencing long term effects of the virus.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether patients presenting with 'long-COVID' symptoms following (1) diagnosed, or (2) undiagnosed COVID-19, are recommended to participate in the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme for medically unexplained symptoms.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Integrating working between mental health and physical health services is an important principle of the treatment and rehabilitation of people with ‘long’ COVID-19. The National Health Service is supporting the establishment of assessment clinics in England for patients with long COVID-19 symptoms who were diagnosed with the virus or who were undiagnosed but suspected of having had COVID-19. This will include specialist physical, cognitive or psychological assessment.
Following assessment, people with persistent mental health problems that involve depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder should be considered for a referral to an Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service. Where appropriate, people can be referred to IAPT for long term conditions and medically unexplained symptoms service where they exist.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government under which SNOMED code patients with 'long COVID-19' symptoms are categorised.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The SNOMED-CT codes are as follows:
- Acute COVID-19 infection (1325171000000109)
- Ongoing symptomatic COVID-19 (1325181000000106)
- Post-COVID-19 syndrome (1325161000000102)
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of steroid inhalers for the prevention of serious symptoms of COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department has monitored a collection of small studies which have now completed and provided some positive signals on inhaled steroids. This includes the STOIC study at Oxford University which examined the use of inhaled budesonide, a corticosteroid, in the treatment of early COVID-19. STOIC published results which are undergoing peer review. However, larger-scale studies are still needed to confirm the effectiveness and safety of such treatments.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements, if any, are being made to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to seafarers; and what steps, if any, are being taken to deliver such a vaccination programme through the International Maritime Organization.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
While the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommends prioritisation for vaccination rest on medical grounds, rather than occupation alone, the Government is considering the vital role of seafarers in the movement of trade in and out of the UK.