Lord Alton of Liverpool

Public procurement is a key lever for enabling delivery of the Government’s missions, both in terms of sourcing the goods and services required by the public sector but also in using procurement policy to drive up standards.

The government will be ensuring that the powers in the Procurement Act are utilised to support the new government’s priorities. New measures in the Act, which are due to come into force in October 2024, strengthens the rules on disregarding bids and excluding suppliers where there is evidence of modern slavery. This will apply even in circumstances where there has not yet been a conviction or technical breach of an international treaty.

This Government is clear that no company in the UK should have forced labour in its supply chain. The Department for Business and Trade will work with international partners to understand the impact of measures to combat forced labour.

There are a wide range of priorities the Department need to consider within our trade strategy. The Department's trade strategy will be growth-based, and aligned with its industrial strategy, as well as wider foreign-policy and economic security objectives.

It is important that the Department take a strategic approach to trade policy development that considers how its economic objectives can be achieved through the use of trade levers while being aligned with its values and our geo-strategic positioning.

No company in the UK should have forced labour in its supply chain. The Department for Business and Trade will be working with colleagues across Government to tackle forced labour in supply chains, including polysilicon used in the manufacture of solar panels.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is relaunching the Solar Taskforce, which will focus on identifying and developing supply chains that are resilient, sustainable and free from forced labour.

The Government's Overseas Business Risk guidance makes clear to UK companies the risks of operating in certain regions and urges them to conduct appropriate due diligence when making business decisions.

The reasons for the Secretary of State’s planning decision on the Mallard Pass project are set out in the Decision Letter. Ethical procurement is considered at paragraphs 4.104-109.

The consent requires the applicant to submit a list of suppliers to be made available to the local planning authorities, and to upload their modern slavery and human trafficking statement annually to the Home Office Register to enable monitoring [paragraph 4.105].

The value of imports of food, feed and drink was £61.1 billion in 2023.

• The value of imports of food, feed and drink was £61.1 billion in 2023.
• Food security is national security. We need a resilient and healthy food system, that works with nature and supports British farmers, fishers and food producers.
• This Government will introduce a new deal for farmers to boost rural economic growth and strengthen Britain's food security. We will: cut energy bills by switching on GB Energy; protect farmers from being undercut in trade deals; and use the Government’s own purchasing power to back British produce.
• We will publish the next UK Food Security Report later this year as required by the Agriculture Act 2020. The Report will examine past, current, and predicted trends to present the best available understanding of UK food security.

The following table shows the total number of items issued for trazodone from 2014 to 2023, and from January to May 2024:

Source: data was provided by the NHS Business Service Authority, based on information within the Prescription Cost Analysis published statistics, using British National Formulary chemical substance trazodone hydrochloride.
Note: items have been dispensed, but not necessarily prescribed, in England.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion meet applicable standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. The MHRA rigorously assesses the available data, including from the Yellow Card scheme, and where appropriate it seeks advice from its independent advisory committee, the Commission on Human Medicines, to inform on regulatory decisions, including the amending of product information.

The MHRA has received a total of 20 Yellow Card reports of sexual dysfunction related reactions, suspected to be associated with trazodone, between 1 January 2014 and 29 July 2024. This includes reactions grouped under the medical dictionary’s (MedDRA) Higher Level Terms, which are more specific than sexual dysfunction and persistent sexual dysfunction, and include erection and ejaculation conditions and disorders, orgasmic disorders and disturbances, sexual arousal disorders, and others. The following table shows the number of spontaneous suspected Yellow Card reports of sexual dysfunction related reactions suspected to be associated with trazodone in the United Kingdom, received by the MHRA each year from 2014 to 2024:

Source: data provided by the MHRA.

“Persistent sexual dysfunction” does not represent a specific medical condition, so this precise term is not a category available for a structured search of the MHRA’s Adverse Drug Reaction database. The structured data field search terms are drawn from the regulatory drugs dictionary, MedDRA, or from terms adopted in clinical coding guidance such as The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition, or the International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision. A search of the database would therefore rely on manual assessment of individual cases.

It is important to note that the inclusion of a particular report on the MHRA’s system does not necessarily mean that the adverse reactions reported have been caused by the suspect drug. Additionally, the number of reports received should not be used as a basis for determining the incidence of a reaction, as neither the total number of reactions occurring, nor the number of patients using the drug, is known.

The product information for trazodone, which includes the patient information leaflet, reflects the data currently available, and does not include sexual dysfunction as a possible side effect but does include priapism, the prolonged erection of the penis. The Summary of Product Characteristics for healthcare professionals states that there have been reports of priapism which have required surgical intervention, or led to permanent sexual dysfunction. Patients developing priapism should stop using trazodone immediately.

The following table shows the number of items issued for vortioxetine and the net ingredient cost (NIC) from 2014 to 2023, and from January to May of 2024:

Source: data provided by the NHS Business Services Authority, based on information within the Prescription Cost Analysis published statistics, using British National Formulary chemical substance vortioxetine.

Note: items have been dispensed, but not necessarily prescribed, in England.

"Persistent sexual dysfunction" does not represent a specific medical condition, so this term is not a category available for a structured search of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) Adverse Drug Reaction database. The structured data field search terms are drawn from the regulatory drugs dictionary, the medical dictionary (MedDRA), or from terms adopted in clinical coding guidance such as The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition, or the International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision. A search of the database would therefore rely on manual assessment of individual cases.

The MHRA has received a total of 29 Yellow Card reports of sexual dysfunction related reactions, suspected to be associated with vortioxetine, between 1 January 2014 and 21 July 2024. This includes reactions grouped under MedDRA Higher Level Terms, which are more specific than sexual dysfunction and persistent sexual dysfunction. The following table shows the number of spontaneous suspected Yellow Card reports of sexual dysfunction related reactions suspected to be associated with vortioxetine in the United Kingdom, received by the MHRA each year from 2014 to 2024:

Source: data provided by the MHRA.

The inclusion of a particular report on the MHRA’s system does not necessarily mean that the adverse reactions reported have been caused by the suspect drug. Additionally, the number of reports received should not be used as a basis for determining the incidence of a reaction, as neither the total number of reactions occurring, nor the number of patients using the drug, is known.

Sexual dysfunction was assessed as part of the clinical studies to support the authorisation of vortioxetine. The clinical studies indicated that doses between 5 milligrams and 15 milligrams did not show a difference from placebo in relation to the risk of sexual dysfunction. However, the 20 milligram dose was associated with an increase in sexual dysfunction. This information was included in the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) for healthcare professionals for all strengths of vortioxetine since authorisation in 2021. The SmPC and patient information leaflet were subsequently updated in April 2024 to list sexual dysfunction as a possible side effect for all strengths, following reports of sexual dysfunction associated with doses below 20 milligrams.

The UK condemns in the strongest terms the escalating violence across Sudan, particularly in Darfur. We continue to call for those responsible to be held to account. On 13 June, the UNSC adopted a UK-led resolution demanding a halt to the Rapid Support Forces' siege of El Fasher and calling on the warring parties to immediately end hostilities and to allow safe and unimpeded humanitarian access. The UK continues to support the ICC Prosecutor's continuing investigation into the allegations of atrocity crimes committed in Darfur since 1 July 2002, including consideration of the atrocities committed in the ongoing conflict.

We remain concerned about high levels of humanitarian need across many parts of Ethiopia, including in the north. Climate shocks, conflict, disease outbreaks and high inflation are driving humanitarian need in Ethiopia, including in Tigray. The humanitarian community is targeting 3.8 million people in Tigray with food assistance over the July-September lean season to stave off hunger. A UK co-led pledging conference in April helped increase humanitarian funding by securing $610 million from international development partners. This includes £100 million from the UK, which will provide lifesaving support for hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians, including over 435,000 children and mothers suffering from malnutrition, and more than 230,000 needing access to emergency healthcare. This includes UK support to the government of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme which is strengthening food security and resilience for 8 million people living in extreme poverty across Ethiopia.

The Hazara Inquiry report has done much to raise awareness of the situation of Hazaras in Afghanistan. In line with the report's recommendations, we continue to monitor and document discrimination and abuses against Hazaras. The previous Government also welcomed the Special Rapporteur's February report and noted its recommendations. While the Government currently has no plans to initiate a case against Afghanistan at the ICJ, we continue to consider all available accountability measures.

More broadly, officials from the UK Mission to Afghanistan regularly press Taliban acting ministers and Afghan officials on human rights abuses in Afghanistan.

The humanitarian indicators in Tigray remain worrying, with 3.8 million of the region's estimated population of 6 million needing humanitarian assistance this year. This is why the UK has increased funding for Ethiopia this financial year (2024/25) and adapted our programming to mitigate the most severe humanitarian outcomes, with an increased focus on lifesaving nutrition, health and water and sanitation programming for the most vulnerable populations, including in Tigray. We continue to engage with established systems for monitoring humanitarian need and response plans led by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). We are also investing in improving data and evidence to enable the humanitarian community to make informed decisions on the humanitarian response.

We welcome the approval of the national transitional justice policy by the Ethiopian Government's Council of Ministers. The nationally owned policy and recently published roadmap are encouraging steps towards accountability and justice. The test of the policy will be will in the implementation. The UK has continually called for a credible, inclusive, and survivor-centred approach to transitional justice and for all human rights violations and atrocities in Ethiopia to be investigated and perpetrators to be held to account. Through our Human Rights and Peacebuilding Programme, we support survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in northern Ethiopia to lead the recovery from conflict and advance women's leadership and inclusion in regional and national dialogue, accountability and peacebuilding processes.

The Government will keep the list of proscribed organisations under close review, as we seek to protect the UK from the threats that we face. However, we will not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not being considered for proscription.

The Government is clear that Iran’s malign activity, including the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the UK. The UK already maintains sanctions on over 400 Iranian individuals and entities covering human rights abuses and nuclear proliferation, including sanctioning the IRGC in its entirety. The Government will continue to consider what further steps may be taken to deter Iran’s malign activity.

A key objective of the route is to ensure that overseas workers are protected against modern slavery and other labour abuses. The sponsor licence regime places a broad range of responsibilities on Scheme Operators to ensure that the rights of migrant workers are protected.

The Government is carefully considering the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of the Seasonal Worker route and will announce a detailed response in due course. We will consider all these points in the round. Any question regarding tax and pension contributions will, however, need to be directed to the relevant Government departments.

Should the Seasonal Worker Interest Group wish to request a meeting with the Home Office Ministers, I would ask that they write to the department and any such request will be given appropriate consideration.

A key objective of the route is to ensure that overseas workers are protected against modern slavery and other labour abuses. The sponsor licence regime places a broad range of responsibilities on Scheme Operators to ensure that the rights of migrant workers are protected.

The Government is carefully considering the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of the Seasonal Worker route and will announce a detailed response in due course. We will consider all these points in the round. Any question regarding tax and pension contributions will, however, need to be directed to the relevant Government departments.

Should the Seasonal Worker Interest Group wish to request a meeting with the Home Office Ministers, I would ask that they write to the department and any such request will be given appropriate consideration.

A key objective of the route is to ensure that overseas workers are protected against modern slavery and other labour abuses. The sponsor licence regime places a broad range of responsibilities on Scheme Operators to ensure that the rights of migrant workers are protected.

The Government is carefully considering the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of the Seasonal Worker route and will announce a detailed response in due course. We will consider all these points in the round. Any question regarding tax and pension contributions will, however, need to be directed to the relevant Government departments.

Should the Seasonal Worker Interest Group wish to request a meeting with the Home Office Ministers, I would ask that they write to the department and any such request will be given appropriate consideration.

A key objective of the route is to ensure that overseas workers are protected against modern slavery and other labour abuses. The sponsor licence regime places a broad range of responsibilities on Scheme Operators to ensure that the rights of migrant workers are protected.

The Government is carefully considering the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of the Seasonal Worker route and will announce a detailed response in due course. We will consider all these points in the round. Any question regarding tax and pension contributions will, however, need to be directed to the relevant Government departments.

Should the Seasonal Worker Interest Group wish to request a meeting with the Home Office Ministers, I would ask that they write to the department and any such request will be given appropriate consideration.