Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how much it would cost to expand the sample size for the Food Standards Agency's Food and You 2 survey to a minimum of 10,000 households.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) estimates that it would cost approximately an additional £400,000 per year to increase the sample size of the Food and You 2 survey from 4,000 households to 10,000.
A sample size of 4,000 households for each biannual wave of fieldwork provides sufficient accuracy to detect any important changes in the survey’s key estimates at the 95% confidence level. The random probability sampling approach (where households are randomly selected from the postcode address file) and use of weighting helps to ensure the results are representative of the population.
Combining responses from multiple survey waves is a more cost-effective approach where greater accuracy is required. The FSA plans on publishing a combined dataset for Waves 1-6 in autumn 2023. The FSA currently has no plans to increase the sample size for Food and You 2.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to expanding the sample size for the Food Standards Agency’s Food and You 2 survey to a minimum of 10,000 households.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency currently has no plans to increase the sample size for the Food and You 2 Survey. Each biannual wave of fieldwork contains a sample size of 4,000 households, with 2,000 in England, and 1,000 in each of Wales and Northern Ireland. This provides sufficient accuracy at a 95% confidence level for the survey’s key estimates. The random probability sampling approach, by which households are randomly selected from the postcode address file, and use of weighting helps to ensure the results are representative of the population. Where greater accuracy is required, responses from multiple survey waves can be combined.
The higher survey delivery costs associated with a larger sample size outweigh the benefits from an increase in accuracy.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what were the (1) average, and (2) longest, waiting times for calls made to the Healthy Start helpline in each of the most recent six months for which data are available.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the average and longest waiting times in hours, minutes and seconds for calls to the Healthy Start helpline in each of the last six months for which data is available.
| Average speed of answer | Maximum waiting time |
September 2022 | 00:00:27 | 00:16:40 |
August 2022 | 00:00:07 | 00:10:27 |
July 2022 | 00:00:26 | 00:19:13 |
June 2022 | 00:14:01 | 00:58:50 |
May 2022 | 00:14:38 | 00:55:09 |
April 2022 | 00:22:14 | 02:00:00 |
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to enabling local authorities to have a role, on an initial pilot basis, in allocating funding from the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme in their area.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme is operated by the Department. There has been no assessment of a role for local or regional authorities in the Scheme or reforms to strengthen local procurement strategies. Seasonal produce is used in the Scheme and organic produce may be used.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to reforming the School Fruit and Vegetable scheme (1) to strengthen local procurement strategies, and (2) to enhance the supply of (a) seasonal, or (b) organic, produce to schools.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme is operated by the Department. There has been no assessment of a role for local or regional authorities in the Scheme or reforms to strengthen local procurement strategies. Seasonal produce is used in the Scheme and organic produce may be used.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential merits of enabling local or regional authorities to influence or control the allocation of School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme budgets for their area.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme is operated by the Department. There has been no assessment of a role for local or regional authorities in the Scheme or reforms to strengthen local procurement strategies. Seasonal produce is used in the Scheme and organic produce may be used.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many calls have been made to the Healthy Start helpline in each of the most recent six months for which data are available.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is shown in the following table.
Month | Number of calls |
September 2022 | 322,351 |
August 2022 | 334,180 |
July 2022 | 297,852 |
June 2022 | 372,036 |
May 2022 | 426,480 |
April 2022 | 215,358 |
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many calls to the Healthy Start helpline have gone unanswered, due to lines being busy, in each of the most recent six months for which data are available.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether (1) ministers, or (2) officials, have held discussions with Mastercard to address issues relating to Healthy Start prepaid cards which may prevent the introduction of an automatic registration scheme among eligible families.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There have been no specific discussions.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many recipients of Healthy Start vouchers are not in receipt of prepaid cards despite remaining eligible for the scheme.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Business Services Authority estimates that as of 18 October 2022, there were 2,954 households previously were in receipt of paper vouchers which have not successfully applied to the NHS Healthy Start prepaid card scheme.