Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of completing the first phase of HS2; and what is the projected completion date.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
As set out in the Network North command paper, for the historic Phase 1 scope DfT officials have estimated a provisional range of £45 billion to £54 billion.
Given these cost assessments were made before the decision was taken to cancel Phase 2, the Department has asked HS2 Ltd to consider the revised scope of the project and provide an action plan on how it will deliver this at the lowest reasonable cost. We will be able to provide more information in due course.
Delivery remains on track for the initial high-speed services between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham Curzon Street by 2029 to 2033. An updated delivery-into-service range for services to Euston will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what part, if any, the Ombudsman has played in the Post Office Horizon scandal.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) reports to Parliament directly and is held to account through the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. Therefore, the Department for Business and Trade is unable to respond on their behalf.
PHSO has confirmed that they do not have any live investigations relating to the Post Office Horizon scandal.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote awareness of the value of post offices.
Answered by Earl of Minto
Government is clear that the Post Office should be a valuable social and economic asset for communities and businesses for years to come. The Post Office delivers essential services that are hugely valuable, to both individuals and SME businesses, across the UK. The Minister for Postal Affairs continues to champion the Post Office across Government and to external stakeholders where appropriate, however, Post Office Limited is a commercial business and it is right for the company to lead on promoting post offices and raising awareness of the value they deliver.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the English Cricket Board’s intention not to schedule matches at Old Trafford in Lancashire and Headingly in Yorkshire as part of the next Ashes series held in this country; and what steps, if any, they will take to persuade the ECB to reverse this decision.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
The hosting of Ashes test matches is a matter for the ECB as the governing body for cricket in England and Wales.
His Majesty’s Government is committed to supporting the hosting of sporting events across the UK and encourages all event organisers to consider not only the economic benefits that their events will generate, but also the wider social benefits they will bring such as volunteering, community engagement, and physical and mental wellbeing.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that COVID-19 vaccines may cause serious side effects, including death; and what steps they taking to collate all evidence on side effects from COVID-19 vaccinations in order that sufferers may be advised how best to respond to symptoms.
Answered by Lord Markham
All COVID-19 vaccines deployed in the United Kingdom have been authorised for use following a rigorous review by the independent regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The MHRA continuously monitors a wide range of data regarding the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, including reports of adverse reactions from the UK and internationally. The MHRA’s position remains that the benefits of these vaccines far outweigh any currently known side effects in the majority of patients.
In the very rare event where an individual may have suffered a severe adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine, care is likely to be best managed by local National Health Service specialist services, augmented as appropriate by national specialist advice.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Kamall on 28 June (HL985), whether Hartismere hospital in Suffolk is under consideration as a community diagnostic centre.
Answered by Lord Kamall
There are currently no existing community diagnostic centres (CDCs) in Suffolk and potential locations remain under review. NHS England’s discussions with local integrated care systems, diagnostic networks and primary care services have considered Hartismere Hospital as a potential site for a CDC. However, these locations will be determined alongside wider system plans for providing more accessible diagnostics to the local population, including potential sites in Ipswich and Newmarket.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Kamall on 28 June (HL985), which community diagnostic centres have already been identified in Suffolk and which are under consideration.
Answered by Lord Kamall
There are currently no existing community diagnostic centres (CDCs) in Suffolk and potential locations remain under review. NHS England’s discussions with local integrated care systems, diagnostic networks and primary care services have considered Hartismere Hospital as a potential site for a CDC. However, these locations will be determined alongside wider system plans for providing more accessible diagnostics to the local population, including potential sites in Ipswich and Newmarket.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current diagnostic capacity in the NHS; and, further to any such assessment, what immediate consideration they have given to designating the Hartismere Hospital in Suffolk as a diagnostic hub to serve the surrounding rural area.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Spending Review 2020 provided £325 million, with a further £2.3 billion in the 2021 Spending Review, for diagnostic services, including the launch of up to 160 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) by March 2025. There are currently 90 CDCs in operation, including supporting sites, which have delivered one million tests and scans since July 2021. CDCs are projected to deliver 17 million tests in the next three years, with an annual capacity for approximately nine million tests by 2025. The National Health Service collects data on 15 diagnostic tests, which shows that 1,850,900 diagnostic tests were delivered in April 2022. This is an increase of 3,400 from April 2021.
The East of England region, including Suffolk, is currently working with integrated care systems, diagnostic networks and primary care services to determine the location and configuration of services for future CDCs, based on the needs of the local population.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to make the PPE that is no longer needed by the NHS available to carers.
Answered by Lord Kamall
In England, carers are eligible to receive personal protective equipment (PPE) through the online PPE Portal. Carers can register on the Portal to order free PPE until the end of March 2023 or until the relevant guidance is withdrawn or significantly modified. In addition, some local authorities and Local Resilience Forums also distribute PPE to carers in their local areas.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many deaths, confirmed by coroner’s courts, have been directly caused by COVID-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the noble Lord’s Parliamentary Question of 31 March is below and attached.
Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician
The Lord Framlingham
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
5 April 2022
Dear Lord Framlingham,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am replying to your Parliamentary Question asking how many deaths, confirmed by coroner’s courts, have been directly caused by COVID-19 vaccinations (HL7550).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in England and Wales[1]. Mortality statistics are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration. National Records for Scotland[2] and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency[3] are responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
Data on deaths registered due to COVID-19 vaccines causing adverse effects in therapeutic use (ICD-10 code U12.9) are available up to February 2022 and are reported in table 12 of Monthly Mortality Analysis[4]. According to data available up to February 2022, out of 124,132,189 COVID-19 vaccinations given to people in England and Wales[5], there have been 23 deaths registered[6] so far due to this cause. Each of these were certified by a coroner.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
[2]https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/
[5] https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations, accessed on the 6th April 2022.
[6]Data for 2021 and 2022 are provisional. There can be a delay between the date a death occurred and the date a death was registered; deaths certified by a coroner are often subject to longer-than-usual registration delays. More information can be found in our Impact of registration delays release.