Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of clinical trials of donanemab and lecanemab for treating Alzheimer's conditions; and whether they plan to provide those drugs through the NHS.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for assessing whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service, based on a careful evaluation of clinical and cost effectiveness.
NICE is currently evaluating both lecanemab and donanemab and has not yet published final guidance. NICE was unable to recommend either treatment in its final draft guidance, concluding that the benefits observed in clinical trials, when weighed against the risks and the overall cost, meant they could not currently be considered good value for the NHS. NICE’s independent Appeal Panel has upheld appeals against NICE’s draft recommendations, and its Appraisal Committee will meet to consider the appraisals on 10 June.
The Government has not made a separate assessment of the clinical trials beyond NICE’s independent evaluation.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of current fuel supplies in the UK; and what discussions they have held with forecourt operators about securing supplies of petrol and diesel.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. I will correspond directly with the noble Lord.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to utilise industrial capacity in Northern Ireland to support the defence investment plan.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the defence investment plan.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to maintain the place of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK Government is committed to delivering for all communities in Northern Ireland which is an important part of the United Kingdom.
The Spending Review provided the Northern Ireland Executive with £19.3bn per year on average, the largest settlement in real terms since devolution in 1998. On 22 April, we announced a £50m Northern Ireland Defence Growth Deal, which will help small and medium-sized businesses and start-ups in Northern Ireland by making it easier for them to enter the wider UK defence supply chain.
The Government is committed to protecting Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market. We are strengthening connections between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, and implementing the commitments in the Safeguarding the Union command paper.
As set out by the Chancellor at the Budget we are providing £16.6 million of new funding over the next three years for an Internal Market Package to boost trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The Package, which will be delivered in partnership with the Northern Ireland Executive, includes £2.25 million of new funding for Intertrade UK to advise on and promote trade within the United Kingdom. This includes identifying and addressing barriers to trade within the UK internal market.
The Government is committed to upholding the Good Friday Agreement in letter and in spirit, including the principle of consent upon which it rests.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current supply of carbon dioxide for food production and preservation; and what steps they are taking to ensure adequate supplies of carbon dioxide.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is actively monitoring the supply of Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) which is critical to the UK’s food and drinks sectors. At present, there are no reported shortages of CO2 in the food sector.
The Government has shored up the UK’s critical supplies of CO2 by temporarily restarting the Ensus bioethanol plant in Wilton, Teesside. This will increase short-term UK production capacity and reduce reliance on imports. Defra is working with businesses and other government departments in developing systems to maintain continuity of CO2 supply.
The Government will continue to work closely with industry to monitor supply conditions and ensure that robust contingency arrangements remain in place to protect critical food supply chains.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the issue of homelessness.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government set out our plans to tackle homelessness in England through the National Plan to End Homelessness in December 2025 which you can find on gov.uk here (attached).
Our Plan sets out actions to address the root causes of homelessness including building more homes, reforming renters’ rights, and tackling poverty. The Plan will also drive medium-term change to shift from crisis to prevention through cross-government targets, £3.6 billion funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services over the next 3 years and new duties on services to work together to prevent homelessness.
In the short-term, we will tackle the worst forms of homelessness by ending the unlawful use of B&Bs for families and tackling unacceptable temporary accommodation, including through our £30 million Emergency Accommodation Reduction Programme. And we will halve long-term rough sleeping by the end of this parliament, including through £159 million new funding for supported housing, £37 million for voluntary, community and faith organisations, and £15 million for councils to test new approaches.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the British Armed Forces are equipped to face current and future threats.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence employs a rigorous approach to identify and mitigate risks arising from changes in the threat picture or gaps in defence capability, ensuring the coherent delivery of defence's strategic and operational objectives. The Strategic Defence Review sets out recommendations to enhance the readiness, agility and lethality of our armed forces, which will be implemented through the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan, ensuring our armed forces have the capabilities to tackle current and future threats alongside our allies and partners.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to improve the quality and accessibility of social care services for children across the UK.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Children’s social care is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The department is taking forward a comprehensive programme of major reforms, including a focus on early help, family support and stronger safeguarding, as set out in the ‘Keeping children safe, helping families thrive’ statement and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. Our measures will strengthen multi‑agency child protection, expand kinship and foster care support, and enhance Ofsted’s powers to tackle unregistered or substandard provision.
The department is also delivering the Families First Partnership programme to keep families together and reduce reliance on high-cost residential placements. Placement quality, financial transparency and workforce capacity are being improved through significant investment and new oversight measures.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government why patients in England who suffer from gastroparesis cannot receive gastric pacemaker surgery on the NHS.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England does not routinely commission gastric pacemaker surgery, also known as gastro electrical stimulation, for the treatment of gastroparesis. This is because a detailed evidence review conducted in 2016 concluded that there was insufficient robust clinical evidence to demonstrate that the procedure is both clinically effective and cost‑effective for patients.
In 2021, NHS England reviewed the position relating to the surgical insertion of gastric electrical stimulators for the treatment of refractory gastroparesis. The Clinical Panel noted that whilst the evidence base presented was newer, it was still not a strong enough clinical evidence base to prompt a review of the existing policy position.
NHS England continues to keep the evidence base for specialised treatments under review, and any future commissioning decisions would be informed by new, high‑quality evidence demonstrating clear clinical and cost‑effectiveness.