Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the amount of litter discarded by the side of motorways and major roads in Britain has increased or decreased in the last 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
National Highways reported that over 2021/22, 60.8% of relevant parts of the Strategic Road Network had no litter, refuse or detritus, or was predominately free of litter, refuse or detritus apart from some small items, per the Code of practice on litter and refuse. This is the most recent data available. Data for 2022/23 will be reported to the Department for Transport and the Office of Rail and Road, and published in annual reports to Parliament, this summer.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to address the reported increase in community pharmacies having to dispense NHS prescriptions at a loss.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
When market prices rise and pharmacies cannot purchase products at or below the Drug Tariff NHS reimbursement price, the Pharmaceutical Service Negotiating Committee (PSNC) can request the Department to reconsider this price. If a new reimbursement price is issued this is known as a concessionary price, which is established using real time data from suppliers to generate prices that are reflective of the overall market.
Furthermore, the Department assesses the overall medicine margin, the difference between the reimbursement price and the price the pharmacy was charged by the supplier, through an annual 'medicine margin survey'. This data is used to calculate the average amount of medicines margin retained during the year. All products that receive a concessionary price are looked at in detail in the margin survey. If underpayment has occurred, it will be made good to pharmacy contractors through margin adjustment.
As part of the ‘Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 5-year deal: year 4 (2022 to 2023) and year 5 (2023 to 2024)’, which is available in an online-only format, the PSNC and the Department are reviewing the current concessionary price arrangement.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they will provide to community pharmacy teams, if any, who are (1) dealing with an increasing number of medicines shortages, and (2) spending increasing hours sourcing medicines to ensure that patients do not go without.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Medicine supply problems can occur for various reasons; for example, due to manufacturing difficulties, regulatory problems, problems with the supply of raw materials, sudden demand spikes or from issues which are related to the distribution of the product.
The Department has well-established procedures to deal with medicine supply issues and works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England and others within the supply chain to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when they do arise.
One of the tools we use to support pharmacists to manage supply issues are serious shortage protocols (SSPs), a standard procedure used frequently to manage medicine supply issues. They are a safe and effective way to ensure that medicines continue to be available for everyone who needs them, while saving time for patients, pharmacists and prescribers.
Issuing a SSP allows pharmacists to legally supply a specified alternative medicine, removing the need for the patient to return to the prescriber which saves time in general practitioners practices and inconvenience for patients.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address community pharmacists experiencing daily shortages of medicines.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Medicine supply problems can occur for various reasons; for example, due to manufacturing difficulties, regulatory problems, problems with the supply of raw materials, sudden demand spikes or from issues which are related to the distribution of the product.
The Department has well-established procedures to deal with medicine supply issues and works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England and others within the supply chain to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when they do arise.
One of the tools we use to support pharmacists to manage supply issues are serious shortage protocols (SSPs), a standard procedure used frequently to manage medicine supply issues. They are a safe and effective way to ensure that medicines continue to be available for everyone who needs them, while saving time for patients, pharmacists and prescribers.
Issuing a SSP allows pharmacists to legally supply a specified alternative medicine, removing the need for the patient to return to the prescriber which saves time in general practitioners practices and inconvenience for patients.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the current medicines price concession system.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
When market prices rise and pharmacies cannot purchase products at or below the Drug Tariff NHS reimbursement price, the Pharmaceutical Service Negotiating Committee (PSNC) can request the Department to reconsider this price. If a new reimbursement price is issued this is known as a concessionary price, which is established using real time data from suppliers to generate prices that are reflective of the overall market.
Furthermore, the Department assesses the overall medicine margin, the difference between the reimbursement price and the price the pharmacy was charged by the supplier, through an annual 'medicine margin survey'. This data is used to calculate the average amount of medicines margin retained during the year. All products that receive a concessionary price are looked at in detail in the margin survey. If underpayment has occurred, it will be made good to pharmacy contractors through margin adjustment.
As part of the ‘Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 5-year deal: year 4 (2022 to 2023) and year 5 (2023 to 2024)’, which is available in an online-only format, the PSNC and the Department are reviewing the current concessionary price arrangement.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what financial support they provide to local authorities to ensure that they have the resources to grit roads and pavements adequately during icy weather; and whether there has been any change in the level of the resources provided in the last three years.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Section 41(1A) of the Highways Act 1980 places a duty on local authorities to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway, including pavements, is not endangered by snow or ice.
The provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 makes available an additional £5 billion to councils in England, an increase of 9% in cash terms compared to 2022/23. Taking 2022/23 and 2023/24 together, we have increased the funding available to local government in England in real terms.
The majority of this funding is un-ringfenced in recognition of local authorities being best placed to understand local priorities, including the gritting of roads and pavements.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of gritting of (1) roads, and (2) pavements, during icy weather.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Section 41(1A) of the Highways Act 1980 places a duty on local authorities to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway (which covers both the carriageway and footway) is not endangered by snow or ice. It is the local authority’s responsibility to assess the need to grit and ensure that there are adequate drivers available to carry out gritting operations.
The Government recognises that it is not possible nor proportionate to grit every road or pavement in the country. Instead, local highway authorities prioritise parts of the network that contain essential services such as bus routes, hospitals, and shopping centres. Councils provide winter information including details of their gritting routes on their websites.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what assessment he has made of the installation of the telephone system on the parliamentary estate; and what procurement lessons have been learned for the Restoration and Renewal Programme with regard to (1) cost, (2) ratio of possible to actual users, (3) consultation and involvement of users, (4) unnecessary capabilities and specifications, and (5) efficiency for its primary purpose.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
There have been several recent incidents with desk-based handsets. These incidents have had protracted resolution times and the Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS) is dependent on third parties, including Microsoft, to identify and fix the root cause.
The need to improve voice services has been identified and PDS is working closely with relevant service providers to resolve these issues. In improving telephony services as part of the ‘Voice Programme’, members will be engaged through user groups to ensure needs and requirements are met.
PDS has a robust lessons learned process that is well-embedded and the Voice Programme is procuring a new telephony solution to support communication services in Parliament using a Crown Commercial Services framework with a focus on increasing quality, efficiency and value.
This work will not be left to the Restoration and Renewal Programme – both because the timescales for implementation would be too long, and because the implementation of telephony is not completely tied to the fabric of the building.
The two Houses agreed a new approach to the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster, as agreed in the resolution passed by the House on 13 July [HL deb. Col. 1497]. All proposals for the restoration works will require parliamentary approval, as set out in section 7 of the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of crimes (1) reported, and (2) investigated, by the police go to court.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Information on the investigative outcomes of crimes recorded by the police, including drug offences is, is published by the Home Office at Gov.UK.
This Government is deeply concerned by the current levels of cases being investigated and then being converted into charges and subsequent prosecutions. The responsibility for this is shared across the Criminal Justice System, and the system needs to work better together. We are working with partners across the Criminal Justice System to increase the number of cases being charged and prosecuted, and reduce the time taken to reach this point.
The CJS Delivery Data Dashboards, launched in December 2021, are a vital step in improving transparency and increasing understanding of the Criminal Justice System. These allow Police and Crime Commissioners, other local leaders and members of the public to see how their local area is performing. The CJS Delivery Data Dashboards can be found at Gov.UK.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of crimes reported relating to drug dealing in London are investigated by the police.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Information on the investigative outcomes of crimes recorded by the police, including drug offences is, is published by the Home Office at Gov.UK.
This Government is deeply concerned by the current levels of cases being investigated and then being converted into charges and subsequent prosecutions. The responsibility for this is shared across the Criminal Justice System, and the system needs to work better together. We are working with partners across the Criminal Justice System to increase the number of cases being charged and prosecuted, and reduce the time taken to reach this point.
The CJS Delivery Data Dashboards, launched in December 2021, are a vital step in improving transparency and increasing understanding of the Criminal Justice System. These allow Police and Crime Commissioners, other local leaders and members of the public to see how their local area is performing. The CJS Delivery Data Dashboards can be found at Gov.UK.