Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the National Archives file 'Organophosphate poisoning to farmers caused by sheep dip' (PIN 21/843) is open in its entirety and, if not, for what reasons any redactions have been made.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
When The National Archives identifies information in an ‘open’ record which engages, or is likely to engage, an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the record in question has its access status amended to ‘Access Under Review’, which temporarily prevents the record from being orderable by members of the public.
Officials at The National Archives can confirm that the record (PIN 21/843) will revert to being orderable again shortly once the appropriate assessment of its status under the Freedom of Information Act has been carried out.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to reply to the letter from Lord Rooker to Lord Markham of 24 August regarding the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and folic acid.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
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 Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Goldie on 22 June 2022 (HL Deb col 224), what was the result of the inquiries that were made regarding cotton products used by the Royal Navy.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
It is longstanding policy that the use of slave labour is a mandatory exclusion from contracts with the Ministry of Defence; this policy is currently captured within the Procurement Contract Regulations (2015). In line with this policy the current supplier of combat clothing follows a code of practice under which cotton sourced from countries or regions at high risk of forced labour or child labour is prohibited, including the Xinjiang province of China. This is subject to regular review, and inspections of overseas suppliers are performed to ensure adherence to this policy.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Benyon on 11 September (HL Deb col 666), how many clothing retailers are using element analysis systems rather than paper trails to determine where the cotton in their products is grown.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra does not hold information on the number of retailers that are using element analysis systems to determine where cotton in their products is grown. However, Defra funds Textiles 2030 which commits signatories to meeting targets on their water and carbon usage and working towards a Circular Economy. The government’s proposals for minimising textile waste outlined in Maximising Resources Minimising Waste (MRMW) which was published in July will increase the amounts of clothing and other textiles, including ones made from cotton, that will be collected for recycling and reuse and therefore keep textiles in use for longer.
Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, commercial businesses who operate in the UK and have a turnover of £36m or more are required to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. The prevalence of modern slavery and complexity of global supply chains means that it is highly unlikely that any sector or company is immune from the risks of modern slavery.
The Government encourages companies to monitor their supply chains with rigor to uncover and remedy any instances of modern slavery they may find. The UK continues to support the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The UK continues to be an authority on modern slavery reporting, and we continue to share our experiences with other countries who are introducing their own transparency legislation.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of delays in funerals being caused by (1) the existing system for registering a death, (2) the number of available pathologists, (3) delays in completion of Medical Certificate Cause of Death forms and access to local GPs, (4) the availability of mortuary storage at local hospitals and public mortuaries, and (5) any delays by medical examiners.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Whilst the Government does not have operational responsibility for the provision of funeral services, we are aware of funeral delays in some areas and acknowledge that these are often exacerbated by pressures from within the wider death management system.
Government departments are taking a collaborative approach to reforming the death registration system as part of the roll out of the statutory medical examiner scheme which will come into force in April 2024. The doctor who attended the deceased during their last illness has a legal responsibility to complete a Medical Certificate Cause of Death (MCCD) as soon as possible to enable the registration of the death to take place. Guidance for doctors on completing an MCCD, available on Gov.uk, emphasises this point. As part of the work on the statutory medical examiner scheme, the Department of Health and Social Care is looking at expanding the pool of doctors who can sign the MCCD forms. When the demand on civil registration services is high, death registration appointments will always take priority over other registration appointments.
The Government continues to look at wider improvements to the death management system’s capacity and resilience, including mortuary capacity. The shortage of pathologists is a long-standing and cross-cutting issue. The Government is determined to make progress as soon as practicable. To that end, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State is engaging with Ministerial colleagues to implement effective solutions through a cross-government action plan.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the in-patient beds at Bishop’s Castle Community Hospital in Shropshire have been closed; and what plans they have to reopen them.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin commissions Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust to provide services in Bishop’s Castle Community Hospital, including inpatient bed facilities. 16 inpatient beds were temporarily closed in October 2021 due to sustained and unacceptable nursing vacancies and concerns about the quality of care and patient safety.
In August 2023, the trust commissioned an external review of its recruitment process and on 12 June 2023 began a period of formal engagement with patients, carers, members of the public, stakeholders, clinicians, and staff to inform its final decision on whether to relinquish the contract it holds for the inpatient service.
A board meeting was held on 7 September 2023, which considered the details of the reports from all the planned engagement activity. The Board concluded that it cannot be assured the recruitment efforts have been reasonable and sufficient and further recruitment attempts are needed before withdrawing from the inpatient service. The trust will now produce a workforce and recruitment plan and re-attempt recruitment with a view to safely staffing and re-opening the beds.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, for electrical testing in tower blocks where cladding needs to be replaced, they plan to institute a testing regime whereby an electrical engineer, rather than a competency body, is named and assessed as competent to supervise such work.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
All buildings should meet existing safety standards.
We do not hold records of voltage surges or numbers of extra electrical safety checks for these buildings. The Building Safety Regulator will be undertaking a cost benefit analysis of making regular inspections and testing of electrical installations in relevant buildings.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether extra electrical safety checks have been carried out in residential tower blocks where cladding needs to be replaced.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
All buildings should meet existing safety standards.
We do not hold records of voltage surges or numbers of extra electrical safety checks for these buildings. The Building Safety Regulator will be undertaking a cost benefit analysis of making regular inspections and testing of electrical installations in relevant buildings.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is any record of voltage surges in residential tower blocks where cladding needs to be replaced.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
All buildings should meet existing safety standards.
We do not hold records of voltage surges or numbers of extra electrical safety checks for these buildings. The Building Safety Regulator will be undertaking a cost benefit analysis of making regular inspections and testing of electrical installations in relevant buildings.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they did not join Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, the 27 European Union member states, Israel, Malaysia and Paraguay in putting forward to the 76th World Health Assembly, held on 21–30 May 2023, the resolution to accelerate efforts on food micronutrient fortification.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The United Kingdom actively participated during negotiations and supported the World Health Organization (WHO) Resolution on, ‘Accelerating efforts for preventing micronutrient deficiencies and their consequences, including spina bifida and other neural tube defects, through safe and effective food fortification’, initiated by Colombia and brought to the 152nd WHO Executive Board, which recommended adoption of the Resolution to the World Health Assembly.
During the 76th World Health Assembly, the UK intervened to welcome the Resolution and called on the WHO to release updated child wasting guidelines and commence their operationalisation in the countries of most concern. The Resolution was subsequently adopted by all WHO Member States, including the UK, at the 76th World Health Assembly.