Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what support they offer to general practitioners in meeting the demands placed on them.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We hugely value the critical role that general practitioners (GPs) play, and we are determined to address the issues they face by shifting the focus of the National Health Service beyond hospitals and into the community.

We have committed to training thousands more GPs across the country, as well as taking pressure off those currently working in the system. The inclusion of newly qualified GPs into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) will also support the recruitment of GPs.

The ARRS provides funding for a number of additional roles to help create bespoke, multi-disciplinary teams. All these roles are in place to assist GPs in reducing their workload and assisting patients directly with their needs, allowing doctors to focus on more complex patients and other priorities, including continuity of care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many vacancies are currently available for general practitioners in primary care, and how many newly qualified general practitioners are seeking appointment.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The data requested is not held centrally.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to restrict arms export licences to Israel, whether they have reviewed the arms licences in respect of (1) Saudi Arabia, given its conflict with the Houthis in Yemen, (2) Qatar, given its support of Hamas, or (3) Turkey, given its conflict with the Kurds.

Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

HM Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and we operate one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world. We rigorously assess every application on a case-by-case basis against strict assessment criteria, the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. We will not issue or maintain an export licence to any destination where to do so would be inconsistent with the Criteria. All licences are kept under careful and continual review as standard. We are able to amend, suspend or revoke extant licences as circumstances require.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what additional factors led to the Foreign Secretary's decision to limit arms supplies to Israel when his predecessor in that office did not take such action.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Previous assessments against the export criteria are a matter for the government in office at the time. As soon as the Foreign Secretary took office, he tasked officials with a comprehensive review of Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law. On 2 September the Foreign Secretary delivered an Oral Statement in the House of Commons updating Members on his assessment regarding international humanitarian law (IHL) and the Government's related decision on arms exports.

He has published a summary of the IHL process, decision, and the factors taken into account [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summary-of-the-international-humanitarian-law-ihl-process-decision-and-the-factors-taken-into-account#:~:text=The%20government%20has%20conducted%20a%20thorough%20review%20of%20Israel%E2%80%99s%20compliance].