Business of the House
Olivia Blake Excerpts(3 weeks, 4 days ago)
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Lucy Powell
I know that the hon. Member has raised the issue of flooding in her constituency before. I was really pleased that the Environment Secretary came to the House on Monday to give a flooding update to the whole House. If she was in attendance at that statement, she would have heard about the very challenging circumstances of our flood defences that we inherited from the previous Government. We are taking quick action to establish the flood resilience taskforce and to put in extra resources for additional flooding support, but I will ensure that he has heard what she has asked.
Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam) (Lab)
My constituents John and Susan recently got in touch with me about their son Tom. Tom is an autistic man who lives in an assisted living facility and receives one-to-one support seven days a week. John and Susan told me that he will never be able to work. Tom’s benefit is being moved from employment and support allowance to universal credit as part of the managed migration process. Despite his needs not changing, Tom will be £1,300 a year worse off. Will the Leader of the House allow time to discuss what assessment the Government have made to ensure that disabled people’s quality of life is considered throughout the managed migration process?
Lucy Powell
That sounds like an important constituency case, and I will ensure that the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions gets my hon. Friend a full response on why her constituent is finding himself worse off under the managed migration process. If my hon. Friend were to apply for an Adjournment debate on that, I am sure she would get it.
Business of the House
Olivia Blake Excerpts(3 months, 1 week ago)
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Lucy Powell
The hon. Lady raises an important technical matter, and I will certainly look into the progress of that statutory instrument. Given that she has such expertise and diligence in this space, she might want to consider going on the Public Accounts Committee or other Committees as those places come up in the coming weeks.
Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam) (Lab)
Earlier this week, I met a constituent who was distressed by the fact that Enhertu—which could extend her life by two years—will not be available in England on the NHS. May we have a debate in Government time on the impact of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s new methods of evaluating health technologies, and in particular, the impact on secondary breast cancer of not approving life-extending medicines for NHS use that might have been approved under NICE’s earlier evaluation methods?
Lucy Powell
NICE’s agreement to the use of drugs on the NHS is a very topical issue that comes up in the Chamber, including at business questions, many times over. My hon. Friend might want to raise this issue at Health questions after we return from recess, but I will certainly ensure that the relevant Minister has heard her call today.