Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of patients who (a) have had polio and (b) have post-polio syndrome in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the number of patients who have had polio or post-polio syndrome. However, the Department does hold data on the number of admissions to hospital, where polio or post-polio syndrome was recorded as a diagnosis, from 2018 to 2023:
- in 2018/19, there were 176 admissions to National Health Service hospitals in England where polio was recorded as the diagnosis, and 797 admissions where post-polio syndrome was recorded as the diagnosis;
- in 2019/20, there were 187 admissions to NHS hospitals in England where polio was recorded as the diagnosis, and 813 admissions where post-polio syndrome was recorded as the diagnosis;
- in 2020/21, there were 107 admissions to NHS hospitals in England where polio was recorded as the diagnosis, and 522 admissions where post-polio syndrome was recorded as the diagnosis;
- in 2021/22, there were 115 admissions to NHS hospitals in England where polio was recorded as the diagnosis, and 630 admissions where post-polio syndrome was recorded as the diagnosis; and
- in 2022/23, there were 104 admissions to NHS hospitals in England where polio was recorded as the diagnosis, and 632 admissions where post-polio syndrome was recorded as the diagnosis.
It is important to note that the number of admissions does not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period. It is estimated that there are approximately 120,000 people living in the United Kingdom who survived polio when they were younger. Some of these have, or will develop, post-polio syndrome.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the statement by Amnesty International UK and other NGOs entitled UK Groups say Government’s Public Position on Weapons Licences to Israel is at odds with what the Government has Admitted in Litigation, and Calls for an Explanation, as Rafah Braces for Further Atrocities, published on 28 February 2024.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Government operates a robust and thorough assessment of licence applications against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, and we will not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with those Criteria. We regularly publish data on export licensing decisions on the dedicated gov.uk site: [https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data].
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what local authorities in Scotland (a) have and (b) have not been allocated funding via the Levelling Up Fund.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
A full list of successful applicants, as well as geographic and thematic analysis can be found on Gov.UK.
Successful Round 1 bidders
Successful Round 2 bidders
Round’s 1 and 2 geographic and thematic analysis
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what constituencies in Scotland (a) have and (b) have not been allocated funding via the Levelling Up Fund.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
A full list of successful applicants, as well as geographic and thematic analysis can be found on Gov.UK.
Successful Round 1 bidders
Successful Round 2 bidders
Round’s 1 and 2 geographic and thematic analysis
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment his Department has made of the scale of damage to UK-funded projects in Gaza since 7 October 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Given the ongoing conflict, we are not able to provide this assessment at this time. There is a desperate need for increased humanitarian support to Gaza.
We have trebled our aid commitment for this financial year and are working closely with partners in international agencies and in the region to increase access. We are pushing to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes. We continue to call for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) to be respected and civilians to be protected.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many meetings he has had with the Israeli Ambassador since 13 November 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We continue to engage closely and regularly with a range of senior Israeli officials. Since the outbreak of the conflict on 7 October, the Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely has had two meetings with Foreign Office Ministers. The Ambassador spoke with Lord Ahmad, Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, on 10 October. She also attended a meeting on 24 October between former Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and the families of those taken hostage by Hamas.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what proportion of civil servants in his Department who are (a) graded as senior civil servant 2 and (b) on full-time equivalent contracts are women.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Information on the department’s workforce size is published routinely each year as part of the Civil Service Annual Workforce Statistics. Information for each of the years in question can be found at the following link.
As of 31st October 2023, 58% of this Department’s Civil Servants who are employed on temporary contracts are women.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what proportion of civil servants who are on temporary contracts in his Department are women.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Information on the department’s workforce size is published routinely each year as part of the Civil Service Annual Workforce Statistics. Information for each of the years in question can be found at the following link.
As of 31st October 2023, 58% of this Department’s Civil Servants who are employed on temporary contracts are women.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many grade (a) 6, (b) 7 and (c) SCS staff employed by his Department are contractually based in (i) Scotland, (ii) London and (iii) the South East.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Civil Service workforce data, including data on location of staff, is published on an annual basis – the latest publication is available here.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding the Government has made available for research into paediatric brain tumours in each of the last five years.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR invests in research, clinical expertise, specialist facilities, workforce, and support services across a range of clinical areas. NIHR expenditure on cancer research was over £101 million in 2021/22.
The Government is committed to funding high-quality brain cancer research. In May 2018 the Government announced £40 million for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission through the NIHR. This includes research into paediatric brain tumours.
The £40 million funding will remain available; if we can spend more on the best quality science, we will do. The level of funding for brain tumour research depends on funding applications received. It is worth noting that all applications to NIHR that have been assessed as “fundable” in open competition have been funded and this will continue.