Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2024 to Question 8297 on Prisons: Food and Prescription Drugs, what steps he is taking to monitor the adequacy of (a) suicide prevention provision, (b) palliative care, (c) medical emergency care and (d) mental health care in prisons; and whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of those steps.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England, via the regional health and justice teams, has regular meetings with prison healthcare providers to ensure the quality of the services that are provided. These are also supplemented with local partnership boards where governors, commissioners, and providers meet to discuss any issues, risks, and areas of concern. This could include the number of prisoners who are currently under an Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork approach where there is a risk of self-harm, and the overall healthcare provision, including any issues around enablement.
The Dying Well in Custody Framework and supporting self-assessment framework describes a set of national standards for local adoption, and provides a tool for a local multi-disciplinary approach to providing agreed standards of palliative and end of life care to people in prison.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to the oral contribution of Leader of the House of Commons on 10 October 2024, Official Report, column 475, for what reason a response from a Minister was not provided before 21 October; and whether a response will be provided before any future decision is made relating to the government's independent adviser on political violence and disruption.
Answered by Lucy Powell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Following the Business Question on the 10th October 2024, I wrote to the Cabinet Office and my office further contacted the Home Office to raise this matter. Where Members raise issues with Ministers, it is important that they receive full and timely responses. I understand that the Home Office has now responded to the Hon. Member.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 29 July 2024 to Question 92 on Gender Dysphoria: Children, what his planned timetable is for (a) the study team to finalise their application for funding and (b) this application to be assessed by an independent scientific review study.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A study into the potential benefits and harms of puberty suppressing hormones as one of the treatment options for children and young people with gender incongruence is being developed through a joint programme between NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the research arm of the Department. The research will be co-sponsored by King’s College London and the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. The study team has submitted its research application, and this is currently undergoing scientific review. In August, NHS England stated that the study protocol should be complete by December 2024 and, subject to academic approval, recruitment to the trial would commence in early 2025. Subject to the study achieving the necessary approvals, the NIHR will publish details of the award, including the planned trial duration and study completion date, on its website.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Development in response to the question from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire, during the Urgent Question on Sudan of 3 September 2024, Official Report, column 161, if he will publish a breakdown of the £97 million funding announced for Sudan this financial year by (a) sector (i) multilateral, (ii) non-governmental organisations, (iii) local and (iv) national responders in Sudan and (b) geographic area.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As of the end of September 2024, £70 million of this year's £97 million bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) for Sudan had been disbursed. The rest of the UK's funding to Sudan this year will be distributed by the end of the financial year. The majority of this funding supports key UN agencies such as the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF who are providing life-saving food assistance in Sudan. UK ODA also contributes to: the Sudan Humanitarian Fund, which is supporting local and national responders, including Emergency Response Rooms; a consortium of International non-governmental organisations delivering protection services, including on sexual and gender-based violence associated with conflict; and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)'s work on emergency preparedness and response, protection of civilians, and providing life-saving healthcare across Sudan.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what mechanisms are in place to ensure that prisoners are (a) being routinely provided with meals that meet the recommended daily allowance calorie intake and (b) receiving prescribed medication on time.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
All establishments are required to ensure prisoners receive three nutritionally balanced meals a day as set out in PSI 44/2010 Catering - Meals for Prisoners: Prisoner meals: PSI 44/2010 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). These must meet the religious, cultural, and medical needs of all prisoners.
All health treatment in custody is the responsibility of NHS England and NHS Wales. NHS services are commissioned on the basis of equivalence with those received in the community by the general public. His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service is committed to ensuring that people in prison are able to access NHS commissioned services in custody in a timely manner. Should any issues arise, established governance arrangements provide the means for Governors, NHS Health and Justice Commissioners (England) or Local Health Boards (Wales) and providers to address concerns about local healthcare delivery.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the first bullet point on page 23 of EDF Energy Holdings Limited Annual Report and Financial Statements 31 December 2023, what estimate he has made of the amount of compensation that will be paid from Sizewell C to Hinkley Point C; and how that cost will be allocated between (a) private investors, (b) the UK Government and (c) electricity consumers.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under the terms of a contractual agreement between HPC and SZC, which was agreed at the time of the Final Investment Decision on HPC, a payment is payable from SZC to HPC if SZC takes a positive FID. This payment reflects benefits for SZC, including the significant learning and ‘avoided First-of-a-Kind’ costs that SZC will gain from being a ‘second-of-a-kind’ replica of HPC.
The payment would be financed by the investors in SZC and would be added to the cost base of SZC, and is therefore included in the Government’s Value for Money assessment of the SZC project.
The value of the payment to HPC is intended to be broadly equal to £3/MWh in Net Present Value terms, reflecting the size of the reduction in the strike price at HPC if a positive FID on SZC is taken.
Taking into account the lower HPC strike price, the overall effect of the payment on GB electricity consumers would be broadly neutral.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero in the debate on COP29: UK Priorities on Tuesday 10 September 2024, Official Report, Col 232WH, what the membership is of the Local Net Zero Forum; when the next meeting will take place; and what topics will be on the agenda.
Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to strong collaboration with local government on net zero, as demonstrated by having recently signed up to CHAMP - the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships for Climate Action.
The previous government ran the Local Net Zero Forum of which terms of reference, membership and meeting minutes can be found on the Local Net Zero Forum gov.uk page. The Government is currently reviewing the approach and will set out plans in due course.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will launch a public consultation when undertaking post-legislative scrutiny of the (a) Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and (b) Public Order Act 2023.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 will be subject to post-legislative parliamentary scrutiny between 3 and 5 years after Royal Assent, i.e., between April 2025 and April 2027. The Government has also reaffirmed the commitment made by the previous administration to undertake expedited post-legislative scrutiny on all aspects of the Public Order Act 2023 next year.
The Government will carefully consider the best approach to undertaking this post-legislative scrutiny to ensure all measures are appropriately assessed.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' Humanitarian Situation Update No. 221 on the Gaza Strip, if he will have discussions with his Israeli counterpart on the proportion of (a) coordinated humanitarian movements in Gaza that were (i) denied and (ii) impeded in August 2024 and (b) planned World Health Organisation missions to Gaza between 13 and 18 September that were (A) significantly delayed and (B) denied.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is closely monitoring the impact of the conflict and is deeply concerned by UN reports that humanitarian access is becoming ever more difficult, particularly to northern Gaza. As set out in the Foreign Secretary's statement on 2 September, Israel could and must do more to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches civilians in Gaza. This was one of the factors in the UK Government's decision in September to suspend some arms export licences to Israel. The Prime Minister reaffirmed the need for greater aid access in his statement to the UN General Assembly on 26 September. The Foreign Secretary also continues to press Israeli leaders to allow unfettered aid access in Gaza.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 3626 on Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, when she plans to publish the report on the operation of public order measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Sections 73, 74 and 79 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (PCSC Act 2022) are currently being reviewed by the Government in line with commitments made in Parliament when the Act was passed. The final report on these sections will be published before the end of the year.
In addition, the Act itself will be subject to post-legislative parliamentary scrutiny between 3 and 5 years after Royal Assent, i.e., between April 2025 and April 2027.