Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing compensation to infected blood victims before the publication of the full report of the Inquiry.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Government has accepted there is a moral case for compensation in respect of infected blood and has made interim compensation payments to recognise the urgent need of those registered on the existing support schemes. The Infected Blood Inquiry’s second interim report provides detailed recommendations on the framework for compensation which the Government is carefully considering.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to recommendation 14 of the Infected Blood Inquiry's Second Interim Report on compensation, published on 5 April 2023, when he plans to appoint a chair to an Arms Length Body to administer the compensation scheme to eligible applicants.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
As set out in the debate held on Thursday 22nd June, the setting up of an arms-length body is under consideration by the Government. The complexities and implications of any delivery mechanism must be fully understood ahead of committing to a timetable for appointments.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase awareness and education on HPV and HPV-related cancers among children and teenagers.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works closely with several charities such as Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust and the Teenage Cancer Trust to develop lesson plans for schools and other resources that can be used to raise awareness and educate young people about the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and related cancers.
UKHSA has also helped develop resources for schools on the HPV vaccination and other adolescent immunisation programmes available at the following links:
https://www.jostrust.org.uk/information-healthcare-professionals/information-teachers;
https://www.teenagecancertrust.org/about-us/what-we-do/cancer-awareness/resources#cervicalcancer
https://pshe-association.org.uk/resource/educate-hpv-vaccine
UKHSA HPV resources are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hpv-vaccination-programme
Also available to order in print on the UKHSA Health Publications website in a range of language and accessible formats available at the following link:
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to monitor inequalities in HPV vaccination uptake.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monitor HPV vaccine coverage and publish annual data which is available at the following link:
In order to track inequalities these data are available by gender at the local authority, NHS and UKSHA Regional levels. School-based HPV immunisation delivery has successfully achieved high coverage in England and reduced inequalities at area level since the start of the programme in 2008.
In addition, the UKHSA also conducts undertakes research to understand how knowledge, beliefs and attitudes towards immunisation, vaccine safety and disease severity, influence vaccine uptake decision-making, including for the HPV vaccine. This includes working with partners in the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) for Vaccines exploring issues within specific minority communities and monitoring inequalities.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that HPV vaccination reaches 90 per cent uptake in (a) girls and (b) boys.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Ease of access is key to ensure high uptake of vaccines. For this reason, the HPV programme is primarily delivered through schools, with alternative provision for those not in mainstream education and catch-up programmes offered through general practitioner (GP) practices for both girls and boys who are eligible but missed their initial offer.
Additionally, NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency deliver annual communication campaigns to promote the HPV vaccine via GPs and universities, emphasising the benefits of the HPV vaccine for both girls and boys.
It is vitally important that everyone takes up the vaccinations to which they are entitled; for themselves, their families, and wider society. Anyone unsure about their eligibility or vaccination status should contact their GP for advice.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the four-month visa extension for newly trained international medical graduates announced in the Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care, published by NHS England on 9 May 2023, will apply across all four nations.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The four-month visa extension for newly trained international medical graduates will apply across all four nations.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will review the eligibility criteria for the Track-2 Carbon Capture and Storage process to ensure that those projects expected to secure a carbon storage licence within a timescale consistent with a 2030 start-up are included.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has set eligibility criteria for Track-2 of its carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) programme that prioritise transport and storage (T&S) systems that can be operational by 2030 or earlier.
The Government believes that the possession of a Carbon Dioxide Appraisal and Storage licence is a key indicator for competitiveness in any Track-2 assessment. The expression of interest application window is now closed and we will provide an update in the summer.
We encourage T&S systems not eligible for Track-2 to continue their decarbonisation plans where feasible and we are open to engagement with them.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that (a) communities and businesses in the South of England and (b) national industries are able participate in (i) carbon capture storage and (ii) the production of hydrogen and sustainable aviation and marine fuels.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Carbon capture and storage (CCUS) and low carbon hydrogen, which can be used to create sustainable aviation and marine fuels, offer economic opportunities across the country. In 2030, CCUS and hydrogen could support up to 50,000 and 12,000 jobs, respectively. The Government announced an unprecedented £20bn investment in the early development of CCUS and is supporting hydrogen projects across the UK through the £240m Net Zero Hydrogen Fund, including three in the south of England, and the Hydrogen Production Business Model. Two projects in the south of England have progressed to the next stage of the first electrolytic hydrogen allocation round.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Alzheimer’s Research UK and the Royal College of Psychiatrists report entitled Are we ready to deliver disease modifying treatments?, published on 26 May 2021, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's findings that 36 per cent of psychiatrists think their services could adapt to deliver a new treatment within a year; and what steps his Department is taking to prepare the NHS for future dementia treatments following the approval of lecanemab in the US.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has a proactive national dementia programme in place and is monitoring international trial data with great interest, including studies looking into new ways of more easily diagnosing dementia at an earlier stage.
Any decision on the potential scale of testing infrastructure and workforce to support the administration of new treatments will take account of numerous factors. These include the quality of trial evidence to emerge that supports a future licence in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, and whether it is subsequently determined by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to be a clinically and cost-effective National Health Service treatment option.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with HM Treasury on the below inflation rise in early years funding.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Ministers and officials have regular discussions with HM Treasury on matters relating to early years funding.
On 15 March 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the hourly rates for childcare entitlements will be substantially uplifted, on top of the additional investments announced at the 2021 Spending Review.
The department will provide £204 million of additional funding this year, increasing to £288 million by 2024/5, for local authorities to further increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers, with further uplifts to follow each year. This will include an average of 30% increase in the 2 year old rate from September 2023 and means that in 2024, the average hourly rate for 2 year olds will be more than £8 per hour and around £11 per hour for under 2s. The 3 to 4 year old rate will rise by 4% to over £5.50 per hour from September 2023, with further uplifts beyond this.
This funding is in addition to the £4.1 billion that the government will provide by 2027/28 to facilitate the expansion of the new free hours offer. This will ensure all eligible working parents in England will, by September 2025, be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week, for 38 weeks of the year, from when their child is 9 months old to when they start school.