Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is collating data from toxicology reports of non-fatal overdose incidents to assess the risk from synthetic opioids.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is undertaking a number of actions to address the risk that synthetic opioids pose. The Department has a longstanding surveillance system in place to collect information on the nature and location of novel drug use, drug markets, and reports alerting us to drug harms experienced. We continue to monitor the threat posed by synthetic opioids, and are working to improve drug surveillance on synthetic opioids through the development of an early warning system. This will include, with the permission of coroners, toxicology results for fatal overdose cases from across England as soon as the information is available, enabling the Department to closely monitor the substances causing deaths.
We know that most overdoses take place when individuals are alone, or accompanied by others also using drugs. This means they are largely transitory and hidden events, with no opportunity for sampling. A key indicator, therefore, is those who do come into contact with first responders, who are administered the lifesaving opioid reversal drug naloxone, or who are admitted to hospital. Ambulance data represents an opportunity for rapidly identifying local spikes in overdoses and, for this purpose, we are establishing data feeds with ambulance trusts in England, on callouts where naloxone has been administered.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2024 to Question 19040 on Climate Change: Investment, what steps he is taking to help support the national coordination of funding for climate adaptation.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has set out the steps it is taking to respond to climate risks and opportunities in the Third National Adaptation Programme, which has taken an integrated approach through governance, engagement and coordinated policymaking. These steps, including those relating to the 2023 Green Finance Strategy, will inform future collective investment prioritisation through the usual government planning processes, including Spending Reviews.Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing water companies into public ownership.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since privatisation, the private water sector model (underpinned by strong, independent economic regulation) has unlocked around £215 billion of investment. This is equivalent to around £6 billion annually in investment, almost double the pre-privatisation level, and has delivered a range of benefits to customers and the environment.
Government is therefore committed to the system of independent economic regulation and has no plans to bring water into public ownership.
The Government is clear that to retain public support, water companies must ensure they meet high standards of transparency and corporate governance.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the notification provided to his Department and the Electoral Commission from the Returning Officer for Brighton and Hove City Council of the late delivery of 1,423 postal votes in May 2023; if he will place a copy of his response to the Returning Officer in the House of Commons Library; and what steps he has taken to establish the cause of the late delivery of the voting packs.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Returning Officer for Brighton and Hove City Council is responsible for the conduct of elections to the local council, including the arrangements for the issue and receipt of postal votes. The Government recognises the important role that effective mail deliveries have in the overall running of electoral events, and we work with Royal Mail nationally to ensure they have appropriate arrangements in place, though it would not be appropriate for the Secretary of State to take the place of the role of the Returning Officer in relation to a specific, local incident.
This issue was raised on a 'for information' basis in an email to DLUHC, the Electoral Commission and the Association of Electoral Administrators at official level as part of ongoing dialogue on delivery of elections. Royal Mail subsequently investigated the matter, and we understand they responded directly to the Returning Officer in June 2023 with their findings.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2024 to Question 17100 on Affordable Housing, how many thousands of affordable homes he expects the Affordable Homes Programme to deliver; and what large number of such homes will be for social rent..
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 17100 on 13 March 2024. Further data will be published in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent qualified school nurses are working in a public health-commissioned (a) school nursing service, (b) zero to 19 service and (c) five to 19 healthy child programme in each local authority area.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since April 2013, local authorities have held responsibility for commissioning public health services for school-aged children. These services may be commissioned from a range of providers both inside and outside of the National Health Service. NHS England publishes monthly workforce data which includes information on the number of school nurses directly employed by NHS trusts and other core NHS organisations in England. This data will not represent the total number of school nurses delivering local authority commissioned services, as it will excludes places where services are commissioned outside of the NHS. It is not possible to identify the specific service or programme that these staff are working within.
While data is not available at a local authority level, the following table shows full-time equivalent (FTE) school nurses working within NHS trusts and other core organisations in England by Government Office Region, as of November 2023:
Government Office Region | FTE School Nurses |
East Midlands | 140 |
East of England | 161 |
London | 325 |
North East | 55 |
North West | 434 |
South East | 291 |
South West | 81 |
West Midlands | 286 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 207 |
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make representations to his Egyptian counterpart on including Alaa Abdel Fattah Alaa in this year’s Presidential pardon list.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Ministers and officials continue to raise Mr Alaa Abd El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian government. They have been consistently clear in calling for his release and continue to press for urgent consular access, utilising a variety of mechanisms, including through public and private engagement.
The Foreign Secretary raised this case with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry on 22 February. As Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon raised this case with Foreign Minister Shoukry on 28 March and with the Egyptian Ambassador on 20 February. Both Lord Ahmad and the Foreign Secretary discussed Mr El-Fattah with FM Shoukry and President Sisi in December 2023. The Prime Minister also spoke to President Sisi about Mr El-Fattah on 1 December 2023.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help secure the release of Alaa Abdel Fattah in Egypt.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Ministers and officials continue to raise Mr Alaa Abd El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian government. They have been consistently clear in calling for his release and continue to press for urgent consular access, utilising a variety of mechanisms, including through public and private engagement.
The Foreign Secretary raised this case with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry on 22 February. As Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon raised this case with Foreign Minister Shoukry on 28 March and with the Egyptian Ambassador on 20 February. Both Lord Ahmad and the Foreign Secretary discussed Mr El-Fattah with FM Shoukry and President Sisi in December 2023. The Prime Minister also spoke to President Sisi about Mr El-Fattah on 1 December 2023.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to his oral contribution in response to the question from the hon. Member for Hodge Hill, during the Urgent Question on Israel and Gaza of 19 March 2024, Official Report, column 820, how many occasions he has (a) received and (b) made a Statement to the House on the Law Officers' advice in relation to the Israeli Government's compliance with international humanitarian law.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We have previously assessed that Israel is committed and capable of complying with International Humanitarian Law. We regularly review our assessment.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2023 to Question 17856 on Israel: Hamas, when he last made an assessment of Israel's (a) capability and (b) commitment to International Humanitarian Law.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We have previously assessed that Israel is committed and capable of complying with International Humanitarian Law. We regularly review our assessment.