Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with the gambling industry on the potential impact of safer gambling week on (a) the volume of (i) marketing and (ii) direct marketing offers, (b) game speed and (c) gambling harm.
Answered by Stuart Andrew
His Majesty’s Government recognises that while millions of people gamble without experiencing problems, for some it becomes an addiction with serious consequences.
The Secretary of State and I recently met with the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) and other industry representatives to discuss industry-led safer gambling measures and implementation of the gambling white paper. We welcome industry-led initiatives such as Safer Gambling Week. Figures from the BGC indicate that in 2022 Safer Gambling Week messaging made nearly 30 million impressions on social media, and that around 200,000 accounts set deposit limits during that month, with 61 percent of those players setting a limit for the first time. Such limits can be an important measure in preventing harm. We understand safer gambling week has no impact on the volume of marketing (although its content is likely to be different) or game speed.
However, as outlined in the gambling white paper, we are working with the industry, Gambling Commission and others to implement a wide range of proportionate measures to protect customers from practices and products which can drive harm.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with the gambling industry on the effectiveness of safer gambling week for reducing gambling harm.
Answered by Stuart Andrew
His Majesty’s Government recognises that while millions of people gamble without experiencing problems, for some it becomes an addiction with serious consequences.
The Secretary of State and I recently met with the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) and other industry representatives to discuss industry-led safer gambling measures and implementation of the gambling white paper. We welcome industry-led initiatives such as Safer Gambling Week. Figures from the BGC indicate that in 2022 Safer Gambling Week messaging made nearly 30 million impressions on social media, and that around 200,000 accounts set deposit limits during that month, with 61 percent of those players setting a limit for the first time. Such limits can be an important measure in preventing harm. We understand safer gambling week has no impact on the volume of marketing (although its content is likely to be different) or game speed.
However, as outlined in the gambling white paper, we are working with the industry, Gambling Commission and others to implement a wide range of proportionate measures to protect customers from practices and products which can drive harm.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will hold discussions with relevant stakeholders in the beauty and aesthetics sector on developing a licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Government intends to publish a public consultation on proposals for the scope of the treatments to be included within the licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures later this summer. The Department continues to meet regularly with stakeholders to discuss the scope and development of the licensing scheme. As part of this work, I held a roundtable discussion with a broad range of stakeholders on 14 June. The Department will also work with stakeholders to determine the education and training requirements that practitioners will have to meet, alongside hygiene, cleanliness and indemnity requirements, to demonstrate that they can practise safely.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish a consultation on a licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Government intends to publish a public consultation on proposals for the scope of the treatments to be included within the licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures later this summer. The Department continues to meet regularly with stakeholders to discuss the scope and development of the licensing scheme. As part of this work, I held a roundtable discussion with a broad range of stakeholders on 14 June. The Department will also work with stakeholders to determine the education and training requirements that practitioners will have to meet, alongside hygiene, cleanliness and indemnity requirements, to demonstrate that they can practise safely.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of developing an aesthetics licensing scheme to provide (a) education, (b) training and (c) progression routes into the sector for (i) medical and (ii) non-medical practitioners.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Government intends to publish a public consultation on proposals for the scope of the treatments to be included within the licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures later this summer. The Department continues to meet regularly with stakeholders to discuss the scope and development of the licensing scheme. As part of this work, I held a roundtable discussion with a broad range of stakeholders on 14 June. The Department will also work with stakeholders to determine the education and training requirements that practitioners will have to meet, alongside hygiene, cleanliness and indemnity requirements, to demonstrate that they can practise safely.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of D150 applications for women's health products that have taken more than 150 days to be assessed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Will Quince
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) offers a 150-day assessment timeline for all high-quality marketing authorisation applications.
A total of 1,016 medicinal products have been waiting for MHRA marketing authorisation approval for more than 150 days. Of these, 36 are for women’s health.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of D150 applications that have taken more than 150 days to be assessed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Will Quince
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) offers a 150-day assessment timeline for all high-quality marketing authorisation applications.
A total of 1,016 medicinal products have been waiting for MHRA marketing authorisation approval for more than 150 days. Of these, 36 are for women’s health.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the causes of the time taken by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to process D150 applications.
Answered by Will Quince
Delays to the processing of marketing authorisation applications have resulted from a combination of factors, including implementation of new licensing pathways and the need to divert resource to deal with urgent and unforeseen public health issues like the COVID-19 pandemic. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is changing its assessment processes to speed up the processing of submitted applications. Resource issues are being addressed as a matter of priority with targeted recruitment. The MHRA is also implementing a new IT system to manage licensing applications and improve processing times.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the criteria used by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in granting licences for medicines.
Answered by Will Quince
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) together with the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) and its expert advisory groups (EAGs) operates procedures to support the development, evaluation and granting of licences of medicinal products. In the United Kingdom, all medicinal products for human use are subject to a system of licensing laid down by the UK Human Medicines Regulations (HMRs). Medicines licensing procedures protect public health by ensuring that harmful products do not get licensed and that products are licensed with appropriate indications, dosage, precautions and warnings. For a marketing authorisation to be granted, medicinal products have to meet pre-defined and stringent criteria on efficacy, safety and quality. A marketing authorisation can only be granted when the benefit-risk in relation to quality, safety and efficacy is found to be positive.
The MHRA has a number of licensing pathways available, with the aim of ensuring the products can be made available for patients in the UK in the shortest time possible and to support and protect public health. Common for all these procedures, is the focus on the quality, safety and efficacy of the product. The review is conducted by a multidisciplinary team of assessors, to ensure a thorough and broad assessment of the product. Independent advice from the CHM and its EAGs is sought for any complex issues or those that may pose a risk to patients or public health by the identification of Major Objections. Pharmaceutical companies are required to provide a risk management plan outlining known safety concerns, pharmacovigilance activities and risk minimisation measures. In addition, for novel products, additional safety monitoring is put in place for the early stages of the lifecycle.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency prioritises certain health conditions in assessing the potential merits of granting licences for medicines.
Answered by Will Quince
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) does not have a specific list of conditions to which it gives priority when reviewing applications for new medicine licenses. However, it does prioritise applications where there is a public health need, for instance a new medicine which offers a treatment which is not yet available or a generic medicine where there might otherwise be a risk to supply. When deciding whether to prioritise a medicine, the MHRA collaborates with the Department and National Health Service to make sure its decisions align with their priorities.