Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much and what proportion of the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme she plans to spend on (a) tennis and (b) padel facilities in each of the next three years.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
The majority of funding for grassroots sport is provided through Sport England, our arm’s length body. Sport England provides long term investment to the Lawn Tennis Association, the National Governing Body for tennis and padel in Britain, which receives up to £10.2 million for five years (between 2022-2027) to invest in community tennis and padel initiatives.
The Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities programme is focused on investment into sports pitches and ancillary facilities, like changing rooms and clubhouses.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to support (a) sports with higher levels of female participation, (b) tennis and (c) netball through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is dedicated to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and committed to ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality facilities. On Friday 21 March, we confirmed that DCMS is investing £100 million in high-quality sports facilities over the next year in communities across the UK through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme.
All projects - which primarily focus on pitches and ancillary facilities like changing rooms - funded through this programme are required to demonstrate how they increase access and participation levels among under-represented groups, which includes women and girls.
Of the funded projects, at least 40% will have a multi-sport offer so that more people can get access to a wider variety of sports and activities that appeal to them.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many women and girls will be impacted by the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is dedicated to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and committed to ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality facilities. On Friday 21 March, we confirmed that DCMS is investing £100 million in high-quality sports facilities over the next year in communities across the UK through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme.
All projects - which primarily focus on pitches and ancillary facilities like changing rooms - funded through this programme are required to demonstrate how they increase access and participation levels among under-represented groups, which includes women and girls.
Of the funded projects, at least 40% will have a multi-sport offer so that more people can get access to a wider variety of sports and activities that appeal to them.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support women with epilepsy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health, placing women’s equality at the heart of our agenda and ensuring women’s health is never again neglected.
At a national level, there are several initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with epilepsy, including women, such as the RightCare Epilepsy Toolkit, and the Getting It Right First Time Programme (GIRFT) for Neurology and the Neurology Transformation Programme (NTP).
The GIRFT National Specialty Report made recommendations designed to improve services nationally and to support the National Health Service to deliver care more equitably across the country. The National Specialty Report highlighted differences in how services are delivered and offered an unprecedented opportunity to share successful initiatives between trusts to improve patient services nationally.
Building on the GIRFT National Specialty Report, the NTP has developed a model of integrated care for neurology services to support integrated care boards (ICBs) to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including providing care closer to home. A toolkit is being developed to support ICBs to understand and implement this new model.
The RightCare Epilepsy Toolkit includes specific recommendations regarding supporting women with epilepsy. For example, it states that support should be provided to women with epilepsy who are pregnant and those who are of childbearing age which makes clear the risks of certain anti-epileptic drugs that are known to cause birth defects, such as sodium valproate.
The Toolkit also makes clear that it is equally important to provide clear information and guidance on the risks of stopping an anti-epileptic drug treatment, which include Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, that is not related to causing birth defects, and the risks that poses to the mother and unborn baby to support balanced informed decisions on care.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Environment Agency’s guidance on the operation of crematoria will be (a) published and (b) brought into effect.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The final updated Process Guidance Note 5/2 (24) is under review.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of delays to the Environment Agency’s guidance on the operation of crematoria on relevant stakeholders.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The final updated Process Guidance Note 5/2 (24) is currently being reviewed by Ministers.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 27 January 2021 to Question 137239 on Prescription Drugs, what information his Department holds on the number of patients who have been prescribed drugs categorised under the (a) (i) clonazepam and (ii) other benzodiazepines, (b) z-drugs, (c) antidepressants, (d) opioids, (e) pregabalin and (f) gabapentin drug groups in the (A) last 12 months and (B) the previous 12 month period for which data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of items dispensed and claimed for reimbursement for each of the categories requested, covering the most recently published 12-month period and the 12 months prior:
Drug group | Financial year | Total number of items |
Clonazepam | 2022/23 | 1,048,081 |
2023/24 | 1,059,421 | |
Other benzodiazepines | 2022/23 | 7,156,845 |
2023/24 | 6,814,129 | |
Clonazepam and other benzodiazepines | 2022/23 | 8,204,926 |
2023/24 | 7,873,550 | |
Z-drugs | 2022/23 | 5,316,627 |
2023/24 | 5,113,574 | |
Antidepressants | 2022/23 | 86,263,722 |
2023/24 | 89,131,582 | |
Opioids | 2022/23 | 39,401,517 |
2023/24 | 39,046,206 | |
Pregabalin | 2022/23 | 8,775,699 |
2023/24 | 9,180,793 | |
Gabapentin | 2022/23 | 7,413,759 |
2023/24 | 7,408,375 |
Source: NHS Business Services Authority.
In addition, the following table shows the patient identifiable information for the number of items dispensed and claimed for reimbursement for each of the categories requested, for the most recently published 12-month period and the 12 months prior:
Drug group | Financial Year | Total number of unique identified patients | Percentage of items where the patient has been identified |
Clonazepam | 2022/23 | 85,613 | 98.22% |
2023/24 | 85,191 | 98.16% | |
Other benzodiazepines | 2022/23 | 1,253,962 | 97.06% |
2023/24 | 1,186,001 | 97.01% | |
Clonazepam and other benzodiazepines | 2022/23 | 1,324,792 | 97.21% |
2023/24 | 1,256,941 | 97.17% | |
Z-drugs | 2022/23 | 795,959 |
|
2023/24 | 764,743 |
| |
Antidepressants | 2022/23 | 8,563,148 |
|
2023/24 | 8,747,095 |
| |
Opioids | 2022/23 | 5,593,035 |
|
2023/24 | 5,562,718 |
| |
Pregabalin | 2022/23 | 786,403 |
|
2023/24 | 823,231 |
| |
Gabapentin | 2022/23 | 808,562 |
|
2023/24 | 799,144 |
|
Source: NHS Business Services Authority.
Notes:
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prescriptions were issued for each drug categorised under the (a) (i) clonazepam and (ii) other benzodiazepines, (b) z-drugs, (c) antidepressants, (d) opioids, (e) pregabalin and (f) gabapentin drug groups in the (i) last 12 months and (ii) previous 12 month period for which data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of items dispensed and claimed for reimbursement for each of the categories requested, covering the most recently published 12-month period and the 12 months prior:
Drug group | Financial year | Total number of items |
Clonazepam | 2022/23 | 1,048,081 |
2023/24 | 1,059,421 | |
Other benzodiazepines | 2022/23 | 7,156,845 |
2023/24 | 6,814,129 | |
Clonazepam and other benzodiazepines | 2022/23 | 8,204,926 |
2023/24 | 7,873,550 | |
Z-drugs | 2022/23 | 5,316,627 |
2023/24 | 5,113,574 | |
Antidepressants | 2022/23 | 86,263,722 |
2023/24 | 89,131,582 | |
Opioids | 2022/23 | 39,401,517 |
2023/24 | 39,046,206 | |
Pregabalin | 2022/23 | 8,775,699 |
2023/24 | 9,180,793 | |
Gabapentin | 2022/23 | 7,413,759 |
2023/24 | 7,408,375 |
Source: NHS Business Services Authority.
In addition, the following table shows the patient identifiable information for the number of items dispensed and claimed for reimbursement for each of the categories requested, for the most recently published 12-month period and the 12 months prior:
Drug group | Financial Year | Total number of unique identified patients | Percentage of items where the patient has been identified |
Clonazepam | 2022/23 | 85,613 | 98.22% |
2023/24 | 85,191 | 98.16% | |
Other benzodiazepines | 2022/23 | 1,253,962 | 97.06% |
2023/24 | 1,186,001 | 97.01% | |
Clonazepam and other benzodiazepines | 2022/23 | 1,324,792 | 97.21% |
2023/24 | 1,256,941 | 97.17% | |
Z-drugs | 2022/23 | 795,959 |
|
2023/24 | 764,743 |
| |
Antidepressants | 2022/23 | 8,563,148 |
|
2023/24 | 8,747,095 |
| |
Opioids | 2022/23 | 5,593,035 |
|
2023/24 | 5,562,718 |
| |
Pregabalin | 2022/23 | 786,403 |
|
2023/24 | 823,231 |
| |
Gabapentin | 2022/23 | 808,562 |
|
2023/24 | 799,144 |
|
Source: NHS Business Services Authority.
Notes:
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to consider evidence related to advertising when strengthening protections against gambling harms.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are committed to considering the best available evidence, including on advertising, from a wide range of sources to inform decisions on strengthening protections. Developing quality evidence is a key priority for the statutory levy and funding will be directed towards high-quality, independent research to fill key gaps in the evidence base. This could include research on the impacts of advertising. We will continue to monitor developments in the evidence and take action when appropriate.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support youth work as a profession by providing (a) financial support for students and (b) fieldwork placements.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS works with the National Youth Agency (NYA) to fund bursaries for individuals to obtain youth work qualifications. Since 2019, £4 million of funding has been provided to the NYA via the Youth Worker Bursary Fund, allowing over 2,500 individuals from underrepresented groups to gain a qualification.
We have committed to co-producing a new National Youth Strategy, which is an opportunity to look afresh at the support, recruitment and retention of youth workers. The Strategy will be published this summer.