Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 estimate of the potential increase in incidents of (a) violent crime, (b) physical abuse and (c) verbal intimidation against shopkeepers as a result of a generational ban on tobacco sales.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, disability, and ill health. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will put us on track to a smoke-free United Kingdom, helping to reduce 80,000 preventable deaths, reduce the burden on the National Health Service, and reduce the burden on the taxpayer.
The impact assessment for the bill was published on 5 November and is considered ‘fit for purpose’ by the Regulatory Policy Committee. Whilst the impact assessment was unable to provide an estimate for the number of incidents of abuse towards retail workers due to a lack of evidence, we will consider approaches to assess this specific impact, including using publicly available data, when evaluating the policy.
To mitigate the risk that the smoke-free generation policy will increase the incidence of abuse towards retail workers, we are working closely with retailers and will continue to utilise the long lead-in time to best support retailers and the public in preparing for and implementing the changes to the legislation, which includes rolling out information campaigns for the public and retail workers.
We will not stand for violence and abuse against shopworkers. Everyone has a right to feel safe on the job. The Government will introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government will take steps to support the mental health of shopkeepers responsible with enforcing the implementation of a generational ban on tobacco sales.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, disability, and ill health. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will put us on track to a smoke-free United Kingdom, helping to reduce 80,000 preventable deaths, reduce the burden on the National Health Service, and reduce the burden on the taxpayer.
The impact assessment for the bill was published on 5 November and is considered ‘fit for purpose’ by the Regulatory Policy Committee. Whilst the impact assessment was unable to provide an estimate for the number of incidents of abuse towards retail workers due to a lack of evidence, we will consider approaches to assess this specific impact, including using publicly available data, when evaluating the policy.
To mitigate the risk that the smoke-free generation policy will increase the incidence of abuse towards retail workers, we are working closely with retailers and will continue to utilise the long lead-in time to best support retailers and the public in preparing for and implementing the changes to the legislation, which includes rolling out information campaigns for the public and retail workers.
We will not stand for violence and abuse against shopworkers. Everyone has a right to feel safe on the job. The Government will introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 potential increase in illegal tobacco sales as a consequence of the implementation of a generational ban on tobacco sales.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Evidence shows that when we have previously introduced targeted tobacco control measures, they have had a positive impact on tackling the problems of illicit tobacco. Consumption of illicit cigarettes has gone from 15 billion cigarettes in 2000/2001 to 1.5 billion cigarettes in 2022/2023. When the age of sale was increased from 16 to 18 years old in 2007, this created 1.3 million more people who were no longer able to be sold cigarettes, and who in theory would be in the market for illicit cigarettes. However, in practice, the number of illicit cigarettes consumed fell by 25%, from 10 billion in 2005/06 to 7.5 billion in 2007/08.
The Government is investing over £100 million over five years to boost HM Revenue and Customs and Border Force’s enforcement capabilities to tackle illicit tobacco, supporting their Illicit Tobacco Strategy. In 2025/26 we will invest £30 million of new funding in total for enforcement agencies, including Trading Standards.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 help increase the screening rates for prostate cancer in men aged over 50; and if he will take steps to increase the level of funding available to help screen more men over 50 for prostate cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended by the UK National Screening Committees (UK NSC) due to the inaccuracy of the current best test called the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). A PSA-based screening programme could harm some men as many would be diagnosed with a cancer that would not have caused them problems during their life. This would lead to additional tests and treatments which can also have harmful side effects, for example, sexual dysfunction and incontinence.
That is why no steps have been taken to increase the screening rates and funding for prostate cancer screening for men over 50. However, the Government have invested £16 million into a trial seeking to find better methods of detecting prostate cancer.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 7005 on Department of Health and Social Care: Official Cars, if he will name which specific senior officials have access to a Government car; and whether those senior officials had access to a Government car before the 2024 general election.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued. The arrangements relating to the usage of vehicles in the Government Car Service are set out in the Civil Service Management Code.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 18 October 2024 to Question 7004 on Department of Health and Social Care: Official Cars, whether any of the three vehicles are electric cars.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued. The arrangements relating to the usage of vehicles in the Government Car Service are set out in the Civil Service Management Code.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answers of 6 September 2024 to Questions 2306 and 2308 on Ministers: Official Cars, which (a) Ministers and (b) officials in (i) his Department and (ii) NHS England have (A) been allocated a dedicated vehicle and (B) access to use of a shared vehicle from the Government Car Service; what the (1) make, (2) model and (3) fuel type is for each car; and what the budget was for those cars in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government Car Service offers vehicles to Government departments as a shared resource. Each Department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles to its ministerial cadre/officials, as under previous administrations. The Department is currently allocated three vehicles including allocated and shared vehicles.
For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued. The average cost to a Department for a single Department Pool Car in 2024/25 financial year is £108,000 per annum.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's policy is on the allocation of Government Car Service cars to senior officials; what the policy was on 24 May 2024; and which senior officials have been granted access to the service since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government Car Service (GCS) offers vehicles to Government departments as a shared resource. Each department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles.
The arrangements relating to the using of vehicles in the GCS are set out in the Civil Service Management Code. There has been no change in this policy since the 2024 General Election.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 2 September 2024, to Question 2636, on NHS England: Communication and Management Consultants and with reference to the document entitled Fixing the foundations: Public spending audit 2024-25, published by HM Treasury on 29 July 2024, whether savings in that document include reducing NHS spending on consultancy and communications.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The document, Fixing the foundations: Public spending audit 2024-25, published by HM Treasury, set out the request for departments to identify savings. The Department is exploring options across all budgets within its remit to identify savings to contribute to pressures revealed in the audit document. This includes, but is not exclusive to, taking action to reduce non-essential consultancy and communications spending.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
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 2 September 2024 to Question 2636 on NHS England: Communication and Management Consultants, what is the monetary value of the communications and engagement lot for consultancy and advisory services framework run by NHS Shared Business Services, announced on 20 August 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Lot four of the Consultancy and Advisory Services framework agreement for communications, engagement, and research services, managed by NHS Shared Business Services and announced on 20 August 2024, has an estimated value of £45 million, which is the maximum amount expected to be spent against this lot. The framework is available for use by the National Health Service and all United Kingdom public sector bodies outside of the NHS.