Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there is a maximum time within which applications for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding to NHS Dorset must be actioned; and whether redress is available to applicants whose applications have not been decided within 12 months.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Statutory guidance and assurance regimes are in place in respect of NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) so that people are assessed and receive care in a timely way. NHS CHC guidance sets the expectation that the overall assessment and eligibility decision-making process should, in most cases, not exceed 28 calendar days from when the integrated care board (ICB) receives a positive NHS CHC Checklist, or other notice of potential eligibility, to the eligibility decision being made. To support this, NHS England’s assurance standard requires ICBs to ensure that in more than 80% of referrals for standard NHS CHC, the eligibility decision should be made within 28 days of this notification.

An individual should not be left without appropriate support while they await the outcome of the NHS CHC assessment and decision-making process. Redress is not available to applicants whose applications have not been decided within twelve months. If, however, an individual is unhappy with how their application has been handled, they can make a complaint to the relevant ICB. If an individual remains dissatisfied with the ICB’s response, they can make a complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment of the probability of an increase in youth smoking rates of illegal tobacco products as a result of the implementation of a generational ban on tobacco sales.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is still the biggest killer. It claims approximately 80,000 lives a year and puts huge pressure on our National Health Service, and costs taxpayers billions. By creating the first smoke-free generation we are stopping people from ever starting smoking. Our published modelling shows that smoking rates in England for 14 to 30-year-olds could be close to 0% as early as 2050, from an estimated 11.2% in 2023.

Evidence shows that when we have 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.

In 2007, the legal age of sale for tobacco products was raised from 16 to 18 years old, which helped reduce youth smoking rates in children aged 11 to 15 years old from 9% in 2005, to less than 1.1% in 2021. This age increase 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 capability 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.

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 probability of young people switching from vaping to smoking tobacco products as a result of the implementation of a generational ban on tobacco sales.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

It is very unlikely that young people will switch from vaping to smoking, as the generational ban on tobacco sales will make it illegal for children born on or after 1 January 2009 to ever legally be sold cigarettes or other tobacco products.

Our modelling shows that smoking rates in England for 14 to 30-year-olds could be close to 0% as early as 2050. More information on the modelling and impact from raising the legal age of sale for tobacco products can be seen in the published impact assessment, which is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6733798ff407dcf2b5613588/tobacco-and-vapes-bill-impact-assessment.pdf

Alongside the generational ban, we have announced strong measures through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to bring about definitive and positive change to stop future generations from becoming hooked on nicotine, whether that is through cigarettes, vapes, or other nicotine products.

The bill will stop vapes from being deliberately branded and advertised to children, by providing regulatory making powers to restrict flavours, packaging, and changing how and where they are displayed in shops.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make it her policy that local authorities issuing Blue Badges within her Department's guideline timescale of 12 weeks will be able to recover the full costs of delivering that service.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Blue Badge scheme is administered, funded and operated at local level by individual local authorities. There are no timescales set for administering applications other than a suggested guideline that issuing authorities should aim to complete end to end applications within 12 weeks.

In England local authorities are legally entitled to charge a fee of up to £10 for each badge issued which allows them to recover some of the costs involved in administering the scheme. The Department has no plans to amend legislation.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech entitled Keir Starmer's speech on fixing the foundations of our country: 27 August 2024, whether she plans to increase compensation for people impacted by the regulatory maladministration of Equitable Life.

Answered by Tulip Siddiq

The Equitable Life Payment Scheme has been fully wound down and closed since 2016 and there are no plans to reopen any decisions relating to the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it. Further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.

Found: Wednesday 30 October 2024 Members present Bill Esterson, in the Chair1 Polly Billington Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Bill Esterson (Chair); Ms Polly Billington; Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Bill Esterson (Chair); Sir Christopher Chope; Torcuil Crichton; Wera

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Bill Esterson (Chair); Ms Polly Billington; Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Bill Esterson (Chair); Ms Polly Billington; Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Bill Esterson (Chair); Ms Polly Billington; Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Chairs: Sir Christopher Chope, Mr David Mundell, Graham Stringer, Valerie Vaz Clerks: Kevin Maddison

Found: Chairs: Sir Christopher Chope, Mr David Mundell, Graham Stringer, Valerie Vaz Clerks: Kevin Maddison

Found: Chairs: Sir Christopher Chope, Mr David Mundell, Graham Stringer, Valerie Vaz Clerks: Kevin Maddison

Found: Chairs: Sir Christopher Chope, Mr David Mundell, Graham Stringer, Valerie Vaz Clerks: Kevin Maddison

In the July 2024 General Election, a record six independent candidates were elected to the House of Commons. In September 2024, five of those MPs informed the Speaker that they were forming an independent grouping in Parliament as a ‘technical group’, rather than a political party.  This letter has given rise to questions about the status of parliamentary groupings under House of Commons procedures, and the status of independent MPs as a whole.

Call lists, or speakers lists, exist in many legislatures around the world, and were employed in the House of Commons during the Covid-19 pandemic to regulate the flow of debates in virtual/hybrid proceedings. Call lists can be a helpful tool in giving Members an indication of when they will be called to speak in a debate, and thus to plan their days more effectively, and in enabling the chair of a debate to decide time limits. However, there are also concerns about their impact on the flow of the debate.

Reforms introduced following the publication of the 2009 Report of the Reform of the House of Commons Committee, Rebuilding the House (‘the Wright Report’, so named after the Chair of the Committee, Tony Wright MP) included the election by the whole House for positions such as some select committee chairs and the Deputy Speakers.