Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available from the NHS for people requiring neurological rehabilitation following a covid-19 vaccination.

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

In the very rare event where an individual may have suffered a severe adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine, care and support will be best met and managed by local National Health Service specialist services, augmented as appropriate by national specialist advice. Individuals would be treated and managed through existing healthcare services, for example by seeing their general practitioner, who may refer them to a relevant specialist if necessary.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason there are different rules for exemptions from NHS prescription charges for people with (a) hypothyroidism and (b) hyperthyroidism.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Records are not available to enable us to explain why only hypothyroidism is listed.

The list of specified medical conditions that provide exemption from prescription charges was agreed in discussion with the British Medical Association in 1968. Decisions on which conditions to include were reflective of medical knowledge and practice at the time. The only addition to the list since then has been the treatment of cancer in 2009.

However, whilst it is the case that most patients with hypothyroidism, also known as an underactive thyroid, will require life-long synthetic hormone replacement with a medication called levothyroxine, patients with hyperthyroidism, also known as an overactive thyroid, do not necessarily require medication, as this condition can sometimes be managed surgically, or with radioactive iodine therapy.

While the Government’s policy remains that there are no current plans to review the list of medical conditions that entitle someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate, there are extensive arrangements currently in place in England to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for everyone. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/help-nhs-prescription-costs

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech at COP29 in Baku on 12 November 2024, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the revised emissions targets.

Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

At COP29, the Prime Minister announced the UK’s ambitious and credible NDC target to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% by 2035, compared to 1990 levels, excluding international aviation and shipping emissions.

This is an ambitious, economy-wide emission reduction target, covering all greenhouse gases, sectors and categories and aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5 °C, as set out in the Global Stocktake, agreed at COP28. It aligns with the recommendation of the independent Climate Change Committee published on 26 October and is consistent with the effort required to deliver our ambitious Carbon Budget 6 (2033-2037). More details on delivery will follow in our cross-economy plan to meet carbon budgets, to be published in due course.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the impact of reductions in carbon emissions since 1990 on climate change in the UK.

Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The UK was the first country to set legally binding carbon budgets and the first major economy to establish a net zero target in law. The Impact Assessment of the Sixth Carbon Budget included a cost-benefit analysis which showed the economic costs and benefits of net zero. Without the shift to renewable energy, we will continue to be exposed to volatile fossil fuel markets and the cost of living crises households had to live through in the last Parliament. The UK has a vital role to play - nearly half of annual global emissions come from countries producing 3% or less of the global total, and our domestic leadership is essential to persuade others to act and protect future generations from climate breakdown.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions, as announced in the Autumn Budget 2024, on the ability of school meals providers to provide those meals within the existing fixed price cost of £2.53.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government will provide funding to the public sector to support them with the additional costs associated with changes to Employers National Insurance Contributions policy.

This funding will be additional to the £2.3 billion increase to core school budgets announced at the Autumn Budget 2024. Due to timing constraints, this compensation will need to be provided as a separate grant, alongside the national funding formula (NFF), in 2025/26. Schools will continue to have autonomy over their spending and will be able to use any future grant funding to cover all cost increases, including food costs.

The department currently allocates a meal rate of £2.53 per child per meal for the 2024/2025 academic year to support the delivery of universal infant free school meals and further education free meals. Final funding rates for the 2024/2025 academic year will be confirmed in due course. Further to this, we fund benefits-related free school meals (FSM) at £490 per eligible pupil annually through the FSM factor of the NFF for schools. In total, we spend £1.5 billion across these programmes.

This funding is intended to cover the broad costs of meal provision. However, schools have considerable autonomy over delivery of FSM, including entering into contracts with suppliers and allocation of funding within their budgets.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for Access to Work assessments have been outstanding for more than two months; what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for such applications; and if she will make it her policy to prioritise applications from people who are about to start a job.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are unable to provide information with regards to the number of applications for Access to Work which have been outstanding for more than two months because this information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.

With regards to what steps we have taken to reduce waiting times, we have streamlined delivery practices and have increased the number of staff processing claims. We also prioritise customers starting a job within four weeks.  We have taken steps to modernise Access to Work to improve the customer experience. From April 2024, all core parts of the Scheme have been fully digital, with customers able to apply and make payment requests online.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2024 to Question 14442 on Access to Work Programme, what measurements her Department takes of the time scales for processing applications to monitor whether targets are being met.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Work and Pensions uses internal management information on finalised applications to oversee performance against our aspiration to process applications in 25 days.

The Access to Work scheme continues to be in high demand, and we are considering options for how to improve waiting times for customers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme on Covid-19 vaccinations have been (a) received, (b) successful, (c) unsuccessful as a result of the claim not meeting the 60 per cent disability threshold, (d) rejected and (e) still awaiting resolution.

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

As of 22 November 2024, the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) has received 17,379 claims related to COVID-19 vaccinations. Of these, 194 claims have resulted in a payment being awarded, 9,196 have been rejected, 7,173 are awaiting resolution, and 816 were found to be invalid due to either being outside the scope of the VDPS or for being a duplicate claim. Of the 9,196 rejected claims, 416 were rejected for not meeting the 60% disability threshold.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any of the vials of (a) Pfizer and (b) Moderna covid-19 vaccines supplied to patients in the United Kingdom contained (i) variable and (ii) excessive levels of residual plasmid DNA.

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

All batches of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines released in the United Kingdom to date have passed their release specifications for DNA levels. The specifications are set in line with their respective controlled manufacturing process and in accordance with, for example, World Health Organization guidance on the quality, safety, and efficacy of vaccines. No batches that have excessive levels of residual DNA have been released.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Cat Smith (Chair); James Asser; Bambos Charalambous; Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Powell, in the Chair Mike Amesbury Mr Alex Barros -Curtis Markus Campbell -Savours Sir Christopher Chope

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

Found: Presented by Sir Christopher Chope Ordered, by The House of Commons , to be Printed, 21st October

Found: Presented by Sir Christopher Chope supported by Sir Jeremy Wright .

Found: by Sir Edward Leigh supported by Rachael Maskell , Sir John Hayes , Danny Kruger , Sir Christopher Chope

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

Found: Presented by Sir Christopher Chope supported by Sir Jeremy Wright .

Building on the evidence received in the previous Committee’s Heating our homes inquiry, the Committee will hold a one-off session on Retrofitting homes for net zero. The Committee will invite two stakeholder panels to consider the policy changes needed to deliver low carbon heating and energy efficient homes. 

Written questions (WPQs) allow MPs to ask for information on the work, policy and activities of Government departments, related bodies, and the administration of Parliament.

On 23 October 2024, the House agreed to reintroduce proxy voting arrangements for serious long-term illness and injury by making changes to Standing Order No. 39A. These arrangements mirror those that were in place at the end of the last Parliament. They are, however, time limited, and will expire at the end of the present Session of Parliament.  

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.

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.

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.