Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking with the Ministry of Justice to (a) reduce court delays and (b) ensure timely hearings.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office recognises the significant delays in the courts system and the impact that this has on victims. The Home Office works closely with the Ministry of Justice and other criminal justice partners to deliver improvements and build a criminal justice system the public can have confidence in.
The Ministry of Justice has overall responsibility for the courts, but we will continue to work collaboratively to support the Ministry of Justice in ensuring that justice can be delivered in a timely manner for all involved.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the funding formula for police forces to ensure that it is proportionate to (a) population and (b) demand.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government will consider police funding, including the allocation of funding to forces including, in the round as part of phase 2 of the Spending Review.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
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 risk to vulnerable people of the accidental ingestion of hearing aid batteries.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In terms of the Department’s policy on rechargeable hearing aids on the National Health Service, audiology services are locally commissioned and as such the responsibility for meeting the needs of non-hearing adults lies with local NHS commissioners. In July 2016, NHS England published a framework which supports clinical commissioning groups and assists integrated care boards (ICBs) to make informed decisions about what is good value for the populations they serve, and to provide more consistent, high quality, integrated care. The Framework for Clinical Commissioning Groups is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/HLCF.pdf
NHS England supports ICBs to make informed decisions about the provision of hearing services so that they can provide consistent, high quality, and integrated care to adults with hearing loss.
ICBs commission services to provide hearing aids, and service specification indicates that the NHS will provide up to two packets of hearing aid batteries per hearing aid at a time. If an individual has to have an NHS hearing aid, they can get free batteries and repairs from the NHS hearing aid service who fitted the hearing aids. Both rechargeable and battery powered devices are available on the NHS Supply Chain Framework Agreement, as are the batteries, and over the last 12 months, approximately £4.63 million was spent on batteries by trusts via NHS Supply Chain Framework Agreements, although this may not include all spend by the NHS.
Regarding an assessment of the potential risk to vulnerable people of the accidental ingestion of hearing aid batteries, all users of hearing aids should be provided with the manufacturer’s user guide and appropriate guidance on hearing aid and batteries management. Guidance on hearing aid and battery management based on the national safety alert is available at the following link:
There is a known risk to paediatric and vulnerable patients of accidentally ingesting hearing aid batteries, but in the case of paediatric patients, there has to be a tamperproof battery door on the device to meet the product specification. These devices are physically evaluated by a team of audiologists, ahead of being available through the framework agreement. There are also adult devices that have this same provision, so again this mitigates the risk.
Any button and coin batteries can pose a severe health risk, particularly to children, if inserted, swallowed, or ingested. All consumer products must be safe before they can be placed on the market, and the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) published guidance for businesses on the steps to take to mitigate potential battery-related risks in products that incorporate or are powered by button and coin batteries. The guidance for businesses on the use of button and coin batteries, published by the OPSS, is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-button-and-coin-batteries