Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of men who live in areas without (a) universally accessible and (b) fully NHS funded vasectomy services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the number of men who live in areas without universally accessible and fully National Health Service funded vasectomy services.
NHS vasectomy services in England are commissioned locally by integrated care boards. In most parts of the country, vasectomy is available free of charge from the NHS.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to his Answer on 24 October 2024 to Question 8573 on Trade, if he will publish his trade strategy prior to the conclusion of trade negotiations.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As recently outlined in the Chancellors budget, we intend to publish the Trade Strategy in the Spring.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 12540 on Trade Agreements: Gulf Cooperation Council, whether his Department has made an assessment of the extent to which the supply chains of Gulf Cooperation Council member states use forced labour.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK remains committed to eradicating forced labour in global supply chains, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 8.7, and commitments made through the G7. No company should have forced labour in its supply chains.
Trade deals like the UK-GCC FTA will be aligned with the trade and industrial strategies. This Government is committed to working with international partners to ensure global supply chains are free from human and labour rights abuses.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2024 to Question 10718 on Trade Agreements, what opportunities he plans to provide to parliamentarians to scrutinise proposed free trade agreements.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As well as meeting our statutory obligations under CRaG, the Government will continue to provide additional information and time to support parliamentary scrutiny of FTAs. This includes running a call for evidence on proposed new negotiations, publishing negotiating objectives and publishing regular updates throughout negotiations. Following signature of a new FTA, the Government will publish the full treaty text along with an Impact Assessment and explanatory memorandum and allow a reasonable period of time for Parliament to consider the agreement before commencing the formal CRaG scrutiny period.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2024 to Question 10718 on Trade Agreements, whether he plans to include labour rights protections in prospective trade agreements.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government will protect our labour standards in new trade agreements. To date, we have secured chapters on labour in FTAs with Australia and New Zealand, and within CPTPP. The UK also has labour provisions in a range of other agreements. We will continue to work internationally to strengthen workers’ rights and enhance labour standards globally.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 support the national prostate cancer screening programme.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is currently no national prostate cancer screening programme. This is because it is 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 instance sexual dysfunction and incontinence.
The UK NSC is carrying out an evidence review for prostate cancer screening, which includes different potential ways of screening the whole population from 40 years of age onwards, and targeted screening programmes aimed at groups of men identified as being at higher-than-average risk, such as those with a family history, carriers of the BRCA2 gene mutation, and based on ethnicity.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 to improve early diagnosis for prostate cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Prostate cancer patients are waiting too long for a diagnosis and treatment. We will improve cancer survival rates and hit all National Health Service cancer waiting time targets so no patient waits longer than they should.
We will find the best way to screen for prostate cancer. The Department is investing £16 million towards the Prostate Cancer UK-led TRANSFORM screening trial seeking to find ways to catch prostate cancer in men as early as possible.
Furthermore, we will support the NHS to transform diagnostic services by providing approximately £1.5 billion of capital funding in 2025/26 for new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners, to build capacity for over 30,000 more procedures and 1.25 million diagnostic tests. £70 million will be invested on new radiotherapy machines, to improve cancer treatment.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make it his policy to include human rights clauses in trade agreements.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK is a leading advocate for human rights around the world. This work takes place separately to negotiations on Free Trade Agreements.
While aspects of trade policy can provide the opportunity to address other issues in our bilateral relationships, Free Trade Agreements are not generally the most effective or targeted tool to advance human rights issues.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2024 on Question 11149 on Trade Agreements: Parliamentary Scrutiny, if he will announce his plans for scrutiny arrangements of trade deals prior to the conclusion of the negotiations of those deals.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government will continue to fulfil commitments set out under the current scrutiny framework for free trade agreements (FTAs).
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 merits of providing (a) free and (b) reduced-price sanitary products for women with PCOS and similar conditions.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to carry out an assessment of the potential merits of providing free or reduced-price sanitary products for women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and other gynaecological conditions. The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health and improving the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care for gynaecological conditions, including PCOS.
Since 2019, the National Health Service has offered period products to every hospital patient who needs them. In January 2020, the Department for Education launched a scheme which makes free period products available for state-funded primary schools, secondary schools, and colleges in England. Since 1 January 2021, a zero rate of VAT has applied to all period products.