Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will set a target date for British National (Overseas) passport holders to be able to use eGates at the UK border.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government regularly reviews eGate eligibility for all nationals arriving in the UK, including British National (Overseas) passport holders.
In the New Plan for Immigration, the Government set out our ambition to digitise the border. To deliver this we aim to increase the use of eGates at the border by those currently eligible and investigate options to extend eGate eligibility to those unable to use them. Any shorter-term changes need to be balanced against the impact these have on delivering the longer-term ambition.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 5 March 2024 to Question 16027 on Suicide, how much of the £57 million allocated for suicide (a) prevention and (b) bereavement services has been allocated to local authorities; and by what date must the funds be spent.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The £57 million of funding was made available across the period from April 2019 to March 2024. Neither the Department nor NHS England holds information centrally on how much of this funding has ultimately gone to local authorities. NHS England allocates funding to integrated care boards, who in turn commission activities across local authority and health settings.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Answer of 11 March 2024 to Questions 16908, 16909, 16910, 16911, 16912, 16913 and 16914, and the Answer of 15 March to Questions 18292, 18293, 18294, 18295 and 18296, if he will make an assessment of whether those responses are consistent with the requirements (a) in the Ministerial Code that Ministers should be as open as possible with parliament and the public, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest and (b) in the Guidance on drafting answers to parliamentary questions.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
As I have previously outlined, the most up to date and comprehensive information on the changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement and the revised published framework, which is what I referred the Hon Member to.
The purpose of the NPPF is to create a consistent and understood framework for development within an industry that emphasises the importance of certainty and clarity. It is, by definition, the stated position of the Government for that very reason. If the Government has further detail it wishes to impart, it will do so in the usual way.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will take steps to commission research into new models of (a) assessment and (b) support for people with autism.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Gateway to Research lists 50 active Medical Research Council (MRC) projects looking at autism and/or neurodevelopment. There are a further 27 projects funded by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Innovate UK. These cover a range of research questions from using AI based diagnostics for autism spectrum disorders to optimising technology used on recruitment platforms to meet the needs of neurodiverse applicants.
Autistica, a UK based charity engaged in funding and campaigning for research on autism and related conditions, is receiving £378k through Government support for Early Career Researcher fund.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of average waiting times for autism assessments on employment rates.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are no plans for DWP to make this specific assessment. Whilst we recognise the importance of early identification of autism, a diagnosis is not required to be eligible for reasonable adjustments and the provision of workplace support. These are made, in line with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010, based on functional need.
We are encouraging employers to adopt more neuro-inclusive working practices, which benefit neurodiverse employees irrespective of whether they have a diagnosis. The Buckland Review into Autism Employment, published on 28 February this year, has created a focus for action to improve the recruitment and retention of autistic people. It has identified workplace barriers, and the working practices and initiatives that can reduce them, in order to create a more inclusive working environment for autistic employees and autistic jobseekers.
This is supported by Disability Confident, our scheme to increase employers’ understanding of how to recruit, retain and support disabled employees and the Support with Employee Health and Disability online service which guides employers through health and disability scenarios at work, including making reasonable adjustments.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of average waiting times for autism assessments on educational attainment.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises that there can be long waits for autism assessments. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is taking steps to improve access to assessments for autism. In 2023/24 DHSC allocated £4.2 million to improve services for autistic children and young people including assessments, pre-and post-diagnostic support, and the continuation of the Autism in Schools programme. Additionally, in April 2023, NHS England published a national framework to support the local NHS to commission and deliver autism assessment services for children, young people, and adults.
The Department for Education wants all children and young people to be able to reach their full potential and receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The SEND Code of Practice is clear that meeting the needs of a child with SEND does not require a diagnostic label or assessment. Instead, the department expects teachers to monitor the progress of all children and young people and put support in place where needed, including arranging diagnostic tests where appropriate.
The 2023 SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan set out the department’s vision to improve mainstream education through setting standards for early and accurate identification of need, and timely access to support to meet those needs. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and practitioner standards will be developed to support frontline professionals, including one on autism.
The department’s Universal Services contract brings together SEND-specific continuing professional development and support for the school and further education workforce to improve outcomes for children and young people, including those with autism, through one programme, which aims to reach 70% of schools and colleges in England per year.
The contract offers autism awareness training and resources: over 135,000 professionals have undertaken autism awareness training provided by the Autism Education Trust through the programme's train the trainer model.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of average waiting times for autism assessments on other health and care services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are no current plans to make this specific assessment. We recognise the importance of early identification of autism so that an individual’s needs can be identified sooner, and support put in place earlier in life.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines on autism highlight the importance of conducting an autism assessment as soon as possible so that appropriate health and social care interventions, and advice and support, can be offered. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, in line with the NICE’s guidelines.
In April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services. This guidance will help the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults. The operational guidance makes it clear that people should be able to access support and care from other services for needs that appear linked to physical and mental health, including while they are waiting for an autism assessment. This year, the Department is updating the Statutory Guidance on Autism to support the NHS and local authorities in delivering improved outcomes for autistic people.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the federated data platform will include functionality to enable the creation of a consolidated national allergy register.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The current use cases for the Federated Data Platform (FDP) are:
- elective recovery, to address the backlog of people waiting for appointments or treatments;
- care coordination, to enable the effective coordination of care between local health and care organisations and services, reducing the number of long stays in hospital;
- vaccination and immunisation, to continue to support the vaccination and immunisation of vulnerable people while ensuring fair and equal access and uptake across different communities;
- population health management, to help integrated care systems proactively plan services that meet the needs of their population; and
- supply chain management, to help the National Health Service put resources where they are needed most, and buy smarter so that we get the best value for money.
The creation of a consolidated national allergy register, or identifiable national clinical data registries, is not in the current scope of the FDP, which will not be processing identifiable patient data at a national level. More products will be developed on the FDP throughout the lifecycle of this programme.
The FDP programme has developed a front door process and demand assessment framework which will be used for new requirements coming into the programme. The assessment framework assesses ideas and requests on the basis of their fit to the core FDP objectives and targeted business case outcomes, as well as assessing against the feasibility of successful delivery when considering things like cost, capacity, wider system dependencies, and other factors. In regard to a consolidated national allergy register, we would expect discussions to be held initially within the National Disease Registry Service.
Alongside the FDP, NHS England are investing in platform modernisation, including the Patient Outcomes and Registries Platform (ORP) which is a unified national registry platform integrated into NHS England’s system data infrastructure for improved data security, flow, linkage, and analysis, and faster pace of registry development.
The ORP’s directions cover all outcome registries, patient-reported outcome measures and patient-reported experience measures, and shared decision-making and data collections across a wide range of conditions, including all surgical and interventional procedures in the NHS and independent sector. A national allergy register or registry may be in the scope for the ORP’s coverage.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2024 to Question 17136 on Tax Avoidance, whether it is HMRC’s policy to seek to recover tax due for liabilities incurred before December 2010, where a taxpayer has not received correspondence relating to an open compliance check for longer than 12 months.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In the 2019 Independent Loan Charge Review, Lord Morse recommended that the Loan Charge should only apply to loans made on or after 9 December 2010. The Government accepted this recommendation.
However, Lord Morse was also clear that, for years before this date, where there is an open enquiry or assessment under appeal HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) should still have the ability to pursue the tax due under the existing rules. HMRC has proceeded on this basis.
HMRC continues to work with and support taxpayers to resolve all outstanding enquiries and assessments relating to their use of disguised remuneration (DR) loans, in accordance with their published DR settlement terms and HMRC’s Litigation and Settlement Strategy
As part of its overall compliance processes and its commitment to update taxpayers at least annually, all of these taxpayers should have received correspondence from HMRC in the last 12 months.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) Evusheld 2 and (b) other covid-19 treatments for the immuno-compromised are available to patients.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations on whether all new licensed medicines, including medicines for COVID-19, should be routinely funded by the National Health Service, based on an assessment of their costs and benefits. The NICE aims, wherever possible, to publish guidance close to licensing and the NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by the NICE, normally within three months of final guidance.
The NICE has published guidance that recommends three medicines, paxlovid, xevudy, and roactemra, for the treatment of COVID-19, both in the community and for patients in hospital. This guidance ensures that patients who are at the highest risk of developing severe disease from COVID-19 have access to clinically and cost-effective treatments.
The NICE has started its appraisal of sipavibart, which has been referred to as evusheld 2.0, through its standard processes, and its Appraisal Committee will meet to consider its recommendations in October 2024. The NICE will aim to publish its guidance as close as possible to licensing.