Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when he plans to make a decision on the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil fuel in homes.

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

As sustainable biomass is a limited resource, the Government expects to prioritise its use in sectors like aviation, and potentially the small number of homes unsuitable for heat pumps, as these sectors have fewest options to decarbonise. The cost of renewable liquid heating fuels is currently much higher than other fuels available to off grid customers. Before taking decisions on whether to support the use of renewable liquid fuels, like hydrotreated vegetable oil, in heating, the Government would require stronger evidence on their affordability for consumers, and the availability of sustainable feedstocks.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the NHS is taking to improve support for people suffering from long covid.

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

Since 2020, the National Health Service in England has invested significantly in supporting people with long COVID. This includes setting up specialist post-COVID services nationwide for adults, and children and young people, as well as investing in ensuring general practice teams are equipped to support people affected by the condition.

As of 1 April 2024, there are more than 90 adult post-COVID services across England, along with an additional ten children and young people’s hubs. These services assess people with long COVID and direct them into care pathways which provide appropriate support and treatment. General practitioners will assess patients that have COVID-19 symptoms lasting longer than four weeks and refer them into a long COVID service where appropriate. Referral should be via a single point of access, which is managed by clinician-led triage.

Over the last five years, the Government, through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), has invested more than £57 million in long COVID research, with almost £40 million of this through two specific research calls on long COVID. The NIHR specifically has invested £42.7 million towards research funding for long COVID. The projects funded aim to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate clinical care. Further information on the research into long COVID commissioned through the NIHR can be found at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/what-we-do/covid-19/long-COVID

The NIHR and MRC are committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences and treatment of long COVID, and are actively exploring next steps for research in these areas.

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