Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to engage with small and medium-sized enterprises that express interest in developing defence-related AI technologies.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) make a significant contribution to the defence AI supply chain and we are pursuing several initiatives to more clearly communicate our AI requirements, address barriers to frictionless collaboration, and incentivise engagement and co-creation with small and medium-sized enterprises.
In addition, MOD published its SME Action Plan in 2022 outlining specific commitments to improve engagement with smaller businesses including improving visibility of opportunities and simplifying our procurement approach. We are also encouraging our major suppliers to publish their own sub-contract opportunities through the Defence Sourcing Portal, making it easier for SMEs to find and bid for defence work.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the number of SMEs in the defence sector that have been denied (a) banking facilities and (b) other forms of finance because of environmental, social and governance policies since 2020.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the vital role small and medium-sized enterprises play in fuelling economic growth, and it is important they can access the banking services they need. Last year the Chancellor asked the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to collect evidence to help us understand where account closures and refusals are happening and why. The FCA published their initial findings on 19 September, and are doing further work with firms to verify the data and to better understand the reasons behind account refusals. In addition, HM Treasury is continuing to engage with industry to understand any existing or emerging issues regarding bank account access for businesses.
The Government welcomes steps that the financial services sector is taking to improve understanding of how firms can access financial services. In December, guidance specifically aimed at businesses operating in the defence and security sectors was published by UK Finance, the trade association for the banking and finance industry, and ADS, the trade association for the UK’s aerospace, defence, security and space sectors. This work was supported by the Department for Business and Trade.
The Government has been clear that it does not support the exclusion of defence companies from access to debt and equity capital on the basis of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations. This was made evident in a Written Ministerial Statement made by the Secretary of State for Defence, in conjunction with HM Treasury, that stated “the important values within ESG should not undermine capabilities developed to help us preserve peace and security, without which sustaining those values would not be possible”. In addition, HM Treasury has recently consulted on a potential regulatory framework for ESG ratings providers which would aim to improve transparency and promote good conduct, which will help address some of the issues which defence companies have raised.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his oral answer of 19 December 2023 on Reducing Taxes, Official Report, Column 1220, when he plans to write to the hon. Member for Halton.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor responded to the honourable Member on 23 January 2024.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the implications for its policies of the proposals set out in Cancer Research UK's report entitled Longer, better lives: A manifesto for cancer research and care; and what plans she has to fund cancer research in the next 10 years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government welcomes Cancer Research UK’s report, which rightly highlights progress made in cancer diagnosis and care.
Cancer is a Government priority, demonstrated by the commitment to the ambition of diagnosing 75% of cancers at stages 1 and 2 by 2028. NHS England has implemented interventions to help achieve this ambition, such as Non-specific Symptom Pathways, and will continue to seek new ways to diagnose cancer earlier and save more lives, for example through the NHS-Galleri blood test trial.
Furthermore, the Department has invested over £100 million into cancer research in 2021/22 through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In January 2023, Cancer Research UK, NIHR and the devolved administrations jointly provided funding of £47.5 million to the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre network over the next five years. The Department is working closely with research partners in all sectors, and the Government's continued commitment to cancer research will help to build on that progress, leading to continued improvements for all cancer patients.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2023 to Question 2778 on Immigration: Employment, and Freedom of Information release 31192, published on 11 June 2014, how many illegal working enforced visits were made by the UK Border Agency by employment sector in each year since 2012.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office refers to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication.
Information about the number of illegal working enforcement visits conducted by Immigration Enforcement by employment sector is not available in our published data.
Our published data on enforcement visits (including illegal working visits) is available at the following link - Statistics relating to the Illegal Migration Act - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration raids his Department carried out on employers in each employment sector in each year since 2012.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office refer to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication.
Information about the number of Enforcement Visits conducted by Immigration Enforcement in relation to employers in each employer sector is not available in our published data.
Our published data on enforcement visits (including illegal working visits) is available at the following link: Statistics relating to the Illegal Migration Act - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish the results of the the Veteran's Survey, launched on 10 November 2022.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Office for National Statistics is due to publish the initial results of the Veterans’ Survey on 15th December this year. Future releases will be announced on the ONS website in due course.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Alzheimer’s Research UK’s report entitled Tipping Point: The Future of Dementia, what steps he is taking to increase the number of lumbar punctures conducted to help identify people who may be eligible for new dementia treatments.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is monitoring the pipeline of prospective disease modifying treatments for early Alzheimer’s disease. NHS England is currently anticipating decisions on whether the first of these medicines will be licensed for use in the United Kingdom next year.
A dedicated programme team has been established within NHS England for early Alzheimer’s treatments. The team is working closely with the medicines manufacturers, patient groups and other key stakeholders to prepare in advance for the roll out of any new medicines in the National Health Service as and when they secure the necessary regulatory approvals. This includes securing additional diagnostic capacity including magnetic resonance imaging, lumbar puncture and positron emission tomography/computed topography.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
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 monitor the impact of changes to NHS cancer waiting time targets; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
On 17 August 2023, NHS England announced that cancer waiting times standards would be rationalised from 1 October 2023. This followed the clinically led review of standards across the National Health Service which recommended consolidating cancer waiting times from ten standards into three.
From October 2023, there will be a Faster Diagnosis Standard of a maximum 28-day wait for communication of a definitive cancer/not cancer diagnosis for patients referred urgently or those identified by NHS cancer screening. There will be a maximum 62-day wait to first treatment from urgent general practitioner referral, NHS cancer screening or consultant upgrade. There will be a maximum 31-day wait from decision to treat to any cancer treatment starting for all cancer patients.
These changes will allow a clearer focus on priorities and give clinicians greater flexibility to adopt new technologies such as remote image review and artificial intelligence, and avoid disincentivising modern working practices such as one-stop shops and straight-to-test.
Alongside the updated standards, the NHS has also committed to publishing a more detailed breakdown of the cancer statistics each month, increasing the number of cancer types for which separate data are published. Statistics on performance against the old standards will continue to be collected.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had recent discussions with (a) NHS Trusts and (b) Integrated Care Boards in Halton constituency on commissioning duties for radiotherapy treatment services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not had any direct discussions with NHS trusts or integrated care boards (ICBs) on the delegation of commissioning duties for radiotherapy treatment services from NHS England to ICBs across the Halton constituency.
NHS England’s National Moderation Panel will determine how many ICBs will take on responsibility for specialised commissioning in October 2023. Following this moderation process, recommendations will be taken to the NHS England Board for final decisions in December 2023, before new arrangements go live from April 2024.
This process will consider the delegation of radiotherapy commissioning for ICBs across England including across the Halton constituency.