Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Artificial Intelligence Strategy, published on 15 June 2022, whether his Department has appointed a Head of AI Profession.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Defence AI Centre (DAIC) is currently onboarding a Capability Lead, AI Talent and Skills. They are expected to be in post in quarter 2 of this financial year.
This individual will work with colleagues across Government to advance the AI skills agenda while also exploring novel ways to attract talent into the department.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when her Department plans to respond to the correspondence of November 2023 to the Minister for Primary Care and Public Health from public healthcare professionals on the Healthy Start scheme.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Department has received the correspondence and will respond in due course. The Healthy Start scheme is an important nutritional safety net for families who need support and the interest from public healthcare professionals is welcomed.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were eligible for Healthy Start vouchers in January (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The number of those eligible for Healthy Start in January 2022 was 553,601, and the number of those eligible in January 2023 was 578,067.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much her Department spent on the Healthy Start Scheme in the (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The cost of operating the Healthy Start scheme was £78,148,555 in 2021/22 and £78,761,339 in 2022/23.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when her Department will publish a response to the Technical consultation on a Community Wealth Fund in England, which closed on 19 October 2023.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Opposition Chief Whip (Commons)
The government is grateful to all those who took the time to respond to the technical consultation. Officials from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities are carefully considering all of the responses received. The government response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the correspondence from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health, Start for Life and Primary Care to the hon. Member for South Shields of December 2023, for what purpose her Department requested personal identifiable data from the Department for Work and Pensions on people who are eligible for Healthy Start.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Department of Health and Social Care does not receive personal data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on those eligible for the Healthy Start scheme. The NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) runs the scheme on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care. The Department is continuing to work closely with the NHS BSA and the DWP, in order for the NHS BSA to receive the personal data held by the DWP for those potentially eligible citizens, as soon as possible. The NHS BSA will use this data to reach out to those eligible, who are not currently in receipt of Healthy Start, to encourage them to apply for the Healthy Start scheme.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the correspondence from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health, Start for Life and Primary Care to the hon. Member for South Shields of December 2023, whether her Department has received personal identifiable data from the Department for Work and Pensions on people who are eligible for Healthy Start.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Department of Health and Social Care does not receive personal data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on those eligible for the Healthy Start scheme. The NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) runs the scheme on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care. The Department is continuing to work closely with the NHS BSA and the DWP, in order for the NHS BSA to receive the personal data held by the DWP for those potentially eligible citizens, as soon as possible. The NHS BSA will use this data to reach out to those eligible, who are not currently in receipt of Healthy Start, to encourage them to apply for the Healthy Start scheme.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the potential merits of automatically enrolling eligible people in the Healthy Start scheme.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
There are no plans for specific discussions on this point. The NHS Business Services Authority operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. The Healthy Start scheme has recently transitioned from paper vouchers to a prepaid card. All applicants to the Healthy Start scheme, where they meet the eligibility criteria set out in the Healthy Start legislation, must accept the terms and conditions of the prepaid card at the point of application. As the prepaid card is a financial product and cannot be issued without the applicant accepting these terms, the NHS Business Services Authority is not able to automatically provide eligible families with a prepaid card.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence during the debate on Nuclear Test Veterans: Medical Records of 28 November 2023, Official Report, column 245WH, whether his Department has examined the 150 Atomic Weapons Establishment files.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
I personally examined all 150 records at the Atomic Weapons Establishment on 18 March. I will update the House on plans for their release in due course.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to paragraph 21 of the report entitled A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation: Government response, CP 1019, published on 6 February 2024, whether the (a) lead AI Ministers and (b) new Inter-Ministerial Group to drive effective coordination across government on AI issues have met.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.