Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to prevent Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from entering into the environment in South Shields constituency.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A Defra report, produced in collaboration with the Environment Agency, conducted a study to determine the levels of PFAS chemicals in estuarine and coastal sediments - Science Search (defra.gov.uk). Results indicate there are a range of different PFAS present in English estuarine sediments, which included the Tyne estuary. Concentrations were found to be low in English estuary sediment. The Environment Agency continues to monitor PFAS in estuaries, and is currently considering levels across the water, biota and sediment.
The Environment Agency have been developing risk profiles for several site types where PFAS release is likely to have occurred or may be ongoing because of different historic and current land uses. This work has provided valuable information about the distribution and sources of PFAS in the environment in England. Several strategies are being developed to manage risk from these sorts of sources and the potential release of PFAS. This risk profiling work has not identified any specific sites in South Shields.
In the UK REACH Work Programme for 2021-22, Defra asked the EA and Health and Safety Executive to examine the risks posed by PFAS and develop a 'Regulatory Management Options Analysis' (RMOA). Defra welcomed the RMOA recently published and is working with its partners to develop the recommendations for risk management measures, building on the commitment in the 25 Year Environment Plan to tackle chemicals of concern.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to collaborate with (a) water companies and (b) scientific experts on future investment in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances remediation for South Shields.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) has worked with water companies and their research body, UK Water Industry Research, on the Chemicals Investigation Programme (CIP) since 2010. CIP has conducted investigations into PFOS and PFOA, and the CIP3 phase has established their concentrations in sewage works, their catchments and the receiving waters. Based on this work targeted investigations will be conducted in the next phase of CIP, known as CIP4, none of which need to be carried out in South Shields.
In the UK REACH Work Programme for 2021-22, Defra asked the EA and Health and Safety Executive to examine the risks posed by PFAS and develop a 'Regulatory Management Options Analysis' (RMOA). Defra welcomed the RMOA recently published and is working with its partners to develop the recommendations for risk management measures, building on the commitment in the 25 Year Environment Plan to tackle chemicals of concern.
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 hospital admissions there were for (a) scurvy, (b) rickets, (c) vitamin D deficiency and (d) malnutrition in age groups (i) up to four, (ii) five to nine, (iii) 10-16 and (iv) over 17 years in (A) 2020/21 and (B) 2021/22.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The following tables show activity in National Health Service hospitals and NHS-commissioned activity in the independent sector in England, with a count of Finished Admission Episodes with a “primary” or “primary or secondary diagnosis” of scurvy, rickets, vitamin D deficiency and malnutrition by age group for 2020/21 and 2021/22:
2020/21 | Primary Diagnosis | |||
Patient Age (years) | Scurvy | Rickets | Vitamin D Deficiency | Malnutrition |
0-4 | 1 | 41 | 28 | 11 |
5-9 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 7 |
10-16 | 2 | 8 | 50 | 16 |
17 or over | 2 | 0 | 586 | 765 |
2020/21 | Primary or Secondary Diagnosis | |||
Patient Age (years) | Scurvy | Rickets | Vitamin D Deficiency | Malnutrition |
0-4 | 3 | 41 | 1,715 | 71 |
5-9 | 4 | 1 | 1,698 | 43 |
10-16 | 10 | 8 | 4,713 | 165 |
17 or over | 151 | 0 | 126,785 | 9,681 |
2021/22 | Primary Diagnosis | |||
Patient Age (years) | Scurvy | Rickets | Vitamin D Deficiency | Malnutrition |
0-4 | 2 | 41 | 64 | 14 |
5-9 | 6 | 8 | 21 | 11 |
10-16 | 4 | 3 | 91 | 15 |
17 or over | 3 | 1 | 863 | 843 |
2021/22 | Primary or Secondary Diagnosis | |||
Patient Age (years) | Scurvy | Rickets | Vitamin D Deficiency | Malnutrition |
0-4 | 5 | 41 | 2,054 | 73 |
5-9 | 17 | 8 | 1,810 | 67 |
10-16 | 29 | 3 | 6,022 | 140 |
17 or over | 144 | 1 | 167,169 | 10,242 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS England
The root causes of malnutrition may be clinical, for example disease-related, social and/or economic. These problems often interact in a complex cycle. Some health conditions can lead to malnutrition including eating disorders, although malnutrition itself is not an eating disorder.
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 and what proportion of recipients of Healthy Start paper vouchers have not re-enrolled via the online registration system.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The NHS Business Services Authority estimate that as of 15 October 2023 there were 20,500 households which previously were in receipt of paper vouchers which have not successfully applied to the NHS Healthy Start prepaid card scheme. This is around 7% of the 286,791 households that were in receipt of paper vouchers in August 2021. The 7% figure includes households that are no longer eligible to apply for the Healthy Start scheme.
In September 2023, uptake for the Healthy Start scheme was 68.2%. Uptake of the fully digitised scheme is higher than the previous paper voucher scheme. Healthy Start now supports around 367,000 beneficiaries.
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 hospital admissions were there for (a) scurvy, (b) rickets and (c) vitamin D deficiency in England in the latest period for which data is available, broken down by age groups (i) 0-5 years, (ii) 5-10 years, (iii) 10-16 years and (iv) over-16 years.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The following tables show activity in National Health Service hospitals and NHS-commissioned activity in the independent sector in England. NHS England has provided a count of Finished Admission Episodes with a “primary” or “primary or secondary diagnosis” of scurvy, rickets, vitamin D deficiency and malnutrition by age group for 2022/23.
| Primary Diagnosis | |||
Patient Age (years) | Scurvy | Rickets | Vitamin D Deficiency | Malnutrition |
0-4 | 1 | 29 | 47 | 12 |
5-9 | 3 | 4 | 21 | 8 |
10-16 | 1 | 2 | 60 | 24 |
17 or over | 9 | 2 | 752 | 741 |
Primary or Secondary Diagnosis | ||||
Patient Age (years) | Scurvy | Rickets | Vitamin D Deficiency | Malnutrition |
0-4 | 5 | 317 | 2,052 | 71 |
5-9 | 5 | 30 | 1,757 | 45 |
10-16 | 5 | 56 | 5,251 | 153 |
17 or over | 151 | 77 | 176,317 | 10,301 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS England
The root causes of malnutrition may be clinical (for example disease-related), social and/or economic. These problems often interact in a complex cycle. Some health conditions can lead to malnutrition including eating disorders, although malnutrition itself is not an eating disorder.
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 hospital admissions for malnutrition in England were there in the latest period for which data is available, broken down by age groups (a) 0-5 years, (b) 5-10 years, (c) 10-16 years and (d) over-16 years.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The following tables show activity in National Health Service hospitals and NHS-commissioned activity in the independent sector in England. NHS England has provided a count of Finished Admission Episodes with a “primary” or “primary or secondary diagnosis” of scurvy, rickets, vitamin D deficiency and malnutrition by age group for 2022/23.
| Primary Diagnosis | |||
Patient Age (years) | Scurvy | Rickets | Vitamin D Deficiency | Malnutrition |
0-4 | 1 | 29 | 47 | 12 |
5-9 | 3 | 4 | 21 | 8 |
10-16 | 1 | 2 | 60 | 24 |
17 or over | 9 | 2 | 752 | 741 |
Primary or Secondary Diagnosis | ||||
Patient Age (years) | Scurvy | Rickets | Vitamin D Deficiency | Malnutrition |
0-4 | 5 | 317 | 2,052 | 71 |
5-9 | 5 | 30 | 1,757 | 45 |
10-16 | 5 | 56 | 5,251 | 153 |
17 or over | 151 | 77 | 176,317 | 10,301 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS England
The root causes of malnutrition may be clinical (for example disease-related), social and/or economic. These problems often interact in a complex cycle. Some health conditions can lead to malnutrition including eating disorders, although malnutrition itself is not an eating disorder.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Ukrainian refugees are awaiting biometric residence permits; for what reasons there have been delays in processing those permits; and what the average wait time was to receiving a permit in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The information is not available publicly and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
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 he plans to make available audited data on the cost of operating the Healthy Start scheme in the 2022/23 financial year.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Audited financial information for the Department is due to be published in November 2023 as part of the Annual Review of Accounts (ARA). Specific information related to the costs of the Healthy Start scheme may not be explicit within the ARA due to the size of the programme but will be available from that point.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2023 to Question 188559 on Healthy Start Scheme, for what reason Departmental forecasts on numbers of beneficiaries and uptake of the Healthy Start scheme are not available.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
While the Department forecasts the numbers of beneficiaries on the Healthy Start scheme, the forecasts are updated frequently and are not centrally validated. As a result, these internal forecasts are not released in the public domain.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2023 to Question 188007 on Visas: Ukraine, if she will detail what the particular challenges are in obtaining a representative response.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
There are a number of challenges in surveying this population. In particular, it is expected that those who are in relatively precarious circumstances will be less likely to respond to an online survey of this type.