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 14 October 2024 to Question 6194 on Coronavirus: Vaccination, whether the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has made an assessment of the potential implications for future medical decisions of the Pfizer study abstract entitled, Post Conditional Approval Active Surveillance Study Among Individuals in Europe Receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccine, dated 12 March 2024; and when he plans to publish the full study.

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

The study abstract has been reviewed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), as part of its continuous post approval safety monitoring procedures for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine (Comirnaty). The abstract is available at the following link:

https://catalogues.ema.europa.eu/system/files/2024-06/C4591021%20Interim%205%20Study%20Report%20Abstract%20_0.pdf

The MHRA does not consider that any regulatory action is warranted at this time and will review the final study report, when it’s made available by Pfizer, as part of safety monitoring procedures.

The MHRA does not publish study reports for company studies, and further publications of results are the responsibility of Pfizer-BioNTech. The MHRA continues to closely monitor the safety of all COVID-19 vaccines and will take any regulatory action necessary should any new safety concerns be identified.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his policy is on allowing people with financial interests in the private healthcare sector to be (a) employed in and (b) non executive directors at his Department.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

All Department employees are subject to the Department’s policy on the Declaration and Management of Outside Interests. The policy is in alignment with the model Cabinet Office guidance in this area for Civil Servants, published on the GOV.UK website, which sets out how staff can identify when a perceived, potential, or actual conflict of interest arises, and what action must be taken in those circumstances. This includes a discussion between the employee and manager to determine whether there is a conflict of interest in the first instance, or perceived conflict of interest, such that the employee should be excluded from the activity, or that the employee may continue with the activity but must implement actions to mitigate any risk. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/declaration-and-management-of-outside-interests-in-the-civil-service/declaration-and-management-of-outside-interests-in-the-civil-service

Prior to appointment and throughout their term of office, non-executive board members are required to declare all relevant interests, and for any areas where a potential conflict of interest could be seen to arise, mitigations are required to be put in place and approved by the Department. Declarations of interest are published each year in the Register of Interests in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the study entitled Risk of all-cause and cardiac-related mortality after vaccination against COVID-19: A meta-analysis of self-controlled case series studies, published on 3 August 2023.

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

All vaccines used in the United Kingdom are only authorised once they have met the robust standards of effectiveness, safety, and quality set by the UK’s independent regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The monitoring of vaccine safety does not stop once a vaccine has been approved. Whilst no specific assessment has been made of this study, the MHRA continuously monitors safety data from a range of sources including Yellow Card reports, interim and final study reports for clinical trials, post-authorisation safety studies, and data from scientific literature.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Child Maintenance Service enforces parent (a) compliance and (b) payment.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Where a paying parent fails to pay on time or in full, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) aims to take immediate action to recover the debt and re-establish compliance. If this is unsuccessful and the paying parent is employed, the CMS will use a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO) to take payment directly from their wages.

The CMS also has a range of strong enforcement powers that can be used against those who consistently refuse to meet their obligations to provide financial support to their children.

The Department plans to enhance effectiveness in collecting arrears payments by delivering changes via regulations to streamline the enforcement process. This will remove the requirement to obtain a court issued liability order, and instead allow the Secretary of State to issue an administrative liability order. Introducing this simpler administrative process will enable the CMS to take faster action against those paying parents who actively avoid their responsibilities.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the cost to the public purse for hospital food in each of the last five years.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The following table shows the cost of inpatient food services, as well as other patient food services, in England over the last five years:

Source: the NHS Digital Estates Return Information Collection, published December 2023, available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection/england-2022-23

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking in response to concerns of former employees of Atomic Energy Agency Technology regarding a redress of their pension.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) published a report on the AEAT Pension case in June 2023, which made several recommendations for the government. This work was halted due to the general election and the new government will now consider it.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to establish a Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion and Belief on a statutory footing.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government will champion freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all abroad. No one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. Envoy roles will be decided upon in due course. There are currently no plans to legislate on Envoy roles during this parliamentary session. We continue to use the strength of our global diplomatic network, including dedicated staff within the FCDO, to promote and protect FoRB around the world.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of calls to establish an international commission of inquiry into religious persecution and violence in (a) Nigeria and (b) other severely affected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK continues to champion freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, including in Sub-Saharan Africa. No one should live in fear because of what they do, or do not believe in. We work to uphold the right to FoRB multilaterally, including through our position at the UN, and bilaterally. The UK Government remains committed to supporting Nigeria to address ongoing security challenges, including violent extremism and intercommunal violence, which continue to impinge on the rights of Nigerians to FoRB.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether it is his policy to support the establishment of an international commission of inquiry by the UN on religious persecution in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK continues to champion freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, including in Sub-Saharan Africa. No one should live in fear because of what they do, or do not believe in. We work to uphold the right to FoRB multilaterally, including through our position at the UN, and bilaterally. The UK Government remains committed to supporting Nigeria to address ongoing security challenges, including violent extremism and intercommunal violence, which continue to impinge on the rights of Nigerians to FoRB.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what plans he has to invest in tidal power.

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

The UK possesses tremendous tidal resource and could play a role in balancing the intermittency of wind and solar generation as we transition towards a carbon-neutral power sector.

The UK remains the world leader in tidal stream generation technologies, with around half of the world's operational deployment of this situated in UK waters. On 3^rd September 2024, the Government announced that six tidal stream contracts were secured with a joint capacity of 28MW in Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6. The UK is on track to have over 130 MW of tidal stream capacity deployed by 2029.

The Government is also open to considering well-developed proposals for harnessing the tidal range energy in the bays and estuaries around our coastlines, including barrage schemes and other alternatives.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to produce a feasibility study on tidal power.

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

The UK possesses tremendous tidal resource and could play a role in balancing the intermittency of wind and solar generation as we transition towards clean power.

The UK remains the world leader in tidal stream generation technologies, with around half of the world's operational deployment of this situated in UK waters. On 3^rd September 2024, the Government announced that six tidal stream contracts were secured with a joint capacity of 28MW in Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6. The UK is on track to have over 130 MW of tidal stream capacity deployed by 2029.

The Government is also open to considering well-developed proposals for harnessing the tidal range energy in the bays and estuaries around our coastlines, including barrage schemes and other alternatives.

Found: Ordered, That the correspondence from the Rt Hon Esther McVey MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Found: Rt Hon Esther McVey MP, Minister for Employment, and Chris Hayes, Director, Labour Market Strategy,

Found: JCP56 UK Council on Deafness JCP58 Welsh Language Commissioner Esther McVey MP, Minister for Employment

Found: Esther McVey MP, Minister for Disabled People, Simon Dawson, PIP Policy, Design, Test and Assurance