Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has been spent on (a) reviewing applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme and (b) reviewing cases where a patient has challenged a decision in each of the last 5 years.

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

The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions to the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in November 2021. We cannot provide any costings for the scheme during the period in which it was operated by the Department for Work and Pensions. Since the NHSBSA took over operation of the scheme, the following costs have been incurred for the medical assessments of the claims:

• in the financial year 2021/22, no costs were incurred, as the claims assessment did not begin until May 2022;
• in the financial year 2022/23, the total cost of the medical assessments was £5,018,638.73;
• in the financial year 2023/24, the total cost of the medical assessments was £10,500,029.88; and
• in the current financial year, up to 1 November 2024, the total cost of the medical assessments is £9,616,394.02.

These are annual totals since we do not separate the budgets for initial assessments and mandatory reversals, the review of claims already assessed.

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 September 2024 to Question 4203 on Primodos: Research, when he expects the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to complete that review; and what steps he is taking to (a) manage potential conflicts of interest and (b) ensure transparency during the review process.

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

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), together with the wider Government, are committed to reviewing any new scientific evidence since the conclusions of the 2017 independent Expert Working Group, convened by the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM).

As per the commitment to reviewing any new scientific evidence, the MHRA has reviewed the publication by Danielsson et al. For full transparency, the MHRA will present their review at the November 2024 CHM meeting. The meeting will have a number of invited experts, including the papers authors, who are invited to give a presentation on their paper and address any questions from the CHM. Mrs Marie Lyon has also been invited to participate as an expert patient, as a representative of the Association For Children Damaged by Hormone Pregnancy Tests. The CHM will give their opinion, and the MHRA will then act upon the CHM’s advice if required. Both the MHRA and the CHM have codes of conduct in order to manage potential conflicts of interest.

The MHRA have a Dealing with Staff Conflicts of Interest Policy, where staff must declare all relevant interests on appointment, when they arise and annually, so that they can be discussed, mitigated, or disposed of, or both, as required. Staff cannot hold direct financial interests in the pharmaceutical industry or healthcare, specifically medical device, industries.

The CHM has a Code of Practice on conflicts of interest which applies to chairs, members, co-opted members, and invited observers and experts. The annual declaration of interests made by all chairs and members are published on GOV.UK website. Declarations from members for the day, invited experts, and patient experts are published in the same way as permanent members of the CHM, on the GOV.UK website, and in the committee minutes for transparency reasons. Further information is available on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/human-medicines-regulations-2012-advisory-bodies-annual-report-2023

The minutes and outcome of the November CHM discussion will be communicated and made publicly available through the GOV.UK website, at the earliest opportunity.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to section 4.2 of NHS key statistics: England, HC 07281, published on 25 October 2024, (a) what assessment he has made of the causes of the increase in life threatening ambulance calls since Spring 2021 and (b) what percentage of the calls each month were cardiac related.

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

The rise in category 1 incidents reflects an increase in the proportion of patients’ ambulance services that have been determined to require an immediate face-to-face response. This may reflect a long-term trend of rising pressures on the health services from an increasing aging population, and complexity that comes with more patients with multiple comorbidities. Information on increases in ambulance service demand is published by NHS England. The total number of cardiac arrests that ambulance services responded to is published by month, however this information does not include other cardiac incidents, for example heart attack or angina, and the information is not disaggregated by incident category. The following table shows the total number of cardiac arrests each month from March 2021 to June 2024:

Source: The data is published by NHS England, and is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/

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 1 November 2024 to Question 9445 on Department of Health and Social Care: Public Appointments, what interests Alan Milburn has declared since being appointed as a Lead Non-Executive Board Member.

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

The usual process of declarations of interest and agreement of appropriate mitigations for non-executive board member (NEBM) appointments was carried out, overseen by the Permanent Secretary. He is content that the process has been carried out, that appropriate declarations have been made, and that appropriate mitigations for any conflicts arising have been put in place. NEBMs are contracted to work for two to three days a month and therefore it is not unusual for them to hold multiple other positions and interests. Their declarations of interest are published each year in the Register of Interests in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts, and will also be published on GOV.UK website as per the new guidance on NEBM declarations of interest, that will be published soon. These declarations will be published at the earliest opportunity.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has undertaken background checks on the asylum seekers accommodated at the Cresta Court Hotel in Altrincham.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

For the safety, security and wellbeing of staff and those being accommodated, the Home Office does not comment publicly on individual accommodation sites.

When a person claims asylum, the Home Office conducts mandatory identity and security checks. Biographic and biometric data are checked against relevant Home Office systems and police criminality databases including domestic and international data.

Data on the number of asylum seekers in receipt of support by nationality, support type, accommodation type, and UK region can be found within the Asy_D09 tab for our most recent stats release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab) (opens in a new tab).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the nationalities are of immigrants accommodated in the Cresta Court Hotel in Altrincham.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

For the safety, security and wellbeing of staff and those being accommodated, the Home Office does not comment publicly on individual accommodation sites.

When a person claims asylum, the Home Office conducts mandatory identity and security checks. Biographic and biometric data are checked against relevant Home Office systems and police criminality databases including domestic and international data.

Data on the number of asylum seekers in receipt of support by nationality, support type, accommodation type, and UK region can be found within the Asy_D09 tab for our most recent stats release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab) (opens in a new tab).

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what businesses have made representations to her about the Autumn Budget 2024.

Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Ahead of the Autumn Budget, the Treasury received 633 written representations from stakeholders. Ministers and officials also met with a broad range of businesses and representative bodies. This includes meetings that the Chancellor and Financial Secretary had with Heads of the Federation of Small Businesses, Confederation of British Industry, Institute of Directors, British Chambers of Commerce and Make UK.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 12927 on Coronavirus: Vaccination, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the hazard ratios for heart-related conditions reported in Pfizer study abstract entitled Non-Interventional Study Interim Study Report 5 Abstract C4591021, dated 12 March 2024, on the Civil Aviation Authority's regime of aeromedicals which are designed to reduce the risk of sudden incapacitation of pilots during flight.

Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The data in the Pfizer report does not support the assertion that vaccination causes a clinically significant increase in the risk of any conditions that could prevent a safety-critical worker from undertaking their work.

Pilots continue to undergo regular medical examination with cardiovascular examination and with periodic resting electrocardiograms (ECGs). Any anomalies recorded on an ECG are reviewed by a cardiologist and further investigations undertaken if appropriate. In this way, any cardiac conditions, are screened for among those applying to hold a pilot medical certificate, including those that might arise in relation to COVID infection and management.

Found: Esther McVey, Graham Stringer and Rupert Lowe made representations.

Found: Esther McVey, Graham Stringer and Rupert Lowe made representations.