Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 January 2025 to Question 22602 on Coronavirus: Vaccination, for what reason the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency does not intend to publish this information.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is routine practice for regulatory authorities to ask developers of new medicines and vaccines technical questions based on their data submissions. These technical questions can cover a range of issues, including commercially confidential issues such as manufacturing methods, and they are not published.
The final outcome of the assessment, including the comprehensive summary of the evidence for quality, safety and efficacy, is published in the form of a Public Assessment Report, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 3.6 of the minutes of the Covid-19 Vaccine Benefit Risk Expert Working Group held on 18 November 2020, if he will publish (a) the 36 questions posed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to Pfizer/BioNTech and (b) any response received from that company.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency does not intend to publish these questions, or any subsequent responses received from the manufacturers.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential risks that the transition to net zero poses to (a) households and (b) businesses.
Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The transition to net zero will be an incredible opportunity for jobs and growth all across the country. As the OBR has noted in its July 2021 Fiscal Risks Report, “the costs of failing to get climate change under control would be much larger than those of bringing emissions down to net zero”. The Government is taking coordinated action to ensure a fair and inclusive transition to clean energy and net zero, addressing workforce challenges and enabling workers to benefit from the economic opportunities.
Our priority is making it easier, clearer and more affordable for people to access new technologies and benefit from the transition.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost to the police service in (a) England and (b) Wales of the increase in Employers' National Insurance Contributions.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 12 December, the PSC issued a circular stating that it has agreed to the deletion of the lowest pay point (£23,286) on the PSC Pay Spine with effect from 1 April 2025. This is to reflect that the increase in the National Living Wage, which will take effect on 1 April 2025, and will result in a rate of £12.21 per hour which will equate to £23,555 and which would be above the lowest pay point on the PSC pay spine. https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/workforce-and-hr-support/police/police-staff/police-staff-council-circulars/psc-joint-8
We announced the provisional police funding settlement for 2025-26 on 17 December. This includes additional funding of £230.3 million to cover the costs to the police for additional employer’s National Insurance contributions.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost to the police service in (a) England and (b) Wales of the increase in minimum wage.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 12 December, the PSC issued a circular stating that it has agreed to the deletion of the lowest pay point (£23,286) on the PSC Pay Spine with effect from 1 April 2025. This is to reflect that the increase in the National Living Wage, which will take effect on 1 April 2025, and will result in a rate of £12.21 per hour which will equate to £23,555 and which would be above the lowest pay point on the PSC pay spine. https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/workforce-and-hr-support/police/police-staff/police-staff-council-circulars/psc-joint-8
We announced the provisional police funding settlement for 2025-26 on 17 December. This includes additional funding of £230.3 million to cover the costs to the police for additional employer’s National Insurance contributions.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the transition to net zero on energy security.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Switching to homegrown clean energy, including renewables and other clean technologies, offers security that fossil fuels simply cannot provide. The Government recognises the challenges in moving away from fossil fuels but the only way to ensure energy security is through homegrown clean power. The Government has empowered the independent National Energy System Operator with the responsibility to carry out resilience functions across the electricity and gas systems and it will continue to work with stakeholders to improve and maintain the resilience of energy infrastructure.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to make the hospital discharge process more efficient.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will improve hospital discharge processes, to tackle delayed discharges, and to make sure people do not spend longer than necessary in hospital, freeing up hospital beds.
We will do so by developing local partnerships, working between the National Health Service and social care, making sure people get the right support from health and social care services to return home as soon as possible. Currently, every acute hospital has access to a care transfer hub, which brings together professionals from the NHS and local authorities to manage discharges for people with more complex needs, and collaboration between integrated care boards and local authorities will continue to be supported by the Better Care Fund framework through 2025/26.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the (a) effectiveness of the processes put in place by HMRC to register private schools for VAT and (b) adequacy of the time taken for those schools to receive a VAT number.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to supporting private schools to ensure that the VAT registration process is as smooth as possible for them, and to ensuring they have the necessary support in order to be able to correctly charge VAT and remit it to HMRC.
HMRC has put in place additional resource to process VAT registrations and, on 10 October, published bespoke guidance for schools, which can be found on GOV.UK. HMRC published initial guidance ahead of the Budget to maximise the amount of time schools had to prepare for this policy taking effect.
Currently more than 80% of VAT registration applications are being processed within 20 working days, exceeding HMRC’s published service standard of 80% within 40 working days
HMRC has also hosted online webinars to answer any queries that schools may have and can be contacted via a dedicated mailbox in the event of any technical queries about registering.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the efficiency of supplying medication at hospital discharge to ensure faster discharge.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England recognise the need for patients who are ready to go home to be discharged as quick as possible, both for their benefit and to improve the efficiency of hospitals. Information on the average wait time for hospital patients to be provided with medication at the point of discharge is not held centrally by NHS England, and it is the responsibility of individual trusts to monitor discharge and medication efficiency. To support hospitals on improving processes, guidance has been published, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/urgent-emergency-care/improving-hospital-discharge/
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average wait time is for hospital patients to be provided with medications at discharge.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England recognise the need for patients who are ready to go home to be discharged as quick as possible, both for their benefit and to improve the efficiency of hospitals. Information on the average wait time for hospital patients to be provided with medication at the point of discharge is not held centrally by NHS England, and it is the responsibility of individual trusts to monitor discharge and medication efficiency. To support hospitals on improving processes, guidance has been published, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/urgent-emergency-care/improving-hospital-discharge/