Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to section 80AA(1) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing Georgia from the list of safe states for the purposes of section 80A.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Section 80AA of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (as amended and inserted by section 59 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023) provides for a list of generally safe states for whom asylum and human rights claims would be declared inadmissible; Georgia was added to that list by regulations.
Our current assessment of the situation in Georgia is set out in the relevant Country Policy and Information Notes, which are available on the gov.uk website.
We will continue to monitor the situation, working closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Should we consider that Georgia – or any other designated state – no longer meets the relevant criteria, we would ask Parliament to make the necessary amendments to the list.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support LGBT people seeking asylum.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
All asylum and human rights claims admitted to the UK system, including those based on sexual orientation and gender identity, are considered in accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention and European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
With specific respect to LGBT+ asylum seekers, whilst they are registering their claim, the Home Office ensures that these claimants are signposted to relevant NGOs specialising in the support of LGBT+ individuals. This is done through an information leaflet given to all asylum claimants at the point of claim which includes sections on legal advice, additional help and assistance with links to relevant legal bodies and support organisations.
The Home Office remains committed to delivering an asylum system that is responsive to all forms of persecution including those based on sexuality or gender identity and which supports claimants in providing all information relevant to their claim to facilitate fair and sustainable asylum decisions.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to tackle (a) unethical cat breeding and (b) kitten farming.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, anyone in the business of breeding and selling cats as pets needs to have a valid licence issued by their local authority. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse, vary or revoke licences. Anyone carrying on a licensable activity without a licence faces up to 6 months’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.
Defra has been working on a post-implementation review of the Regulations. This review considers whether the Regulations have met their objectives, and where there could be scope to further improve the protections they provide.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to publish a call to evidence for the NHS 10-Year Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The use of data and evidence is embedded throughout our development of the 10-Year Health Plan and we will undertake intensive engagement with the public and workforce to gain insights into experiences, priorities and ideas for change.
We will invite stakeholders to submit evidence to the plan in a variety of ways, as well as using evidence collected as part of Lord Darzi’s Independent Investigation of the National Health Service in England, to make sure the plan is based on the most reliable available evidence.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of regulations on motorcycles towing trailers; and whether she plans to (a) review and (b) amend those regulations.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There has not been a recent assessment of the adequacy of regulations on towing of trailers by motorcycles, and there are no plans to review or amend the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations in relation to these matters. Nothing has been identified to the Department to indicate that there is a need to amend Regulations at this time.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that NHS medical staff are made aware of a patient's personalised care plan.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Dissolution.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department has taken to improve awareness of sickle cell disease among healthcare professionals.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases such as sickle cell disease, and published the UK Rare Diseases Framework in January 2021, providing the high-level approach for rare diseases. The framework outlines future priorities including increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals. In England we publish action plans annually to address these priorities. As part of this plan we committed to developing an innovative digital educational resource, ‘GeNotes’, providing healthcare professionals with relevant and concise information to support patient management, linking to the NHS Genomic Test Directories, and signposting to extended learning opportunities. This resource includes information on sickle cell disease and is updated regularly.
There have been recent improvements to the haematology medical curriculum, with understanding sickle cell disease now described in the curriculum as a core competency. The National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme has launched several products to support NHS England in raising awareness of sickle cell disease among healthcare professionals including NHS England’s Can you tell it's Sickle Cell campaign and e-learning module and a communications campaign to raise awareness of existing NHS England arrangements to support people with sickle cell disease to save money on the costs of regular prescriptions.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for bringing forward legislative proposals to ban the use of electronic shock collars on (a) cats and (b) dogs.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Government remains committed to banning electronic training collars controlled by hand-held devices that administer electric shocks to cats or dogs.
We will pursue new regulations to deliver this commitment on a revised timeline. Parliamentary business will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including material on (a) diagnosing and (b) detecting cardiovascular diseases in women's health hubs.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
No specific assessment has been made. We are investing £25 million in women’s health hubs, so that women can get better access to care for menstrual problems, contraception, menopause, and more. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the needs of their local population, and will determine the exact services that their women’s health hub will provide, so long as they deliver the core services set out in the Women’s Health Hubs: Core Specification, which is available at the following link:
Future expansion of women’s health hubs will reflect the need to meet women’s health needs holistically. This could also include developing care pathways into wider health and public services, including those for cardiovascular disease, however hubs should not create an additional step in the patient journey, or delay referral for specialist or urgent care where required.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help increase the availability of heart valve surgery for (a) women and (b) ethnic minorities.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
NHS England continues to work with its partners in raising awareness of aortic stenosis, with a particular focus on women. NHS England is also working to increase access to cardiac surgery. The breathlessness pathway, launched in April 2023, encourages general practitioners to examine all patients for the signs of valvular heart disease. Heart valve disease is a focus for cardiac networks, with pathways in in place to improve early detection of valve disease in the community.
In November 2023, a dedicated Heart Valve Disease (HVD) Expert Advisory Group was convened to provide NHS England’s Cardiac Transformation Programme with leadership, advice, quality assurance, expert review, and endorsement of the projects and deliverables that comprise the HVD workstream, with a focus on improving the speed and equity of access to high quality treatment for heart valve patients.
To improve the early detection and diagnosis of heart valve disease across England, including aortic stenosis, £2.3 billion has been committed to open 160 community diagnostic centres by March 2025. This will increase the volume of diagnostic activity and further reduce patient waiting times. The centres have delivered over 5 million additional tests since July 2021, including those that detect cardiovascular disease.
In addition, the National Health Service is investing in cardiac networks to support whole pathway improvements. These networks have been developed to take an evidenced based, clinically led, whole pathway approach to improvement, from prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and through to end-of-life care.