Asked by: Graham Brady (Conservative - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Scottish Government has submitted a request for a United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 exemption to implement a deposit return scheme in Scotland.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
At the Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (IMG EFRA) on 6 March, UK Government ministers received a formal request setting out the scope and rationale for a UKIM exemption for the Scottish Government's deposit return scheme. It will now be considered by Ministers at the relevant Whitehall departments.
Asked by: Graham Brady (Conservative - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Muslim students unable to access the traditional student finance system are able to access an alternative, faith-compliant method; and what his planned timetable is for such a system becoming fully operable.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
I refer my hon. Friend, the member for Altrincham and Sale West, to the answer I gave in response to question 129057.
Asked by: Graham Brady (Conservative - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the cost of each quality-adjusted life year added to 5 to 11 year old children as a result of offering that cohort a covid-19 vaccination.
Answered by Maggie Throup
On 22 December 2021, the Government accepted the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to children aged five to 11 years old who are in a clinical risk group, or who are household contacts of the immunosuppressed. On 16 February 2022, the Government subsequently accepted the JCVI’s advice to offer vaccination of children aged five to 11 years old not in a clinical risk group. However, the size and characteristics of a potential future wave were uncertain at the time of the JCVI’s advice, therefore it was not possible to determine the cost per quality adjusted life years gained.
Asked by: Graham Brady (Conservative - Altrincham and Sale West)
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 6 September 2021 to Question 38143 on Coronavirus: Research, what his timetable is for publication of the research funded by the National Institute for Health Research.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Four of the eight projects have published at least one paper on their findings. We anticipate papers from the remaining four studies although we do not have a confirmed timetable for their publication.
Asked by: Graham Brady (Conservative - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the relative benefits of administering covid-19 vaccinations via aspiration compared to intravenous injection.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has not made this assessment. The UKHSA provides guidance on immunisation techniques in Chapter Four of the Green Book, which follows available evidence and international recommendations for the administration of vaccines. This is reviewed and updated regularly by the UKHSA and states that it is not necessary to aspirate the syringe after the needle is introduced into the muscle because there are no large blood vessels at the recommended injection sites.
In addition, the only licensed route of administration for COVID-19 vaccines is via intra-muscular injection into the preferred site, the deltoid muscle. No assessment has therefore been made for intravenous injection. Vaccinations are not administered into the vein as this would be potentially harmful.
Asked by: Graham Brady (Conservative - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his planned timetable is for publication of the final report of the union connectivity review.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Sir Peter has published his Union Connectivity Review as of Friday the 26th of November, the Government thanks Sir Peter for his work and will respond to his recommendations in due course.
Asked by: Graham Brady (Conservative - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department made of business case for the Golborne Link section of the Phase 2b portion of HS2 as part of the Integrated Rail Plan.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Integrated Rail Plan noted that there is a strong case for a connection to the West Coast Mainline (WCML) north of Crewe and that the Union Connectivity Review (UCR) was considering this further. The UCR, undertaken by Sir Peter Hendy, has considered whether any alternatives to the Golborne Link could further improve connectivity to Scotland. Evidence from the Review suggests that alternative connections to the WCML could slightly reduce journey times further compared to the ‘Golborne Link’. However, Sir Peter states that it is clear that further work is required to better understand the case for and against any such options; and has recommended the Government review options for alternative connections north of Crewe between HS2 and the WCML. The government will respond to Sir Peter’s recommendations in due course.
Asked by: Graham Brady (Conservative - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department made of the potential merits of removing the Golborne Link section of the Phase 2b portion of HS2 as part of the Integrated Rail Plan.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Integrated Rail Plan noted that there is a strong case for a connection to the West Coast Mainline (WCML) north of Crewe and that the Union Connectivity Review (UCR) was considering this further. The UCR, undertaken by Sir Peter Hendy, has considered whether any alternatives to the Golborne Link could further improve connectivity to Scotland. Evidence from the Review suggests that alternative connections to the WCML could slightly reduce journey times further compared to the ‘Golborne Link’. However, Sir Peter states that it is clear that further work is required to better understand the case for and against any such options; and has recommended the Government review options for alternative connections north of Crewe between HS2 and the WCML. The government will respond to Sir Peter’s recommendations in due course.
Asked by: Graham Brady (Conservative - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with Trading Standards on tackling non-compliant disposable e-cigarettes.
Answered by Maggie Throup
E-cigarettes are regulated under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR). Local Trading Standards are responsible for the enforcement of these regulations. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities provides central funding to local authorities for local trading standards activity. It is for local decision making how this is allocated across services.
To support local enforcement of TRPR, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency are currently reviewing evidence and assisting in the identification of e-cigarette device seizures across the United Kingdom. It is working with various trading standards organisations, to correctly identify grey, black market and counterfeit devices entering illegally from foreign markets to UK distributors.
Asked by: Graham Brady (Conservative - Altrincham and Sale West)
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 provide additional funding for Trading Standards to help remove from the market disposable e-cigarettes that breach provisions of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.
Answered by Maggie Throup
E-cigarettes are regulated under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR). Local Trading Standards are responsible for the enforcement of these regulations. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities provides central funding to local authorities for local trading standards activity. It is for local decision making how this is allocated across services.
To support local enforcement of TRPR, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency are currently reviewing evidence and assisting in the identification of e-cigarette device seizures across the United Kingdom. It is working with various trading standards organisations, to correctly identify grey, black market and counterfeit devices entering illegally from foreign markets to UK distributors.