Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the incident at Sellafield Nuclear site on 28 November 2023.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Shadow Minister (Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 imposes duties on employers to protect employees and other persons against ionising radiation arising from working with radioactive substances and other sources of ionising radiation. These duties have been used to create safe working procedures at Sellafield which are regulated by the Office of Nuclear Regulation. The adequacy of these procedures are the subject of regular review by the Office for Nuclear Regulation. There has been no impact to the public or the environment as a result of this event. Safety is the overriding priority at Sellafield.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to help strengthen global supply chains of ADHD medications to help prevent shortages in the supply of those medications.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
We are aware of disruptions to the supply of medicines used for the management of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites.
We understand how frustrating and distressing medicine shortages can be and we want to assure patients that we are working with the respective manufacturers to resolve the issues as soon as possible and to ensure patients have continuous access to ADHD medicines in the United Kingdom, in the short and long term.
We have issued communications to the National Health Service to advise healthcare professionals on management of patients whilst there continue to be disruptions to supplies. Patients are advised to speak to their clinician regarding any concerns they have and to discuss the suitability of treatment with alternative medicines.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to tackle shortages in the ADHD medication supply.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
We are aware of disruptions to the supply of medicines used for the management of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites.
We understand how frustrating and distressing medicine shortages can be and we want to assure patients that we are working with the respective manufacturers to resolve the issues as soon as possible and to ensure patients have continuous access to ADHD medicines in the United Kingdom, in the short and long term.
We have issued communications to the National Health Service to advise healthcare professionals on management of patients whilst there continue to be disruptions to supplies. Patients are advised to speak to their clinician regarding any concerns they have and to discuss the suitability of treatment with alternative medicines.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average processing time was for an application for indefinite leave to remain in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Data on asylum applications, indefinite leave to remain and citizenship applications is published as part of immigration statistics (at www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-march-2023) and migration transparency data (at www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data).
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of when the contactless pay as you go scheme will be extended to (a) Tunbridge Wells, (b) High Brooms and (c) Paddock Wood Stations.
Answered by Huw Merriman
I would like to assure you that our commitment to improving ticketing for passengers by expanding contactless pay as you go (PAYG) does not end with these initial 53 stations we announced this year. We are still developing our proposals for the next phase of contactless PAYG rollout. We will announce further details of any wider expansion of PAYG in due course.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using fines collected from water companies to support angling societies to replenish fish stocks.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
In the Plan for Water, we announced the Water Restoration Fund which will channel environmental fines and penalties collected from water companies into projects that improve the water environment. The Fund will support a wide range of projects to improve the environment such as removing invasive non-native species; creating and restoring water-dependent habitats; removing barriers to enable fish and other species’ natural movement in rivers. Further details will be announced later in the year.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for autism assessments.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We expect integrated care boards to have due regard to relevant best practice guidelines when commissioning services, including for autism assessments. The waiting time standard recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is for a maximum waiting time of 13 weeks between a referral for an autism assessment and a first appointment.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services. This guidance will help the National Health Service and local authorities improve autism assessment services and improve the experience for people referred to an autism assessment service. Additionally, in 2023/24, £4.2 million is available to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for children with serious mental health problems.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The NHS Long Term Plan commits to investing £2.3 billion extra funding a year in expanding and transforming mental health services by March 2024. This will allow an extra 345,000 more children and young people including those with serious mental illness, to get the National Health Service-funded mental health support they need.
To support the mental health commitments in the NHS Long Term Plan, our aim is to grow the mental health workforce by an additional 27,000 staff by March 2024.
NHS England has consulted on the potential to introduce five new waiting time standards as part of its clinically-led review of NHS Access Standards, including that children, young people and their families, presenting to community-based mental health services should start to receive care within four weeks from referral. As a first step, NHS England has shared and promoted guidance with its local system partners to consistently report waiting times to support the development of a baseline position. NHS England are working on the next steps.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
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 help community pharmacies manage costs and workforce shortages.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
We absolutely recognise pressures in pharmacy – that’s why:
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many meetings (a) they and (b) other Ministers in their Department have had with the Department's Chief Scientific Adviser from (i) 1 December 2021 to 28 February 2022, (ii) 1 March to 31 May 2022 and (iii) 1 June to 31 August 2022.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Defra draws from a range of scientific advice and expertise. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.