Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he held discussions with the Israeli Prime Minister on that country's proposed judicial reforms during the visit of the Prime Minister to the UK in March.
Answered by David Rutley
As set out in the Foreign Secretary's statement on 27 March, the UK welcomes the decision taken by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pause legislation to reform Israel's judiciary. During his meeting with PM Netanyahu on 24 March in London, the Prime Minister made clear the importance of upholding the shared democratic values that underpin our relationship, including in relation to the proposed judicial reforms in Israel. The Foreign Secretary also raised judicial reform and the importance of seeking consensus on this sensitive issue, with Israel's Foreign Minister Cohen during his visit to London on 21 March. The UK enjoys a deep and historic relationship with Israel, and we continue to urge all parties to ensure that a robust system of checks and balances, and the independence of Israel's judiciary, are preserved.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to shut down so-called Chinese secret police stations operating in the UK.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Shadow Minister (Home Office) (Security)
As I stated to the House on 1 November, and as my honourable friend Minister Philip referenced during debate in the House on 19 April, investigations are ongoing. It would be inappropriate for me to comment any further on operational matters.
We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has taken recent steps to ensure that clinical trial databases are kept up to date in order to allow patients with metastatic breast cancer to participate in those trials.
Answered by Will Quince
To help improve digital infrastructure and services, the Government has increased funding for the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) which supports and funds clinical trials in the United Kingdom, including those for metastatic breast cancer. NIHR provides an online service called 'Be Part of Research' which promotes participation in health and social care research by allowing users to search for relevant studies and register their interest.
The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service collects and analyses data on all people in England diagnosed with cancer, providing comprehensive data collection and quality assurance over the entire cancer pathway managed by NHS Digital. Health Research Authority has also introduced functionality to automatically register studies seeking approval on the UK-based clinical trials register ISRCTN, which feeds into the Be Part of Research System, increasing data coverage and accuracy for potential participants.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to increase the number of metastatic breast cancer treatment clinical trials in view of the number of affected patients.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department does not typically ring-fence funds for specific topics or conditions. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research on any aspect of human health, including metastatic breast cancer, subject to peer review and open competition. Awards are based on topic importance, value for money, and scientific quality.
The Government's vision, Saving and Improving Lives, published in March 2021, outlines plans to increase clinical trials, including for metastatic breast cancer, in the 2022-2025 implementation plan, published June 2021. The Government also entered a 10 year partnership with Moderna, with substantial investment in United Kingdom based research and development, including cancer research. Additionally, Lord James O’Shaughnessy has been independently commissioned to review commercial clinical trials in the UK and plans are to publish recommendations for 2023 and longer-term ambitions for UK clinical trials this spring.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to speed up the drug approval process for new metastatic breast cancer treatments.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government is committed to supporting timely patient access to clinically- and cost-effective new drugs, including for metastatic breast cancer.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and NHS England are working closely together to ensure that there is a joined-up, timely approach to supporting access to new medicines for National Health Service patients, including those licensed through Project Orbis and the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway. NICE is also able to make recommendations through the cancer drugs fund (CDF), which has benefitted over 88,000 patients as of March 2023. The CDF has allowed patients with metastatic breast cancer to access new medicines like trastuzumab, deruxtecan and palbociclib, while allowing for the collection of further data on their clinical- and cost-effectiveness to inform a final NICE recommendation.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure awareness of metastatic breast cancer among NHS staff involved in primary care.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
In April 2020, NHS England introduced the 'early cancer diagnosis service specification' for Primary Care Networks (PCNs), which 99% of general practices (GPs) are signed up to. This is designed to support improvements in rates of early cancer diagnosis by requiring PCNs to review the quality of their practices’ referrals for suspected cancer and take steps to improve this.
NHS England is supporting GPs to diagnose more cancers early by making funding available to embed clinical decision support tools within general practice. These tools are designed to support GPs in clinical decision making, such as whether to refer or request further diagnostic investigation in patients where they believe there is a risk of cancer, and identifying patients who may be at risk of cancer based on the symptoms they present with.
Cancer education programmes such as ‘Gateway C’ are available online and include specific courses on breast cancer, and face-to-face education sessions have now resumed and are offered by a range of providers.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2023 to Question 165293 on Biometric Residence Permits: ICT, how many biometric resident permits were affected by this IT issue; and what recent estimate she has made of when these issues will be resolved.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The information requested could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether eligible students can access free school meals when they have been withdrawn from school by their parent or guardian.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Education Act 1996 places a duty on maintained schools and academies to provide free school meals (FSM) to pupils of all ages that meet the criteria for eligibility and who are attending school during term time. The Act makes clear that a child must be registered at a publicly funded school as a condition of claiming FSM. Free meals are not available to those who elect to undertake education from home, nor to pupils of private institutions.
Schools should continue to provide free meals for registered pupils either on the school premises or at any other place where education is being provided.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that data is collected to assess the success rates of metastatic breast cancer treatment pathways.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service works closely with hospital trusts to determine sources of data which can be used to complete the Cancer Outcomes and Services Dataset data and also works with the software suppliers of cancer management systems to ensure that data items are able to be recorded. Compliance with data standards is monitored by local integrated care boards (ICBs).
The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership commissions, develops, and manages the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme, on behalf of NHS England, Wales and other devolved administrations. These audits have been introduced to reduce variation in treatment by demonstrating where care is being provided in line with standards and where a service is doing well or could be improved. Five additional new clinical audits were announced in May 2021, one of which will focus on metastatic breast cancer.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that data is collected to find out the number of patients living with metastatic breast cancer.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service works closely with hospital trusts to determine sources of data which can be used to complete the Cancer Outcomes and Services Dataset data and also works with the software suppliers of cancer management systems to ensure that data items are able to be recorded. Compliance with data standards is monitored by local integrated care boards (ICBs).
The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership commissions, develops, and manages the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme, on behalf of NHS England, Wales and other devolved administrations. These audits have been introduced to reduce variation in treatment by demonstrating where care is being provided in line with standards and where a service is doing well or could be improved. Five additional new clinical audits were announced in May 2021, one of which will focus on metastatic breast cancer.