(9 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberI will certainly look at that matter, but I fear that I may not have time to put a response in the public domain. I can give an assurance to the Select Committee that were I to be in office in the next Parliament I would be happy to respond to that in detail. As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have had detailed exchanges on such matters over the past year.
The sad reality for all our constituents who are affected by this matter is that, after waiting for the Penrose report, nothing has materially changed for them during the life of this Parliament and it rests with the next Parliament to move forward. In a more positive vein, does the Minister have a view—personally and as a Minister and a representative of the Government—whether these people, whose lives have been torn apart, should be adequately compensated by the next Government?
I think the Prime Minister was clear yesterday when he told the House that returning to this important matter and these tragic events was a priority. The reason we say it is an interim response is that the Prime Minister and this Government feel that a more substantive response will need to be given in the next Parliament. Of course my feeling is that we need to return to this important subject and respond more substantively across a wide range of issues. I am well aware of the high concern among sufferers about the way in which the current financial assistance schemes work, and they will need to be considered in a great deal more detail.
(10 years, 3 months ago)
Ministerial CorrectionsThe following table states how many instances of the cystic stage (C Bovis) of the human tapeworm Taenia Saginata have been identified during official post mortem inspection and prevented from entering the food chain by officials working for and on behalf of the Food Standards Agency since April 2012.
Rejection Type | Total number of conditions |
---|---|
Cattle Cysticercus bovis—Localised | 539 |
Cattle Cysticercus bovis—Generalised | 47 |
Note: Localised included carcase parts and offal and Generalised included total carcase. |
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many instances of (a) Cysticercus Tenuicollis (adult tapeworm - Taenia Hydatigena), (b) Cysticercus Ovis (adult tapeworm - Taenia Ovis), (c) Hydatid Cysts (adult tapeworm - Echinococcus Granulosus), (d) Generalised (cysts identified in multiple parts of the animal including the musculature the consumer would define as meat) and (e) Cysticercus Ovis have been identified at official post-mortem inspections and prevented from entering the food chain by officials working for and on behalf of the Food Standards Agency since 1 April 2012.
[Official Report, 1 April 2014, Vol. 578, c. 572W.]
Letter of correction from Jane Ellison:
An error has been identified in the written answer given to the hon. Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies) on 1 April 2014.
The full answer given was as follows:
The following number of instances have been identified at official post mortem inspection and prevented from entering the food chain by officials working for and on behalf of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) since April 2012:
Some conditions are not recorded by the FSA. The list of conditions for cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry were created following expert working group workshops for each species over the last five years. Members of the workshops included stakeholders from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Animal Health, EBLEX, BPEX, private veterinarians, industry vets, FSA, Association of Meat Inspectors.
The data for sheep, goats, deer and horses is from April 2012 to December 2013 all other species is April 2012 to March 2014.
Condition | Total number identified |
---|---|
(a) Cysticercus Tenuicollis (adult tapeworm—Taenia Hydatiqena | 2,144,395 |
(b) Cysticercus Ovis (adult tapeworm—Taenia Ovis) | 190,489 |
(c) Hydatid Cysts (adult tapeworm—Echinococcus Granulosus) | 69,685 |
(d) Generalised (cysts identified in multiple parts of the animal including the musculature the consumer would define as meat)1 | 6,172 |
(e) Generalised Cysticercus Ovis | 2— |
1 Generalised—The figure provided the number of instances of the cystic stage (C Bovis) of the human tapeworm Taenia Saginata. 2 Generalised Cysticercus Ovis—there is no generalised data held for this. The individual number of incidences are reported. |
(10 years, 7 months ago)
Commons ChamberMy right hon. Friend is quite right to say that that is a real priority. The responsibility deal, on which we have worked with our partners, means that 70% of fast food and takeaway meals sold on the high street in the UK have clearly labelled calories, but there is always more to do. This is a priority for the responsibility deal and we are working closely with our industry partners to make more progress.
Does the Minister believe that social isolation, which is a key contributor to the health and well-being of older people living on their own, has got worse or has improved under this Government?