Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in North West Norfolk constituency will be affected by the change in eligibility requirement for Winter Fuel Allowance.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
To be comparable with the Winter Fuel Payment statistics, the Pension Credit data that has been used is based on the 2010 Westminster Parliamentary constituencies, not 2024.
It is estimated that around 21,700 pensioners in North West Norfolk constituency (2010 boundary) will be impacted by the decision to amend the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment. This is based on February 2024 Pension Credit statistics which are available via DWP Stat-xplore and the Winter Fuel Payment statistics for Winter 2022 to 2023 which are available via GOV.UK.
This estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of people claiming Pension Credit in North West Norfolk constituency from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients in North West Norfolk constituency. This is essentially the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients who are not claiming Pension Credit pre-policy change, as an estimate of those who will no longer receive the Winter Fuel Payment.
Please note that the above figures do not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up that we might see as a result of the Government’s Pension Credit Awareness Campaign. We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies or Local Authorities.
The published Pension Credit figures refer to households rather than individuals, so the number of individuals receiving Pension Credit will be higher. This means that the number of pensioners eligible for Winter Fuel Payment will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where it is a couple claiming Pension Credit).
In addition, while Pension Credit claimants constitute the majority of those that will be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, pensioners who claim other qualifying means-tested benefits will also be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment. It is not, however, possible to include those on other qualifying means-tested benefits in these figures.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the (a) phasedown and (b) phaseout of fluorinated greenhouse gases takes into account the requirements of the pharmaceutical industry for (i) developing sustainable inhalers using climate-friendly gases and (ii) securing regulatory approval of such medicines.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is in the process of reviewing the F-gas Regulation, which includes an exemption from the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phasedown for metered dose inhalers (MDIs). The review will consider the implementation of the current F-gas Regulation and options for future policy development.
To support this work there is ongoing engagement between Defra, NHS, DHSC and other stakeholders, including the pharmaceutical industry and patient representatives. Through this engagement, Defra will ensure future policy development takes account of the technical considerations and the practical requirements of the key stakeholders in this sector.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Autumn Statement 2023, when stakeholders will be able to apply for the £520 million in funding from 2025‑26 to support transformational manufacturing investments in life sciences.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting Life Sciences manufacturing to deliver an NHS fit for the future and stimulate economic growth across the UK. It has invested over £405 million to secure vaccine manufacturing through the Vaccine Taskforce and is providing up to £118 million in capital grants to boost UK manufacturing investment.
DSIT is discussing plans to support investment in the sector with the Treasury. The £520 million funding announced in the Autumn Statement for Life Sciences manufacturing is part of these discussions.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Autumn Statement 2023, whether he plans to make £520 million available for life sciences.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting Life Sciences manufacturing to deliver an NHS fit for the future and stimulate economic growth across the UK. It has invested over £405 million to secure vaccine manufacturing through the Vaccine Taskforce and is providing up to £118 million in capital grants to boost UK manufacturing investment.
DSIT is discussing plans to support investment in the sector with the Treasury. The £520 million funding announced in the Autumn Statement for Life Sciences manufacturing is part of these discussions.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that his approach to (a) per- and (b) poly-fluoroalkyl substances restrictions takes account of the (i) requirements and (i) time required for the pharmaceutical industry to (A) develop sustainable inhalers and (B) secure regulatory approval for these medicines using novel low global warming potential gases.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is currently considering measures to restrict per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in a wide range of industrial and consumer uses under UK REACH. The scope of restriction proposals will be informed by engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, as well as by technical considerations, health and safety factors and the practical feasibility and requirements of adopting non-PFAS alternatives.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for North West Norfolk of (a) 9 and (b) 31 July 2024 on the New Hospitals Programme.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have received the hon. Member’s correspondence of 9 and 31 July 2024, and we will respond shortly.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in North West Norfolk constituency (a) received winter fuel payments and (b) were eligible for (i) pension credit and (ii) other means tested benefits in 2023-4.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Annual statistics on the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients and households by local authority and by Westminster parliamentary constituency are made publicly available via GOV.UK. The latest release contains data on individual and household level statistics for winter 2022 to 2023. For Winter 2022 to 2023, 24,157 people received a Winter Fuel Payment in North West Norfolk constituency.
Information relating to Pension Credit eligibility is only available via take-up statistics. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2021 to 2022 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). However, these statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas.
Other means-tested benefits available to pensioners to enable them to receive a Winter Fuel Payment are: Income Support, Jobseekers’ Allowance (income-based), Employment and Support Allowance (income-related), and Universal Credit. Take-up statistics for Universal Credit are not available. Since the introduction of Universal Credit, it is no longer possible to make a new claim to other legacy means-tested benefits. We are therefore unable to estimate the number of pensioners who are eligible to claim other means-tested benefits.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
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 level of funding for neurodevelopmental services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently considering the next steps to improve diagnostic assessments and support for autistic people and people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism and ADHD services, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism. In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.
In respect of ADHD, we are supporting a cross-sector taskforce that NHS England has launched into challenges in ADHD service provision, to help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
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 neurodevelopmental services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently considering the next steps to improve diagnostic assessments and support for autistic people and people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism and ADHD services, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism. In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.
In respect of ADHD, we are supporting a cross-sector taskforce that NHS England has launched into challenges in ADHD service provision, to help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
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 improve access to neurodevelopmental assessments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently considering the next steps to improve diagnostic assessments and support for autistic people and people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism and ADHD services, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism. In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.
In respect of ADHD, we are supporting a cross-sector taskforce that NHS England has launched into challenges in ADHD service provision, to help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.