Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the required period for self-isolation as a result of new variants of covid-19.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On the advice of the four United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers, the self-isolation period for all positive cases and contacts remains at 10 days. This decision is based on the scientific evidence. There is no evidence of a change in the incubation period or infectious period for any variant, therefore the advice regarding the isolation period remains unchanged.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has been spent on the distribution of the Pfizer covid-19 vaccine in England to date; and what level of Barnett consequential funding the Welsh Government will receive as a result.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The cost of the distribution of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to locations in England which is managed by Public Health England, is estimated at £1.85 million from 4 December 2020 to the end of week commencing 15 February 2021.
The United Kingdom Government has procured vaccines on behalf of all parts of the country. The Barnett formula has been used to calculate vaccine supply allocations to the devolved administrations. This ensures Wales has access to 4.78% of any COVID-19 vaccine doses procured by the UK. Wales has received £5.2 billion upfront funding from the UK Government since the start of the pandemic, on top of the devolved administrations’ Spring Budget 2020 funding.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what tests are applied to the new supplier when a contract awarded by the Food Standards Agency for the delivery of Official Veterinary Controls is negotiated; and what role is played by the (a) Treasury and (b) Cabinet Office when awarding such contracts or negotiating intra-contractual rate rises and one-off payments.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Contracts for the delivery of Official Controls are awarded in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations. All tenderers complete a standard pre-qualification envelope which is based on the Cabinet Office template.
As part of the Tender Evaluation process the Food Standards Agency (FSA) undertook a robust and detailed analysis of the financial model each bidder submitted, including the coherence between the financial model and the technical bid submitted and the underlying cost and assumptions of the financial model. The financial submission also included sensitivity analysis against the core financial bid assumptions that were validated by the FSA as part of the tender evaluation.
In accordance with Cabinet Office Spend Controls process, the FSA submitted an Outline Business Case prior to commencing the formal tender process and a Full Business Case prior to awarding the contract to the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury for approval to proceed. Both Businesses Cases underwent robust analysis by the Spend Controls Teams prior to being approved. In line with standard Government processes on such contracts, intra-contractual rate rises and one-off payments defined as special payments require HM Treasury and Cabinet Office consultation.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions Ministers and officials in his Department have had with (a) the Food Standards Agency and (b) other Departments on the (i) award and (ii) operation of the current three-year contract for the provision of Official Veterinarians and Meat Hygiene Inspectors in England and Wales.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No recent discussions have taken place between Departmental Ministers and the Food Standards Agency on either the award or the operation of the current contract for the provision of Official Veterinarians and Meat Hygiene Inspectors in England and Wales.
As a non-ministerial Government Department, Food Standards Agency discusses a range of issues with the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury directly.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What steps his Department has taken to ensure that the covid-19 vaccination programme provides protection for people with weak immune systems.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
As per the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s (JCVI) advice, many immunosuppressed individuals qualify for vaccination in priority groups four or six. For those whom the vaccination is not advised, a general practitioner or relevant clinician will host a consultation. It is important that clinically extremely vulnerable people should continue following government advice on reducing risk. The United Kingdom is leading the way on vaccine research. As soon as sufficient evidence becomes available, the JCVI will provide advice on strategies to protect immunosuppressed individuals and consider if certain vaccines are preferred for particular groups.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase competition in the market for Food Standards Agency-related veterinary services.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has a programme of operational transformation in place to modernise the model for delivery of official controls, including veterinary services, in approved meat premises. This programme will define the future specification for contracted services, with an aim to altering the markets that the FSA procures from to help improve competition levels. The FSA is committed to providing an update on this work later in 2021.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Food Standards Agency on the awarding of contracts to companies under investigation by HMRC.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No discussions have taken place with regards to any contracts awarded by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) around companies under investigation by HM Revenue and Customs.
All FSA contracts that are above the public procurement thresholds are awarded following competitive procurement processes, which are conducted in accordance with the public contracts regulations and in line with the Cabinet Office spend controls process. Additionally, financial due diligence is completed to ensure existing and future suppliers are financially stable, in line with the outsourcing playbook.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has undertaken of the cost effectiveness of the procurement of privatised services by the Food Standards Authority to deliver veterinary official controls in meat establishments.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The contract to deliver veterinary services or official controls for approved meat establishments was most recently tendered in 2019 with a three year contract awarded in 2020. Assurances were given at contract award recommendation stage to a selected private service delivery partner as this option met the tender exercise strategic objectives of:
- Maintaining operational performance - the supplier provided the best technical submission so will provide the best operational performance;
- Delivering a financially sustainable contract - new contractual provisions support a more commercially robust contract, as a result of improved Food Standards Agency (FSA) understanding of costs and financial pressures in the market; and
- Delivering value for money to the FSA - the recommended supplier is the most cost effective to the FSA.
During contract retender an in-house comparator model was forecast to cost approximately £7.8 million more for the same delivery model which would have carried less flexibility and increased risk for the FSA, meaning it was not a feasible option at the time of contract retender.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the value of the Food Standards Authority contract for veterinary controls of meat establishments in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The following table shows the value of each contract for veterinary official controls in meat plants since 2012. Contract periods were tendered with slightly differing geographic and technical requirements and therefore a difference in costs is realised.
Years | Contract Value | Notes |
2020-2023 | £83,700,000 | Includes sustainable profit margin, inflationary increase in charge rates for each of the three years of the fixed contract term, includes other activities such as FBO audits, dairy inspections and unannounced inspections. Contracts only cover England and Wales. |
2017-2020 | £69,000,000 | Including additional funding, audits were not included in this contract. Contract only covered England and Wales. |
2012-2017 | £73,932,444 | Fixed hours contracts. Audits were part of this contract until 2015. Contracts covered Scotland, England and Wales. |
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what provision is being made to enable people without a mobile phone to order a covid-19 test.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
People do not need a mobile phone to book a test. Tests can be booked online through the GOV.UK website or by calling 119 in England and Wales or 0300 303 2713 in Scotland and Northern Ireland from any telephone.