Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for financial support for patients required to travel very long distances to access (a) stem cell transplants, (b) CAR-T immunotherapy and (c) other specialist treatments; what recent assessment he has made of the financial impact on such patients of claiming reimbursement of substantial travel costs retrospectively under the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme; and if he will make it his policy to amend that scheme to allow payment in advance to patients having to undertake expensive journeys to and from treatment centres.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

No such assessment has been made, and there are no current plans to amend the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS).

It is already the case that where required and appropriate, advance payments may be made to patients on low incomes to allow them to attend their appointments. Further information can be found on the HTCS webpage, at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/help-with-health-costs/healthcare-travel-costs-scheme-htcs/

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Diego Garcia military base, whether an exemption will exist from the Africa Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone provisions of the Pelindaba Treaty after sovereignty of the Chagos Islands is transferred from the United Kingdom to Mauritius.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer provided on 6 January to Question 103253.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether (a) she and (b) her immediate predecessor had discussions with their United States counterparts on the opt-out provisions applying to (i) Diego Garcia and (ii) the Chagos Islands as a whole as set out in (A) Article 298 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, (B) Article 48 of the Constitution of the International Telecommunication Union and (C) the Commonwealth Reservation to the International Court of Justice.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government's legal position regarding the British Indian Ocean Territory has been published and discussed at length in both Houses of Parliament. Our international partners are fully aware of our position and the security and operational implications. The agreement between the UK and Mauritius secures the US-UK base and operations on Diego Garcia.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she has had discussions with her United States counterpart the potential security implications of the existence of opt-outs in respect of (a) Diego Garcia and (b) the Chagos Islands under (i) Article 298 of UNCLOS, (ii) Article 428 of the International Telecommunication Union and (iii) the Commonwealth Reservation to the International Court of Justice on the future security of the Diego Garcia military base.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government's legal position regarding the British Indian Ocean Territory has been published and discussed at length in both Houses of Parliament. Our international partners are fully aware of our position and the security and operational implications. The agreement between the UK and Mauritius secures the US-UK base and operations on Diego Garcia.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average national unit cost is to the NHS for a local anaesthetic transperineal prostate biopsy, used in prostate cancer detection; and how that cost is calculated.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the recent review by the UK National Screening Committee of evidence on prostate cancer screening considered the potential value for money of adopting (a) shorter and (b) simplified MRI protocols, including biparametric MRI, to reduce unit costs of prostate cancer screening in NHS settings.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

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