Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2023 to Question 130114 on Vagrancy Act 1824, what his timeline is for publishing his Department’s response to the consultation on the Vagrancy Act 1824.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 82438 on 14 November 2022 and to the oral answer given on 10 July 2023 (Official Report, HL, Volume 831, Column 1514).
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent progress his Department has made on releasing funds from the Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land Fund to Homes England.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Announcements will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department provided advice to the Prime Minister on the Economic Activities of Public Bodies Bill.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Yes. FCDO officials have been involved throughout the development of the bill and have provided advice to all relevant departments, including No 10. The bill will implement a manifesto commitment and ensure that the UK speaks with one voice internationally and the taxpayer only has to pay for foreign policy once. Public bodies should not be pursuing their own foreign policy agenda.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Defence Infrastructure Organisation are taking to increase housing delivery at Dalton Barracks, Abingdon.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation continue to work with the Local Authority to release Dalton Barracks in line with the adopted Local Plan and subsequent Supplementary Planning Document for a high quality, sustainable new community founded on garden village principles.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the impact of her Department's policy of prescribing alternative hormone replacement therapy medication when preferred medication is unavailable on the ability of menopausal women to manage changes in side-effects and drug interactions.
Answered by Will Quince
Clinicians are responsible for making prescribing decisions for their patients, working with them to decide on the course of treatment, with the provision of the most clinically appropriate care for the individual always being the primary consideration.
Serious shortages protocols (SSPs) are developed with input from expert clinicians but are only considered in exceptional circumstances. An SSP enables community pharmacists to supply a specified medicine or device in accordance with a protocol rather than a prescription, with the patient’s consent and without needing to seek authorisation from the prescriber.
Patient safety is a key factor in deciding whether to use an SSP to manage a shortage. As well as being agreed upon by clinical experts, every draft SSP is reviewed by NHS England’s National Medical Director and Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, who can suggest amendments and exclusions and raise any potential safety concerns about the SSP. At no point in the operation of the SSP policy has the Department yet received or been made aware of any concerns or negative effects on patient safety as a result of an SSP being in place.
All SSPs include a section on those patients who are excluded from being supplied in accordance with the SSP. Pharmacists must also use their professional judgement to decide whether it is appropriate for any patient to be supplied in accordance with an SSP. In addition, patients must consent to be supplied in accordance with an SSP. In the event that either the pharmacist or patient has any concerns, the pharmacist must refer the patient back to their prescriber, as would happen if an SSP was not in place.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make it his policy to require all car parks with more than 80 spaces to install solar canopies over at least half the area they cover.
Answered by Graham Stuart
I refer the hon Member to the reply I gave on 14 June 2023 to my hon Friend the Member for North East Hampshire (Ranil Jayawardena) to Question UIN 188072.
The Government is looking to facilitate and promote extensive deployment of rooftop solar on industrial and commercial property in order to make maximum usage of available surfaces for business as well as environmental and climate benefits.
The Government will consider how else to extend deployment further, including with solar car parks.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 reasons for trends in the level of demand for hormone replacement therapy medication.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No specific assessment on trends has been made. The demand for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been increasing over time. Total use of HRT across the four main product categories (orals, gels, patches and pessaries) has increased to nearly 800,000 patients each month, and the rate of increase has accelerated post-lockdown. Since the end of the last lockdown, nearly two years ago, monthly patient numbers in these categories have more than doubled (108% increase).
The increase in demand for HRT is likely to be due to a range of factors, including media and parliamentary campaigning, increased public awareness, and Government interventions aimed at improving access to menopause care and HRT. This includes the introduction of the HRT prescription prepayment certificate (PPC) to improve access to HRT. It enables women to pay a one-off charge equivalent to two single prescription charges, currently £19.30, for all listed HRT prescriptions for a year. Between the launch on 1 April and 14 June, there were 253,445 applications for the HRT PPC.
Menopause is a priority within the Women’s Health Strategy and the Government and National Health Service are implementing a programme of work to improve access to menopause care so that all women can access the support they need, including HRT.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with Homes England of the use of funding from the Brownfield Land Release Fund for the Lodge Hill Junction scheme.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 made of the potential impact of pharmacy closures in (a) England and (b) Oxford West and Abingdon constituency on practising pharmacy services.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department closely monitors the market to ensure people in England have good access to National Health Service pharmaceutical services. Despite the increase in pharmacy closures seen in recent years, there are a similar number of pharmacies to ten years ago and 80% of the population live within 20 minutes’ walking distance of a pharmacy.
Every three years local authorities in England undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. The number of pharmacist training places annually is uncapped. In England, each year around 2,500 pharmacists enter training and the net increase in pharmacists practicing across all sectors is around 1,400 per year since 2016. NHS England are also investing £15.9 million to increase the number of pharmacy staff in primary and community care and develop skills in the existing workforce.
We have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan for the next 15 years. This plan will help ensure that we have the right numbers of staff, with the right skills, to transform and deliver high quality services fit for the future.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to recruit and retain (a) pharmacists and (b) pharmacy prescription checkers.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department closely monitors the market to ensure people in England have good access to National Health Service pharmaceutical services. Despite the increase in pharmacy closures seen in recent years, there are a similar number of pharmacies to ten years ago and 80% of the population live within 20 minutes’ walking distance of a pharmacy.
Every three years local authorities in England undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. The number of pharmacist training places annually is uncapped. In England, each year around 2,500 pharmacists enter training and the net increase in pharmacists practicing across all sectors is around 1,400 per year since 2016. NHS England are also investing £15.9 million to increase the number of pharmacy staff in primary and community care and develop skills in the existing workforce.
We have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan for the next 15 years. This plan will help ensure that we have the right numbers of staff, with the right skills, to transform and deliver high quality services fit for the future.