Lee Anderson

Safeguard measures exist under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreements to allow countries to put measures in place to protect domestic industries against serious damage caused or threatened to be caused by unforeseen surges in imports. There are strict evidential requirements and processes that must be followed in order to put safeguard measures in place.

The United Kingdom’s steel safeguard measures were established by the EU when the United Kingdom was a member state. They followed the processes and were on the basis of the criteria provided for in the WTO Agreements. The United Kingdom’s Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs) reflect the British portion of the original EU safeguard measure, based on British import data from the original period of investigation under which the measure was imposed.

The Department for International Trade did not conduct an economic impact assessment when transitioning the measures as these were established measures already in effect, not new measures being implemented. However, the Trade Remedies Investigations Directorate (TRID) initiated a review of the current safeguard measures on 1^st October 2020. In most circumstances, subject to what it determines as a result of any review, TRID will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State. This specific review will include consideration of the economic impacts of continuation, variation or termination of the measures, except where particular products are not being imported in increased quantities or are not being produced in the United Kingdom. As a part of this evidence-based review, TRID will evaluate the risk of serious injury.

My Hon. Friend is a great champion of British industry, and he will understand that the Secretary of State cannot pre-empt TRID’s recommendation by considering the future of the measures before such a review is complete and the recommendation is received.

The Department for International Trade came into existence in 2016 and since this time there have been no statutory and non-statutory public inquiries.

The Government has put in place unprecedented levels of support to help all businesses get through this crisis. Separate to this package of support, but to ensure the UK has resilient and diverse supply chains, the Department for International Trade is leading work across Government (Project Defend) to look at our trading relationships with a range of international partners. As part of this work, we have consulted widely with stakeholders across the advanced manufacturing sectors. We continue to champion free trade and the benefits that brings, across the economy, and to the automotive and aerospace sectors in the UK.

In January 2020 the Government pledged £500 million for the Restoring Your Railway programme to deliver on our manifesto commitment to start reopening lines and stations. The Secretary of State for Transport and I will be considering next steps for projects, including the Maid Marian Line, with a decision on the next tranche to progress anticipated in the coming months.

The Department will soon publish its Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) which will look at how best to deliver major rail investments in the North and Midlands including HS2 Phase 2b, Northern Powerhouse Rail and other major Network Rail schemes, so that the benefits of these investments are delivered to passengers and communities more quickly.

In March the Government published England’s long-term National Bus Strategy, setting out its plans to deliver better bus services across the country. At the Budget we announced that there will be £1.2 billion of new dedicated funding for bus transformation deals to deliver services, fares and infrastructure improvements.

The Department does not have any statutory or non-statutory inquiries presently taking place.

The Government announced the outcome of the consultation in the PM’s Ten Point Plan. We are going further and faster to decarbonise transport by phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, and, from 2035, all new cars and vans must be zero emissions at the tailpipe. Between 2030 and 2035, new cars and vans can be sold if they have the capability to drive a significant distance with zero emissions [for example plug-in or full hybrids]. The meaning of ‘significant zero emission capability’ will be defined by consultation in 2021. Alongside the new phase out dates government has pledged a further £2.8 billion package of measures to support industry and consumers to make the switch to cleaner vehicles. The Government’s written response to the consultation will be published in due course. We will publish a clear delivery plan in 2021.

The moving traffic enforcement powers under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 require a set of statutory instruments to be made covering enforcement, level of penalties, financial provisions, approved devices, adjudication and representations and appeals. This will take several months to bring into force, after which those local authorities with civil parking enforcement powers can apply for a designation order for moving traffic enforcement. Statutory guidance is being developed for local authorities on how to use the powers, including publicising their introduction in advance, to ensure that enforcement is carried out fairly.

The Department will, as a matter of course, publish any inquiries it is required to do so as part of the terms of reference for that inquiry. For those where publication is not a requirement, Ministers will take a decision to publish on a case-by-case basis.

I can confirm that the Department for Transport has received the expression of interest for the Maid Marian line for the Restoring Your Railway Ideas fund. Full applications now need to be submitted by the deadline of 19 June 2020. All bids will be assessed on their merit.

The question of workplace safety and wellbeing is a matter for rail employers to address with their staff. However, the Department works with the British Transport Police (BTP), including on joint initiatives such as the secure stations scheme, to tackle crime on the railways in Great Britain.

As part of its work to tackle violent crime, BTP also undertakes activity to address violence against staff specifically and holds a work place violence group with industry representative to identify and share best practice on a national basis. This includes supporting the use of Body-Worn Video (BWV) by front line staff and establishing consistent conflict awareness training for staff.

The bus market outside London is deregulated and decisions regarding service provision are primarily a commercial matter for bus operators. However, the Bus Services Act 2017 provides the tools local authorities need to improve local bus services and increase passenger numbers.

The Government provided £1,002,539 for Nottinghamshire County Council during 2018/19 to support vulnerable services.

In addition, we have announced a further £30 million for less commercial services. Nottinghamshire County Council has been allocated £648,608 which will be available from April 2020 if the funding requirements are met. This is from the £220 million Better Deal for Bus Users package to transform bus services. The Government’s ambition is to secure a long term, sustained improvement in bus services underpinned by a National Bus Strategy for England which will be accompanied by a long-term funding settlement.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-better-deal-for-bus-users/a-better-deal-for-bus-users

On 11 February 2020, the Prime Minister announced there will be £5 billion of new funding to overhaul bus and cycle links for every region outside London which may benefit bus services serving Ashfield.

The requested information is not available. No information is held because there have been no inquiries that the Department has sponsored.

The National Health Service is focusing on reducing the number of people waiting over 62 days on cancer pathways, particularly rescheduling diagnostic procedures or treatments for those whose care was delayed by the pandemic. An additional £1 billion has been made available to the NHS in 2021/22 to support the recovery of elective activity and cancer services.

The NHS is supporting adults experiencing cancer with access to Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) mental health services, which provide evidence-based therapies for people with anxiety disorders and depression. The implementation of IAPT-Long Term Condition pathways has been identified as a priority to support integration of mental health and physical health services for people with co-morbid long-term conditions, such as cancer.

The Department has no current plans to increase the rates charged to overseas visitors for National Health Service care. However, we continue to work with NHS England and NHS Improvement to help trusts improve overseas charging processes and increase debt recovery.

The Department’s policy position at the ninth Conference of the Parties (COP9) of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control will be determined in advance of the meeting, in accordance with the 2017 Tobacco Control Plan and our ambition to be smoke free by 2030.

Departmental officials will review the agenda items and papers along with relevant required actions for opportunities to present the United Kingdom’s position, in compliance with the rules of procedure at COP9.

We are on target to deliver 50,000 more nurses by the end of this Parliament which will be achieved through increased domestic recruitment, increased international recruitment and improved retention.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation.

We are on target to deliver 50,000 more nurses by the end of this Parliament. The latest published NHS Digital statistics show the number of nurses has increased by almost 10,900 between January 2020 and January 2021, excluding health visitors and midwives.

The Government is committed to supporting the elderly and the vulnerable in society ahead of winter through offering a free seasonal flu vaccination to those over 65 years old and increased funding for National Health Service and adult social care services. We announced a further £6.6 billion funding for NHS services on 18 March 2021 and councils have access to £1 billion of additional funding for social care in 2021-22.

This year there is continued risk from COVID-19. Everybody in cohorts one to nine, which includes those aged 50 years old and over and the clinically vulnerable, have now been offered a COVID-19 vaccine and the Government has published guidance on shielding and protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable.

The Government launched a consultation on the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 and the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 as part of our statutory obligation to conduct post implementation reviews on the legislation. It is a public consultation and open to any individual or any organisation wishing to submit a response.

The Office for National Statistics’ ‘Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2019’ shows that smoking prevalence in England has decreased from 17.8% in 2014 to 13.9% in 2019. The percentage of adults using e-cigarettes in England has increased from 3.7% in 2014 to 5.5% in 2019. Of those who use e-cigarettes daily, 42% also smoke cigarettes. Among smokers and vapers, greater use of e-cigarettes is associated with lower use of smoked tobacco.

Public Health England closely monitors trends in tobacco and nicotine products and will publish its next Vaping in England report later this month. A range of data sources are used including official and academic surveys. Use of heated tobacco products has consistently remained at rates of less than 1% of the adult population in England.

The Government will review whether COVID-19 status certification could play a role in reopening the economy, reducing restrictions on social contact and improving safety. This will include assessing to what extent certification would be effective in reducing risk and the potential uses to enable access to settings or a relaxation of COVID-19 secure mitigations. The Government will also consider the ethical, equalities, privacy, legal and operational aspects of this approach and what limits, if any, should be placed on organisations using certification. It will draw on external advice to develop recommendations that take into account any social and economic impacts and implications for disproportionately impacted groups and individuals’ privacy and security. The review will also include consideration of potential solutions for people to access their COVID-19 vaccination status.

Public Heath England’s surveillance strategy monitor how effective the vaccine is at protecting against a range of outcomes, including infection, symptomatic disease, hospitalisations, mortality, and onwards transmission. The surveillance strategy is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccine-surveillance-strategy

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the UK Research and Innovation are jointly funding the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium to address key questions around the immune system’s response to COVID-19. The NIHR’s Health Protection Research Unit in Respiratory Infections is also looking at the size and longevity of the immune response.

Public Health England is leading on the surveillance of the COVID-19 vaccine programme and has developed a surveillance strategy to monitor the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against mortality, hospitalisations, confirmed infections, markers of infectiousness and the impact on transmission.

Whilst phase three clinical trials provided evidence of vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease, further evidence is needed on how effectiveness varies by subgroup, including by age. This will be done using advanced surveillance techniques once the earliest eligible cohorts have been offered a full course of vaccination.

NHS England and NHS Improvement, NHS Blood and Transplant and transplant teams have been working closely together throughout the pandemic to ensure that donation and transplant activity can safely continue for very urgent lifesaving transplants. Transplant teams have kept in close contact with patients on the lung transplant waiting list to discuss transplant options and ensure the right decisions are taken based on the patient’s clinical condition.

The national position is reviewed weekly and is highly co-ordinated to ensure all capacity for transplantation is optimised. This is despite the major impact on hospital capacity due to COVID-19. A patient’s position on the lung transplant waiting list is determined by their overall clinical status and if a lung transplant becomes available, the highest priority patient will be selected.

We recognise the vital role that unpaid carers play and the Government is developing bespoke guidance for this group, set out in a Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) which has been developed in close cooperation with carers organisations and local authorities. This guidance will be published in due course. The SOP will provide guidance on the process to support the identification and vaccination of adult unpaid carers as part of the COVID-19 vaccination programme. It is intended to support local authorities, the vaccination programme, carers organisations and unpaid carers themselves to understand the actions they should take to ensure equitable access to and uptake of vaccination by eligible unpaid carers as per the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

At the request of Public Health England, an independent and regularly updated rapid review of the international evidence on smoking and COVID-19 has been made and is available at the following link:

https://www.qeios.com/read/UJR2AW.11

The evidence on smoking and COVID-19 is mixed and developing. We do not yet have a clear picture on the impact of smoking on COVID-19 risks. There is strong evidence that smoking tobacco is generally associated with an increased risk of developing respiratory viral infections.

NHS Test and Trace will work with each local authority on an expanded community testing plan appropriate for them. This support will be rolled out during national lockdown restrictions, being kept closely under review. It will be for local authorities in partnership with their directors of public health and with the support of NHS Test and Trace to design a programme that maximises accessibility to, and take-up of, asymptomatic testing in their area. Support for the programme will be provided until at least the end of March 2021.

We are committed to improving the mental health provision for 16-18-year olds. We are implementing the three core proposals in the green paper on children and young people’s mental health, which will incentivise all schools and colleges to identify and train a senior lead for mental health; create new school and college-based mental health support teams supervised by trained children and young people’s mental health staff; and pilot a four-week waiting time for access to specialist children and young people’s mental health services.

Under the NHS Long Term Plan, at least an additional 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25 years old will be able to access support via National Health Service-funded mental health services and school or college-based mental health support teams by 2023/24 and we will extend current service models to create a comprehensive offer for 0-25 year olds that reaches across mental health services for children, young people and adults.

The Government continues to review the evidence of reduced risk products such as e-cigarettes, including their harms and usefulness as an aid to stop smoking. Although not risk free, current evidence suggests e-cigarettes are far less harmful to health than smoking and help people quit. There are already 2.5 million e-cigarettes users in England, which suggests that these products are widely accessible.

Public Health England, through their stop smoking campaigns, provides information, advice and support on using e-cigarettes to help smokers quit. Some local stop smoking services offer vouchers which can be exchanged for e-cigarettes to help smokers to switch.

The Government will consider in its next Tobacco Control Plan for England what further steps are required to provide smokers with more information about and access to reduced risk smoking-related products, including an assessment of how far these diverse products reduce risk.

A new Tobacco Control Plan for England will be published later this summer to outline the Government’s plans to achieve its ambition to be smokefree by 2030.

The Government has made the necessary legislative amendments to ensure robust tobacco control regulation continues throughout the United Kingdom after the 1 January 2021 and give effect to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Great Britain no longer has to comply with the European Union’s Tobacco Products Directive and, as part of the development of the Tobacco Control Plan for England, there will be opportunity to consider whether any regulatory changes are required to help people quit smoking and address the harms from tobacco. Any changes will be based on robust international evidence and be in the interests of public health.

The Government is committed to addressing the harms from smoking. The Department held a public consultation on its Smokefree 2030 ambition as part of the prevention green paper consultation which was published in July 2019. The Department, working with Public Health England and NHS England, will engage key stakeholders about potential proposals to include in the new plan, and this will include consideration of legislative proposals. The new tobacco control plan is expected in July 2021. No timetable has been set for any legislative changes.

The Government is committed to addressing the harms from smoking. The Department held a public consultation on its Smokefree 2030 ambition as part of the prevention green paper consultation which was published in July 2019. The Department, working with Public Health England and NHS England, will engage key stakeholders about potential proposals to include in the new plan, and this will include consideration of legislative proposals. The new tobacco control plan is expected in July 2021. No timetable has been set for any legislative changes.

The Government has accepted the recommendations from the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to authorise three COVID-19 vaccines for use - Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford/AstraZeneca and Moderna. While this approval is not specifically on the basis of economic and societal benefits, it is on the grounds of patient safety. No vaccine would be deployed in the United Kingdom unless the expected standards of safety, quality and efficacy are met.

Section 233 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 provides that the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) must have regard to the broad balance between benefits and costs and the desirability of promoting innovation. NICE is an independent organisation and is responsible for its consultation processes.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, NHS England and NHS Improvement have worked with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the cystic fibrosis (CF) clinical community to ensure additional guidance has been available to support care for patients with CF, both in hospital and away from hospital when appropriate. NICE published the ‘COVID-19 Rapid Guideline: Cystic Fibrosis’ in April 2020, which was updated in October 2020. This sets out guidance for clinicians and commissioners to maximise the safety of patients with CF and make the best use of National Health Service resources, while protecting staff from infection. The guidance is available at the following link:

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng170

Through its communication to general practitioner practices and commissioners on 31 July 2020, NHS England and NHS Improvement asked general practice to restore activity to usual levels where clinically appropriate and reach out proactively to clinically vulnerable patients and those whose care may have been delayed.

The new Respiratory Clinical Networks bring together leaders from the National Health Service and other health and social care organisations, to transform the diagnosis, treatment and care for respiratory patients in their local area, focusing on reducing inequalities.

Public Health England continue to provide advice for people with long term health conditions during COVID-19.

Solid organ transplant recipients were identified at the start of the pandemic as one of the groups of patients at highest clinical risk of COVID-19 and therefore were included in the agreed list of clinically extremely vulnerable patients. Throughout the pandemic, healthcare providers were asked to ensure care for these patients is personalised and takes account of individual circumstances such as COVID-19 risk and the impact of shielding on health and wellbeing. Such patients were able to access government support, including delivery of food and medicines and clinical advice through various routes.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance NG161 was published in April 2020 to support clinicians in the management of patients requiring systemic treatment through the pandemic. The guidance, developed by clinicians, provides advice on alternative chemotherapy treatment approaches to reduce the risk of infection to patients and avoid unnecessary admissions and visits to hospital where possible.

On 3 August 2020, NHS England and NHS Improvement announced that ‘COVID-19 friendly’ cancer treatments that are safe for patients during the pandemic will be expanded and extended through a £160 million initiative. The funding will pay for drugs that treat patients without having such a big impact on their immune system or offer other benefits such as fewer hospital visits.

Thousands of patients have already benefitted from 50 treatments approved for use as ‘swaps’ for existing drugs and more have become available thanks to a series of deals struck between the National Health Service and pharmaceutical companies.

In 2020/21 the Quality and Outcomes Framework has continued to incentivise general practice to undertake cholesterol checks on individuals prescribed a statin and those with diabetes. There has not been any recommendation that general practice should not undertake a cholesterol check where it is clinically indicated.

The NHS Health Check prevention programme has resumed in many areas. Between July and September 2020, 41,525 people had a NHS Health Check, which includes a cholesterol test.

The Terms of Reference for the review of the NHS Health Check programme were published on 11 November 2020 and are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-health-check-programme-review/review-of-nhs-health-checks-terms-of-reference

The Prevention Green Paper, ‘Advancing our health: Prevention in the 2020s’ outlined commitments with varying timelines, regarding the services we receive, the choices we make and the conditions in which we live. The Government response to the consultation has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the announcement of the National Institute for Health Protection in August, we are also considering the best future arrangements for the wide range of Public Health England’s non-health protection functions that are vital to support health improvement, prevention and delivery of health services and we will be setting out further details of our approach in due course.

The Prevention Green Paper, ‘Advancing our health: Prevention in the 2020s’ outlined commitments with varying timelines, regarding the services we receive, the choices we make and the conditions in which we live. The Government response to the consultation has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the announcement of the National Institute for Health Protection in August, we are also considering the best future arrangements for the wide range of Public Health England’s non-health protection functions that are vital to support health improvement, prevention and delivery of health services and we will be setting out further details of our approach in due course.

The NHS is investing £9 million to fund a demonstrator project to test out new ways of providing treatment to people with Atrial Fibrillation using virtual clinics. NHSX continues to support and encourage emerging innovative diagnostic tools, for example through the Artificial Intelligence Health and Care Awards.

The information is not available in the format requested. The Quality Outcomes Framework reports annually for atrial fibrillation and it is not possible to break down into monthly data.

A register of patients with atrial fibrillation is used to monitor cumulative recorded prevalence year-on-year. Recorded prevalence of atrial fibrillation increased from 1.98% in 2018/19 to 2.05% in 2019/20. Data for 2020/21 will be published during 2021.

The information is not held in the format requested. NHS Digital collects the number of finished admissions episodes which do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

The Department with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has established a single United Kingdom-wide process which labels COVID-19 research with the most potential with Urgent Public Health (UPH) status. Any trials evaluating the effectiveness of inhaled treatments are subject to this same process.

National and international trials are monitored by the RAPID-C19 initiative, which aims to get treatments for COVID-19 to National Health Service patients quickly and safely. This process begins with scanning all trials for COVID-19 treatments. Any promising drugs will be identified for further review.

Synairgen have been requested to submit a formal submission to UK-CTAP and NIHR UPH for review, where the inhaled interferon beta-1, SGN001 will be reviewed by a panel of independent experts to assess if it will be suitable to be incorporated into the RECOVERY+ trial or an independent trial, for Phase III.

UK-CTAP is an independent COVID-19 Therapeutics Advisory Panel, which will advise on what treatments should be proposed for testing through RECOVERY+. As with all other therapeutic compounds in trial, progress of the effectiveness will continue to be monitored by the Chief Medical Officer, NIHR UPH and RAPID C-19.

Public Health England (PHE) published the latest review of the evidence on e-cigarettes and vaping in England in March this year. The review provides a full analysis of trends in behaviours and attitudes relating to the use of nicotine vaping products among young people and adults. It found that prevalence of e-cigarette use has remained stable since the 2019 review.

This review can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vaping-in-england-evidence-update-march-2020

Data for 2020 will be published in early 2021 in PHE’s next e-cigarette evidence update.

One of the main aims of the Government’s Tobacco Control Plan for England is to reduce the regional and socio-economic variations in smoking rates, by achieving system-wide

change and targeting actions at the right groups.

Actions include promoting links to smoking cessation services across the whole health and care system and full implementation of relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines by 2022.

‘Smoke-free generation: tobacco control plan for England’ can be viewed at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/towards-a-smoke-free-generation-tobacco-control-plan-for-england

Local authorities are responsible for commissioning a range of stop smoking support to meet the needs of their local population. Public Health England supports local authorities to do this by providing a range of data and guidance.

The smoking rate for adults in Ashfield has seen an overall decline, from 27.8% in 2011 to 19.8% in 2019. The following table shows the trends in smoking rates for adults in Ashfield, the East Midlands and England since 2011.

Smoking trends in Ashfield, East Midlands and England, 2011 - 2019

Source: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/tobacco-control/data#page/4/gid/1938132885/pat/6/par/E12000004/ati/101/are/E07000170/iid/92443/age/168/sex/4/cid/4/page-options/cin-ci-4_ovw-do-1_car-do-0

While this is a decrease overall, rates have increased slightly in the past three years and the current rate is higher than the average for adults in England, 13.9%.

On 31 July, further guidance was issued to local National Health Service providers and commissioners on outlining the next phase of the NHS response to COVID-19 and concurrent non- COVID-19 activity. Focus is on accelerating the return of non- COVID-19 health services to near-normal levels, including making full use of available capacity between now and winter, whilst also preparing for winter demand pressures. This will be done alongside continued vigilance in light of any further COVID-19 surges. The guidance sets out that trusts and systems are now expected to re-establish (and where necessary redesign) services to deliver through their own local NHS (non-independent sector) capacity the following elective activity levels:

- In September, delivering at least 80% of last year’s activity for both overnight electives and for outpatient/daycase procedures, rising to 90% in October;

- Return to at least 90% of their last year’s levels of MRI/CT and endoscopy procedures, with the goal to reach 100% by October; and

- 100% of last year’s activity for first outpatient attendances and follow-ups (face to face or virtually) from September through the balance of the year (and aiming for 90% in August).

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, ‘Stop smoking interventions and services’, describes best practice, and, general practitioners are expected to take the guidance fully into account. The guidance recommends that for patients interested in using a nicotine-containing e-cigarette to quit smoking, the practitioner should explain that many people have found them helpful to quit smoking cigarettes and the evidence suggests e-cigarettes are substantially less harmful to health than smoking, but are not risk free, and that the evidence in this area is still developing, including evidence on the long-term health impacts.

Public Health England provides advice, information and resources for healthcare professionals on stop smoking support options, including e-cigarettes, and the evidence for their effectiveness.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, ‘Stop smoking interventions and services’, describes best practice, and, general practitioners are expected to take the guidance fully into account. The guidance recommends that for patients interested in using a nicotine-containing e-cigarette to quit smoking, the practitioner should explain that many people have found them helpful to quit smoking cigarettes and the evidence suggests e-cigarettes are substantially less harmful to health than smoking, but are not risk free, and that the evidence in this area is still developing, including evidence on the long-term health impacts.

Public Health England provides advice, information and resources for healthcare professionals on stop smoking support options, including e-cigarettes, and the evidence for their effectiveness.

The Government has a legal commitment to undertake a Post Implementation Review of the Tobacco and Related Product Regulations 2016 (TRPR) and The Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015. This will be completed by May 2021. The TRPR regulates both tobacco products and e-cigarettes. A response to the Post Implementation Reviews undertaken on tobacco legislation, implemented from 2010-2016, will be published later this year.

We continue to monitor the evidence base on the latest developments in the reduced-risk products market, including e-cigarettes, to assess their risks and evidence on how effective they are in helping smokers to quit smoking.

Public Health England will publish an evaluation of the 2019 Stoptober campaign in autumn 2020.

The 2018 Stoptober evaluation is available to view at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/835518/Stoptober_2018_evaluation.pdf

NHS England and NHS Improvement have invested £9 million in an atrial fibrillation programme to test optimal care models and the role of the wider general practice workforce including practice pharmacists and nurses.

The learning from this programme will be included in the development of the Primary Care Network cardiovascular disease prevention direct enhanced service specification and rolled out in 2021-22 to include patients with high cholesterol. This work will also support the NHS Long Term Plan ambition to improve identification of familial hypercholesterolaemia from 7% to 25%.

As we moved into the second phase of the National Health Service response to COVID-19, NHS England wrote to the service on 29 April to ask NHS local systems and organisations to step up non-COVID-19 urgent services as soon as possible. The reset of these services will be gradual, with full attention to infection prevention and control as the guiding principle. NHSE/I are working with regional systems, and have provided national advice on restoration of cardiac services. They will also monitor their capacity going forward through this next stage of restoration and recovery.

The full letter to the system can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2020/04/second-phase-of-nhs-response-to-covid-19-letter-to-chief-execs-29-april-2020.pdf

As we moved into the second phase of the National Health Service response to COVID-19, NHS England wrote to the service on 29 April to ask NHS local systems and organisations to step up non-COVID-19 urgent services as soon as possible. The reset of these services will be gradual, with full attention to infection prevention and control as the guiding principle. NHSE/I are working with regional systems, and have provided national advice on restoration of cardiac services. They will also monitor their capacity going forward through this next stage of restoration and recovery.

The full letter to the system can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2020/04/second-phase-of-nhs-response-to-covid-19-letter-to-chief-execs-29-april-2020.pdf

The CVDPREVENT data extraction will occur in autumn 2020 with the initial reporting outputs from Public Health England expected in spring 2021. NHS England and NHS Improvement have published further information on CVDPREVENT at the following link:

www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/clinical-policy/cvd/cvdprevent/

As part of their public health role, it is for local authorities to determine from whom they commission NHS Health Checks, including from community pharmacies.

The Government has commissioned an evidence-based review of the NHS Health Check programme from Public Health England with a view to maximising its benefits, and this is expected to consider and make recommendations on issues such as mode of delivery and clinical follow-up.

The NHS Long Term Plan recognised that “cardiovascular disease is the single biggest area where the NHS can save lives over the next 10 years”, principally through secondary prevention of heart attacks and strokes. NHS England is testing the most promising approaches, including through local pharmacies, for detecting hitherto undiagnosed high-risk conditions such as high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, and atrial fibrillation.

The Healthy Living Pharmacy concept has provided an opportunity for community pharmacy teams, who represent the communities they serve, to focus on consistently delivering high quality health improvement interventions, including NHS Health Checks.

An evidence synthesis commissioned by Public Health England in 2017 shows that higher levels of chronic kidney disease, hypertension, familial hypercholesterolaemia, peripheral vascular disease and type 2 diabetes are detected among people having an NHS Health Check compared to standard care. A small but significant subsequent decrease in stroke was also reported among NHS Health Check attendees as well as favourable changes in blood pressure, body mass index, and modelled cardiovascular risk.

The report can be accessed at the following link:

http://www.healthcheck.nhs.uk/seecmsfile/?id=306%5d

PHE have been commissioned by the Department to deliver an evidence-based review of the NHS Health Check programme, to inform action which will ensure it remains fit for purpose for the next 10 years and beyond.

Cholesterol is tested as part of the NHS Health Check programme and will be available to eligible people once service delivery resumes.

In addition to the NHS Health Check programme, those patients with medical conditions that require monitoring of cholesterol will have this done in the usual way through primary medical care services.

The NHS Health Check programme is playing an important role in tackling the burden of preventable diseases. Building on 10 years’ experience of the programme, the Government has commissioned Public Health England to undertake an evidence-based review of the NHS Health Check programme, in light of advances in medical and behavioural science; new digital technology, and opportunities for more innovative implementation.

The Review is being led by University College London’s Professor John Deanfield, advised by an expert panel and informed by UK and international evidence. It will build on gains delivered so far and consider what action is needed to maximise impact over the next 10 years and beyond. The Review is expected to report by spring 2021.

The Prevention Green Paper ‘Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s’ consultation closed on 14 October 2019 and attracted over 1,600 responses. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the response has been delayed. We intend to publish the Government response in due course.

NHS England and NHS Improvement expect that the outcome of the review into making high dose statins available direct from pharmacies will be made available later in the year.

The Department is sponsoring the following current inquiries - The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review and the Linden Centre (North Essex Partnership Trust).

As of 15 May, over 13,000 businesses have contacted the Government with offers of help on supplying personal protective equipment (PPE). Many are related to the manufacture of PPE for the National Health Service and care sectors, a vast majority of which we are taking forward, predominantly from United Kingdom-based companies but also including multinational companies. Some offers were not progressed due to financial and capability considerations.

The Department engages directly with potential manufacturers to qualify and prioritise the opportunity, based on availability of/access to raw supplies, lead-times to manufacture, and other commercial considerations. Product prototypes are submitted to a Technical Product Review process, to ensure they meet essential health, safety and quality standards for PPE. Financial due diligence and fraud prevention measures are also undertaken, after which the Department can contract with the manufacturer.

Lord Deighton is leading the Government’s efforts to secure sufficient PPE and ensure this gets to where it is needed. He is also driving forward coordination of the end-to-end process design and manufacture of new domestic PPE supplies. As at 15 May, the Department has entered into contract and placed orders with 8 manufacturers to provide millions of items of PPE products to the National Health Service and carers. Details of this work can be found in the links below. The volumes will increase in the coming weeks.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-more-items-of-ppe-for-frontline-staff-from-new-business-partnerships

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/70-million-face-masks-for-nhs-and-care-workers-through-new-industry-deal

The Government understands that this is a very challenging time for the UK’s retail and hospitality sector and recognises that these sectors have been significantly impacted by the pandemic.

The Government will continue to monitor developments, engage with the sector and keep under review the case for further interventions, to support business growth and employment in the retail and hospitality sectors. The best way we can support consumers and businesses is by reopening businesses when it is safe to do so.

The Government has already acted to deliver support to these sectors through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) which has been extended until April; and is protecting businesses with cash grants, Government backed finance through loan schemes, ‘Pay as You Grow’ long-term repayments options, a VAT cut, a VAT deferral for up to 12 months, a 12-month business rates holiday; and a moratorium on evictions to protect commercial tenants.

Medical research charities are an integral part of the United Kingdom’s world-leading life sciences sector and we welcome the interest of honourable members in this area. The government is monitoring the impact of Covid-19 on the work of medical research charities. To this effect, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and the Department of Health and Social Care is closely liaising with the Association of Medical Research Charities, as well as individual charities, to understand the impact of the pandemic on this sector and identify how best the Government and charities can work together to ensure that patients continue benefiting from charity funded research.

There are currently no (a) statutory or (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken with HMT as the sponsor.

The use of TASER^® remains an operational matter for Chief Officers to decide the number of TASER^® and the number of TASER^® officers deployed based on their assessments of the threats and risks in their areas.

The Home Secretary will provide £6.7 million ringfenced funding to police forces in England and Wales to purchase 8,155 TASER^® devices. This could mean more than 8,000 more officers will be able to carry TASER^®.

A total of 41 forces submitted bids and all will receive the full amount of money they requested. This will help forces to better protect themselves and the public from harm.

We have accelerated work to establish a Police Covenant, recognising the bravery and commitment of our police who work night and day to keep us safe. One of the key areas of focus will be the health and wellbeing of our police, along with physical protection and support for families.

The wellbeing of our police is a key priority for this Government and we have invested in programmes which offer help directly to officers. This included £7.5 million to fund the development of the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS), which was launched in April 2019. The NPWS has developed evidence-based guidance, advice, tools and resources which can be accessed by forces, as well as individual officers and staff. There is an emphasis on prevention, for example by helping forces to identify mental health issues early through pyschological screening, helping officers to access support earlier. This helps Chief Constables in their duty to ensure the wellbeing of all officers and staff, which includes supporting officers with specific welfare needs by signposting to relevant services and additional support.

Under the Local Government Finance Act 1988, there is statutory duty placed on the chief finance officer of local authorities to issue a Section 114 if they judge that the Council is unable to set or maintain a balanced budget. This decision rests at the local level and it is for the Council to make. Government has no role to play in the issuing of a Section 114 notice. All councils have a legal duty to balance their budgets and it is right that Nottingham Council takes the decisions it considers necessary to manage its own finances.

MHCLG is not sponsoring any statutory or non-statutory public inquiries.

Social landlords have the power to seek the re-possession of a tenant’s home where they can demonstrate to the court that the tenant concerned is in breach of the terms of their tenancy agreement

Landlords can rely on the further remedies available through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 ('the 2014 Act') which provides the police, local authorities and other local agencies with a range of flexible tools and powers that they can use to respond quickly and effectively to anti-social behaviour.

In response to the Covid-19 emergency, all possession cases before the courts, including possession action against tenants for anti-social behaviour, have been suspended for 3 months. This reflects Public Health England’s advice that moving home at the moment is strongly advised against.