Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Great British Summer Savings scheme to include admission to public swimming pools.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

From 25 June to 1 September the Government is introducing a temporary reduced rate of VAT on children's menu meals and eligible family attractions.

This is a targeted and temporary scheme to reduce the costs of children’s meals in restaurants, children’s tickets for theatres and cinemas and tickets for everyone for attractions like soft play, adventure centres, and theme parks, helping families enjoy a day out for less. Individual businesses should consult HMRC’s guidance to determine how the rules apply in their circumstances.

Sport, including swimming pools, is not in scope of the relief. This is in line with the decision to focus on a narrower set of eligible activities to ensure the scheme is targeted and financially sustainable.

Many sports facilities which families use already enjoy some form of VAT relief, including many leisure centres and local swimming pools that are operated by local authorities and are out of scope of VAT already. Local authorities are able to reclaim their input VAT when providing sports facilities in leisure centres.

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 ensure that people with complex dementia needs, including those requiring one-to-one support, can access safe and suitable care placements following discharge from hospital.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises the challenges in securing suitable care placements for people with complex needs including dementia. National Health Service bodies and local authorities are expected to work together to plan discharge early and ensure that care arrangements, including one-to-one support, are reflective to individual needs following discharge from hospital.

Through reforms to the Better Care Fund, integrated care boards and local authorities are expected to strengthen joint planning and work with providers to develop more integrated and effective care services to meet demand, including for people with complex dementia needs.

Additionally, the Government will deliver the first ever Modern Service framework for Frailty and Dementia, setting national standards for dementia and frailty care and redirecting NHS and adult social care priorities to provide the best possible care and support. Those with dementia and/or frailty will also benefit from more joined up care through co-created care plans, and by 2027, 95% of those with complex needs will have an agreed care plan.

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 ensure that patients prescribed dopamine agonists are informed about the risk of impulse control disorders.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring that medicines and healthcare products meet appropriate standards of safety, quality, and effectiveness and are supported by detailed product information, via the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) and the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC). The PIL and SmPC are designed to support safe use of the medicine by providing essential information. It is the responsibility of the healthcare professional prescribing medicines to consider the risk of the medicine and the suitability of that medicine for their patient, and to relay any safety information on the side-effects of the medicine to their patient.

The association between impulse control disorders with dopamine agonists is recognised and it’s recommended that patients should be regularly monitored and also made aware of the risk of impulse control disorders. These risks are outlined in the product information for all dopamine agonists.

The MHRA is considering whether further regulatory action is needed to improve awareness and understanding of the established risks of impulse control disorders among patients and healthcare professionals. This work does not reassess the safety of these medicines, but focuses on whether additional regulatory measures could strengthen communication of these risks.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for producing guidance for the National Health Service and wider health and care system. The NICE guideline, reference code NG71, covers diagnosing and managing Parkinson's disease in people aged 18 years old and over and includes advice about discussing the risks of impulse control disorders. The NICE guideline is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng71/chapter/Recommendations

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the Licensing Act 2003 in regulating the placement of alcohol products in retail premises near products primarily intended for children.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Licensing Act 2003 provides the legal framework for the sale and supply of alcohol in England and Wales. The regulatory regime provided by the Act is underpinned by four core licensing objectives, one of which is the protection of children from harm. License holders are expected to uphold the licensing objectives and Licensing Authorities have substantial powers available to them to address irresponsible or illegal alcohol sales. This includes reviewing a premises licence, imposing license conditions, suspending a licence or, in the most serious cases, revoking it.

It is also an offence under section 141 of the Act for a person to knowingly sell or attempt to sell alcohol to a person who is underage, or to allow alcohol to be sold to such a person. As such, the Government considers that the existing framework provides a robust set of tools to deal with irresponsible retailers.

National Emergency Briefing

Toxicity testing on animals

Orgreave Inquiry

England men's football team

Draft Code of Practice on Services, public functions and associations

Prison education insourcing

Found: ; Sir Christopher Chope; Mary Kelly Foy; Gurinder Singh Josan; John Lamont; Mr Tom Morrison; Lee Pitcher