Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lyn Brown and Theresa May

Wednesday 13th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I was tempted to start by saying that I suspect his mother and I were at the school at a different time—[Interruption.] Oh, he says it is true. Good.

I recognise that we have asked schools to do more. We have responded with £1.3 billion extra investment in our schools this year and next, so the core schools budget will rise by around £2.6 billion in total, and the Government are protecting overall per-pupil funding in real terms. Every school is attracting at least 1% more per pupil by next year, and thousands of schools will attract significantly larger gains of up to 3% per pupil per year.

That investment will mean more children having the chance of a better future, but the quality of education also matters. I commend my hon. Friend’s mother, who I understand was a teacher, for the work she has done in education. I say thanks from the whole House to all our teachers up and down the country for the work they are doing in education.

[Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)]

Q7. As I told the Prime Minister a month ago, my constituent Maryam was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy 1 —SMA1—in November last year when she was just four months old. She needs Spinraza now and is likely to live only a few months without it. NICE met last week but, cruelly, to date has not even announced a decision. Last time, the Prime Minister told me to see a Minister—I did, and nothing changed. All I am asking is that baby Maryam has the same chance of getting Spinraza as she would have if she lived in Scotland, Germany, Italy, Romania or 20 other European countries. Let me be clear: I am asking the Prime Minister to intervene. Will she?

[The Prime Minister]

I am sure that everybody across the House sends their sympathies and concerns to the family of Maryam. We recognise that this must be an incredibly difficult time. Decisions on such matters are rightly taken not by politicians but by clinicians. I understand that the hon. Lady recently met my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary, and as she says, NICE considered the relevant information and recommendations at its appraisal committee meeting on 6 March. It is right, however, that the benefits and evidence in relation to new medicines be properly considered by the experts and clinicians in the field. The Department of Health and Social Care is working with NICE on this issue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lyn Brown and Theresa May

Wednesday 13th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The question of the size of government is something that several colleagues raise from time to time. I must put my hand up and admit the role that I played in that by creating the Department for Exiting the European Union and the Department for International Trade, and of course we are also employing more civil servants to ensure that we deliver on Brexit, something which I believe is close to my hon. Friend’s heart.

[Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)]

Maryam is just six months old, and she is beautiful. She was recently diagnosed with a devastating form of muscular dystrophy. Her brother had the same condition and died tragically young. Spinraza is a new and highly effective drug produced by Biogen that is available in 23 countries, but not in England. If Maryam lived in the west of Scotland instead of West Ham, she would get it. Negotiations between the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and Biogen have been unsuccessful, leaving Maryam and two other babies as tiny pawns in an argument about price and profit. Will the Prime Minister please intervene and help prevent Maryam and others from suffering an early and painful death?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady raises that case with great passion, and I will ensure that a Minister from the Department of Health and Social Care looks at the matter and responds to her.