Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Outlaw discrimination against those who do not get a Covid-19 vaccination
Gov Responded - 29 Apr 2021 Debated on - 20 Sep 2021 View Maggie Throup's petition debate contributionsThe individual must remain sovereign over their own body, discrimination against those who cannot or will not be vaccinated against COVID is incompatible with a free democracy. The Government must take firm action to prevent 'vaccination passports' and discriminatory 'no jab, no job' policies.
Do not require health and social care workers to take covid-19 vaccination
Gov Responded - 29 Jun 2021 Debated on - 20 Sep 2021 View Maggie Throup's petition debate contributionsWe, the people, demand that health and social care workers are given the right to exercise free will in relation to any medical procedure and so to be able to refuse to take the covid 19 vaccination without fear of facing discrimination at work or in wider society.
These initiatives were driven by Maggie Throup, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Maggie Throup has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Maggie Throup has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
A Bill to require commercial organisations and public bodies to include a statement on slavery and human trafficking in their annual report and accounts; and to require contracting authorities to exclude from procurement procedures economic operators who have not provided such a statement; and for connected purposes.
Sun Protection Products (Value Added Tax) Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Amy Callaghan (SNP)
Sale of Tobacco (Licensing) Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Bob Blackman (Con)
Forensic Science Regulator Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Chris Green (Con)
Electric Vehicles (Standardised Recharging) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Bill Wiggin (Con)
Registration of Marriage (No. 2) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Caroline Spelman (Con)
Service Animals (Offences) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Oliver Heald (Con)
We are grateful to the DCMS Committee for its wide-ranging report on the future of the National Lottery and the lotteries sector. The Department and the Gambling Commission have now submitted responses to the Committee’s recommendations.
As set out in ARIA’s Framework Agreement, ARIA will have maximum autonomy over its research and project choice; its procedures; and its institutional culture. Decisions on the programme portfolio will be set by ARIA, not ministers, and allocation of funding to research projects will be decided by those with relevant technical expertise.
Over the coming months, ARIA is recruiting its first cohort of Programme Directors, who will help to shape and inform the Agency’s first set of research programmes.
The £1.6bn returned to HM Treasury, was part of funding put aside in the Spending Review for association to Horizon Europe. As we have been unable to associate in the financial year 2022/23, the departmental underspend was returned to the Exchequer. Any funding required for association in future years will be made available once there is clarity on UK association to EU programmes.
Regardless of whether we reach an agreement with the EU on association, or launch our proposed alternative, the Government will ensure that UK researchers and businesses continue to benefit from world-leading collaboration opportunities in Europe and beyond.
The Government has committed £1.5bn in additional resources to support people fleeing oppression in Ukraine and Afghanistan. Recognising these significant and unanticipated costs, the UK remains committed to the use of ODA to fund research that can provide new solutions to critical challenges in development, and. We have robust mechanisms in place to assess the impact and value-for-money of our ODA-funded research programmes, which along with the priorities established by UK International Development Strategy, such as global health, are used to inform spending decisions on projects such as those linked to Antimicrobial Resistance.
Ministers regularly discuss a range of issues with their counterparts in other Government departments. Utility companies have a right of access to the highway to install and repair the apparatus on which we all rely. Highway authorities have duties to coordinate works on their networks and to secure the expeditious movement of traffic. The Government has introduced a number of initiatives, such as the development of Street Manager, and regulatory changes all designed to improve the efficiency of how works are carried out.
NHS England is working on a plan to ensure sufficient workforce capacity, including for community diagnostic centres, to enable workforce expansion with the right skills and roles, in the right locations and at the right time. In 2022/23, this resulted in over 4,300 new starters across the training pipeline for diagnostics and cancer.
In line with the recommendations of the Richards’ Review (2021), community diagnostic centres (CDCs) must offer a minimum set of diagnostic services across the following core modalities:
- imaging, for example, computerised tomography, magnetic resonance imaging;
- physiological measurement, for example, echocardiography, spirometry; and
- pathology, for example, phlebotomy, urine testing.
Large CDCs must also offer endoscopy services, for example, gastroscopy and colonoscopy, as part of their core offer.
There are no current plans to expand the core list of services required by CDCs. CDCs are however encouraged to offer other tests beyond the minimum requirement where this may be appropriate and deemed to be a priority locally. NHS England does not currently publish a breakdown of all CDC activity.
There are 135 CDCs currently operational, and the CDC programme has delivered over five million tests since reporting in July 2021, which is currently ahead of planned programme activity. The Government has also confirmed it is now on track to meet its target to open up to 160 CDCs by March 2025, and expects to achieve this a year early in March 2024.
In line with the recommendations of the Richards’ Review (2021), community diagnostic centres (CDCs) must offer a minimum set of diagnostic services across the following core modalities:
- imaging, for example, computerised tomography, magnetic resonance imaging;
- physiological measurement, for example, echocardiography, spirometry; and
- pathology, for example, phlebotomy, urine testing.
Large CDCs must also offer endoscopy services, for example, gastroscopy and colonoscopy, as part of their core offer.
There are no current plans to expand the core list of services required by CDCs. CDCs are however encouraged to offer other tests beyond the minimum requirement where this may be appropriate and deemed to be a priority locally. NHS England does not currently publish a breakdown of all CDC activity.
There are 135 CDCs currently operational, and the CDC programme has delivered over five million tests since reporting in July 2021, which is currently ahead of planned programme activity. The Government has also confirmed it is now on track to meet its target to open up to 160 CDCs by March 2025, and expects to achieve this a year early in March 2024.
We remain committed to improving sexual and reproductive health in England.
The Department published a HIV Action Plan in 2021 setting out our actions during 2022-2025 to move towards ending new HIV transmissions, AIDS and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030. Good progress has been made during the first year of its implementation, as set out by the annual report to Parliament published on 7 June. In 2022 we published the Women’s Health Strategy for England setting out our 10 year ambitions and actions to improve health for women and girls.
As part of the HIV Action Plan, the Department is investing over £3.5 million to deliver the National HIV Prevention Programme, a nationally co-ordinated programme of HIV prevention work, including public campaigns such as National HIV Testing Week, that is designed to complement locally commissioned prevention activities in areas of high HIV prevalence. HPE also aims to improve knowledge and understating of HIV transmission and reducing stigma within affected communities.
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, open access sexual health services to meet local demand and individual local authorities decide on spending priorities based on an assessment of local need for sexual health services, including HIV prevention and testing. We are providing more than £3.5 billion this financial year to local authorities through the Public Health Grant to fund public health services, including sexual health services, increasing to £3.575 billion in 2024/25
HIV Prevention England (HPE) is the national HIV prevention programme for England and is funded at £3.5 million by the Department. The programme aims to support communities who are disproportionately affected by HIV, including gay, bisexual and men who have sex with men and Black African heterosexual men and women.
The Department has appointed Terrence Higgins Trust, a national charity who provide services related to sexual heath and HIV, to deliver the programme from 2021-2024. HPE delivers a nationally co-ordinated programme of HIV prevention work that is designed to complement locally commissioned prevention activities in areas with high HIV prevalence and for communities at risk of HIV transmission, with a particular focus on women. HPE also aims to improve knowledge and understanding of HIV transmission and reduce stigma within affected communities through the delivery of public campaigns such as National HIV Testing Week, and evidence-based HIV prevention interventions in partnership with local organisations and charities, including women-led organisations.
HPE work with a wide range of models and their network of influencers. As part of HPE campaigns, a range of people share their stories and experiences on HIV, STIs and sexual health this includes women and other people who are likely to be recognisable to specific demographics.
The Department has no current plans to provide healthcare providers with training in gender-sensitive and culturally competent care for women seeking HIV services. Individual employers providing HIV care are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role.
The standard of training for health care professionals is the responsibility of respective independent statutory regulatory bodies who set the outcome standards expected at undergraduate level and approve courses. It is the responsibility of higher education institutions to write and teach the curricula content that enables their students to meet the regulators’ outcome standards.
Vaccine uptake rates are considered in the planning for future vaccination programmes. However, no assessment has been made of the potential impacts of changes to the eligibility criteria for flu and COVID-19 vaccines on vaccine uptake rates. This is because the primary aim of the COVID-19 and flu vaccination programme continues to be the prevention of severe disease (hospitalisation and mortality) and vaccination is therefore offered to those at greatest risk of serious disease.
Policy options based on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice on a potentially expanded vaccination programme for respiratory syncytial virus are currently being developed by the Department, working with the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England. The Government will then announce its plans once complete.
The Department is guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on the approach to the immunisation programmes in England. Details about the flu vaccination programme for 2023/24, including which groups will be eligible for a free vaccine and the vaccines that will be reimbursable to National Health Service providers, were published on 25 May 2023. The groups eligible for a free flu vaccine for the 2023 to 2024 season include those aged 65 years and over and those aged six months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, eligibility for the influenza programme was temporarily extended to include all adults aged between 50 and 64 years of age to protect the population from the potential threat of cocirculation of COVID-19 and influenza and alleviate pressure on the NHS. In the JCVI’s advice for the 2023/24 programme published in November 2022, it stated that whilst there would be a health benefit in vaccinating low risk 50–64-year-olds, it is uncertain whether this would be cost effective and that the overall priority should be to extend the childhood programme in secondary schools as this would be more cost effective and likely to have a greater impact on morbidity and mortality compared with vaccinating 50-64 year olds. An expansion of the flu programme to include secondary school-aged children was announced on 4 July 2023.
Policy options based on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice on a potentially expanded vaccination programme for respiratory syncytial virus are currently being developed by the Department, working with the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England.
There is currently an existing, targeted immunisation programme in place to protect infants at high risk of complications if infected by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
To support the effective management of infection levels, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will monitor weekly levels of RSV and bronchiolitis, a condition associated with RSV in young children. UKHSA also leads public health messaging on social, national, and regional media, highlighting the signs and symptoms of RSV and the steps which can be taken to reduce infections, including reducing risks to babies.
The UK Health Security Agency collects data on shingles vaccine uptake including immunocompromised individuals. This data collection has been in place since the start of the programme in September 2021. Data will be published subject to quality validation processes.
A plan is in place to collect data to monitor the uptake in new cohorts who will be eligible for Shingrix from 1 September 2023, with the intention to publish this data in February 2024.
It is vitally important that everyone takes up the vaccinations to which they are entitled; for themselves, their families and wider society. The Department continues to use the best available evidence to demonstrate the health benefits of vaccinations at both a personal and population level, and highlights these messages through regular media, stakeholder and social media engagement. The Department also works closely with both NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency to develop vaccination guides and patient facing consent resources to demonstrate the benefits of vaccinations for all, as well as ensuring that reputable sources such as NHS.UK or GOV.UK are prominent and readily signposted.
A paid for campaign to promote uptake of seasonal flu and COVID-19 booster vaccinations for this season is in development, due to launch in early November 2023.
The Department is guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on the approach to the immunisation programmes in England. Their decision is informed by the cost effectiveness of different vaccines and different vaccine policies, which evaluate the health impacts of vaccines versus the costs. However, they do not consider the impact on the economy. The Department will continue to be guided by JCVI advice, which is based on a cost-effectiveness approach to appraising vaccines.
The Department’s objective is to improve the health of the population. Influenza has a significant impact in terms of morbidity and mortality. It will also have an economic impact, as do most other health conditions. Vaccines are the best defence we have against respiratory infections such as flu. They provide good protection against hospitalisation and death. They also reduce the risk of long-term symptoms.
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This information is published at the following links:
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Flu vaccine uptake is published at the following links:
The 2022/23 campaign to promote uptake of seasonal flu and COVID-19 booster vaccinations had a media spend of £3.02 million. This was an integrated winter vaccinations campaign therefore it is not possible to split out the spend by vaccine. The 2021/22 campaign to promote uptake of seasonal flu and COVID-19 booster vaccinations had a media spend of £11.5 million. This was also an integrated winter vaccinations campaign and spend cannot be separated out by vaccine.
The Department together with the National Health Service and UK Health Security Agency are providing advice and information to support those getting the COVID-19 and flu vaccines and to anyone who might have questions about the vaccination process.
Our communications include information and advice shared via television, radio and social media. This has been translated into 28 languages including Albanian, Arabic, Brazilian, Chinese, Hindi, Polish, Tagalog and Urdu. A new country-wide marketing campaign urging millions of eligible people to get their flu and COVID-19 booster vaccines to top up their immunity was launched on 24 October 2022. This includes targeted communications for ethnic minority communities, with a particular focus on those with low vaccine confidence.
Multicultural community activity is seeing teams of campaign ambassadors engage with a range of different ethnic groups who tend to be more vaccine hesitant. This is taking place across the country in high footfall places of worship and nearby community settings.
The information requested is not held centrally. However, the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publish seasonal influenza vaccine uptake in general practitioner patients. The following table shows the provisional monthly data for 1 September 2022 to 30 November 2022 for various cohorts and seasonal influenza vaccine uptake provisional data for all school aged primary school children in England given from the 1 September 2022 to the 30 November 2022.
Cohort | Uptake 30 November 2022 (%) |
65 years old and over | 76.2 |
6 months old to under 65 years old at-risk | 42.7 |
Pregnant women | 30.0 |
50 years old to under 65 years old and not in a clinical risk group | 35.6 |
50 years old to 65 years old and in a clinical risk group | 56.7 |
All 2 year olds (combined) | 34.5 |
All 3 year olds (combined) | 36.7 |
Reception (age 4 years old to 5 years old) | 47.8 |
Year 1 (age 5 years old to 6 years old) | 48.3 |
Year 2 (age 6 years old to 7 years old) | 49.3 |
Year 3 (age 7 years old to 8 years old) | 48.9 |
Year 4 (age 8-9 years old) | 48.2 |
Year 5 (age 9-10 years old) | 47.5 |
Year 6 (age 10-11 years old) | 46.0 |
All primary school age (age 4 years old to 11 years old) | 48.0 |
Source: Seasonal influenza vaccine uptake in GP patients: monthly data, 2022 to 2023 and Seasonal influenza vaccine uptake in children of school age: monthly data, 2022 to 2023, UKHSA
Data for December 2022 will be published at the end of January 2023 and data for secondary school aged children will be published on 26 January 2023.
UKHSA has published provisional data for Seasonal influenza uptake amongst frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) in England 2022 to 2023 for the period 1 September 2022 to 30 November 2022, it is 41.8%. The data for December 2022 will be published at the end of January 2023.
As of the week, ending 18 December 2022, the proportions who had received their flu vaccination for the 2022 to 2023 season were, 70.1% of total residents and 13.8% of total staff of older adult care homes:
Vaccine uptake for carers will be published in the 2022 to 2023 annual report
The information requested is not held. However, the following table shows the booster uptake in age group from 50 years old to 90 years old and over by 30 November 2022 and 31 December 2022.
Age Group | Booster uptake 30 November 2022 (%) | Booster uptake 31 December 2022 (%) |
50-54 years old | 38.3 | 41.8 |
55-59 years old | 48.5 | 51.5 |
60-64 years old | 58.1 | 60.8 |
65-69 years old | 70.1 | 71.6 |
70-74 years old | 77.5 | 78.7 |
75-79 years old | 80.8 | 82.1 |
80-84 years old | 81.2 | 82.5 |
85-89 years old | 80.7 | 82.2 |
90+ years old | 77.9 | 79.9 |
Source: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations?areaType=nation&areaName=England
Data on vaccine uptake in pregnant women is published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in the Vaccine Surveillance Report, data is available up to June 2022. Of women who gave birth in June 2022, 67.3%, 24,933 of 37,037, had received 2 doses of the vaccine before they gave birth.
The National Health Service publishes data on the total number of people who have had an Autumn Booster dose to date, 12 January for Health Care Workers, immunosuppressed and those at risk in the age bracket, of five years old to 49 years old. Individuals identified as carers in their general practitioner record were included in this cohort but from 1 December 2022 carers are no longer included.
UKHSA publish monthly reports on seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccine uptake in frontline healthcare workers. Data published to the end of November 2022 showed that in 165 NHS Trusts providing a return, 338,602 frontline healthcare workers had received a COVID vaccine since 1 September 2022, an uptake of 36.3 %.
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) remains committed to investing in Product Development Partnerships and other global health Research and Development organisations. We plan to launch a call for proposals for funding the development of products and technologies to combat diseases of poverty, for use in Low and Lower Middle Income Countries.
At this stage, FCDO plans to invest approximately £230 million in new funding for product development research for health over a 3 - 4 year period from 2023/24.
Over the last 5 financial years (2018/19 to 2022/23) the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) have invested the following amounts in research and development for vaccines to combat diseases of poverty for use in low and lower middle-income countries:
2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
£8,528,752 | £29,589,803 | £213,773,395 | £2,391,511 | £13,012,567 |
To date, FCDO has entered into agreements to invest the following amounts on vaccine Research and Development over the next 5 financial years (2023/24 to 2027/28)*:
2023/24 | 2024/25 | 2025/26 | 2026/27 | 2027/28 |
£17,008,587 | £18,626,489 | £17,253,808 | £17,000,000 | £0 |
* The overall investment in vaccine development could increase as a result of a planned funding competition for the research and development of health products to combat diseases of poverty.
The UK supports the expansion of vaccine manufacturing in low- and middle-income countries and is working with international and regional partners (including Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM)), development banks and the private sector to catalyse strategic investments for vaccine manufacturing in these countries. The UK is the second largest funder of Gavi, who are developing a strategy to support regional manufacturing capacity in low- and middle-income countries. The strategy aims to address barriers to investment in regional manufacturing and support efficient market outcomes.
The vast majority of local authorities have received their Year 1 UKSPF allocation. DLUHC is working with the remaining local authorities to ensure any validation conditions have been met so that payments can be made as soon as possible. Future payments for local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales will be made near the beginning of the Financial Year on an annual basis.