Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 14 November 2022 to Question 80961 on Nutrition, whether he has made an estimate of the levels of consumption by children of products containing over 50 per cent of fruit, nuts and seeds.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons the regulations on products high in fat, salt and sugar came into force before the publication of a consultation on which products would be in scope of those regulations; and whether his Department plans to publish a consultation.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Our intention is only to apply the restrictions of foods high in fat, salt or sugar in stores and online to those categories of food and drink which contribute substantially to children's sugar and calorie intakes and are therefore of most concern to childhood obesity. To determine if a product is in scope of the Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021, the product must firstly fall in one of 13 categories of food and drink listed in the regulations. Products such as sweet biscuits in category seven or confectionary in category four meet the first criteria. The approach taken regarding these specific products is aligned with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ sugar and calorie reduction and reformulation programmes.
The Nutrient Profiling Model 2004/05 and associated 2011 technical guidance is applied to determine if a product is subject to the restrictions. This takes into account the proportion of beneficial nutrients, including fruit, nuts and seeds and nutrients of concern, such as saturated fat, sugar, salt and calories. If a food product scores four or more or a drink product scores one or more, the product is considered less healthy and in scope of the restrictions. The Government consulted on the product categories in scope of the Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021 between 12 January 2019 and 6 April 2019. The Government’s response to the consultation was published on 28 December 2020.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason products containing over 50 per cent of fruit, nuts and seeds are within scope of the regulations on products high in fat, salt and sugar under category seven on sweet biscuits but out of scope under category four on confectionery.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Our intention is only to apply the restrictions of foods high in fat, salt or sugar in stores and online to those categories of food and drink which contribute substantially to children's sugar and calorie intakes and are therefore of most concern to childhood obesity. To determine if a product is in scope of the Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021, the product must firstly fall in one of 13 categories of food and drink listed in the regulations. Products such as sweet biscuits in category seven or confectionary in category four meet the first criteria. The approach taken regarding these specific products is aligned with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ sugar and calorie reduction and reformulation programmes.
The Nutrient Profiling Model 2004/05 and associated 2011 technical guidance is applied to determine if a product is subject to the restrictions. This takes into account the proportion of beneficial nutrients, including fruit, nuts and seeds and nutrients of concern, such as saturated fat, sugar, salt and calories. If a food product scores four or more or a drink product scores one or more, the product is considered less healthy and in scope of the restrictions. The Government consulted on the product categories in scope of the Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021 between 12 January 2019 and 6 April 2019. The Government’s response to the consultation was published on 28 December 2020.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government has made an assessment of the impact of delaying the procurement of covid-19 treatment Evusheld on people who are immunocompromised; and if he will review the decision not to procure Evusheld for use in treatment of vulnerable people during winter 2022-23.
Answered by Will Quince
Based on the evidence and after careful analysis and consideration, the UK Government has decided not to procure Evusheld for prevention through emergency routes at this time. However, the UK Government has referred Evusheld to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for evaluation, which provides evidence-based, rigorous evaluation of the clinical and cost effectiveness of medicines for use in the NHS. This is a decision based on independent clinical advice by RAPID C-19 (a multi-agency group) and a UK National Expert Policy Working Group and reflecting the epidemiological context and wider policies in our pandemic response and recovery. RAPID C-19 considered that there remained uncertainty that Evusheld would prevent symptomatic COVID-19 caused by current Omicron variants in the vulnerable population who would potentially be eligible. There are no current plans for any further review of the decision. RAPID C-19 will continue to keep Evusheld (and other COVID-19 treatments) under active review.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the provision of mental health support available for veterans.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
NHS England has several bespoke services and initiatives to meet the needs of the armed forces community. This includes Op COURAGE and the Veterans’ Mental Health and Wellbeing Service, which provides a mental health care pathway for veterans. Veterans benefit from personalised care plans and access to support and treatment. There have been over 20,000 referrals to Op COURAGE and in 2021, we committed an additional £2.7 million to further expand the service over the next three years. In addition, the Veterans Strategy Action Plan was published in January 2022, which aims to improve veterans’ health and wellbeing.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 support the efforts to (a) improve cancer services across the NHS and (b) find a lasting cure for cancer.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The NHS Long Term Plan committed to improve cancer services to increase the proportion of cancers diagnosed at Stage 1 and 2 to 75% by 2028. This aims to ensure that an additional 55,000 people each year will survive cancer for at least five years after their diagnosis. We are currently analysing the responses submitted through the call for evidence to develop the 10 Year Cancer Plan, which will be published later this year. The Plan will provide further detail on how we will improve cancer services.
The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In 2020/21, the NIHR’s expenditure on cancer research was £73.5 million. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including treatments for cancer, and encourages researchers to submit high-quality research proposals in this area.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that health and care services are well integrated.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The integration white paper, published on 9 February 2022, sets out our policy on integrating health care and social care, complementing the measures in the Health and Social Care Bill and the adult social care reform white paper.
The white paper describes a shared outcomes framework and single accountable person for these outcomes. This will support local organisations to collaborate to prioritise and integrate services. We expect organisations will identify a single accountable person by spring 2023. The white paper also identifies that specific policies, such as those related to workforce, digital and data, financial pooling and alignment and oversight and leadership can enable greater integration.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the cost of hormone replacement therapy for women.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We remain committed to reducing the cost of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescriptions for those women who are not already exempt from prescription charges.
We will achieve this through an annual prescription prepayment certificate for HRT, which is due to be implemented from April 2023. This certificate will allow individuals to access the annual licensed HRT treatments they require for the cost of two single prescription items at £18.70.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to provide medical support to Ukraine.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The Government has donated more than 5.2 million medical items to Ukraine, including 380,000 packs of vital medicines, 220,000 wound packs and intensive care equipment.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on recruiting 50,000 nurses.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The latest available date shows that in January 2022, there are approximately 29,100 more nurses compared to September 2019. A programme has been established to improve retention and support return to practice, invest in and diversify the training pipeline and ethically recruit internationally.