Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department collects data on the prevalence of the use of smacking by parents as a form of punishment in (a) Norfolk and (b) other counties.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The government does not wish to interfere in how loving families bring up their children. Legislation already exists to ban the beating of children by their parents; the defence of reasonable chastisement can only be used when a parent is accused of assault and not when the charge is actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm or child cruelty.
The government is aware of recent legislation in Scotland and plans for similar legislation in Wales. We have conducted no recent assessment of the merits of legislation to ban the physical punishment of children by their parents, nor have we gathered information about the public’s view of this issue or assessed the effect of smacking on children’s mental health. We have not collected data on the prevalence of smacking in Norfolk or the rest of England.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the risks posed to people living with disabilities by a lack of availability of (a) medicines and (b) essential medical equipment in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department is doing everything appropriate to prepare for leaving the European Union. We want to reassure patients that our plans should ensure the uninterrupted supply of medicines and medical products once we have left the EU.
The Department, as part of our EU exit preparations, has analysed the supply chains of over 12,000 licensed medicines used by patients in the United Kingdom and close to half a million product lines of medical devices and clinical consumables with an EU/European Economic Area touchpoint. This approach means that the medicines and medical equipment used by people living with disabilities are included within our planning.
We continue to implement a multi-layered approach to mitigate potential disruption to supply, which consists of stockpiling where possible, securing freight capacity, changing or clarifying regulatory requirements, procuring additional warehousing, working closely with industry to improve trader readiness and putting in place the National Supply Disruption Response to manage potential shortages. Further details can be found at the following link:
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many meetings officials in his Department have had with EU officials in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by James Duddridge
Discussions between senior DExEU officials and their EU counterparts are ongoing. Over 60 engagements have taken place during the past twelve months (not including formal negotiations). This also excludes instances where DExEU senior officials have accompanied Ministers to meetings with EU officials (Member States and Institutions).
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether anti-epileptic drugs are exempted from serious shortage protocols; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the use of such protocols on (a) people with learning disabilities and (b) their families in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
While Serious Shortage Protocols (SSP) in England have the scope to cover all medicines and appliances that are on a National Health Service prescription in primary care, including anti-epileptic drugs, it is clear that an SSP for therapeutic or generic equivalents will not necessarily be suitable for all medicines and patients. For example, where medicines need to be prescribed by brand for clinical reasons, which is the case for epilepsy medication.
Any protocol would only be introduced if clinicians with expertise in the relevant area think it is appropriate. Pharmacists will have to use their professional judgment as to whether supplying against the protocol rather than the prescription is appropriate or the patient should be referred to their prescriber.
The legislation enabling Ministers to issue SSPs was not introduced as a European Union exit measure alone but as a business-as-usual measure that can be used before and after our exit from the EU.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of anti-epilepsy medications in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department is doing everything appropriate to prepare for leaving the European Union. We want to reassure patients that our plans should ensure the uninterrupted supply of medicines and medical products, including those used for the treatment of epilepsy, once we have left the EU.
The Department, as part of our EU exit preparations, is implementing a multi-layered approach to mitigate potential disruption to supply, which consists of stockpiling where possible, securing freight capacity, changing or clarifying regulatory requirements, procuring additional warehousing, working closely with industry to improve trader readiness and putting in place the National Supply Disruption Response to manage potential shortages. Further details can be found at the following link:
We have been working closely with suppliers to monitor over 300 different epilepsy medicines provided by almost 50 companies and we are pleased to see many are holding stockpiles far beyond the six weeks’ additional buffer we requested. We also know that the vast majority of those suppliers with lower levels of stockpiles are taking action to re-route their supply chains away from the short straits crossings where applicable.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many meetings she had with her Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser from 1 June to 31 August 2019.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra’s former Chief Scientific Adviser Ian Boyd left Defra at the end of August and on 1 October 2019 Gideon Henderson was appointed. The Secretary of State was appointed on the 24 July 2019 and has not yet held any bilateral meetings with the Chief Scientific Adviser since this date and 31 August 2019. The Chief Scientific Adviser regularly attends other Secretary of State meetings on wider issues.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many meetings she had with her Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser from 1 June to 31 August 2019.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Home Office Ministers have regular meetings with Ministerial colleagues and others as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many meetings (a) members of the Cabinet and (b) their predecessors have had with EU officials in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The requested information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many meetings officials in his Departmental have had with EU officials in each of the last twelve months.
Answered by James Duddridge
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many meetings she had with her Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser from 1 June to 31 August 2019.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There were no meetings between the Secretary of State and her Departments Chief Scientific Officer from 1 June to 31 August 2019.