Olivia Blake

We have no current plans to review the North Sea Transition Authority’s (NSTA) Supply Chain Action Plans. These are a matter for the NSTA.

The Government is in the early stages of formulating a rolling stock strategy. The strategy will include considerations around the timelines for new build, refurbishments, and potential cascades which will provide more visibility to the rolling stock market.

The cross-Government suicide prevention strategy for England sets the direction for departments and a wide range of other organisations, and makes clear that nobody should be left out of suicide prevention efforts. This includes being responsive to the needs of marginalised communities and addressing inequalities in access to effective interventions to prevent suicides, including for vulnerable groups like refugees and asylum seekers.

The ambitions in the strategy include more comprehensive research on, and better understanding of, national trends and suicide rates in particular groups of people, with a focus on at-risk groups that include refugees and asylum seekers.

Official statistics on deaths by suicide for England are collected and published by the Office for National Statistics, and not by the Department. The official statistics are based on information recorded when deaths occur, are certified, and then registered. For deaths by suicide, registration can occur up to two years after the date of death, and on occasion longer. There is no information recorded as part of the death registration process to inform if a person was a refugee or an asylum seeker.

Improved data collection is part of ongoing wider action. This includes the development of the near to Real Time Suspected Suicide Surveillance (nRTSSS) system. Drawing upon data collected by the local police force attending deaths considered a ‘suspected suicide’, the nRTSSS provides an early warning system for potential changes in trends in suicides. There are current efforts to investigate the potential for this system to include intelligence relating to refugee and asylum seekers.

The Department has no plans to conduct an equalities impact assessment on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) severity modifier, or to undertake a review of its adequacy in the context of secondary breast cancer.

The NICE is responsible for developing the methods and processes it uses in its evaluations independently and in consultation with stakeholders. The severity modifier that the NICE introduced in 2022 is based on evidence of societal preferences and was introduced as part of a comprehensive review of the NICE’s methods and processes, following extensive public and stakeholder engagement. The NICE considered equality issues in an equality impact document that accompanied the introduction of its new methods and processes, including the severity modifier.

The NICE recently concluded a review of the severity modifier and found that it is operating as intended. Since its introduction, the severity modifier has resulted in a higher approval rate for cancer medicines than under the NICE’s previous methods, and has also allowed greater weight to be applied to non-cancer medicines that address a broader range of severe diseases, enabling the NICE to recommend medicines for conditions such as cystic fibrosis and hepatitis D. The NICE is keeping the impact of the severity modifier under review and is scoping further research into society’s preferences on how much additional weighting to give to health benefits for people with severe diseases.

The Department has no plans to conduct an equalities impact assessment on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) severity modifier, or to undertake a review of its adequacy in the context of secondary breast cancer.

The NICE is responsible for developing the methods and processes it uses in its evaluations independently and in consultation with stakeholders. The severity modifier that the NICE introduced in 2022 is based on evidence of societal preferences and was introduced as part of a comprehensive review of the NICE’s methods and processes, following extensive public and stakeholder engagement. The NICE considered equality issues in an equality impact document that accompanied the introduction of its new methods and processes, including the severity modifier.

The NICE recently concluded a review of the severity modifier and found that it is operating as intended. Since its introduction, the severity modifier has resulted in a higher approval rate for cancer medicines than under the NICE’s previous methods, and has also allowed greater weight to be applied to non-cancer medicines that address a broader range of severe diseases, enabling the NICE to recommend medicines for conditions such as cystic fibrosis and hepatitis D. The NICE is keeping the impact of the severity modifier under review and is scoping further research into society’s preferences on how much additional weighting to give to health benefits for people with severe diseases.

I refer the Member for Sheffield Hallam to the reply given to the Members for Nuneaton and Warrington North, Parliamentary Questions Numbers 12277 and 12288.

The Home Office together with the Office of the Immigration Service Commissioner (OISC) ran the fees consultation for a period of 12 weeks, which closed on 5 June 2024. The consultation was designed to help best understand the impact of proposals to amend the structure of the fees charged by the OISC to its registered advisers, and to minimise the risks of any adverse impact.

The Government is committed to ensuring advice seekers receive the advice that they need, through an efficient and regulated immigration advice sector. We will consider next steps in this area in due course in line with that commitment.

The scope of the Adults at Risk review includes the Immigration (Guidance on Detention of Vulnerable Persons) Regulations 2024.

The review forms part of the response to one of the recommendations of the Brook House Inquiry (Recommendation 9: Review of the operation of Rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001). The review will not cover all areas of the Brook House Inquiry and will not reassess the findings and recommendations made.

We intend to complete the Adults at Risk review in Spring 2025, including Rule 34 and Rule 35 of the detention centre rules.

The Department will keep under review the feasibility of alternative to detention pilots, taking account of effectiveness and cost efficiency, as part of our plans to transform the asylum and returns system.

I refer my Hon Friend to the answer I gave to Question UIN 8491 on 18 October 2024.

More than two years on, we continue to stand firm with the brave people who remain in Ukraine, and to warmly welcome those who need sanctuary in the UK.

We are greatly appreciative of the overwhelming generosity shown by sponsors in accommodating guests under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. It is thanks to this generosity that we have been able to welcome over 156,000 Ukrainians to the UK. We continue to encourage those who can offer support to come forward with offers of sponsorship.

We provide a tariff of £5,900 per Ukrainian arrival to councils. This is un-ringfenced, which allows councils to use the funding to support households as best suits the local area, including measures to support guests who have left sponsorship to access the private rented sector.

Local councils have a responsibility to support Ukrainians who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including providing temporary accommodation where required to ensure no family is without a roof over their head.

More than two years on, we continue to stand firm with the brave people who remain in Ukraine, and to warmly welcome those who need sanctuary in the UK.

We are greatly appreciative of the overwhelming generosity shown by sponsors in accommodating guests under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. It is thanks to this generosity that we have been able to welcome over 156,000 Ukrainians to the UK. We continue to encourage those who can offer support to come forward with offers of sponsorship.

We provide a tariff of £5,900 per Ukrainian arrival to councils. This is un-ringfenced, which allows councils to use the funding to support households as best suits the local area, including measures to support guests who have left sponsorship to access the private rented sector.

Local councils have a responsibility to support Ukrainians who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including providing temporary accommodation where required to ensure no family is without a roof over their head.