Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to permit people with terminal illness to try medications approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence but not for their condition.
Answered by Will Quince
Prescribers are able to offer any treatment that they consider to be the most clinically appropriate care for the individual, subject to the NHS commissioner agreeing to funding. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the NHS on whether all new medicines and significant licence extensions for existing medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS based on an assessment of their costs and benefits.
The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE. In the absence of NICE guidance on the use of a medicine, NHS commissioners are expected to make funding decisions on individual treatments based on an assessment of the available evidence.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 effectiveness of the delivery of inflation related uplifts to statutory contracts with the independent hospice sector.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
No assessment has been made. The Government recognises the importance of palliative and end of life care for patients and those important to them. Palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, is commissioned locally by integrated care boards in response to the needs of their local population. Any assessment would therefore be made at a local level.
Most hospices are independent, charitable organisations that remain free to set salary rates along with other terms and conditions at a level that reflects the skills and experience of their staff.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential support required by hospices for staffing costs in the next 12 months.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
No assessment has been made. The Government recognises the importance of palliative and end of life care for patients and those important to them. Palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, is commissioned locally by integrated care boards in response to the needs of their local population. Any assessment would therefore be made at a local level.
Most hospices are independent, charitable organisations that remain free to set salary rates along with other terms and conditions at a level that reflects the skills and experience of their staff.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 (a) adult’s and (b) children’s hospices with the cost of living.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, is commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs) in response to the needs of their local population. Charities, including hospices, have already benefitted from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme which ended on 31 March 2023, and provided £7 billion of support. Eligible organisations, including hospices, will continue to get baseline discount support on gas and electricity bills under the Energy Bills Discount Scheme from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2024.
At a national level, NHS England has released £1.5 billion additional funding to ICBs to provide support for inflation, with ICBs deciding how best to distribute this funding within their systems, including to palliative and end of life care providers such as hospices.
Additionally, NHS England has invested £25 million in the Children and Young People hospice grant in the financial year 2023/24 to provide care closer to home for those seriously ill as and when they need it.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the proposed illicit vapes enforcement squad will operate UK-wide.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The illicit vape enforcement team’s programme of work is for England only. However, they will work closely with enforcement agencies across the United Kingdom and share relevant data and intelligence related to illicit and underage vaping.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to tackle the promotion and marketing of vaping to children.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government recently ran a call for evidence on youth vaping that closed on the 6 June 2023. This included a theme covering the marketing and promotion of vapes. We are now reviewing the evidence and will respond later this year.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing taxation for people who own more than £10 million in assets by one per cent.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The UK system is designed to ensure among other things that the richest in our society pay their fair share on their wealth and assets, with the tax system taxing wealth across many different economic activities, including acquisition, holding, transfer and disposal of assets and income derived from assets. These tax levers generate substantial revenue, including Inheritance Tax revenues of £7 billion, Capital Gains Tax revenues of £18.1 billion and property transaction taxes of £17.3 billion in 2022-2023.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the Government's position is on each of the proposed amendments to the World Health Organisation International Health Regulations 2005.
Answered by Will Quince
The United Kingdom supports targeted amendments of the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 alongside improvements to increase implementation to strengthen the preparedness for and response to future health emergencies in light of lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are a number of areas within the Global Health architecture which we hope to strengthen and reform through the IHR amendment process; for example, transparency, timeliness of reporting and the Emergency Committee processes. Negotiations are currently ongoing, and the UK Government continues to work closely with World Health Organization member states in ensuring positive outcomes from the negotiations.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of holding a census every five years.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentlemen Parliamentary Question of 24th March 2023 is attached.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department are taking to support research on gene edited plants; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring researchers to have a license before conducting gene editing on animals.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Government has passed into law The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act that unlocks growth and innovation in the bioscience sector. Precision breeding technology such as gene editing, taking place in the UK’s leading research institutes has the potential to tackle some of the major challenges of our time.
Relevant licences under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 continue to be required for any scientific research involving gene-editing in animals.