Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to extend the duty of due regard under the Armed Forces Covenant to (a) UK Government and (b) devolved administrations before the next General Election.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Since 2011, when the Armed Forces Covenant came into existence in its current form, central and devolved Governments have taken forward many initiatives to the benefit of serving personnel, veterans, and their families. However, we recognise that a clearer public acknowledgement of their role in supporting the Covenant could be beneficial. I have therefore instructed my officials to further explore how central Government and the Devolved Administrations could strengthen their commitment, and to see what more can be done in terms of the Legal Duty. This work will be taken forward over the next year and will also encompass the consideration of widening the scope of the Duty to other policy areas.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the long term priorities for the Office for Veterans' Affairs are.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
This Government is committed to making the UK the best country in the world to be a veteran.
The Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) sits at the heart of government in the Cabinet Office and is responsible for coordinating and driving forward work across the UK Government to support our veteran community.
In the long term, the OVA is committed to continue transforming and improving services for veterans, making sure veterans and their families have the support and services they need, whilst using data and research to better understand, and deliver for, this community.
The ten-year Strategy for our veterans (2018) sets out the UK Government's vision, and can be accessed online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/strategy-for-our-veterans
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing quarterly updates on data that helps illustrate the levels of utilisation of her Department's access initiatives including the (a) Innovative Medicines Fund, (b) Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway and (c) Early Access to Medicines Scheme.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency already publishes updates on the use of the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway and the Early Access to Medicines Scheme. NHS England plans to publish similar quarterly updates for the Innovative Medicine Fund as are published for the Cancer Drugs Fund.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing quarterly reports on progress made against the commitments set out in her Department's England Rare Diseases Action Plan 2023, last updated on 10 July 2023.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While there are no plans to publish quarterly reports on progress made against the commitments of England’s second Rare Diseases Action Plan 2023. We have committed to publishing action plans annually and England’s third Rare Diseases Action Plan will detail progress made in the past year. In addition, minutes of the eight weekly England Rare Diseases Framework Delivery Group meetings, where progress is monitored, are published to the UK Rare Disease Forum on-line platform and the UK Rare Diseases Forum receives updates on progress across the four nations at its quarterly meetings.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how his Department estimates the potential cost to the public purse of removing VAT on (a) defibrillators and (b) other products.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The cost of relieving VAT on defibrillators is uncertain owing to the lack of data on purchases of defibrillators and associated apparatus, and on purchasers who are able to reclaim the VAT on these purchases. Businesses are not required to provide information at a product level in their VAT returns, as this would impose an excessive administrative burden; HMRC does not therefore hold this data. All taxes are kept under review; any policy measure would be costed in the usual way.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish a response to his Department's consultation Pavement parking: options for change, updated on 29 June 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is working through the options and the possible legislative opportunities given that pavement parking is a complex issue. We want to take the right step for communities and ensure that local authorities have appropriate and effective tools at their disposal. As soon as those matters are clear we will publish our formal response at:
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/managing-pavement-parking.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance by NHS England entitled Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care, published on 9 May 2023, what steps his Department is taking to provide (a) guidance and (b) funding to pharmacies for the common conditions service in 2023.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Negotiations with Community Pharmacy England (CPE) have concluded, and pharmacy contractors have been informed by a joint letter from the Department, NHS England and CPE about the detail of Pharmacy First including the funding of the service. That letter has been published on gov.uk. Pharmacy First will launch on 31 January 2024, subject to the IT underpinning the service being complete. The expansion of the Pharmacy Contraception Service will launch on 1 December together with a relaunch of the existing Blood Pressure Check Service.
Under Pharmacy First, community pharmacists will be able to supply prescription-only medicines, including antibiotics and antivirals where clinically appropriate, to treat seven common health conditions (sinusitis, sore throat, earache, infected insect bite, impetigo, shingles, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women) without the need to visit a GP. The supply of prescription-only medicines will be under Patient Group Directions which are strict protocols for when a medicine can be supplied without a prescription. At present, there are no plans to expand the seven conditions.
Pharmacy First can be delivered remotely including by distance selling pharmacies but they will not be able to deliver the earache pathway because this requires someone to look in patient’s ear which cannot be done remotely.
Uptake and delivery of Pharmacy First will be closely monitored including the impact on antimicrobial resistance.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has plans to expand the common conditions service beyond the initial seven conditions outlined in the Government’s Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Negotiations with Community Pharmacy England (CPE) have concluded, and pharmacy contractors have been informed by a joint letter from the Department, NHS England and CPE about the detail of Pharmacy First including the funding of the service. That letter has been published on gov.uk. Pharmacy First will launch on 31 January 2024, subject to the IT underpinning the service being complete. The expansion of the Pharmacy Contraception Service will launch on 1 December together with a relaunch of the existing Blood Pressure Check Service.
Under Pharmacy First, community pharmacists will be able to supply prescription-only medicines, including antibiotics and antivirals where clinically appropriate, to treat seven common health conditions (sinusitis, sore throat, earache, infected insect bite, impetigo, shingles, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women) without the need to visit a GP. The supply of prescription-only medicines will be under Patient Group Directions which are strict protocols for when a medicine can be supplied without a prescription. At present, there are no plans to expand the seven conditions.
Pharmacy First can be delivered remotely including by distance selling pharmacies but they will not be able to deliver the earache pathway because this requires someone to look in patient’s ear which cannot be done remotely.
Uptake and delivery of Pharmacy First will be closely monitored including the impact on antimicrobial resistance.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that pharmacies delivering the common conditions service are (a) delivering services to appropriate numbers of patients and (b) meeting high standards.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Negotiations with Community Pharmacy England (CPE) have concluded, and pharmacy contractors have been informed by a joint letter from the Department, NHS England and CPE about the detail of Pharmacy First including the funding of the service. That letter has been published on gov.uk. Pharmacy First will launch on 31 January 2024, subject to the IT underpinning the service being complete. The expansion of the Pharmacy Contraception Service will launch on 1 December together with a relaunch of the existing Blood Pressure Check Service.
Under Pharmacy First, community pharmacists will be able to supply prescription-only medicines, including antibiotics and antivirals where clinically appropriate, to treat seven common health conditions (sinusitis, sore throat, earache, infected insect bite, impetigo, shingles, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women) without the need to visit a GP. The supply of prescription-only medicines will be under Patient Group Directions which are strict protocols for when a medicine can be supplied without a prescription. At present, there are no plans to expand the seven conditions.
Pharmacy First can be delivered remotely including by distance selling pharmacies but they will not be able to deliver the earache pathway because this requires someone to look in patient’s ear which cannot be done remotely.
Uptake and delivery of Pharmacy First will be closely monitored including the impact on antimicrobial resistance.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department plans to take to support (a) distance-selling pharmacies and (b) other pharmacies to safely deliver the common conditions service.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Negotiations with Community Pharmacy England (CPE) have concluded, and pharmacy contractors have been informed by a joint letter from the Department, NHS England and CPE about the detail of Pharmacy First including the funding of the service. That letter has been published on gov.uk. Pharmacy First will launch on 31 January 2024, subject to the IT underpinning the service being complete. The expansion of the Pharmacy Contraception Service will launch on 1 December together with a relaunch of the existing Blood Pressure Check Service.
Under Pharmacy First, community pharmacists will be able to supply prescription-only medicines, including antibiotics and antivirals where clinically appropriate, to treat seven common health conditions (sinusitis, sore throat, earache, infected insect bite, impetigo, shingles, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women) without the need to visit a GP. The supply of prescription-only medicines will be under Patient Group Directions which are strict protocols for when a medicine can be supplied without a prescription. At present, there are no plans to expand the seven conditions.
Pharmacy First can be delivered remotely including by distance selling pharmacies but they will not be able to deliver the earache pathway because this requires someone to look in patient’s ear which cannot be done remotely.
Uptake and delivery of Pharmacy First will be closely monitored including the impact on antimicrobial resistance.