Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
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 help people who are clinically vulnerable to access a covid-19 booster vaccination.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is the independent body made up of scientific and clinical experts who advise Government on which authorised vaccines the United Kingdom should use and which groups in the population should be offered initial or further doses of a particular vaccine.
The JCVI identified a number of groups in the population at higher clinical risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19. These were originally described as clinically vulnerable but are now referred to as people in clinical risk groups. The full list of clinical risk groups is defined in tables three and four of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) guide to vaccinators known as the Green Book.
The primary aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme continues to be the prevention of severe disease, such as hospitalisation and mortality, arising from COVID-19 and risk is strongly linked to age and clinical condition.
All those in clinical risk groups will have been offered a COVID-19 vaccine dose in autumn 2022. Earlier this year the Government accepted advice from the JCVI to offer an additional spring 2023 booster dose to those at highest risk in the population from severe COVID-19. This highest risk group includes all adults aged 75 years old and over, residents in a care home for older adults and immunosuppressed individuals aged five years old and over. The JCVI has also advised that there should be a booster campaign targeted to persons at higher risk of severe COVID-19, in autumn 2023. The JCVI is expected to provide advice ahead of autumn on which risk groups should be included.
The NHS continues to emphasise the role of clinicians in proactively identifying clinically vulnerable cohorts and are working alongside patient charities and professional bodies to ensure anyone eligible is identified and referred for vaccination. Tailored communications have been developed for specialists caring for each group of eligible patients within the immunosuppressed cohort, such as template referral letters to make it as easy as possible for clinicians to signpost people to get their vaccination. The Government is also working with the NHS and UKHSA to provide advice and information at every possible opportunity to support those getting the vaccine and to anyone who might have questions about the vaccination process.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
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 adequacy of the availability of covid-19 booster vaccines for people who are clinically vulnerable.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The United Kingdom has sufficient supply of vaccines to meet the current advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation for the 2023 spring and autumn booster campaigns. This includes agreements with Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Sanofi/GSK and Novavax, which the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has approved for use in the UK. We remain in regular contact with the vaccine manufacturers to ensure the future supply of vaccines to the UK.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of recognising people who have severe learning disabilities as being clinically vulnerable for the purposes of the eligibility criteria for covid-19 booster jabs.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is the independent body made up of scientific and clinical experts who advise Government on which authorised vaccines the United Kingdom should use and which groups in the population should be offered initial or further doses of a particular vaccine.
The primary aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme continues to be the prevention of severe disease, such as hospitalisation and mortality, arising from COVID-19. The JCVI identified at the start of the programme a number of groups in the population at high clinical risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19. One of these clinical risk groups covers those with chronic neurological disease. This includes all those with severe learning difficulties. The full list of conditions covered is defined in tables two and four of the UK Health Security Agency guide to vaccinators known as the Green Book.
For each new COVID-19 booster campaign the JCVI considers which groups should be recommended for a further booster. For the current spring campaign, the JCVI has recommended boosters were needed only for those at the very highest risk of serious outcomes. This covered those in care homes for older people, all those aged 75 years old or over and all those aged 5 or over who are immunosuppressed. The JCVI has advised that there should be a further booster programme in autumn 2023 for those at higher risk of severe COVID-19. Advice from the JCVI on which risk groups are recommended for a booster dose in autumn 2023 is expected ahead of autumn.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to protect the welfare of beagles bred for sale to animal testing facilities.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) provides protections for animals bred in the UK for use in scientific procedures.
All establishments licensed to breed protected animals under ASPA are required to comply with the published Code of Practice, which sets out standards for the appropriate care and accommodation of animals, including dogs.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether Afghan refugees who are in hotels can apply for homelessness with any local authority.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We recognise the work of local authorities up and down the country in providing housing and integration support to enable Afghan families to begin their new lives in the UK. All Afghan arrivals via the ARAP and ACRS schemes have had the right to work and receive benefits from the first day of their arrival, as well as access to public services which includes housing and homelessness assistance.
Under homelessness legislation, the first local authority approached will need to take a homelessness application and assess what duties are owed. The council can then consider if a local connection referral is appropriate. In cases where there is no local connection, but there is a local connection to a different local authority; they may refer the household back to where they do have a local connection.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
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 trends in the size of waiting lists for aortic stenosis among women in the last three years.
Answered by Will Quince
No specific assessment has been made.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reasons his Department plans to introduce voter identification for postal votes before its review into the effect of voter identification on the level of turnout in the 2023 council elections has concluded.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
These regulations are separate to the introduction of a requirement for photographic identification at the polling booth.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether staff working for social enterprises in the health sector will be included in Agenda for Change.
Answered by Will Quince
As National Health Service social enterprises are independent providers, they remain free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions for employment that best help them attract and keep the staff they need. This includes the pay scales that they use.
Staff employed at NHS social enterprises who utilise the Agenda for Change terms and conditions may be entitled to the non-consolidated pay award that staff working for eligible NHS organisations will receive, and organisations should consider their contractual obligations.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential economic impact of sewage discharges on coastal communities.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan was published in August 2022, alongside an Impact Assessment which considers costs and benefits of the final targets to businesses, the public, wider society and government spending where applicable.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
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 increase access to dental care for Ukrainian refugees.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Ukrainians in the United Kingdom are guaranteed free access to National Health Service healthcare, including screening, vaccinations, mental health support, dental and hospital services. In September 2022 the Government announced ‘Our plan for patients’ which aims to improve patient access to NHS dental care. This includes access for Ukrainians. Information on how to access NHS dental care is outlined in the Welcome Pack provided to all Ukrainian arrivals.