Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
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 potential merits of splitting the reported data on covid-19 deaths within 28 days of a positive test by people who are (a) fully vaccinated, (b) single vaccinated and (c) not vaccinated.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Public Health England assessed that it would be in the public interest to publish data on COVID-19 deaths within 28 days of a positive test by vaccination status. This data is published in the weekly vaccine surveillance report, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccine-surveillance-report
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to publish details on the awarding of health contracts during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department publishes information on all the contracts it awards, including those relating to goods and service procured in response to COVID- 19, through Contract Award Notices in the Official Journal of the European Union, Find a Tender awarded opportunity notices for each contract are also published on Contracts Finder.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of removing inconsistencies in the way that the nutrient profiling model scores breakfast cereal products, whereby some are scored as consumed and others are scored on a dry weight basis.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England has not undertaken an assessment. The current nutrient profile score for breakfast cereals developed by the Food Standards Agency in 2004 is calculated on 100 grams of the product as sold, on a dry weight basis.
The possible implications of applying the nutrient profiling model from per 100 gram basis to per portion basis was considered as part of the 2007 review of the effectiveness of the nutrient profiling model to reduce the exposure of children to unhealthy advertising during children’s television programming. It was recommended to retain the 100 gram base to avoid unnecessary complexity as there are few United Kingdom dietary recommendations on portion sizes and inconsistent portion sizes used on food or drink packs.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the consumption of breakfast cereals (a) with and (b) without milk; and how that information is reflected in the nutrient profiling model.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No data is held on the consumption of breakfast cereal with milk. Consumption of breakfast cereals without milk is reported in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS). The most recent NDNS report was published in December 2020 and presents findings for 2016/17 to 2018/19. The report is available at the following link:
The nutrient profiling model is used to identify products that are high in fat, salt or sugar in line with advertising restrictions rather than how the foods are eaten or consumption behaviour.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has conducted analysis of consumer (a) understanding of the nutrient profiling model and (b) awareness of categories that are scored as consumed compared with on a dry weight basis.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The United Kingdom nutrient profiling model (UK NPM) is a tool used by regulators, industry and stakeholders and is not consumer facing, therefore no assessment has been made of consumer understanding or awareness of categories scored as consumed compared with on a dry weight basis.
The UK NPM was developed to identify products that are high in fat, salt or sugar in line with advertising restrictions. The model is not intended to reflect how the foods are eaten or consumption behaviour.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the health benefits of consuming breakfast cereal with milk as opposed to (a) other breakfast products and (b) not consuming breakfast.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England has not made an assessment.
The Government’s advice on a healthy, balanced diet is based on recommendations from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition and is captured in the Eatwell Guide. Advice includes choosing starchy carbohydrates such as breakfast cereals that are higher-fibre or wholegrain, with less added fat, salt and sugar. In order to meet nutritional requirements, it is important to consume regular meals throughout the day. Not eating breakfast may make it more difficult to meet recommended intakes of certain nutrients, such as fibre, B vitamins, iron and folate, commonly found in some breakfast cereals, and calcium found in milk.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing Barnett Consequentials to Wales for the additional payments offered to victims of the contaminated blood scandal under the England Infected Blood Support Scheme announced in April 2019.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
There are disparities in financial and non-financial support for those infected and affected by the contaminated blood tragedy across the United Kingdom. The Department of Health and Social Care is working with the Cabinet Office, the Treasury and Departments of Health across the UK’s devolved administrations to address these disparities.