Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding he will provide for drug and alcohol treatment through (a) the Public Health grant and (b) other funding steams beyond March 2025; and if he will continue funding for the Supplementary Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery grant.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Government supports investment in drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services to ensure that those people with a substance use need get the appropriate help and support. In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department has allocated local authorities a further £267 million in 2024/25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. This is alongside the £105 million made available by the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to improve employment and housing support.
My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced updates to the fiscal framework, and earlier this year launched the Spending Review, which has now settled 2025/26 departmental budgets. She has also made clear that the Government will conclude a multi-year Spending Review in spring 2025. In future, we anticipate that Spending Reviews will be set every two years to cover a three-year period, including a one-year overlap with the previous Spending Review, helping build in greater certainty and stability over public finances.
Now that the Autumn Budget has been completed, the Department is working to be able to announce future funding allocations for drug and alcohol treatment and recovery systems. We will communicate with the sector about this as soon as we are able to, as we recognise the importance of this information in maintaining delivery and planning for 2025/26.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and (b) other experts on the potential merits of offering the Covid-19 booster vaccine to frontline healthcare workers over 65 years old.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
As with all United Kingdom vaccination programmes, the decision on which groups are eligible for a particular part of the programme is only made following careful consideration of the groups most at risk of illness, severe illness, or death, as a consequence of infection. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advised that COVID-19 vaccination should be offered to the following individuals in autumn 2024:
- adults aged 65 years old and over;
- residents in a care home for older adults; and
- persons aged six months to 64 years old in a clinical risk group, as defined in the COVID-19 chapter of the Green Book.
My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care accepted the JCVI’s advice for COVID-19 vaccination in autumn 2024, and so COVID-19 vaccination will be offered to all adults aged 65 years old and over in the upcoming campaign.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure communities have equal access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) across different (a) risk, (b) demographic and (c) geographic groups.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a priority for the Government, and we will commission a new plan to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030. As part of our work in developing a new plan, we will explore options for ensuring equity and equal access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for all communities, including those across different risk, demographic, and geographic groups. We will also explore opportunities to deliver PrEP in settings outside of sexual health services, to improve access and equity, including considering online PrEP provision and PrEP in pharmacies.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
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 making pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) available (a) in pharmacies and (b) from an online service.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a priority for the Government, and we will commission a new plan to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030. As part of our work in developing a new plan, we will explore options for ensuring equity and equal access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for all communities, including those across different risk, demographic, and geographic groups. We will also explore opportunities to deliver PrEP in settings outside of sexual health services, to improve access and equity, including considering online PrEP provision and PrEP in pharmacies.