Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether the Commission has tested for lead levels on the parliamentary estate.
Answered by Nick Smith
We are aware lead is present in the Palace of Westminster and other older buildings on the estate, particularly underneath existing paintwork. When left undisturbed lead does not pose a risk to users of the buildings.
Where relevant, lead is tested for as part of surveys during the construction project process, and this is carried out in accordance with the control measures and guidelines set by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002. We also carry out paint analysis, to gather information on the building history, original appearance, and techniques used, and this will also reveal if lead is present in the paint.
While we follow all appropriate control measures as set by the Health and Safety Executive, we do not record lead levels or routinely test for lead outside of project works involving known lead as it is not a statutory requirement to do so.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Health and Security Agency is taking to prevent population exposure to lead.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is raising awareness and has published advice and guidance for the public and professional partners on the risk of harm from lead exposure, and effective public health interventions to reduce lead exposure. The guidance is available at the following link:
The UKHSA supports partners in identifying the pathways and sources of lead and in introducing public health interventions to aid in reducing exposure.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
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 promote awareness of ovarian cancer month.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, address barriers to acting on them, and encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner (GP). Previous phases of the campaign have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of ovarian cancer.
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. This information can be found on the NHS website.
The Government has not made a formal assessment of the potential merits of shortening the diagnostic pathway for ovarian cancer. It is, however, a priority for the Government to support the NHS to diagnose cancer, including ovarian cancer, as quickly as possible, to treat it faster, and to improve outcomes. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a GP or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.
Reducing inequalities and variation in cancer care is a priority for the Government, as is increasing early cancer diagnosis, as both are key contributors to reducing cancer health inequalities. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the NHS’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.
GPs are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development.
All United Kingdom registered doctors are also expected to meet the professional standards set by the General Medical Council (GMC). In 2012, the GMC introduced revalidation, which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice.
The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), and has to meet the standards set by the General Medical Council. The RCGP provides a number of resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
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 ensure (a) training and (b) support is in place to help GPs diagnose ovarian cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, address barriers to acting on them, and encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner (GP). Previous phases of the campaign have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of ovarian cancer.
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. This information can be found on the NHS website.
The Government has not made a formal assessment of the potential merits of shortening the diagnostic pathway for ovarian cancer. It is, however, a priority for the Government to support the NHS to diagnose cancer, including ovarian cancer, as quickly as possible, to treat it faster, and to improve outcomes. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a GP or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.
Reducing inequalities and variation in cancer care is a priority for the Government, as is increasing early cancer diagnosis, as both are key contributors to reducing cancer health inequalities. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the NHS’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.
GPs are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development.
All United Kingdom registered doctors are also expected to meet the professional standards set by the General Medical Council (GMC). In 2012, the GMC introduced revalidation, which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice.
The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), and has to meet the standards set by the General Medical Council. The RCGP provides a number of resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to tackle regional variations in the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, address barriers to acting on them, and encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner (GP). Previous phases of the campaign have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of ovarian cancer.
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. This information can be found on the NHS website.
The Government has not made a formal assessment of the potential merits of shortening the diagnostic pathway for ovarian cancer. It is, however, a priority for the Government to support the NHS to diagnose cancer, including ovarian cancer, as quickly as possible, to treat it faster, and to improve outcomes. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a GP or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.
Reducing inequalities and variation in cancer care is a priority for the Government, as is increasing early cancer diagnosis, as both are key contributors to reducing cancer health inequalities. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the NHS’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.
GPs are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development.
All United Kingdom registered doctors are also expected to meet the professional standards set by the General Medical Council (GMC). In 2012, the GMC introduced revalidation, which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice.
The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), and has to meet the standards set by the General Medical Council. The RCGP provides a number of resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
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 shortening the diagnostic pathway for ovarian cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, address barriers to acting on them, and encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner (GP). Previous phases of the campaign have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of ovarian cancer.
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. This information can be found on the NHS website.
The Government has not made a formal assessment of the potential merits of shortening the diagnostic pathway for ovarian cancer. It is, however, a priority for the Government to support the NHS to diagnose cancer, including ovarian cancer, as quickly as possible, to treat it faster, and to improve outcomes. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a GP or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.
Reducing inequalities and variation in cancer care is a priority for the Government, as is increasing early cancer diagnosis, as both are key contributors to reducing cancer health inequalities. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the NHS’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.
GPs are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development.
All United Kingdom registered doctors are also expected to meet the professional standards set by the General Medical Council (GMC). In 2012, the GMC introduced revalidation, which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice.
The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), and has to meet the standards set by the General Medical Council. The RCGP provides a number of resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
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 testing for lead poisoning in (a) adults and (b) children.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) made a recommendation not to screen children for lead poisoning in 2018. The UK NSC has not been asked to review screening adults for exposure to toxic metals. Further details on the UK NSC’s review are available at the following link:
https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/lead-poisoning/
We are aware that a proposal has been submitted to the UK NSC via its open call, to review the decision made in 2018 for screening children for lead poisoning, in light of new evidence. The UK NSC is currently considering all open call proposals. More information about the UK NSC’s open call is available at the following link:
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the National Screening Committee review into lead poisoning will be complete.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) made a recommendation not to screen children for lead poisoning in 2018. The UK NSC has not been asked to review screening adults for exposure to toxic metals. Further details on the UK NSC’s review are available at the following link:
https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/lead-poisoning/
We are aware that a proposal has been submitted to the UK NSC via its open call, to review the decision made in 2018 for screening children for lead poisoning, in light of new evidence. The UK NSC is currently considering all open call proposals. More information about the UK NSC’s open call is available at the following link:
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
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 number of children reported to have had lead poisoning in each year since 2016.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) coordinates the Lead in Children Exposure Surveillance System (LEICSS), a passive surveillance system covering England, which aims to identify elevated blood lead concentrations in children under 15 years old.
The following table shows the LEICSS data on case numbers between 2016 and 2023, inclusive:
Year | Number of cases |
2016 | 33 |
2017 | 49 |
2018 | 45 |
2019 | 36 |
2020 | 35 |
2021 | 121 |
2022 | 191 |
2023 | 226 |
Note: Between 2016 to 2020, the annual number of cases ranged between 33 and 49. From 2021 there was a marked increase in the number of cases. The steep rise in reported cases from 2021 onwards is due to a change in the case definition in our surveillance system.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department has taken to ensure Project Gigabit improves broadband speeds in South West Norfolk constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, over 96% of premises in the South West Norfolk constituency can access superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps) and over 59% have access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection (>1000 Mbps).
To improve this coverage further, CityFibre is delivering a Project Gigabit contract in Norfolk, targeted at bringing fast, reliable broadband to premises in hard-to-reach areas that are unlikely to be otherwise reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout. Approximately 5,000 premises in South West Norfolk are currently included within this contract.