Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to meet sustainable development goal six.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK works with governments and development partners to strengthen the delivery of climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. We work to strengthen systems in six countries: Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Nepal and Bangladesh, and we support the Heads of State Initiative to gain high level political commitment for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 acceleration. Through this initiative, the President of Ghana recently committed $1.7 billion for WASH-related SDG 6 targets. The UK is also implementing the £39m Just Transitions for Water Security programme, enhancing resilience for 40 million people in insecure countries through better planning, water governance and increased investment in water infrastructure.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to support a fluoridation scheme in Macclesfield constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to support a fluoridation scheme in Macclesfield. Public consultation is required on proposals for new, or the expansion of existing, community water fluoridation schemes. The Water Fluoridation (Consultation) (England) Regulations 2022 set out the requirements, and are available at the following link:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/1163/contents/made.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of vaccine doses that are thrown away due to reaching their expiry date before they could be used.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) manages the central storage and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines for the United Kingdom’s programme. In their published accounts for the financial year 2022/23, the figure was £143.280 million. The following table shows a summary of vaccine related losses for the latest published account:
Description | Amount |
Constructive loss as a result of COVID-19 vaccine expiry due to lower-than-expected use of vaccines compared to those planned for during purchasing. | £127,560,000 |
Constructive loss as a result of lower-than-expected consumption of flu vaccine resulting in the date expiry of this vaccine. | £15,720,000 |
Total | £143,280,000 |
Source: pages 124 to 125 of the UKHSA’s Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, which is available at the following link:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65c0cf5763a23d000dc821bb/UKHSA-Annual-Report-2022_23-printable_file-2.pdf
Further information regarding vaccine expiry will be published as part of the UKHSA’s Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the financial situation of the British Council.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In 2024/25, the FCDO will provide the British Council with £162.5 million Grant-in-Aid funding. The British Council is projected to generate £885 million from other sources over the same period, according to its Corporate Plan 2024-25. This self-generated income is largely derived from the British Council's teaching and exams businesses.
The Government is committed to a successful British Council that is financially stable. Our funding to the British Council underlines our support.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
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 (a) adequacy of the UK Foundation Programme allocation process and (b) potential impact of changes to the UK Foundation Programme allocation process on levels of satisfaction among applicants in 2023.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The allocation process for the UK Foundation Programme this year was changed to a Preference Informed Allocation method. This new process saw applicants being given a computer-generated rank and the removal of the requirement to sit the Situational Judgement Test. The move to the new system aimed to address concerns about the previous system, including that was it was perceived as unfair and stressful for applicants, and that there was lack of standardisation within and across schools. This change was based on extensive stakeholder engagement by the four statutory education bodies in the United Kingdom.
When confirming the move to the new system last year, Health Education England, now part of NHS England, set out that once implemented it would be kept under constant review to make sure it is working well for applicants.
All 9,702 eligible applicants for the 2024 Foundation Programme were allocated to a Foundation School, with 75% of those applicants getting their first preference. This is an improvement on last year when 8,655 applicants were placed and 71% got their first preference.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what her policy is on (a) access to cash, (b) businesses being required to use cash and (c) helping vulnerable people reliant on cash infrastructure adapt to a cashless society.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups.
The Financial Conduct Authority has recently assumed regulatory responsibility for protecting access to cash, and its new rules went live on 18 September. The rules require the UK’s largest banks and building societies to assess the impact of a closure of a relevant cash withdrawal or deposit facility and put in place a new service if necessary.
It is for each business to decide on the forms of payment it chooses to accept, based on a variety of factors, including cost and customer preferences. Research published by the Financial Conduct Authority found that 98 per cent of small businesses surveyed would never turn customers away if they needed to pay in cash. The new rules by the Financial Conduct Authority will also support businesses to accept cash by ensuring they have reasonable access to deposit facilities.
The Government also recognises that promoting digital inclusion is essential to building the skills and confidence people need to participate in a modern digital economy and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, as the lead department, is considering barriers to this.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make two weeks the maximum time between bin collections.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Simpler Recycling will mean that people across England will be able to recycle the same materials at home, work or school, ending the confusion over what can or cannot be recycled in different parts of the country.
Ministers are currently reviewing final Simpler Recycling policy decisions, including guidance on the approach to collections, and we hope to provide further certainty and clarity to stakeholders as soon as possible.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether any arms export licences to Israel are under review other than those already suspended.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
All extant licences to Israel are kept under careful and continual review as standard.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
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 increase the number of dental practices that accept new NHS patients.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will tackle the immediate crisis with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentists.
NHS dentists are required to keep their NHS.UK website profiles up to date so that patients can find a dentist more easily. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients. This information is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Macclesfield constituency, this is the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
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 provide support for people with (a) long Covid, (b) chronic fatigue syndrome and (c) ME.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since 2020, the National Health Service in England has invested significantly in supporting people with long COVID. This includes setting up specialist post-COVID services nationwide for adults, and children and young people, as well as investing in ensuring general practice teams are equipped to support people affected by the condition.
As of 1 April 2024, there are more than 90 adult post-COVID services across England, along with an additional ten children and young people’s hubs. These services assess people with long COVID and direct them into care pathways which provide appropriate support and treatment. General practitioners will assess patients that have COVID-19 symptoms lasting longer than four weeks and refer them into a long COVID service where appropriate. Referral should be via a single point of access, which is managed by clinician-led triage.
Over the last five years, the Government, through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), has invested over £57 million in long COVID research, with almost £40 million of this through two specific research calls on long COVID. The NIHR specifically has invested £42.7 million towards research funding for long COVID. The projects funded aim to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate clinical care. Further information on the research into long COVID commissioned through the NIHR is available at the following link:
https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/what-we-do/covid-19/long-COVID
It is a priority for the Department to publish the final myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) delivery plan, and it is our intention to publish a consultation response summary later this autumn. We cannot comment on the exact content of the final delivery plan at this time, but it will be shaped by the consultation responses, along with continued close engagement with stakeholders, with three broad themes of attitudes and education, research and living with ME. We aim to publish in the winter of 2024/25.
The Department is also currently working with NHS England to develop an e-learning course on ME/CFS for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff to be able to provide better care and improve patient outcomes.
Additionally, the Government funds research into ME/CFS through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), through UK Research and Innovation. In 2020, the NIHR and the MRC came together to fund the world’s largest genome-wide association study of ME/CFS. This £3.2 million study, termed DecodeME, will analyse samples from 25,000 people with ME/CFS to search for genetic differences that may indicate underlying causes or an increased risk of developing the condition. Further details of the study are available at the following link: