Virendra Sharma Portrait

Virendra Sharma

Labour - Ealing, Southall

First elected: 19th July 2007


Select Committees
Panel of Chairs (since January 2020)
International Development Committee (since March 2020)
40 APPG memberships (as of 1 Nov 2023)
Afghanistan, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Bangladesh, British Council, British Gujaratis, British Hindus, Business Travel, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK (CANZUK), Children in Police Custody, Coeliac Disease, Dentistry and Oral Health, Down Syndrome, Entrepreneurship, Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Professionals, Extreme Poverty, Fairtrade, Global Tuberculosis, Heart Valve Disease, Hong Kong, Indo-British, India (Trade and Investment), Indian Traditional Sciences, Indo-Pacific, Jainism, Kabaddi, Liver Disease and Liver Cancer, Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases, Nepal, Nutrition for Development, Population, Development and Reproductive Health, Social Integration, Sri Lanka, Street Children, Tamils, Ukraine, United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development, Vaping, Vulnerable Groups to Pandemics, Zimbabwe, Zoroastrian
32 Former APPG memberships
Antibiotics, Cayman Islands, Crossrail, Diabetes, Diaspora, Development and Migration, Excluded UK, Gaps in Support, Gasworks Redevelopment, Hepatology, Hindus, Honour Based Abuse, Honour Based Abuse., Honour-Based Abuse, Integrated Healthcare, Inter-Faith, Interfaith, Islamic Finance, Liver Health, London's Planning and Built Environment, Mauritius, Micromobility, Mutuals, Nutrition for Growth, Patient and Public Involvement in Health and Social Care, Patient Safety, Primary Care and Public Health, Sixth Form Education, Taxis, Tuberculosis, Visas and Immigration, Youth Affairs, Zoroastrianism
Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill
5th Jan 2022 - 12th Jan 2022
International Development Sub-Committee on the Work of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact
13th Sep 2017 - 6th Nov 2019
International Development Committee
11th Sep 2017 - 6th Nov 2019
Panel of Chairs
11th Sep 2017 - 6th Nov 2019
Committees on Arms Export Controls (formerly Quadripartite Committee)
10th Feb 2016 - 3rd May 2017
International Development Committee
8th Jul 2015 - 3rd May 2017
Committees on Arms Export Controls
10th Feb 2016 - 3rd May 2017
Human Rights (Joint Committee)
2nd Nov 2010 - 30th Mar 2015
Health and Social Care Committee
12th Jul 2010 - 30th Mar 2015
International Development Committee
9th Mar 2009 - 6th May 2010
Human Rights (Joint Committee)
9th Nov 2007 - 6th May 2010
Justice Committee
6th Nov 2007 - 25th Jan 2010
Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill (Joint Committee)
1st May 2008 - 22nd Jul 2008


There are no upcoming events identified
Division Votes
Monday 4th December 2023
Victims and Prisoners Bill
voted Aye - in line with the party majority
One of 161 Labour Aye votes vs 0 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 193 Noes - 279
Speeches
Wednesday 29th November 2023
Section 28 Repeal: 20th Anniversary
It doesn’t normally happen.
Written Answers
Monday 4th December 2023
Immigration: EU Nationals
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time taken was to process …
Early Day Motions
Tuesday 28th November 2023
Anniversary of the Bhopal gas leak
That this House remembers 2 and 3 December 1984, when a Union Carbide factory leaked ultra-toxic chemical methyl isocyanate across …
Bills
None available
MP Financial Interests
Monday 4th September 2023
4. Visits outside the UK
Name of donor: IMT International Tours
Address of donor: A-17, Pret Vihar, Delhi, 110092
Estimate of the probable value (or …
EDM signed
Wednesday 15th November 2023
51st anniversary of the expulsion of Asians from Uganda
That this House notes that it has been 51 years since the expiry of the deadline set by President Idi …
Supported Legislation
Wednesday 9th November 2022
Sale of Tobacco (Licensing) Bill 2022-23
A Bill to make provision about the sale by retail of tobacco and related goods; and for connected purposes.

Division Voting information

During the current Parliamentary Session, Virendra Sharma has voted in 647 divisions, and never against the majority of their Party.
View All Virendra Sharma Division Votes

Debates during the 2019 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Justin Tomlinson (Conservative)
(8 debate interactions)
Rishi Sunak (Conservative)
Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
(8 debate interactions)
Tom Pursglove (Conservative)
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
(7 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Department of Health and Social Care
(32 debate contributions)
Cabinet Office
(21 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
View all Virendra Sharma's debates

Ealing, Southall Petitions

e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.

If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.

If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).

Petition Debates Contributed

We want the Government to commit to not signing any international treaty on pandemic prevention and preparedness established by the World Health Organization (WHO), unless this is approved through a public referendum.

Undocumented Migrants are suffering in silence, with no access to adequate Financial support, or any help. The Government should grant an urgent Amnesty of 5years to those with no criminal record so that they could live their lives as normal human beings and pay tax to help the UK economy.

The Government should class in-person interaction with family members and unmarried partners abroad as an essential reason to travel.

The Government must make a public statement on the #kissanprotests & press freedoms.

India is the worlds largest democracy & democratic engagement and freedom of the press are fundamental rights and a positive step towards creating a India that works for all.


Latest EDMs signed by Virendra Sharma

28th November 2023
Virendra Sharma signed this EDM as the primary signatory on Tuesday 28th November 2023

Anniversary of the Bhopal gas leak

Tabled by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
That this House remembers 2 and 3 December 1984, when a Union Carbide factory leaked ultra-toxic chemical methyl isocyanate across sixteen square miles of the city of Bhopal, India, exposing 573,000 people to poison gases; deplores the continuing suffering in Bhopal 39 years after the world's worst industrial disaster; recognises …
13 signatures
(Most recent: 4 Dec 2023)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 7
Independent: 2
Scottish National Party: 2
Democratic Unionist Party: 1
Green Party: 1
7th November 2023
Virendra Sharma signed this EDM on Wednesday 15th November 2023

51st anniversary of the expulsion of Asians from Uganda

Tabled by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
That this House notes that it has been 51 years since the expiry of the deadline set by President Idi Amin ordering the expulsion of more than 70,000 Asians from Uganda against a backdrop of rising anti-Indian sentiment, violence and killings in the country; further notes that 28,606 came to …
9 signatures
(Most recent: 20 Nov 2023)
Signatures by party:
Plaid Cymru: 3
Conservative: 2
Labour: 2
Democratic Unionist Party: 1
Independent: 1
View All Virendra Sharma's signed Early Day Motions

Commons initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Virendra Sharma, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.

MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.



710 Written Questions in the current parliament

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
2 Other Department Questions
22nd Nov 2022
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of establishing an independent Equality Act regulator.

My assessment is that such a body already exists. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is the independent public authority which enforces the Equality Act 2010. The EHRC’s Strategic Plan for 2022-2025 makes clear that acting as an independent, authoritative, agile regulator of equality and human rights is central to its strategy.

Stuart Andrew
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
14th Apr 2022
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when her Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ban conversion therapy in the UK.

The Government is committed to bringing forward legislation, when Parliamentary time allows, to ban conversion therapy. We are currently analysing responses to our recent public consultation.

The Government’s actions to protect people from conversion therapy extend beyond legislating. We are procuring a support service for victims and those at risk via a helpline and website which will provide initial pastoral support, and signposting to services such as counselling and advice about emergency housing.

The Government has reluctantly taken the decision to cancel this summer’s Safe To Be Me conference. We have been proud to work alongside civil society partners, businesses and others to develop ambitious plans for the conference and appreciate the time and effort that all stakeholders have put into this.

We are disappointed that the conference will no longer be going ahead and remain committed to strengthening LGBT rights and freedoms. We will continue to support human rights defenders globally and to influence and support countries on the path to decriminalisation.

Mike Freer
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
10th Oct 2022
To ask the Attorney General, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the prosecution of people responsible for the public disorder in Leicester around on 20 September 2022.

CPS East Midlands are working closely with Leicestershire Constabulary on this matter, who are responsible for the investigative strategy. Experienced local CPS prosecutors have been allocated in the Magistrates’ and Crown Court teams to deal with submissions for charging decisions when they are received from the police. There is ongoing daily liaison and planning between both organisations and information sharing to ensure offenders are brought to justice.

Michael Tomlinson
Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
26th May 2022
To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the CPS in ensuring access to justice for the victims of crime.

In 2021, the CPS prosecuted: 69 alleged terrorists of which 63 were convicted. Over 19,000 alleged violent crimes, with a conviction rate of over 75%. Over 10,000 hate crimes, nearly 11,000 domestic abuse crimes and in that same year the Government introduced a Victims Code to ensure that victims are placed at the heart of the criminal justice system and that their voices are heard.

Alex Chalk
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
24th Oct 2022
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure adequate contingency planning for food security in the context of the (a) cost of living crisis and (b) market unpredictability.

My department works closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and industry figures to monitor food supply, which overall remains resilient. We continue to work to ensure we are well equipped to deal with situations which may cause disruption.

23rd Mar 2022
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many outstanding (a) emails and (b) letters he has from the public as of 23 February 2022; and what criteria he uses to determine which enquiries he responds to.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 7 February to PQ 113707.

28th Feb 2022
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2022 to Question 128229, how many outstanding (a) emails and (b) letters he has from the public as at 28 February 2022.

The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from members of the public. The Cabinet Office aims to respond to all correspondence within 20 working days.

As of 28 February 2022, the Cabinet Office had 1719 outstanding emails or letters from members of the public. 94% of these were received in the 20 working days prior to 28 February 2022 and were therefore within the departmental target.

2nd Feb 2022
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to tackle the overpayment of pensions contributions by civil servants.

Civil servants are not overpaying pension contributions. Member contribution rates are set via the Cost Control element of the Valuation. The 2016 Valuation was completed on 17 December 2021. It found that there was no ‘breach’ in the Cost Control element, meaning there was no need to adjust benefits or contributions.

A consultation, which included suggested member contribution rates for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, ran from 22 November 2021 to 17 January 2022. The consultation response is expected to be published in late February 2022 and will set out member contribution rates for 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.

17th Dec 2020
What guidance he has provided to Cabinet colleagues on the timescale for responding to written questions.

My Right Honourable Friend, the Leader of the House, has been clear to the House on this issue, he expects written questions to be answered and dealt with in good time.

Furthermore, my Right Honourable Friend has written to all members of the Cabinet to remind them of the importance of timely and helpful responses.

Penny Mordaunt
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
21st Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will hold discussions with Royal Mail on offering a letter delivery service six days a week.

Ministers and officials meet with Royal Mail regularly to discuss a range of issues in relation to its role as the universal service provider.

The Government currently has no plans to change the minimum requirements of the universal postal service which are set out in the Postal Services Act 2011, including the provision of a letter delivery service six days a week.

Kevin Hollinrake
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
21st Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had discussions with Ofcom on monitoring whether Royal Mail is meeting its universal service obligation.

Ministers and officials meet with Ofcom regularly to discuss a range of issues in relation to its role as the regulatory authority for the postal sector, including the overall provision of the universal service obligation.

Kevin Hollinrake
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
21st Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has had recent discussions with Ofcom on the affordability of 1st class postal products.

Ministers and officials meet with Ofcom regularly to discuss a range of issues in relation to its role as the regulatory authority for the postal sector, including the overall provision of the universal service obligation.

Kevin Hollinrake
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
5th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of Royal Mail's performance in meeting its universal service obligation on people who rely on letters to receive (a) health appointment invitations and (b) energy support vouchers.

The Government’s objective continues to be ensuring the provision of a sustainable, accessible and affordable universal postal service.

It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification. The Government has no role in Ofcom’s regulatory investigations.

On 15 May 2023, Ofcom announced an investigation into Royal Mail’s quality of service performance for 2022-23.

Kevin Hollinrake
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
5th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the conclusion in the Seventh Report of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee entitled Royal Mail, published on 17 March 2023, HC 1045, that Royal Mail has breached its universal service obligation.

The Government’s objective continues to be ensuring the provision of a sustainable, accessible and affordable universal postal service.

It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification. The Government has no role in Ofcom’s regulatory investigations.

On 15 May 2023, Ofcom announced an investigation into Royal Mail’s quality of service performance for 2022-23.

Kevin Hollinrake
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
2nd Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make it her policy that the UK-India free trade agreement does not increase the cost of medicines for (a) the UK, (b) India and (c) other low and middle income countries.

In negotiations with India, the UK’s approach to intellectual property (IP) is to strike a balance between rewarding research and innovation, which can benefit all countries, whilst reflecting wider public interests such as ensuring access to medicines. We will not agree to any provisions that would increase the cost of medicines for our National Health Service. The NHS, its services, and the cost of medicines are not on the table.

In addition to our work on the FTA, we remain committed to the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, and its agreed flexibilities that support access to medicines.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
2nd Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the Government has made an assessment of the impact of pre-grant oppositions in India on access to medicine.

The UK’s approach to intellectual property (IP) with all partners is to strike a balance between rewarding research and innovation, which can benefit all countries, whilst reflecting wider public interests such as ensuring access to medicines.

We do not comment on specifics of live negotiations.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
2nd Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if the Government will commission an independent assessment of the potential impact of a UK-India free trade agreement on global access to medicines.

We have always been clear that the NHS, its services, and the cost of medicines are not on the table in our free trade negotiations.

When a signed treaty text is laid in Parliament, it will be accompanied by an Explanatory Memorandum and the Government will publish an independently scrutinised impact assessment. The impact assessment will set out the updated potential long-run impacts of the FTA on UK GDP, sectors, and employment as well as the potential implications for the UK’s nations and English regions. Specific assessments will not be provided on the global impacts for each sector as a result of the deal.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
9th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March to Question 158878 on Youth Mobility Scheme, when she plans for the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement to come into force.

We are working with the Australian Government to ratify the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement at the earliest opportunity so that businesses can reap the benefits. We expect to be able to bring the agreement into force in Spring 2023.

The commitments in the Youth Mobility Scheme were taken in a separate side letter which specifies that the changes will need to be implemented within two years of entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement. UK and Australian officials are working together to bring these changes into effect as soon as operationally possible.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
17th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of Royal Mail Customer Service point closures on (a) that organisation meeting its Universal Service Obligation and (b) people with protected characteristics; and if she will make a statement.

Decisions on the closure of customer service points are an operational matter for Royal Mail, provided they are consistent with Ofcom’s regulatory obligation on Royal Mail to provide access points for the universal service.

While the Government has no role in Royal Mail’s operational decisions, I understand that Royal Mail has completed the first stage of its review of customer service points and decided to maintain the current estate.

Kevin Hollinrake
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
5th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if his Department will make an estimate of the number and proportion of Energy Bills Support Scheme vouchers that were delivered late due to Royal Mail delays in the 2022-23 financial year.

The Department does not hold the data that would allow us to make an estimate.

Expectations set for suppliers factored in small delays in postage and suppliers and voucher providers had contingencies in place during postal strikes.

Vouchers that are expired due to loss, damage or not having been received can be reissued by suppliers and will have an expiry date of 30 June 2023.

Amanda Solloway
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
8th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what support her Department provides for the development of new non-animal technologies and approaches in science.

The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and continues to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) for the use of animals in scientific procedures. This is achieved through UK Research and Innovation’s funding of the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies, and through research into the development of alternatives by Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

8th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an estimate of the potential economic benefit of innovation in advanced methods and approaches to replace the use of animals in research and testing.

The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and continues to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) for the use of animals in scientific procedures. This is achieved through UK Research and Innovation’s funding of the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies, and through research into the development of alternatives by Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

8th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential opportunities for increasing the (a) development and (b) uptake of non-animal alternatives to experiments on animals.

The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and continues to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) for the use of animals in scientific procedures. This is achieved through UK Research and Innovation’s funding of the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies, and through research into the development of alternatives by Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

8th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help ensure that the UK is a global leader in the use of non-animal technologies and approaches in scientific research.

The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) provides core funding for the National Centre for 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) (NC3Rs), which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies. The UK has a world leading reputation for the delivery of the 3Rs principles and the NC3Rs is widely recognised as being world leading, supporting research and innovation that provides researchers in academia and industry with technologies that are more predictive, cost-effective and humane than current animal models.

31st Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2023 to Question 131224 on Refuges: Energy, what metrics his Department has used to asses the adequacy of the packages of support for energy bills for domestic abuse refuges.

The Government has conducted a review of the operation of the Energy Bill Relief Schemes and it considered a range of qualitative and quantitative evidence, including input from businesses and stakeholders. As part of the review, BEIS developed a framework to assess which sectors may be most affected by rising energy prices based on financial vulnerability, energy intensity and ability to pass through costs. The results of this were used alongside results from a business survey conducted by BEIS, inputs from other government departments, and wider economic and public policy considerations, to support ministerial decision-making.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
24th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the number of domestic abuse refuges that have accessed Government support with energy bills.

Refuges that are on a domestic electricity contract benefit from the Energy Bills Support Scheme and the Energy Price Guarantee. Refuges that have a non-domestic electricity contract benefit from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
24th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the adequacy of Government support with energy bills for domestic abuse refuges.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business talks to my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department regularly on a wide range of issues.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
24th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has received from the domestic abuse sector on the level of Government support with energy bills for domestic abuse refuges.

Discussions have taken place with a number of charities regarding increased energy costs and the Government is fully aware of the impact this is having on the voluntary sector. This is why the Energy Bill Relief Scheme has been introduced, shielding eligible businesses and charities from soaring energy prices. Following an HMT-led review, the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme, will run from April until March 2024, and continue to provide a discount to eligible non domestic customers including charities.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
12th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many reports have been received by Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline relating to illegal tobacco in each of the last five years.

The total number of cases referred to Trading Standards by Citizens Advice consumer service totalled 249,001 in the last financial year. Information on the main topics Citizens Advice clients seek advice on is provided via the Citizens Advice website.

Kevin Hollinrake
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
6th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential equality implications of the Royal Mail Group's proposal to move to five-day letter delivery.

The Government has no current plans to change the statutory minimum requirements of the universal postal service which are set out in the Postal Services Act 2011.

The Government remains committed to ensuring that the universal service obligation remains affordable and accessible to all users, and that it is financially sustainable in the longer-term.

Kevin Hollinrake
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
29th Nov 2022
Whether his Department plans to take further steps to help tackle late invoice payments to small businesses.

We are tackling the culture of late payments with measures including Payment Practices Reporting, the Small Business Commissioner and Prompt Payment Code. Government is setting an example: the Cabinet Office Procurement Bill will ensure 30-day payment terms in contracts throughout the public sector supply chain.

Kevin Hollinrake
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
8th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to Answer of 17 October 2022 to Question 59578, what assessment his Department makes of the proportion of biomass that is generated sustainably.

The Government only supports sustainable biomass and there are strict sustainability criteria. Suppliers must demonstrate to the regulator Ofgem that they have met the criteria and their evidence is independently verified.

Consequently only biomass that complies with stringent sustainability criteria is eligible for support.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will provide a comprehensive roadmap of activities and milestones for the development of UK Conformity Assessment arrangements.

The UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) marking can already be used in Great Britain as a way to place products on the market. The Government has published extensive guidance on GOV.UK regarding the activities businesses need to undertake to meet UKCA requirements. Currently the CE marking can also be used to place products on the market in Great Britain. The Government will continue to provide updates, engage and communicate with industry.

17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will work with industry throughout the development of the UK Conformity Assessed marking system to ensure that aligned messaging on reassurance can be provided even whilst the longer-term uncertainty remains.

The Government will continue to take a pragmatic approach in developing the UK’s regulatory framework to ensure it works for businesses, while maintaining high standards of product safety to protect consumers. In order to achieve this, it is vital we continue to work closely with industry.

The Government also continues to welcome any feedback, comments, and suggestions from industry on any challenges they are facing, to understand how they can be best supported

10th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the report by BBC Panorama on 3 October 2022, regarding the type of wood products selected for burning at Drax power station, if he will make an assessment of how far Drax complies with sustainability criteria for biomass energy.

The Government only supports sustainable biomass and generators only receive subsidies for biomass that complies with strict sustainability criteria.

The regulator, Ofgem, is responsible for auditing the sustainability of biomass used by biomass electricity generators who receive support under the Renewables Obligation and has a process in place for this. As is routine, Ofgem is establishing whether the sustainability criteria have been met by the generator.

Sustainability information is publicly available on Ofgem’s website, with the latest dataset accessible here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/biomass-sustainability-dataset-2020-21.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
5th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to take steps to phase out North Sea oil and gas developments.

The UK still needs oil and gas for heating, cooking, transport and electricity generation during the energy transition. In meeting net zero, the UK’s use of both these fuels is set to reduce significantly.

The production of natural gas from the UK Continental Shelf creates under half the greenhouse gas of imported Liquefied Natural Gas. Turning off the UK’s domestic source of oil and gas now would put energy security and British jobs and industries at risk. Therefore, the North Sea Transition Authority plans to launch another licensing round this autumn, taking into account the forthcoming climate compatibility checkpoint.

Greg Hands
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
10th May 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding his Department made available for neurological research in each year from 2012-13 to 2020-21.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funds a variety of research within this broad-ranging area. The UKRI Gateway https://gtr.ukri.org/ provides data on publicly funded research and innovation which is searchable by year and subject area.

19th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to respond to the letter of 25 February 2022 to the Minister for Science, Research and Innovation from the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall.

I have been in touch with the hon. Member on 20 April 2022 to organise a meeting.

28th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to increase the proportion of energy generated by renewable sources; and by what year he estimates that the UK will generate all of its energy from renewable sources.

The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme is the Government’s flagship scheme for supporting new renewable electricity generation projects in Great Britain. The latest round aims to secure more capacity than the three previous rounds combined by supporting an expanded number of renewable technologies including offshore wind, onshore wind, solar, tidal and floating offshore wind. The next CfD round will be brought forward to March 2023, and future rounds will run annually from now on. These steps will help drive forward the deployment of renewable power. The Government has committed to fully decarbonise the electricity system by 2035, subject to security of supply.

Greg Hands
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
25th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on increasing spending on dementia research.

The Government will invest at least £375 million in neurodegenerative disease research over the next five years to fund projects into a range of diseases including dementia.

The Government is working to finalise outcomes from the Spending Review and to identify ways to boost dementia research. We will be setting out our plans on dementia for England for future years in 2022. This will include our ambitions for dementia research and boosting dementia research funding.

1st Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the value of Russian energy imported to the UK for the latest twelve month period for which data is available.

The UK and its international partners stand united in condemning the Russian state’s outrageous attack on Ukraine as a clear breach of international law and the UN Charter.

The UK is not dependent on Russian gas. In 2021, less than 4% of the UK’s gas supply was Russian gas, via liquified natural gas imports.

Greg Hands
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
28th Feb 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to legislate for more energy efficient homes.

The Government remains committed to the Clean Growth Strategy ambition to upgrade as many homes as possible to EPC Band C by 2035, where practical, cost-effective and affordable.

In the Net Zero Strategy, the department committed to consult on phasing in higher minimum standards across all sectors to meet this ambition.

The Government has already consulted on raising the energy performance standard in domestic private rented sector to EPC Band C and how mortgage lenders could support homeowners in making upgrades. The Government will publish its response in due course.

The Government will then seek primary powers to enable a long-term regulatory framework to improve the energy performance of homes.

Huge progress is already being made to increase the energy efficiency of UK homes. In 2008, just 14% had an Energy Performance of C or above, however it is now at 46% and rising.

Greg Hands
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
25th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much of the £20 billion in funding for research and development announced in the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 will be allocated to TB treatments and vaccines.

Following the Spending Review, BEIS is currently working to set detailed R&D budgets through to 2024/25. Further details of how this funding will be allocated will be announced in due course.

24th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure labour rights are enforced for all workers regardless of immigration status.

All workers who are legally working in the UK enjoy the full protection of UK employment law. Migrant workers are also entitled to the same protections under health and safety legislation as any other worker.

While most employment rights are enforced by an individual through an employment tribunal, the state has an important role to play in protecting the most vulnerable workers from exploitative practices.

We spend over £35million a year on enforcement covering:

  • National Minimum and Living Wages – enforced by HMRC;
  • Employment agencies and employment businesses - enforced by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EAS);
  • Labour exploitation and modern slavery, and the gangmasters licensing scheme for suppliers of labour in agriculture and fresh fruit supply chains - Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA).

The Government has also now committed to establish a single enforcement body for employment rights, which will bring together the three existing bodies to better protect vulnerable workers and create a level playing-field for the majority of employers complying with the law.

6th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to ensure installers can undertake their commitments as part of the Green Homes Grant scheme during the covid-19 outbreak; and what penalties are in place to ensure installers undertake work they have committed to do.

Based on the latest advice from my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister, tradespeople may continue to work if they are unable to do so from home. Installers registering and participating in the Green Homes Grant Scheme must agree to the Installer Terms and Conditions. As stated in paragraph 13f under General Obligations:

‘At all times when participating in the Scheme...the Installer must: comply, and ensure that its officers, employees, agents and subcontractors comply, with UK Government best practice “Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19)” when working at or in any Customer’s property’.

We understand that COVID-19 restrictions may affect the ability to install measures in households. We will not be imposing any penalties for installers who are unable to undertake work they have committed to as a result of the current restrictions but, as ever, vouchers will only become redeemable once scheduled works have been completed.

The extension to the scheme will allow more flexibility for when installations can take place, and we are working to ensure that voucher validity period reflects the coronavirus situation where necessary.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
10th Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the (a) value of the cash in transit industry to the UK economy and (b) number of people employed in that industry.

Secure collection and delivery of money, receipts and other valuable items is an activity undertaken by private security firms alongside many other activities rather than being a specific industry itself. These include security guard services, installation of security equipment, security consultancy and investigation activities. Therefore, we are unable to allocate value and employment to this particular activity. Private security and investigation activities as a whole contributed £3.3bn in Gross Vale Added to the UK economy in 2019 and accounted for nearly 230,000 jobs.

10th Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to support the cash-in-transit industry.

UK Businesses, including those within the cash in transit industry, may be eligible to access the business support packages launched by the Government during the coronavirus outbreak. This includes Business Interruption Loans, and potentially the discretionary grant fund administered by local authorities.

Our network of 38 growth hubs also provide tailored support free of charge to firms based in England, covering sources of business finance, as well as training and networking opportunities. Firms in the devolved administrations will be able to access similar services.

All business support and advice is listed on the GOV.UK website.

16th Jun 2020
What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on retaining jobs in the airline industry.

The Government continues to work closely with the airline industry. We have put unprecedented levels of support in place to help industry, including airlines, who have drawn down £1.8billion of loan support through the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) to help them continue activities.

In addition, my Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Transport, is leading an International Aviation Task Force, to help put measures in place to kickstart the sector – helping to restore jobs, trade, and opportunities for travel.

8th Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many times he has (a) spoken to or (b) requested to speak to (i) Willie Walsh, chief executive of International Airlines Group and (ii) Alex Cruz, chief executive of British Airways since the start of the 2020.

The Department has undertaken extensive engagement with businesses across a range of sectors since the start of 2020, particularly in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the Department for Transport has historically maintained regular engagement with British Airways and the International Airlines Group as important industry stakeholders.

In recognition of the challenging times that the aviation sector continues to face due to Covid-19, the Government has kept an open dialogue with UK airlines, including British Airways and the International Airlines Group.

8th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help reduce the risk of avian flu transmission to birds that are permanently resident in Royal Parks.

Managing the risk of avian influenza transmission is an operational matter for The Royal Parks, which is following instructions issued by the Animal Plant and Health Agency.

The captive bird collection of pelicans in St James’s Park has been moved indoors and The Royal Parks’ staff and wildlife officers are carrying out enhanced monitoring of the park waterbodies to check for signs of illness and to ensure that, should there be any, carcasses are removed immediately.

Additional signs have been installed in all the parks in areas where public feeding of birds is popular, instructing visitors not to feed the birds as this causes populations of waterfowl to group together and increases the risk of transmission.

Stuart Andrew
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
8th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support the arts and culture in London.

Through the unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund (CRF), HM Government supported London's vibrant cultural sector against the impact of COVID-19. London-based groups and venues received just over a third of total CRF funding – £494 million in grants and loans – supporting over 1,200 organisations. That included 21 organisations in Ealing, such as Colour Sound Experiment Ltd (just under £500,000) and Marquee Entec Ltd (£524,000). The Southbank Centre, the Royal Opera House and Historic Royal Palaces were just a few of the many other acclaimed London institutions which received significant amounts of CRF funding, demonstrating our commitment to supporting our iconic cultural and heritage venues through the pandemic.

In addition to this, Arts Council England – the arm’s length body which is responsible for distributing public funding – is committed to supporting arts and culture in the capital. Around a third of its investment through the 2023–26 Investment Programme will be directed to organisations in London, amounting to £143.7 million. The new Investment Programme includes a wider spread of investment to outer London boroughs, meaning more Londoners will benefit from creative and cultural investment. Arts Council England will also continue to prioritise a number of London boroughs in its existing set of priority places (Barking & Dagenham, Brent, Croydon, Enfield, and Newham).

I am pleased that, through this Investment Programme, Arts Council England is supporting 56 cultural organisations in the capital for the first time. These organisations will sit alongside our acclaimed institutions such as the Royal Opera House, London Transport Museum, the National Theatre, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and Southbank Centre, which will continue to receive funding. Organisations leaving the portfolio are eligible to apply for support from Arts Council England’s £12.6 million Transition Programme. This fund will provide those leaving the portfolio with up to 12 months’ funding at the current levels from the point of notification. Both the amount of money available, and the length of transition, have been extended.

Stuart Andrew
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
13th Dec 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to publish her Department's White Paper on the future of the Gambling Act; and whether that White Paper will include recommendations relating to the collapse of the Football Index.

The Government will publish a white paper setting out next steps regarding the Gambling Act Review in the coming months. We are considering all the evidence carefully, including the conclusions of the independent review of the regulation of BetIndex Ltd, the operator of Football Index, which we published in September.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
1st Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to support the simplification of terms and conditions required by digital and technology companies when accessing their websites or applications.

Under upcoming Online Safety legislation, companies that enable sharing of user-generated content and search services will need to create clear and accessible terms of service for how they will protect users from harmful content on their platform, and enforce these consistently. The draft Online Safety Bill is currently undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny and the government will introduce it to Parliament as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
7th Jun 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department and associated regulatory authorities are taking to reduce nuisance automated marketing calls.

Companies that make marketing calls are regulated by both the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). The PECR was designed to complement the DPA and impose strict obligations on organisations that make marketing calls to individuals in the UK.

The Government has taken a number of actions to tackle nuisance and automated marketing calls through amendments to the PECR. This includes introducing director liability and working with the Ministry of Justice and HM Treasury to ban cold calls from personal injury firms and pension providers. We also secured over £1 million to provide vulnerable people with call blocking devices.

The regulators Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office have developed a joint action plan to tackle the harm to consumers caused by nuisance calls and communications. This can be found at:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/information-for-industry/policy/tackling-nuisance-calls-messages

We continue to work with regulators and the telecoms industry in a joined up effort to tackle the issue of nuisance marketing communications.

John Whittingdale
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
15th Oct 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many households do not have access to high speed internet; and what his Department's definition is of high speed internet.

The department does not use the term “high speed internet”, but uses the term “superfast” to denote speeds capable of 24Mbps and more. There are c.30 million households across the UK, and the superfast coverage against the 24Mbps definition is 96.8%. Against the EU definition, which is 30Mbps and above, coverage across the UK is 96.5%.

In regard to households that do not have access to high speed internet, Ofcom have defined a “decent broadband” connection as being able to access 10Mbps download speed and 1Mbps upload. According to Thinkbroadband as of 16 October, 1.4% of UK premises have speeds of less than 10Mbps.

2nd Oct 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect on jobs in the events industry in England of exempting children aged 12 and under from the rule of six, in line with the policies of the devolved Administrations in Scotland and Wales.

My department continues to closely assess the impact of COVID-related restrictions on the events industry.

The rule of six does not apply to work, education and training activities. Meetings of up to 30 can still take place in permitted venues, as per the Covid-19 Secure guidance for the visitor economy. Since 11 July, a range of outdoor events have been able to take place.

Where the rule of 6 does apply, we have set out a clear and consistent limit of 6 people. Health is a devolved matter, and each administration has the discretion to implement the policy as they see fit.

As with all aspects of the Government’s response to Covid-19, our decisions have been and will continue to be based on scientific evidence and the latest public health assessments.

We continue to engage with stakeholders, including through the Visitor Economy Working Group and the Events Industry Senior Leaders Advisory Panel, to monitor the situation facing events businesses across the UK.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
13th Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that all communities can access (a) park tennis courts and (b) other (i) free and (ii) low-cost open spaces and sporting facilities.

As we set out in the government sport strategy, Sporting Future, sport and physical activity should be accessible to all. It is so important to the health of the nation - in terms of both physical and mental wellbeing.

As announced on 9 July, from 25 July indoor gyms, leisure centres (including tennis courts) and swimming pools in England should be able to reopen. These facilities will be able to offer on-site services to customers, provided they are COVID-secure and follow Government guidance.

Sport England have announced a £195 million package of support to help community clubs through this crisis. It recently boosted its Community Emergency Fund by a further £15 million to meet the demand, taking the total up to £210 million.

The income scheme announced on Thursday 2 July by the Secretary of State for Local Government, aims to support local authorities who have incurred irrecoverable loss of income from sales, fees and charge which they had reasonably budgeted for. Further guidance will follow on the principle of the scheme.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
20th May 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the contribution to the UK economy of the event catering industry; and what estimate he has made of trends in the level of contribution from that sector in each of the next five years.

The hospitality sector is hugely important to the UK economy, supporting 3.2 million jobs across the country and representing almost 10% of the country’s total employment. My Department has not made an estimate of the current or future contribution of the event catering industry to the broader hospitality sector.

We have been encouraged by the industry’s commitments to develop new hospitality career opportunities as part of the Tourism Sector Deal - including boosting apprenticeships and developing a new mentoring scheme.

We recognise that the COVID-19 crisis has significantly impacted multiple parts of the hospitality industry. We remain in regular contact with stakeholders, including UKHospitality, and will continue to monitor the situation. Hospitality businesses and workers can access the Government’s economic support package, including the recently extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Bounce Back Loan scheme.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that a child may be placed for adoption in a family with a different racial and cultural background to his or her own if that is conducive to the child's overall welfare.

Many adopters provide brilliant love and care for children, including those with whom they do not share the same ethnicity. The department’s National Adoption Strategy, published in July 2021, sets out a specific commitment to ensuring adopters get the support they need if they adopt children of a different ethnicity to their own. Further details are available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1006232/_Adoption_strategy_.pdf.

Regional Adoption Agency leaders are looking to develop specific transracial resources for social workers and adopters, as part of their work in supporting children with their identity.

Claire Coutinho
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which organisations will have places on the Regional Expert Partnerships, and how they will be be chosen.

Through the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Change Programme, the department will establish up to nine Regional Expert Partnerships (REP) to test and refine our reforms. Each REP will be led by a local authority, selected using objective criteria based on published SEND performance data. An additional two to three local authorities will be included in each REP, based predominantly on their geographical proximity to the lead local authority, so we can test in a wide range of local areas with differing performance, capacity and capability. Wherever possible, each REP will be located within a single Integrated Care Board, to ensure close collaboration with health partners.

REPs will be required to engage with their local partners, including health, social care, Multi-Academy Trusts, mainstream, specialist and alternative provision schools, and parents, children and young people, to involve them in testing and refining the reforms.

Real-time learning from the REPs will be fed back to the department on a regular basis, and will inform discussions at the national SEND and AP Implementation Board.

Claire Coutinho
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether organisations with places on the Regional Expert Partnerships will be on the board for fixed terms.

Through the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Change Programme, the department will establish up to nine Regional Expert Partnerships (REP) to test and refine our reforms. Each REP will be led by a local authority, selected using objective criteria based on published SEND performance data. An additional two to three local authorities will be included in each REP, based predominantly on their geographical proximity to the lead local authority, so we can test in a wide range of local areas with differing performance, capacity and capability. Wherever possible, each REP will be located within a single Integrated Care Board, to ensure close collaboration with health partners.

REPs will be required to engage with their local partners, including health, social care, Multi-Academy Trusts, mainstream, specialist and alternative provision schools, and parents, children and young people, to involve them in testing and refining the reforms.

Real-time learning from the REPs will be fed back to the department on a regular basis, and will inform discussions at the national SEND and AP Implementation Board.

Claire Coutinho
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which organisations will have places on the Regions Group and how they will be be chosen.

Through the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Change Programme, the department will establish up to nine Regional Expert Partnerships (REP) to test and refine our reforms. Each REP will be led by a local authority, selected using objective criteria based on published SEND performance data. An additional two to three local authorities will be included in each REP, based predominantly on their geographical proximity to the lead local authority, so we can test in a wide range of local areas with differing performance, capacity and capability. Wherever possible, each REP will be located within a single Integrated Care Board, to ensure close collaboration with health partners.

REPs will be required to engage with their local partners, including health, social care, Multi-Academy Trusts, mainstream, specialist and alternative provision schools, and parents, children and young people, to involve them in testing and refining the reforms.

Real-time learning from the REPs will be fed back to the department on a regular basis, and will inform discussions at the national SEND and AP Implementation Board.

Claire Coutinho
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether organisations with places on the Regions Group will be on that board for a fixed term.

Through the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Change Programme, the department will establish up to nine Regional Expert Partnerships (REP) to test and refine our reforms. Each REP will be led by a local authority, selected using objective criteria based on published SEND performance data. An additional two to three local authorities will be included in each REP, based predominantly on their geographical proximity to the lead local authority, so we can test in a wide range of local areas with differing performance, capacity and capability. Wherever possible, each REP will be located within a single Integrated Care Board, to ensure close collaboration with health partners.

REPs will be required to engage with their local partners, including health, social care, Multi-Academy Trusts, mainstream, specialist and alternative provision schools, and parents, children and young people, to involve them in testing and refining the reforms.

Real-time learning from the REPs will be fed back to the department on a regular basis, and will inform discussions at the national SEND and AP Implementation Board.

Claire Coutinho
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
17th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children who are eligible for free school meals have been diagnosed with special educational needs and disabilities.

The Department publishes figures on the proportion of pupils in England with special educational needs (SEN) who are eligible for free school meals (FSM). The most recent figures, from the January 2022 school census, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2021-22.

A table showing counts of FSM eligibility by SEN status for all pupils in England as of January 2022 can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/dd7aa9b8-0366-4317-9409-08db08498a11.

The table shows that 27% of pupils who were eligible for FSM had SEN. The school census does not collect information on pupils with disabilities.

7th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how Oak National Academy intends to license materials for use in Oak resources; and whether the Oak National Academy has approached (a) the Copyright Licensing Agency and (b) other organisations that are responsible for licensing the use of materials within education resources.

Oak National Academy is currently reviewing the best approach to licensing materials. Oak has conducted the recent procurement for the development of its first tranche of curriculum materials, on terms up to and including an Open Government Licence. The exact licence under which Oak’s new curriculum and resources will be shared will be confirmed before their publication.

As part of its review, Oak is engaging with the Copyright Licensing Agency and a range of organisations and publishers responsible for licensing content.

7th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that contributions to education resources commissioned by Oak National Academy are done so on the basis of fair terms and remuneration.

Oak National Academy’s first procurement to commission new curriculum packages closed in December 2023 and Oak will be confirming successful bidders in the coming weeks. Up to £8 million was available to curriculum partners through this procurement, with more funding in future rounds.

As part of the bidding process, bidders were required to set out their full costings for intellectual property and time to develop resources. Successful bidders will be remunerated accordingly.

The procurement complies with the Public Contracts Regulations (2015).

7th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to incorporate quality assurance principles into its plans for the Oak National Academy.

Oak National Academy will embed quality assurance principles into every stage of developing new curriculum resources. Curriculum partners secured through the open procurement process will need to demonstrate high standards of quality in their approach to curriculum design, and all resources will be reviewed by teachers and subject experts before being finalised.

The Department is confident that Oak will be operating robust quality assurance processes and ensuring that resources are continuously improved through both active testing and responding to user feedback. Oak will be subject to a review after its first two years of operation, as part of the wider Public Bodies Review Programme.

8th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of adding financial education to the primary school national curriculum; what assessment she has made of the potential merits of Talk Money Week for encouraging financial literacy among young people; and if she will make a statement.

Education on financial matters helps to ensure that young people are prepared to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions, and know where to seek further information when needed.

The current mathematics curriculum at primary level includes financial education, including calculations with money and using percentages, which provides young people with the knowledge to make important financial decisions.

Primary schools can also teach financial education through citizenship. This is not part of the National Curriculum until Key Stage 3, but the Department has published a non-statutory citizenship curriculum for Key Stages 1 and 2, to support schools to inform pupils of the benefits of saving.

There are resources available for schools, including the Money and Pension Service’s (MaPS) financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools in England. The guidance is available at: https://maps.org.uk/2021/11/11/financial-education-guidance-for-primary-and-secondary-schools-in-england/. The Department is working with MaPS on a series of joint financial education webinars during the 2022/23 academic year, to help both primary and secondary schools, to improve pupils’ skills and knowledge and build teachers’ confidence in this area.

The Department supports wider initiatives that aim to improve financial confidence and resilience, including Talk Money Week, which is led by MaPS. Talk Money Week is useful for encouraging all UK citizens, including at home, within families and at school, to talk openly about managing money. Departmental officials will continue to work closely with MaPS and other stakeholders such as HM Treasury, to consider what can be learned from such initiatives and how to provide further support for the teaching of financial education in schools.

6th Sep 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children subject to a deprivation of Liberty Order are of (a) black African and (b) Caribbean heritage broken down by gender.

The department does not collect information on the number or characteristics of children subject to a Deprivation of Liberty Order.

However, the President of the Family Division has established a national Deprivation of Liberty Court, which is to be supported by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory. This aims to improve our understanding of the cases that are being heard by the Court, and to understand more about what can be done to better meet the needs of the children involved. More information is available at: https://www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/news/nuffield-family-justice-observatory-to-monitor-data-from-new-national-dols-deprivation-of-liberty-court.

The latest information on the number of children looked after is available in the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England’ available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.

6th Sep 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are (a) in care and (b) subject to a deprivation of liberty Order as of 6 September 2022.

The department does not collect information on the number or characteristics of children subject to a Deprivation of Liberty Order.

However, the President of the Family Division has established a national Deprivation of Liberty Court, which is to be supported by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory. This aims to improve our understanding of the cases that are being heard by the Court, and to understand more about what can be done to better meet the needs of the children involved. More information is available at: https://www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/news/nuffield-family-justice-observatory-to-monitor-data-from-new-national-dols-deprivation-of-liberty-court.

The latest information on the number of children looked after is available in the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England’ available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.

2nd Sep 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department expects to publish the results of the SEND Green Paper consultation.

The department will publish a national Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) improvement plan later this year, setting out our next steps for implementation and response to the consultation.

2nd Sep 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his Department's timescale is for publishing the results of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) green paper consultation.

The department will publish a national Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) improvement plan later this year, setting out our next steps for implementation and response to the consultation.

22nd Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support adoptive parents with the educational needs of their child.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to promote the achievement of previously looked-after children, including those who have left care through adoption. They must appoint an officer, the Virtual School Head, who discharges this duty through the provision of expert advice and information to those with parental responsibility, designated teachers and educators.

Previously looked-after children have priority access in school admissions, alongside looked-after children, and schools are required to appoint a designated teacher to promote their achievement. These pupils attract pupil premium plus funding of £2,410 per annum, which is managed by the school. Statutory guidance on the role of the designated teacher sets a clear expectation for schools to involve parents and guardians in deciding how best the funding is used to support their child.

30th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress his Department has made on bringing forward legislative proposals to introduce a compulsory register of home education children.

As outlined in the children not in school consultation response, which was published on 3 February 2022, the government is committed to a form of local authority register for children not in school. We continue to engage with stakeholders on these proposals and we hope to legislate on this measure at the earliest suitable opportunity. The consultation response is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/children-not-in-school.

17th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of children's centres that closed in each of the last 12 years; and what steps his Department is taking to help ensure there is adequate capacity in children's centres.

Based on the information supplied by local authorities, as of 18 March 2022[1], there were 2,966 children’s centre sites open to families and children, providing children's centre services as part of a network.

The attached table shows the number of children’s centres sites that have closed in each year since 2011[2].

The government is committed to championing the family hub model. Between 2019 and 2021, it announced £39.5 million in support of this commitment, including:

  • A national centre for family hubs to provide expert advice and guidance. This is run by the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Families.
  • A £12 million family hubs transformation fund, which will support at least 12 local authorities in England to transform to a family hub model of service delivery. Local authorities were invited to apply for up to £1 million to pay for the change process through both programme and capital funding. The deadline to apply has now passed and the department is currently reviewing applications.

As part of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, the government announced a further £82 million to create a network of family hubs. This is part of a wider £300 million package to transform services for parents, carers, babies, and children in half of council areas across England.

Children’s centres can form part of a family hub network. The National Centre for Family Hubs will work to ensure that councils understand how they can best be incorporated where it is appropriate.

[1] Source: This is based on information supplied by local authorities to Get Information about Schools (GIAS) database: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk and internal management information held by the department on historical children’s centre closure dates as of 18 March 2022. These figures may be different to previous answers, and could change again in future, since local authorities may update their data at any time. The GIAS collects data on children’s centres that local authorities have closed on a permanent basis. It does not collect data on children’s centres that local authorities may have closed temporarily in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

[2] No closures have been reported in 2022.

16th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department collects on the number of businesses offering apprenticeships; and what steps his Department is taking to encourage more businesses to offer apprenticeships.

Apprenticeships provide people with the opportunity to earn and learn the skills needed to start an exciting career or boost their skills in a wide range of industries. The department wants more employers to offer high-quality apprenticeships.

In the 2019/20 academic year, there were 66,900 unique enterprises in England, with at least one matched start for apprenticeships. Of these, small enterprises with 0-49 employees represented 71.2% (47,633), medium enterprises with 50-249 employees represented 15.3% (10,236), and large enterprises with 250+ employees represented 13.5% (9,031). Further data breakdowns for apprenticeship employers' industry characteristics is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics/2019-20.

To support employers in all sectors to offer apprenticeships, the department is increasing funding for apprenticeships in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. We are also encouraging the use of more flexible training models, such as front-loaded and accelerated training and flexi-job apprenticeships to ensure that apprenticeships work for employers in all sectors.

We are also engaging with employers through our Join the Skills Revolution campaign. The campaign aims to increase small and medium-sized enterprises’ awareness and consideration of apprenticeships and other skills programmes, such as traineeships and T Level industry placements, to drive action to increase uptake.

Alex Burghart
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
15th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeship starts there were in the (a) London Borough of Ealing or (b) lowest level data set available in each of the last four reporting periods; and what the average number of those starts was in (a) London and (b) England.

The number of apprenticeship starts for Ealing, Southall constituency, the London Borough of Ealing, London and England in the previous four academic years are presented in the table below, along with an average of those four years and figures for the first quarter of the current academic year.

2017-28

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

Average

Q1 (Aug – Oct) 2021-22

Ealing, Southall Constituency

420

480

380

380

410

140

London Borough of Ealing

1,360

1,500

1,190

1,230

1,320

450

London

36,830

40,750

33,890

36,930

37,100

13,070

England

375,760

393,380

322,530

321,440

353,280

130,240

Please note:

  1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
  2. Total values for England include a small number of learners living outside England where a home address is not known.
  3. Source: Individualised Learner Record
  4. Geography is based upon the home postcode of the learner.

Further information on apprenticeship starts can be found in the Apprenticeships and traineeships statistics publication:https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships.

Alex Burghart
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
28th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing teacher pay in the next financial year by more than the rate of inflation.

The announcement at the Spending Review 2021 confirms that public sector workers will see pay rises as the recovery in the economy and labour market allows a return to a normal pay-setting process. This marks an end to the temporary pay pause in the 2021/22 financial year.

This year's remit to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) reiterates the government's commitment to raising starting salaries to £30,000 and seeks recommendations for pay awards in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.

The department’s written evidence to the STRB will outline its proposals for pay awards for the next two years, taking account of this commitment and the wider economic context. This is due to be published later this month.

The STRB will provide their report in the summer and then the government will publish its response to the report.

8th Jul 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve ventilation in the classroom to help ensure the safety of pupils during the covid-19 outbreak.

As the Department’s guidance outlines, when a school is in operation, it is important to ensure that it is well ventilated and that a comfortable teaching environment is maintained. This can be achieved through a variety of measures, including using mechanical ventilation systems and/or natural ventilation, such as opening windows. In all cases, actions should be taken to encourage fresh air into the building, whilst striking a balance with thermal comfort.

The Department continues to review ventilation guidance, including considering whether monitoring carbon dioxide (CO2) levels would be appropriate. The Department is working with Public Health England (PHE) and ventilation experts on a pilot project to measure CO2 levels in typical classrooms and exploring options to help improve ventilation where needed. As new evidence or data emerges, the Government updates its advice accordingly to ensure that all schools, colleges and nurseries have the right safety measures in place.

The Department has worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and PHE to revise our guidance for schools, colleges and nurseries from Step 4 of the roadmap. The Department’s aim is to balance the risks associated with COVID-19 whilst moving to a ‘steady state’ that minimises both the burden of implementing protective measures on staff and parents and the effect those measures have on young peoples’ educational experiences.

The Department will continue keep these measures under review, in partnership with health experts and informed by the latest scientific evidence and advice.

The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.

7th Jul 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of special provisions in the Behaviour Hubs programme for pupils with ADHD and other neurodiverse conditions.

The behaviour hubs programme is designed to support the development and implementation of positive whole-school behaviour cultures which benefit all children, including those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other neurodiverse conditions.

The behaviour hubs programme pairs lead schools and multi academy trusts (MATs) that have exemplary behaviour practices with partner schools or MATs who want and need to improve pupil behaviour.

Lead schools and MATs have been selected from across the school sector, and include primary, secondary, alternative provision, special schools and MATs. This provides partner schools and MATs with access to good practice across different types of provision, including specialist provision. Experienced senior leaders and executive teams that have implemented strong, positive behaviour cultures within their schools will be able to support the specific challenges that a partner school is facing, including those relating to pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

All schools on the programme have access to training on specific issues, common problems, and effective approaches led by expert advisers that can be implemented in their school context. Training modules have been developed and reviewed by experts from across the school sector. The training includes a mandatory module on SEND, which covers how to ensure behaviour policies and practices are inclusive and take reasonable adjustments into account, including any adjustments required for those who are neurodiverse.

The programme is designed and delivered by the Department’s taskforce of behaviour advisers. The behaviour advisers bring experience from across the school sector, including alternative provision and special schools, providing broad representation of all schools and their specific needs, including SEND.

The Department has procured an independent evaluator to assess the effectiveness of the programme. Where possible, analysis from all components of the evaluation will seek to provide insights by school type (such as secondary, alternative provision and special schools) and characteristics of the schools and the pupils at those schools (for example the proportion of pupils with SEND or eligible for free school meals).

22nd Jun 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make a statement on the ways in which early years provision will feature as part of the covid-19 catch-up recovery strategy; and how opportunities for play will be (a) encouraged, (b) supported and (c) facilitated.

On 2 June 2021, as part of the government’s announcement on providing an additional £1.4 billon for education recovery, we announced a £153 million investment for high-quality professional development for early years practitioners. This includes new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development, and physical and emotional development for the youngest children, of which play is an important part. This is in addition to the £18 million announced in February 2021 and the £9 million announced in June 2020 to support early language development for children in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The package will build on our early years foundation stage reforms, which support more effective early years curriculum and assessment, and reducing unnecessary assessment paperwork, so that practitioners and teachers can spend more time engaging children in rich activities, including through play, to support their learning.

7th Jun 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase teacher recruitment.

The number of teachers remains high, with more than 453,000 working in schools across the country – over 12,000 more than in 2010.

The Department recognises, however, that more needs to be done to ensure that this level of recruitment is maintained. One of the Department’s top priorities is to ensure that we continue to attract and retain high-quality teachers, for example through transforming the support and professional development teachers receive, as well as helping create the right climate for head teachers to establish supportive school cultures.

The teacher pay increases in recent years are making a substantial difference to the competitiveness of the early career pay offer (for example, this academic year, teacher starting salaries have increased by 5.5%).

In terms of attracting new trainees into teaching, there has been an increase in the number of new trainees this year – in the academic year 2020/21, 41,472 new trainees were recruited overall – over 7,000 (23%) more than in 2019 – which shows that teaching continues to be an attractive career option.

Additionally, in the academic year 2020/21, 14,994 postgraduate trainees were recruited to EBacc subjects – 1,987 more trainee teachers than the previous year.

The quality of this year’s trainee teachers remains high, with 23% of postgraduate entrants holding a first-class degree in the academic year 2020/21, which is 3 percentage points higher than the previous year.

The Department is committed to ensuring that these recruits receive the best training possible. From this September, new trainee teachers will be entitled to at least three years of evidence-based professional development and support, starting with the new Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework, followed by a two-year induction based on the Early Career Framework (ECF).

The ECF is the biggest teaching reform in a generation and will give early-career teachers access to high-quality training and mentoring. In addition to this, the Department is launching new National Professional Qualifications for teachers and school leaders at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high-quality teaching practice to those leading multiple schools across trusts.

The Department recognises that there is further to go in some subjects. That is why a range of measures have been put in place, including bursaries worth up to £24,000 and scholarships worth up to £26,000, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics. There are also training bursaries available as part of the Subject Knowledge Enhancement programme, which helps trainees in seven EBacc subjects to gain the depth of subject knowledge needed to train to teach their chosen subject.

The Department is taking action to ensure recent success in increasing ITT recruitment is maintained. For example, the Department is launching a new one-stop ITT application system. The ‘Apply’ service will be fully rolled out by October 2021.

Additionally, the Department is taking steps to make it easier for schools to recruit teachers. ‘Teaching Vacancies’ is a free, national job listing service that is saving schools money and attracting high-quality candidates: https://teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/?_ga=2.204282384.1894025638.1594023142-892610644.1591690663. This service can help schools to quickly list vacancies for both permanent and fixed-term teaching staff.

12th Apr 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the School Rebuilding Programme will prioritise the replacement of CLASP schools to ensure teachers and schoolchildren are safe from the health effects of asbestos.

The Department for Education takes the issue of asbestos in schools very seriously and is committed to supporting schools, local authorities and academy trusts to fulfil their duty to manage asbestos safely. Expert advice from the Health and Safety Executive is that if asbestos is unlikely to be damaged or disturbed then it is best managed in situ. We are clear that if asbestos does pose a safety risk and cannot be effectively managed in situ, then it should be removed from schools.

Since 2015, the Department has allocated over £9.5 billion, including an additional £560 million in 2020-21, to those responsible for school buildings for essential maintenance and improvements, including removing or encapsulation when it is the safest course of action to do so.

In February, we announced the first 50 schools to benefit from the new School Rebuilding Programme as part of a commitment to 500 projects over the next decade. School Rebuilding Programme investment is targeted based on a buildings condition. A full explanation of the methodology used to prioritise the first 50 schools has been published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme.

We intend to consult later this year on the approach to prioritising schools for the longer-term programme.

1st Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what advice has been made available to schools in areas with a high covid-19 infection rate on reopening.

On 22 February 2021, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, confirmed that, based on the Government’s assessment of the current data against its 4 tests for relaxing restrictions, it will be possible for children to return to schools from 8 March 2021. The latest data suggests that COVID-19 infection rates have fallen across all ages, including in children and young people.

Schools should continue to implement the system of controls. These are the measures that schools have been using since the start of the autumn term. We have strengthened the system of controls in secondary schools by recommending that staff and pupils wear face coverings anywhere in the school where social distancing is not possible. More information is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/964351/Schools_coronavirus_operational_guidance.pdf.

Our programme of rapid COVID-19 testing is going to continue to be an important part of how we keep COVID-19 infection rates down within schools and across the wider community. Since January 2021, we have been delivering rapid testing kits to secondary schools and colleges to help identify pupils or staff who are infected with COVID-19 but may not yet show any symptoms. Pupils returning to secondary schools from 8 March will be strongly encouraged to take a rapid test for COVID-19 before their face-to-face teaching re-starts. Staff in both primary and secondary schools are now also going to be able to be tested twice a week, whether they are showing COVID-19 symptoms or not. This means that we can ask those with positive results to self-isolate and further reduce the spread of the virus.

In the event that COVID-19 restrictions in schools are needed to help contain the spread of the virus, the Government may ask schools to change how they are delivering education for a short period of time. To assist with this, on 22 February, we published a revised contingency framework, which outlines how schools should operate in the event of any restrictions. The contingency framework is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-contingency-framework-for-education-and-childcare-settings/contingency-framework-education-and-childcare-settings-excluding-universities#contingency-framework-principles.

The contingency framework is different from the processes for managing COVID-19 cases or outbreaks in individual schools and the process for alleviating operational challenges including staff shortages. Existing processes and roles for school leaders and Directors of Public Health in addressing those issues are unchanged.

Any decision that attendance at education or childcare settings should be restricted will not be taken lightly. The Department will work with other Government Departments, the Chief Medical Officer, the Joint Biosecurity Centre, Public Health England, the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS Test and Trace and relevant local authorities to ensure the decision is informed by the available evidence and recent data. These will be ministerial decisions made on an area-by-area basis in the light of all available evidence, public health advice and local and national circumstances.

1st Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of (a) delaying schools reopening and (b) blended learning in areas with the highest rates of covid-19.

The Government has been committed to getting all pupils back into schools full-time, as soon as the public health picture allows. In doing so, the Department is guided by the scientific and medical experts. Data and evidence are considered regularly, including by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), the Joint Biosecurity Centre, Public Health England and the Chief Medical Officers.

On 22 February 2021, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, confirmed that, based on the Government’s assessment of the current data against its 4 tests for relaxing restrictions, it will be possible for children to return to schools from 8 March 2021. The latest data suggests that COVID-19 infection rates have fallen across all ages, including in children and young people.

Missing face-to-face education has severe impacts for children and young people, with clear evidence that further time out of education is detrimental for cognitive and academic development, health and wellbeing.

There should be no need to reduce occupancy in schools by implementing rotas or providing blended learning. Instead, everyone should follow the system of controls set out in our published guidance, which have been strengthened and are the correct measures for minimising the risk of transmission within schools: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/963541/Schools_coronavirus_operational_guidance.pdf.

In the event that restrictions in schools are needed to help contain the spread of the virus, the Government may ask schools to change how they are delivering education for a short period of time. To assist with this, on 22 February, we published a revised contingency framework, which outlines how schools should operate in the event of any restrictions. The contingency framework is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-contingency-framework-for-education-and-childcare-settings/contingency-framework-education-and-childcare-settings-excluding-universities#contingency-framework-principles.

The contingency framework is different from the processes for managing COVID-19 cases or outbreaks in individual schools and the process for alleviating operational challenges including staff shortages. Existing processes and roles for school leaders and Directors of Public Health in addressing those issues are unchanged.

1st Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what advice he has received on reducing the risk of increasing covid-19 infection rates when schools reopen; and what the key recommendations of that advice were.

The Department continues to work closely with other Government departments throughout its response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including Public Health England (PHE) and the Department of Health and Social Care, as well as stakeholders across the sector. We ensure that our policy is based on the latest scientific and medical advice, and we continue to develop comprehensive guidance based on the PHE-endorsed ‘system of controls’ and to understand the impact and effectiveness of these measures on staff, pupils and parents.

As new evidence or data emerges, the Department updates its advice accordingly to ensure that all our schools have the right safety measures in place. On 22 February 2021, we updated our guidance to support the full opening to education from 8 March, which includes updated advice on face coverings. The guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/964351/Schools_coronavirus_operational_guidance.pdf.

We know that the predominant new variant of COVID-19 is more transmissible. PHE advice remains that the way to control this virus is with the ‘system of controls’, even with the current new variants. The ‘system of controls’ measures outlined in our guidance create an environment for children and staff where the risk of transmission of infection is substantially reduced. Schools need to continue to implement these controls to the fullest extent possible.

While it is not possible to ensure a totally risk-free environment, there is no evidence that children transmit the disease any more than adults. The Department recently published 'Evidence summary: COVID-19 - children, young people and education settings', which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/963639/DfE_Evidence_summary_COVID-19_-_children__young_people_and_education_settings.pdf.

Based on the recent Office for National Statistics data, the risks to education staff are similar to those for most other occupations. This data can be found at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19infectionsinthecommunityinengland/characteristicsofpeopletestingpositiveforcovid19inengland22february2021.

The Department will continue to keep our guidance and advice to schools under review to help ensure they remain as safe as possible.

29th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to (a) distribute clear face masks to schools and colleges, and (b) help schools make reasonable adjustments for those children who suffer from hearing loss.

The Department’s guidance on face coverings can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/face-coverings-in-education/face-coverings-in-education.

As the guidance outlines, during national lockdown, in schools and colleges where Year 7 and above are educated, face coverings should be worn by adults (staff and visitors), pupils and students when moving around indoors, outside of classrooms and other teaching environments, such as in corridors and communal areas where social distancing is difficult to maintain.

Based on current evidence and the measures that schools and colleges are already putting in place, such as the system of controls and consistent bubbles, face coverings will not generally be necessary in the classroom.

Children in primary schools do not need to wear a face covering.

Some individuals are exempt from wearing face coverings. This includes people who cannot put on, wear, or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability, or if you are speaking to or providing assistance to someone who relies on lip reading, clear sound or facial expressions to communicate. The same legal exemptions that apply to the wearing of face coverings in shops and on public transport also apply in schools and colleges.

Face coverings can make it more difficult to communicate with pupils and students with additional needs or those who many rely on lip reading or facial expressions for understanding. We expect staff to be sensitive to these needs when teaching and interacting with pupils and students.

Schools can get advice and support for children with hearing impairments from specialist teachers of the deaf. These teachers support children and young people with hearing impairment, and their families, from the point of diagnosis. The Department for Education also funds the whole school special educational needs and disability consortium (£1.9 million per annum), hosted by National Association for Special Educational Needs, to provide schools with access to resources and tips for the classroom, including for hearing impairment.

We continue to provide information to the sector on our guidance, and any changes to it, through regular departmental communications. We will also continue to work with Public Health England, as well as stakeholders across the sector, to monitor the latest scientific and medical advice and understand the impact of the system of controls on staff, pupils and parents.

18th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to Answer of 18 January 2020 to Question 137170 on Children: Computers, by which date his Department expects that every child in need of a device for remote learning during the covid-19 lockdown will have adequate access to that device.

All primary schools, secondary schools and colleges in England are now expected to provide remote education for the majority of their pupils and students. To support this, the Government is investing over £400 million, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. This includes over 800,000 laptops and tablets that were delivered to schools, academy trusts and local authorities by 17 January. Schools already owned around 2 million laptops and 1 million tablets before the COVID-19 outbreak, and they have been invited to order more devices to help meet demand.

Delivery of devices is continuing over the course of this term. The Get Help with Technology scheme will email schools with information on the number of additional devices allocated to them, and when they will be able to order.

We have estimated the number of laptops and tablets needed by disadvantaged children in Years 3 to 11 using data on the number of pupils eligible for free school meals data and external estimates of the number of devices that schools already own. Schools, local authorities and academy trusts are able to request additional devices if their original allocation does not meet their needs.

18th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January to Question 137170 on Children: Computers, what assessment he has made of (a) the number of children remote learning during the covid-19 lockdown, (b) how many devices those children require, and (c) how much funding his Department will allocate to provide those devices.

All primary schools, secondary schools and colleges in England are now expected to provide remote education for the majority of their pupils and students. To support this, the Government is investing over £400 million, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. This includes over 800,000 laptops and tablets that were delivered to schools, academy trusts and local authorities by 17 January. Schools already owned around 2 million laptops and 1 million tablets before the COVID-19 outbreak, and they have been invited to order more devices to help meet demand.

Delivery of devices is continuing over the course of this term. The Get Help with Technology scheme will email schools with information on the number of additional devices allocated to them, and when they will be able to order.

We have estimated the number of laptops and tablets needed by disadvantaged children in Years 3 to 11 using data on the number of pupils eligible for free school meals data and external estimates of the number of devices that schools already own. Schools, local authorities and academy trusts are able to request additional devices if their original allocation does not meet their needs.

14th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it is his Department's policy that free school meals should not cover the February 2021 half-term.

During the period of national lockdown, schools should continue to provide meal options for all pupils who are in school. Meals should be available free of charge to all infant pupils and pupils who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals who are in school. Schools should also continue to provide free school meal support to pupils who are eligible for benefits related free school meals and who are learning at home. Schools are free to decide the best approach for their free school meal pupils. They can provide lunch parcels, locally arranged vouchers, or they can use the national voucher scheme which re-opened on Monday 18 January 2021.

As was the case over Christmas, vulnerable children and families can continue to receive support for food and other essentials over February half-term via councils through the £170 million COVID Winter Grant Scheme launched last year. Local authorities understand which groups need support and are best placed to ensure appropriate holiday support is provided. This is why the £170 million COVID Winter Grant Scheme will be distributed by them, rather than schools, who will continue providing support for disadvantaged children during term-time. Families who need support should speak to their local authority.

13th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what date he estimates that every child in need of a device for remote learning will have adequate access such a device during the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown.

The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education, and on Tuesday 12 January the Department announced that it will be providing a further 300,000 laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. This is on top of our previous commitment to provide a million devices. We are delivering devices as quickly as they are available, during a time of unprecedented global demand. We have based our allocation of devices on recent data on free school meal eligibility, to ensure that they reach the children and young people that need them most.

8th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to fairly assess GCSE and A-Level students who were scheduled to retake their exams in 2021 and having left their school or college are no longer able to receive a teacher assessment.

The Department concluded a successful Autumn exam series, allowing pupils who were unhappy with the grades they received in Summer 2020 the opportunity to sit them again. The Department understands, however, that some pupils may have decided to wait until the Summer 2021 series to take their exams.

In light of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department will not be asking pupils to sit GCSE, AS and A level exams this summer as planned. It is important therefore that there is a clear and accessible route for private candidates, and those not in school this year, to be assessed and receive a grade.

A rapid consultation on how to fairly award all pupils a grade that ensures they can progress to the next stage of their lives will be launching shortly. The Department will continue to engage with a range of relevant stakeholders when developing plans for our policy on GCSE, AS and A level assessments in 2021, as will the exams regulator Ofqual. A full equalities impact assessment, informed by the results of the consultation, will be published in due course.

8th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of closing nurseries and early years settings as a result of the exponential rise in covid-19 transmission among children.

My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced on 4 January 2021 that early years settings remain open for all children during the national lockdown.

Details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.

Schools have been restricted because additional measures are needed to contain the spread of the virus. The wider significant restrictions in place as part of the national lockdown to contain the spread of the virus in the community enable us to continue prioritising keeping nurseries and childminders open, supporting parents and delivering the crucial care and education needed for our youngest children.

Early years settings remain low risk environments for children and staff. Current evidence suggests that pre-school children (0 to 5 years) are less susceptible to infection and are unlikely to be playing a driving role in transmission. There is no evidence the new strain of the virus causes more serious illness in either children or adults and there is no evidence that the new variant of COVID-19 disproportionately affects young children.

PHE advice remains that the risk of transmission and infection is low if early years settings follow the system of controls, which reduce risks and create inherently safer environments. This report from PHE shows that, at present under 5s have the lowest confirmed case rate of all age groups: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports.

Early years settings have been open to all children since 1 June and there is no evidence that the early years sector has contributed to a rise in virus cases within the community. Early modelling evidence from SAGE evidenced in the report: Modelling and behavioural science responses to scenarios for relaxing school closures showed that early years provision had a smaller relative impact on transmission rate when modelled with both primary schools and secondary schools. The report is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/886994/s0257-sage-sub-group-modelling-behavioural-science-relaxing-school-closures-sage30.pdf.

Early years childcare providers were one of the first sectors to have restrictions lifted last summer, in recognition of the key role they play in society. Childminders and nursery staff across the country have worked hard to keep settings open through the COVID-19 outbreak so that young children can be educated, and parents can work. The earliest years are the most crucial point of child development and attending early education lays the foundation for lifelong learning and supports children’s social and emotional development. We continue to prioritise keeping early years settings open in full because of the clear benefits to children’s education and wellbeing and to support working parents. Caring for the youngest age group is not something that can be done remotely.

These plans are being kept under review in the light of emerging scientific evidence. We are working with the scientific community to understand the properties and dynamics of the new variant VUI-202012/01 in relation to children and young people.

20th Oct 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional support he has made available to support teachers to help return pupils' attainment back to the national standard after their attainment declined during the summer term and summer holiday during the covid-19 outbreak.

All children and young people have had their education disrupted as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. In order to support schools, the Government has committed to a catch-up package worth £1 billion.

This funding includes a universal catch-up premium worth £650 million to support schools to deliver any additional activities required to make up for lost teaching time. To help schools make the best use of this funding, the Education Endowment Foundation has published a support guide for schools with evidence-based approaches to catch up, and a School Planning Guide, developed in partnership with expert school leaders from across the country, to support school leaders with their planning for the 2020/21 academic year.

Alongside this, the catch-up package includes a new £350 million National Tutoring Programme for disadvantaged pupils. This will increase access to high-quality tuition for the most disadvantaged young people, further helping to tackle the attainment gap. Research shows high quality individual and small group tuition can add up to five months of progress for disadvantaged pupils.

15th Oct 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the number of children without access to an internet enabled device enabling them to participate in remote education.

It is vital that pupils have access to high quality and consistent remote education. The Government believes that through the hard work of teachers and staff, pupils will continue to receive the education they deserve, whatever the circumstances.

As part of over £160 million invested to support remote education and access to online social care, the Department has already provided over 220,000 laptops and tablets and over 50,000 4G wireless routers, during the summer term, for disadvantaged children who would not otherwise have access.

These devices are owned by schools, academy trusts and local authorities who can lend these to disadvantaged children and young people who need them most. We are now supplementing this support by making an additional 250,000 laptops and tablets available this term to support disadvantaged children who may experience disruption to face-to-face education.

The Department estimated the number of disadvantaged pupils without access to a suitable device or the internet using data on pupils eligible for Free School Meals in each school, taking into consideration that some pupils would already have access to a private device or internet connection.

The Department is also working with the major telecommunications companies to improve internet connectivity for disadvantaged and vulnerable families who rely on a mobile internet connection. We are piloting an approach where mobile network operators are providing temporary access to free additional data, offering families more flexibility to access the resources that they need the most. In the pilot, schools, academy trusts, and local authorities identified children who need access to free additional data.

8th Oct 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support clinically extremely vulnerable children who cannot attend school; and what support is available to the children of clinically extremely vulnerable people to enable safe and effective learning out of classrooms.

This government will always prioritise the health and welfare of staff and pupils.

Being in nursery, school and college is vital for children and young people’s education and for their wellbeing. Time out of nursery, school and college is detrimental for children’s cognitive and academic development.

Current evidence suggests schools are not high-risk settings when compared to other workplace environments. The risk to children of becoming severely ill from COVID-19 is very low and there are negative health impacts being out of school.

We are clear about the measures that need to be in place to create safer environments within schools. That is why the Department for Education published guidance, endorsed by Public Health England, which provides a framework for schools to put in place proportionate protective measures for children and staff. The guidance also ensures that all pupils receive a high-quality education that enables them to thrive and progress. If schools follow this guidance, they will effectively reduce risks in their school and create an inherently safer environment for pupils, families and staff. The guidance for the full opening of schools available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

The national shielding programme for all adults and children was paused on 1 August 2020 (except areas in local lockdown). Clinically extremely vulnerable children should attend education settings in line with the wider guidance on the reopening of schools and guidance for full opening, including special schools and other specialist settings. Children who live with those who are clinically extremely vulnerable or clinically vulnerable can attend school. If parents or carers of learners remain concerned, we recommend schools discuss their concerns and provide reassurance of the measures they are putting into place. The guidance for people who are clinically extremely vulnerable from COVID-19 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19.

Where a pupil is unable to attend school because they are complying with clinical or public health advice, we expect schools to be able to immediately offer them access to remote education. Our guidance has a dedicated section on remote education support which outlines our expectations, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools#res.

Pupils no longer required to shield but who generally remain under the care of a specialist health professional are likely to discuss their care with their health professional at their next planned clinical appointment. Further advice from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health is available here: https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/covid-19-talking-children-families-about-returning-school-guiding-principles.

For disadvantaged children who are unable to attend school on clinical or public health advice and do not have access to a suitable device or the internet, their school can request support through the 'Get help with technology' service. The guidance is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-laptops-and-tablets-for-children-who-cannot-attend-school-due-to-coronavirus-covid-19.

Keeping children safe online is essential. The statutory guidance 'Keeping Children Safe in Education' provides schools and colleges with information on what they should be doing to protect their pupils online. The guidance is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2.

15th Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to help protect older and more vulnerable students at greater risk from covid-19 infection when attending reopened further education colleges in September 2020.

The guidance published on the 2 July and updated on 15 July sets how Further Education colleges can reopen safely for all learners, including those that are older or vulnerable, in September 2020. It has been developed in close consultation with the sector and medical experts from Public Health England. It sets out in detail the steps colleges should take to protect their staff and learners with a requirement to undertake full health and safety COVID-19 risk assessments and implement the September reopening protective measures. These risk assessments must consider groups that are most at risk, including learners with protected characteristics. The guidance also provides advice on supporting young vulnerable learners and recognises that young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) may need careful preparation for a return to full time attendance.

We have also produced guidance for specialist education settings including special post-16 institutions. This sets out the actions special education setting leaders should take to minimise the risk of transmission in their setting, highlighting additional or different considerations for special education settings.

We are doing everything we can to make sure colleges and other providers are as safe as possible for learners and staff, and will continue to work closely with the country’s best scientific and medical experts to ensure that is the case. We will keep guidance under review as we continue to monitor the situation over the summer and we will adjust and adapt our approach as necessary if more evidence becomes available to us.

The guidance is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision/what-fe-colleges-and-providers-will-need-to-do-from-the-start-of-the-2020-autumn-term.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
3rd Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many requests he has received to meet with the The Black Curriculum; and what plans he has to meet with that organisation.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education received a request directly from The Black Curriculum organisation asking for a meeting and a response has been sent. At this stage, the Department’s work responding to the COVID-19 outbreak and other diary pressures make it difficult for the Secretary of State to arrange a meeting. However, the Secretary of State’s reply makes clear that officials have met with the organisation previously and are happy to meet with them again to discuss these matters.

30th Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will create a standardised home learning framework to help maintain educational standards throughout England during the covid-19 outbreak.

Getting more children back in school is vital for their education and their wellbeing – particularly for the most disadvantaged children. Time out of school leads to lost education now but will also affect children’s ability to learn in future.

We believe the very best place for children to be from the Autumn is back in schools. For the vast majority of children, the benefits of being back in the classroom far outweigh the very low risk from COVID-19 and schools can take action to reduce that risk even further. On Thursday 2 July we published guidance for schools reopening to all pupils. This sets out key principles for curriculum planning so that all pupils – particularly disadvantaged, special educational needs and disability (SEND) and vulnerable pupils – are given the catch-up support needed to make substantial progress by the end of the academic year. This includes a section on remote education and can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

Whilst children are unable to attend school, we are committed to ensuring that all children can continue to learn remotely in a number of ways, and as such are supporting sector-led initiatives such as the Oak National Academy. This new enterprise has been created by 40 teachers from schools across England. It will provide 180 video lessons for free each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from Reception through to year 10. By 28 June, 4.1 million unique users had accessed the Oak National Academy website and 14.7 million lessons had been viewed. Further remote education support can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-practice-for-schools-during-coronavirus-covid-19.

30th Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to allocate funding from the public purse for the provision of summer schools for children in the state sector during the 2020 summer holidays.

The Government have announced a universal catch-up premium of £650 million which will be shared between all state-funded primary, secondary, and special schools in England. This premium will be in addition to schools’ core budgets for the 2020/21 academic year.

The universal catch-up premium has been set up to support schools to provide catch-up provision for those who need it most as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is for schools to decide how to allocate it in the most effective way, as they will know best their specific needs.

Provision could include, for example, intervention programmes, extra teaching capacity, access to technology and / or the provision of summer schools. The Education Endowment Foundation have published a COVID-19 Support Guide for Schools to make best use of this funding: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/covid-19-support-guide-for-schools/. This includes advice on summer schools and links to the Teach First Toolkit that is specifically focussed on the provision of summer schools.

In addition, the government has confirmed £9 million of funding to support Holiday Activity and Food programmes in 17 local authorities across England.

A wide range of charities, youth and sports providers will also be offering developmental programmes for young people over the summer including, for example, the National Citizen Service (NCS). NCS will be providing a range of activities to further education colleges and schools over the summer and autumn to support young people develop life knowledge and re-engage with education.

The Government understands the importance of holiday activities in providing opportunities that allow children to socialise and interact with others outside of their household whilst promoting their wellbeing. The Department for Education has therefore published guidance for providers of community activities, holiday and after-school clubs as well as other out-of-school provision for children over the age of 5, which sets out the protective measures that need to be in place to ensure that such settings can open as safely as possible.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/protective-measures-for-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.

Alongside this, the Department has published guidance for parents and carers on the precautions they should be taking if they are thinking of sending their child to any provision over the summer period.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-of-children-attending-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-of-children-attending-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.

29th Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been allocated to schools in the London Borough of Ealing in relation to (a) online tuition and (b) teaching materials.

Ealing is receiving an extra £10.1 million for schools this year, an increase of 3.7% per pupil taking total funding for 2020-21 in Ealing to £250.8 million.

It is up to each school to determine how to deliver education to its pupils, and how best to use their funding. We recognise that many schools have already shared resources – both online and printed resources – for children who are at home, and we are committed to ensuring that all children can continue to learn remotely in a number of ways during these very difficult circumstances.

We are committed to ensuring that all children can continue to learn remotely in a number of ways for as long as they are unable to attend school, and are supporting sector-led initiatives such as the Oak National Academy. By 21 June, 3.9 million unique users had accessed the Oak National Academy website and 13.2 million lessons had been viewed.

The Government has also committed over £100 million to boost remote education. This includes: providing devices and internet access for those who need it most, ensuring every school that wants it has access to free, expert technical support to get set up on Google for Education or Microsoft’s Office 365 Education, and offering peer support from schools and colleges leading the way with the use of education technology.

The Government have announced a package of support of £1 billion to ensure that schools have the support they need to help children and young people make up for lost teaching time, with extra support in the form of a tutoring programme for those who need it most. We will provide more information on exactly how this funding will be distributed in due course.

29th Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department plans to take to reduce the gap in provision between state and private schools after the covid-19 outbreak.

We are committed to ensuring that all pupils continue to learn remotely where they cannot attend school due to COVID-19. The Department has published guidance to support state-funded schools in providing online lessons, and using high quality digital and printed curriculum resources.

To support state schools to provide education online, the Government has committed over £100 million to boost access to remote education. This includes providing laptops and tablets and internet access for those who need it most, ensuring every school that wants it has access to free, expert technical support to get set up on Google for Education or Microsoft’s Office 365 Education, and offering peer support from schools and colleges leading the way with the use of education technology.

The Department is also supporting sector-led initiatives such as Oak National Academy. This new enterprise has been created by 40 teachers from schools across England. It will provide 180 video lessons for free each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from Reception through to year 10. By 21 June, 3.9 million unique users had accessed the Oak National Academy website and 13.2 million lessons had been viewed. Additionally, the BBC has developed resources for families as part of a comprehensive new education package, which is now available on TV, BBC iPlayer and online at BBC Bitesize.

We expect all pupils to return to school in September, and the Department published guidance on Thursday 2 July. Given the possibility that groups of pupils need to self-isolate, such as for a local lockdown, all schools will be expected to have remote education contingency plans in place. The guidance sets out what is expected from schools for their remote education provision.

We are also providing a package of support worth £1 billion to support catch up for all pupils in state schools next academic year, including extra support for the most disadvantaged.

29th Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the additional number of pupils that can attend school in the event that social distancing guidelines are lower to one metre.

We want to get all children and young people back into education as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn. We know how important it is for their wellbeing to have social interactions with their teachers and friends. Our intention is for all children to return to school from September.

We have published further information and guidance to help schools prepare for September. The guidance is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

We will be guided by the latest scientific advice and are working with the sector to ensure our guidance provides schools with the further details they need. Any protective measures that may be necessary to keep children and teachers as safe as possible, advice on group sizes, staffing advice and transport considerations can be found in the guidance.

29th Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to split primary and secondary classes into multiple bubbles to minimise the risk of covid-19 transmission.

We want to get all children and young people back into education as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn. We know how important it is for their wellbeing to have social interactions with their teachers and friends. Our intention is for all children to return to school from September.

We have published further information and guidance to help schools prepare for September. The guidance is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

We will be guided by the latest scientific advice and are working with the sector to ensure our guidance provides schools with the further details they need. Any protective measures that may be necessary to keep children and teachers as safe as possible, advice on group sizes, staffing advice and transport considerations can be found in the guidance.

1st Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has taken steps to monitor the potential effect of care proceedings on children who have had their contact with their birth family suspended.

The potential effect of care proceedings on children who have had their contact with their birth family suspended will continue to be considered by judges as part of individual care proceedings.

The department has published guidance on children in care and contact with their families while the government’s social distancing guidance remains in force. The guidance makes clear that contact between looked-after children and their birth parents must continue but may be more appropriate to take place virtually at this time: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-childrens-social-care-services/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-local-authorities-on-childrens-social-care.

We are also aware that the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory commissioned an urgent new research project, Understanding how children’s connections to birth families are being managed during social isolation. This showed that those taking part in our study reported widespread use of video calls by and for children in residential, foster and kinship care.

1st Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to tackle unequal access to education as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Schools are continuing to receive additional funding in the form of the pupil premium – worth around £2.4 billion annually – to help them support their disadvantaged pupils. This includes those who have been in receipt of free school meals at any point in the last six years, and looked after and previously looked after children.

The government has also committed over £100 million to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children in England to access remote education, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers. The department has ordered over 200,000 laptops and tablets for vulnerable and disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examination in Year 10, receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver.

We are providing over 50,000 4G wireless routers to disadvantaged children with a social worker in secondary school, care leavers and children in Year 10 who do not have access to a suitable internet connection through other means. We are also working with the country’s major telecommunications providers to make it easier for children in vulnerable and disadvantaged families, who are relying on mobile data, to access online educational resources.

To support the hard work of schools in delivering remote education, 40 teachers have come together to develop the brand-new Oak National Academy, launched at the start of the summer term. The Oak Academy provides 180 video lessons for free each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from Reception through to Year 10. Education resources are also available offline. Children will be able to draw on support from the BBC, which is broadcasting lessons on television, and may choose to access the many hard copy resources offers which have been produced by publishers across the country.

We recognise that, for some children, there will be a need for additional support where they have not been able to learn in the same way that we would have expected this term. We are working with a range of partners, including the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), to establish how schools can best help their pupils – including those from disadvantaged backgrounds – to make up lost ground. In particular, we are very supportive of the work being taken forward by the EEF and other organisations to pilot online tutoring for disadvantaged pupils during the summer term.

1st Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to take steps to weight the exam results of children from less affluent households that have not had access to IT equipment during the covid-19 outbreak and whose parents have not attended higher education to reflect those disadvantages.

We recognise that students who are studying GCSE, A level or equivalent courses, and are due to take exams and assessments in 2021, will have experienced disruption to their education. We are working with Ofqual and the awarding organisations to develop our approach to next year’s exams and assessments in light of this.

4th May 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many individuals in foster care are in contact with their birth family.

The information requested on the number of children in foster care who are in contact with their birth family is not held centrally.

We expect that contact between children in care and their birth relatives will continue during the COVID-19 outbreak. It is essential for children and families to remain in touch at this difficult time.

Operational guidance published by the department sets out the expectation that contact arrangements are assessed on a case by case basis taking into account a range of factors including the government’s social distancing guidance and the needs of the child. It may not be possible, or appropriate, for the usual face-to-face contact to happen at this time and keeping in touch may need to take place virtually. We expect the spirit of any contact orders made in relation to children in care to be maintained and will look to social workers to determine how best to support those valuable family interactions based on the circumstances of each case.

The operational guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-childrens-social-care-services/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-local-authorities-on-childrens-social-care.

Social distancing guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people.

4th May 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that contact arrangements between (a) foster children and (b) adopted children and their birth families are maintained.

The information requested on the number of children in foster care who are in contact with their birth family is not held centrally.

We expect that contact between children in care and their birth relatives will continue during the COVID-19 outbreak. It is essential for children and families to remain in touch at this difficult time.

Operational guidance published by the department sets out the expectation that contact arrangements are assessed on a case by case basis taking into account a range of factors including the government’s social distancing guidance and the needs of the child. It may not be possible, or appropriate, for the usual face-to-face contact to happen at this time and keeping in touch may need to take place virtually. We expect the spirit of any contact orders made in relation to children in care to be maintained and will look to social workers to determine how best to support those valuable family interactions based on the circumstances of each case.

The operational guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-childrens-social-care-services/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-local-authorities-on-childrens-social-care.

Social distancing guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people.

23rd Mar 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support private nurseries that are facing a loss of revenue as a result of restrictions implemented during the covid-19 outbreak to maintain places.

The government has set out specific measures to support childcare providers, including:

  • Funding for the government’s early years entitlements will continue being paid to local authorities
  • Nurseries being among the businesses eligible for a business rates holiday for one year from 1 April

Childcare providers will also benefit from the wider measures the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced to support the people and businesses of the UK:

  • A three-point plan announced in the Budget providing £12 billion of support for public services, individuals and businesses whose finances are affected by the outbreak
  • A package to provide additional support for businesses and individuals totalling £350 billion
  • The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help firms continue to keep people in employment. This means that businesses can put workers on temporary leave and the government will pay them cash grants of 80% of their wages up to a cap of £2,500, providing they keep the worker employed
  • The Self-Employed Income Support Scheme to enable those eligible to receive a cash grant worth 80% of their average monthly trading profit over the last three years.

More details on the support available are included in the latest guidance for early years settings, which can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care.

We continue to work closely with the early years sector and remain committed to doing all we can to support childcare providers through this uncertain period. We will publish further guidance where appropriate.

2nd Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to include glass in the planned Deposit Return Scheme.

Glass bottles will not be captured by DRS in England and Northern Ireland as the respective governments believe the addition of glass will add additional complexity and challenges to delivery of DRS in particular to the hospitality and retail sectors, as well as additional consumer inconvenience. Given concerns raised on managing glass in a DRS, delivery of the scheme will focus on plastic bottles and aluminium/steel cans in England and Northern Ireland.

In England and Northern Ireland, glass drinks bottles will be in scope of the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging scheme as will all other types of glass packaging placed on the market in all nations. EPR will place recycling targets on producers in relation to all glass packaging and require relevant obligated producers to cover the costs of collecting and managing glass packaging arising in household waste and discarded in street bins managed by local authorities.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
24th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an estimate of the number of (a) (i) ash and (ii) other trees that were felled to help tackle ash dieback and (b) ash trees that have died from ash dieback in the last three years.

Forestry is a devolved matter and so this answer is for England only. The Forestry Commission issues felling licences under its regulatory powers in the Forestry Act 1967 for trees to be legally felled. The Government does not collect data on the number of individual trees that have been felled, including those affected by ash dieback. Estimating the number of trees affected by ash dieback would be challenging as felling licence applications are assessed based on intent. It is also possible that there are trees which have been affected by ash dieback which are exempt from felling regulations. This includes those presenting an immediate risk to public safety.

Forest Research, the research agency of the Forestry Commission, in collaboration with Fera, does publish a heat map of areas most affected by ash dieback. This is available at https://chalaramap.fera.co.uk/

Trudy Harrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to push for the abolition of whale hunting in the Faroe Islands.

The UK is strongly opposed to the hunting of any cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), other than some limited activities by indigenous people for clearly defined purposes. We believe that the hunting of cetaceans is unacceptably cruel and that well-managed, responsible tourism is the only truly sustainable interaction with these animals.

While we recognise there is a long tradition in the Faroe Islands of killing pilot whales and dolphins for meat and other products, we have long expressed our concern over the welfare and sustainability aspects of the Faroese cetacean hunts and the levels of domestic regulation currently in place. We have urged the Faroe Islands to look at alternatives to the hunting of cetaceans, encouraging them to consider the many economic and social benefits that responsible cetacean watching can bring to coastal communities. Most recently, during the Joint Committee on Trade with the Faroe Islands earlier this year, we raised the UK’s opposition to the continued hunting of cetaceans in the Faroe Islands on both animal welfare and conservation grounds.

We also work through multilateral agreements to condemn these hunts. This includes leading the drafting of a letter from the ASCOBANS (Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North-East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas) Advisory Committee to the Faroese Government. In addition, at the recent IWC meeting in October 2022, the UK Commissioner made clear the UK’s ongoing concerns about small cetacean hunts in the Faroe Islands.

The Government will continue advocating at every appropriate opportunity for the end of cetacean hunts in the Faroe Islands.

Trudy Harrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
7th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of Denmark’s recent announcement of a ban on the use of cages for laying hens.

The Government takes a keen interest in animal welfare developments in all other countries. We are committed to exploring the phasing out of cages for laying hens, supporting the industry to do so in a way which underpins UK food production and does not have unintended animal welfare or business impacts.

Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
8th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will outline the (a) purpose and (b) aims of Environmental Land Management Schemes.

We need and are introducing policies that work for farm businesses, food production and the environment. As part of this, the environmental land management schemes will pay for sustainable farming practices, improving animal health and welfare, reducing carbon emissions, creating and preserving habitat, and making landscape-scale environmental changes. This is an important step towards achieving our 25 Year Environment Plan ambitions and our carbon net zero goals.

We are designing the schemes to be accessible and supportive with fair compensation. We are also improving the way we set and control the rules around farming and the countryside – making it fair, proportionate and effective. We aim to take a more collaborative, less bureaucratic approach in developing this policy and the schemes' administration.

We set out the purpose and aims of the environmental land management schemes in January 2022 at this site: Environmental land management schemes: outcomes - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) (www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-land-management-schemes-outcomes/environmental-land-management-schemes-outcomes).

Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
1st Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether any Ministers from her Department plan to attend the COP 15 UN Biodiversity Conference.

Defra is the lead department for the Convention on Biological Diversity, working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCDO) and Cabinet Office. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will lead the UK delegation to the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15). Lord Benyon, Minister of State for Defra, will also attend.

Trudy Harrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
21st Sep 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of the fines mechanism for reducing sewage discharge by water companies.

Ofwat and the Environment Agency can take enforcement action when a water company is in breach of its statutory duties and licence obligations. The Environment Agency can pursue criminal prosecution for which there can be unlimited fines. Since 2015, the Environment Agency has brought 54 prosecutions against water companies, securing fines of almost £140 million.

For the most serious contraventions, Ofwat can impose financial penalties on companies. For example, in 2019, Ofwat imposed a penalty package on Southern Water of £126 million for spills of wastewater into the environment from its sewerage plants and for deliberately misreporting its performance. The Environment Agency and Ofwat have recently launched the largest criminal and civil investigations into water company sewage discharges ever, at over 2200 treatment works, following new data coming to light as a result of increased monitoring.

We will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found, we will not hesitate to hold companies to account.

Trudy Harrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
21st Sep 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of sewage discharges into (a) rivers, (b) lakes and (c) the sea.

We have been clear that the failure of water companies to adequately reduce sewage discharges is totally unacceptable. Our recently launched Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan will require water companies to deliver the largest infrastructure programme in water company history and our new strict targets will see the toughest ever crack down on sewage spills.

By 2035, water companies will have to improve all storm overflows discharging into or near every designated bathing water; and improve 75% of overflows discharging to high priority nature sites.

Overflows that are causing the most harm will be addressed first to make the biggest difference as quickly as possible, and water companies will be expected to consider nature-based solutions in their planning. Our plan will protect the ecology of our rivers, seas and lakes, and the public health of our water users for generations to come.

Trudy Harrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
21st Sep 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of including glass in the Deposit Return Scheme.

HM Government has consulted twice on the introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) and given careful consideration to the materials that should be part of the scheme. We set out in the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (EPR) consultation response in March 2022 that glass would not be part of the DRS in England, instead part of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging.

We will continue to work with industry and the Devolved Administrations as we finalise policy positions and secondary legislation in order to support delivery of an efficient and effective DRS.

Trudy Harrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
14th Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help protect bee habitats.

I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 14 June 2022 to the hon. Member for Strangford, PQ 13132.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on puppy smuggling and similar crimes of introducing visual checks on dogs and other animals entering the country via the Pet Travel Scheme.

We operate one of the most rigorous and robust pet travel checking regimes in Europe. All non-commercial cats, dogs and ferrets entering Great Britain on approved routes (every route other than Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Crown Dependencies) under the pet travel rules undergo 100% documentary and identity checks by authorised pet checkers.

To enter Great Britain pets must have been implanted with a microchip or have a legible tattoo imprinted prior to 3 July 2011. A pet's identity is checked by ensuring that the microchip or tattoo details correspond to the details in the pet's documentation. Carriers can refer suspected non-compliances to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). APHA staff are highly trained to deal with intercepted shipments.

APHA works collaboratively with Border Force and other operational partners at ports, airports and inland, sharing intelligence to enforce the pet travel rules, disrupt illegal imports, safeguard the welfare of animals and seize non-compliant animals.

The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was introduced in Parliament on 8 June 2021 and will progress as soon as parliamentary time allows. The Bill allows us to further protect the welfare of pets by introducing restrictions to crack down on the low welfare movements of pets into Great Britain and includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation.

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
17th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the progress of the Animals Abroad Bill; and what his Department's timeframe is for bringing forward further legislative proposals on animal welfare.

In the last year we have already introduced our Animal Sentience and Kept Animals Bills to Parliament and published the Government's Action Plan for Animal Welfare. The Action Plan for Animal Welfare demonstrates this Government's commitment to a brighter future for animals both at home and abroad.

We are moving forward with our plans to deliver one of the toughest bans in the world on the import of hunting trophies from thousands of endangered and threatened species. We are firmly committed to the ban and this will be brought forward as soon as Parliamentary time allows. We are also looking at further measures to protect animals abroad, including banning the import and export of detached fins, and taking action against low welfare animal experiences.

The Kept Animals Bill completed Commons Committee Stage in November. Since introduction, the Government has added a new pet abduction offence to the Bill and extended the primates measure to Wales. We have also consulted on the use of powers in the Bill to tackle puppy smuggling. The Government is committed to this Bill and it will progress in its current form as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
9th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of banning imports of fur in 2022 on animal welfare.

Fur farming has been banned in the UK for over 20 years. Now we have left the EU, the Government is able to explore potential further action in relation to animal fur.

The recent call for evidence published by Defra on the fur trade in Great Britain was a key step in helping us to meet the commitment set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare to better understand the fur sector in Great Britain and gather evidence from those with an interest in it.

We received around 30,000 responses from businesses, representative bodies and individuals, demonstrating the strong public interest in this area. We are reviewing the evidence gathered both from our Call for Evidence and wider engagement with the fur trade and stakeholders, and a summary of responses setting out the results and key findings will be published soon.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
9th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to help ensure that all households across the UK have access to soft plastics recycling.

In the 2021 consultation on Consistency in Household and Business recycling in England, we proposed that local authorities be required to collect recyclable plastic films from households by no later than the end of 2026/27. The Government response to the consultation will be published in due course.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
9th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to take steps to ensure that no raw sewage is discharged into (a) the Thames, (b) English rivers and (c) the sea in 2022.

This Government has made improving water quality a priority, and has been clear that the current use of storm overflows is completely unacceptable. However, storm overflows are a historic infrastructure issue and stopping their usage today would lead to sewage backing up into homes and businesses during the next heavy rainfall event.

This Government is the first to take steps to tackle sewage overflows, but we know that this is extremely challenging and costly, as it will require significant infrastructure upgrades including separating pipes across the country. We will therefore shortly be publishing a Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan for consultation, to gather views from the public on our proposed approach and the trade-offs between ambition and pace of change, and disruption and costs to consumers.

The Government has a duty to produce this plan under the landmark Environment Act 2021 which introduces a raft of duties to reduce the adverse effects of storm overflows on the environment and public health, including a report setting out the actions that would be needed to completely eliminate discharges from storm overflows in England. We will outline further detail on this shortly.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
4th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of expanding access to countryside provisions in the Agriculture Act 2020.

The 25 Year Environment Plan sets out the ambition to connect more people from all backgrounds with the natural environment for their health and well-being, and the commitment to supporting people to access and enjoy outdoor spaces. The priority is for this to happen in a way that is safe for people and animals, and in line with published regulations and guidance.

Support for increasing access into the countryside will be made through existing schemes and support mechanisms already in place.

Access is currently provided for under the Countryside Stewardship scheme’s Higher Tier and Mid Tier. The scheme funds land managers for both the instalment of capital items to promote access, such as gates and stiles, as well as providing educational visits which offer school pupils and care farming clients the opportunity to visit farms to learn, understand and engage with farming and the environment. This year we have introduced a new woodland supplement, Access for people, which aims to create alternative outdoor activities, encourage engagement with nature and create further educational opportunities.

We are still considering our approach to support for increasing and maintaining access to the countryside in our future schemes including our environmental land management schemes.

To boost investment in the meantime, we have launched a new Farming in Protected Landscapes programme in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty – this includes opportunities for farmers and land managers to provide new or easier access, links to the Public Rights of Way network, and interpretation of farming, nature and heritage.

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
31st Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to place Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 on Global Food Loss and Waste into law to help the UK tackle food waste.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 January 2022 to the hon. Member for Putney, PQ UIN 97159.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
26th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has plans to bring forward a ban on trail hunting on Government land.

The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act. The Government will not amend the Hunting Act 2004.

Issuing a licence or giving permission for trail hunting is an operational matter for the landowner and those organisations with a land lease or agreement in place for Government land.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
21st Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to update breed-specific legislation and the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to help prevent unnecessary suffering in dogs.

The primary purpose of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is public protection. The Government must balance the views of those who want to repeal or amend the breed specific legislation relating to the Pit Bull terrier, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro and the Japanese Tosa with that responsibility.

Historically, pit bull types are powerful dogs which have been traditionally bred in the UK for dog fighting. Data gathered from 2005 onwards on fatal dog attacks show that pit bulls were involved in around one in six tragic incidents, despite the prohibitions that we have in place that have significantly limited the numbers of pit bulls in the UK.

The Government considers that a lifting of the restrictions on these types of dogs would more likely result in an increase in dog attacks, rather than contributing to any reduction in such incidents. This position is supported by the police.

Despite the general prohibitions on these types of dog, individual prohibited dogs can be kept by their owners if a court considers certain safety criteria to be met.

The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 also gives enforcement bodies the power to take action in cases where a dog is considered to be dangerously out of control and has attacked another dog.

In December 2021, Defra published research in collaboration with Middlesex University to look at responsible ownership across all breeds of dog. The report will provide the basis for the consideration of reform in this area and the Government is already working with the police, local authorities, and stakeholders to consider the recommendations further.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
2nd Dec 2021
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward a standalone clean air Bill.

We know that air pollution is the greatest environmental hazard to health, and we have taken significant action to clean up our air. Emissions of nitrogen oxides are now at their lowest levels since records began. But there is more to do. The landmark Environment Act includes a clear duty to set new targets for air quality.

The Environment Act ensures local authorities have strengthened powers to tackle air pollution and more. This builds on our Clean Air Strategy.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
9th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of ash trees felled in the last period for which data is available.

Most parts of the country are now experiencing the impacts of ash tree decline, although the speed and severity of the disease is variable at a local level. The Government does not collect data on the number of ash trees that have been felled, including those affected by ash dieback, but of the 2700 applications approved to date in 2021, the Forestry Commission has recorded 1564 felling licence applications containing ash (as a tree species planned for felling). This is very similar to the felling licence application figures for 2020.

The felling licences approved in 2020, and which contain ash as a tree species, cover just under 20,000 hectares of land, including land outside woodland, and contain an estimated 950,000 m3 of timber, and this is approved for felling within the next five to ten years, depending on the length of the felling licence.

Where appropriate, approved felling licences carry legally enforceable restocking conditions to ensure any trees felled are replaced using suitable means and to ensure tree and woodland cover is maintained for future generations.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
3rd Feb 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2021 to Question 145762 on the Soil and Groundwater Technology Association, if he will make an assessment of the independence of the Soil and Groundwater Technical Association.

The Soil and Groundwater Technical Association is a not-for-profit membership organisation focused on the issue of contaminated land. It is formed of UK organisations representative of this focus. There are currently no plans to assess the independence of the Soil and Groundwater Technical Association.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
29th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the independence of the Soil and Groundwater Technical Association.

No assessment has been made of the independence of the Soil and Groundwater Technical Association.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
29th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Category 4 screening levels (C4SL) Phase 2 Project Steering Group last met; and what the names are of the members of that group.

The Category 4 Screening Levels Phase 2 Project Steering Group last met on Wednesday 27 January 2021.

The members of that group come from local authorities, Government departments and arm’s length bodies, not-for-profit membership organisations and trade organisations. This includes Defra, the Environment Agency and the Welsh Government.

A full list of the attendees for the last meeting has been made available to the hon. Member.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
29th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which (a) environmental consultants and (b) advisors his Department has consulted in the last year on pollution standards and controls.

Defra has consulted with the following environmental consultants in the last year on pollution standards and controls:

Ricardo

Enviro Technologies

Air Monitors

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
18th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what legislative proposals on pollution he plans to bring forward in this Parliament.

The Environment Bill will bring forwards legislative proposals for tackling pollution.

It will drive significant environmental improvement and tackle pollution by setting and achieving legally-binding, long-term targets in key areas including air quality, water, and resource efficiency and waste.

Some of the leading measures in the Bill to support the delivery of targets include:

  • Air Quality: The Bill introduces a duty on the government to set at least two air quality targets by October 2022:

o To reduce the annual average level of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in ambient air

o A further target to improve air quality

  • Water: The Bill makes drainage and sewerage management planning, through which companies develop the capacity of their networks, a statutory duty.
  • Resource Efficiency and Waste Reduction – The Bill will enable Government to make waste producers cover the cost of collecting and recycling packaging waste, introduce deposit returns schemes, and introduce charges for single-use plastic items.
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
8th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of UK environmental protections; and what assessment he has made of the areas in which protections need to be (a) more rigorous, (b) equally rigorous and (c) less rigorous than EU standards.

The Government is committed to leaving the environment in a better state than we found it and has been clear that we will realise the benefits of leaving the EU, including implementing new ways of delivering better levels of environmental protection. The Government continuously looks for opportunities to improve the effectiveness of environmental protections and has already brought forward a number of measures to drive forward standards and to help assess the adequacy of environmental legislation in future.

For example, the Environment Bill sets a new legal foundation for Government action to improve the environment and is part of the wider Government response to the clear and scientific case for a step-change in environmental protection and recovery. As part of the provisions in the Bill, the Government must have an Environmental Improvement Plan which sets out the steps it intends to take to improve the environment and review it at least every five years. The 25 Year Environment Plan will be adopted as the first statutory Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) in the Environment Bill.

The Bill also establishes a new, independent statutory body - the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) - which will have a statutory duty to monitor and report on the Government's progress in improving the natural environment in accordance with the EIP. The OEP’s annual report may provide recommendations on how to improve progress towards meeting targets or environmental improvement, to which Government must respond.

In many cases, we will be going further than the EU. For example, the approach taken in the Environment Bill towards environmental principles goes further than the EU by ensuring that Ministers across Government are obliged to consider the principles in all policy development where it impacts the environment. Through the Bill’s targets framework, we are seeking to develop a comprehensive suite of targets across the entire natural environment which is novel and not something developed at an EU level. The OEP’s enforcement powers are different from those of the European Commission, as the OEP will be able to liaise directly with the public body in question to investigate and resolve alleged serious breaches of environmental law in a more targeted and timely manner.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
5th Oct 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of moving hedgehogs to schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to allow them greater protection.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) has recently commenced the seventh Quinquennial Review of schedules 5 and 8 (protected species) to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The JNCC will, late next year, make evidence-based recommendations to the Secretary of State as to which species warrant additional legal protections to secure their future conservation. It is not possible, at this time, to confirm which species, including hedgehogs, may be included in these proposals.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
2nd Oct 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of banning the import of shark fins into the UK.

The UK has a strong track record in marine conservation and places great importance on ensuring that appropriate protection and management is in place for all shark species.

The UK Government is strongly opposed to shark finning, the practice of removing the fins of a shark and discarding the body at sea. The UK has already banned the act of shark finning and has enforced a Fins Naturally Attached policy in order to combat illegal finning of sharks in UK and EU waters. This means that shark fins from sharks fished in UK and EU waters can only be retained and utilised provided they are still attached to the shark when landed at port by fishing vessels.

Following the end of the Transition Period we will explore options consistent with World Trade Organization rules to address the importation of shark fins from other areas, to support efforts to end illegal shark finning practices globally.

Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
8th Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans her Department has to develop guidelines on how to ensure a public return on public investment on biomedical Research & Development investments in advance of the merger of her Department with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

DFID routes ODA funding for research into the development of drugs, vaccines and other medical tools, through Product Development Partnerships and other not-for-profit organisations. Product Development Partnerships are not for profit organisations that are jointly created and funded by international institutions, national governments, private foundations and industry. These act as platforms to bring together the best scientific expertise alongside resources, to prevent and address diseases that affect low and middle-income countries. Whereas industrial Research and Development is mostly driven by profit - Product Development Partnerships are primarily driven by patient needs and de-link the cost of a new product from the cost of its development. These third-party organisations have the expertise to ensure that, once developed, products are affordable and accessible to provide low and middle-income countries with the tools they need to tackle diseases in their country, maximising the public return on our health Research and Development investments. No additional guidelines are considered necessary.

Merging the Departments will bring together the best of what we do in aid and diplomacy and ensure that all of our national efforts including our aid budget and expertise are used to make the UK a force for good in the world. The work of UK Aid to reduce poverty will remain central to the new department’s mission.

6th Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether it remains the Government's policy to maintain the UK's funding for the replenishment of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program in 2020.

The UK plays a leading role in the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP). We keep all our aid spending under constant review. Because of the likely drop in Gross National Income we are assessing across the board how we will manage the resulting fall in ODA in the coming year.

6th Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, what steps she is taking to help prevent a (a) health and (b) global food security crisis in developing countries as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.

The UK contributes financially and plays a leading role in the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), It addresses the key dimensions of agriculture and food security in the poorest and most vulnerable countries and has already adapted all its active programmes to respond to COVID-19. GAFSP is improving the food and nutrition security of 13.4 million smallholder farmers and their families. By doing so, it is helping build resilience and prepare the ground for a sustainable recovery from the negative health and food security impacts of the pandemic.

1st Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with the Foreign Secretary on the maintenance of existing levels of support for nutrition programmes after the merger of her Department with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The UK remains committed to preventing and treating malnutrition as part of our commitment to end the preventable deaths of mothers, new-borns and children. Addressing poor nutrition is also critical in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Decisions on how UK aid is spent will be for the new department to make, informed by the outcomes of the Integrated Review, expected to conclude later in the year. The Review will define our ambition for the UK’s role in the world, including delivery of the manifesto commitments.

1st Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, for what reason the funding allocated to nutrition-specific investments in 2018 was 20 per cent lower than in 2017.

The reduction in nutrition-specific spend between 2017 and 2018 is the result of several standalone nutrition programmes coming to an end, with nutrition activities integrated into broader health investments.

Donor investments in nutrition-specific activities are currently tracked through the OECD DAC Creditor Reporting System using a single code: ‘basic nutrition’. Only programmes that are solely focused on nutrition appear in the Creditor Reporting System under the basic nutrition code. Over the past few years, we have actively promoted integration of nutrition services into health investments. However, this has meant that spend on nutrition-specific activities is reported against other health codes rather than basic nutrition.

Independent analysis of donor nutrition financing noted that – relative to other donors – DFID disburses a greater proportion of nutrition-specific aid through health codes other than basic nutrition. This was ascribed to us having a greater emphasis on addressing nutrition through integrated health programmes.

We remain committed to supporting the scale up of high-impact nutrition-specific services – including through our investments in the Power of Nutrition and through a new partnership with UNICEF.

We will also be applying the new OECD DAC policy marker for nutrition from 2020 onwards. This should help strengthen monitoring of the UK’s investments to prevent and treat malnutrition.

1st Jul 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government plans to take to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children under five through investments in global nutrition.

The UK remains committed to preventing and treating malnutrition as part of our pledge to end the preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children. Continued investment to protect the nutrition of the poorest people in the world is even more important as countries face worsening levels of malnutrition in the face of COVID-19. We will continue to support programmes to address malnutrition beyond 2020 and will work with the Government of Japan to ensure the 2021 Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit is a success.

12th Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the covid-19 outbreak on levels of Official Development Assistance; and if she will maintain a existing levels of support for sexual and reproductive health and rights and family planning services in (a) 2020 and (b) future budgets.

Our aid spending is linked to the growth of our economy.

We are working closely with the Treasury to understand the likely forecasts and to ensure that we can meet our 0.7% commitment.

The UK is committed to advancing and defending comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights and, as a leading global donor, we will continue to be a progressive voice on this issue to give women in developing countries the reproductive health choices they want and need.

We are working across Departments to ensure that we continue to drive UK aid spending and commit our Official Development Assistance to the world’s most vulnerable and poorest people.

1st Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential humanitarian and security effects on (a) Somalia and (b) other African countries of reductions in remittances as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.

The Government recognises the vital role remittances play in supporting the incomes of millions of people around the world and the challenge posed by COVID-19 to these flows. Recent projections by the World Bank’s suggest that remittances to sub-Saharan Africa will fall by around 23% - or USD 11 billion – in 2020. In Somalia, remittances represented more than one quarter of GDP in 2019, and on average made up a third of total income for households that received them.

We are deeply concerned about the combined impacts of COVID-19 with ongoing conflict and climate-induced natural disasters in Somalia and other African countries, where millions of people already face food insecurity caused by humanitarian disasters and conflict. This situation will be compounded by a reduction in remittances.

We are working closely with our international partners to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on remittance flows. On Friday 22 May, the UK and Swiss Governments, with the support of the World Bank and other partners, launched a global Call to Action on remittances. This called on policymakers, regulators and remittance service providers to take action to keep remittances flowing during the crisis.

28th May 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with UK banks on encouraging support for remittance companies operating in Africa to help tackle humanitarian disasters in (a) Somalia and (b) other African countries.

The Government recognises the vital role remittances play in supporting the incomes of millions of people around the world – including in Africa, where remittances can represent a significant proportion of GDP. In Somalia remittances represented more than one quarter of its GDP in 2019, and on average made up a third of total income for households that received them.

We are deeply concerned about the impact of COVID-19 in Somalia and other African countries, where millions of people already face food insecurity caused by humanitarian disasters and conflict. This situation will be compounded by a reduction in remittances. Recent projections by the World Bank’s indicate that remittances to sub-Saharan Africa will fall by around 23% – USD 11 billion – in 2020.

We are therefore working closely with our international partners to monitor and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on remittance flows. The UK-Somalia Safer Corridor Initiative brought together stakeholders including banks, remittance service providers, regulators and community representatives to tackle barriers in the UK-Somalia remittance corridor. The Government continues to engage regularly with these stakeholders to address the impact of COVID-19 on remittance flows.

The Government understands that UK banks play an important role in maintaining the flow of remittances from the UK to Africa. The Government and the UK’s regulatory authorities have regular engagement with the banking sector in the UK on a wide range of issues, including on the provision of banking services to remittance service providers. The decision to offer banking services is ultimately a commercial decision for banks, which are required by legislation to make these decisions in a proportionate and non-discriminatory way.

On Friday 22 May, the UK and Swiss Governments, with the support of the World Bank and other partners, launched a global Call to Action on remittances. This called on policymakers, regulators and remittance service providers to take action to keep remittances flowing during the crisis

The Government has already taken steps to support remittance service providers in the UK, including by enabling them to remain open through lockdown by including them on the list of essential businesses.

28th May 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will take steps to encourage UK banks to provide further support to remittance companies working to provide humanitarian support from the UK to Africa.

The Government recognises the vital role remittances play in supporting the incomes of millions of people around the world – including in Africa, where remittances can represent a significant proportion of GDP. In Somalia remittances represented more than one quarter of its GDP in 2019, and on average made up a third of total income for households that received them.

We are deeply concerned about the impact of COVID-19 in Somalia and other African countries, where millions of people already face food insecurity caused by humanitarian disasters and conflict. This situation will be compounded by a reduction in remittances. Recent projections by the World Bank’s indicate that remittances to sub-Saharan Africa will fall by around 23% – USD 11 billion – in 2020.

We are therefore working closely with our international partners to monitor and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on remittance flows. The UK-Somalia Safer Corridor Initiative brought together stakeholders including banks, remittance service providers, regulators and community representatives to tackle barriers in the UK-Somalia remittance corridor. The Government continues to engage regularly with these stakeholders to address the impact of COVID-19 on remittance flows.

The Government understands that UK banks play an important role in maintaining the flow of remittances from the UK to Africa. The Government and the UK’s regulatory authorities have regular engagement with the banking sector in the UK on a wide range of issues, including on the provision of banking services to remittance service providers. The decision to offer banking services is ultimately a commercial decision for banks, which are required by legislation to make these decisions in a proportionate and non-discriminatory way.

On Friday 22 May, the UK and Swiss Governments, with the support of the World Bank and other partners, launched a global Call to Action on remittances. This called on policymakers, regulators and remittance service providers to take action to keep remittances flowing during the crisis

The Government has already taken steps to support remittance service providers in the UK, including by enabling them to remain open through lockdown by including them on the list of essential businesses.

28th May 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of restarting the Safer Corridor Initiative in light of the recent reduction in remittances from the UK as a result of the covid-19 pandemic and reluctance from banks to support remittance companies.

The Government recognises the vital role remittances play in supporting the incomes of millions of people around the world – including in Africa, where remittances can represent a significant proportion of GDP. In Somalia remittances represented more than one quarter of its GDP in 2019, and on average made up a third of total income for households that received them.

We are deeply concerned about the impact of COVID-19 in Somalia and other African countries, where millions of people already face food insecurity caused by humanitarian disasters and conflict. This situation will be compounded by a reduction in remittances. Recent projections by the World Bank’s indicate that remittances to sub-Saharan Africa will fall by around 23% – USD 11 billion – in 2020.

We are therefore working closely with our international partners to monitor and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on remittance flows. The UK-Somalia Safer Corridor Initiative brought together stakeholders including banks, remittance service providers, regulators and community representatives to tackle barriers in the UK-Somalia remittance corridor. The Government continues to engage regularly with these stakeholders to address the impact of COVID-19 on remittance flows.

The Government understands that UK banks play an important role in maintaining the flow of remittances from the UK to Africa. The Government and the UK’s regulatory authorities have regular engagement with the banking sector in the UK on a wide range of issues, including on the provision of banking services to remittance service providers. The decision to offer banking services is ultimately a commercial decision for banks, which are required by legislation to make these decisions in a proportionate and non-discriminatory way.

On Friday 22 May, the UK and Swiss Governments, with the support of the World Bank and other partners, launched a global Call to Action on remittances. This called on policymakers, regulators and remittance service providers to take action to keep remittances flowing during the crisis

The Government has already taken steps to support remittance service providers in the UK, including by enabling them to remain open through lockdown by including them on the list of essential businesses.

21st Jan 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to his Department's press release entitled, UK will step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, new-born babies and children in the developing world by 2030 published on 19 October 2019, what steps his Department is taking to increase the quality of life for (a) children, (b) new-borns and (c) women living with life-threatening illness where death is not preventable.

The Secretary of State recently announced that the UK would step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children by 2030. Core to the UK's Preventable Deaths agenda, is how we can support low income countries to scale up quality health services. This includes the development of national maternal health policies, support for the delivery of services and work to strengthen health systems, the provision of skilled care at birth, emergency obstetric care, and improving access and quality of medicines. We invest at both the country level and through global programmes. An example is our recent £600m commitment to scale up access to a range of existing and new sexual and reproductive health supplies, which has the potential to expand access to misoprostol.

We recognise that not all deaths are preventable. We support countries in their development of national policies and service provision for those with ongoing illnesses, with focus on quality of care and access to medicines.

Andrew Murrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
21st Jan 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to his Department's press release entitled, UK will step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, new-born babies and children in the developing world by 2030 published on 19 October 2019, what his policy is on the (a) integration of cervical cancer prevention and treatment services including HPV vaccination and screening to sexual and reproductive health services and (b) the WHO call to eliminate cervical cancer by May 2020.

The UK is a leading player in global health and is committed to stepping up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborn babies and children in the developing world by 2030.

UK aid provides support to strengthen health systems in the world’s poorest countries, including provision of sexual reproductive health services and rights. Where possible an integrated package of sexual and reproductive health services are delivered, including the introduction of certain cervical cancer screening, prevention and treatments in some contexts.

We are the largest donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which supports HPV vaccination programmes in developing countries. Through Gavi support, 30 developing countries have taken their first steps toward HPV roll out, with the aim of vaccinating 40 million girls by 2020. The UK will also host the Gavi Replenishment Conference on 3-4 June 2020.

The UK supports the recently published WHO ‘Global strategy towards eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem’, and the associated goals for the period 2020 to 2030.

Andrew Murrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
21st Jan 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to ensure that young women in developing countries who (a) unmarried and (b) are mothers can access contraceptive and sexual and reproductive health and rights services.

The Secretary of State recently announced that the UK would step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children by 2030. Universal health coverage, including access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), is central to these efforts.

Our health and SRHR programmes aim to understand and overcome the barriers for excluded groups, to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable within society, including those with disabilities, are able to access services. All our SRHR programmes target adolescent girls. We also work to address the needs of ethnic groups in particular countries.

At the UN General Assembly in 2019, the Secretary of State for International Development announce funding of £600 million over 2020-2025 that will provide millions more women and girls with access to family planning.

The Women’s Integrated Sexual Health reproductive health programme uses innovative ways to identify and reach the poorest and most marginalised adolescent girls and women with essential services across 27 countries. Our support to the Robert Carr Fund, Amplify Change and the Safe Abortion Action Fund all support grassroots organisations to campaign for and promote access to the most marginalised populations’ sexual and reproductive health services and rights.

Andrew Murrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
21st Jan 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to ensure (a) indigenous women and (b) other minority groups in developing countries can access contraceptive and sexual and reproductive health and rights services.

The Secretary of State recently announced that the UK would step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children by 2030. Universal health coverage, including access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), is central to these efforts.

Our health and SRHR programmes aim to understand and overcome the barriers for excluded groups, to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable within society, including those with disabilities, are able to access services. All our SRHR programmes target adolescent girls. We also work to address the needs of ethnic groups in particular countries.

At the UN General Assembly in 2019, the Secretary of State for International Development announce funding of £600 million over 2020-2025 that will provide millions more women and girls with access to family planning.

The Women’s Integrated Sexual Health reproductive health programme uses innovative ways to identify and reach the poorest and most marginalised adolescent girls and women with essential services across 27 countries. Our support to the Robert Carr Fund, Amplify Change and the Safe Abortion Action Fund all support grassroots organisations to campaign for and promote access to the most marginalised populations’ sexual and reproductive health services and rights.

Andrew Murrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
21st Jan 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to his Department's press release entitled, UK will step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, new-born babies and children in the developing world by 2030 published on 19 October 2019, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that adolescent girls with disabilities can access sexual and reproductive health services.

The Secretary of State recently announced that the UK would step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children by 2030. Universal health coverage, including access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), is central to these efforts.

Our health and SRHR programmes aim to understand and overcome the barriers for excluded groups, to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable within society, including those with disabilities, are able to access services. All our SRHR programmes target adolescent girls. We also work to address the needs of ethnic groups in particular countries.

At the UN General Assembly in 2019, the Secretary of State for International Development announce funding of £600 million over 2020-2025 that will provide millions more women and girls with access to family planning.

The Women’s Integrated Sexual Health reproductive health programme uses innovative ways to identify and reach the poorest and most marginalised adolescent girls and women with essential services across 27 countries. Our support to the Robert Carr Fund, Amplify Change and the Safe Abortion Action Fund all support grassroots organisations to campaign for and promote access to the most marginalised populations’ sexual and reproductive health services and rights.

Andrew Murrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
21st Jan 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to his Department's press release entitled, UK will step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, new-born babies and children in the developing world by 2030 published on 19 October 2019, what plans he has to support country-led plans to (a) provide skilled care at birth, (b) provide emergency obstetric care and (c) ensure availability of (i) medicines, (ii) commodities and (iii) equipment; and what plans he has to support the availability of misoprostol to prevent and treat postpartum haemorrhage and medical abortion.

The Secretary of State recently announced that the UK would step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children by 2030. Core to the UK's Preventable Deaths agenda, is how we can support low income countries to scale up quality health services. This includes the development of national maternal health policies, support for the delivery of services and work to strengthen health systems, the provision of skilled care at birth, emergency obstetric care, and improving access and quality of medicines. We invest at both the country level and through global programmes. An example is our recent £600m commitment to scale up access to a range of existing and new sexual and reproductive health supplies, which has the potential to expand access to misoprostol.

We recognise that not all deaths are preventable. We support countries in their development of national policies and service provision for those with ongoing illnesses, with focus on quality of care and access to medicines.

Andrew Murrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
8th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made on securing a free trade agreement with India.

The Secretary of State has just returned from India, where she met her counterpart in the Government of India to discuss the free trade agreement, including goods, services, and investment. She also had the opportunity to meet Indian and UK businesses, who made clear the mutual benefits a forward-facing deal could bring to both nations.

Round six is currently underway, and at its conclusion we will update the House via a Written Ministerial Statement.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
19th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether any of the equipment used by Iranian authorities in response to ongoing protests in that country was (a) manufactured in the UK or (b) exported from the UK.

We have checked records of licences granted over the past twenty years and I can confirm that no licences for the export of crowd control equipment have been approved for Iran.

HM Government will not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, including if there is a clear risk that the items might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
4th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains ran on the rail network with fewer carriages than timetabled, in each of the last six months, for which data is available.

The number of trains operated on the rail network with less capacity than contractually required, for those operators for which data is available, is shown below:

Rail Period

12/12/21 - 8/1/22

9/1/22 - 5/2/22

6/2/22 - 5/3/22

6/3/22 - 31/3/22

1/4/22 - 30/4 22

1/5/22 - 28/5/22

1,090

685

754

471

682

572

4th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains ran on the rail network in each of the last six months, for which data is available, with fewer carriages than timetabled for each Train Operating Company.

The number of services operated by each operator with less capacity than contractually required, for those operators for which data is available, is shown below:

Train Operator

Rail Period

12/12/21 - 8/1/22

9/1/22 - 5/2/22

6/2/22 - 5/3/22

6/3/22 - 31/3/22

1/4/22 - 30/4 22

1/5/22 - 28/5/22

Abellio Greater Anglia (Peak)

5

0

18

7

10

N/A

c2c (Peak)

83

51

10

11

4

16

Chiltern Railway (All Day, Sun - Sat)

81

61

92

29

43

47

CrossCountry (All Day, Mon - Fri)

97

98

89

74

93

85

First TransPennine Express (All Day, Sun - Sat)

110

74

94

107

115

99

Govia Thameslink Railway (Peak)

121

199

225

87

78

62

LNER (All Day, Sun - Sat)

7

3

6

1

1

3

Northern Trains (Peak)

41

37

47

55

101

131

Southeastern (Peak)

14

18

14

5

8

7

South Western Railway (All Day, Sun - Sat)

404

73

66

27

68

41

West Midlands Trains (All Day, Sun - Sat)

127

71

93

68

161

81

1st Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will introduce mandatory training for taxi and minicab drivers to ensure that people with sight loss are not discriminated against when using those services.

Effective disability awareness training can help ensure that taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers have the knowledge, skills and confidence to provide passengers with appropriate assistance, so that they can travel independently and with confidence.

On 28 March, we published a consultation on updated best practice guidance for local licensing authorities, which includes a stronger recommendation that every driver is required to complete disability awareness training.

We remain committed to introducing mandatory disability awareness training for taxi and PHV drivers through new National Minimum Standards for licensing authorities when Parliamentary time allows.

Trudy Harrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
17th May 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will take steps to help protect people with sight loss from collisions with e-scooters that are used illegally.

Safety ​will always be a top priority as we take forward steps to manage the impacts of e-scooters in the UK. There are existing penalties for illegal use of e-scooters, including using e-scooters on the pavements, and enforcement is a matter for the police. The Department has been in regular contact with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), who are developing a national strategy for enforcing the law around e-scooters to encourage a uniform approach to the issue.

Trudy Harrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
9th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time taken for the DVLA to process driving license applications was in each of the last five years for which data is available; and what the target time was for each of those years.

The average time taken for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to process driving licence applications in each of the last five years is shown in the table below.

Year

To dispatch a:

Average days to issue

2016/17

Ordinary driving licence

1.62

Vocational driving licence

1.39

2017/18

Ordinary driving licence

1.53

Vocational driving licence

1.81

2018/19

Ordinary driving licence

1.57

Vocational driving licence

2.33

2019/20

Ordinary driving licence

1.41

Vocational driving licence

2.42

2020/21

Ordinary driving licence online

2.00

Vocational driving licence online

2.00

Ordinary driving licence by post

14.34

Vocational driving licence by post

6.71

The processing of paper applications in 2020/21 was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Performance against targets is published annually in the DVLA’s annual report and accounts and is available online here.

Trudy Harrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
12th Apr 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to require people seeking to board international flights to provide a negative covid-19 test.

Pre-departure testing is already a requirement for anyone travelling to the UK. Once international travel resumes, passengers will need to check the requirements of their destination country as they may require proof of a negative Covid-19 test to travel abroad.

8th Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times he has (a) spoken to and (b) requested to speak to (i) Willie Walsh, chief executive of the International Airlines Group and (ii) Alex Cruz, chief executive of British Airways since the start of the 2020.

It would not be appropriate to comment on individual engagements or their frequency. The Department for Transport has historically maintained regular engagement with British Airways/International Airlines Group as an important industry stakeholder. In recognition of the challenging times that the aviation sector continues to face due to Covid-19, we have kept an open dialogue with UK airlines, including British Airways/International Airlines Group, through regular structured and bilateral engagements at both Ministerial and official levels.

2nd Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an estimate of the cost to local authorities of providing free home to school transport in (a) Ealing, (b) west London, (c) inner London boroughs, (d) outer London boroughs and (e) all of London; and if he will make a statement.

The £1.6bn provided to TfL to maintain services included conditions which were agreed to by TfL. These conditions included temporarily suspending free bus travel for under-18s as part of wider travel demand management measures. Any child eligible for free home to school travel under the Education Act 1996 will still be given free travel to and from school. It is for local education authorities to liaise with local transport providers on how they can fulfil their obligations for eligible children. The cost of providing travel for eligible children on TfL services will not fall on London boroughs.

28th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to consult on health and safety protections for night workers.

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 all employers have a duty, so far as it is reasonably practicable, to protect the health, safety, and welfare at work of all their employees. Specifically, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to assess the health and safety risks to employees, to which they are exposed whilst they are at work, and to put in place arrangements to control those risks.

Reducing ill health at work is an important area of focus for the Health and Safety Executive, as outlined in their strategic objectives, however there are no current plans to consult on health and safety protections for night workers.

Mims Davies
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
7th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many families with more than two children made a first claim for Universal Credit in each of the last five years.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
7th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the implementation of the two-child limit on Universal Credit claimants at incentivising parents to (a) move into work, (b) work more hours and (c) increase their incomes.

No such assessment has been made and to do so would incur disproportionate cost.

Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
5th May 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to develop an ageing population strategy.

We have no current plans to develop an ageing population strategy.

Laura Trott
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
25th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 181665 on Universal Credit: Children, what process his Department uses to assess the value for money of policies on which it does not collect data.

The DWP Evaluation Strategy sets out our approach for ensuring that our evaluation work delivers high quality evidence on the right questions at the right time. It covers all types of evaluation – process, impact and value for money.

Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the money his Department has saved as a result of the two child cap on Universal Credit in each of the last three years; and what proportion of the total Department budget this represents.

The requested information is not available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
9th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish the average waiting times, including to assessment and outcome, of the Access to Work programme.

Access to Work official statistics are published annually and include how many approvals have been made. However, the publication does not include waiting times as the data on this is not of sufficient quality to meet the standard requirement for an official statistics publication.

Tom Pursglove
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
9th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing part of the Cost of Living Payment to people on means tested benefits in Winter 2022.

No such assessment has been made. We will be bringing forward legislation for the 23/24 Cost of Living Payments in due course.

Mims Davies
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
1st Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of making the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State responsible for disabled people on the representation of disabled people in Government.

I can confirm that I have been appointed as Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work. This role has always been, and remains, an important ministerial post.

A summary of my responsibilities can be found here: GOV.UK. My responsibilities put disability policy and disabled people at the heart of what this Government wants to achieve. I will continue to work closely with the Secretary of State to ensure this work remains a central pillar in the department’s mission, to improve outcomes for disabled people.

Tom Pursglove
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
4th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will take steps to reinstate the pensions of Yemeni workers that worked in Britain and who have had their pensions stopped.

The Department is working closely with the banking sector to reinstate State Pension payments for Yemeni workers that worked in Britain and who have had their pensions stopped due to the banking issues in Yemen. Reinstatement of State Pension payment will be dependant on individual personal circumstances.

David Rutley
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
21st Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she is having with her Canadian counterpart on uprating British State Pensions paid to people living in Canada.

There are two separate social security arrangements in place between the UK and Canada, made in 1995 and 1998. The UK Government is not intending to change the social security relationship with Canada.

Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
29th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to encourage employers to pay above the statutory minimum for sick pay.

Occupational sick pay schemes are a contractual matter between employer and employee. Many employers pay more and for longer than the statutory minimum through occupational or contractual sick pay arrangements and we continue to encourage employers to do so.

There is information on type of sick pay paid normally from surveys of employers and employees. The most recent of these are a survey of employers conducted in 2018 (last published in 2021) and a survey of employees conducted in 2014 (published in 2015). Links to both of these surveys can be found below.

Sickness absence and health in the workplace: understanding employer behaviour and practice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Health and wellbeing at work: a survey of employees, 2014 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

29th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the number of workers that are entitled to sick pay at a rate higher than statutory sick pay.

Occupational sick pay schemes are a contractual matter between employer and employee. Many employers pay more and for longer than the statutory minimum through occupational or contractual sick pay arrangements and we continue to encourage employers to do so.

There is information on type of sick pay paid normally from surveys of employers and employees. The most recent of these are a survey of employers conducted in 2018 (last published in 2021) and a survey of employees conducted in 2014 (published in 2015). Links to both of these surveys can be found below.

Sickness absence and health in the workplace: understanding employer behaviour and practice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Health and wellbeing at work: a survey of employees, 2014 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

24th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2022 to Question 143642, how many people are eligible for pension credit in Great Britain as of 24 March 2022.

According to the latest data, 2,260,000 people were eligible for Pension Credit in Great Britain for the financial year ending 2020. The published data tables can be accessed here: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year 2019 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
21st Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people (a) are eligible for and (b) claim pension credit in (i)Ealing Southall and in (ii) the UK.

The number of people eligible for Pension Credit is only available at the Great Britain level.

In August 2021, 2,827 people were in receipt of Pension Credit in Ealing Southall and 1,420,085 in Great Britain.

Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
21st Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on potential steps to protect low income families from inflation.

Ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions engage regularly with their Ministerial counterparts in other Departments, taking a collective approach to the policies and interventions that can make a difference.

This Government is wholly committed to supporting low-income families, including through spending over £110 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22 and by increasing the National Living Wage by 6.6% to £9.50 from April 2022.

With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, our focus now is on continuing to support people into and to progress in work.  Our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs, which has recently been expanded by £500 million, will help people across the UK to find work and to boost their wages and prospects.

In addition, Universal Credit recipients in work are now benefitting from a reduction in the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55%, while eligible in-work claimants can also benefit from changes to the Work Allowance. These measures represent, for the lowest paid in society, an effective tax cut of around £2.2b in 2022-23 and are now benefitting almost two million of the lowest paid workers by £1,000 a year on average.

We are helping people with energy bills through the Warm Home Discount, Cold Weather Payments and Winter Fuel Payments. We recognise that some people require extra support over the winter, which is why vulnerable households across the country can access a new £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund provides £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. The Barnett Formula applies in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million.

To support low income families further we have increased the value of Healthy Start Food Vouchers from £3.10 to £4.25, helping eligible low income households buy basic foods like milk, fruit and vitamins, and we are also investing over £200m a year from 2022 to continue our Holiday Activities and Food programme which is already providing enriching activities and healthy meals to children in all English Local Authorities.

David Rutley
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
25th Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support disabled employees during the covid-19 outbreak.

A range of DWP initiatives are supporting disabled people to stay in work. These include Access to Work, Disability Confident and support in partnership with the health system, including Employment Advice in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services. We have made it easier to access programmes which help disabled people to enter work, such as the Work and Health Programme and the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme.

DWP has also put in place measures to ensure that its own staff, including those who require reasonable adjustments, have been able to safely work from home during the Covid-19 outbreak, or from COVID-safe departmental locations where necessary or if that is their preference. These measures include arranging for specialist furniture and equipment to be delivered to individuals’ homes; allowing individuals to purchase such items and then reimbursing them; and ensuring that DWP workplaces are COVID safe for those who use them.

25th Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of companies signed up to the Disability Confident scheme; and what assessment she has made of the effect of that scheme on employment rates for disabled people.

In 2017 the Government set a goal to see 1 million more disabled people in employment over the next 10 years. In the first three years of the goal (between Jan-Mar 2017 and Jan-Mar 2020) the number of disabled people in employment increased by 800,000. The rate of disabled people in employment also increased, by 4.4 percentage points to 53.4%, in the same period.

The Disability Confident scheme is a learning journey that aims to provide employers with the knowledge, skills, and resources that they need to attract, recruit, retain and develop disabled people in the workplace. No employer is too small or new to start the journey and even the most experienced employer will still find new techniques and best practice that can help them. As of 28th February 2021 over 19,900 employers had signed up to the scheme. Disability Confident is only part of a wider range of services that will support disabled employees into work and stay in work.

8th Oct 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department is providing to people classed as clinically extremely vulnerable and who are unable to safely visit job centres or other assessment locations.

Jobcentre Work Coaches are trusted and empowered to engage with claimants by the best and most appropriate channel, giving careful consideration to a claimant’s personal circumstances and needs, such as any health conditions, and the local situation to determine whether or not this should be by phone, digital or face-to-face.

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department made a number of changes to health and disability benefits to safeguard the health of claimants and staff and to prioritise new claims and continuity of awards. The changes included the suspension of all face-to-face assessments and the introduction of telephone-based assessments where suitable, in addition to paper-based assessments (paper-based assessments were in place for some claims prior to the Covid-19 pandemic).

1st Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to protect people from pension scams and fraud.

In these unprecedented times we are committed to protecting people from pension scams and fraud. DWP is working with other Government Departments, the Pension Regulator, Financial Conduct Authority and other industry bodies to raise awareness and to monitor for evidence of an increase in pension related fraudster activity. We will continue to use evidence available, to identify what specific and proportionate measures may be necessary.

Government has introduced measures to tackle pension scams following the December 2016 Pension Scams: Consultation link. These include making it harder to open fraudulent schemes from 2018, and legislating to introduce a ban on cold calling in relation to pensions in January 2019.

DWP is also bringing forward legislation, through the Pension Schemes Bill which is currently passing through Parliament. These measures will give trustees’ assurance they will not be required to make statutory transfer, unless specified conditions are met.

The PPF, in collaboration with regulators and pensions bodies, recently published a guide,’COVID-19 and your pension: where to get help’, which answers common pension concerns and helps individuals find the right support. This includes guidance for individuals who are concerned about pension scams.

https://www.ppf.co.uk/covid-19-pensions

Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
1st Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the number of pension scams and fraud in each quarter of the last five years.

The Government is committed to protecting people from pension scams and fraud.

The quarterly data on pension scams and fraud does not exist.

Pensioners who suspect they have been a victim of a pension scam or fraud can report to Action Fraud, the national reporting centre for fraud and cyber-crime. The DWP works with Action Fraud and other members of the police led organisation Project Bloom, which is cross-government and works with industry to monitor and respond to pension frauds, update prevention and respond to these changes.

Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
27th Nov 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase survival rates for people with liver cancer.

The Department is supporting the National Health Service to increase survival rates for all cancers including for liver cancer in England by taking steps to diagnosing and treating cancers at an early stage. The NHS is working towards the NHS Long Term Plan ambition of diagnosing 75% of stageable cancers at stage 1 and 2 by 2028, meaning 55,000 more people each year will survive their cancer at least five years after diagnosis. To deliver this, the Department is driving faster roll-out of additional diagnostic capacity, establishing 135 community diagnostic centres, with capacity prioritised for cancer.

NHS cancer standards have been reformed with the support of clinicians to speed up diagnosis for patients which means people will receive a diagnosis or have cancer ruled out within 28 days from urgent cancer referral from their general practitioner (GP). In addition, the NHS-Galleri Trial is looking into the use of a new blood test to see if it can help the NHS to detect cancer early when used alongside existing cancer screening, including liver cancers.

The Government is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlogs in elective care and plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment activity.

The Department has also committed support to the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce, which targets cancers with stubbornly poor survival rates. This partnership focuses on liver, pancreas, lung, brain, oesophagus, and stomach cancers, raising awareness of these less survivable cancers so more people understand their symptoms and go to see their GP if they have concerns.

In addition to the immediate action to support cancer services, the Government announced on 24 January 2023 that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy. The Strategy will tackle conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England, including cancer.

Andrew Stephenson
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Nov 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) appointing a hepatitis B virus (HBV) elimination programme national clinical lead and (b) establishing a national register for monitoring HBV diagnoses and treatment uptake.

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
21st Nov 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to utilise the domestic life science sector to help end global levels of tuberculosis by 2030.

The Department fully supports United Kingdom commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals as set out in the Global Health Framework and the International Development White Paper. Through our Official Development Assistance (ODA)-funded Research and Development programmes, we are building on UK scientific expertise and investing in research through open competition, working with partners in low and middle income countries to tackle global health threats such as emerging pathogens and antimicrobial resistance, strengthen health systems resilience, and address the changing burden of disease.

Since 2017, through the ODA-funded Global Health Research programme, delivered through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Department has invested over £25 million in collaborative research projects between UK researchers and partners in low and middle income countries, which include elements relating to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis.

Andrew Stephenson
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
14th Nov 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support cancer services and (b) reduce waiting times for access to cancer treatment.

The Department is taking steps to reduce cancer treatment waiting times across England, including the time between an urgent GP referral and the commencement of treatment for cancer for patients. The Government is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlogs in elective care, and plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment activity.

In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances in each of the next two years to support delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity for cancer.

Additionally, the Government recently published the Major Conditions Strategy Case for Change and Our Strategic Framework on 14 August 2023 which sets out our approach to making the choices over the next five years that will deliver the most value in facing the health challenges of today and of the decades ahead, including for cancer.  This is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/major-conditions-strategy-case-for-change-and-our-strategic-framework

Andrew Stephenson
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
13th Nov 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance her Department has issued to NHS England on the number of showers that should be installed per hospital bed.

The Department does not provide guidance to NHS England in relation to the number of showers, or the number of clinical handwashing taps, that should be installed per hospital bed.

The guidance relating to the number of clinical handwashing taps that should be installed per hospital bed is provided by NHS England in Health Building Notification (HBN 00-09): Infection control in the built environment.

Andrew Stephenson
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
18th Oct 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions were due to alcohol consumption in each year since 2019-20; and what steps his Department is taking to help tackle this issue.

The following table shows recorded hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions (conditions solely caused by alcohol) and alcohol-related conditions (conditions partially caused by alcohol):

Year

Number of admissions, England, persons

Alcohol-specific conditions

Alcohol-related conditions (broad)

2022/23

To be released February 2024

2021/22

342,795

948,312

2020/21

347,761

814,595

2019/20

318,596

976,423

Source: OHID, Local Alcohol Profiles for England.

We have a strong programme underway to address alcohol-related harm, including investing £27 million of funding to establish alcohol care teams in the 25% of hospitals in England with the greatest need. This is expected to prevent a further 50,000 hospital admissions over five years.

We are also working to reduce excess alcohol consumption and associated harm among people who regularly drink above the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines (over 14 units per week) by facilitating substitution of standard strength alcohol with no and low-alcohol alternatives. On 28 September 2023, we launched a consultation on updating our labelling guidance for no and low-alcohol alternatives, to improve clarity of consumer information, and to support innovation in the sector. This will provide greater choice for consumers to help them moderate excess alcohol consumption. More information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/updating-labelling-guidance-for-no-and-low-alcohol-alternatives/updating-labelling-guidance-for-no-and-low-alcohol-alternatives-consultation

18th Oct 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions were due to issues relating to obesity and diabetes in (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21, (c) 2021-22 and (d) 2022-23; and what steps he is taking to reduce the number of these admissions.

The following table shows hospital admission data due to diabetes mellitus and obesity and other hyperalimentation episodes:

Admissions

Year

Diabetes Mellitus

Obesity and other hyperalimentation

2019-20

59,828

11,025

2020-21

54,811

4,095

2021-22

61,663

7,935

2022-23

61,796

8,970

Source: Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity, NHS Digital

The NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme supports those identified at high risk of type 2 diabetes to reduce their risk. Latest figures in February 2023 shows a 20% reduction in risk for those who are referred to the programme compared to those who are not.

The weight loss drug Semaglutide (Wegovy) was launched in the United Kingdom on 4 September 2023 and will be made available on the National Health Service in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommendations to ensure cost effective use. A two-year pilot backed by up to £40 million is being developed to explore ways to make these drugs accessible to patients living with obesity outside of hospital settings.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
17th Oct 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of blind and visually impaired people were prevented from accessing NHS estates with guide dogs in the last 12 months.

The data requested is not held centrally. Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged, including disabled people with assistance dogs. The Act places a duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve access to premises, buildings and services. This could include allowing the use of assistance dogs so that disabled people have the same access to National Health Service estates.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
17th Oct 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues on the training NHS staff should receive on (a) assistance dogs and (b) supporting blind and visually impaired people.

Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged, including disabled people with assistance dogs.

National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers must comply with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss, including blind and visually impaired people. NHS England has completed a review of the AIS to help ensure that everyone’s communication needs are met in health and care provision. The review considered the effectiveness of the current AIS, how the standard is implemented and enforced in practice, and identified recommendations for improvement. The revised standard will be published in due course.

Following publication, NHS England will continue work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement and updated e-learning modules on the AIS to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it. Assistance dogs are not covered within the scope of the AIS.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
13th Oct 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of prioritising earlier detection of heart failure as part of the Major Conditions Strategy.

We have heard from a wide range of stakeholders, and their views are informing the development of the Major Conditions Strategy (MCS). This will include the responses we have received following the call for evidence.

We are engaging across the conditions in the MCS rather than individually; therefore, specific conversations prioritising earlier detection of heart failure have not taken place.

From April 2022, Primary Care Networks have been required to support earlier identification of heart failure and better management of cholesterol to prevent heart failure.

13th Oct 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities on the potential merits of prioritising identification of people who (a) are traditionally reluctant to engage with the health system and (b) may not be easily identifiable as a result of (i) poor health literacy, (ii) digital exclusion, (iii) multiple deprivation and (iv) inequalities conferred by ethnicity.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) is an integral part of the Department. The consideration of inequalities is embedded across OHID and the Department’s work. Our approach will continue to focus on supporting people to live healthier lives, helping the NHS and social care to provide the best treatment and care for patients and tackling health disparities through national and system interventions such as the NHS England Core20PLUS5 programme.

We have published our initial report ‘Major Conditions Strategy: Case for change and our strategic framework’ which identifies the importance of tackling inequalities to improve health outcomes, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/major-conditions-strategy-case-for-change-and-our-strategic-framework/major-conditions-strategy-case-for-change-and-our-strategic-framework--2

Core20PLUS5 is a national NHS England approach to inform action to reduce healthcare inequalities at both national and system level. The approach focuses on improving cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory, maternity, and mental health outcomes in the poorest 20 percent of the population, along with ethnic minorities and inclusion health groups. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/equality/equality-hub/national-healthcare-inequalities-improvement-programme/core20plus5/

The approach has now been adapted to apply to children and young people, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/equality/equality-hub/national-healthcare-inequalities-improvement-programme/core20plus5/core20plus5-cyp/

NHS England has recently published a framework for National Health Service action on digital inclusion to help NHS staff enable and encourage greater access to and improved experiences of healthcare, and increased adoption of digital approaches where that is appropriate. The framework can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/inclusive-digital-healthcare-a-framework-for-nhs-action-on-digital-inclusion/

Inclusion health groups are also known to experience poor health literacy and digital exclusion. On 9 October NHS England also published its inclusion health framework to support the NHS to meet the needs of people in these groups. The framework can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/a-national-framework-for-nhs-action-on-inclusion-health/

13th Oct 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with NHS England on the potential merits of supporting the British Society for Heart Failure-led multi-disciplinary 25in25 initiative.

There have been no specific discussions with NHS England. Preventing cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including heart failure, is a priority for this government, which is why they are a key part of our upcoming Major Conditions Strategy. The NHS Health Check aims to prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease, and some cases of dementia among adults aged between 40 and 74 years old. The period between April and June this year saw the highest number of NHS Health Checks offered since the programme began in 2013, meaning more people than ever can reduce their CVD risk through the programme.

19th Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on reducing the number of NHS cancer waiting time targets; and if he will make a statement.

In June 2018, the Prime Minister asked for a clinically-led review of National Health Service access standards to ensure they measure what matters most, both in optimising clinical outcomes and to patients. The review was led by Professor Steve Powis, with support from a Clinical Oversight Group, consisting of clinicians and patient group representatives. As part of the process the Department and NHS England also undertook extensive engagement with stakeholders; NHS England received responses from 46 organisations, including hospitals, Cancer Alliances and charities across the country. NHS England also consulted on these changes and responses overall supported the core proposals in the interim report, including the simplification and modernisation of standards.

On 17 August 2023, NHS England announced changes to cancer waiting times standards, rationalising them from 10 standards to three; more specifically, there will be a Faster Diagnosis Standard of a maximum 28-day wait for communication of a definitive cancer/not cancer diagnosis for patients referred urgently or those identified by NHS cancer screening. There will be a maximum 62-day wait to first treatment from urgent general practitioner referral, NHS cancer screening or consultant upgrade. There will be a maximum 31-day wait from decision to treat to any cancer treatment starting for all cancer patients. The Department supports these changes and will amend the relevant statutory regulations in due course, as shared in the Written Ministerial Statement of my Rt. Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, HCWS1001, published on 4 September 2023.

19th Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department held discussions with (a) cancer charities and (b) clinicians on changes to NHS cancer waiting time targets.

In June 2018, the Prime Minister asked for a clinically-led review of National Health Service access standards to ensure they measure what matters most, both in optimising clinical outcomes and to patients. The review was led by Professor Steve Powis, with support from a Clinical Oversight Group, consisting of clinicians and patient group representatives. As part of the process the Department and NHS England also undertook extensive engagement with stakeholders; NHS England received responses from 46 organisations, including hospitals, Cancer Alliances and charities across the country. NHS England also consulted on these changes and responses overall supported the core proposals in the interim report, including the simplification and modernisation of standards.

On 17 August 2023, NHS England announced changes to cancer waiting times standards, rationalising them from 10 standards to three; more specifically, there will be a Faster Diagnosis Standard of a maximum 28-day wait for communication of a definitive cancer/not cancer diagnosis for patients referred urgently or those identified by NHS cancer screening. There will be a maximum 62-day wait to first treatment from urgent general practitioner referral, NHS cancer screening or consultant upgrade. There will be a maximum 31-day wait from decision to treat to any cancer treatment starting for all cancer patients. The Department supports these changes and will amend the relevant statutory regulations in due course, as shared in the Written Ministerial Statement of my Rt. Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, HCWS1001, published on 4 September 2023.

18th Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to work with NHS England to provide pharmacists with (a) education and (b) support in the diagnosis of coeliac disease.

There are no current plans to commission community pharmacy to support diagnosis and treatment of coeliac disease. Diagnosis and the prescription of treatment is within the clinical scope of practice of general practitioners and specialist doctors. Community pharmacies are already commissioned to provide support to patients on making best use of medicines prescribed, as well as to provide advice on self-care and signpost people to other healthcare providers if the pharmacy cannot provide the necessary support or advice.

18th Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the training available on coeliac disease for (a) primary care physicians and (b) other health professionals.

Individual employers are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role.

The curriculum for general practitioners (GPs) in training, set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), includes a chapter on gastroenterology that addresses the treatment of coeliac disease.

Additionally, the RCGP has made online resources available on coeliac disease and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines for the disease are tested in the Applied Knowledge Test assessment for GP training. NHS England’s training programmes offer educational sessions on the RCGP’s curriculum for common gastroenterological conditions, which include coeliac disease assessment, investigation, and management.

18th Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had discussions with NHS England on improving incentives in primary care to adhere to NICE guidelines on coeliac disease.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, including guidelines for coeliac disease, represent best practice and are expected to be taken into full account by healthcare practitioners, but do not override their responsibility to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual, in consultation with them and their families or carers where appropriate. The Department has regular discussions with NHS England on the most appropriate form for incentive schemes within primary care. The profession, patients and the broader system will be consulted this year on incentives in primary care to inform future reform.

7th Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a WHO Multisectoral Accountability Framework for TB following the UN High-level Meeting on the fight against tuberculosis on 22 September 2023.

The Multisectoral Accountability Framework for Tuberculosis is a World Health Organization (WHO) initiative which includes regular global assessments. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Department are working with WHO’s Global Lead for Multisectoral Engagement and the Director of the Global Tuberculosis Programme on the United Kingdom implementation of the framework. There is currently no plan to publish a separate UK assessment at this time.

6th Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time between an urgent GP referral and the commencement of treatment for cancer for patients in Ealing, Southall constituency.

The Department is already taking steps to reduce cancer treatment waiting times across England. Reducing the time between an urgent general practitioner referral and the commencement of treatment for cancer for patients is a priority for this Government. The Department is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlogs in elective care’. The Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment activity.

In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced that it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances in each of the next two years to support delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity for cancer.

Additionally, the Government recently published the ‘Major conditions strategy: case for change and our strategic framework’ on 14 August, which sets out our approach to making the choices over the next five years that will deliver the most value in facing the health challenges of today and of the decades ahead, including cancer.

1st Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to train community healthcare professionals to (a) support and (b) provide appropriate referrals to specialist care for people with moderate to severe atopic eczema.

Training programmes for healthcare professionals must meet the standards set by the regulatory body for their profession. Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all nevertheless emphasise the skills and approaches a Health Care Practitioner must develop to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.

The standard of training for health care professionals is the responsibility of the independent statutory health care regulatory bodies, which set the outcome standards expected at undergraduate level and approve courses, and higher education institutions which write and teach the curricula content that enables their students to meet the regulators’ outcome standards.

Individual employers are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role, including ensuring staff are aware of care pathways and referral routes for those living with moderate to severe atopic eczema.

1st Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to provide (a) psychosocial and (b) other mental health support to eczema patients.

No one is excluded from the Government’s cost of living support as a consequence of a health condition or disability such as eczema. Those with needs arising from such a condition may be entitled to the full range of support depending on their circumstances, including access to an extra costs disability benefit such as the Personal Independence Payment.

In addition, for 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost-of-Living Payments. This will be split into three payments of around £300 each across the year.

We recognise that people’s mental and physical health are intrinsically linked, and people with long term physical health conditions, such as eczema, may also need emotional and psychological support. We are investing at least £2.3 billion of extra funding a year in expanding and transforming mental health services in England by March 2024. This will enable an extra two million people to be treated by mental health services within the National Health Service by March 2024.

Mental Health is one of the group of conditions included in the Department’s Major Conditions Strategy. The strategy will aim to identify actions in the areas of prevention, treatment, and long-term management of care to improve outcomes for individuals across the six major condition groups.

We have continued to expand NHS talking therapies services for all adults with common mental health problems. These services are accessible to all adults in England. People can be referred by a range of practitioners or refer themselves.

1st Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support eczema patients with increases in the cost of living.

No one is excluded from the Government’s cost of living support as a consequence of a health condition or disability such as eczema. Those with needs arising from such a condition may be entitled to the full range of support depending on their circumstances, including access to an extra costs disability benefit such as the Personal Independence Payment.

In addition, for 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost-of-Living Payments. This will be split into three payments of around £300 each across the year.

We recognise that people’s mental and physical health are intrinsically linked, and people with long term physical health conditions, such as eczema, may also need emotional and psychological support. We are investing at least £2.3 billion of extra funding a year in expanding and transforming mental health services in England by March 2024. This will enable an extra two million people to be treated by mental health services within the National Health Service by March 2024.

Mental Health is one of the group of conditions included in the Department’s Major Conditions Strategy. The strategy will aim to identify actions in the areas of prevention, treatment, and long-term management of care to improve outcomes for individuals across the six major condition groups.

We have continued to expand NHS talking therapies services for all adults with common mental health problems. These services are accessible to all adults in England. People can be referred by a range of practitioners or refer themselves.

1st Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to provide skills training to help meet (a) medium- and (b) long-term targets for biomedical scientists in the NHS.

As set out in the recently published NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan, we aim to increase training places for healthcare scientists, including biomedical scientists, by 13% to more than 850 places by 2028/29, putting us on the path to increase training places by more than 30% to over 1,000 places by 2031/32.

Apprenticeship routes for healthcare scientists are also being made available, with 20% of training places delivered via an apprenticeship route by 2028/29, supporting an ambition to have 40% of healthcare scientists starting their training via an apprenticeship by 2031/32.

The Government is backing the plan with over £2.4 billion over the next five years.

1st Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many eczema cases were diagnosed in 2022.

The information is not collected in the format requested.

1st Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) people with eczema are (i) evaluated and (ii) treated by specialists and (b) patient-initiated follow-ups are adopted across the health system.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publishes a range of guidance on atopic dermatitis, also known as eczema, and other skin conditions for commissioners and healthcare professionals, with recommendations for diagnosis and referral. The guideline for atopic dermatitis in children aged under 12 years is being updated with draft recommendations published in June 2023. NHS England has made a referral to NICE to develop new guidance on atopic dermatitis in adults.

Whilst NICE guidelines are not mandatory, the Government would expect patients presenting with atopic dermatitis symptoms to be managed according to clinical need and in line with all current guidance.

1st Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by Demos entitled The Costs of Atopic Dermatitis published April 2023.

Whilst we have made no specific assessment of Demos’ report, or the economic impact of atopic dermatitis on people living with the condition, or on the National Health Service and the wider economy, we recognise the impact that skin conditions can have on all aspects of life and the importance of ensuring that those affected receive the treatment and support that they need.

To support people with skin conditions, such as atopic dermatitis, the Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) national report for dermatology makes specific recommendations to ensure early access to diagnosis and treatment across England.

GIRFT is a national programme designed to improve the treatment and care of patients through in-depth review of services, benchmarking and presenting a data-driven evidence base to support change.

A limited range of products, including emollient bath oils, wash creams and moisturising creams and lotions can be prescribed in line with advice from the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances. It is for the general practitioner and other responsible clinicians to work with their patient and decide on the course of treatment, with the provision of the most clinically appropriate care for the individual always being the primary consideration. Clinicians are accountable for their prescribing decisions, both professionally and to their service commissioners.

14th Jul 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that medical technologies procured by the NHS help (a) enable the delivery of the Life Sciences Vision and (b) provide positive patient outcomes.

The recently announced £650 million life sciences package will support the delivery of plans for accelerating the development, adoption and spread of innovation to bring new products to patients faster, in line with the Life Sciences Vision (LSV). Through the LSV, we are also advancing plans for a new regulatory pathway, which will facilitate the development and uptake of beneficial innovative technologies, and are progressing work to improve the capability to generate Real World Evidence, which will support the National Health Service in selecting products that provide positive patient outcomes.

The Government's new Medical Technology Strategy, published in February 2023, builds on the LSV to set out how the health and social care system can reliably access safe, effective and innovative medical technologies that support the continued delivery of high-quality care, outstanding patient safety and excellent patient outcomes in a way that makes the best use of taxpayer money.

Through the Medical Technology Strategy, we are working closely with NHS Supply Chain and NHS England to implement a consistent methodology for value-based procurement to be adopted at a national and local level and ultimately to provide positive patient outcomes.

14th Jul 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to develop value-based procurement for medical technologies within the NHS.

The Government's new Medical Technology Strategy, published in February 2023, commits to ensuring the right medtech products are available at the right price and in the right place. To ensure the best value for public money, the strategy recognises that the value of medtech products should not be considered in isolation, but across the whole patient pathway, and that the lowest price does not always mean the best value. The Department’s Medtech Directorate is working closely with NHS Supply Chain and NHS England to build on the work already undertaken on the application and adoption of Value Based Procurement (VBP) to develop a consistent methodology to be adopted at both a national and local level.

3rd Jul 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is the current vaccine coverage rate for Human papillomavirus vaccination in Ealing; and what recent steps he has taken to support school-based immunisation programmes in (a) London and (b) England to increase levels in vaccination.

The UK Health Security Agency publishes annual vaccine coverage data to track the performance of all teenage and adult national immunisation programmes including protection against human papillomavirus (HPV). Vaccine coverage data shows national as well as regional levels and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/human-papillomavirus-hpv-vaccine-coverage-estimates-in-england-2021-to-2022

Across England, the HPV vaccine is predominately delivered in schools, helping to combat health inequalities by reaching children from disadvantaged backgrounds, vulnerable families, and others who may not be registered with a general practitioner (GP) practice but who are still in education. Regional teams also host catch up clinics in schools. Alternative sites are available for anyone not in mainstream education, or for those who have missed their offer.

It is vitally important that everyone takes up the vaccinations to which they are entitled; for themselves, their families, and wider society. Anyone unsure about their eligibility or vaccination status should contact their GP for advice.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
3rd Jul 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the UK Health Security Agency publication entitled Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage estimates in England: 2021 to 2022, published on 20 December 2022, what steps his Department is taking to increase HPV vaccine rates to the levels achieved prior to the covid-19 pandemic.

To allow for ease of access, the human papillomavirus (HPV) programme is primarily delivered in England through schools, with alternative provision for those not in mainstream education and catch-up programmes offered through general practitioner (GP) practices for both girls and boys who are eligible but missed their initial offer. Regional NHS teams also host catch up clinics in schools and in local venues in areas with low uptake.

NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency deliver annual communication campaigns to promote the HPV vaccine via general practitioners and universities, emphasising the benefits of the HPV vaccine for both boys and girls.

It is vitally important that everyone takes up the vaccinations to which they are entitled; for themselves, their families, and wider society. Anyone unsure about their eligibility or vaccination status should contact their GP for advice.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
3rd Jul 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the World Health Organisation scheme entitled Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative, what recent estimate he has made of when (a) 90 per cent of girls will be fully-vaccinated with HPV vaccine before the age of 15, (b) 70 per cent of women will be screened with a high-performance test (i) before the age of 35 and (ii) a second time before the aged of 45, (c) 90 per cent of women identified with cervical disease will receive treatment and (d) 90 per cent of women with (A) pre-cancer and (B) invasive cancer will receive treatment.

The Department is committed to driving uptake of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to achieve the World Health Organization’s (WHO) target of 90% coverage. The HPV programme is primarily delivered in schools to support ease of access with alternative sites available for those not in mainstream education. For anyone who missed their offer, catch-up opportunities are offered in schools and general practitioner practices for both girls and boys who are eligible until their 25th birthday.

To support uptake, NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency deliver annual communication campaigns to promote the HPV vaccine via general practices and universities, emphasising the benefits of the HPV vaccine for both boys and girls.

The NHS Cervical Screening Programme aligns with the WHO’s target of 70% of women being screened using a high-performance test, by age 35 years old and again at age 45 years old. Published data shows that coverage for March 2022 was 69.9%.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
27th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of implications for his policies of the findings of the report by the British Heart Foundation entitled Excess deaths involving CVD in England since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic: an analysis and explainer, published in June 2023 .

Between March 2020 and May 2023 cardiovascular disease was a significant contributor to excess deaths. That is why we are going further to empower and support people to manage their heart health risks through the development of a digital NHS Health Check, and have appointed Professor Deanfield to lead work to develop an ambitious approach to personalised prevention. We will also consider the implications of the British Heart Foundation’s report findings through the development of the Government’s forthcoming Major Conditions Strategy.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by the British Heart Foundation entitled Excess deaths involving CVD in England since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic: an analysis and explainer, published in June 2023, what assessment he has made of the causes of the changes in the level of cardiovascular disease since the start of the pandemic in England.

Evidence on excess mortality attributable to non-COVID-19 related causes implies that it is likely due to a combination of factors. This may include disruption to routine care during the first two years of the pandemic, lifestyle factors and disruption to emergency care and urgent elective procedures.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce pressure on NHS cardiovascular care services.

The Government is taking action to reduce pressure on NHS cardiovascular care services by supporting local authorities to recover NHS Health Checks, England’s national cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme; investing nearly £17 million for the development and roll-out of an innovative new digital NHS Health Check that will enable more people to have a check and free up NHS staff time; rolling out free blood pressure checks to people over the age of 40 in community pharmacies to detect thousands more people living with hypertension earlier. CVD will form a part of the Government’s Major Conditions Strategy which will focus on conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England. The Strategy will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that underpin a shift to integrated, whole-person care, building on measures that we have already taken forward through the NHS Long Term Plan. Interventions set out in the Strategy will aim to alleviate pressure on the health system, as well as support the government’s objective to increase healthy life expectancy and reduce ill-health related labour market inactivity.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
26th Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the increased risk of developing (a) cardiovascular disease and (b) cancer among people with non-alcohol-related fatty liver disease.

No specific assessment has been made.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
23rd Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of whether (a) primary care and (b) rheumatology departments provide the most effective diagnoses of (i) hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and (ii) hypermobility spectrum disorders.

General rheumatology services, which support people with a range of conditions, including hEDS and HSD, are locally commissioned by integrated care boards which are best placed to make decisions according to local need.

Rheumatologists have knowledge and familiarity with hypermobility and related conditions. Other clinicians, such as general practitioners and expert physiotherapists, are being empowered to identify and diagnose the condition through the use of validated approved clinical guidelines and toolkits. This should help to reduce delays in diagnosis.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
23rd Jun 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of specialist care for people with (a) hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and (b) hypermobility spectrum disorders.

General rheumatology services, which support people with a range of conditions, including hEDS and HSD, are locally commissioned by integrated care boards which are best placed to make decisions according to local need.

Rheumatologists have knowledge and familiarity with hypermobility and related conditions. Other clinicians, such as general practitioners and expert physiotherapists, are being empowered to identify and diagnose the condition through the use of validated approved clinical guidelines and toolkits. This should help to reduce delays in diagnosis.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
22nd May 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) invitro diagnostic and (b) other medical devices that (i) are UK approved body certified and (b) self-declared under the Medical Devices Regulations 2002 are registered with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

The information requested has been verified by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) but has not been previously published. The following table shows the number of medical devices registered with the MHRA including United Kingdom approved body certified and self-declared under Medical Devices Regulations (MDR) 2002.

In Vitro-Diagnostic Medical Devices

General Medical Devices

Active Implantable Medical Devices

Total

UK approved body certified

1

187

1

189

Self-declared MDR 2002

1

169

0

170

Total

2

356

1

359

The in-vitro diagnostic medical devices referenced were declared under part IV of the UK Medical Devices Regulations (MDRs) 2002, the general medical devices referenced were declared under part II of the UK MDRs 2002 and the active implantable medical devices were declared under part III of the UK MDRs 2002.

15th May 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions has he had with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on addressing health inequalities.

Ministers and officials in the Department of Health and Social Care meet regularly with Ministers and officials from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to discuss plans to address health inequalities by driving progress on the levelling up mission to increase Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) by five years by 2035 and narrow the gap in HLE by 2030.

15th May 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of heart failure diagnoses made by Community Diagnostic Centres to date.

We do not hold data on the number of heart failure diagnoses made by Community Diagnostic Centres.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
10th May 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many UK Conformity Assessed certificates have been issued for each category of (a) invitro diagnostic and (b) other medical devices since the introduction of those certificates. .

Since January 2021 designated UK Approved Bodies have been able to issue UK Conformity Assessed certificates for medical devices and in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) that require certification by a conformity assessment body prior to the device being placed on the Great Britain market. Low risk medical devices and IVDs do not require Approved Body certification. Approved Bodies issue certificates attesting that the manufacturers Quality Management System complies with regulatory requirements as well as issuing certificates that confirm the devices themselves comply with the requirements. Certificates issued by an Approved Body generally cover more than one device, so the number of certificates does not equate to the number of devices that have been certified. The following table shows the number of certificates issued from January 2021 to 13 April 2023, the most current data set.

General Medical Devices

Active Implantable Medical Devices

IVD Medical Devices

Total

January to December 2021

112

0

0

112

January to December 2022

336

8

3

347

January 2023 to to 13 April 2023

138

0

2

140

Total

586

8

5

599

10th May 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many UK Conformity Assessed certificates have been issued for (a) invitro diagnostic and (b) other medical devices since the introduction of those certificates.

Since January 2021 designated UK Approved Bodies have been able to issue UK Conformity Assessed certificates for medical devices and in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) that require certification by a conformity assessment body prior to the device being placed on the Great Britain market. Low risk medical devices and IVDs do not require Approved Body certification. Approved Bodies issue certificates attesting that the manufacturers Quality Management System complies with regulatory requirements as well as issuing certificates that confirm the devices themselves comply with the requirements. Certificates issued by an Approved Body generally cover more than one device, so the number of certificates does not equate to the number of devices that have been certified. The following table shows the number of certificates issued from January 2021 to 13 April 2023, the most current data set.

General Medical Devices

Active Implantable Medical Devices

In Vitro-Diagnostic Medical Devices

Total

January to December 2021

112

0

0

112

January to December 2022

336

8

3

347

January 2023 to to 13 April 2023

138

0

2

140

Total

586

8

5

599

10th May 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of community diagnostic centres provide echocardiography through handheld echocardiograms.

The information requested is not held centrally. Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), are required to deliver full echocardiography scanning functionality and are funded to install the same level of echocardiography equipment as is used in acute hospitals.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
10th May 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of community diagnostic centres offer echocardiogram tests.

Since the first Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) opened in July 2021, 29 CDCs have offered echocardiogram (ECG) tests, delivering a total of 23,741 ECGs between them. This may include temporary sites, which provided additional capacity after the pandemic that have since been replaced or closed. We do not, therefore, hold data on the proportion of CDCs, which offer echocardiogram tests.

As ECGs are part of the core test for all standard or large CDCs, the number of CDCs offering ECGs will grow over the next year as operational CDCs bring the full range of core tests on stream.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
5th May 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of appointing a commissioner for older people and ageing.

We have no current plans to make a specific assessment.

25th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps to implement the recommendation of the UK National Screening Committee to provide faecal-immunochemical test screening for bowel cancer every two years for people aged between 50 and 74.

The National Health Service is committed to extending the bowel screening programme and have set a timeline for this extension, which is detailed in the table below.

Cohort age at first invitation

Year invitations start

Age 56 years old

2021/22

Age 58 years old

2022/23

Age 54 years old

2023/24

Age 50 and 52 years old

2024/25

14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential impact on (a) antimicrobial resistance and (b) the effectiveness of antibiotics used to treat human illnesses of a ban on the preventative use of antibiotics on healthy farm animals.

The Government takes a ‘One-Health’ approach to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as set out in the ‘UK 5-year action plan for antimicrobial resistance 2019 to 2024’. Officials from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate meet regularly to consider appropriate actions to address AMR across the human and animal health sectors. This has included discussion on the preventative use of antibiotics in healthy farm animals and a consultation on proposed changes to Veterinary Medicines Regulations.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support NHS Trusts to (a) manage patient pathways and (b) track patient outcomes for people living with rheumatic conditions.

General rheumatology services are all locally commissioned by integrated care boards who are best placed to make decisions according to local need.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2023 to Question 162208 on Surgical Hubs, how many surgical hubs will be operational in 2024-25.

There are currently 87 elective surgical hubs that are operational across England, these surgical hubs will help separate elective care facilities from urgent and emergency care.

57 new surgical hubs have been proposed, of which 37 have received an NHS England approved business case, announced in February 2023.

Details of any new operational surgical hubs will be announced as soon as practicable.

14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to help support people who are required to travel outside of their local area for orthopaedic surgery.

Patients across England can receive help travelling to National Health Service facilities within and beyond their local area, including for orthopaedic surgery. The NHS Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service provides between 11 to 12 million journeys each year in England for people whose medical needs require such support. The NHS also has an existing Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme, which can support travel costs for individuals on a low income who are referred for NHS treatment. The NHS is currently developing proposals to simplify and streamline access to the scheme, alongside wider measures to improve patient transport.

14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to expand the orthopaedic workforce.

Growing and supporting the workforce is a priority for this Government. To that end, we have commissioned NHS England to develop a Long Term Workforce Plan. This will include projections for the numbers of doctors, nurses and other key professionals required over the next five, 10 and 15 years.

The plan will cover all of the National Health Service workforce, including those working on orthopaedic services.

14th Apr 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps to implement the recommendations of the report by NHS England entitled An improvement framework to reduce community musculoskeletal waits while delivering best outcomes and experience, published on 10 January 2023.

Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) are responsible for commissioning musculoskeletal services for their local populations. The NHS England report ‘An improvement framework to reduce community musculoskeletal waits while delivering best outcomes and experience’ supports ICSs, which are responsible for delivering support, to improve access to commissioned musculoskeletal therapies services. It includes defining principles and recommended actions across primary, community and secondary care and further resources which should support and enable local leadership to adapt and adopt the recommended actions.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
16th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NHS England on future (a) funding and (b) commissioning arrangements for hepatitis C services after April 2024.

The NHS England Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Elimination Programme is working towards eliminating HCV as a major public health issue in England, ahead of the 2030 World Health Organization target. Significant progress has been made and NHS England has publicly committed to the elimination of HCV in England by 2025, in the financial year 2025/26. NHS England has envisaged that current funding arrangements will continue in some form to allow future HCV elimination work to continue. Currently, commissioning arrangement for HCV elimination occur at a national level. After the point of elimination, which is expected to be at or close to 2025, work to ensure elimination is maintained will be devolved to local commissioning structures.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
16th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps with the Secretary of State for Justice to ensure that opt-out reception testing for (a) hepatitis C and (b) other blood borne viruses will continue in prisons after elimination metrics have been met.

Individuals who have been in prison or other secure and detained settings are at a higher risk of Hepatitis C (HCV) infections. That is why the NHS England HCV elimination programme has significant focus on testing and treatment in prisons and probation centres, including the successful blood-borne virus opt-out reception testing in prisons.

The 2030 World Health Organization HCV elimination goal goes beyond meeting specific elimination metrics but asks countries to meet sustained levels of HCV reduction. To do this beyond 2030, the Department for Health and Social Care, in partnership with NHS England, the Ministry of Justice, His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, the UK Health Security Agency and other stakeholders, are continuing to explore programmes that target groups most at risk of HCV infections.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
9th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of parity of remuneration for social care workers in (a) the NHS, (b) local authorities and (c) other publicly funded industries.

No assessment has been made.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
9th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the findings of the report of the Care Quality Commission, The state of health care and adult social care in England 2021-22, on the challenges facing the social care if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of funding for that sector.

We recognise the current challenges in social care. This is why we are making available up to £7.5 billion over two years to support adult social care and discharge, a more than real terms increase. We expect Local Authorities to use this funding to go beyond meeting inflationary and demographic pressures facing adult social care and deliver tangible improvements to services. These improvements should address waiting lists, low fee rates, and workforce pressures.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
9th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has assessed the potential merits of providing extra financial support for the social care sector to ensure that working age disabled people who require support live independent and fulfilling lives; and if he will make a statement.

This Department has not assessed the merits of providing extra financial support for working age disabled people.

We have made available up to £7.5 billion in additional funding over two years to support adult social care and discharge. This represents a more than real terms increase; and we expect local authorities to deliver tangible improvements to adult social care services, such as those for working age adults, as a result.

Local authorities are best placed to assess local resource and need, and they distribute their funding based on the local population demographics and relevant regional issues.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
9th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the accreditation of surgical hubs will be rolled out.

Plans are now underway for a national roll-out of the Accreditation scheme to other surgical hub sites across England. While it is not mandatory for National Health Service trusts to seek accreditation, the long-term goal is for every elective hub to be accredited.

9th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government will take to encourage healthy workplaces for people with long term conditions as part of the renewed focus on encouraging people to return to work.

It is important that workplaces enable disabled people and people with health conditions to stay in and succeed at work. The Government works with employers nationally to achieve this.

A range of support is available and includes:

- increasing access to occupational health, including the testing of financial incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises and the self-employed;

- the Disability Confident scheme, encouraging employers to think differently about disability and health, and to take positive action to address the issues employees face in the workplace;

- the Information and Advice Service, providing better integrated and tailored guidance on supporting and managing health and disability in the workplace;

- the Mental Health and Productivity Pilot, providing insight into how to use mental health and wellbeing interventions in the workplace; and

- Non-statutory guidance providing advice on accessibility, communication, occupational health support, inclusivity, and sickness support.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
9th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the Government will provide funding to employers to develop resources for employees with musculoskeletal conditions.

Government is taking steps to help employers support their employees with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. In October 2022 we published the Musculoskeletal (MSK) Health Toolkit for employers and further education institutions which encourages employers to support adolescents and young adults with MSK conditions.

The Musculoskeletal Health Toolkit for Employers was developed in partnership with Business in the Community and provides practical information for employers of all sizes to address MSK conditions in the workplace for the working age population.

We also have a new online service, which is currently in live national testing, the Support with Employee Health and Disability service. This offers tailored guidance to help employers better support disabled people and those with health conditions in the workplace.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
9th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will support the dissemination of the Versus Arthritis Surgery Toolkit to all ICSs.

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning the majority of services for people within the geographical boundaries of their integrated care system and should use guidance from a range of sources as clinically appropriate. To support the health of people with arthritis while they are waiting for elective treatment, NHS England has worked with Versus Arthritis on their Joint Replacement Support Package, a six-point package aimed at local health systems to be provided to patients.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
8th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to introduce mandated premarket testing on e-cigarette devices to prevent overfilling as part of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency notification process.

There are no current plans to introduce mandated premarket testing on vape devices as part of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency notification process. Producers wishing to supply vapes on the United Kingdom market must comply with the product standards and safety requirements set out in the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.

8th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the (a) safety and (b) quality of e-cigarettes available to consumers.

The latest assessment on the safety and quality of vapes can be found in the Nicotine vaping in England: 2022 evidence update report, published in September 2022. The report is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nicotine-vaping-in-england-2022-evidence-update

The report found that in the short and medium term, vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking, but that vaping is not risk-free, particularly for people who have never smoked. Vapes are regulated by the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR) requiring notification to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. The TRPR sets product standards on the quality of vapes by limiting the maximum nicotine strength, setting refill bottle and tank size limits, setting requirements on labelling, and also by setting restrictions on advertising which includes mainstream media, TV and radio.

7th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) supply chain delays, (b) manufacturing costs and (c) procurement processes on the length of time it takes for people to receive mobility equipment.

The Department has regular engagement with suppliers to monitor continuity of supply to patients. A number of global factors such as shipping, material sourcing and local lockdowns have impacted the supply of mobility aids over the past year, especially where these are sourced from the Far East. However, these pressures are alleviating and there is evidence of continuing improvement in the supply position.

A large proportion of mobility aids are recovered and reconditioned in the United Kingdom by providers which mitigates the impact of disruptions in the supply of new products. Additionally, the diversity of suppliers to the market means that alternatives are often available where individual suppliers may experience disruption to supply.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
7th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the British Healthcare Trades Association's survey entitled The impact of the current economic landscape on UK health and social care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding that 41 per cent of medical device manufacturers are considering reducing the amount of stock they produce and distribute as a result of financial and regulatory pressures.

No specific assessment has been made. The Department, NHS England and NHS Supply Chain work closely with suppliers to ensure supply chain resilience and the continued availability of affordable clinical consumables and devices.

Recent amendments to the EU Medical Device Regulation, in respect of the timescales for transitional arrangements, combined with the United Kingdom Government’s commitment to extend the standstill period and to introduce transitional arrangements for compliance with the new UK Medical Devices Regulations, substantially reduce regulatory pressures on suppliers.

7th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to maintain the supply of medical devices in the UK in light of increased financial and regulatory pressures for manufacturers.

The Government recognises challenges faced by suppliers relating to financial pressures and regulatory changes. The Department and NHS Supply Chain (NHSSC) have robust measures in place to monitor supply chains, working closely with suppliers within the bounds of contractual agreements to secure value for money for taxpayers and maintain access to devices and clinical consumables.

Similarly, the Government remains committed to providing sufficient time for industry to transition to any new regulatory requirements, following its response to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s future medical device regulations consultation in June 2022. The latter outlined changes supporting innovation in the United Kingdom’s life sciences and access to medical devices.

24th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that mental health is given the same priority in the Major Conditions Strategy as in the proposed ten-year mental health plan.

The Strategy will cover prevention to treatment for all six conditions and we are working with stakeholders to identify actions that will have the most impact.

Mental ill health will be a significant element of the new Strategy. By bringing mental ill health and other conditions strategies together, we will be able to focus on where there are similarities in approach and ensure care is better centered around the patient.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
17th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Community Diagnostic Centres are (a) operational in England and (b) provide endoscopy treatments; and if he will list the Diagnostic Centres that (i) currently provide and (ii) plan to provide endoscopy treatments.

92 Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) are operational in England. The following provided endoscopy treatments in 2022/23:

- Barking Community Hospital CDC

- Basildon Community Diagnostics CDC

- Bishop Auckland CDC

- Cannock Chase CDC

- CDC Poole at Dorset Health Village

- Clacton CDC

- Clatterbridge Diagnostics CDC

- Coventry City Community

- Darlington Memorial CDC

- East Norfolk CDC

- East Surrey CDC

- Humber Coast and Vale CDC

- Kidderminster Treatment Centre CDC

- Kings Mill CDC

- Lymington New Forest Hospital CDC

- Manchester and Trafford CDC

- Mile End Hospital CDC

- Norfolk and Waveney CDC

- Northern Care Alliance CDC – multi-site

- Northern Care Alliance – Salford

- Penrith CDC

- Portsmouth CDC

- Preston Fatima CDC

- Preston Healthport CDC

- Queen Mary’s Hospital Roehampton CDC

- Queen Mary’s Hospital Roehampton CDC (Kingston)

- Rossendale CDC (Burnley General Hospital)

- Slough CDC

- South Warwickshire CDC

- St Helen’s CDC

- St Mary’s Community Hospital CDC

- Stoke on Trent CDC

- University Hospital of North Durham CDC

- Warwickshire North CDC

- West Berkshire Community Hospital CDC

- West Norfolk CDC

The following approved CDCs including expansions to existing CDCs are planning to provide endoscopy treatments:

- Andover CDC

- Bradford District and Craven CDC

- Cannock Chase CDC

- CDC Poole @ Dorset Health Village Club

- Clacton CDC

- East Surrey CDC

- Hinckley CDC

- Island CDC

- Kidderminster CDC

- Lymington New Forest Hospital CDC

- Manchester and Trafford CDC

- Mansfield CDC

- Northern Care Alliance CDC – Oldham

- Queen Mary’s Roehampton CDC

- Rossendale CDC

- St Helens CDC

- Westmorland CDC

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
17th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who is responsible for the commissioning and delivery of care within (a) Community Diagnostic Centres and (b) Surgical Diagnostic Hubs; and whether his Department has plans to publish data on the activities of (i) Community Diagnostic Centres and (ii) Surgical Diagnostic Hubs.

Local commissioners are responsible for the commissioning of care within Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) and surgical hubs. Data on the activities of CDCs and surgical hubs will be published in due course.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
6th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the Major Health Conditions Strategy will take into account the (a) views and (b) specific needs of children and young people who responded to the Mental Health and Wellbeing Plan.

We received over 5,000 submissions to our mental health and wellbeing call for evidence, and we appreciate the engagement work many stakeholders carried out with children, young people and adults with lived experience, and more broadly, to inform their responses to the call for evidence. We have analysed these responses, and we will consider them as part of the process for developing the Major Conditions Strategy.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
10th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2022 to Question 109507 on Community Diagnostic Centres: Endoscopy, which two community diagnostic centres will provide endoscopy services; and whether he plans to increase the number of such centres that will provide endoscopy treatments in 2023.

Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) in West Berkshire Community Hospital and Hinckley will provide endoscopy services. We are working with NHS England and local systems to increase the number of CDCs, including those providing endoscopy services, and to increase the number being opened in 2023.

13th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any of the 19 community diagnostic centres announced on 7 December 2022 will provide endoscopy treatments; and if he will make a statement.

Two of the 19 community diagnostic centres will provide endoscopy services.

13th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to publish (a) key performance indicators, (b) a strategy and (c) a timeline for achieving key targets of the Elective Recovery Taskforce announced on 7 December 2022.

The Taskforce will meet regularly to inform our understanding of challenges in the system and potential solutions to ensure that all available capacity is used to reduce waiting times for patients. This will be supported by research and analysis to develop recommendations and an implementation plan in early 2023.

13th Dec 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment, with the Elective Recovery Taskforce, on the potential impact of medical technology on steps being taken to reduce waiting for elective care; and if he will make a statement.

The Elective Recovery Taskforce aims to reduce waiting lists and ensure patients can access elective services as soon as possible. The Taskforce will consider the deployment of technical interventions, such as virtual appointments, to reduce waiting times for elective care. While the Taskforce does not have a clinical remit, it may hear evidence of specific technological interventions.

23rd Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many General Dental Council investigations into potential malpractice have not been completed within (a) three, (b) five and (c) seven years of that council becoming aware of an original concern; and what assessment she has made of the implications for patient safety of dentists under investigation.

The information requested is not held centrally. The General Dental Council is the independent regulator of dentists and dental care professionals in the United Kingdom and is responsible for investigating concerns about treatment or the conduct of its registrants.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
21st Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce waiting times for cancer treatment.

The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out how the National Health Service will return the number of people waiting more than 62 days to start treatment following an urgent referral due to suspected cancer to pre-pandemic levels by March 2023. We have established 91 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) to provide earlier diagnostic tests closer to home, including for cancer diagnoses.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
21st Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of capacity in the NHS for radiotherapy; and whether he has taken recent steps to increase the level of capacity for radiotherapy.

In 2019/20, 11 radiotherapy networks were established in England to increase access to specialist skills and improve patient outcomes.

Since 2016, over £160 million has been invested in radiotherapy equipment, which has replaced or upgraded approximately 100 radiotherapy treatment machines.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
21st Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of capacity in the NHS to treat cancer.

Between 2016 and 2021, there was an increase of over 4,300 full-time equivalent staff across cancer related professions. Health Education England is investing an additional £50 million in 2022/23 to further expand the cancer and diagnostics workforce.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
2nd Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is (a) commissioning or (b) developing a policy statement for Mitral valve replacement.

There are currently no plans to commission a policy statement on mitral valve replacement.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
2nd Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on the NHS Long-term Plan aim to increase access to echocardiography in primary care to help improve the investigation of patients with breathlessness.

A new pre-diagnosis breathlessness pathway has been developed to support the improved recognition and timely diagnosis of heart failure and heart valve disease. We have introduced community diagnostic centres, which will support Primary Care Networks (PCNs) to increase the volume of diagnostic activity and reduce patient waiting times. The National Health Service launched 92 community diagnostic centres, which have provided more than 1.25 million diagnostic tests and will support PCNs to improve the detection of conditions such as heart failure and heart valve disease

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
2nd Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the processes on (a) NHS England specialised services and (b) the development of new commissioning policies are transparent and inclusive of relevant stakeholders.

The processes for NHS England specialised services and the development of new commissioning policies are published online. NHS England makes decisions on which new specialised treatments should be routinely commissioned. The decisions are taken by NHS England’s Board based on advice from the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group, which consists of doctors, health experts and patient representatives. The October 2022 prioritisation decisions are available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/october-2022-prioritisation-decisions/

2nd Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on research and decision making which is assessing left ventricular assist devices as a long-term therapy for patients ineligible for transplantation.

NHS England has concluded that there is currently insufficient evidence about the clinical and cost effectiveness of left ventricular assist devices as a permanent solution to heart failure. NHS England has commissioned the National Institute for Health and care Research to undertake a study to consider the evidence of this treatment and expects to consider the position later this year following the outcome.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
1st Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with (a) the NHS and (b) expert networks on the TB strategy; and if he will make a statement.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS England published ‘Tuberculosis (TB): action plan for England’ on 1 July 2021, which aims to improve the prevention, detection and control of TB. The action plan’s advisory and implementation group is co-chaired by the UKHSA and NHS England and includes relevant TB experts and stakeholders to provide strategic oversight and governance.

There is a review of the implementation, delivery and outcomes of the action plan with stakeholders and partners to improve the impact of its priorities and actions. The review will include an update of functions and responsibilities relevant to TB, to align with the reforms of the public health system in England in 2021 and 2022.

21st Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the (a) transparency and (b) inclusivity of processes for (i) NHS England Specialised services and (ii) the development of new commissioning policies.

The processes for NHS England Specialised Services and the development of new commissioning policies are published online. The October 2022 prioritisation decisions available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/october-2022-prioritisation-decisions/

NHS England makes decisions on which new specialised treatments should be routinely commissioned. The decisions are taken by the NHS England Board based on advice from the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group, which includes doctors, health experts and patient representatives.

21st Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of left ventricular assist devices as a long-term therapy for patients ineligible for transplantation.

NHS England has concluded that there is currently insufficient evidence about the clinical and cost effectiveness of left ventricular assist devices as a permanent solution to heart failure. NHS England has commissioned the National Institute for Health and care Research to undertake a study to consider the evidence of this treatment and expects to consider the position later this year following the outcome.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
21st Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long Term Plan, published on 7 January 2019, what recent progress her Department has made on increasing access to echocardiography in primary care to improve the investigation of patients with breathlessness.

People with heart failure will be supported by multi-disciplinary teams as part of Primary Care Networks and greater access to echocardiography within community diagnostic centres (CDCs). This aims to improve the investigation of those with breathlessness and the early detection of heart failure and heart valve disease. The National Health Service has launched over 80 CDCs to provide over two million diagnostic tests such as magnetic resonance imaging scans, echocardiography, echocardiograms, spirometry and phlebotomy.

20th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to publish a (a) commissioning policy and (b) policy statement on Tricuspid valve repair.

There are currently no plans to publish a commissioning policy or policy statement on Tricuspid valve repair.

20th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what process her Department has put in place for integrated care systems to take responsibility for specialised commissioning services; what role NHS England will have for specialised commissioning in the future; and what the (a) process and (b) timeline will be for the transition.

NHS England are currently determining which specialised services could benefit from being delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs). By April 2023, we expect that some ICBs will have responsibility for delegated commissioning for some specialised services, subject to system and service readiness. NHS England will retain overall accountability for specialised services which are delegated to ICBs to ensure that all standards are maintained.

The decision to move some services under direct management of ICBs will be taken where it is advantageous for these services to be overseen locally. This will allow ICBs to work with service providers to deliver care to meets the needs of the community.

Robert Jenrick
Minister of State (Home Office) (Immigration)
20th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England's Clinical Commissioning Policy: Percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair for primary degenerative mitral regurgitation in adults, published in July 2019, what progress her Department has made in implementing that policy; and when she plans to complete the implementation of that policy.

NHS England has selected providers to implement the policy, with National Health Service providers identified in each region in England. Regional commissioners and cardiac networks are currently mobilising services in these newly identified providers.

20th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans she has to issue a Preliminary Policy Proposition on secondary mitral regurgitation for consultation.

NHS England has received a preliminary policy proposition for Transcatheter Edge to Edge Repair of the mitral valve (Percutaneous Mitral Valve Leaflet Repair) for Secondary Mitral Regurgitation in Adults. Following a clinical panel consideration, a clinical evidence review has been commissioned. This will inform the basis for a public consultation should it be required.

20th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date the NICE’s Interventional Procedures Advisory Committee is expected to meet to develop guidance on mitral valve replacement.

The National Institute for Health Care and Excellence (NICE) is developing interventional procedure guidance (IPG) on the insertion of neo-chordae into the beating heart for mitral regurgitation for valve repair, rather than replacement. The provisional schedule is as follows:

- First Committee meeting: 9 February 2023

- Interventional procedure consultation: 17 March 2023 to 18 April 2023

- Second Committee meeting: 8 June 2023

- Expected publication: 23 August 2023

NICE is monitoring transcatheter trans-septal mitral valve in-ring implantation and is awaiting publication of further literature or evidence.

17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will provide the resources necessary to the MHRA to achieve the UK’s HealthTech regulatory ambition.

The Government is committed to providing the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) with the resources to foster the United Kingdom’s regulatory ambitions on innovative medicines and medical devices. Funding for the MHRA is determined in advance through collaborative Spending Review processes. Funding from the Spending Review has been provided for its transformation programme to facilitate the MHRA’s aim of becoming a global exemplar in public health and patient safety. The MHRA is currently consulting on increases to its statutory fees to ensure all costs involved in delivery are recovered.

17th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will support the healthtech sector by prioritising the development of domestic assurance routes that will allow recognition of approvals in the (a) Medical Device Single Audit Programme (MDSAP), (b) ACCESS consortium and (c) other trusted jurisdictions.

On 21 April 2022, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) was made a full member of the International Medical Device Regulators Forum. The MHRA is currently an official observer of the Medical Device Single Audit Programme. In January 2021, the MHRA joined the Access Consortium and has appointed experts to the majority of working groups.

12th Oct 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October to Question 55038, on Mental Capacity: Equality, if her Department will conduct an equality impact assessment on the operation of Deprivation of Liberty Orders.

We have no plans to do so. We recently consulted on the proposals for the Liberty Protection Safeguards and published an equality impact assessment alongside this consultation.

23rd Sep 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has conducted an equality impact assessment on the operation of Deprivation of Liberty Orders.

The Department has not conducted an equality impact assessment which specifically examines the potential equality impact of Deprivation of Liberty Orders.

13th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that NHS Trusts meet targets for cancer treatment waiting times.

The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out how we aim to return the number of people waiting more than 62 days to start treatment following an urgent referral for suspected cancer to pre-pandemic levels by March 2023. We have committed a further £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund to increase capacity in elective services, including for cancer treatment.

13th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to expand radiotherapy service capacity; and what assessment he has made of potential future demand for those services.

In 2022/23, NHS England intends to undertake a capacity and demand review of external beam radiotherapy capacity. This aims to support local systems to plan radiotherapy provision, including the replacement of equipment.

13th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) ensure that cancer patients in Ealing, Southall constituency begin their treatment within a maximum of 62 days of an urgent GP referral and (b) reduce average waiting times for cancer care treatment in that constituency.

London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust has established rapid diagnostic clinics to allow patients presenting with non-specific symptoms to obtain rapid diagnostics. This includes magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scans to detect potential cancers at the earliest opportunity. Since April 2022, the Trust has focus on lower gastrointestinal care pathways to improve waiting time performance.

12th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the UK 5-year action plan for antimicrobial resistance 2019-2024, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the allocation of funding for (a) clean water, (b) sanitation and (c) hygiene in low and middle income countries to help prevent the spread of infections and the development of antimicrobial resistance.

The Department of Health and Social Care continues to engage with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to discuss the Government’s approach to addressing anti-microbial resistance (AMR). This includes the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s international investment of UK Aid into water, sanitation and hygiene programmes in low and middle-income countries to prevent infection, control its spread and reduce the need for antimicrobials. Between 2016 and 2020, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office supported 62.6 million people to gain access to clean water and/or sanitation.

In addition, international projects such as the Department of Health and Social Care’s Fleming Fund and the Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship Scheme assist pharmacists in low and middle-income countries to participate in improving sanitation in healthcare settings.

5th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish examples from within the NHS of (a) innovative care and (b) best practice for patients receiving treatment on NHS England’s General Surgery Service; and if he will make a statement.

NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme is designed to improve the treatment and care of patients through reviews of services, benchmarking and developing an evidence base to support change. Through the High Volume Low Complexity programme, the GIRFT team is working with systems and regions to assist the National Health Service recover performance in elective services and reduce the backlog of patients.

The GIRFT programme has published examples of best practice in treating patients for general surgery and trauma and orthopaedics in its Best Practice Library, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gettingitrightfirsttime.co.uk/bpl/

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
5th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish examples from within the NHS of (a) innovative care and (b) best practice for patients receiving treatment on NHS England’s Gynaecology Service; and if he will make a statement.

NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme published a national report for maternity and gynaecology services for National Health Service clinical teams in September 2021. This outlined opportunities for improvement in the provision of gynaecology services for women in England and sharing best practice for providers.

Gynaecology is also one of six specialties prioritised through GIRFT’s high volume low complexity programme, which supports the establishment of surgical hubs for high-volume procedures and the development of standardised patient pathways to support the recovery of elective services. Standardised pathways of care and best practice for gynaecology patients are available through the Best Practice Library at the following link:

https://www.gettingitrightfirsttime.co.uk/bpl/

Such examples of best practice include a transition to day-case surgery for a number of gynaecological procedures, including hysterectomy where appropriate, which minimises the patient’s time under anaesthetic and ensures a faster recovery.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
5th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish examples from within the NHS of (a) innovative care and (b) best practice for patients receiving treatment on NHS England’s Trauma and Orthopaedic Service; and if he will make a statement.

NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme and the Best MSK Health Collaborative have published examples of innovation and best practice in the treatment of orthopaedics, which are available through the Best Practice Library at the following link:

https://www.gettingitrightfirsttime.co.uk/bpl/

GIRFT is designed to improve the treatment and care of patients through an in-depth review of services and benchmarking and presenting an evidence base to support change. The Best MSK Health Collaborative aims to sustain the delivery of personalised, high-quality integrated healthcare in services such as orthopaedics and rheumatology in primary, secondary and community services. The Collaborative works with those with lived experience, patient groups and professional organisations to support integrated care systems to deliver innovative care and best practice. The Best MSK Health Collaborative works with GIRFT across trauma and orthopaedics treatment and surgery.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
5th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish examples from within the NHS of (a) innovative care and (b) best practice for patients receiving treatment on NHS England’s Cardiology Service; and if he will make a statement.

The National Health Service is accelerating the enhanced use of digital technology for cardiac rehabilitation and increasing the use of remote consultations. NHS England and NHS Improvement and Health Education England have developed e-learning to support primary care professionals to recognise the symptoms of heart failure, diagnose, manage and support heart failure patients.

The online Heart Age Test provided through the Better Health Campaign allows an immediate indication of a user’s potential cardiovascular risk by providing their estimated heart age, compared to their real age.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) develops evidence-based guidance for the NHS on best practice for those patients receiving cardiology treatment. NICE’s guidelines should be taken fully into account by healthcare professionals in the care and treatment of individual patients.

4th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that doctors are adequately trained to (a) identify and (b) treat people with an eating disorder.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Coventry South (Zarah Sultana MP) on 27 June 2022 to Question 21300.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
10th Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the national dementia strategy will help people with Alzheimer’s disease receive a diagnosis.

We will set out plans for dementia in England for the next 10 years later this year, which will focus on the specific health and care needs of people living with dementia and their carers, including diagnosis. The strategy will be informed a range of experts, including those with dementia and their carers.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
8th Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to legislative proposals to report the Mental Health Act 1983 announced in the Queens Speech 2022, if he will include provisions to meet the needs of children and young people; and what plans he has to (a) consult stakeholders on policy proposals on children and young people and (b) provide for pre-legislative scrutiny of those proposals.

The Government will publish a draft Mental Health Bill shortly. Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Bill will then be a matter for Parliament.

The Government consulted on the proposals for legislation made by the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act in 2018 and through the ‘Reforming the Mental Health Act’ white paper, which received over 1,700 responses. We have also worked with charities to gather the views of people, including children and young people, who were either in inpatient services or had lived experience of the Act. The development of the draft Bill has been informed by these consultations.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
1st Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to undertake a review of inequality in access to NHS-funded fertility services in England.

In 2021, the Department conducted an internal policy review on the variation in access to National Health Service fertility services. This review will inform future policy and the initial ambitions in the Women’s Health Strategy, due to be published later this year.

We expect local NHS commissioning bodies to commission fertility services in line with guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to ensure equitable access in England.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
1st Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to prioritise miscarriage care and support in the forthcoming Women’s Health Strategy.

Fertility, pregnancy, pregnancy loss and post-natal care will be priority areas in the forthcoming Women’s Health Strategy, which will be published later this year.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
19th May 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that medical students are financially supported throughout their studies.

In years one to four of an undergraduate course, domestic students can access student loans from Student Finance England. From year five of an undergraduate course and year two of a graduate-entry course, NHS Bursary support can be accessed from the NHS Business Services Authority. This comprises payment for tuition fees, a non-means-tested grant and a further means-tested award. These funding arrangements are reviewed annually.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
11th May 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference his letter dated 20 April 2022 to the Rt hon. Member for South West Surrey, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a statutory strategy for early intervention and school- and community-based measures for the mental health support of children and young people; and what assessment he has made of the potential risks of non-statutory measures failing to meet their stated objectives as a result of (a) changing circumstances, (b) differing interpretations and (c) possible cancellation.

We have no plans to make a specific assessment. On 12 April 2022 we published a call for evidence to seek views on a range of issues from prevention to acute mental health care, which closes on 7 July 2022. This will support the development of a new 10-year cross-Government plan for mental health and wellbeing.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
26th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to increase the pay of junior doctors in line with inflation.

Junior doctors are currently in a collectively agreed four-year pay deal from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2023. The deal states that the investment in each year is a total of 2.3% in 2019/20 and 3% in 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23.

Of this, 2% each year was used to provide an annual pay uplift, whereas the remaining investment of approximately £90 million was used to fund other specific changes. These changes cover a new higher nodal point, an uplift to the weekend allowance, an enhanced rate of pay for shifts that finish after midnight and by 4am, a £1,000 a year less than full-time allowance, changes to the academic pay premia and extension of transitional pay protection. This was agreed by both staff side and employers as part of their negotiations. The Department continues to honour the agreement entered into with trades unions.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
19th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support health and care staff with the rising cost of living.

We have committed to give NHS workers a pay rise and are looking to pay review bodies for a recommendation.

The pay review bodies are independent so I cannot pre-empt their recommendations, but we will carefully consider them.

The majority of care workers are employed by private sector providers who set pay and conditions, independent of central government. It is the responsibility of local authorities to work with care providers to determine pay.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
14th Apr 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 April 2022 to Question 145835 on Coronavirus: Screening, what criteria are used to determine commercial sensitivity; and what his timescale is for publishing the number of lateral flow device tests issued to the public or used in healthcare settings since March 2020.

The specific expenditure on lateral flow device (LFD) tests is commercially sensitive as it could prejudice the Department’s future commercial relations with suppliers if this information were to be disclosed. On 14 April 2022, we published data on the number of LFD tests dispatched from September 2020 to February 2022, by use case. This information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/weekly-statistics-for-nhs-test-and-trace-england-31-march-to-6-april-2022

Prior to September 2020 LFD tests were not in use.

30th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of removing early medical abortion at home will have on the (a) financial and (b) human resources within the reproductive health sector.

We assessed the evidence received from the responses to the Government’s consultation on whether the temporary approval should be made permanent. This included questions on the impact on the provision of abortion services including for the workforce, service delivery and value for money. The consultation asked about accessibility and safety for women and we received responses on reduced waiting times and gestation. The summary of these responses is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/home-use-of-both-pills-for-early-medical-abortion/outcome/home-use-of-both-pills-for-early-medical-abortion-ema-up-to-10-weeks-gestation-summary-of-consultation-responses

No specific assessment has been made of the World Health Organization’s recommendations of 9 March 2022. An amendment to the Health and Care Bill sought to make the temporary approval permanent. On 30 March 2022 Parliament approved the permanent home use of early medical abortion. Further detail on the measure coming into force will be set out in due course.

30th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which organisations his Department consulted on ending early medical abortion at home; and what assessment his Department has made of the level of support that decision has among domestic abuse organisations.

Officials have regular meetings with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Care Quality Commission and abortion service providers where the impact of the approval of home administration of abortion medication is discussed.

We have assessed the level of support from domestic abuse organisations through the responses received to the Government’s consultation. Domestic abuse was raised as an issue on all sides of the public consultation. We will work with those in the violence against women and girls sector, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, professional bodies such as the Royal Colleges and safeguarding leads, to monitor the impacts of home-use.

30th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the World Health Organization’s recommendations of 9 March 2022 on the delivery of safe abortion care, including for nations to make abortion available via telemedicine and outside a healthcare facility, what (a) assessment he has made of the recommendations and (b) plans he has to ensure services in England can be delivered in line with them.

We assessed the evidence received from the responses to the Government’s consultation on whether the temporary approval should be made permanent. This included questions on the impact on the provision of abortion services including for the workforce, service delivery and value for money. The consultation asked about accessibility and safety for women and we received responses on reduced waiting times and gestation. The summary of these responses is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/home-use-of-both-pills-for-early-medical-abortion/outcome/home-use-of-both-pills-for-early-medical-abortion-ema-up-to-10-weeks-gestation-summary-of-consultation-responses

No specific assessment has been made of the World Health Organization’s recommendations of 9 March 2022. An amendment to the Health and Care Bill sought to make the temporary approval permanent. On 30 March 2022 Parliament approved the permanent home use of early medical abortion. Further detail on the measure coming into force will be set out in due course.

30th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact the removal of early medical abortion at home may have on the average gestation age at which abortion is carried out.

We assessed the evidence received from the responses to the Government’s consultation on whether the temporary approval should be made permanent. This included questions on the impact on the provision of abortion services including for the workforce, service delivery and value for money. The consultation asked about accessibility and safety for women and we received responses on reduced waiting times and gestation. The summary of these responses is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/home-use-of-both-pills-for-early-medical-abortion/outcome/home-use-of-both-pills-for-early-medical-abortion-ema-up-to-10-weeks-gestation-summary-of-consultation-responses

No specific assessment has been made of the World Health Organization’s recommendations of 9 March 2022. An amendment to the Health and Care Bill sought to make the temporary approval permanent. On 30 March 2022 Parliament approved the permanent home use of early medical abortion. Further detail on the measure coming into force will be set out in due course.

25th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much he has committed to spend on dementia research this year; and what steps his Department is taking to increase spending on dementia research.

The Government has committed to invest £375 million in neurodegenerative disease research over the next five years to fund projects into a range of diseases, including dementia. The usual practice of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics. The NIHR and UK Research and Innovation rely on researchers submitting high-quality applications to access funding, therefore details of allocations in specific years are not currently available.

We will set out our ambitions for dementia research in the forthcoming dementia strategy. The strategy will set out our future plans for dementia in England and will be published later this year.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
23rd Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2022 to Question 128227, how much his Department has spent on lateral flow tests since March 2020; and how many lateral flow tests have been sent out to the public or used in healthcare settings since that date.

The UK Health Security Agency is unable to provide the information requested on expenditure on lateral flow device tests as it is commercially sensitive. The number of lateral flow device tests issued to the public or used in healthcare settings since March 2020 is currently being collated and validated and will be published in due course.

16th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to accelerate the approval of therapies and medicines that were approved by the European Medicines Agency but have not yet been approved for use in the UK by the MHRA.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is currently reviewing its licensing procedures, including optimising its processes, the deployment of skills and resource and how applications are differentiated based on risk to prioritise urgent applications. The MHRA is engaging with pharmaceutical companies to ensure early access to innovative medicines in the United Kingdom.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
15th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Standard Contract 2022-23, what estimate his Department has made of the number of patients waiting 12 hours or more in emergency departments from time of arrival.

NHS Digital publishes the number of patients in accident and emergency (A&E) at more than 12 hours from arrival. In 2020/21, 302,784 patients spent more than 12 hours in A&E from arrival.

The NHS Standard Contract for 2022/23 includes a 12-hour standard from time as arrival as a national quality indicator. NHS England and NHS Improvement are currently considering the publication of reporting against this standard and further information will be provided in due course.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
15th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS performance figures for February 2022, what estimate his Department has made of the number of patients waiting 12 hours or more in emergency departments from decision to admit.

NHS England and NHS Improvement publish the number of patients waiting in emergency departments for admission for 12 hours or more from decision to admit on a monthly basis. In February 2022, 16,404 patients waited over 12 hours from decision to admit to admission.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
15th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Standard Contract 2022-23, in what format the 12-hour standard for maximum waits from the time of arrival in emergency departments will be published.

NHS Digital publishes the number of patients in accident and emergency (A&E) at more than 12 hours from arrival. In 2020/21, 302,784 patients spent more than 12 hours in A&E from arrival.

The NHS Standard Contract for 2022/23 includes a 12-hour standard from time as arrival as a national quality indicator. NHS England and NHS Improvement are currently considering the publication of reporting against this standard and further information will be provided in due course.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
7th Mar 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria are used to choose those selected for residency checks while applying for a UK Global Health Insurance Card; what assessment his Department has been made of the equity of those criteria; and whether a ministerial direction was issued in determining those criteria.

Applications for United Kingdom Global Health Insurance Cards (GHIC) are processed by the NHS Business Services Authority under the Healthcare (European Economic Area and Switzerland Arrangements) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. Applicants may be eligible for a GHIC if they are ordinarily resident in the UK and they do not have healthcare cover provided by a European Union country or Switzerland. UK residency was also an eligibility requirement under the previous European Health Insurance Card system.

To verify applications, the NHS Business Service Authority shares information with Indesser to establish a UK residential address. If an applicant’s residential address cannot be verified, the NHS Business Service Authority will request further evidence from the applicant. There is a wide range of documents which may be used to provide this evidence. This supports all eligible applicants in demonstrating their entitlement and no-one is disadvantaged. Applicants are asked to provide two of the following documents:

- one or more different utility service bills dated within the last three months;

- a local authority council tax bill dated for the current financial year;

- a valid housing association, council tenancy letter or rent agreement;

- a benefit award notice dated within the last three months;

- a letter from HM Revenue and Customs dated within the last three months;

- a bank, building society or credit union statement or passbook dated within the last three months;

- an electoral register entry dated for the current financial year;

- a letter from hospital or general practitioner on headed paper dated within the last three months;

- a mortgage statement from a recognised lender dated within the last three months;

- an HM Revenue and Customs self-assessment letter or tax demand dated for the current financial year; and

- a solicitor’s letter dated within the last three months that shows a recent house purchase or land registry including the address.

Applicants may also send alternative evidence showing their full name and address. The residency check was introduced to ensure that taxpayers’ money is spent on those who are eligible under the reciprocal healthcare agreements. There are no Ministerial Directions which relate to GHIC evidential requirements.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
23rd Feb 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost of one seven day test covid-19 testing kit was in the last six months for which data is available.

We are unable to provide the information requested as it is commercially sensitive.

23rd Feb 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support the (a) retention and (b) recruitment of midwives in (i) London and (ii) England.

NHS England and NHS Improvement recently invested £95 million to support the recruitment of an additional 1,200 midwives and 100 obstetricians and for multi-disciplinary team training.

The NHS People Recovery Task Force and the NHS Retention Programme is also providing targeted interventions to understand the reasons why staff leave and support them to stay within the National Health Service. There are local initiatives to increase participation rates, convert agency workers to substantive staff and release clinical time. Target growth is allocated to regions based on the birth to midwife ratio in each region in order to meet midwifery workforce needs.

The Department has commissioned the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to develop a new workforce planning tool to improve how maternity units calculate staffing requirements. This is expected in June 2022 and will guide trust-level obstetrician numbers. NHS England and NHS Improvement have invested £10 million to support the delivery of local workforce initiatives or create non-clinical capacity to enable workforce growth. In London, this has included applications for funding for administrative recruitment capacity, rostering and deployment support and career development and supporting software.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
21st Feb 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential for fluoride to cause foetal brain damage through the amniotic fluid of pregnant mothers.

There are a number of authoritative reviews which concur that there is no convincing evidence that water fluoridation is harmful to health, including causing foetal brain damage, at the levels seen in water fluoridation schemes in the United Kingdom.

Fluoride is present throughout the natural world including in water supplies and there are areas of the country where levels of fluoride in drinking water are naturally at similar levels to those seen in artificial fluoridation schemes. We are required to monitor the effects of water fluoridation schemes on the health of people living in those areas and to produce reports every four years. The next report is due to be published in March 2022.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
21st Feb 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria his Department uses to categorise (a) urgent and (b) very urgent cases for referral to mental health crisis services.

NHS England and NHS Improvement’s mental health clinically-led review of standards states that the specialist urgent mental health crisis service will determine whether a referral requires an urgent or very urgent response. For urgent referrals, this may include high risk behaviour due to mental health symptoms, new or increasing psychiatric symptoms that require timely intervention to prevent full relapse and/or significantly impaired ability for completing activities of daily living or vulnerability due to mental illness, expressing suicidal ideation but no plan or clear intent.

For very urgent referrals, this may include those who present a risk of harm to themselves or others, acute suicidal ideation with clear plan and intent, who have a rapidly worsening mental state, who do not require immediate physical health medical intervention, are not threatening violence to others.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
21st Feb 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2021 to Question 84320 on Mental Health Services: Children, when his Department plans to publish the results of the NHS England and NHS Improvement consultation on the potential to introduce five new waiting time standards.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have piloted a four-week waiting time standard to inform the Department’s assessment of the merits of introducing a waiting time standard. NHS England and NHS Improvement consulted on the definition and introduction of five waiting time standards. The consultation closed on 1 September 2021 and found that more than 80% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the proposal to introduce additional mental health access and waiting time measures, including for children and young people presenting to community-based mental health services. The consultation’s report is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/2022/02/widespread-support-for-proposed-nhs-mental-health-access-standards-for-patients/

We will work with NHS England and NHS Improvement on the next steps for the proposed mental health access and waiting measures.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
21st Feb 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a waiting time standard for children’s mental health services.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have piloted a four-week waiting time standard to inform the Department’s assessment of the merits of introducing a waiting time standard. NHS England and NHS Improvement consulted on the definition and introduction of five waiting time standards. The consultation closed on 1 September 2021 and found that more than 80% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the proposal to introduce additional mental health access and waiting time measures, including for children and young people presenting to community-based mental health services. The consultation’s report is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/2022/02/widespread-support-for-proposed-nhs-mental-health-access-standards-for-patients/

We will work with NHS England and NHS Improvement on the next steps for the proposed mental health access and waiting measures.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
8th Feb 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to obtain additional resources to build capacity so that the NHS can tackle the cancer backlog.

At the Spending Review we announced an extra £5.9 billion of capital to support elective recovery, diagnostics, and technology over the next three years. This includes £2.3 billion to increase the volume of diagnostic activity and to roll out Community Diagnostic Centres to help clear backlogs of people waiting for clinical tests, such as magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasounds and computerised tomography scans.

We announced a £1 billion Elective Recovery Fund at Spending Review 2020 to support elective and cancer recovery. As part of this, a £20 million investment was made available to Cancer Alliances to help speed up cancer diagnosis and help manage the high volume of referrals.

The Spending Review in 2020 provided £260 million to increase the National Health Service workforce and support commitments made in the NHS Long Term Plan. This included £52 million in 2021/22 for Health Education England to further invest in the cancer and diagnostics workforce, including expanding training in key medical professions, offering training grants for 250 nurses wishing to become cancer clinical nurse specialists and for an additional 100 nurses wishing to become chemotherapy nurses.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
7th Feb 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of children presenting with eating disorders compared to pre-covid-19 outbreak levels.

Data collected on waiting times for children and young people with eating disorders shows that there has been a significant increase in demand in the wake of the pandemic. This data can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cyped-waiting-times/.

For urgent cases, latest figures (October to December 2021) show that 649 children and young people with an eating disorder started treatment, compared to pre-pandemic levels of 353 (January to March 2020). A further 203 children and young people were waiting to start treatment, compared with pre-pandemic levels of 18.

For routine cases, latest figures (October to December 2021) show that 2,460 children and young people with an eating disorder started treatment, compared to pre-pandemic levels of 1,850 (January to March 2020). A further 1,918 children and young people were waiting to start treatment, compared with pre-pandemic levels of 543.

Data for February 2022 is not yet available.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
7th Feb 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has any plans to develop a national strategy to support the delivery of diagnostic services (a) in general and (b) for allergies and other non-communicable chronic conditions.

The Elective Recovery Delivery Plan, published 8 February 2022, sets out the ambitions and plans for delivering diagnostic services to support elective recovery. At the Spending Review 2021, £2.3 billion of capital funding for National Health Service diagnostics was announced. This will be used to increase the number of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) to 160 in the next three years.

CDCs offer diagnostic testing such as imaging, pathology, endoscopy and physiological measurements. The types of testing include blood tests and echocardiograms and whilst no specific assessment has been made pertaining to the diagnosis of allergies, these tests will help diagnose a range of non-communicable chronic conditions and may help diagnose severe allergy cases.

There are currently no plans to develop an allergy strategy and no plans to establish allergy specific services in CDCs. Regions and systems will decide on the services each CDC will provide based on population needs. Most allergy testing is done in primary and community care settings, and in specifically in allergy testing clinics.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
7th Feb 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of community diagnostic hubs offering blood testing to support the diagnosis of allergy.

The Elective Recovery Delivery Plan, published 8 February 2022, sets out the ambitions and plans for delivering diagnostic services to support elective recovery. At the Spending Review 2021, £2.3 billion of capital funding for National Health Service diagnostics was announced. This will be used to increase the number of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) to 160 in the next three years.

CDCs offer diagnostic testing such as imaging, pathology, endoscopy and physiological measurements. The types of testing include blood tests and echocardiograms and whilst no specific assessment has been made pertaining to the diagnosis of allergies, these tests will help diagnose a range of non-communicable chronic conditions and may help diagnose severe allergy cases.

There are currently no plans to develop an allergy strategy and no plans to establish allergy specific services in CDCs. Regions and systems will decide on the services each CDC will provide based on population needs. Most allergy testing is done in primary and community care settings, and in specifically in allergy testing clinics.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
7th Feb 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made in the review that Amanda Pritchard has asked Dr Claire Fuller to lead on the matter of Primary Care Networks and how they will be supported under Integrated Care Systems.

Dr Claire Fuller has been asked to lead a review of how systems can enable more integrated primary care to improve the health of local communities. This will report later in the spring, ahead of the proposed establishment of integrated care boards and integrated care partnerships. It will provide advice to all integrated care systems on accelerating the implementation of the primary care, community and prevention ambitions in the NHS Long Term Plan. The review is engaging with a range of stakeholders across primary care.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
7th Feb 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to review the role and scope of community diagnostic hubs; whether he has a timeline for that review; and what steps he plans to take to support public engagement with that review.

There are 71 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) currently operational. We have announced £2.3 billion to increase this to 160 sites by 2024/2025. We will regularly review the performance of existing CDCs and the future development of further locations.

The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ includes the ambitions for CDCs, developed with Royal Colleges, patient groups and health charities, to ensure the plan reflects population and service needs.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
2nd Feb 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England on updating the NHS Long Term Plan in response to the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the NHS.

The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement regularly monitor progress in the implementation of the NHS Long Term Plan, including considering the impacts of the pandemic. We intend to publish an update to the NHS Long Term Plan later this year, taking account of these impacts.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
1st Feb 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish details on which of the projects funded through the Targeted Investment Fund that will involve updating imaging and diagnostics equipment.

A range of investments to support elective recovery were made through the Targeted Investment Fund. A list of 35 schemes relating to the upgrading of imaging and diagnostic equipment is attached.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
31st Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the announcement of 10 January 2022 from NHS England on an agreement for private hospitals to support NHS capacity during the covid-19 outbreak, what the total financial value of that deal is; what estimate he has made of the number of patients that will be treated under the terms of that agreement; and what activities each private provider has been asked to undertake for the NHS.

The information requested is not yet available as the period of these arrangements concludes on 31 March 2022, when the activity total will be reviewed and costed.

NHS England has estimated a minimum cost of £75 to £90 million per month whilst the ‘surge arrangements’ within the contract remain inactivated. This is equivalent to the value of elective activity delivered through approximately the same providers in Quarter 4 2020/21. In the absence of surge activation, additional costs will be related to increased volumes of activity or changes to higher priority cases. If surge arrangements are activated, NHS England has estimated the maximum cost of the arrangements to be £175 million per month. However, this is based on surge arrangements being activated nationally which is considered to be unlikely. To date, there have been no such activations.

The number of patients treated and the activities provided will be determined by National Health Service systems and independent sector providers dependent on the needs for both COVID-19 and non-COVID conditions locally and the capacity available in the area. NHS England is working closely with regions and systems to ensure the arrangements are being used to deliver effectively for patients.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
26th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to retain healthcare professionals within the NHS.

The NHS Retention Programme is working to understand why staff leave and targeting interventions to support staff. The National Health Service has established a People Recovery Task Force to ensure all staff are safe and supported as services recover from the impact of the pandemic. Health and wellbeing resources for staff include the implementation of 40 mental health hubs, a dedicated helpline and text service, support for flexible working and training for managers to hold wellbeing conversations with staff.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
26th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of requiring care workers to receive the living wage.

All care workers aged 23 years old and over are entitled to the National Living Wage. An increase in the rate of the National Living Wage will mean many of the lowest paid care workers will benefit from a 6.6% pay rise effective from 1 April 2022.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
24th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce delays in treatment for people diagnosed with TB.

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed significant pressures on National Health Service’s, including the detection, control, and prevention of infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis (TB). The TB Action Plan 2021-2026 for England aims to drive forward improvements by first prioritising the recovery of services, and then the prevention, detection and control of TB and developing the healthcare workforce. It includes a list of actions, such as strengthening treatment of active and/or latent TB in higher risk groups.

The Government has made £2 billion available via the Elective Recovery Fund and £8 billion across the following three years to transform elective services, increase capacity and reduce waiting times. The funding aims to deliver the equivalent of nine million more checks, scans, and procedures and 30% more elective activity by 2024-2025 than pre-pandemic.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
24th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to tackle the increase in domestic cases of TB.

National statistics do not show evidence of an overall increase in domestic cases of tuberculosis (TB). In England, the number and rate of TB notifications has declined by approximately 43% since 2011. From 15.6 per 100,000 (8,280 cases) in 2011 to 7.3 per 100,000 (4,125 cases) in 2020.

In July 2021, the UK Health Security Agency in collaboration with NHS England and NHS Improvement published the ‘TB Action Plan for England 2021 to 2026’. The plan supports the United Kingdom to meet its commitment to the World Health Organisation elimination targets by supporting a year-on-year reduction in TB incidence. The TB Action Plan outlines five main priority areas and steps to reduce domestic cases of TB, including: recovery from COVID-19 through understanding and reporting the impact and learning of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, TB prevention, TB detection, TB disease control, and workforce.

24th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the reasons why people who were not born in the UK face a higher risk of contracting TB in the UK compared to people who were born in the UK.

The UK Health Security Agency undertakes analysis of tuberculosis (TB) trends in non-United Kingdom born individuals compared to UK-born individuals. Data to the end of 2020 shows that the rate of TB in non-UK born individuals is over 15 times greater than the rate in the UK-born population.

There is a higher risk of disease in individuals who are born in high prevalence areas and this elevated risk continues within settled migrant populations in England. This is a complex issue and the continued higher risk is in part explained by reactivation of latent or dormant disease and the higher rates of contact with the populations and countries with a high prevalence of disease. Effective targeted prevention programmes have been commissioned to address this risk, which includes new entrant and pre-entry screening of individuals from high prevalence countries.

24th Jan 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of TB between 2019 and 2021.

The UK Health Security Agency has undertaken an analyses of tuberculosis (TB) trends in 2019 and 2020. This showed that the number of cases reported in England declined from 4,725 in 2019 to 4,125 in 2020. This represents an overall decline in the rates of TB to 8.4 per 100,100 in 2019 to 7.3 per 100,000 in 2020. An analysis for 2021 is still underway and will be published in October 2022.

15th Dec 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the recently published Medical Technology Group’s Manifesto report.

Ensuring that patients in our health and social care system have the best possible outcomes is a priority for the Department. The medical technology directorate aim to do this by ensuring access to safe, effective, best-in-class medical technology in a way that is resilient, cohesive and uses taxpayer’s money to best effect. The Directorate is currently developing the strategy to create a vision that aligns with these values. As part of this work, we will consider the Medical Technology Group’s Manifesto report, along with other sources. We will also continue engagement with industry and other key stakeholders to consider various approaches to the product pathway for medical devices, including recognising valuable innovations and tackling the underlying causes of lack of adoption.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
15th Dec 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to implement recommendations from the recent Medical Technology Group’s Manifesto report to (a) prioritise the patient voice, (b) accelerate patient access to medical technology and (c) improve equitable and timely commissioning of medical devices.

Ensuring that patients in our health and social care system have the best possible outcomes is a priority for the Department. The medical technology directorate aim to do this by ensuring access to safe, effective, best-in-class medical technology in a way that is resilient, cohesive and uses taxpayer’s money to best effect. The Directorate is currently developing the strategy to create a vision that aligns with these values. As part of this work, we will consider the Medical Technology Group’s Manifesto report, along with other sources. We will also continue engagement with industry and other key stakeholders to consider various approaches to the product pathway for medical devices, including recognising valuable innovations and tackling the underlying causes of lack of adoption.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
15th Dec 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the challenges described in the Medical Technology Group’s Manifesto report to reduce the number of patients on the elective backlog.

The Department is taking steps to tackle waiting lists and to reduce the elective backlog through funding, innovation and technology.

The Department is providing a record amount of funding to the National Health Service (NHS), with an extra £34 billion to support health and care services. This includes £2 billion through the Elective Recovery Fund this year to help tackle the backlog that built up during the pandemic, supporting systems to drive up activity, plus £8 billion elective recovery funding over the next three years.

A further £5.9 billion of capital funding was announced in the October 2021 Spending Review to support elective recovery, diagnostics, and technology. This includes £1.5 billion towards elective recovery by expanding capacity through new surgical hubs, which will each provide new theatres for elective recovery. In addition, £2.3 billion has been announced to help increase the volume of diagnostic activity and further reduce patient waiting times, with ambitions to roll out at least 100 community diagnostic centres by 2024-25 to help clear backlogs of people waiting for clinical tests, such as MRIs, ultrasounds, and Computerised Tomography (CT) scans.

The Department has also supported the NHS to introduce virtual wards in over 90% of Integrated Care Systems, which allow patients to recover at home, whilst clinicians remotely monitor temperature, pulse and blood pressure. Through use of the £250 million Elective Recovery Technology Fund, the NHS plans to open more virtual wards, benefiting patients, increasing coverage and providing extra capacity.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
30th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, (a) how many children are waiting for emergency mental health treatment and (b) what steps he will take to help those children access that treatment as soon as possible.

No such estimate has been made, as there is not currently a waiting time standard for children’s mental health services.

However, NHS England and NHS Improvement have consulted on the potential to introduce five new waiting time standards. These include urgent referrals to community based mental health crisis services being seen within 24 hours from referral and very urgent referrals being seen within four hours. Additionally, children and young people presenting to community-based mental health services, should start to receive care within four weeks from referral. This consultation closed on 1 September 2021 and the outcomes will inform a recommendation to the Government in due course on whether and how to implement these new access standards.

We are investing an additional £79 million in 2021/22 to expand children’s and young people’s mental health services, including urgent or emergency care. The funding will allow around 22,500 more children and young people to access community health services, as well as accelerating the coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges. In addition, for those with severe needs or in crisis, all National Health Service mental health providers have established all-age 24 hours a day, seven days a week urgent mental health helplines. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to invest at least an additional £2.3 billion a year into mental health services in England by 2023/24. This will see an additional 345,000 children and young people accessing NHS-funded mental health support by 2023/24.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
30th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of children awaiting mental health treatment on the NHS.

No such estimate has been made, as there is not currently a waiting time standard for children’s mental health services.

However, NHS England and NHS Improvement have consulted on the potential to introduce five new waiting time standards. These include urgent referrals to community based mental health crisis services being seen within 24 hours from referral and very urgent referrals being seen within four hours. Additionally, children and young people presenting to community-based mental health services, should start to receive care within four weeks from referral. This consultation closed on 1 September 2021 and the outcomes will inform a recommendation to the Government in due course on whether and how to implement these new access standards.

We are investing an additional £79 million in 2021/22 to expand children’s and young people’s mental health services, including urgent or emergency care. The funding will allow around 22,500 more children and young people to access community health services, as well as accelerating the coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges. In addition, for those with severe needs or in crisis, all National Health Service mental health providers have established all-age 24 hours a day, seven days a week urgent mental health helplines. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to invest at least an additional £2.3 billion a year into mental health services in England by 2023/24. This will see an additional 345,000 children and young people accessing NHS-funded mental health support by 2023/24.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
29th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the impact of covid-19 on adult uptake of vaccine preventable respiratory diseases.

We have no existing plans to make an assessment.

29th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to set targets for adult vaccination for all diseases in the forthcoming vaccine strategy.

The Vaccine Strategy is being kept under review to reflect new developments from the COVID-19 vaccine and extended flu programme. Further detail on content and publication will be available in due course.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
29th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the forthcoming vaccination strategy will set a target of 75 per cent for adult pneumococcal vaccination coverage, in line with coverage targets set for influenza vaccination.

The Vaccine Strategy is being kept under review to reflect new developments from the COVID-19 vaccine and extended flu programme. Further detail on content and publication will be available in due course.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
29th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the forthcoming vaccination strategy will provide plans to enhance the UK’s vaccination infrastructure and human resource in the long-term, utilising alternative providers used during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Vaccine Strategy is being kept under review to reflect new developments from the COVID-19 vaccine and extended flu programme. Further detail on content and publication will be available in due course.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
17th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) role and (b) responsibilities the Medical Technologies Directorate will have in supporting the (i) uptake and (ii) use of innovative medical technologies.

The Medical Technologies Directorate within the Department was announced in May 2021. The Directorate’s role is to build a thriving sector in the United Kingdom and ensure the health and social care system can reliably access safe, effective, innovative and medical technologies for the delivery of high quality care and excellent patient outcomes. It is also responsible for overseeing the regulation of medical devices and supports regulatory practices which allow the adoption of new technology at speed and scale.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
17th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) operational and (b) total cost is of the Medical Technologies Directorate.

The Medical Technologies Directorate was announced in May 2021. Staff are being recruited to the Directorate and will work in the following areas: supply resilience and engagement; strategy; policy and regulation; operations; and data and analysis. Information on the senior team will be made available once permanent staff have been recruited. The Directorate is currently led by Chris Stirling as Interim Director.

The primary costs of the Directorate will be approximately £1.8 million per annum for its staff.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
17th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a list of (a) members, (b) roles and (c) other responsibilities of the Medical Technologies Directorate.

The Medical Technologies Directorate was announced in May 2021. Staff are being recruited to the Directorate and will work in the following areas: supply resilience and engagement; strategy; policy and regulation; operations; and data and analysis. Information on the senior team will be made available once permanent staff have been recruited. The Directorate is currently led by Chris Stirling as Interim Director.

The primary costs of the Directorate will be approximately £1.8 million per annum for its staff.

Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
8th Nov 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his department has had with the Department for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the diplomatic steps that may be taken to ensure the international recognition of Novavax trial participants to ensure that they are (a) exempt from quarantine and (b) not disadvantaged in comparison to those who have not taken part in the trial.

We have worked very closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and their diplomatic posts in other countries to ensure participants should not have to quarantine and should be treated as fully vaccinated. Discussions are ongoing with other countries, including through groups such as the G7, G20, the European Commission and the World Health Organisation to shape the approach taken around the world to sharing health status for travel, including vaccination status. However, there is currently no internationally agreed policy on clinical trial participants, although we are starting to see movement on this issue.

15th Oct 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to set a delivery plan and timetable for the forthcoming Tobacco Control Plan for England; and if he will make a statement.

The Department is currently in the process of drafting a new Tobacco Control Plan. Once the Plan has been published, we will set out a delivery plan and timetable to monitor its progress, and to make sure we deliver our ambition to be smoke-free by 2030.

15th Oct 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to help ensure that the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 are future-proofed to include emerging smokeless tobacco and nicotine products.

The Department is currently undertaking a post implementation review of the Tobacco and Related Product Regulations 2016 which will include measures related to emerging products. The Department is aiming to publish its response by the end of the year.

15th Oct 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is aware of third-party representatives, including journalists and Interpol, being excluded from meetings of the Ninth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The Department has no plans to provide a submission to the Ninth Session of the Conference of the Parties' secretariat ahead of the Conference. The Deputy Director for Addictions and Inclusion Policy at the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities will lead the United Kingdom delegation with support from officials at the UK Mission in Geneva.

Applications to attend as an observer are a matter for the Conference secretariat and consequently, we are not aware of exclusions of third party representatives.

9th Sep 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 September 2021 to Question 37414, on Heart Diseases: Medical Treatments, by what date (a) those nine centres will have been commissioned and (b) the clinical teams at those centres will have received sufficient training for those services to commence.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have not yet confirmed the date for commissioning the nine centres. Where services currently have insufficient clinical expertise to prepare for the commencement of those services, local cardiac networks will consider establishing a preceptorship programme with an established centre


There is currently no timeline for the commencement of formal provider selection. Each NHS England and NHS Improvement regional team has been asked to take responsibility for selecting a formal provider, supported by national clinical advisors. The selection process is expected to take at least three months, with each region working to their own prioritised timetable, taking into account local circumstances.

A proposal has been submitted to NHS England and NHS Improvement in relation to functional mitral regurgitation and is receiving consideration. It is anticipated that such a policy review could take at least 12 months for completion, taking into account clinical evidence and engagement with appropriate stakeholders

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
9th Sep 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 September 2021 to Question 37409, on Heart Diseases: Medical Treatments, what timeline NHS England and NHS Improvement have set for the commencement of formal provider selection.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have not yet confirmed the date for commissioning the nine centres. Where services currently have insufficient clinical expertise to prepare for the commencement of those services, local cardiac networks will consider establishing a preceptorship programme with an established centre


There is currently no timeline for the commencement of formal provider selection. Each NHS England and NHS Improvement regional team has been asked to take responsibility for selecting a formal provider, supported by national clinical advisors. The selection process is expected to take at least three months, with each region working to their own prioritised timetable, taking into account local circumstances.

A proposal has been submitted to NHS England and NHS Improvement in relation to functional mitral regurgitation and is receiving consideration. It is anticipated that such a policy review could take at least 12 months for completion, taking into account clinical evidence and engagement with appropriate stakeholders

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
9th Sep 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 September 2021 to Question 37413, on Heart Diseases: Medical Treatments, what timeline NHS England and NHS Improvement have set for the consideration of the commissioning of percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair for functional mitral regurgitation.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have not yet confirmed the date for commissioning the nine centres. Where services currently have insufficient clinical expertise to prepare for the commencement of those services, local cardiac networks will consider establishing a preceptorship programme with an established centre


There is currently no timeline for the commencement of formal provider selection. Each NHS England and NHS Improvement regional team has been asked to take responsibility for selecting a formal provider, supported by national clinical advisors. The selection process is expected to take at least three months, with each region working to their own prioritised timetable, taking into account local circumstances.

A proposal has been submitted to NHS England and NHS Improvement in relation to functional mitral regurgitation and is receiving consideration. It is anticipated that such a policy review could take at least 12 months for completion, taking into account clinical evidence and engagement with appropriate stakeholders

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
7th Sep 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that people are not denied access to NHS services as a result of a lack of access to internet or mobile phone devices.

One of the priorities of the phase three National Health Service response to COVID-19 is to help prevent digital exclusion. NHS England and NHS Improvement’s health inequalities improvement team is working closely with NHSX in developing a strategic plan to tackle digital inclusion and access.

All NHS organisations have been asked to ensure that no matter how people choose to interact with services, they should receive the same levels of access, consistent advice and the same outcomes of care.

Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
3rd Sep 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve awareness of ovarian cancer symptoms during Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month in September.

While no specific ovarian cancer awareness campaigns were run as part of Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month, NHS England and NHS Improvement and Public Health England launched the latest ‘Help us, help you’ campaign targeting abdominal symptoms of cancer in August 2021. This includes bloating or discomfort for three weeks or more, as this could be a sign of ovarian cancer.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
21st Jul 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the NHS plans to commission more centres to provide percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair for primary degenerative mitral regurgitation, in line with NHS England’s commissioning policy of July 2019.

No specific assessment has been made. NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to provide access to mitral valve leaflet repair by commissioning on an interim basis from the three National Health Service trusts that supported the clinical evaluation of this procedure. All cardiology services in England were made aware they should continue to refer patients to these centres in advance of a formal provider selection taking place.

Data submitted to the National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes research (NICOR) registry indicates that 94 patients in 2018 and 175 patients in 2019 had mitral valve leaflet repair. Cardiology activity and completeness of NICOR data submissions were significantly impacted during 2020 due to COVID and therefore data is incomplete for that year. Overall, NHS England and NHS Improvement estimate that 4,000 patients may be considered for the mitral valve leaflet repair procedure and approximately 400 patients would be referred for the procedure per year after five years.


NHS England and NHS Improvement have confirmed the commissioning of a minimum of nine centres to provide percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair for primary degenerative mitral regurgitation.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
21st Jul 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of patients eligible for percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair for primary degenerative mitral regurgitation annually; and how many patients have been treated with percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair for primary degenerative mitral regurgitation in each year since the treatment was first commissioned by the NHS.

No specific assessment has been made. NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to provide access to mitral valve leaflet repair by commissioning on an interim basis from the three National Health Service trusts that supported the clinical evaluation of this procedure. All cardiology services in England were made aware they should continue to refer patients to these centres in advance of a formal provider selection taking place.

Data submitted to the National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes research (NICOR) registry indicates that 94 patients in 2018 and 175 patients in 2019 had mitral valve leaflet repair. Cardiology activity and completeness of NICOR data submissions were significantly impacted during 2020 due to COVID and therefore data is incomplete for that year. Overall, NHS England and NHS Improvement estimate that 4,000 patients may be considered for the mitral valve leaflet repair procedure and approximately 400 patients would be referred for the procedure per year after five years.


NHS England and NHS Improvement have confirmed the commissioning of a minimum of nine centres to provide percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair for primary degenerative mitral regurgitation.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
21st Jul 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of NHS England’s commissioning policy for percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair for primary degenerative mitral regurgitation in adults, which was published in July 2019.

No specific assessment has been made. NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to provide access to mitral valve leaflet repair by commissioning on an interim basis from the three National Health Service trusts that supported the clinical evaluation of this procedure. All cardiology services in England were made aware they should continue to refer patients to these centres in advance of a formal provider selection taking place.

Data submitted to the National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes research (NICOR) registry indicates that 94 patients in 2018 and 175 patients in 2019 had mitral valve leaflet repair. Cardiology activity and completeness of NICOR data submissions were significantly impacted during 2020 due to COVID and therefore data is incomplete for that year. Overall, NHS England and NHS Improvement estimate that 4,000 patients may be considered for the mitral valve leaflet repair procedure and approximately 400 patients would be referred for the procedure per year after five years.


NHS England and NHS Improvement have confirmed the commissioning of a minimum of nine centres to provide percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair for primary degenerative mitral regurgitation.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
21st Jul 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the proportion of adults with mitral regurgitation who are ineligible for surgical repair.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have confirmed a minimum of nine centres to provide percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair. Once these centres have been commissioned and clinical teams are trained in this procedure the service can commence. NHS England and NHS Improvement plan to consider the commissioning of percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair for functional mitral regurgitation, in accordance with their methods for policy development. The proportion of adults with mitral regurgitation who are ineligible for surgical repair increases with age. In patients over 80 years old, approximately 50% may be ineligible for surgical repair.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
21st Jul 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the NHS has to commission percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair for functional mitral regurgitation.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have confirmed a minimum of nine centres to provide percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair. Once these centres have been commissioned and clinical teams are trained in this procedure the service can commence. NHS England and NHS Improvement plan to consider the commissioning of percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair for functional mitral regurgitation, in accordance with their methods for policy development. The proportion of adults with mitral regurgitation who are ineligible for surgical repair increases with age. In patients over 80 years old, approximately 50% may be ineligible for surgical repair.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
21st Jul 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when clinicians can start mitral valve repair for primary degenerative mitral regurgitation in the newly commissioned centres, as set out in the NHS England commissioning policy of July 2019.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have confirmed a minimum of nine centres to provide percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair. Once these centres have been commissioned and clinical teams are trained in this procedure the service can commence. NHS England and NHS Improvement plan to consider the commissioning of percutaneous mitral valve leaflet repair for functional mitral regurgitation, in accordance with their methods for policy development. The proportion of adults with mitral regurgitation who are ineligible for surgical repair increases with age. In patients over 80 years old, approximately 50% may be ineligible for surgical repair.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
21st Jul 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the NHS has to commission transcatheter tricuspid valve leaflet repair routinely.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have no plans to commission transcatheter tricuspid valve leaflet repair.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
16th Jul 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what annual budget has been allocated by his Department to the elimination of Hepatitis C in each of the last five years; how much of that budget has been used since the commencement of the NHSE Hepatitis C elimination tender; and whether NHS England plans to ringfence that same amount of funding over the next four years to ensure elimination of that disease by 2025 in England.

NHS England and NHS Improvement's national hepatitis C elimination programme’s total annual elimination initiative’s expenditure, for which information is available, is as follows:

- 2021/22 - £20 million (budgeted);

- 2020/21 - £15 million; and

- 2019/20 - £9 million.

Prior to 2019/20, there was no dedicated elimination initiative funding. Regions were funded based on expenditure incurred by their providers and allocated on a monthly basis. NHS England and NHS Improvement have confirmed the budget provided each year has allowed the needs of the elimination programme to be fully met and expects the required budget to be made available for the duration of the programme.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
16th Jul 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much (a) his Department and (b) NHS England has spent on Hepatitis C (i) medicines and (ii) elimination activities since the start of the NHS England Hepatitis C elimination tender in May 2019.

NHS England and NHS Improvement allocate funding to the hepatitis C elimination programme. Since May 2019, NHS England and NHS Improvement have spent £63 million in both 2019/20 and 2020/21 on medicines.

Since the strategic procurement was awarded in 2019/20, NHS England and NHS Improvement have spent £9 million in 2019/20 and £15 million in 2020/21 on elimination initiative costs.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
16th Jul 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has spent on Hepatitis C medicines in each of the last four years.

NHS England and NHS Improvement’s spending is as follows:

- 2020/21 - £63 million;

- 2019/20 - £63 million;

- 2018/19 - £86 million; and

- 2017/18 - £260 million.

The figure for 2017/18 pre-dates NHS England’s hepatitis C elimination tender in 2019.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
15th Jul 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what minimum service standards apply to the quarantine exemption team; and how many and what proportion of requests are dealt with within the target response time.

There is no specific minimum standard for the exemptions team due to the different types of exemptions that exist and the large number of passengers entering into managed quarantine each week from ‘red list’ countries. Each exemption request is considered on an individual case by case basis. Due to the quantity and complexity of these requests the exemptions team are reviewing the current process to centrally validate data and enhance collation capabilities.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
7th Jun 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment and provision has been made to ensure that travellers from red list countries who are staying in quarantine hotels are provided with meals which are appropriate to their religious or ethical beliefs.

It is specified at the induction stage for managed quarantine hotels that the catering requirements must include delivery of menus to rooms and an understanding of individual needs for each meal; a variety of meals to meet nutritional, dietary, religious, and cultural needs; and the ability for guests to order additional food and beverage from a 24-hour room service menu.

Following the induction process, reviews are carried out with the hotels after two and 21 days. Every hotel has a 24 hours a day, seven days a week liaison officer to escalate any issues, in addition to their own customer service channels.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
12th Apr 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to reform social care; and what the timescale is for the publication of those plans.

The Government is committed to sustainable improvement of the adult social care system and will bring forward plans for reform in 2021. Our objectives for reform are to enable an affordable, high quality adult social care system that meets people’s needs, whilst supporting health and care to join up services around people.

We are working closely with local and national partners to ensure our approach to reform is informed by diverse perspectives, including of those with lived experience of the care sector. There are complex questions to address and it is important that we give these issues our full consideration in the light of current circumstances.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
12th Apr 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has secured the supply of rapid lateral flow tests necessary to meet projected demand.

NHS Test and Trace forecasts and monitors demand for testing on a weekly basis. The volume of rapid tests required to meet the anticipated demand was extensively modelled and sufficient supply and fulfilment capacity established.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
12th Apr 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of introducing less invasive lateral flow covid-19 tests for individuals seeking to take regular tests.

Test and Trace are aware that some existing methods can be uncomfortable for some user groups and will negatively affect test uptake and engagement. To address this, we are currently working with suppliers to provide lateral flow tests which use alternate methods of sample collection.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
12th Apr 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department’s announcement on 5 April 2021 that everyone in England will be able to access free, regular rapid coronavirus testing from 9 April 2021, what recent estimate he has made of the number of tests that will be administered on a weekly basis.

The eligible population for testing is now above 50 million. Supply and demand forecasting is updated on a daily basis, including estimates of lateral flow tests administered, currently modelled at around 35 to 45 million tests per week in England.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
12th Apr 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to require people attending large scale events to provide a negative covid-19 test result.

The Government is running a scientific Events Research Programme (ERP) to examine the risk of transmission of COVID-19 from attendance at a range of cultural, business and sporting events, including events with larger crowd sizes.

Attendees participating in ERP events will be required to provide a negative test result ahead of the event. They will also be tested afterwards to ensure any transmission of the virus is properly monitored.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
5th Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of using serology testing to establish the length of protection provided by covid-19 vaccines.

Public Health England (PHE) is evaluating the effectiveness and length of protection afforded by COVID-19 vaccines in terms of disease, hospitalisations and deaths as set out in the COVID-19 vaccine surveillance strategy.

Although serological testing is supporting the evaluation of COVID-19 vaccines, currently without a correlate of protection, serological testing by itself cannot provide estimates of the length of protection from COVID-19 vaccines.

PHE’s SIREN study, a prospective cohort study of almost 40,000 healthcare workers from 132 National Health Service sites, collects regular serum samples on participants following COVID-19 vaccination, to monitor antibody responses to vaccination which has the potential to establish a serological correlate of protection.

5th Mar 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential role of serology testing in the Government's long term plan to tackle covid-19.

Serology testing is a key part of the Government’s testing programme. Specifically, antibody testing is routinely used in research and surveillance to improve our understanding of how the immune system responds to the virus that causes COVID-19. Whilst antibody testing is the core component of serology testing in response to COVID-19, other types of serology testing are also supported by the Government as part of research studies including analysing the role of immune cells not linked to antibodies.

Serology testing is vital for vaccine effectiveness monitoring, which is already taking place at scale through research studies. Public Health England will continue to gather the insights of these studies including through the use of antibody testing and integrate them into analysis to ensure up-to-date assessments of vaccine effectiveness as deployment continues.

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
13th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his Answer to Question 106294 of 20th October 2020, on Coronavirus: screening, in what format data relating to lost and compromised tests is held; and if he will publish it.

The latest data for void/unknown results on tests conducted between 28 May 2020 to 17 February 2021 is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-test-and-trace-england-statistics-11-february-to-17-february-2021

Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
8th Jan 2021
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including people in receipt of domiciliary care in their own homes in covid-19 vaccine priority group one.

Priority cohort one included residents in a care home for older adults and their carers. People who are supported by domiciliary care were prioritised in cohort four if they were categorised as clinically extremely vulnerable. They may also have been prioritised in cohort six if they have certain other health conditions which make them clinically vulnerable. Cohorts one to four also included those over 75 years old.

We have now offered a first vaccine dose to everyone in the top four priority groups.

8th Dec 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve heart failure services.

Heart failure is a key priority in the NHS Long Term Plan and NHS England and NHS Improvement are taking action to improve heart failure services in line with this.

One of the ambitions of the NHS Long Term Plan is to raise awareness of the symptoms of heart failure and to ensure early and rapid access to diagnostic tests and treatment.

NHS England and NHS Improvement has a programme of work to support this ambition, overseen by the National Clinical Director for Heart Disease and supported by an Expert Advisory Group of clinical experts from across the country. This work remains a priority during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
8th Dec 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to heart failure services during the covid-19 outbreak.

Throughout the pandemic, patients have been encouraged to come forward for the treatment that they require and urgent treatments continued to be delivered. Throughout the summer and autumn of 2020, the National Health Service has run an ongoing media campaign ‘Help Us Help You’ encouraging patients to seek urgent medical help when they are unwell, including clear messaging for patients with heart attack symptoms to call 999.

NHS England and NHS Improvement promoted restoration of services as a priority, including diagnostic and treatment services for patients with heart failure, as soon as the peak of the first wave of the pandemic began to decline.

NHS Long Term Plan heart failure work, including ensuring early and rapid access to heart failure diagnostic tests and treatment, remains a priority for NHS England and NHS Improvement during the pandemic.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
8th Dec 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the delivery of heart failure services in (a) community and (b) primary care.

NHS England and NHS Improvement promoted restoration of heart failure services as a priority as soon as the peak of the pandemic’s first wave began to decline. NHS England and NHS Improvement are also working with health professionals to support heart failure patients in the community through the roll-out of the NHS@Home self-management scheme.

NHS Long Term Plan work on improving heart failure services remains a priority for NHS England and NHS Improvement during the COVID-19 pandemic and NHS England and NHS Improvement’s work includes improving the early diagnosis and management of patients with heart failure in primary care.

General practice is op