Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has made changes to the planned distribution of aid in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We trebled our aid commitment in the last financial year and we are doing everything we can to get more aid in as quickly as possible by land, sea and air. We have been clear that Israel must take concrete steps to increase the flow of aid into Gaza. On 17 May, the first consignment of UK aid across the new floating pier in Gaza was successfully delivered. More will follow in the coming weeks.
As the Foreign Secretary has said, maritime is just one part of the bigger picture. Land routes remain the most effective means of getting aid into Gaza at the scale needed.
Israel must ensure land routes are open and that aid gets safely to where it is needed. Guaranteed deconfliction for aid convoys and aid workers, and for other humanitarian work, remains essential.
The Foreign Secretary reiterated these points in his call with Israeli Minister Gantz on 21 May.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what advice her Department provides to NHS England on the categorisation of people’s disabilities as outlined in the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is for individual National Health Service organisations, including NHS trusts and integrated care boards, to comply with the Equality Act 2010, guidance on which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance
The act defines disability as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Further information on the definition of disability according to the act can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010
No assessment has been made of the potential merits of issuing guidance to NHS England on the categorisation of disability. NHS England has issued guidance for NHS commissioners on equality and health inequalities legal duties. It has also issued guidance with respect to the Reasonable Adjustments Digital Flag (the Flag). Under the Equality Act 2010, organisations have a legal duty to make changes in their approach or provision, to ensure that services are as accessible to disabled people as they are for everybody else. These changes are called reasonable adjustments. The Flag was developed in the NHS Spine to enable health and care workers to record, share, and view details of reasonable adjustments across the NHS, wherever the person is treated. It is now accessible on the National Care Records Service, which is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-care-records-service
The Flag is designed to provide staff with information on their duties under the Equality Act 2010. It lists existing adjustments defined by clinical codes, such as communication needs defined using the Accessible Information Standard clinical codes, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/accessible-information-standard-implementation-guidance/
It also provides the opportunity to create highly individualised bespoke adjustments for patients. The service holds records for all patients in England who have been flagged as needing reasonable adjustments. A record is created for a patient when a health or social care worker first records the patient's reasonable adjustments.
The Flag provides basic context about a patient, key adjustments, and the details related to this and further information to aid health and care workers. This legal duty is anticipatory, which means a service should know about a person’s need for adjustments when they are referred or present for care. For this to happen, and for optimum care to be delivered, adjustments need to be recorded and shared across the NHS. The Flag can also record if a patient meets the Equality Act definition of disability, which is an impairment with substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day to day activity. It can also optionally contain details of the disability or long term condition that is the source of the patient’s impairment, in line with the Equality Act 2010 guidance. The impairment type list in the guidance shows the impairment types that can be recorded.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance her Department issues to NHS England regarding the use of reasonable adjustment digital flags.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is for individual National Health Service organisations, including NHS trusts and integrated care boards, to comply with the Equality Act 2010, guidance on which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance
The act defines disability as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Further information on the definition of disability according to the act can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010
No assessment has been made of the potential merits of issuing guidance to NHS England on the categorisation of disability. NHS England has issued guidance for NHS commissioners on equality and health inequalities legal duties. It has also issued guidance with respect to the Reasonable Adjustments Digital Flag (the Flag). Under the Equality Act 2010, organisations have a legal duty to make changes in their approach or provision, to ensure that services are as accessible to disabled people as they are for everybody else. These changes are called reasonable adjustments. The Flag was developed in the NHS Spine to enable health and care workers to record, share, and view details of reasonable adjustments across the NHS, wherever the person is treated. It is now accessible on the National Care Records Service, which is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-care-records-service
The Flag is designed to provide staff with information on their duties under the Equality Act 2010. It lists existing adjustments defined by clinical codes, such as communication needs defined using the Accessible Information Standard clinical codes, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/accessible-information-standard-implementation-guidance/
It also provides the opportunity to create highly individualised bespoke adjustments for patients. The service holds records for all patients in England who have been flagged as needing reasonable adjustments. A record is created for a patient when a health or social care worker first records the patient's reasonable adjustments.
The Flag provides basic context about a patient, key adjustments, and the details related to this and further information to aid health and care workers. This legal duty is anticipatory, which means a service should know about a person’s need for adjustments when they are referred or present for care. For this to happen, and for optimum care to be delivered, adjustments need to be recorded and shared across the NHS. The Flag can also record if a patient meets the Equality Act definition of disability, which is an impairment with substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day to day activity. It can also optionally contain details of the disability or long term condition that is the source of the patient’s impairment, in line with the Equality Act 2010 guidance. The impairment type list in the guidance shows the impairment types that can be recorded.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of issuing guidance to NHS England on the categorisation of disabilities.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is for individual National Health Service organisations, including NHS trusts and integrated care boards, to comply with the Equality Act 2010, guidance on which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance
The act defines disability as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Further information on the definition of disability according to the act can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010
No assessment has been made of the potential merits of issuing guidance to NHS England on the categorisation of disability. NHS England has issued guidance for NHS commissioners on equality and health inequalities legal duties. It has also issued guidance with respect to the Reasonable Adjustments Digital Flag (the Flag). Under the Equality Act 2010, organisations have a legal duty to make changes in their approach or provision, to ensure that services are as accessible to disabled people as they are for everybody else. These changes are called reasonable adjustments. The Flag was developed in the NHS Spine to enable health and care workers to record, share, and view details of reasonable adjustments across the NHS, wherever the person is treated. It is now accessible on the National Care Records Service, which is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-care-records-service
The Flag is designed to provide staff with information on their duties under the Equality Act 2010. It lists existing adjustments defined by clinical codes, such as communication needs defined using the Accessible Information Standard clinical codes, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/accessible-information-standard-implementation-guidance/
It also provides the opportunity to create highly individualised bespoke adjustments for patients. The service holds records for all patients in England who have been flagged as needing reasonable adjustments. A record is created for a patient when a health or social care worker first records the patient's reasonable adjustments.
The Flag provides basic context about a patient, key adjustments, and the details related to this and further information to aid health and care workers. This legal duty is anticipatory, which means a service should know about a person’s need for adjustments when they are referred or present for care. For this to happen, and for optimum care to be delivered, adjustments need to be recorded and shared across the NHS. The Flag can also record if a patient meets the Equality Act definition of disability, which is an impairment with substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day to day activity. It can also optionally contain details of the disability or long term condition that is the source of the patient’s impairment, in line with the Equality Act 2010 guidance. The impairment type list in the guidance shows the impairment types that can be recorded.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that there is adequate information available for the public to understand if they meet the definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is for individual National Health Service organisations, including NHS trusts and integrated care boards, to comply with the Equality Act 2010, guidance on which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance
The act defines disability as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Further information on the definition of disability according to the act can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010
No assessment has been made of the potential merits of issuing guidance to NHS England on the categorisation of disability. NHS England has issued guidance for NHS commissioners on equality and health inequalities legal duties. It has also issued guidance with respect to the Reasonable Adjustments Digital Flag (the Flag). Under the Equality Act 2010, organisations have a legal duty to make changes in their approach or provision, to ensure that services are as accessible to disabled people as they are for everybody else. These changes are called reasonable adjustments. The Flag was developed in the NHS Spine to enable health and care workers to record, share, and view details of reasonable adjustments across the NHS, wherever the person is treated. It is now accessible on the National Care Records Service, which is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-care-records-service
The Flag is designed to provide staff with information on their duties under the Equality Act 2010. It lists existing adjustments defined by clinical codes, such as communication needs defined using the Accessible Information Standard clinical codes, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/accessible-information-standard-implementation-guidance/
It also provides the opportunity to create highly individualised bespoke adjustments for patients. The service holds records for all patients in England who have been flagged as needing reasonable adjustments. A record is created for a patient when a health or social care worker first records the patient's reasonable adjustments.
The Flag provides basic context about a patient, key adjustments, and the details related to this and further information to aid health and care workers. This legal duty is anticipatory, which means a service should know about a person’s need for adjustments when they are referred or present for care. For this to happen, and for optimum care to be delivered, adjustments need to be recorded and shared across the NHS. The Flag can also record if a patient meets the Equality Act definition of disability, which is an impairment with substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day to day activity. It can also optionally contain details of the disability or long term condition that is the source of the patient’s impairment, in line with the Equality Act 2010 guidance. The impairment type list in the guidance shows the impairment types that can be recorded.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department publishes information to assist people in establishing whether they meet the definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is for individual National Health Service organisations, including NHS trusts and integrated care boards, to comply with the Equality Act 2010, guidance on which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance
The act defines disability as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Further information on the definition of disability according to the act can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010
No assessment has been made of the potential merits of issuing guidance to NHS England on the categorisation of disability. NHS England has issued guidance for NHS commissioners on equality and health inequalities legal duties. It has also issued guidance with respect to the Reasonable Adjustments Digital Flag (the Flag). Under the Equality Act 2010, organisations have a legal duty to make changes in their approach or provision, to ensure that services are as accessible to disabled people as they are for everybody else. These changes are called reasonable adjustments. The Flag was developed in the NHS Spine to enable health and care workers to record, share, and view details of reasonable adjustments across the NHS, wherever the person is treated. It is now accessible on the National Care Records Service, which is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-care-records-service
The Flag is designed to provide staff with information on their duties under the Equality Act 2010. It lists existing adjustments defined by clinical codes, such as communication needs defined using the Accessible Information Standard clinical codes, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/accessible-information-standard-implementation-guidance/
It also provides the opportunity to create highly individualised bespoke adjustments for patients. The service holds records for all patients in England who have been flagged as needing reasonable adjustments. A record is created for a patient when a health or social care worker first records the patient's reasonable adjustments.
The Flag provides basic context about a patient, key adjustments, and the details related to this and further information to aid health and care workers. This legal duty is anticipatory, which means a service should know about a person’s need for adjustments when they are referred or present for care. For this to happen, and for optimum care to be delivered, adjustments need to be recorded and shared across the NHS. The Flag can also record if a patient meets the Equality Act definition of disability, which is an impairment with substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day to day activity. It can also optionally contain details of the disability or long term condition that is the source of the patient’s impairment, in line with the Equality Act 2010 guidance. The impairment type list in the guidance shows the impairment types that can be recorded.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS reasonable adjustment digital flag indicates that the NHS accept that the individual has a disability.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is for individual National Health Service organisations, including NHS trusts and integrated care boards, to comply with the Equality Act 2010, guidance on which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance
The act defines disability as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Further information on the definition of disability according to the act can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010
No assessment has been made of the potential merits of issuing guidance to NHS England on the categorisation of disability. NHS England has issued guidance for NHS commissioners on equality and health inequalities legal duties. It has also issued guidance with respect to the Reasonable Adjustments Digital Flag (the Flag). Under the Equality Act 2010, organisations have a legal duty to make changes in their approach or provision, to ensure that services are as accessible to disabled people as they are for everybody else. These changes are called reasonable adjustments. The Flag was developed in the NHS Spine to enable health and care workers to record, share, and view details of reasonable adjustments across the NHS, wherever the person is treated. It is now accessible on the National Care Records Service, which is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-care-records-service
The Flag is designed to provide staff with information on their duties under the Equality Act 2010. It lists existing adjustments defined by clinical codes, such as communication needs defined using the Accessible Information Standard clinical codes, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/accessible-information-standard-implementation-guidance/
It also provides the opportunity to create highly individualised bespoke adjustments for patients. The service holds records for all patients in England who have been flagged as needing reasonable adjustments. A record is created for a patient when a health or social care worker first records the patient's reasonable adjustments.
The Flag provides basic context about a patient, key adjustments, and the details related to this and further information to aid health and care workers. This legal duty is anticipatory, which means a service should know about a person’s need for adjustments when they are referred or present for care. For this to happen, and for optimum care to be delivered, adjustments need to be recorded and shared across the NHS. The Flag can also record if a patient meets the Equality Act definition of disability, which is an impairment with substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day to day activity. It can also optionally contain details of the disability or long term condition that is the source of the patient’s impairment, in line with the Equality Act 2010 guidance. The impairment type list in the guidance shows the impairment types that can be recorded.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to strengthen the resilience of the UK's food supply chain, and (2) to enhance food security, in the face of external disruptions and challenges.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain and is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption.
Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years.
UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
Defra has well established ways of working with the industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.
Recognising the importance of food security, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was produced in 2021 and the next will be published by December 2024. This report serves as an evidence base for policy work.
Starting this year, the government is also strengthening our food security monitoring by introducing the annual Food Security Index in addition to the three-yearly UKFSR.
Published to coincide with the second UK Farm to Fork Summit on 14 May 2024, the 2024 Food Security Index sets out how Government will track UK-wide food security on an annual basis, monitoring domestic food production, land use, input costs, and farmer productivity.
The Index looks at shorter-term trends that change year on year, complementing the UKFSR’s comprehensive assessment and attention to longer-term trends. The 2024 Index shows that the UK farming sector is at its most productive since records began.
A further package of measures to support farmers and grow the UK’s farming and food sector was announced by the government at the Farm to Fork Summit on 14th May 2024.
This includes a new Blueprint for Growing the UK Fruit and Vegetable Sector (see attached), setting out how industry and government can work together to increase domestic production and drive investment into this valuable sector. The plan involves ensuring the sector has access to affordable and sustainable energy and water, cutting planning red tape to make it easier and quicker to build glasshouses, and looking to double to £80 million the amount of funding given to horticulture businesses when compared to the EU legacy Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme which will be replaced from 2026 onwards.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the origin of (a) munitions and (b) hardware used by the Israel Defence Force in the drone strikes that killed World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza on 1 April 2024.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Government is carefully reviewing Israel’s Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism (FFAM)’s initial findings of their investigations into the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers and welcome the suspension of two officers as a first step. The findings of the investigation must be published in full and followed up with a wholly independent review to ensure the utmost transparency and accountability.
We continue to monitor the situation in Israel and Gaza closely but are not commenting on specific licences.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2024 to Question 24458 on Gaza: Aid Workers, whether it is his policy that there should be an independent inquiry into the killing of the British aid workers by the Israeli Defence Forces.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
As set out in the answer to Question 24458, we are carefully reviewing the initial findings of Israel's investigations into the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers and welcome the suspension of two officers as a first step. Their inquiry so far has highlighted failures in deconfliction processes and the unacceptable conduct of the IDF personnel involved. This must never happen again.