Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to then Answer of 30 January 2024 to Question 11063 on Cancer and Public Health, whether the Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care participates in NHS Public Health Functions Agreement accountability meetings.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is currently held to account for the delivery of National Health Service public health functions through Director General-led accountability meetings, supplemented with an annual ministerial accountability meeting.
The annual ministerial NHS public health functions accountability meeting with NHS England is chaired by the minister with responsibility for public health. Other Department ministers with responsibility for relevant programmes are invited to attend, or to feed views into the discussion via the lead minister.
As the Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care, I now have responsibility for screening, and engage with the national screening programme performance outside these meetings.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many (a) same and (b) opposite sex couples in Northern Ireland have converted their (i) marriage to civil partnership and (ii) civil partnership to marriage.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The General Register Office within the Northern Ireland Department of Finance is responsible for the administration of marriage and civil partnership law in Northern Ireland. They should be contacted for further information regarding this matter.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there are contracts for the cremation of (a) stillborns, (b) miscarriages and (c) baby deaths at a (i) national and (ii) NHS trust level; and if she will publish (A) details and (B) the start dates of those contracts.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Neither the Department nor NHS England holds information on contracts for the cremation of stillborns, miscarriages, and baby deaths.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he had discussions with airports in Scotland on the potential merits of reinstating tax-free shopping for international visitors before the Spring Budget 2024.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
The government published its next steps on tax-free shopping in the Spring Budget 2024 which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2024/spring-budget-2024-html.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with airports in Scotland on the potential merits of reinstating tax-free shopping for international visitors.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
The government published its next steps on tax-free shopping in the Spring Budget 2024 which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2024/spring-budget-2024-html.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he had discussions with airports on the potential merits of reinstating tax-free shopping for international visitors before the Spring Budget 2024.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
The government published its next steps on tax-free shopping in the Spring Budget 2024 which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2024/spring-budget-2024-html.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with airports on the potential merits of reinstating tax-free shopping for international visitors.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
The government published its next steps on tax-free shopping in the Spring Budget 2024 which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2024/spring-budget-2024-html.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to include additional material on heart valve disease in the Major Conditions Strategy.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the development of the Major Conditions Strategy, we are committed to focusing on the six major groups of conditions, which includes cardiovascular disease. Aligning work across several groups of conditions allows us to focus on where there are similarities in approach to ensure care is better centred around the patient, health and care resources are used most effectively, and that there is effective integration, both within and between treatment pathways.
This strategy does not seek to describe everything that is being done or could be done to meet the challenges of specific diseases within the major conditions. Instead, we are focusing on developing a strategic approach to inform the wide range of decisions health and care organisations make when determining how best to care for the people they serve.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many reports have been received by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on (i) fatal outcomes and (ii) adverse reactions in patients who have received a covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has received 489,004 spontaneous suspected adverse drug reaction reports relating to a COVID-19 vaccine up to and including 28 February 2024, within the United Kingdom. 2,734 of the reports were associated with a fatal outcome. Reporters are asked to submit Yellow Card reports even if they only have a suspicion that the vaccine may have caused the adverse reaction. The existence of an adverse reaction report does not necessarily mean that the vaccine has caused the reaction. Reporting rates can be influenced by many factors, including the seriousness of the adverse reactions, their ease of recognition, and the extent of the use of a particular vaccine.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2024 to Question 16314 on Laboratories: Disease Control, what the budget was for Porton Down in each of the last five years; how much has been allocated for future years; and what plans she has to ensure the long-term (a) sustainability and (b) effectiveness of Porton Down.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The UK Health Security Agency’s Porton Down and Colindale scientific campus sites do not have separate operational costs for the Category 4 laboratories. Spend on the maintenance and operation of these sites is provided through the spending review process.
Work is ongoing to establish the most robust approach for continued delivery of the high-quality science at Porton Down