Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what humanitarian support his Department is providing to the civilian population around Goma.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK will continue to support the protection of civilians in and around Goma, including through our £98 million 3-year humanitarian programme for the East of DRC, which delivers life-saving emergency assistance to over 1.1 million people and protects and builds the resilience of the most vulnerable.
Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, updated on 29 February 2024, what steps his Department has taken to mitigate the risks of red-rated legacy IT systems.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP has funded and resourced a dedicated Legacy Technical Debt Working Group within DWP. This group managed the population and ongoing accuracy of Legacy IT System Risk Score Cards. The information recorded includes plans for mitigating key risks which are assessed ahead of each fiscal planning round to bid for funds to implement mitigating measures.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 adequacy of the availability of NHS provision for the diagnosis of ADHD in (a) Oxfordshire and (b) England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment and treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance. The NICE guideline on ADHD does not recommend a maximum waiting time from referral for an assessment of ADHD to the point of assessment or diagnosis. The Department has not made a specific assessment of the availability of National Health Service provision for the diagnosis of, or treatment of, ADHD in Oxfordshire.
In respect of the adequacy of ADHD service provision nationally, in December 2023, NHS England initiated a rapid piece of work to consider ADHD service provision within the NHS. The initial phase of work identified challenges, including with current service models and the ability to keep pace with demand. Following this initial review, NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, and to help provide a joined up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.
Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems which are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.
In respect of the availability of NHS provision for the treatment of ADHD nationally, the Department is aware of, and taking action to address, disruptions to the supply of medicine used for the management of ADHD. Disruptions to the supply of medicines have been primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. Nationally, the Department has been working hard with industry to help resolve those issues as quickly as possible. As a result of our ongoing activity, some issues have been resolved. However, we know that there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, including methylphenidate and guanfacine. The latest information we have received from manufacturers is that these should largely be resolved by May 2024 and October 2024, respectively.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 adequacy of the availability of NHS provision for the treatment of ADHD in (a) Oxfordshire and (b) England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment and treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance. The NICE guideline on ADHD does not recommend a maximum waiting time from referral for an assessment of ADHD to the point of assessment or diagnosis. The Department has not made a specific assessment of the availability of National Health Service provision for the diagnosis of, or treatment of, ADHD in Oxfordshire.
In respect of the adequacy of ADHD service provision nationally, in December 2023, NHS England initiated a rapid piece of work to consider ADHD service provision within the NHS. The initial phase of work identified challenges, including with current service models and the ability to keep pace with demand. Following this initial review, NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, and to help provide a joined up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.
Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems which are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.
In respect of the availability of NHS provision for the treatment of ADHD nationally, the Department is aware of, and taking action to address, disruptions to the supply of medicine used for the management of ADHD. Disruptions to the supply of medicines have been primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. Nationally, the Department has been working hard with industry to help resolve those issues as quickly as possible. As a result of our ongoing activity, some issues have been resolved. However, we know that there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, including methylphenidate and guanfacine. The latest information we have received from manufacturers is that these should largely be resolved by May 2024 and October 2024, respectively.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that seriously ill children and their families can access information on how to access emotional and psychological support.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The clinical team responsible for a seriously ill child’s physical healthcare should discuss and review their emotional and psychological status regularly with them, or their family, and support them with access to information and services for their mental health if needed. Commissioners are encouraged to ensure local pathways include assessment and ongoing support of patients’ mental and psychological wellbeing and cognitive status.
The Health and Care Act 2022 placed a legal duty on integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission palliative and end of life care services, which meet the needs of their whole population. To support ICBs in this, NHS England has published statutory guidance, along with service specifications for children and young people, which make reference to including a holistic approach to care. This includes links to social prescribing, assessing, and addressing the needs of children, young people and families, and clear referral pathways to other services such as children and young people’s mental health services. The statutory guidance and the service specifications for children and young people are available respectively at the following links:
Patients’ family members who feel they need emotional and psychological support should speak to their general practice, or can self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies online. Details are available on the NHS website.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce (a) assessment and (b) diagnosis waiting times for ADHD.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards to make appropriate provision available, to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The NICE’s guidelines for ADHD diagnosis and management aim to improve the diagnosis of ADHD, as well as the quality of care and support people receive. The NICE’s guidelines do not recommend a maximum waiting time standard for ADHD diagnosis, either from referral for an assessment to receiving an assessment, a diagnosis, or a first contact appointment.
There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for the assessment or treatment for ADHD nationally. The Department is exploring options to improve data collection and reporting on ADHD assessment waiting times, to help improve access to ADHD assessments in a timely way and in line with the NICE’s guideline. In support of this, the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Policy Research Programme has commissioned a research project to provide insights into local ADHD diagnosis waiting time data collection.
NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to improve care for people living with the condition. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, and help provide a joined up approach in response to concerns around rising demand for assessments and support.
Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of the damage to (a) hospitals and (b) aid agency offices in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
It is clear that the international community will need to make a massive effort to deliver a reconstruction plan for Gaza
All parties must act within International Humanitarian Law. Hamas is putting Palestinian civilians at grave risk by embedding themselves in the civilian population and civilian infrastructure.
We also want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes.
The Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister have underlined the need for Israel to increase the amount of aid getting into Gaza, deconflict with the UN and aid agencies, protect civilians and repair vital infrastructure like hospitals and water networks.
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data his Department holds on the number and proportion of people who have access to a good quality (a) green and (b) blue space within 15 minutes' walk of their home, by parliamentary constituency.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The methodology and data we currently use on the number and proportion of people with access to greenspace is taken from Natural England’s Green Infrastructure (GI) Framework analysis.
Natural England’s analyses of the total population in England living in close proximity of greenspace are based on the GI Framework’s Accessible Greenspace Standards which use buffers (straight-line distances) between home and greenspace and include three greenspace criteria:
When considered together, these three most local Accessible Greenspace Standards buffers allow us to form a composite picture of access to different sizes of greenspace within a straight-line distance of 1km from home.
Natural England’s G3 Indicator report shows that as of October 2021, the proportions of the total population in England living within Accessible Greenspace Standards ‘criteria’ (straight line distances from the boundary of the greenspaces) are:
• 1 in 3 people live within 200 metres of a doorstep greenspace of at least 0.5 hectares.
• 1 in 4 people live within 300 metres of a local natural greenspace of at least 2 hectares.
• 1 in 2 people live within 1 km of a neighbourhood natural greenspace of at least 10 hectares.
Our Environmental Improvement Plan commitment to ensure everyone lives within 15 minutes’ walk of a green or blue space focuses on proximity to these spaces from home. Our data gathering therefore focuses on this, rather than by parliamentary constituency.
We are currently working to establish a robust baseline of walkability to green and blue space, including working with NE and with the Rivers Trust to create data on blue space access points. In August we will publish an official statistic in development on walkability within England to the nearest green space. This will use network analysis to calculate travel time/ distance rather than straight-line distances, and enhanced use of data on the rights-of-way network. For full details see https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/access-to-green-space-in-england.
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what methodology his Department uses to determine the number and proportion of people who have access to a good quality (a) green and (b) blue space within 15 minutes' walk of their home.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The methodology and data we currently use on the number and proportion of people with access to greenspace is taken from Natural England’s Green Infrastructure (GI) Framework analysis.
Natural England’s analyses of the total population in England living in close proximity of greenspace are based on the GI Framework’s Accessible Greenspace Standards which use buffers (straight-line distances) between home and greenspace and include three greenspace criteria:
When considered together, these three most local Accessible Greenspace Standards buffers allow us to form a composite picture of access to different sizes of greenspace within a straight-line distance of 1km from home.
Natural England’s G3 Indicator report shows that as of October 2021, the proportions of the total population in England living within Accessible Greenspace Standards ‘criteria’ (straight line distances from the boundary of the greenspaces) are:
• 1 in 3 people live within 200 metres of a doorstep greenspace of at least 0.5 hectares.
• 1 in 4 people live within 300 metres of a local natural greenspace of at least 2 hectares.
• 1 in 2 people live within 1 km of a neighbourhood natural greenspace of at least 10 hectares.
Our Environmental Improvement Plan commitment to ensure everyone lives within 15 minutes’ walk of a green or blue space focuses on proximity to these spaces from home. Our data gathering therefore focuses on this, rather than by parliamentary constituency.
We are currently working to establish a robust baseline of walkability to green and blue space, including working with NE and with the Rivers Trust to create data on blue space access points. In August we will publish an official statistic in development on walkability within England to the nearest green space. This will use network analysis to calculate travel time/ distance rather than straight-line distances, and enhanced use of data on the rights-of-way network. For full details see https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/access-to-green-space-in-england.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has made a recent estimate of the number of (a) schools, (b) hospitals and (c) refugee camps in Gaza that have been struck by bombs since 8 October 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
It is clear that the international community will need to make a massive effort to deliver a reconstruction plan for Gaza
All parties must act within International Humanitarian Law. Hamas is putting Palestinian civilians at grave risk by embedding themselves in the civilian population and civilian infrastructure.
We also want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes.
The Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister have underlined the need for Israel to increase the amount of aid getting into Gaza, deconflict with the UN and aid agencies, protect civilians and repair vital infrastructure like hospitals and water networks.