Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2024 to Question 25013 on Ministry of Justice: ICT, for what reason his Department considers publishing the latest available figures on the number of red-rated systems it holds a security risk, in the context of the publication of the Central Digital & Data Office's guidance entitled, Guidance on the Legacy IT Risk Assessment Framework on 29 September 2023.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
In response to question 25013, the department responded with a cautionary response to withhold releasing information on the red-rated systems due to potential security risks. However, upon revising our previous response we have concluded that we are able to release the requested figures.
These figures are already in the public domain and can be found on slide 21 of the CDDO progress update below:
https://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2024-0230/Future.pdf.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to respond to his Department's consultation entitled Firearms licensing: a consultation on recommendations for changes made to the Home Office.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government received a wide range of views in response to last year’s consultation on firearms licensing.
We are carefully considering all the comments received before publishing our response, which will set out what action we intend to take to further strengthen the controls on firearms. I cannot give an exact timescale for publication but I expect this to be shortly.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential introduction of a medical marker on GP records for people in possession of a gun certificate.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government received a wide range of views in response to last year’s consultation on firearms licensing. We are carefully considering all the comments received before publishing our response, which will set out what action we intend to take to further strengthen the controls on firearms. I cannot give an exact timescale for publication but I expect this to be shortly.
The Home Office worked with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England to introduce a digital firearms marker, which is placed on GP patient records. The digital marker enables the doctor to advise police if a firearm certificate holder begins to experience a medical condition which could affect their suitability to possess firearms, so that the police can review whether the person remains suitable. The digital marker has been rolled-out to GP practices since May 2023 and the Home Office is working with the DHSC and NHS England to obtain monitoring data about operation of the marker across the country.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services currently plans to carry out a thematic inspection of police firearms licensing arrangements in its 2024-25 inspection programme. The Home Office will assist the Inspectorate with any guidance or information it requires ahead of the inspection.
Work is underway with the police on a programme of work to improve reliability of the National Firearms Licensing Management System, including establishing links with the Police National Database.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance his Department has provided to His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services on the performance of firearms licensing divisions within police forces.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government received a wide range of views in response to last year’s consultation on firearms licensing. We are carefully considering all the comments received before publishing our response, which will set out what action we intend to take to further strengthen the controls on firearms. I cannot give an exact timescale for publication but I expect this to be shortly.
The Home Office worked with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England to introduce a digital firearms marker, which is placed on GP patient records. The digital marker enables the doctor to advise police if a firearm certificate holder begins to experience a medical condition which could affect their suitability to possess firearms, so that the police can review whether the person remains suitable. The digital marker has been rolled-out to GP practices since May 2023 and the Home Office is working with the DHSC and NHS England to obtain monitoring data about operation of the marker across the country.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services currently plans to carry out a thematic inspection of police firearms licensing arrangements in its 2024-25 inspection programme. The Home Office will assist the Inspectorate with any guidance or information it requires ahead of the inspection.
Work is underway with the police on a programme of work to improve reliability of the National Firearms Licensing Management System, including establishing links with the Police National Database.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of upgrading the National Firearms Licensing Management System database.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government received a wide range of views in response to last year’s consultation on firearms licensing. We are carefully considering all the comments received before publishing our response, which will set out what action we intend to take to further strengthen the controls on firearms. I cannot give an exact timescale for publication but I expect this to be shortly.
The Home Office worked with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England to introduce a digital firearms marker, which is placed on GP patient records. The digital marker enables the doctor to advise police if a firearm certificate holder begins to experience a medical condition which could affect their suitability to possess firearms, so that the police can review whether the person remains suitable. The digital marker has been rolled-out to GP practices since May 2023 and the Home Office is working with the DHSC and NHS England to obtain monitoring data about operation of the marker across the country.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services currently plans to carry out a thematic inspection of police firearms licensing arrangements in its 2024-25 inspection programme. The Home Office will assist the Inspectorate with any guidance or information it requires ahead of the inspection.
Work is underway with the police on a programme of work to improve reliability of the National Firearms Licensing Management System, including establishing links with the Police National Database.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his expected timetable is to publish his Department's response to its consultation on firearms licensing.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government received a wide range of views in response to last year’s consultation on firearms licensing. We are carefully considering all the comments received before publishing our response, which will set out what action we intend to take to further strengthen the controls on firearms. I cannot give an exact timescale for publication but I expect this to be shortly.
The Home Office worked with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England to introduce a digital firearms marker, which is placed on GP patient records. The digital marker enables the doctor to advise police if a firearm certificate holder begins to experience a medical condition which could affect their suitability to possess firearms, so that the police can review whether the person remains suitable. The digital marker has been rolled-out to GP practices since May 2023 and the Home Office is working with the DHSC and NHS England to obtain monitoring data about operation of the marker across the country.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services currently plans to carry out a thematic inspection of police firearms licensing arrangements in its 2024-25 inspection programme. The Home Office will assist the Inspectorate with any guidance or information it requires ahead of the inspection.
Work is underway with the police on a programme of work to improve reliability of the National Firearms Licensing Management System, including establishing links with the Police National Database.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support her Department is providing to families of children with poor mental health.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Every Mind Matters website and the National Health Service website both contain helpful advice for parents and carers of a child or young person with poor mental health. This includes signposting to a number of voluntary organisations offering support and information.
Family members of children with poor mental health, who feel they themselves need psychological support, should speak to their general practitioner, or can self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies online. Details are available on the NHS website.
In addition, NHS England is developing a new waiting time measure for children and their families and carers to start receiving community-based mental health care within four weeks of referral. NHS England began publishing this new data in 2023, to improve transparency and drive local accountability.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 end deaths from asthma.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the initial report, Major conditions strategy: case for change and our strategic framework, the Department developed a strategic framework on how our approach to health and care delivery can evolve to improve outcomes and better meet the needs of 6 major health conditions, including those with chronic respiratory disease (CRD). As part of the overall strategy for CRD management, we have incentivised primary care, through the general practice contract, to monitor and provide support for those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, including through annual reviews, a personalised action plan, appropriate inhaler optimisation and advice on smoking cessation.
NHS England published the NHS Long Term Plan in 2019, which set out the commitments and objectives for the National Health Service for the next 10 years, in relation to CRD. NHS England is working with a range of partners to improve outcomes across the care pathway. This includes supporting local systems to offer NHS funded tobacco treatment services, building on the £2.3 billion investment in additional diagnostic capacity and the establishment of Community Diagnostic Centres; working with key partners to introduce a range of resources and measures that promote high quality and low carbon inhaler use; publishing a National Bundle of Care for Children and Young People with Asthma to support local systems with the management of asthma care and; widening and making access to specialist care through the delegation of specialist asthma services to ICB commissioning responsibilities.
NHS England is also focused on making more respiratory-specific data available to all regions and systems, ensuring there is greater consistency in the use of data and metrics to enable meaningful comparison, and to identify areas that may need additional support for improvement. NHS England also looks forward to the publication of the updated National Institute for Health and Care Excellence asthma guideline later this year and will promote and support its implementation.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to small and medium-sized enterprises to help them adapt to new import and export regulations.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government published the final Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) on 29 August 2023. It outlines new policies and processes that importers, the border industry and wider stakeholders including EU exporters will need to go through in order to import goods. We are implementing the BTOM in stages throughout 2024 to help industry get accustomed to the changes.
We have worked extensively with small and medium enterprises to help us define and help them adapt to new controls and requirements. Since publishing the final BTOM, Defra’s ongoing engagement has included regularly contacting 30,000 importers with up-to-date information, delivering over 50 webinars to thousands of businesses, providing bespoke training and working with HMRC to issue communication to 150,000 businesses in the UK.
The risk-based model outlined in the BTOM supports businesses of all sizes by minimising costs and burdens for traders and consumers. For example, low-risk products of animal origin will not require an Export Health Certificate or routine border checks and medium risk goods will undergo reduced intervention at the border. We are also piloting new Trusted Trader schemes that will support groupage loads, which is how SMEs often transport their goods.
All businesses will benefit from using the Single Trade Window, saving time and cost for traders. When fully operational, it will make better use of data and remove duplication to make it easier to trade internationally. This can also limit the requirement to use intermediaries and helps to support small businesses through the user interface on the platform. As the Single Trade Window develops, more information will be provided as to how SMEs can be involved and utilise the service.
The Department for Business and Trade supports small and medium enterprises with national programmes such as the Growth Hub network and through schemes such as Help to Grow. The new Help to Grow Campaign includes a dedicated website, acting as a resourcing hub for business support and advice, as well as SME leadership training schemes, Help to Grow Management and Help to Grow: Management Essentials. UK businesses can access DBT’s wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk. This comprises a digital self-serve offer and our wider network of support including trade advisers, Export Champions, the Export Academy, our International Markets network and UK Export Finance.
Furthermore, since its launch in October 2021, to February 2024, the Export Support Service (ESS) Export Digital Enquiry Service has supported over 16,800 enquiries. The ESS International Markets (IM) service has been live in all nine HMTC regions since April 2022 and has received 23,500 market enquiries from 10,700 businesses (up to February 2024).
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of official development assistance humanitarian spend in East African countries has been received by local and national non-governmental organisations in country over the last year; and what steps they will take to ensure UK commitments on such funding are met, such as the Grand Bargain commitment to provide 25 per cent of humanitarian funding to local and national organisations.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Local organisations play a vital role in delivering UK funded humanitarian support across East Africa including in Ethiopia and Somalia where we support a range of different national entities. The UK strongly supports the role of national agencies in responding to humanitarian crises and building resilience. This is demonstrated in the recent International Development White Paper which commits the UK to publishing a strategy on engagement with national relief actors. Work to develop this strategy is now underway.