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, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on (a) reducing alcohol harm among children and (b) providing effective education for young people on that subject.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Alcohol dependence is rare in children under the age of 18 years old, although they may be drinking problematically. Children may also experience harm associated with parental alcohol dependence. For those that do need support, the Department has allocated £532 million of additional funding through to 2024/25 to support improvements in treatment, including facilitating 5,000 more young people into age-appropriate alcohol and drug treatment.
The most effective and sustainable approach to reducing alcohol harms in young people is by giving them the best start in life, the best education possible and by keeping them safe, well and happy. Statutory guidance on relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) requires all primary and secondary school pupils to be taught the key facts and risks of alcohol use, as well as how to manage influences and pressure, and keep themselves healthy and safe. The Department has worked with the Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education Association to develop the lesson plans on alcohol and is currently commissioning an update of the resources to be published later this year. Further information is available at the following link:
https://pshe-association.org.uk/drugeducation
The Department for Education is evaluating the delivery of RSHE. The findings and recommendations will progress our Drug Strategy commitment that all children and young people are provided with effective high quality education to prevent future alcohol and drug use. Our strategy is available at the following link:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/629078bad3bf7f036fc492d1/From_harm_to_hope_PDF.pdf
The Government also has an information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce alcohol and drug use and its harms by providing awareness to young people, parents and concerned others. Information on alcohol and its harms is available at the following link:
https://www.talktofrank.com/drug/alcohol
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on the agreements made at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15).
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK played a leading role at COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity in securing agreement to a historic package of measures to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Our priority for COP16 and beyond is to drive global delivery of these agreements both at home and abroad, by working closely with our international partners.
Since COP15, we have worked internationally to drive delivery of the Kunming Montreal targets, including by:
Domestically we have:
The four nations of the UK are working together and aim to publish a UK-wide revised NBSAP (National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan) by May 2024, ahead of CBD COP16.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to investigate any possible link between COVID-19 vaccinations and increasing numbers of premature deaths from heart and circulatory conditions since 2020.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no evidence linking excess deaths to the COVID-19 vaccine. Analysis from the Office for National Statistics, published on 25 August 2023, shows that people who died between 1 April 2021 and 31 May 2023 and who had a COVID-19 vaccine, had a lower mortality rate than those who had not been vaccinated.
Each COVID-19 vaccine is only authorised once it has met robust standards of effectiveness, safety and quality set by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). No medicine or vaccine is completely risk-free, but the MHRA continually monitors the safety of the vaccines through a comprehensive vaccine surveillance strategy. This monitoring strategy is proactive and based on a wide range of information sources, with a dedicated team of scientists continually reviewing information to look for safety issues or any unexpected, rare events. Any information indicating a possible new safety concern is thoroughly evaluated, including through a review by the independent expert working group for COVID-19. Updated advice for healthcare professionals and patients is issued where appropriate.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 availability of genomic testing.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Genomic Test Directory defines which genomic tests must be delivered by the NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs in England, as well as who is eligible for genomic testing. The directory currently covers testing for over 3,200 rare diseases and over 200 cancer clinical indications. NHS England regularly updates the directory, through a robust and evidence-based test evaluation process, to keep pace with scientific and technological advances, and to ensure that genomic testing is available for all patients for whom it would be of clinical benefit. Testing is available for all eligible patients across England.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's Methods and Process on patients with rare and ultra-rare diseases.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A number of the changes made by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to its methods and processes for health technology evaluation are expected to benefit medicines for rare diseases, including the introduction of a severity modifier and greater flexibility in responding to uncertainty. NICE has committed to assessing the impact of the changes on patients with rare diseases.
Due to length of the medicine’s evaluation process and number of rare disease topics using older methods or processes, the analysis of the impact of changes will take some time to assess. Data is being collected which will allow, for example, the percentage of positive NICE recommendations made following old methods and processes compared with new methods and processes for rare diseases, to be assessed. NICE will be in a position to publish the impact of the 2022 manual changes in a report by the end of 2024.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to ensure future NHS genomic testing publications include data on access to different cancer tests based on an individual's (a) ethnicity, (b) socioeconomic status and (c) type of cancer test.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service genomic testing activity data, collected from all seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs, is available on the NHS England website. NHS England will continue to publish this data on a quarterly basis. The published data indicates the total volume of genomic testing activity completed per month, broken down into cancer and rare and inherited disease. The cancer data is further separated into nine different categories of cancer. NHS England is looking into separating this further if there are other specific categories of cancer test type which would be of interest. The published data does not currently include data broken down by ethnicity or socioeconomic status, but NHS England’s ambition is to improve and expand future publications of the data, which may include areas relating to health inequalities.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of people with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease in (a) Rother Valley constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In January 2021, the Government published the UK Rare Diseases Framework providing a national vision for how to improve the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. The framework lists the following four priorities, collaboratively developed with the rare disease community: helping patients get a final diagnosis faster; increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals; better coordination of care; and improving access to specialist care, treatments and drugs.
To support with training for and awareness of rare diseases, National Genomics Education has developed a range of resources, including GeNotes. GeNotes puts innovative educational resources on genomics and rare diseases at the fingertips of healthcare professionals and includes information on Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which supports healthcare professionals to identify and manage this condition.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what training healthcare professionals receive in (a) diagnosing and (b) supporting people with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In January 2021, the Government published the UK Rare Diseases Framework providing a national vision for how to improve the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. The framework lists the following four priorities, collaboratively developed with the rare disease community: helping patients get a final diagnosis faster; increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals; better coordination of care; and improving access to specialist care, treatments and drugs.
To support with training for and awareness of rare diseases, National Genomics Education has developed a range of resources, including GeNotes. GeNotes puts innovative educational resources on genomics and rare diseases at the fingertips of healthcare professionals and includes information on Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which supports healthcare professionals to identify and manage this condition.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
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 treatment for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In January 2021, the Government published the UK Rare Diseases Framework providing a national vision for how to improve the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. The framework lists the following four priorities, collaboratively developed with the rare disease community: helping patients get a final diagnosis faster; increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals; better coordination of care; and improving access to specialist care, treatments and drugs.
To support with training for and awareness of rare diseases, National Genomics Education has developed a range of resources, including GeNotes. GeNotes puts innovative educational resources on genomics and rare diseases at the fingertips of healthcare professionals and includes information on Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which supports healthcare professionals to identify and manage this condition.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the number of prison officers dismissed for having intimate relationships with prisoners for each year since 2014.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The number of band 3-5 prisons officers who were recommended for dismissal for having an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner/ex-prisoner is given in table 1 below. It is not recorded centrally whether the relationship was intimate or not.
Inappropriate relationships with prisoner(s) can result in conviction of criminal offence(s). This data does not include summary dismissals as a result of staff being convicted of criminal offences.
Table 1: Number of band 3-5 prison officers1,2 recommended for dismissal3 for having an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner/ex-prisoner, 2013/14 to 2022/23 | |||
(Headcount) | |||
Financial year | Number of band 3-5 prison officers recommended for dismissal | Average band 3-5 officers in post4 | Percentage of band 3-5 prison officers |
2013/14 | 8 | 20,682 | 0.04% |
2014/15 | 5 | 18,732 | 0.03% |
2015/16 | 4 | 19,068 | 0.02% |
2016/17 | ~ | 18,902 | ~ |
2017/18 | 3 | 20,250 | 0.01% |
2018/19 | 11 | 22,870 | 0.05% |
2019/20 | 8 | 23,167 | 0.03% |
2020/21 | 10 | 22,790 | 0.04% |
2021/22 | 13 | 23,054 | 0.06% |
2022/23 | 12 | 22,834 | 0.05% |
Notes |
1. Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (including specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers. |
2. Staff with at least one conduct and discipline case concluded during the year |
3. A dismissal case is defined as where at least one of the charges relating to an individual is recommended for dismissal. Information on the outcomes of any appeal is not included. |
4. Average of quarterly snapshots based on headcount of staff. |
~ denotes suppressed values of 2 or fewer or other values which would allow values of 2 or fewer to be derived by subtraction. Low numbers are suppressed to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 2018. |
Dismissal due to inappropriate relationship with a prisoner/ex-prisoner is a very rare occurrence given public sector prisons have over 20,000 prison officers in employment.
Over the last few years we have continued to increase in capacity and deliver our counter-corruption strategy. Through the £100m Security Investment Programme announced in August 2019, over 100 new staff were recruited into the Counter Corruption Unit. This includes regional 'Prevent' teams, dedicated to building staff resilience through training, awareness raising and individual support.