Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests for split payments of Universal Credit his Department (a) received and (b) granted in each year from 2016.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of Universal Credit payments to couples with children are paid into the main caregiver’s account.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The requested information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the press release entitled Disability benefits system to be reviewed as PM outlines "moral mission" to reform welfare, published on 19 April 2024, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the recently announced proposed reforms to the disability benefits system.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department discusses various aspects of social security with the Scottish Government, at both Ministerial and official level. We continue to engage with the Scottish Government to consider the implications of the proposals outlined in the Prime Minister’s announcement and the Health and Disability Green Paper consultation in Scotland.

Modernising Support for Independent Living: The Health and Disability Green Paper was published on Monday 29 April.

The UK Government is committed to improving the lives of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in all parts of the UK. Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is devolved in Scotland and has been replaced with Adult Disability Payment. No new claims to PIP have been made in Scotland since August 2022.

However, DWP continues to deliver PIP in Scotland for existing cases on behalf of Scottish Ministers whilst Scottish cases are being transferred to Social Security Scotland. All cases are due to be transferred in 2025 and DWP will no longer have any delegated administrative authority regarding PIP in Scotland once transfer is complete.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the upcoming consultation on the Personal Independence Payment reforms.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department discusses various aspects of social security with the Scottish Government, at both Ministerial and official level. We continue to engage with the Scottish Government to consider the implications of the proposals outlined in the Prime Minister’s announcement and the Health and Disability Green Paper consultation in Scotland.

Modernising Support for Independent Living: The Health and Disability Green Paper was published on Monday 29 April.

The UK Government is committed to improving the lives of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in all parts of the UK. Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is devolved in Scotland and has been replaced with Adult Disability Payment. No new claims to PIP have been made in Scotland since August 2022.

However, DWP continues to deliver PIP in Scotland for existing cases on behalf of Scottish Ministers whilst Scottish cases are being transferred to Social Security Scotland. All cases are due to be transferred in 2025 and DWP will no longer have any delegated administrative authority regarding PIP in Scotland once transfer is complete.

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 (a) mitigate potential future shortages of (i) Creon 25000 and (ii) other essential medicines and (b) ensure that people affected by medicine shortages have access to alternative options.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are aware of ongoing intermittent supply issues with Creon 25000 gastro-resistant capsules. These are due to manufacturing and active pharmaceutical ingredient constraints. The supplier has confirmed that stock of Creon 25000 gastro resistant capsules is now available, with further deliveries scheduled in May 2024. The Department has issued guidance to healthcare professionals regarding treatment of patients, while there was disruption to the supply of Creon 25000 gastro-resistant capsules. We continue to explore all management options to manage this issue. We have asked the supplier to continue confirming their future forecasts, and to inform us of any further gaps in supply of Creon 25000 gastro-resistant capsules.

Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, we have a range of well-established tools and processes to mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with the suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs), and issuing NHS communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals, so they can advise and support their patients.

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 availability of Creon 25000 across the UK.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are aware of ongoing intermittent supply issues with Creon 25000 gastro-resistant capsules. These are due to manufacturing and active pharmaceutical ingredient constraints. The supplier has confirmed that stock of Creon 25000 gastro resistant capsules is now available, with further deliveries scheduled in May 2024. The Department has issued guidance to healthcare professionals regarding treatment of patients, while there was disruption to the supply of Creon 25000 gastro-resistant capsules. We continue to explore all management options to manage this issue. We have asked the supplier to continue confirming their future forecasts, and to inform us of any further gaps in supply of Creon 25000 gastro-resistant capsules.

Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, we have a range of well-established tools and processes to mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with the suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs), and issuing NHS communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals, so they can advise and support their patients.

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 implications for her policies of trends in the number of warnings from drugs companies on impending supply problems for certain products; and what steps her Department is taking to help ensure stability of supply for essential medications.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are approximately 14,000 medicines licensed for supply in the United Kingdom, and the overwhelming majority are in good supply. The medicine supply chain is complex, global, and highly regulated, and supply issues can be caused by a range of factors. For example, suppliers can encounter manufacturing problems, difficulty accessing raw materials, and surges in demand. These are commonly cited as the drivers of recent supply issues, which have affected many countries, not just the UK.

The number of supply issue notifications received by the Department has remained relatively stable through 2022 and 2023. This followed an initial increase in 2021 following the introduction of a new reporting portal for manufacturers, in October 2020, which is used to notify the Department of potential issues, shortages, and discontinuations.

Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, we have a range of well-established tools and processes to mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs), and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals, so they can advise and support their patients.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to ensure that single household payments of Universal Credit are paid into the main caregiver’s account.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

A prompt on the online Universal Credit application form, suggests that the customer uses the bank, building society or credit union account details for the carer who spends the most time looking after the children.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to respond to email correspondence of (a) 11 January, (b) 8 February, (c) 1 March and (d) 15 March 2024 from the hon. Member for Glasgow East with references (i) MC2024/00868 and (ii) DL17224.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

A response to the hon. Member was sent out on 30 April 2024. I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding.

Declaration to mark the visit of Father Gabriel Romanelli to Scotland

Found: Q20 David Linden: That was great. I will turn to Mr Wilson.

Found: David Linden: Does anyone want to demur from that?

Found: (58.8%) Nigel Mills (Conservative, Amber Valley) (added 2 Mar 2020) 15 of 17 (88.2%) 1 David

Found: David Linden: Mr Murray, is there anything you wish to add?