Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will provide financial support to County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust to facilitate an improvement and expansion of car parking facilities at Darlington Memorial Hospital.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific fund currently exists for car parking improvements. The North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), of which County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is a partner member, received £187 million in operational capital in 2023/24, and over £566 million over the Spending Review period, which it can use for capital projects and works. This funding is prioritised by the ICB in accordance with local needs.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she (a) has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the report of the APPG for Hospice and End of Life care entitled Government funding for hospices, published in January 2024 and (b) plans to take steps in response to the findings in that report.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is already taking actions which will address many of the recommendations of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hospice and End of Life Care report.
As part of the Health and Care Act 2022, the Government added palliative care services to the list of services that an integrated care board (ICB) must commission, which will ensure a more consistent national approach and support commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care.
In July 2022, NHS England published statutory guidance and service specifications for commissioners on palliative and end of life care, setting out the considerations for ICBs in order to meet their legal duties. The guidance makes specific reference to commissioners defining how their services will meet population needs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services. However, we also recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in providing support to people at end of life, and their families. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding hospices receive is dependent on many factors, including what other statutory services are available within the ICB footprint. Charitable hospices provide a range of services which go beyond that which statutory services are legally required to provide. Consequently, the funding arrangements reflect this.
NHS England has developed a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.
Additionally, as of April 2024, NHS England will include palliative and end of life care in the list of topics for regular performance discussions between national and regional leads. These meetings will provide an additional mechanism for supporting ICBs to continue to improve palliative and end of life care for their local population.
The Government have also provided additional funding to help deliver the one-off payments to eligible staff employed by non-NHS organisations, who employ their staff on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts. Organisations were able to apply for the funding and needed to show they had been negatively financially impacted by the pay deal, and that their staff are employed on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of guaranteeing the children's hospice block grant for three years.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made of the potential merits of ring-fencing the funding for children’s hospices, or of the potential merits of guaranteeing the children’s hospice funding for three years. Details of 2025/26 funding will, however, be confirmed in due course.
We recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in the availability and delivery of high-quality, personalised palliative and end of life care for people of all ages, and their loved ones.
As made clear in the Health and Care Act 2022, it is the statutory duty of integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission palliative and end of life care services in response to the needs of their population, including for children and young people.
NHS England currently supports palliative and end of life care for children and young people through the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant. Last year, NHS England confirmed that it will be renewing the funding for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million of funding for children’s hospices, using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24. This prevalence-based approach ensures funding matches local need.
NHS England has worked closely with sector experts and sector representatives in establishing the current prevalence-based approach to deciding allocations, as well as in determining the proposed mechanism for continued funding in 2024/25.
Funding in 2024/25 will be distributed via ICBs, in line with National Health Service devolution. All ICBs in England will be formally notified of the distribution method to be used very shortly. The Department and NHS England hope to be able to provide the greater clarity that the sector is seeking on this important funding stream to children’s hospices, in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of ring-fencing the block grant for children's hospices.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made of the potential merits of ring-fencing the funding for children’s hospices, or of the potential merits of guaranteeing the children’s hospice funding for three years. Details of 2025/26 funding will, however, be confirmed in due course.
We recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in the availability and delivery of high-quality, personalised palliative and end of life care for people of all ages, and their loved ones.
As made clear in the Health and Care Act 2022, it is the statutory duty of integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission palliative and end of life care services in response to the needs of their population, including for children and young people.
NHS England currently supports palliative and end of life care for children and young people through the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant. Last year, NHS England confirmed that it will be renewing the funding for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million of funding for children’s hospices, using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24. This prevalence-based approach ensures funding matches local need.
NHS England has worked closely with sector experts and sector representatives in establishing the current prevalence-based approach to deciding allocations, as well as in determining the proposed mechanism for continued funding in 2024/25.
Funding in 2024/25 will be distributed via ICBs, in line with National Health Service devolution. All ICBs in England will be formally notified of the distribution method to be used very shortly. The Department and NHS England hope to be able to provide the greater clarity that the sector is seeking on this important funding stream to children’s hospices, in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to update the County Lines Programme to include illegal vapes.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is determined to crack down on county lines gangs which is why we are investing up to £145m over three years in our County Lines Programme to tackle the most violent and exploitative distribution model yet seen. “County lines” drug dealing is a form of drug distribution which exploits children and vulnerable young people, coercing them into being ‘runners’ and transporting illegal substances and money locally as well as around the country. The vast majority of county lines are focused on Class A drug supply, but we are clear that through our Programme, police and programme partners are supported to take action against county lines drug supply in whatever form it may take, including illegal vapes.
Through the County Lines Programme, we are also funding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC), to monitor the intelligence picture, map the national threat of county lines and prioritise action against the county lines groups causing the most harm nationwide. The NCLCC has been vital in strengthening the law enforcement response and enabling police forces to work together to tackle this complex issue. We will continue working with NCLCC to further understand the illicit substances being distributed through the county lines model.
Since the Programme was launched in 2019, police activity has resulted in over 5,100 line closures, 15,600 arrests and 8,000 safeguarding referrals. This includes over 2,100 line closures by the Programme taskforces since April 2022, meeting the HMG Drugs Strategy commitment of closing over 2,000 by April 2025 in half the time.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to use (a) licensing and (b) planning powers to reduce the number of mini markets trading in illegal vapes.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is concerned about the increase in the number of illicit vapes in the United Kingdom’s market, as well as the access and availability of these vapes to children. In April of last year, we provided £3 million of funding for a new enforcement unit to tackle the illegal and underage sale of vapes, which has conducted targeted inspections in retail outlets and ports, upskilled trading standards officers, and piloted online underage test programmes.
Whilst there are no current plans to introduce a licensing scheme, we have also recently announced a further £30 million of additional funding per year to tackle illicit and underage sales of tobacco and vape products. This additional funding in England will boost agencies such as local trading standards, to enforce the new age of sale and vaping restrictions.
Alongside this package of funding, we are also taking assertive action to reduce youth vaping more generally. We recently published our response to the smoking and vaping consultation, which sets out plans to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children, through introducing restrictions on flavours, packaging, and point of sale display. Our response to the consultation is available at the following link:
We have also announced that we will ban the sale and supply of disposable vapes, and have set out plans to introduce a £100 fixed penalty notice for underage sales of tobacco and vaping products. The Government will introduce legislation as soon as possible.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
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 with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle the (a) criminal, (b) health and (c) licensing issues arising from the sale of illegal vapes.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is concerned about the increase in the number of illicit vapes in the United Kingdom’s market, as well as the access and availability of these vapes to children. In April of last year, we provided £3 million of funding for a new enforcement unit to tackle the illegal and underage sale of vapes, which has conducted targeted inspections in retail outlets and ports, upskilled trading standards officers, and piloted online underage test programmes.
Whilst there are no current plans to introduce a licensing scheme, we have also recently announced a further £30 million of additional funding per year to tackle illicit and underage sales of tobacco and vape products. This additional funding in England will boost agencies such as local trading standards, to enforce the new age of sale and vaping restrictions.
Alongside this package of funding, we are also taking assertive action to reduce youth vaping more generally. We recently published our response to the smoking and vaping consultation, which sets out plans to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children, through introducing restrictions on flavours, packaging, and point of sale display. Our response to the consultation is available at the following link:
We have also announced that we will ban the sale and supply of disposable vapes, and have set out plans to introduce a £100 fixed penalty notice for underage sales of tobacco and vaping products. The Government will introduce legislation as soon as possible.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support Local Authorities with the (a) collection and (b) disposal of disposable vapes.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Changes are currently underway to the Producer Balancing System (PBS) under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations to ensure the costs of treating waste disposable vapes that arise at local authority waste sites are apportioned equitably amongst vape producers. The PBS also provides a guarantee to local authorities that all the waste arising at their sites, including disposable vape waste, will be collected.
On 28 December 2023, we published a consultation on reviewing the WEEE Regulations to ensure that we drive up levels of separately collected WEEE, including vapes, and that the costs of recycling are met fairly by manufacturers, importers and distributors of electrical equipment.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) foreign and (b) dual nationals who have been (i) convicted of an offence subject to more than 12 month imprisonment and (ii) deported in each of the last five years.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The information requested is not available from published statistics.
The Home Office does publish information on a quarterly basis on FNOs returns and can be found at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Foreign offenders should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them and more than 16,600 have been removed since January 2019 to September 2023. We make no apology for this vital work.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of guidance issued to register office staff on supporting families with a bereavement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The General Register Office for England and Wales is responsible for ensuring that all deaths occurring within England and Wales are registered in accordance with the law. This forms part of the UK’s system of civil registration. Register office staff are required to record certain personal details of the deceased, such as their name and date of birth/age, place, date, and cause of death.
The General Register Office has no responsibility to provide register office staff with guidance to support families following a bereavement.