Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
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 reduce diagnostic waiting times for people with suspected young onset dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the spending review settlement in 2021/22, £17 million was allocated to the National Health Service to address dementia waiting lists, and to increase the number of diagnoses, which had been adversely impacted by the pandemic. NHS England will share learning on the impact of this funding and examples of good practice with dementia clinical networks, by the end of Summer 2024.
However, the dementia diagnosis rate is not calculated for patients aged under 65 years old. This is because the numbers of patients known to have dementia in the sample population age groups comprising the zero to 64 years old age range, is not large enough for reliable estimates to be made.
The Primary Care Dementia Data publication does include a monthly count of the number of patients aged 65 years old and under who do have a dementia diagnosis on their patient record, which is expressed as a raw count, and as a percentage of registered patients aged zero to 64 years old.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department carried out impact assessments prior to its decision to delay the implementation of the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act, which became law in May 2023, will require employers to pass all tips on to workers, without deductions.
The accompanying statutory Code of Practice laid before Parliament on 22nd April 2024, and the other measures in the Act, will be effective from 1st October 2024.
The implementation date for the Act was revised from 1st July 2024 to 1st October 2024 to ensure sufficient time for those affected by the changes to prepare.
The impacts of the new requirements were considered in the impact assessment prepared for the Act: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3197/publications.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with Ofwat on water companies outsourcing capital programmes to separate companies.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Direct Procurement for Customers (DPC) involves a water or wastewater company competitively tendering for services in relation to the delivery of certain large infrastructure projects, resulting in the selection of a third-party competitively appointed provider.
As part of Ofwat’s Price Review 2024, companies are encouraged to consider the use of DPC approach for discrete projects over £200 million. Outsourcing delivery via DPC has a range of possible benefits, including lower capital and operational costs, lower financing costs, and the provision of benchmarks for efficient costs.
Whether a project is delivered via DPC is a decision for Ofwat.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of individuals contracting HIV from contaminated blood in unregulated cosmetic procedures.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the risk of individuals contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from contaminated blood in unregulated cosmetic procedures. The Government is developing a licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England. This will make it an offence for an individual to carry out non-surgical cosmetic procedures without a licence, and will require people who offer procedures to be suitably trained and qualified, hold appropriate indemnity cover, and operate from premises which meet the scheme’s standards of hygiene, infection control, and cleanliness.
Following a public consultation on the scope of the scheme in 2023, the Department is working closely with stakeholders to develop detailed proposals for the licensing scheme. The scheme will complement existing legislative safeguards for certain skin piercing activities and other treatments, such as ear piercing, tattooing, acupuncture, and electrolysis. The Local Government Act 2003 and Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 give local authorities the power to register practitioners and premises, and to make and enforce byelaws. Where adopted, these byelaws protect the public by setting standards for the cleanliness and hygiene of premises, practitioners, and equipment, thereby reducing the risk of the transmission of blood-borne viruses such as HIV and hepatitis B and C.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel were based at Piave and Bapaume Barracks as of 29 April 2024.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As at 1 January 2024, there were 120 UK Armed Forces Service personnel stationed at Piave and Bapaume Barracks.
Please note the following caveats:
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel were based at Cambrai Barracks as of 29 April 2024.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As at 1 January 2024, there were 500 UK Armed Forces Service personnel stationed at Cambrai Barracks.
Please note the following caveats:
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 whether they intend to have any discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) about continuing to work with the rare condition community to improve engagement and involvement in decision-making from small organisations.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Department officials regularly meet with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to discuss a range of issues. Taking into account the advice and experience of people using services, as well as their carers or advocates, alongside that of health and social care professionals, commissioners, providers, and the public, is a central principle that guides the NICE’s work.
The NICE is committed to working with people who use health and social care services, their families, carers, and the public, as well as with voluntary and community sector organisations, and all of the NICE’s guidance is developed using a process that takes into account the opinions and views of the people who will be affected by them, to ensure their needs and priorities are reflected. The NICE gathers these perspectives through the membership of its committees, and through public consultations at various stages of guidance development. Stakeholders also have an opportunity to comment on the potential impact of the NICE’s guidance on health inequalities.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to build on the proposals in the report of Sir Andrew Dilnot’s Commission on Funding of Care and Support, Fairer Care Funding, published in July 2011.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As announced in the Autumn Statement 2022, we listened to the concerns of local government and made the decision to delay the rollout of charging reforms from October 2023 to October 2025. These reforms include the introduction of a cap on personal care costs, and a more generous adult social care means test. The Government has been considering what form the rollout of charging reform from October 2025 will take.
Asked by: Lord Lebedev (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with social media companies about protecting the mental health of under-16s, especially girls, using their platforms.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department met with TikTok and Meta in December 2022 and January 2023, to discuss the mental health of children and young people, including girls who are under 16 years old.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of steel that will be able to be produced from Port Talbot following its conversion to electric arc furnaces.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Tata Steel’s new Electric Arc Furnace will have a production capacity of approximately 3 million tonnes of crude steel per year.