Asked by: Baroness Byford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many dairy producers in England and Wales were registered with the Food Standards Agency in (1) 2014, (2) 2015, (3) 2016, (4) 2017, (5) 2018, and (6) 2019.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
As at 1 April for each of the specified years, the number of milk production holdings registered by the Food Standards Agency is shown in the following table.
Date | Number of Registered Milk Production Holdings |
1 April 2014 | 10,362 |
1 April 2015 | 9,866 |
1 April 2016 | 9,585 |
1 April 2017 | 9,444 |
1 April 2018 | 9,356 |
1 April 2019 | 8,889 |
Asked by: Baroness Byford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish recommended dietary advice, similar to that for fruit and vegetables, for meat and fish.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Government recommends eating some meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein as part of a healthy balanced diet. Government advice is that we should eat on average no more than 70 grams of red meat a day due to the increased risk of bowel cancer. It also recommends eating two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oily, as oily fish provide long chain omega-3 fatty acids, which may help to prevent heart disease.
Dietary recommendations for meat and fish consumption are published in the national food model, the Eatwell Guide and its supporting messages. The Eatwell Guide provides visual representation on national guidance of how a balanced diet looks. A copy of the Eatwell Guide is attached.
Supporting documentation includes the Government Dietary Recommendations: Government recommendations for energy and nutrients for males and females aged 1-18 years and 19+ years, which outlines the breakdown of calorie, vitamin and mineral intake for different age groups. A copy of the Government Dietary Recommendations is attached.
Asked by: Baroness Byford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend that rural proofing will be applied to the NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
NHS England is aware of Rural proofing: practical guidance to assess impacts of policies on rural areas, published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in March 2017.
All Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) build on the Five Year Forward View to present an overall strategy for their geographic footprint and identify the three to five key priorities required to realise their vision. This should take account of specific challenges facing each area, which could include a dispersed, rural population.
STPs have been in the public domain for several months. Partner organisations within each area are engaging both rural and urban communities on their plans and, where required by law, consulting on service change.
NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to provide ongoing support to each STP area. In September 2016, they published Engaging Local People: A guide for local areas developing Sustainability and Transformation Plans, which set out how STP areas should reach out to stakeholders in their areas. A copy of the guidance is attached.
The NHS is exploring ways to better adapt health provision for rural areas. For example, the vanguard covering Morecambe Bay Health Community is improving healthcare in a geographically isolated area by using a high definition telemedicine link between a general practitioner (GP) surgery in Millom and the accident and emergency (A&E) department in Barrow-in-Furness. This means when GPs can seek a second opinion as to whether a patient needs intensive treatment or can be treated in the community – they can call through and have an A&E specialist examine the patient. This means that over the 1,000 square miles that Morecambe Bay covers, patients can have access to expert opinion without having to travel further than their nearest GP.
On 31 March, Next steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View was published by NHS England. The document outlined a 10-point care and efficiency plan which will further contribute to improving the health outcomes of those living in rural areas. A copy of this document is attached.
Asked by: Baroness Byford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they support Public Health England's decision to reduce the dairy food group in the revised Eatwell Guide; whether the dairy industry was consulted before that change was made; and on what scientific basis that decision was taken.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government has adopted the refreshed Eatwell Guide which reflects updated government dietary recommendations based upon conclusions from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, robust modelling and consumer research. It shows the proportions of the different types of foods and drinks we should consume to have a healthy, balanced diet.
No individual organisation was consulted as part of this refresh. An external reference group informed the development of the Eatwell Guide. Representatives from the health sector, voluntary sector and industry groups including membership, trade and levy organisations (including ones representing agricultural sectors), were members and provided routes of engagement.
Outside of the reference group involvement, 25 individuals/organisations commented directly to Public Health England. Linear programming, considered the most objective and robust approach by the reference group, informed the sizes of the food group segments, ensuring all government dietary recommendations, including that for calcium, were met.
Asked by: Baroness Byford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is (1) the average hourly rate, and (2) the range of charges, for official veterinary surgeons employed in abattoirs.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
In 2014/15 the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) full cost normal time hourly charge rate for an Official Veterinarian (OV) in Great Britain was £37.30. Discounts are applied to FSA charges and as a consequence the average hourly rate of charge for an OV was £16.81.
The range of normal time hourly rates charged for FSA OVs in Great Britain in 2014/15 was £0.00 to £37.30.
Asked by: Baroness Byford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many doctors currently employed by the NHS qualified outside the UK.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The latest data on the number of doctors who qualified outside the United Kingdom is in the following table. This is taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s annual workforce census, which shows the data as at 30 September 2014. The next census will be published in March 2016.
Headcount Data at 30 September 2014
Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) Drs | General Practitioners (GP)(excluding registrars and retainers) | GP registrars | |
Qualified in the UK | 70,470 | 27,807 | 3,585 |
Qualified in other European Economic Area (EEA) Country | 8,307 | 1,600 | 124 |
Qualified outside EEA | 27,398 | 6,403 | 803 |
Unknown | 463 | 9 | 0 |
Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre annual workforce census
Notes: The figures for HCHS doctors includes doctors in training
Asked by: Baroness Byford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many NHS doctors qualified in each of the last 10 years, broken down by gender.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department does not collect the data requested.
The General Medical Council, as the independent regulator of doctors in the United Kingdom, will hold information on doctors currently registered with them which may include their gender and what year they qualified.
Asked by: Baroness Byford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Food Standards Agency plays any part in the condemnation of food carried on heavy goods vehicles that are found to have carried unauthorised persons in the trailers.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Food Standards Agency receives notifications from the Border Force of potential contaminated food carried by goods vehicles and notifies the food business operator via their local authority. Under food law, in cases where contamination has potentially taken place, the decision as to whether foodstuffs are fit for consumption lies with the business operator, which is responsible for ensuring that any foodstuffs it places on the market are compliant with all relevant food safety and food hygiene legislation.