Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce an annual respiratory services delivery report.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to introduce an annual respiratory services delivery report.
The Association of Respiratory Technology and Physiology (ARTP) sets and assesses competence against the standards for quality assured spirometry. The ARTP oversee a national register of those who achieved certification in the performance and/or interpretation of spirometry. Additional funding has been made available to systems in 2021/22 and 2022/23 for the training and accreditation of staff in the provision and interpretation of quality assured spirometry. This process is being supported by respiratory clinical networks.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide devices to diagnose asthma. These devices were selected by the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) for tailored support in 2021/22 as part of the Rapid Uptake Product (RUP) programme to increase adoption in the National Health Service.
During 2021/22, the RUP programme produced resources with AAC partners to support successful implementation and improve patient access to these products. This included educational packages for health professional responsible for care to improve knowledge and skills.
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure the universal restart of spirometry testing in primary care prior to the establishment of community diagnostic centres.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
Systems have been asked to work towards restoring asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) registers and spirometry checks for adults and children to pre-pandemic levels in 2022/23. The Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF) for 2022/23 includes respiratory indicators in relation to the diagnosis of asthma and COPD which was fully re-instated in April 2022.
For people with a diagnosis of asthma, the QOF sets thresholds for maintaining a record of patients with either a record of spirometry and one other objective test between three and six months after diagnosis, and within six months of registration for those newly registered with a diagnosis of asthma but no record of objective tests performed at the date of registration.
For those with COPD, the QOF asks practices to maintain a record of people with a diagnosis on or after 1 April 2021 whose diagnosis has been confirmed by quality assured post bronchodilator spirometry between three months before or six months after diagnosis or within six months of registration, in addition to patients with a clinical diagnosis on or after 1 April 2021 who are unable to undertake spirometry.
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they are proposing to address the finding by Asthma + Lung UK that the UK has the highest rate of lung disease deaths in western Europe.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Plan proposed interventions which included early and accurate diagnosis, increasing service provision for pulmonary rehabilitation, medicines optimisation, a care bundle for community acquired pneumonia and self-management of respiratory conditions. We are expanding pulmonary rehabilitation into less served communities and improving self-management support for patients with lung disease.
The Quality Outcomes Framework ensures all general practitioner practices in England establish and maintain a register of patients with a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma diagnosis in accordance with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines. This ensures regular reviews and monitoring of those with asthma and COPD.
We are encouraging the use of preventer inhalers, inhaled corticosteroid inhalers and reducing overuse of reliever inhalers and short-acting bronchodilator inhalers, which are associated with poorer clinical outcomes. A Commissioning for Quality and Innovation incentive for a care bundle for community acquired pneumonia commenced in April 2022. The Lung Health @home project is working with the national respiratory programme to enable more patients to manage their lung health at home and ensuring they can access the most appropriate support. The project aims to deliver supported self-management and exercise and activity tools for those diagnosed with a chronic lung condition. NHS England and NHS Improvement have also established 13 Respiratory Clinical Networks to provide clinical leadership of respiratory services.
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to include metric-driven targets on improvements in respiratory mortality and provision of care within the NHS Long Term Plan.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
There are no specific plans to do so. However, NHS England and NHS Improvement are updating the NHS Long Term Plan to review progress and state the actions required to recover services such as elective care. Implementation plans will be developed to support National Health Service delivery and new Operating Models from 2023 to 2025, within the existing NHS budget. NHS England and NHS Improvement will work with partners, patient and staff groups, NHS networks and the public to review the delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan.
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have if any, to amend the Licensing Act 2003 to add public health as a licensing objective.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Government believes the existing provisions to consider health matters in relation to licensing applications are sufficient at present.
Directors of Public Health in England and Local Health Boards in Wales have been responsible authorities under the Licensing Act 2003 since 2012. As responsible authorities, health bodies are automatically notified of new licence applications and can make representations based on the existing licensing objectives
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for industries including aviation, which do not expect to return to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels in the short term.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
As set out at Budget 2021, the Government will extend the CJRS for a further five months from May until the end of September 2021 in order to aid businesses and employees through the next stage of the pandemic. Furloughed workers in the UK will continue to receive more generous support than those in many other countries, as the CJRS ensures employees receive 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to £2,500 per month.
The scheme will be extended on current terms – with no additional employer contributions – until the end of June 2021.
As the economy reopens and demand returns, the Government will ask employers to make a small additional contribution, of 10% towards the cost of paying for unworked hours, from July. As the economy reopens further, this employer contribution will increase to 20% in August and September.
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce business rates for those businesses in the aviation sector affected by the COVID-19 travel ban.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Government has renewed the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS), which provides support for eligible commercial airports and ground handlers in England, for an additional 6 months from 1 April 2021. It will cover the equivalent of their business rates liabilities or COVID-19 losses – whichever is lower – for the first 6 months of the 2021/22 financial year, subject to certain conditions and a cap per claimant of £4m.
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent of the loss of air routes in Europe since the UK left the EU.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The new UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) does not place any restriction on air services between points in the UK and points in the EU, ensuring that UK-EU trade can continue to travel freely by air.
Furthermore, the TCA recognises that, at their discretion, EU Member states may permit UK airlines to operate non-scheduled air services within and beyond the EU. The TCA also allows the UK and individual EU Member States to negotiate and agree a bilateral exchange of additional “5th Freedom” all-cargo rights. My officials are engaging closely with EU Member States and with industry on these matters.
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many meetings they have had with representatives of the aviation industry to discuss the aviation COVID-19 recovery package.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Since the onset of the pandemic, the Department for Transport has engaged very regularly with the industry, including through both Ministerial meetings and official led sessions.
As announced on 22 February as part of the roadmap for the phased lifting of restrictions in England, the Secretary of State for Transport will also now lead a successor to the Global Travel Taskforce to develop a framework that can facilitate greater international travel when the time is right, while still managing the risk from imported cases and variants.
The Government is also developing a forward looking strategic framework on the recovery of the sector, which we engage with the industry on and will publish later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Harris of Richmond (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of forecast (1) recovery, and (2) growth, in (a) air transport, and (b) the travel sector.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Department has not produced economic forecasts of recovery and growth in the air transport or travel sectors. The Department maintains a capability to produce a range of passenger demand scenarios, reflecting the uncertainty surrounding the potential shape of recovery, for internal use.
The Department recognises the severe impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on travel, and work continues to understand how best the industry can be supported at this time. The Government is working on a strategic framework for the recovery of the sector. It will explore the return to growth of the aviation sector, and will include consideration of workforce and skills, regional connectivity, noise, innovation and regulation, and consumer issues.
Aviation businesses have access to the unprecedented economic support package that the Chancellor has put in place to help businesses to manage the challenges they are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to this, the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS) opened for applications on 29 January to provide support for eligible commercial airports and ground handlers in England.
Through the Global Travel Taskforce, the Government will work closely with the industry to find ways to safely and gradually ease restrictions on international travel. We will set out more detail on this soon.