Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport) on 12 February (12929), when they will publish the chapter on zero emission powered light vehicles for the Local Authority Transport Decarbonisation Toolkit.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The guidance for Local Authorities on zero emission powered light vehicles is being finalised and is expected to be published shortly.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the civil war in Sudan and the humanitarian consequences for communities and individuals across that country.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The humanitarian situation in Sudan continues to deteriorate, with 24.8 million people in need of assistance. The conflict that started on 15 April 2023 has displaced more than 8 million people, including over 1.9 million who have fled Sudan to neighbouring countries. The recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) projection for Sudan reveals that intense conflict and organised violence, combined with continued economic decline, have driven approximately 17.7 million people into high levels of acute food insecurity. The UK is providing £42.6 million in humanitarian aid to Sudan in 2023-2024. We are also helping those fleeing to neighbouring countries, with £7.75 million to support existing and new Sudanese refugees as well as vulnerable returnees and host communities South Sudan and £15 million to Chad.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what mechanisms for oversight, checks and balances, and due diligence they have in place for funding to the government in Iraq; and whether the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office track where this funding is allocated by the government of Iraq.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We do not currently provide any funding directly to the Government of Iraq, rather our programmes are delivered through implementing partners, including UN agencies, NGOs and private sector organisations.
Thorough due diligence assessments of all funding is carried out to ensure that partners have procedures in place to manage the main risks of aid diversion from activities it funds, including specific controls to ensure that assistance goes direct to the intended beneficiaries. Programmes are monitored regularly in year and through annual and project completion reviews. Third Party Monitoring, incorporated into some programmes, strengthens assurance and supports learning and evidence.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s severity modifier on the prescribing of cancer medicines.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its updated manual for health technology evaluations in January 2022, and has introduced a number of changes to make its methods and processes fairer, faster, and more consistent.
This includes the introduction of a broader severity modifier in place of the end-of-life modifier. NICE has been monitoring the impact of the changes that it introduced and analysis carried out by NICE for the first year of the updated manual’s implementation shows that NICE’s committee accepted 11 out of 13 cases where the company applied for a severity modifier, with eight of these being for cancer medicines.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) funding, and (2) other assistance, they will provide along with international partners to prevent famine and starvation in (a) Gaza, and (b) Sudan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Palestinians are facing a devastating and growing humanitarian crisis. On 20 March, the Foreign Secretary announced the UK has funded WFP to provide 2000 tons of food aid, enough to feed 275,000 people in Gaza. On 25 March, the Royal Air Force airdropped 10 tonnes of food aid - including water, rice and baby food - directly to civilians in Gaza.
We continue to call for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life.
We have trebled our aid commitment this financial year and we are doing everything we can to get more aid in as quickly as possible by land, sea and air.
With regard to Sudan, the UK has provided £42.6 million in humanitarian aid, including food security and nutrition assistance, to support people in Sudan in 2023-2024. UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the country will increase to £89 million for the year ahead.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what funding they are currently providing to the government of Iraq broken down in terms of (1) how much funding is provided, and (2) where this funding is directed once it reaches Iraq.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK wants to see a more stable, peaceful and prosperous Iraq. Through both our bilateral and centrally managed programmes, we aim to counter threats, foster stability and development, while promoting UK interests and values. We do not currently provide any funding directly to the Government of Iraq, rather this is delivered through implementing partners, including UN agencies, NGOs and private sector organisations. All of our partners are subject to rigorous and robust checks to ensure that our funding reaches intended beneficiaries.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to adopt a new immunisation programme and ensure that there is high uptake of this programme.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is advised by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI considers the disease’s burden on society, vaccine safety and efficacy, and the impact and cost effectiveness of immunisation strategies, before making a recommendation as to whether a new immunisation programme should be developed. This advice is then considered by the Department and, subject to that consideration, the Department works with partners, including the National Health Service and the UK Health Security Agency, to ensure the effective implementation of this advice. This includes work to ensure vaccine uptake of any implemented programmes is high. Numerous methods are used to ensure high uptake, including targeted communications, ensuring vaccine accessibility and availability.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to assess the impact of new immunisation programmes for infant respiratory syncytial virus on (1) hospitalisations, and (2) health inequality.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monitors national immunisation programmes in England. The UKHSA’s Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Watch surveillance system collects weekly information on admissions to hospital with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), to monitor admission rates in each RSV season. If a programme is introduced, monitoring of its effectiveness would include thorough analysis of immunisation records, both infant or maternal, and laboratory results for patients needing healthcare for RSV-like illness. The UKHSA can also monitor RSV admissions by deprivation and ethnicity, using routine National Health Service records, when these become available following the RSV season. The UKHSA will also monitor inequalities in uptake of the RSV immunisation programmes, through its routine uptake data collections.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to assess the wider productivity and economic benefits of any new immunisation programmes for infant respiratory syncytial virus.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The independent Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises the Department on the approach to vaccination and immunisation. The JCVI’s evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) programme was based on the health benefits of an infant RSV programme, and the potential healthcare cost savings from preventing cases and hospitalisations.
The Department did not ask the JCVI to complete an assessment of the wider productivity and economic benefits when determining the cost-effectiveness of a vaccination programme, and the Department did not assess this separately for RSV.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what information they have on countries currently implementing immunisation programmes for infant respiratory syncytial virus with regard to (1) acceptance and uptake, and (2) hospitalisations.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the United States, as of 31 January 2024, maternal immunisation was 17.9%. By February 2024, 43% of infants under eight months old had received a dose of nirsevimab.
In Galicia, Spain, 92.9% of 5,357 infants born from 25 September 2023 to 4 February 2024 had nirsevimab, as well as 79.7% of 5,823 infants included in a catch-up programme. The peak of the hospitalisation rate in infants under six months old was 102 per 100,000 in 2023/24, during the week starting 27 November 2023. This is compared to a median of 776 for 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20, peaking during the first week of the January.
In Luxembourg, 84% of 1524 infants born in hospital between early October and mid-December 2023 received nirsevimab. Luxembourg observed a decrease in hospitalisation in infants under six months old of 69%, between the 2022/23 and 2023/24 respiratory syncytial virus seasons.