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 Food Standards Agency's investigation into the mislabelling of the country of origin on pre-packaged sliced beef.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) National Food Crime Unit is carrying out an investigation into a meat supplier. The investigation commenced in August 2021 and is pursuing allegations that the supplier fraudulently provided products labelled as British that were sourced from other countries. As this is a complex criminal investigation which must be carried out with due process and fairness, it is important that the investigation continues to adhere to the highest possible professional standards so that justice can be served.
In recent weeks allegations have been made regarding potential hygiene and food safety breaches, with the FSA currently exploring these allegations. No current food safety risks have been identified. The Chief Executive has recently made a statement about the investigation.
The FSA is held to account by its independent Board, which was set up in the 1999 Food Standards Act. The Board meets in public on a quarterly basis and next meets on 21 June 2023, in Belfast.
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 efficacy of medication, such as paroxetine, for the treatment of problem gambling.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst no specific assessment has been made, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence is developing a clinical guideline for the treatment of harmful gambling. This will cover psychological and psychosocial interventions as well as pharmacological treatments, with publication expected in early 2024.
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 estimate they have made of the number of children under five years old who benefit from the provision of free school milk; and what plans they have to expand that provision.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Approximately 810,587 children received a portion of milk through the Nursery Milk Scheme every school day during 2021/22. There are no plans to expand the provision.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government why screening of malnutrition is not standard practice in all health settings across England.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that all hospital inpatients on admission and all outpatients at their first clinic appointment should be screened for malnutrition. Screening should be repeated weekly for inpatients and when there is clinical concern for outpatients. Residents in care homes should be screened on admission and when there is clinical concern.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Markham on 16 November (HL3261) and 17 November (HL3260), what data they can provide on patient numbers at (1) NHS gambling clinics, and (2) the NHS national children and young person’s pilot gambling clinic.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the information requested is not held by clinic, the following table shows the number of referrals to the NHS London Gambling Service via the National Problem Gambling Clinic and Children and Young Person’s Clinic and the Northern Gambling Service in Leeds, Manchester and Sunderland in each year since 2020/21.
2020/21 | 775 |
2021/22 | 1,013 |
April to September 2022 | 599 |
Data from the Children and Young Person’s Clinic includes referrals for gaming.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Markham on 16 November (HL3261) and 17 November (HL3260), why they do not have the data requested; and what plans they have to collect such data.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is currently collected by service rather than by clinic. In 2023/24, NHS England plans to report data from all National Health Service gambling services through the Mental Health Services Dataset.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many more NHS gambling clinics are being planned; and where those clinics will be situated.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service will open an additional seven specialist gambling clinics by the end of 2023/24, to deliver the NHS Long Term Plan’s commitment to establish 15 such clinics in England. While the locations of these clinics have not yet been confirmed, NHS England aims to have a clinic in each region in England.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many patients have been treated in the NHS gambling clinics in (1) London, (2) Leeds, (3) Manchester, and (4) Sunderland, in the past year.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not currently collected in the format requested.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many young people have been treated in the NHS national children and young person’s pilot gambling clinic in the past year, broken down by (1) age, and (2) the region of the country they live in.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not collected centrally in the format requested.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the prevalence of microplastics in food production.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is monitoring and assessing emerging information concerning microplastics in food. Based on current information, the FSA considers it is unlikely that the presence of these particles in food or drink would cause harm to consumers. However, this will be kept under review as new evidence becomes available.