Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the incidence of bus accidents leading to death or injury.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Road safety is a priority for the government, and we expect bus operators to uphold the highest standards of safety, policed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, and upheld judicially by the Traffic Commissioners. The Department for Transport’s guidance to local transport authorities on developing their Bus Service Improvement Plans makes clear that these should include plans setting out how LTAs and local bus operators will work together to ensure that bus services are safe and perceived to be safe by all. That same philosophy applies also to franchising and contracting by local transport authorities and to their operators.
The Department for Transport maintains a database of road injury collisions and casualties, including those involving buses or coaches, based on data reported by police using a system known as STATS19. Statistics on the number of people killed and injured in bus or coach collisions are published annually on GOV.UK.
The latest figures can be found in published Table RAS0601 and show that in 2023, the latest year for which figures are available, 59 people were killed and 4,286 injured in collisions involving buses or coaches. The number of casualties which were hospitalised is not recorded within the STATS19 dataset.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they hold a national database of people killed or injured in bus accidents.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Road safety is a priority for the government, and we expect bus operators to uphold the highest standards of safety, policed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, and upheld judicially by the Traffic Commissioners. The Department for Transport’s guidance to local transport authorities on developing their Bus Service Improvement Plans makes clear that these should include plans setting out how LTAs and local bus operators will work together to ensure that bus services are safe and perceived to be safe by all. That same philosophy applies also to franchising and contracting by local transport authorities and to their operators.
The Department for Transport maintains a database of road injury collisions and casualties, including those involving buses or coaches, based on data reported by police using a system known as STATS19. Statistics on the number of people killed and injured in bus or coach collisions are published annually on GOV.UK.
The latest figures can be found in published Table RAS0601 and show that in 2023, the latest year for which figures are available, 59 people were killed and 4,286 injured in collisions involving buses or coaches. The number of casualties which were hospitalised is not recorded within the STATS19 dataset.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect the National Food Crime Unit of the Food Standards Agency to obtain the full powers to operate as set out in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) National Food Crime Unit works to prevent, detect and investigate fraud within our food system. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has the power under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 to grant food crime officers access to specific investigative powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.
The drafting of secondary legislation to grant these powers and to bring food crime officers under the necessary remit of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for complaint handling purposes is at an advanced stage and is currently undergoing final review by both IOPC and the FSA.
It is intended that a regime of scrutiny by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) will also be placed on a legislative footing. A recent FSA bid for primary legislation included a Private Member’s Bill within the handout list for the first session, though this was not taken forward. However, in October 2024, HMICFRS agreed to a voluntary inspection regime for the FSA’s use of investigatory powers whilst work progresses to secure primary legislation. The FSA is working with HMICFRS to put appropriate arrangements in place for the voluntary inspection regime and Home Office officials are updating their minister of this arrangement.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 24 October (HL1589), what costs will fall on food premises in England if a requirement to display food hygiene rating certificates is introduced.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Mandatory display of ratings at premises in England would not impose additional burdens on businesses other than requiring them to display the rating stickers which are provided to them free of charge following food hygiene inspections. In its most recent assessment in 2022, the Food Standards Agency estimated a one-off cost of £3.5 million for the approximately 490,000 food businesses within scope of the scheme for familiarisation with the new requirements. This would equate to a one-off cost of £7 per business. There are no expected recurring costs.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to bring the National Food Crime Unit of the Food Standards Agency within the remit of the Independent Office for Police Conduct and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) National Food Crime Unit works to prevent, detect and investigate fraud within our food system. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has the power under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 to grant food crime officers access to specific investigative powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.
The drafting of secondary legislation to grant these powers and to bring food crime officers under the necessary remit of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for complaint handling purposes is at an advanced stage and is currently undergoing final review by both IOPC and the FSA.
It is intended that a regime of scrutiny by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) will also be placed on a legislative footing. A recent FSA bid for primary legislation included a Private Member’s Bill within the handout list for the first session, though this was not taken forward. However, in October 2024, HMICFRS agreed to a voluntary inspection regime for the FSA’s use of investigatory powers whilst work progresses to secure primary legislation. The FSA is working with HMICFRS to put appropriate arrangements in place for the voluntary inspection regime and Home Office officials are updating their minister of this arrangement.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what procedures they apply to NHS product supply chains to identify if any products which contains cotton are grown in the Xinjiang area of China.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Section 47 of the Health and Social Care Act 2022 mandated my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to conduct a review of the risks associated with slavery and human trafficking in National Health Service supply chains, with an emphasis on cotton-based products. The report was laid in parliament on 14 December 2023.
The report revealed that while many NHS tier one suppliers are United Kingdom-based, their supply chains often connect through multiple tiers to higher-risk countries, where many of the suppliers of cotton are based. Approximately 34% of high-risk suppliers were registered as based in China, where there is significant concern of forced labour, especially in Xinjiang's cotton production. Concern has also been raised about Pakistan's Sialkot region, a major source of surgical instruments where production is often subcontracted to the largely unregulated informal sector. Concerns also extend to cotton-producing nations like Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and to Malaysia and China for personal protective equipment manufacturing.
The supply chain mapping undertaken for the purpose of the review was identified as inappropriate for the size and range of products supplied to the NHS, requiring extensive effort by the buyer and suppliers to collect information that was still insufficient to affect change. Many of the suppliers identified as having high risk supply chains are UK based, however their supply chains are global.
In response to the findings the review makes a series of recommendations, outlined in detail in the publication. It advises a joint-department strategy for better risk assessment and mapping in NHS supply chains, urging ongoing emphasis on managing modern slavery risks, including updating procurement practices and standardising assessments integrated with e-commerce systems.
It recommends bolstering NHS staff's ability to tackle modern slavery, and improving supply chain mapping capability. Upcoming regulations under Section 12ZC of the NHS Act 2006 will further aid the NHS in assessing and mitigating modern slavery risks in individual procurements, alongside the introduction of a consistent risk assessment embedded into the health family’s e-commerce system.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have conducted any checks of products they use which contain cotton to ascertain where the cotton was grown.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Section 47 of the Health and Social Care Act 2022 mandated my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to conduct a review of the risks associated with slavery and human trafficking in National Health Service supply chains, with an emphasis on cotton-based products. The report was laid in parliament on 14 December 2023.
The report revealed that while many NHS tier one suppliers are United Kingdom-based, their supply chains often connect through multiple tiers to higher-risk countries, where many of the suppliers of cotton are based. Approximately 34% of high-risk suppliers were registered as based in China, where there is significant concern of forced labour, especially in Xinjiang's cotton production. Concern has also been raised about Pakistan's Sialkot region, a major source of surgical instruments where production is often subcontracted to the largely unregulated informal sector. Concerns also extend to cotton-producing nations like Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and to Malaysia and China for personal protective equipment manufacturing.
The supply chain mapping undertaken for the purpose of the review was identified as inappropriate for the size and range of products supplied to the NHS, requiring extensive effort by the buyer and suppliers to collect information that was still insufficient to affect change. Many of the suppliers identified as having high risk supply chains are UK based, however their supply chains are global.
In response to the findings the review makes a series of recommendations, outlined in detail in the publication. It advises a joint-department strategy for better risk assessment and mapping in NHS supply chains, urging ongoing emphasis on managing modern slavery risks, including updating procurement practices and standardising assessments integrated with e-commerce systems.
It recommends bolstering NHS staff's ability to tackle modern slavery, and improving supply chain mapping capability. Upcoming regulations under Section 12ZC of the NHS Act 2006 will further aid the NHS in assessing and mitigating modern slavery risks in individual procurements, alongside the introduction of a consistent risk assessment embedded into the health family’s e-commerce system.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 21 October (HL1588), whether the public consultation on modern slavery in the NHS supply chain will include alternatives to the Modern Slavery Assessment tool, such as element-analysis processes.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The consultation will comprise of draft regulations which set out what public bodies will need to do to assess and mitigate the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking in all procurement for goods and services for the purposes of health care in the National Health Service. This will be accompanied by guidance on how to best comply with the regulations, including how to assess risk.
The guidance will refer to a risk assessment tool NHS England is currently developing based on the six characteristics to help assess modern slavery risks, as set out in the Public Procurement Policy Note 02/23 on identifying and managing modern slavery risks. These are:
The Department would of course welcome ideas and suggestions on risk assessment tools and methodologies in responses to the consultation.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to make food hygiene rating certificates mandatory in England.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is operated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), in partnership with local authorities across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. We will consider whether mandatory display of ratings should be introduced in England in due course. In the meantime, the FSA is working with its local authority partners to maintain and improve the impact and benefits of this highly successful public health scheme.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to respond to the report by Professor Alexis Jay The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (HC720), published on 20 October 2022.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is working closely with departments across Government, including the Department for Education, Department for Health and Social Care, and the Ministry of Justice, to identify how best to deliver against the recommendations made in the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
Tackling child sexual abuse is a cross-Government priority. We are committed to confronting this horrific crime whenever and wherever it occurs and using all levers available to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation. The lessons learned from the Independent Inquiry, based on the input of over 6000 victims and survivors, will provide a fundamental basis for this work.
This government understands the frustration with the delays, and we hope to reset this and get started on this soon.