Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of patients who have (1) been hospitalised, and (2) sought alternative treatment, due to delays in homecare medicines delivery; and what assessment they have made of the cost of this to the NHS.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
NHS England cannot provide relevant information to these questions without creation of new data and analysis derived from manual clinical review or other processes. Arrangements for future reporting are being worked on and NHS England is undertaking a piece of work to understand the issues in homecare, so as to inform future improvement actions. A project by the National Homecare Medicines Committee to review the national Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set is already underway with consultation due later this summer and final documents expected for approval in December 2023. Publication of performance against the KPIs is part of this project.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 19 January (HL4205) which noted a need for additional data on farm stage food waste, what plans they have to include farms in the mandatory reporting of food waste policy.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
Defra consulted between June and September 2022 on options to improve food waste reporting, including consideration of a mandatory approach for food businesses. We received 3,851 responses to the consultation and the Government response will be published in 2023. This response will set out the Government’s plans in relation to improving food waste reporting, including food businesses in scope if a mandatory approach were to be taken forward.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) the University of Sunderland, (2) Sunderland Culture, and (3) Sunderland City Council, about (a) the structural problems affecting the National Glass Centre in Sunderland, and (b) the future location of that venue.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
Arts Council England, an arm’s-length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, advises that the University of Sunderland has, in recent years, undertaken work to address structural issues in the building housing the National Glass Centre. A specialist external review, commissioned by the University, concluded that a multi-million-pound investment would be required to address these issues if the National Glass Centre were to remain at its current location. As a result, and considering value for money, the University’s Board of Governors decided to identify an alternative location. The University is now exploring a variety of options with key partners including Sunderland Culture (which has been offered public funding as part of Arts Council England’s national portfolio) and Sunderland City Council to establish suitable sites. Culture House is one of the sites being discussed.
Arts Council England will continue to engage with both Sunderland Culture and the University of Sunderland as plans for the relocation continue to be developed.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the structural problems affecting the National Glass Centre in Sunderland.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
Arts Council England, an arm’s-length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, advises that the University of Sunderland has, in recent years, undertaken work to address structural issues in the building housing the National Glass Centre. A specialist external review, commissioned by the University, concluded that a multi-million-pound investment would be required to address these issues if the National Glass Centre were to remain at its current location. As a result, and considering value for money, the University’s Board of Governors decided to identify an alternative location. The University is now exploring a variety of options with key partners including Sunderland Culture (which has been offered public funding as part of Arts Council England’s national portfolio) and Sunderland City Council to establish suitable sites. Culture House is one of the sites being discussed.
Arts Council England will continue to engage with both Sunderland Culture and the University of Sunderland as plans for the relocation continue to be developed.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that consideration of food waste on farms is included in financial planning and subsidy development.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Government supports a productive and efficient farming sector that can prevent waste occurring in the first place. For instance, we are supporting investment in productivity-enhancing equipment, technology and infrastructure through the Farming Investment Fund. This provides grants to farmers, foresters and growers (including contractors to these sectors) that will help their businesses to prosper through improving their productivity whilst enhancing the environment.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to incorporate farm stage food waste into food waste reduction targets; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Government is committed to meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3 target. This target calls for a 50% reduction in food waste per capita at the retail and consumer levels and a reduction in food losses by 2030. This international goal has been made into a national target as part of the Government-funded Courtauld Commitment 2030. There are no plans at both SDG and Courtauld levels for targets for on-farm food waste reduction.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government why permission to check deep sediment samples for (1) pyridine, and (2) other dangerous substances, at dredging and digging locations on the River Tees has been refused.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The MMO have not yet received a request for a licence or for advice to sample in the relevant area. Sampling of sediment from the seabed does not necessarily require a Marine Licence from the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) if certain criteria are met. Information on when a licence from MMO may be required for sediment sampling can he found here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/marine-licensing-sediment-analysis-and-sample-plans.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish all the evidence (1) received by, and (2) considered by, the expert panel appointed to investigate the cause of mass marine deaths between the River Tees and the River Esk.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
Details of all the evidence received and considered by the panel have been published alongside the report in the document ‘Evidence gathered for the assessment of unusual crustacean mortality in the north-east of England in 2021 and 2022’ which is available on the gov.uk website. Where possible, the panel has published the evidence considered. Where this has not been possible either a link has been provided to where the data has already been published or details of the organisation which owns the evidence have been provided.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they have to suggest that the cause of mass marine deaths between the River Tees and the River Esk was the result of a new pathogen, given the presence of high levels of pyridine in dead crustaceans.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Crustacean Mortality Expert Panel were unable to identify a clear and convincing single cause for the unusual crustacean mortality but considered a novel pathogen or disease to be, as likely as not (33 to 66% probability), the cause of the mass mortalities reported in the north-east of England in autumn 2021. This likelihood is based on key observations including mortality over a sustained period and along 70 km of coastline, the unusual twitching of dying crabs and the deaths being predominantly crabs rather than other species.
The panel concluded it was very unlikely that pyridine or another toxic pollutant caused the crab deaths, given there could not be sources of any significant volume of pyridine during the period of the crab deaths. Seawater measurements (by the Environment Agency and by York University) could not detect levels of pyridine sufficient to cause mortality during this period. Environment Agency tests for pyridine in crab tissue in the affected north-east coastal region as well from Penzance, Cornwall, and the Norfolk Wash indicated that pyridine can be found in crab tissue in most samples regardless of location. Sediment levels of pyridine from dredged material and other toxic chemicals found in sediments were significantly lower than the levels which would cause crab mortality.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the expert panel appointed to investigate the cause of mass marine deaths between the River Tees and the River Esk did not undertake its own research into the deaths; and why it only met three times.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Crustacean Mortality Expert Panel (CMEP) were asked to review all the available evidence of the unusual crustacean mortality event in the north-east of England (between September and December 2021) using all relevant available data at the time of their investigation. The CMEP were given access to a variety of data (including imagery, monitoring surveys, logs; a full list of the evidence used in the CMEP report has been published alongside the report) and they reviewed published data on similar events from other locations globally. Using this evidence the CMEP provided an independent scientific assessment of the possible causes of the mass crustacean mortality incident. The remit of the CMEP did not include the collection of additional data.
The panel were asked to conduct and complete their work in a timely fashion. The full CMEP met on three occasions between December 2022 and January 2023, with subgroups meeting to analyse aspects of the issue between meetings.