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Written Question
Genetically Modified Organisms
Friday 26th July 2019

Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Guidance on how to prepare for Brexit if there's no deal, published by the Department for Exiting the European Union, what parts of the plan for exporting GM food and animal products in the event of a no deal Brexit have been implemented.

Answered by Seema Kennedy

The Food Standards Agency has advised that the guidance addressed the issue that, in the event of a ‘no deal’ scenario and in line with the European Union requirements, United Kingdom businesses holding EU authorisations for genetically modified (GM) food or feed, or for animal feed additives, would need to designate a representative established in the EU or European Economic Area. It set out the action these businesses should take to mitigate the associated risks, which we understand have been taken.

Under any EU exit scenario, it will remain the case that only GM food and animal feed that is authorised for placing on the EU market can be traded with the EU.


Written Question
Electronic Cigarettes and Tobacco: Labelling
Friday 26th July 2019

Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Guidance on how to prepare for Brexit if there's no deal, published by the Department for Exiting the European Union, what parts of the plan for labelling tobacco products and e-cigarettes in the event of a no deal Brexit have been implemented.

Answered by Seema Kennedy

The Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 Statutory instrument (SI) was laid on 1 November 2018. The primary purpose of the SI is to ensure tobacco control legislation continues to function effectively after exit day, in the event that the United Kingdom leaves the European Union without a deal. In particular, the amendments contained in this instrument allow for necessary changes to the picture warnings on tobacco products and the process by which tobacco products and e-cigarettes are notified to Public Health England and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, respectively.

The European Commission holds the copyright to the library of picture warnings used on tobacco packaging, therefore in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal we would no longer be able to access the library. An agreement was reached with the Australian Government for a licence to use their tobacco picture warnings in a ‘no deal’ scenario. The above SI repeals the requirement to use the EU set of picture warnings and introduces the new set of picture warnings as Schedule A1.

The Department has developed a new domestic notification system which would allow producers to notify tobacco products and e-cigarettes in accordance with the legislation, in the event of a ‘no deal’ scenario.


Written Question
5G: Health Hazards
Tuesday 23rd July 2019

Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research his Department has conducted on the potential effect on public health of upgrading infrastructure to support 5G.

Answered by Seema Kennedy

Public Health England (PHE) advises that the guidelines of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) should be adopted and there is no convincing evidence that radio wave exposures below the ICNIRP guideline levels cause adverse health effects. The ICNIRP guidelines cover exposures arising from new 5G base stations, as well as from older technologies.

Many exposure measurements have been made at publicly accessible locations near to mobile phone base stations, and these have consistently been well within guidelines. It is possible that there may be a small increase in overall exposure to radio waves when 5G is added to an existing network or in a new area; however, the overall exposure is expected to remain low relative to guidelines and as such there should be no consequences for public health.

PHE has published information about exposure to the radio waves from mobile phone base stations, including those for 5G networks, at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mobile-phone-base-stations-radio-waves-and-health/mobile-phone-base-stations-radio-waves-and-health

PHE continues to monitor the health-related evidence applicable to radio waves and is committed to updating its advice as required.


Written Question
Children: Health
Friday 14th June 2019

Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of children who have suffered health problems as a result of poor housing conditions in the last 12 months.

Answered by Seema Kennedy

Public Health England (PHE) does not hold data on the number of children who have suffered health problems as a result of poor housing conditions.

PHE is working with partners across the housing and health systems to reduce housing-related ill-health, including in children, by supporting local authorities, the National Health Service and frontline staff through guidance in the Cold Weather Plan and through the resources available online in Homes for Health. More information is available at the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cold-weather-plan-for-england

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-for-health

Public Health England is also working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to ensure that existing resources to improve energy efficiency and reduce fuel bills (including the Winter Fuel Payment) are targeted at the most vulnerable groups.


Written Question
HIV Infection
Friday 22nd March 2019

Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the ending of new HIV transmissions in England by 2030.

Answered by Steve Brine

The Government is committed to ending new transmissions of HIV in England by 2030. Work is underway with partners to discuss how this work will be taken forward.


Written Question
NHS: Waiting Lists
Thursday 31st January 2019

Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding will be provided to the NHS to tackle waiting times after the UK leaves the EU.

Answered by Stephen Hammond

The NHS budget will increase by £20.5 billion in real terms by 2023/24. This means that the NHS budget is growing more than twice as fast as the economy is forecast to grow – reflecting that the NHS is this Government’s top spending priority. The extra funding for the NHS will apply in all European Union exit scenarios in order to ensure it is there for the long term.


Written Question
NHS: Waiting Lists
Thursday 31st January 2019

Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons waiting time targets have not been included in the NHS Long Term Plan.

Answered by Stephen Hammond

The clinically-led review of standards was announced by the Prime Minister in June 2018. The review is considering the appropriateness of operational standards for physical and mental health relating to planned, unplanned urgent or emergency care, including cancer.

The Long Term Plan provides a platform upon which innovative models of patient care can and are being developed. In that context, the National Health Service’s National Medical Director has been working with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, Healthwatch England and many others to consider what matters most to patients, on the clinical issues with the current target regime, and what NHS staff believe will help them provide the best quality care for patients.

The review will report its interim findings in the spring of 2019, after which any recommended changes will be carefully field tested across the NHS.

In addition, NHS England’s ‘Operational and Planning Guidance for 2019/20’ sets out deliverables against key performance areas and the Government expects the NHS to deliver these actions set– in full – as key steps towards fully recovering performance against core access standards.


Written Question
NHS: Waiting Lists
Wednesday 30th January 2019

Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting times for (a) A&E admissions, (b) routine operations and (c) cancer care in were London hospitals since 2010.

Answered by Stephen Hammond

Data is not available in the format requested. NHS England collects and publishes annual national level accident and emergency, referral-to-treatment and cancer waiting times performance data. The national performance for each financial year from 2009-10, where available, is shown in the table below:

Financial year

Accident and Emergency (95% standard)

Referral-to-Treatment (92% standard)

Cancer - 2 week (93% standard)

Cancer - 31 day (96% standard)

Cancer - 62 day (85% standard)

2009-10

N/A

N/A

95.6% (Data collected from October 2009)

98.4% (Data collected from October 2009)

86.6% (Data collected from October 2009)

2010-11

97.4%

N/A

95.5%

98.3%

87.0%

2011-12

96.6%

91.3%

95.9%

98.4%

87.2%

2012-13

95.9%

94.4%

95.5%

98.4%

87.2%

2013-14

95.7%

94.1%

95.3%

98.2%

85.9%

2014-15

93.6%

93.3%

94.2%

97.7%

83.4%

2015-16

91.9%

92.5%

94.2%

97.6%

82.4%

2016-17

89.1%

90.7%

94.4%

97.5%

81.9%

2017-18

88.3%

89.1%

94.1%

97.5%

82.2%

Data is not collected by individual hospital site. Data as is available can be accessed via the following links:

Accident and Emergency (Data available from 2010-11):

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/

Referral-to-treatment (Data available from 2011-12):

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/

Cancer (Data available from 2009-10):

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/

The Long Term Plan, launched by the National Health Service on 7 January 2018, will transform patient care and make sure every penny of taxpayers’ money is spent wisely. This is supported by the Government’s investment of £20.5 billion a year in real terms by 2023/24. The additional funding will allow the NHS to get back on the path to delivering core performance standards. More than that, it will also drive the reforms that deliver a better and more sustainable NHS with improved care for patients.

In addition, NHS England’s ‘Operational and Planning Guidance for 2019/20’ sets out deliverables against key performance areas and the Government expects the NHS to deliver these actions set– in full – as key steps towards fully recovering performance against core access standards.

The Government has also supported the NHS with an additional £1.6 billion for 2018/19 to improve emergency and elective performance. In addition, more than £420 million has been provided specifically for this winter.


Written Question
NHS: Waiting Lists
Wednesday 30th January 2019

Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting times for (a) A&E admissions, (b) routine operations and (c) cancer care were in each year since 2010.

Answered by Stephen Hammond

Data is not available in the format requested. NHS England collects and publishes annual national level accident and emergency, referral-to-treatment and cancer waiting times performance data. The national performance for each financial year from 2009-10, where available, is shown in the table below:

Financial year

Accident and Emergency (95% standard)

Referral-to-Treatment (92% standard)

Cancer - 2 week (93% standard)

Cancer - 31 day (96% standard)

Cancer - 62 day (85% standard)

2009-10

N/A

N/A

95.6% (Data collected from October 2009)

98.4% (Data collected from October 2009)

86.6% (Data collected from October 2009)

2010-11

97.4%

N/A

95.5%

98.3%

87.0%

2011-12

96.6%

91.3%

95.9%

98.4%

87.2%

2012-13

95.9%

94.4%

95.5%

98.4%

87.2%

2013-14

95.7%

94.1%

95.3%

98.2%

85.9%

2014-15

93.6%

93.3%

94.2%

97.7%

83.4%

2015-16

91.9%

92.5%

94.2%

97.6%

82.4%

2016-17

89.1%

90.7%

94.4%

97.5%

81.9%

2017-18

88.3%

89.1%

94.1%

97.5%

82.2%

Data is not collected by individual hospital site. Data as is available can be accessed via the following links:

Accident and Emergency (Data available from 2010-11):

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/

Referral-to-treatment (Data available from 2011-12):

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/

Cancer (Data available from 2009-10):

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/

The Long Term Plan, launched by the National Health Service on 7 January 2018, will transform patient care and make sure every penny of taxpayers’ money is spent wisely. This is supported by the Government’s investment of £20.5 billion a year in real terms by 2023/24. The additional funding will allow the NHS to get back on the path to delivering core performance standards. More than that, it will also drive the reforms that deliver a better and more sustainable NHS with improved care for patients.

In addition, NHS England’s ‘Operational and Planning Guidance for 2019/20’ sets out deliverables against key performance areas and the Government expects the NHS to deliver these actions set– in full – as key steps towards fully recovering performance against core access standards.

The Government has also supported the NHS with an additional £1.6 billion for 2018/19 to improve emergency and elective performance. In addition, more than £420 million has been provided specifically for this winter.


Written Question
NHS: Waiting Lists
Wednesday 30th January 2019

Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to decrease waiting times for (a) A&E admissions, (b) routine operations and (c) cancer care.

Answered by Stephen Hammond

Data is not available in the format requested. NHS England collects and publishes annual national level accident and emergency, referral-to-treatment and cancer waiting times performance data. The national performance for each financial year from 2009-10, where available, is shown in the table below:

Financial year

Accident and Emergency (95% standard)

Referral-to-Treatment (92% standard)

Cancer - 2 week (93% standard)

Cancer - 31 day (96% standard)

Cancer - 62 day (85% standard)

2009-10

N/A

N/A

95.6% (Data collected from October 2009)

98.4% (Data collected from October 2009)

86.6% (Data collected from October 2009)

2010-11

97.4%

N/A

95.5%

98.3%

87.0%

2011-12

96.6%

91.3%

95.9%

98.4%

87.2%

2012-13

95.9%

94.4%

95.5%

98.4%

87.2%

2013-14

95.7%

94.1%

95.3%

98.2%

85.9%

2014-15

93.6%

93.3%

94.2%

97.7%

83.4%

2015-16

91.9%

92.5%

94.2%

97.6%

82.4%

2016-17

89.1%

90.7%

94.4%

97.5%

81.9%

2017-18

88.3%

89.1%

94.1%

97.5%

82.2%

Data is not collected by individual hospital site. Data as is available can be accessed via the following links:

Accident and Emergency (Data available from 2010-11):

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/

Referral-to-treatment (Data available from 2011-12):

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/

Cancer (Data available from 2009-10):

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/

The Long Term Plan, launched by the National Health Service on 7 January 2018, will transform patient care and make sure every penny of taxpayers’ money is spent wisely. This is supported by the Government’s investment of £20.5 billion a year in real terms by 2023/24. The additional funding will allow the NHS to get back on the path to delivering core performance standards. More than that, it will also drive the reforms that deliver a better and more sustainable NHS with improved care for patients.

In addition, NHS England’s ‘Operational and Planning Guidance for 2019/20’ sets out deliverables against key performance areas and the Government expects the NHS to deliver these actions set– in full – as key steps towards fully recovering performance against core access standards.

The Government has also supported the NHS with an additional £1.6 billion for 2018/19 to improve emergency and elective performance. In addition, more than £420 million has been provided specifically for this winter.