Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has had discussions with (a) HM Treasury and (b) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the adoption of a discount rate of 1.5% when assessing the future (a) benefits and (b) costs of medicines to align with the guidance set out in the Green Book.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has had a number of discussions with HM Treasury and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) about the discount rate used in the evaluation of medicines, including as part of the 2022 review of NICE’s methods and processes for health technology evaluation.
Through the methods review, NICE concluded that it was appropriate to maintain the reference case discount rate of 3.5% and has retained the flexibility in its methods for its committees to apply a lower non-reference case discount rate of 1.5% per year for both cost and health effects in exceptional circumstances. The decision on whether a non-reference case discount rate should be applied is taken by NICE’s Appraisal Committees.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support people not eligible for a Cycle to Work Scheme to take up cycling.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Active Travel England provides funding to local authorities and a range of national charities to increase levels of cycling. This includes £33 million provided in 2022/23 under the Capability Fund that can be used for local cycle loan and share schemes, e-cycle initiatives and cycling outreach programmes directed towards underrepresented groups. In addition, the Government has been trialling an £8 million national e-cycle programme to provide opportunities to try e-cycles through short term loans in a small number of locations.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to encourage more women to cycle.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Active Travel England (ATE) provides £2 million per year to the Big Bike Revival project, which focuses cycling activities on underrepresented groups, such as women. In 2022/23, 59% of participants in Big Bike Revival were female.
ATE also provides funding to local authorities to enable women and other underrepresented groups to increase levels of cycling through the Capability Fund. Design guidance for new infrastructure, such as that funded through the Active Travel Fund, requires that new schemes are accessible to all users, including women. Bids must demonstrate that the safety and confidence of women had been factored into the design of active travel schemes.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to help reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance in humans arising from the overuse of antibiotics on farms.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government takes a ‘One-Health’ approach to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as set out in the ‘UK 5-year action plan for antimicrobial resistance 2019 to 2024’, which is underpinned by the UK’s 20-year Vision to Contain and Control AMR by 2040. Defra is a co-signatory with the Department of Health and Social Care on the 5-year National Acton Plan (NAP) and 20-year vision on AMR, and Defra leads on delivering the animal, plant and environment elements. The AMR NAP lays out the UK Government’s commitment to reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals to reduce the risk of development and spread of AMR in animals and humans, while safeguarding animal health and welfare. A key component of this plan is to reduce the need for antibiotics, which is achieved through good farm management, biosecurity and disease prevention.
In the UK, we have a well-established antimicrobial use and resistance surveillance programme, which includes monitoring of sales and use of antibiotics in animals as well as routine monitoring of AMR in major food-producing species, healthy pigs and poultry. These surveillance programmes allow us to monitor progress and results are published every year in the UK Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance Sales and Surveillance (UK-VARSS) report.
The recently published UK-VARSS report shows that sales of antibiotics in food-producing animals are at their lowest ever level, with a 59% reduction since 2014. This highlights the success of the UK’s voluntary and collaborative approach between the Government and the farming and veterinary sectors to make sustainable reductions in antibiotic use while ensuring high animal health and welfare. The report also highlights that sales of highest priority, critically important antibiotics have reduced by 82% since 2014 and account for less than half a percent of total sales. This is to ensure that these medically important antibiotics are protected for use in humans.
The newly published third edition of the UK’s One Health report, a joint report from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate and the UK Health and Security Agency, brings together antibiotic use and resistance data for people and animals. Sales of antibiotics in 2019 show that approximately two thirds of antibiotics are used in people while one third are used in animals. This report demonstrates the Government’s One Health approach to tackling AMR to keep antibiotics working in both people and animals.
The UK is now in the process of developing the second five-year NAP, which will run from 2024-2029. This will build on progress made in the 2019-2024 NAP and set out challenging ambitions and actions for the next five years, which will set us on course for achieving our long-term national and international ambitions.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of the number of students receiving a minimum loan whose parents are (a) unwilling or (b) unable to provide additional funding to support their cost of living in each of the last five years.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The student income and expenditure survey for the 2021/22 academic year provides data from a representative sample of students in England on total student income. The survey does not collect data on, nor estimate, the number of parents or carers who are unwilling or unable to contribute to their child or children’s living costs, but it does show the extent to which students receive financial support from their families, alongside other sources of income. The 2021/22 student income and expenditure survey can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/student-income-and-expenditure-survey-2021-to-2022.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will add Down syndrome as a separate data item on the school census.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to improving the support in education for children and young people with Down syndrome, particularly given the passage of the Down Syndrome Act 2022, which My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State supported on behalf of the Government in her previous role in the Department for Health and Social Care. The Secretary of State for Education has also been speaking with representatives of Down syndrome organisations about how the department can best deliver on this commitment through the measures in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan. Discussions have included how the department best collects and uses data, and whether to collect data on the number of pupils with Down syndrome through the School Census. The department hopes to confirm the decision shortly.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Project Pegasus on the right to (a) privacy and (b) data protection.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Pegasus is a unique private-public partnership that will radically improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with policing, to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders. This will include development of a new information sharing platform and training for retailers.
Pegasus is spearheaded by Katy Bourne, the Business Crime lead for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) and is backed by the Home Office, 14 retailers and the National Business Crime Solution.
Pegasus will be funding the creation of a dedicated team of specialist analysts and intelligence officers to work within OPAL, the national policing team that oversees intelligence on serious organised acquisitive crime.
OPAL is responsible for the management of data and intelligence, as well as information sharing agreements set up with members of Pegasus.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he has taken to provide access to the passport photo database to police forces.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The sharing of passport data with law enforcement agencies for the purpose of preventing and detecting crime is longstanding, and is provided for within His Majesty’s Passport Office’s Privacy Information Notice:
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Food Standards Agency has made an assessment of the potential impact of changing the legal definition of wishbone meat.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no legal definition of wishbone meat. The Food Standards Agency has not made an assessment of the potential impact of introducing such a legal definition.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Food Standards Agency on changing the legal definition of wishbone meat.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with the Government’s arm’s-length bodies, including the Food Standards Agency, on a range of issues.