Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of introducing portion control to support Public Health England’s reduction and reformulation programmes in relation to (a) sugar, (b) salt and (c) calories.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Reducing portion size is one mechanism for industry action that can be employed in reformulation programmes.
Calorie-based portion size guidelines covering food and drink consumed in and out of the home have been included in the sugar and calorie reduction programmes Public Health England oversees for the Government. The salt reduction programme includes maximum salt targets for portions of food served out of the home.
Reductions in portion size should reduce the number of calories, and amount of salt and sugar, consumed. An impact assessment, published in September 2020, showed that if the ambitions of the calorie reduction programme were achieved in full by in home retailers and manufacturers, it would result in a 6.8% reduction in calories sold per portion.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of clear portion size labelling on helping people make healthier choices.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government’s recommended front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme expresses information in a way that should be easily recognised by and meaningful to the consumer. It uses percentage reference intakes for adults, based on the amount of each nutrient and energy value in a portion of the food and drink. Whilst there has been no specific assessment of portion size, we recently consulted on our front-of-pack labelling scheme and will publish a response shortly.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many trusts have redeployed or significantly reduced their epilepsy services during the covid-19 outbreak; and what steps he is taking to prevent avoidable epilepsy deaths as a result of the outbreak.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
No assessment has been made on the number of trusts that have redeployed or reduced their epilepsy services.
National Health Service systems should continue to implement the guidance set out in NHS RightCare epilepsy toolkit. This toolkit provides expert practical advice and guidance on how to address epilepsy-related challenges, including sudden death in epilepsy and recommends that providers implement a standard risk template for people living with epilepsy, including all relevant resources.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of regular steroid use on the susceptibility of users to covid-19.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are not aware of a general assessment across all conditions of regular steroid use on the susceptibility of users to COVID-19. However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published COVID-19 rapid guidelines using the latest available evidence for specific conditions where there is an increased risk of COVID-19. Where relevant, these guidelines include recommendations related to the continuation of treatment of corticosteroids. These guidelines are kept under review.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of engaging with The Summer Camps Trust to promote the use of summer camps.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The department recognises the significant benefits learning outside the classroom can have on children’s educational development, as well as their mental health and wellbeing, and is taking steps to unlock outdoor learning and educational visits in line with the COVID-19 road map.
The government also recognises the vital role they can play in character development opportunities they afford for social mixing, which promotes children and young people’s wellbeing. That is why we ensured that all before and after-school clubs, holiday clubs, and other out-of-school settings were able continue to stay open for those children that need or rely on these settings most, for the duration of the national lockdown, and why we have extended eligibility of attendance when children returned to school on 8 March.
At present, providers are able to offer face-to-face provision for all children, where that provision supports certain essential purposes; with vulnerable children and young people able to continue accessing provision under any circumstance. We have updated our protective measures guidance for the sector, which outlines eligibility and aims to support providers to allow them to open for as many children as safely as possible. This guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
The government’s intention is that out-of-school settings and wraparound childcare providers will be able to open to all children, without restrictions on access, in time for the summer term, and no earlier than 12 April. However, the government continues to advise against all educational visits. The department is working on advice for schools on the planning and booking of residential visits when it is safe to do so and in line with the government’s roadmap to recovery, as set out in: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-spring-2021/covid-19-response-spring-2021. The advice will be published shortly.
While the department has not thus far engaged with The Summer Camps Trust specifically, since June 2020, we have been in close communication with various stakeholders, to understand the specific challenges that they face. These discussions have been incredibly beneficial for the department, and the collaboration on this policy area has led to a supportive relationship, which is still ongoing.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution that residential summer camps can play in promoting (a) character development and (b) social mixing as part of young people’s education.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The department recognises the significant benefits learning outside the classroom can have on children’s educational development, as well as their mental health and wellbeing, and is taking steps to unlock outdoor learning and educational visits in line with the COVID-19 road map.
The government also recognises the vital role they can play in character development opportunities they afford for social mixing, which promotes children and young people’s wellbeing. That is why we ensured that all before and after-school clubs, holiday clubs, and other out-of-school settings were able continue to stay open for those children that need or rely on these settings most, for the duration of the national lockdown, and why we have extended eligibility of attendance when children returned to school on 8 March.
At present, providers are able to offer face-to-face provision for all children, where that provision supports certain essential purposes; with vulnerable children and young people able to continue accessing provision under any circumstance. We have updated our protective measures guidance for the sector, which outlines eligibility and aims to support providers to allow them to open for as many children as safely as possible. This guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
The government’s intention is that out-of-school settings and wraparound childcare providers will be able to open to all children, without restrictions on access, in time for the summer term, and no earlier than 12 April. However, the government continues to advise against all educational visits. The department is working on advice for schools on the planning and booking of residential visits when it is safe to do so and in line with the government’s roadmap to recovery, as set out in: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-spring-2021/covid-19-response-spring-2021. The advice will be published shortly.
While the department has not thus far engaged with The Summer Camps Trust specifically, since June 2020, we have been in close communication with various stakeholders, to understand the specific challenges that they face. These discussions have been incredibly beneficial for the department, and the collaboration on this policy area has led to a supportive relationship, which is still ongoing.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has commissioned research to establish whether the immunosuppressant effect of regular steroid use has led to users contracting covid-19 more easily.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is not currently funding any research into whether the regular use of steroids can lead to users contracting COVID-19 more easily. However, the NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including on COVID-19 risk factors.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
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 ensure that in light of the recent MBRRACE maternal death inquiry evidencing continued rising maternal epilepsy mortality women with epilepsy receive balanced messaging from Government, policy makers, the media and clinicians on epilepsy mortality risks and the importance of their medications, to ensure informed choices can be made about their lives and care.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We are unable to meet with SUDEP action and MBRRACE-UK at this time.
In light of the MBRRACE-UK Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is reviewing available data and arranging to meet with key patient support organisations specialising in communication of maternal epilepsy mortality risks and clinicians to explore how information provided to women on important risks can be improved. The MHRA is also working with the wider healthcare network to explore additional ways of improving the reach of regulatory communications.
The conclusions of a safety review by the Commission of Human Medicines of the risks of epilepsy medicines in pregnancy have recently been published to aid discussions about suitable treatment options and support a balanced message on benefits and risks of each.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet SUDEP Action and MBRRACE to discuss the implementation of the recommendations in the newly published maternal deaths inquiry which highlights a more than doubling of deaths in women and their unborn children due to Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) between 2016-18 compared to 2013-15 and a likely increase expected due to the pandemic.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We are unable to meet with SUDEP action and MBRRACE-UK at this time.
In light of the MBRRACE-UK Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is reviewing available data and arranging to meet with key patient support organisations specialising in communication of maternal epilepsy mortality risks and clinicians to explore how information provided to women on important risks can be improved. The MHRA is also working with the wider healthcare network to explore additional ways of improving the reach of regulatory communications.
The conclusions of a safety review by the Commission of Human Medicines of the risks of epilepsy medicines in pregnancy have recently been published to aid discussions about suitable treatment options and support a balanced message on benefits and risks of each.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to ensure that the SUDEP and Seizure Safety Checklist, EpSMon App and other evidence-based epilepsy risk solutions are fully utilised across the NHS to tackle the recent increase in epilepsy deaths.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
NHS England and NHS Improvement published their epilepsy RightCare toolkit in February 2020. The toolkit provides expert practical advice and guidance on how to address epilepsy-related challenges and recommends that providers implement a standard risk template for people living with epilepsy. This risk template should cross organisational boundaries and include relevant resources, such as the SUDEP and Seizure Safety Checklist tool and the Epilepsy Self-Monitoring application.
Local commissioners are responsible for the implementation of this guidance, including the epilepsy RightCare toolkit, in their local areas.