Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to (a) publish the results of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations consultation and (b) introduce revised regulations.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Veterinary medicines play a vital role in protecting our animals’ health and welfare. Defra is updating the Veterinary Medicines Regulations in respect of Great Britain, to ensure the Regulations continue to be fit for purpose, and we consulted on these changes earlier this year. We are finalising the response to the consultation, where we will set out the changes we are taking forward. We are aware that there is significant interest in our proposed changes and we are taking our time to make sure we get it right. We will then seek to introduce the revised Regulations as soon as possible.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the levels of compliance by health and social care providers with the Accessible Information Standard.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers must comply with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss. NHS England has completed a review of the AIS to help ensure that everyone’s communication needs are met in health and care provision. The review considered the effectiveness of the current AIS, how the standard is implemented and enforced in practice, and identified recommendations for improvement.
One of the aims of the review was to strengthen assurance of implementation of the AIS, and a self-assessment framework has been developed to support providers of NHS and social care services to measure their performance against the AIS and develop improvement action plans to address gaps in implementation. The self-assessment framework has also been designed to help the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to gain insight into people's experiences and whether their accessible communication needs are being met, and help CQC better understand organisational performance and to include that in the CQC assessment framework for provider organisations.
Following publication of the revised standard, NHS England will continue work to support its implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement and updated e-learning modules on the AIS to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help increase access to bowel cancer screenings.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Based on advice from the UK National Screening Committee, the National Health Service is currently extending the age criteria for bowel cancer screening from between 60 and 74 years old so that screening will be available from the age of 50 years old; this is due to be completed by 2024/25. This will increase access for people who would have otherwise not been able to access the service.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to support the provision of a nutritionally balanced plant-based meals on menus for staff in his Department.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra provides a catering offering at four locations. There is a focus on healthy eating and the meal selection always includes plant-based options.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps his Department is taking to strengthen national security.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office leads on, and coordinates across government, key elements of the UK’s national security policy. This includes the development and implementation of the Integrated Review Refresh. Published in March, the Refresh updated the government’s security, defence, development and foreign policy priorities to reflect changes in the global context since the Integrated Review 2021. Flowing from this, the Cabinet Office has played a key role in developing and overseeing the National Cyber Strategy, National Security and Investment Programme, and the Biological Security Strategy. The department is taking essential steps to ensure delivery of these and other issues.
Specific recent outcomes include the launch of the National Security and Investment Act call for evidence, and the leading role the department has played in coordinating the government’s response to several international and domestic crises.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of (a) updates to the programme manual used by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence including Rapid Access to Managed Access and (b) the introduction of the Innovative Medicines Fund.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to supporting rapid patient access to effective new medicines in a way that is fair to all parties and represents value to the National Health Service. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) plays an important role in supporting patient access to effective new medicines and is able to recommend most new medicines for use in the NHS. Where there is too much clinical uncertainty for NICE to be able to recommend routine funding, it is able to recommend medicines for use through the Cancer Drugs Fund or Innovative Medicines Fund which make promising medicines available to patients while further real-world evidence is collected to inform a final NICE recommendation.
NICE is responsible for the methods and processes it uses in the evaluation of new medicines and the changes that it has recently made to its evaluation processes will enable it to produce faster guidance on simpler, low-risk treatments. NICE and NHS England are exploring options for rapid entry to managed access (REMA) that build on the experience of the Cancer Drugs Fund and Innovative Medicines Fund to support managed access to medicines. NICE has not yet made any changes to its health technology evaluation manual related to REMA.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to (a) prepare for the World radiocommunication conference and (b) protect the UK's interests in space at that conference.
Answered by John Whittingdale
I recognise the importance of the decisions of the World Radiocommunications Conference to UK industry, especially the space sector.
Government and Ofcom have developed our negotiating positions since the last conference in 2019, balancing the interests of multiple operators, networks and services in both space and terrestrial environments. UK stakeholders have been given the opportunity to influence our approach and Ofcom consulted in 2022.
At the conference, Ofcom will lead the UK delegation which will include officials from departments and agencies with spectrum interests. This includes DSIT, the Ministry of Defence, UK Space Agency, and the Met Office.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the low carbon fuels strategy; and what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the use of hydrogen in aviation.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is planning to publish a Low Carbon Fuels Strategy in early 2024, which aims to support investment in the sector by setting out a vision for the deployment of low carbon fuels across transport modes up to 2050.
The Government’s Jet Zero Strategy published in 2022 recognises the role that hydrogen can play, both directly as a fuel in zero emission flight and as a feedstock for Sustainable Aviation Fuel, in our approach to achieving net zero aviation by 2050.
In addition, the Government, through the Department for Business and Trade, is investing £685 million between 2022 and 2025 through the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme to co-fund with industry the development of ultra-efficient and zero emission, including hydrogen, aircraft technology.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to page 22 of the Vegan Society’s report entitled, Catering for Everyone: How far are councils catering to vegans, published in September 2023, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the report's findings on the level of recognition by local authorities of veganism as a protected characteristic.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Ethical veganism has previously been found to be a philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010 by an employment tribunal, in an employment context. While this is not binding in other cases, all employers and service providers, including local authorities, should have regard to the differing dietary needs of people who they provide meals to, whether these are determined by health considerations, religious or philosophical belief. They should be aware that employees or service users may bring claims under the Act, where they consider they have been treated less favourably because of their belief in ethical veganism.
In addition, councils are subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty which requires them, in carrying out their functions, to have due regard to the need to achieve the objectives set out under s149 of the Equality Act 2010 to:
(a) eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act 2010; (b) advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it and (c) foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. Specific duties, set out in regulations, ensure transparency, and assist in the performance of this duty.
A person who believes that they have experienced discrimination because of a philosophical belief can take their case to a tribunal or court. Before doing so, they may wish to contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS), a Government-funded helpline, which is the initial point of contact for anyone with discrimination concerns. The EASS provides free bespoke advice and in-depth support to individuals with discrimination concerns. The EASS also supports individuals to resolve issues using alternative informal dispute resolution and can advise you on what are the next steps to take when you feel you have been discriminated against. The EASS can also advise people on their options and can be contacted through their website at www.equalityadvisoryservice.com, by telephone on 0808 800 0082 or text phone on 0808 800 0084.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to support the provision of a nutritionally balanced plant-based meals on menus for staff in his Department.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
DLUHC offices are managed by the Government Property Agency.