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Written Question
Export Controls
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she plans to undertake a new review of (a) existing and (b) pending export licences.

Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)

All export licences are kept under careful and continual review as standard. We are able to amend, suspend or revoke extant licences and refuse new licence applications as circumstances require.

The FCDO advises DBT on the situation in country and the risks this poses with respect to the UK’s export control responsibilities. The MOD advises DBT on the risks of diversion of exported goods and national security risks arising from hostile state activity.


Written Question
Immigration: Public Appointments
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his timetable is for recruiting a Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The process to recruit a new Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration follows the principles set out within the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments:

Governance Code on Public Appointments - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The competition opened on 21 February, and the closing date for applications is 2 April 2024. Our intention is to make the appointment as soon as possible, and an indicative timetable is available on the Public Appointments website:

Search and apply – Apply for a public appointment – GOV.UK (apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk).


Written Question
Semaglutide
Thursday 14th March 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

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 ensure the adequacy of short-term supplies of the diabetes medication Ozempic or semaglutide.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Following intensive work with industry, the broad supply position for glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) in the United Kingdom has improved. However, global supply issues remain with specific medicines, including ozempic (semaglutide). We issued updated guidance to healthcare professionals in the form of a National Patient Safety Alert on 3 January 2024, on how to manage patients requiring these medicines, with input from expert clinicians. We continue to work closely with manufacturers and others working in the supply chain to help ensure the continued supply of GLP-1 RAs for UK patients, and to resolve the remaining supply issues as quickly as possible, for example by asking suppliers to expedite deliveries.

We know how distressing and frustrating medicine supply issues can be, and the Department will continue to help ensure that these critical medicines reach diabetes patients. If any patient is concerned about their treatment, they should discuss this with their clinician at the earliest opportunity.


Written Question
Gaza: Humanitarian Aid
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what medical (a) equipment and (b) other aid the UK has sent to Gaza by equipment type.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

We have tripled our overall aid commitment and are supporting NGO and UN partners to deliver medical aid and care in the Gaza Strip. This includes support for primary healthcare, trauma and emergency care services, disease surveillance and outbreak response, and deployment of Emergency Medical Teams.

We have provided targeted support for children through a £5.75 million contribution. This is supporting work to assist over 5,800 children with severe malnourishment and 853,000 children, adolescents and caregivers affected by the conflict, to receive emergency and child protection services, including mental health and psychosocial support. At the end of February, we announced £4.25 million to the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. This support is expected to reach about 111,500 women, around 1 in 5 of the adult women in Gaza. It will support up to 100 community midwives, the distribution of around 20,000 menstrual hygiene management kits and 45,000 clean delivery kits. On 21 Feb, the UK and Jordan air-dropped life-saving aid to the Tal Al-Hawa hospital in northern Gaza. Four tonnes of vital supplies were provided, including medicines, fuel, and food for hospital patients and staff. We are also exploring further options to help meet the medical needs of Palestinians.

It must be recognised that the support to large scale appeals prevents us from directly attributing UK funding to specific items.


Written Question
Beer: Excise Duties
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increasing Draught Duty Relief to 20% on (a) pubs and (b) small and independent brewers.

Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Draught Relief, introduced under the new alcohol duty system, provides a reduction in the duty on draught products and helps to level the playing field between pubs and supermarkets, allowing pubs and brewers to price their on-trade products more competitively. The Brexit Pubs Guarantee ensures that draught products will always be subject to lower duty than their supermarket equivalent.

The Government is closely monitoring the impact of the recent reforms, including Draught Relief, and will evaluate the impact of the new rates and structures three years after the changes took effect on 1 August 2023. This will allow time to understand the impacts on the alcohol market, and for HMRC to gather useful and accurate data with which to evaluate the effects of the reform.

As with all taxes, the Government keeps the alcohol duty system under review during its yearly Budget process.


Written Question
Red Sea: Shipping
Tuesday 16th January 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Houthi militant attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea on the cost of living in the UK.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Since November, due to Houthi attacks, 12 international shipping companies have been forced to suspend passage through the Red Sea, causing lengthy delays and disruption to global supply chains. This has included causing insurance premiums for shipping to increase ten-fold; although, this only contributes a small fraction of total costs passed onto the end-consumer. These attacks therefore present a risk of increased prices for consumer goods and energy.

Be assured that the Government is working closely with shipping operators to mitigate any potential impact on consumers, and the shipping and supply chain sectors are well practiced at putting contingencies in place to continue to meet their customer needs.

The Government continues to monitor the situation closely.


Written Question
Health Services: Disability
Thursday 11th January 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2023 to Question 4738 on Health Services: Disability, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the updated Accessible Information Standard is published as soon as possible.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

NHS England is responsible for the review of the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) and its publication and remains committed to publishing the updated AIS as soon as possible. NHS England is working to both progress the documentation through the publication approval process as well as ensuring that, when published, the AIS and supporting documentation are available in accessible formats.

The Department is working closely with NHS England to ensure joint implementation of the updated AIS and receives periodic updates on progress. Following extensive engagement, with a specific focus on those with lived experience and the voluntary sector organisations that support them, NHS England has completed the review of the AIS and its associated documents. The review considered the effectiveness of the current AIS, how the standard is implemented and enforced in practice, and identified recommendations for improvement.


Written Question
Post Offices: Closures
Thursday 11th January 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the closure of post offices on local communities.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

While the Post Office has the commercial freedom to deliver the branch network within the parameters Government sets, the Government fully appreciates the impact a Post Office branch closure can have on a community.

With the largest retail network in the country, there will inevitably be variations in the number of branches open at any one time and any closures are usually outside the control of Post Office. However, the network is not in decline and in fact, more post offices opened last year than closed, and the network is as large today as it has been for five years, with around 11,700 branches open – above the 11,500 target that we set the Post Office.

The Government protects the branch network by setting minimum access criteria to ensure that 99% of the UK population lives within three miles of a post office. The Government-set access criteria ensures that however the network changes, vital services remain within local reach for all citizens.


Written Question
Biometric Residence Permits: Standards
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time was between an immigration decision being made and a biometric residence permit being delivered in the last six months.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

We aim to deliver a BRP within 7 working days of the immigration decision.

BRPs are produced at the secure delivery facility (Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency (DVLA)) within 48 hours of the production request being made and are collected by our secure delivery partner the same day. Our secure delivery partner (Royal Mail Group) aims to attempt to deliver the BRPs within 48 hours of receipt of the BRPs. This equates to a minimum of 5 working days from date of production request being made to delivery of the BRP. We have added an additional 2 working days to the timeline advised to applicants to allow us to resolve any production issues.

In November, DVLA produced all BRPs within 24 hours of the production request. In November RMG attempted to deliver 99.1% of BRPs within 48 hours.


Written Question
Pharmacy
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

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 maintain the availability of (a) pharmacies and (b) medication.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is closely monitoring changes to the pharmacy network to ensure access to the services they provide on behalf of the National Health Service. Access to services remains good with 80% of people in England living within 20 minutes walking distance of a pharmacy and twice as many pharmacies in the most deprived areas of the country. Patients can also choose to access NHS pharmaceutical services remotely through any of the approximately 400 internet pharmacies, who are contractually required to deliver medicines to patient home free of charge. Every three years, local authorities in England undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs.

We have well-established processes for managing and mitigating medicine supply issues, which involve working with the pharmaceutical industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, NHS England, the devolved governments and others operating in the supply chain to help ensure patients have access to the treatments they need.