Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of X-linked hypophosphatemia.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Genomic testing in the National Health Service in England for hypophosphataemia is currently included in the National Genomic Test Directory under the clinical indication labelled R154. X-linked hypophosphatemia is one of 200 treatable rare conditions being included in the Generation Study, a landmark research study which will sequence the whole genomes of 100,000 newborn babies being led by Genomics England in partnership with the NHS.
The study will evaluate the utility and feasibility of using whole genome sequencing to screen newborn babies for a larger number of childhood-onset rare genetic conditions in the NHS, with a decision whether this should be rolled out now or in the future based on the relevant evidence.
National Genomics Education has also developed GeNotes, which puts innovative educational resources on genomics and rare diseases at the fingertips of healthcare professionals. GeNotes includes information on hypophosphatemia to support healthcare professionals to identify and manage forms of hypophosphatemia such as X-linked hypophosphatemia.
Burosumab is now recommended and available on the NHS for treating X-linked hypophosphataemia in children and young people who are still growing. This novel treatment addresses the underlying problem, rather than compensating for phosphate loss, so is effective in helping children to grow normally.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had discussions with NICE on their decision not to recommend using burosumab in the treatment of (a) X-linked hypophosphatemia and (b) related disorders in adults.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has had no discussions with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) regarding burosumab. NICE is an independent body and its recommendations are developed in accordance with its published methods and processes.
NICE has not yet published final guidance on the use of burosumab for the treatment of X-linked hypophosphataemia in adults. NICE’s draft guidance was recently subject to a public consultation and NICE will take the comments received fully into account in developing its final recommendations.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative has a three-year funding cycle.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) strategy, launched in November 2022, is backed by £12.5 million of funding over three years (2022-25). More than £4 million was spent on PSVI in Financial Year 2022-23. The UK regularly uses our UN Security Council (UNSC) platform to call for an end to Conflict Related Sexual Violence (CSRV). In July, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, chaired an UNSC Open Debate on CRSV, where he drew attention to the implementation gap between international legal architecture on CRSV and realities on the ground.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much bilateral aid spending went on (a) women’s equality organisations and (b) violence against woman and girls programmes in the last financial year.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The International Women and Girls Strategy commits the FCDO to increase our support for grassroots women's organisations and movements. Official data, sourced from the OECD DAC Creditor Reporting System, indicates that in 2022, £27.6 million of UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) supported women's equality organisations and institutions. This could be an underestimation as other sectoral programmes may also provide support to women's equality organisations but are not captured in these figures.
Ending violence against women and girls overseas remains a top priority for the Government. In 2022, £75.1 million of UK bilateral ODA was spent on tackling violence against women and girls. This is likely to be an underestimation as some humanitarian and other sectoral programmes also work to prevent and respond to violence, but are not captured in these figures. Data for multilateral ODA spend in 2022, and for bilateral spend in 2023, will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much of the £12.5 million allocated to the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative in November 2022 has been spent; and if he will publish a breakdown by project of this spending.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) strategy, launched in November 2022, is backed by £12.5 million of funding over three years (2022-25). More than £4 million was spent on PSVI in Financial Year 2022-23. The UK regularly uses our UN Security Council (UNSC) platform to call for an end to Conflict Related Sexual Violence (CSRV). In July, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, chaired an UNSC Open Debate on CRSV, where he drew attention to the implementation gap between international legal architecture on CRSV and realities on the ground.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, when the UK last raised global responses to Conflict-related Sexual Violence in the UN Security Council.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) strategy, launched in November 2022, is backed by £12.5 million of funding over three years (2022-25). More than £4 million was spent on PSVI in Financial Year 2022-23. The UK regularly uses our UN Security Council (UNSC) platform to call for an end to Conflict Related Sexual Violence (CSRV). In July, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, chaired an UNSC Open Debate on CRSV, where he drew attention to the implementation gap between international legal architecture on CRSV and realities on the ground.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many experts in preventing sexual violence in conflict have been deployed in the field under that Initiative since February 2021.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) Team of Experts (ToE) is a group of independent experts deployed to support UK, international and local efforts to address Conflict Related Sexual Violence (CRSV).
Since February 2021, there have been 13 PSVI ToE deployments. For example, in Ukraine, experts are assisting domestic investigations and prosecution of international crimes and supporting the development and implementation of a national CRSV Action Plan. Prior to the 2022 PSVI Conference, experts developed and delivered plans to meaningfully engage survivors. In Ethiopia, experts supported civil society capacity building to strengthen local responses to CRSV.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much his Department spent on aid projects relating to women and girls in (a) 2019-20 and (b) the last financial year.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Official data, sourced from the Statistics for International Development and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) DAC Creditor Reporting System, is available for 2022. This data indicated that in 2022 58 per cent of the FCDO's total bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme spend was in programmes that had a focus on gender equality (using OECD DAC markers Significant and Principal). In 2021 the figure was 60 per cent, in 2020 the figure was 70 per cent, and in 2019 it was 67 per cent. As part of FCDO's International Women and Girls Strategy published in 2023, we will ensure at least 80 per cent of the FCDO's bilateral aid programmes have a focus on gender equality by 2030. This is a reflection of how we are prioritising gender equality in our work and investment moving forward.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much bilateral aid spending his Department used to address violence against women and girls between December 2022 and December 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Ending violence against women and girls overseas remains a top priority for the Government. In 2022, £75.1 million of UK bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) was spent on tackling violence against women and girls. This is likely to be an underestimation as some humanitarian and other sectoral programmes also work to prevent and respond to violence, but are not captured in these figures. Data for multilateral ODA spend in 2022, and for bilateral spend in 2023, will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to meet each of the four priorities on preventing sexual violence in conflict.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
One year on from the launch of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) strategy, we have delivered impact across each of its four objectives. We have driven global momentum, launching the International Alliance on PSVI. We have launched 'ACT for Survivors', a national-level capacity building programme promoting investigation and prosecution of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) crimes. PSVI contributions led to vital legislative changes in Bosnia and Herzegovina and a judicial macro case prosecuting CRSV crimes in Colombia. Setting a gold standard internationally, we pioneer survivor-centred approaches to decision making through our PSVI Survivor Champions and Survivor Advisory Group.