Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is his policy to consult on a process for adopting the sustainability reporting standards to be issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government strongly supports the development of IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards by the International Sustainability Standards Board and is committed to developing an endorsement and adoption mechanism to allow for use of the Standards in the UK. The Government will consult on the endorsement and adoption mechanism in due course.
Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available to deaf people to access employment within the NHS.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The NHS People Plan commits to creating a diverse workforce and reforming staff recruitment and promotion practices to ensure greater inclusivity.
The Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) is a mandated framework of ten measures, including recruitment, which compares the workplace experiences of disabled and non-disabled staff. National Health Service organisations use the data collected to develop action plans and it provides comparative information to demonstrate progress. Following the WDES’s data analysis report in 2021, recommendations include developing opportunities for local unemployed disabled people to gain work experience within NHS organisations and convening inclusive recruitment panels to include disabled staff, particularly for senior roles.
Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the levelling up white paper will consider (a) health inequalities and (b) the use of vaping devices as a solution to reducing smoking rates.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The forthcoming levelling up white paper will set out the UK Government’s approach to tackling spatial inequalities across the country in order to improve outcomes in places where they are weakest. Addressing stark disparities in health outcomes between places is a important part of levelling up, because people should have the opportunity to live long, healthy lives wherever they live. We recognise that smoking is a key driver of these disparities.
We are clear that the best thing a smoker can do for their health is to quit smoking and e-cigarettes have an important role to play to support this. However, while e-cigarettes are safer than smoking, they are not risk free. They should only be used as a tool to help people stop smoking.
The Department for Health & Social Care is considering a range of policy and regulatory changes to achieve our ambition to be smoke-free by 2030. These will be set out in our new Tobacco Control Plan, which we will publish in due course
Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a carbon capture and storage initiative for energy from waste.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As set out in the Net Zero Strategy, we are exploring options to reduce emissions from Energy from Waste facilities, including whether support for CCUS at Energy from Waste plants could be provided by the Industrial Carbon Capture Business Model. We are still considering this position, given the complexities around the commercial incentives associated with these projects. However, we aim to provide an update on the eligibility of CCUS projects in waste management facilities as soon as possible, in line with the launch of Phase-2 of the CCUS cluster sequencing process.
Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the UK delegation to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Ninth Conference of the Parties plans to request the formation of an intersessional Working Group to hear evidence on the use of vaping devices as harm reduction tools.
Answered by Maggie Throup
We have no plans to do so. However, we will set out our pragmatic and evidence-based approach to e-cigarettes.
Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What steps he is taking to increase the number of in-person GP appointments.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
On 14 October we published a comprehensive new plan to support general practitioners (GPs) and to make it easier for patients to see or speak to GPs and their teams.
Our plan is supported by a new £250 million Winter Access Fund to assist patients with urgent care needs to be seen by their practitioner on the same day, taking account of their preferences.
Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State and Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's data on vaping published on 4 March 2020 and 23 February 2021 which show that the number of people vaping in England has plateaued, whether he plans to increase communications to smokers on ways to quit tobacco, including the use of less harmful alternatives to smoking.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Public Health England’s smoking cessation marketing activity, including the current ‘Stoptober’ campaign, signposts to a range of quitting support such as replacing tobacco with electronic cigarettes. The updated National Health Service Quit Smoking app launched in advance of Stoptober will continue beyond the campaign with ongoing development planned.
In 2022, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities will publish an independent review of the up-to-date evidence on the safety of e-cigarettes. The review will include information about the relative harm of smoking and vaping. New guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to be published in November 2021, will advise the public and health professionals on the most effective ways of stopping smoking and reducing its burden of death and disease.
Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether officials in his Department have consulted consumers of (a) vaping and (b) other reduced-risk products ahead of the Ninth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department has not consulted consumers on vaping or other reduced-risk products ahead of the Ninth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. However, the Department meets with the Independent British Vape Trade Association to discuss a range of policy and regulatory issues.
Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to tackle misinformation on the harms of vaping relative to other nicotine delivery and tobacco products.
Answered by Maggie Throup
In 2022, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) will publish an independent review of the up-to-date evidence on the safety of vaping products. The review will include information about the relative harm of smoking and vaping.
New guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), to be published in November 2021, will make recommendations about using electronic cigarettes to help people stop smoking.
The OHID will use the upcoming NICE guidance publication as an opportunity to communicate with the public and healthcare professionals about the relative harms of using nicotine containing products and smoking to support an informed choice.
Asked by: Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will meet with the Master Locksmiths Association to discuss the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to regulate the locksmith industry.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government currently has no plans to regulate the locksmith industry.
All locksmiths approved by the Master Locksmith Association (MLA) undergo strict vetting including a criminal record check; are regularly inspected to ensure they conform to legal requirements and customer charters; and must pass the MLA’s qualifications to demonstrate competence.