Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of abolishing VAT on sanitary products in each of the next five years.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
HMRC estimates that VAT receipts from the sale of women’s sanitary products were approximately £15 million in each of the last five years. The Government does not anticipate any significant change in the foreseeable future. The exchequer cost of introducing a zero rate of VAT for women’s sanitary products would therefore be approximately £15 million per year.
In January 2018, the European Commission brought forward a legislative proposal with an implementation date of 2022 to enhance Member States’ flexibility to apply reduced and zero rates of VAT. This proposal remains under discussion between officials and, if agreed to by Member States, would give the UK the legal ability to zero rate women’s sanitary products.
In Finance Act 2016, the Government committed to apply a zero rate of VAT to women’s sanitary products as soon as legally possible. In line with both our legal responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 and the Government’s strong commitment to gender equality, ministers carefully consider the impacts for women, along with the impacts for others sharing protected characteristics, when developing fiscal and other policies.
Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
What steps the Government is taking to respond to the risk of mass famine in Yemen.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK is playing a lead role preventing famine in Yemen, with our funding meeting the immediate food needs of 4 million Yemenis this year.
We also recently announced support for UNICEF to screen over 2 million children for severe acute malnutrition, and provide treatment for 70,000 of the most vulnerable children.
Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of elective knee replacement surgery has been outsourced to the private sector in the last three years.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The proportion of elective knee replacement operations which have been commissioned by the National Health Service from the private sector in the last three years is shown in the following table. Figures represent the number of operations – not the number of patients – as some patients may have more than one operation.
Financial year | Proportion Carried out by Private Providers |
2015-16 | 38% |
2016-17 | 42% |
2017-18 | 44% |
Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times the national emergency pressures panel has met during the 2018-19 financial year.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The National Escalation Pressures Panel (NEPP) has not yet formally met in the 2018-19 financial year.
NHS England publishes meeting notes online when NEPP meets. These can be located on their website at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/national-emergency-pressures-panel-nepp/
Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of elective hip replacement surgery has been outsourced to the private sector in the last three years.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The proportion of elective hip replacement operations which have been outsourced to the private sector in the last three years is shown in the following table. Figures represent the number of operations – not the number of patients – as some patients may have more than one operation.
Financial year | All providers | Private providers | Proportion Carried out by Private Providers |
2015-16 | 78,328 | 20,245 | 26% |
2016-17 | 81,484 | 22,870 | 28% |
2017-18 | 78,172 | 23,340 | 30% |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital
Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to extend Equality Act 2010 to include people with episodic and fluctuating mental health conditions.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Government is aware of concerns that some people with mental health conditions have experienced problems in accessing the Equality Act 2010’s protections. The Government is therefore exploring a number of options including legislation to extend protections from discrimination in the workplace for people with mental health conditions, including through the Equality Act 2010. We will make an announcement on these issues in due course.
Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the oral contribution by the Minister for the Middle East of 4 July 2018, Official Report, column 333, on the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar, what progress he has made on the investigation.
Answered by Alistair Burt
My officials have looked into the matter and understand that demolitions are carried out by private contractors on behalf of the Israeli authorities. I can assure you that the Government is fully committed to encouraging respect for human rights among UK businesses, including promoting the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines. Where a company decides to trade is however a decision for each company to reach. At Prime Minister’s Questions on 17 October, the Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s strong opposition to Israel’s proposed demolition of Khan al-Ahmar.
Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps is he taking to ensure that the social housing system supports people with mental health problems.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 176245 on 11 October 2018.
Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many mental health nursing students have started degree apprenticeships in the 2018-19 academic year.
Answered by Anne Milton
In the 2017/18 academic year reported to date (from August 2017 to April 2018), 260 apprenticeship starts were recorded for the standard ‘Registered Nurse’. This is the level 6 degree apprenticeship approved for delivery on 9 May 2017. Mental health nursing remains an optional element within the nursing apprenticeships.
Additionally, there have been 640 apprenticeship starts reported to date (from August 2017 to April 2018) for the standard ‘Nursing Associate’ (level 5 apprenticeship standard, approved for delivery on 20 November 2017; note that we class apprenticeships at level 6 and above as ‘degree-level’). There were no starts on these standards in the 2016/17 academic year. Full final year data for the 2017/18 academic year will be available in November 2018 and data covering 2018/19 will be available in January 2019.
In England, there have been 64,830 apprenticeship starts in the Health, Public Services and Care sector subject area reported to date in the first three quarters of the 2017/18 academic year (August 2017 to April 2018). This data can be accessed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/further-education-and-skills-statistical-first-release-sfr.
We want to increase the number of nursing apprenticeships and now have a complete apprentice pathway from entry level to postgraduate advanced clinical practice in nursing. This will support people from all backgrounds to enter a nursing career in the National Health Service (NHS).
We are working closely with employers, Health Education England and ministers in the Department of Health and Social Care to make sure the NHS is fully supported to recruit apprentices, both in nursing and in a range of various occupations.
Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many students started mental health nursing degree courses in the 2018-19 academic year.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) collect data on acceptances to mental health nursing degree courses.
Acceptances for 2018/19 entry can still be made until the end of clearing on 23 October 2018.
The final number of acceptances for mental health nursing degree courses for 2018/19 will be available following the publication of end of cycle data by UCAS in December 2018.