Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government has taken to (a) understand the potential risk of and (b) prevent future health system failures similar to those that led to the infected blood scandal.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The final report of the Infected Blood Inquiry describes the many failings of successive governments, including historic failings in the Department and its predecessor departments. The Department will study the report to make sure the lessons of Sir Brian’s inquiry are learned, and that these mistakes can never be repeated.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a comparative assessment of the impact of (a) integrating SEND children in mainstream schools and (b) sending SEND children to specialised schools on the (i) educational outcomes and (ii) general wellbeing of those children.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision (AP) Improvement Plan sets out a vision for a single, national inclusive SEND and AP system where all children, no matter their need, receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. This requires high-quality mainstream provision where children and young people have their needs identified early and can access prompt, evidence-based, targeted support. This should be alongside improved access to timely, high-quality specialist provision, where this is appropriate.
The department continues to monitor the literature and latest research on the impact of inclusion.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will establish a representative panel consisting of (a) victims and (b) victims' families to scruitnise the contaminated blood compensation scheme.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme is subject to further engagement with a group of key representatives from the infected blood community. This will be led by the interim chair of the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, Sir Robert Francis KC. Additionally, the Government has committed to utilise the provision in the Victims and Prisoners Bill to ensure there is representation of the Infected Blood community on the Infected Blood Compensation Authority’s committees and subcommittees.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take legislative steps to end the marketing of all nicotine products.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Current evidence suggests that whilst nicotine pouch use is low amongst adults, it is increasing, especially with the younger male audience. Nicotine products, such as nicotine pouches, are not currently subject to advertising restrictions.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill proposed measures to prohibit the sale of tobacco to people born on or after 1 January 2009, as well as enabling product requirements to be imposed in connection with tobacco, vapes, and other products. However, the bill did not receive Parliamentary approval prior to the prorogation on 24 May 2024.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to ensure that (a) clinical and (b) other data held by (i) the NHS and (ii) her Department is used to help identify poor clinical practice in the NHS; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of using (A) AI and (B) machine learning to identify such concerns.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Machine learning is in active use in the national patient safety learning system, known as the Learn from Patient Safety Events service, which has been rolled out across the National Health Service in England. The service provides a modern platform upon which technological advances such as machine learning can now operate. Named Entity Recognition is already aiding in the anonymisation of records, so that they can be used for learning activities without risk of identification of individuals.
Ongoing work is also being undertaken to explore how machine learning can support the analysis of data relating to patient safety events captured from across healthcare, and to look at how machine learning can identify new, emerging, and under recognised risks to patient safety. Future plans are also in place to enable support for the automated theming of unstructured free text, which will lay the foundations for targeted topic-specific improvement and guidance.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the (a) availability and (b) trends in the use of nicotine pouches in the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Current evidence suggests that whilst nicotine pouch use is low amongst adults, it is increasing, especially with the younger male audience.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of trends in the level of non-tobacco nicotine product usage in the last five years.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Current evidence suggests that whilst nicotine pouch use is low amongst adults, it is increasing, especially with the younger male audience.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will undertake a study on trends in alcohol use among young people.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England holds several data sources covering alcohol use for people aged under 18 years old, including the Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People survey. This data is collected every two years, and the next survey report is due Autumn 2024, and will include 2023 survey data.
The guidance from England’s Chief Medical Officer for healthcare professionals is clear, an alcohol-free childhood is the healthiest and best option. The Department promotes this through online platforms such as the NHS.UK website, and the Talk to FRANK online resource. Local authorities promote these guidelines as part of their public health duties.
Alcohol or drug dependence is rare in children and young people under the age of 18 years old, although they may be drinking problematically. For those that do need support, the Department has allocated £532 million of additional funding through to 2024/25 to support improvements in treatment, including facilitating 5,000 more young people into age-appropriate alcohol and drug treatment.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to (a) monitor and (b) manage risk across the public sector.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office provides leadership to the whole system of resilience across Government, with Secretaries of State responsible for specific risk areas, in line with the Lead Government Department model. The Government’s assessment of the most serious risks to the nation are set out in the National Risk Register, which is now more transparent than ever before.
The Government has also taken steps to further develop risk management effectiveness across government. This includes updating the Orange Book (which contains principles for managing risk) to include a new risk control framework. The Civil Service Board also considers emerging risks to the public sector.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure public accountability for decision making in government.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Accountability to Parliament and to the public is one of the core values of this government. That is why within the Cabinet Office we have taken significant steps to ensure that ministers and civil servants act with integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level. For example, each of 244 major government projects in the Government Major Projects Programme now has a publicly named senior responsible officer accountable for project delivery. Departments and agencies are required to publish in their Annual Reports and Accounts public performance updates against their priority outcomes, ensuring that public scrutiny of departmental delivery is embedded across Whitehall.The accountability of arm’s length bodies has been sharpened up by the public bodies reviews programme and by updating the arm’s length body sponsorship code of good practice.