Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the Government plans to introduce yeast labelling on food packaging to improve information for people with allergies.
Answered by Maggie Throup
It is a legal requirement for all prepacked foods to be fully labelled with an ingredient list. Therefore, if yeast or yeast extract is used as an ingredient in a prepacked food at any level, it must be included in the ingredient list. If one of the 14 major allergens defined in legislation is present in a pre-packed food, it must be emphasised within the ingredient list to distinguish it from other ingredients. Yeast is not currently included in the 14 major allergens. Any additions to this list would only be made based on relevant scientific evidence and views gathered through public consultation.
For those who are hypersensitive to foods not in the major allergens list, the Food Standards Agency recommends that consumers check the ingredients list on prepacked food and speak to businesses when they purchase non-pre-packed food.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
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 28 October 2021 to Question 61062 on Department of Health and Social Care: Stonewall, for what reason that Answer did not include the £1,000 paid by his Department for a Stonewall representative to deliver an event on trans access to healthcare as per an FOI response in March 2021, reference FOI-1302529; and whether other funding by his Department to Stonewall was omitted in that Answer.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Officials have confirmed that the response given to Question 61062 is correct. A further check of our financial records has established that no additional payment was made to Stonewall for this event. An amendment to our previous Freedom of Information response will be sent to the original requesters.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to deliver 6,000 more GPs by 2025.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England and NHS Improvement and Health Education England are working with the profession to increase the general practitioner (GP) workforce in England. This includes measures on recruitment, to address the reasons why doctors leave the profession and encourage them to return to practice.
The updated GP Contract Framework for 2020/21 announced a number of new retention schemes alongside continued support for existing schemes. These schemes include the GP Retention Scheme, the International Induction Programme, the Return to Practice Programme, the Fellowship Programme, the New to Partnership Payment and Supporting Mentors Scheme. Last year, 3,793 doctors started GP training and we are committed to increasing the number of training places available to 4,000 a year.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of changes to the criteria for covid-19 booster vaccinations on people with asthma.
Answered by Maggie Throup
On 14 September 2021, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advised that individuals who were vaccinated in phase one of the COVID-19 vaccination programme should be offered a booster vaccine. This includes those in the chronic respiratory disease (CRD) clinical risk group. In phase one, those with asthma needing continuous or repeated use of systemic steroids or required hospital admission were included in the CRD risk group.
On 16 September, the Green Book definition of asthma was updated to state that those with ‘poorly controlled asthma’ would be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose. This includes individuals who have had two or more courses of oral corticosteroids in the preceding 24 months; or are on maintenance oral corticosteroids; or have had one or more hospital admission(s) for asthma in the preceding 24 months. A specific assessment of the impact of the revised definition of poorly controlled asthma has not been made.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of including those on the influenza Green Book within the covid-19 booster programme.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The potential merits of using the influenza clinical risk groups as a potential way to identify and prioritise individuals for COVID-19 vaccination was assessed during the development of phase one recommendations for the primary COVID-19 vaccination programme. However, when evaluating the data, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation found that there were differences between those at high risk of severe flu and those at high risk of severe COVID-19 infection.
The COVID-19 booster vaccine programme follows the priority groups one to nine in phase one of the programme to be offered a third dose of vaccine six months after their primary course.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding his Department has allocated to Stonewall in each of the last five years; and for what projects.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is shown in the following table.
Date/year | Payment description | Amount paid including VAT |
1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016 | Diversity Champions annual membership | £3,000 |
1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017 | Diversity Champions annual membership | £3,000 |
25 October 2017 | Fee for attending the Stonewall Workplace conference on 22 September 2017 | £240 |
1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018 | Diversity Champions annual membership | £3,000 |
1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019 | Diversity Champions annual membership | £3,000 |
1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020 | Diversity Champions annual membership | £3,000 |
As of February 2021, the Department’s membership with Stonewall has ended.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has commissioned research to understand the potential link between the (a) reduction in health visitor numbers and (b) fall in childhood immunisations since 2015.
Answered by Maggie Throup
No specific research has been commissioned.