Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
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 6 January 2022 to Question 94344 on Schools: Coronavirus, how many applications for the tender were received; whether the tender specified a date by which preliminary results must be provided to Ministers and what that date was; and whether any applications were rejected despite offering an earlier date for either (a) preliminary results or (b) full results.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Two elements of the study were subject to a tendering process. The tender for upper-room ultraviolet germicidal irradiation received three applications and the tender for air quality power management received six applications.
The tenders did not specify a required date by which preliminary or full results must be provided and no applications were rejected on the basis of reporting timelines.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the trial of ventilation technologies taking place in primary classrooms in Bradford, on what date the (a) tender for that trial was first commissioned and (b) trial commenced; between which dates the trial was actively collecting data; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The trial of ventilation technologies in primary schools in Bradford is funded by the UK Health Security Agency. The tender was published 28 April 2021, with contracts awarded to the successful bidders in July 2021. The trial is ongoing and will continue to the end of the school year 2021/2022.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he made an assessment of the future additional annual costs to the public purse in the event that the judgment in the Supreme Court case of Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake, UKSC 2018/0160, was decided in favour of Tomlinson-Blake.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
In advance of the Supreme Court’s decision in Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake, UKSC 2018/0160, the Government took steps to consult with affected stakeholders and prepare for various possible outcomes. An assessment of future annual additional costs to the public purse in the event of a judgement in favour of Tomlinson-Blake would have required information about the present and future remuneration of care workers, which is set independently by private sector providers and the degree to which local authorities would reflect any increases in the fees they pay care providers, taking account of local market conditions. This information was not available ahead of the judgement.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
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 13 July 2021 to Question 29801 on GP Surgeries: Ventilation, what budget has been made available for enforcement activities in respect of ventilation in GP surgeries in each of the last ten years; what enforcement action has been taken in respect of ventilation in each of the last ten years; and when he or other Ministers in his Department last met representatives of (a) general practitioners and (b) trades unions recognised within the NHS to discuss the ventilation of GP surgeries.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) enforcement activity is funded by Grant-in-Aid from the Department. However, the CQC has advised that information on the budget specifically for enforcement activities is not held in the format requested.
The CQC can consider ventilation as part of an inspection of a hospital or general practitioner practice and has a range of tools it can use on a proportionate basis, in line with its enforcement policy. However, the CQC do not record centrally the specific reason for taking regulatory action and to obtain information relating to enforcement on ventilation issues could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. There have been no specific meetings to discuss ventilation.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
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 13 July 2021 to Question 290800 on Hospitals: Ventilation, what budget has been made available for enforcement activities in respect of ventilation in hospitals in each of the last ten years; what enforcement action has been taken in respect of ventilation in each of the last ten years; and when he last met representatives of (a) relevant NHS Trusts and (b) trade unions recognised within the NHS to discuss the ventilation of hospitals.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) enforcement activity is funded by Grant-in-Aid from the Department. However, the CQC has advised that information on the budget specifically for enforcement activities is not held in the format requested.
The CQC can consider ventilation as part of an inspection of a hospital or general practitioner practice and has a range of tools it can use on a proportionate basis, in line with its enforcement policy. However, the CQC do not record centrally the specific reason for taking regulatory action and to obtain information relating to enforcement on ventilation issues could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. There have been no specific meetings to discuss ventilation.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of operating the Track and Trace app compared with operating the Track and Trace service by telephone call.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
To date, the cost of developing the National Health Service COVID-19 app is £10.8 million. We will provide information in due course on the cost of the wider Track and Trace programme.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which companies won Government contracts to develop the covid-19 track and trace app; and what the value of those contracts was.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
Details on individual contracts can be found on Contract Finder on GOV.UK. Companies which helped to develop the National Health Service COVID-19 contact tracing app include Vmware/Vmware Pivotal Labs, Zuhlke Engineering, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the (a) development of the Track and Trace app and (b) merger of that app with Google and Apple.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
To date the cost of developing the National Health Service COVID-19 app is £10.8 million. We will publish the total costs in due course.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the estimated cost to the public purse has been of the NHS covid-19 track and trace app.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
To date the cost of developing the National Health Service COVID-19 app is £10.8 million.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the additional cost will be of the further data protection requirements of the new covid-19 track and trace app.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We will publish the total costs in due course.