Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason there is a shortage of the drug Trulicity in the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has been working with Eli Lilly to address issues with access to glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) for type 2 diabetics. Issues with the supply of Trulicity (dulaglutide) have been driven by an increase in global demand. We have worked closely with Eli Lilly during this time to try to minimise risks to patients in the United Kingdom. As a result, patients stabilised on Trulicity (dulaglutide) should be able to continue to obtain their medicine. The supply of Trulicity will be intermittent throughout 2024 and patients are advised to speak to their prescriber if they have any concerns.
We issued updated guidance to healthcare professionals, in the form of a National Patient Safety Alert, on 3 January 2024, on how to manage patients requiring these medicines.
Our guidance is clear that GLP-1RAs that are solely licensed to treat type 2 diabetes should only be used for that purpose and should not be routinely prescribed for weight loss. The General Pharmaceutical Council, General Medical Council, Health and Care Professions Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council and Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland have also issued a joint statement stressing the importance of health and care professionals meeting regulatory standards in relation to these medicines.
Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2023 to Question 5477 on Darwin Initiative: Finance, how much grant funding has been provided to organisations with representatives on the Darwin Extra panel in the last three years; and what proportion of total grant funding this figure represents.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Darwin Extra applications are assessed by the Darwin Expert Committee which then makes recommendations to Defra on which grants to fund. The Answer of 19 December 2023 to Question 5477 noted that Darwin Expert Committee members have declared an interest in 13 of the 107 organisations awarded Darwin Initiative grants in the past 3 years. These 13 organisations were awarded Darwin Initiative grants with a combined value of £37.9m, which represents 49% of the £77m awarded under Rounds 27-29; these 13 organisations also unsuccessfully bid for a further £76.3m of grant funding in Rounds 27-29.
The Darwin Initiative requires an Expert Committee with up-to-date, practical knowledge of how to implement successful international development and conservation projects. Under its last three funding rounds, the Darwin Initiative received applications from 915 organisations. To not permit anyone with links to these organisations to serve on the Darwin Initiative’s Expert Committee could limit Defra’s ability to determine which proposed investments are most likely to succeed.
To ensure the independence of any advice provided by the Committee, Defra has in place a robust conflicts of interest policy, where members are required to declare their interests and recuse themselves from the assessment of any application in which they have an interest. Decisions on which Darwin Initiative grants to award are taken by Defra.
Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 December 2023 to Question 5477 on Darwin Initiative: Finance, if he will appoint independent experts to the Darwin Expert Committee to decide grant applications.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Decisions on which Darwin Initiative grants to award are taken by Defra.
The Darwin Expert Committee technically assesses proposals and provides its' recommendations to Defra for consideration. Defra appoints new members to the Committee following an open and competitive recruitment process, based on their capabilities and technical expertise and not to represent the organisation for which they work.
To ensure the independence of the advice provided by the Committee, Defra has in place a robust conflicts of interest policy, where members are required to declare their interests and recuse themselves from the assessment of any application in which they have an interest. Under its last three funding rounds, the Darwin Initiative received applications from 915 organisations.
Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of not permitting representatives of organisations which apply for Darwin funding from serving on (a) Darwin Initiative Extra and (b) the Darwin Expert Committee.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under its last three funding rounds, the Darwin Initiative received applications from 915 organisations.
To robustly assess applications against published criteria, Defra requires technical experts with relevant experience and knowledge. If we were to prevent experts with links to these 915 organisations from joining the Darwin Expert Committee, we would significantly compromise the Committee's capability to technically assess and make recommendations to Defra.
This is why Defra put in place a robust conflicts of interest policy, where members are required to declare their interests and recuse themselves from the assessment of any application in which they have an interest.
Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2024 to Question 9443 on Local Plans: Green Belt, what steps he is taking to ensure that planning inspectors apply the provisions of the new National Planning Policy Framework in their decisions.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Secretary of State appoints an independent Planning Inspector to examine a revised Local Plan (including any Green Belt boundary change) and check that it is legally compliant and sound. Plans must be positively prepared, justified, effective, and consistent with the National Planning Policy Framework. If requested by the local authority, Inspectors may recommend modifications to the Plan they consider necessary for it to be sound. The Framework is not law, simply requiring compliance: examining Inspectors have regard to its policies insofar as they are a material consideration.
As Annex 1 makes clear, the revised Framework will come into effect where a revised Plan reaches pre-submission stage after 19 March 2024. However, for the purposes of determining planning applications, the new Framework’s policies came into effect on 19 December 2023.
The Secretary of State has a range of intervention powers available to him in relation to the Plan-making process. Decisions to intervene are exceptional and made on a case-by-case basis once all the facts and any relevant legal advice have been considered.
Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2023 to Question 9443 on Local Plans: Green Belt, whether he has powers to intervene should a planning inspector require a local authority to build housing on a designated green belt site.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Secretary of State appoints an independent Planning Inspector to examine a revised Local Plan (including any Green Belt boundary change) and check that it is legally compliant and sound. Plans must be positively prepared, justified, effective, and consistent with the National Planning Policy Framework. If requested by the local authority, Inspectors may recommend modifications to the Plan they consider necessary for it to be sound. The Framework is not law, simply requiring compliance: examining Inspectors have regard to its policies insofar as they are a material consideration.
As Annex 1 makes clear, the revised Framework will come into effect where a revised Plan reaches pre-submission stage after 19 March 2024. However, for the purposes of determining planning applications, the new Framework’s policies came into effect on 19 December 2023.
The Secretary of State has a range of intervention powers available to him in relation to the Plan-making process. Decisions to intervene are exceptional and made on a case-by-case basis once all the facts and any relevant legal advice have been considered.
Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reasons can a planning inspector overrule a local council's housing plan.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Secretary of State appoints an independent Planning Inspector to examine a revised Local Plan (including any Green Belt boundary change) and check that it is legally compliant and sound. Plans must be positively prepared, justified, effective, and consistent with the National Planning Policy Framework. If requested by the local authority, Inspectors may recommend modifications to the Plan they consider necessary for it to be sound. The Framework is not law, simply requiring compliance: examining Inspectors have regard to its policies insofar as they are a material consideration.
As Annex 1 makes clear, the revised Framework will come into effect where a revised Plan reaches pre-submission stage after 19 March 2024. However, for the purposes of determining planning applications, the new Framework’s policies came into effect on 19 December 2023.
The Secretary of State has a range of intervention powers available to him in relation to the Plan-making process. Decisions to intervene are exceptional and made on a case-by-case basis once all the facts and any relevant legal advice have been considered.
Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to Question (a) 5477 and (b) 5478 tabled by the Rt hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell on 6 December 2023.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Responses were published on 19 December 2023.
Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has issued guidance to planning inspectors on the applicability of Section 13 of the National Planning Policy Framework on Protecting the Green Belt if draft local plans have not made sufficient provision for new housing.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The National Planning Policy Framework now makes clear that there is no requirement to alter Green Belt boundaries to provide housing land.
Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the National Planning Policy Framework, published on 20 December 2023, what steps he is taking to help planning inspectors ensure existing green belt boundaries when considering draft local plans.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The National Planning Policy Framework now makes clear that there is no requirement to alter Green Belt boundaries to provide housing land.