Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many claims have been made by current or former service personnel in respect of adverse effects caused by being prescribed the drug mefloquine, larium, in each of the last three years for which information is available; and of those, how many have been resolved.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Department has been notified of a total of 686 common law claims relating to the alleged adverse effects of Lariam. A breakdown of claims in each of the last three years is not readily available, however, most the claims were notified prior to April 2021. The Ministry of Defence continues to resolve claims wherever possible.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what evidence of (a) identity and (b) immigration status GPs require from patients seeking to access their services; and whether her Department provides guidance to GPs on ensuring that identification provided by those people is genuine.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients have the legal right to choose a general practice (GP) that best suits their needs. An individual should not be refused registration or appointments because they do not have proof of address or personal identification. Patients do not need to provide proof of address or immigration status, identification, or a National Health Service number to register with a GP. The vast majority of migrants are required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge when applying for a visa to stay in the United Kingdom for longer than six months.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the NHS England South West Complaints Team plans to provide a substantive response to the complaint made by the hon. member for Christchurch on behalf of a constituent under reference 2312-2050136; for what reason there has been no response to the complaint from the South West dental commissioning team; and what the contact details are for the person in charge of that team.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many complaints have been received by the NHS England South West Complaints Team in each of the last six months; how many emanated from the Dorset Integrated Care Board; and how many of those have been outstanding for more than two months.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure equal treatment of (a) internal and (b) external A Level candidates sitting exams at further education colleges (i) in general and (ii) in the marking of coursework.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
All exam centres, including further education colleges, are required to treat all candidates equally, including private candidates, throughout the examination process. This includes offering all aspects of non-exam assessment (NEA) for that qualification, if required. The marking of NEA would also be the same for all students.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2024 to Question 17274 on Offences against Children, on what evidential basis the National Crime Agency has stated that the number of child sex offenders in the UK is between 550,000 and 800,000.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The National Crime Agency publishes an overview of the Child Sexual Abuse threat annually as part of the National Strategic Assessment. This includes an estimate of the number of UK based adult offenders who pose varying degrees of risk to children. An explanation of the CSA Scale Methodology has been published as an Annex to the National Strategic Assessment.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 the potential impact of the extra allocations of money made from the discharge fund to the (a) NHS and (b) local authorities in Dorset in the 2023-24 financial year on the (i) timeliness and (ii) effectiveness of the discharge of patients from NHS hospitals.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is investing an additional £600 million for 2023/24 and £1 billion for 2024/25, through the Discharge Fund, to support the National Health Service and local authorities in ensuring timely and effective discharge from hospital. As part of their allocations for 2023/24, NHS Dorset Integrated Care Board received £5.7 million, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council received £1.9 million, and Dorset Council received £1.7 million. There will be an independent evaluation of the Discharge Fund for 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Nationally, this funding has supported more people to be discharged more quickly with more appropriate support. The number of people discharged from hospital with packages of health and social care support increased by 10% between the end of February 2023 and the end of February 2024. Thanks to this improved patient flow hospitals have been able to admit and treat more patients during this period.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many XL Bully dogs have been seized by the police since 1 January 2024; and how many and what proportion of those seized have been euthanised.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not hold data on XL Bully dogs which have been seized by the police. This information would be held by individual police forces.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will publish the Regulatory Policy Committee's original opinion on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill submitted to her Department on 12 February 2024; if she will outline the changes she has made to that Bill since receiving that opinion; and what discussions she has had with the Regulatory Policy Committee on the expected timetable for their submission of the revised opinion.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom, and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year, and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. That is why we have introduced the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to create the first smokefree generation, and enable us to further crack down on youth vaping. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is available at the following link:
https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3703
On 12 February 2024 the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) gave opinion on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill impact assessment and rated it green (fit for purpose). However, on 19 March 2024, ahead of the introduction of the bill, a revised version was sent to the RPC for comment. This included changes to reflect the inclusion of Northern Ireland in the bill, following the formation of a Northern Ireland Executive, and a power in the bill to enable the current notification system for nicotine vapes to also cover non-nicotine vapes and other consumer nicotine products, for instance nicotine pouches. The RPC have publicly stated that they welcome the resubmission of the revised impact assessment, and we expect a revised opinion to be issued shortly. The statement from the RPC is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-tobacco-and-vapes-bill-statement-from-the-rpc
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Regulatory Policy Committee's revised opinion on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill is published by 16 April 2024.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom, and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year, and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. That is why we have introduced the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to create the first smokefree generation, and enable us to further crack down on youth vaping. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is available at the following link:
https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3703
On 12 February 2024 the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) gave opinion on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill impact assessment and rated it green (fit for purpose). However, on 19 March 2024, ahead of the introduction of the bill, a revised version was sent to the RPC for comment. This included changes to reflect the inclusion of Northern Ireland in the bill, following the formation of a Northern Ireland Executive, and a power in the bill to enable the current notification system for nicotine vapes to also cover non-nicotine vapes and other consumer nicotine products, for instance nicotine pouches. The RPC have publicly stated that they welcome the resubmission of the revised impact assessment, and we expect a revised opinion to be issued shortly. The statement from the RPC is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-tobacco-and-vapes-bill-statement-from-the-rpc