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Written Question
Long Covid: Drugs
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to review the eligibility criteria for antivirals for those suffering from long covid.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Decisions on the eligibility criteria for treatment with antivirals are made by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), based on an assessment of their costs and benefits, developed in line with marketing authorisations issued by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

The NICE has published guidance that recommends the antivirals Paxlovid, Veklury, and Lagevrio for the treatment of COVID-19, both in the community, and for patients in hospital. This guidance sets out the eligibility criteria and ensures that patients who are at the highest risk of developing severe disease from COVID-19 have access to clinically and cost-effective treatments. Patients with long COVID have not been identified as a distinct group that would be eligible for treatment, and there are currently no licensed antivirals for the treatment of long COVID. The NICE therefore has no current plans to review the eligibility criteria in its guidance. The NICE maintains surveillance of new evidence that may affect its published guidance, and would consult on proposed changes if significant new evidence were to emerge.


Written Question
Childcare: Greater London
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress her Department has made on increasing the provision of school-aged childcare facilities for parents with young children in London.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is investing £289 million in a new wraparound childcare programme. This programme is to support local authorities in London and throughout England to work with primary schools and private providers to set up and deliver more wraparound childcare before and after school in the term time. The government’s ambition is for all parents of primary school children who need it to be able to access childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm by September 2026.

In October 2023, the department published guidance for local authorities on their role to support the expansion of wrapround childcare along with local authority funding allocations. In February 2024, the department also published guidance for schools and trust setting out expectations of schools in the delivery of wraparound provision.

From April 2024, Bi-borough, consisting of the local authorities of Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea, will be rolling out expanded wraparound provision, five months ahead of the national programme launch in September, meaning that some parents in London will have access to childcare sooner. Along with three other local authority areas, Cambridgeshire, Central Bedfordshire and Norfolk, these early adopters form part of a test and learn phase to strengthen the delivery of the full rollout.

This year, the department has again provided over £200 million for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, with all local authorities in England delivering in the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays. The HAF programme provides heathy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning. Since 2022, the HAF programme has provided 10.7 million HAF days to children and young people in this country. The expansion of the programme year on year has meant a total of 5.4 million HAF days provided between Christmas 2022 and Easter and summer 2023.

The department is working to ensure that the creation of new or expanded wraparound childcare provision can also help to support the delivery of sustainable holiday childcare provision, wherever possible.


Written Question
Schools: Absenteeism
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of children and young people missing school as a result of long covid in the last 12 months.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The department does not hold information on absence by the specific category of long COVID. Data on absence by reason, which includes the category of illness, is published in the ‘Pupil Absence in Schools in England’ statistical release: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.

Where pupils face barriers to their attendance because of long-term medical conditions, the department expects schools to work with families to put in place additional support to help them to attend regularly. They should also consider whether support from external agencies would be appropriate, may need to provide reasonable adjustments, and ensure that appropriate pastoral support is in place. Local authorities are responsible for arranging suitable provision for children of compulsory school age who, because of health reasons, would otherwise not receive suitable education.



Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Long Covid
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria for people with long covid to access (a) Universal Credit and (b) Employment and Support Allowance.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made.

People living with a condition arising from exposure to the Covid-19 virus can access the financial support that is available through Statutory Sick Pay, Universal Credit, New Style ESA or Pension Credit depending on individual circumstances.

Disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment or Attendance Allowance do not include or exclude by condition, instead they look at the needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability. Therefore people living with a condition arising from exposure to the Covid-19 virus are also able to access these benefits in the same way as other people with long-term conditions or disabilities.


Written Question
Landfill: Regulation
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the regulation of landfill sites.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The vast majority of landfill sites do not cause problems and the regulatory framework serves them and their local communities well. Where poor performance does occur the Environment Agency has a range of powers to bring sites back into compliance and, where necessary, to take enforcement action against operators.


Written Question
Disability
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Disability Action Plan, published in February 2024, what steps his Department is taking to help with the extra financial costs associated with disability when standing for elected office.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ15196 on 29 February.


Written Question
Landfill: Safety
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency has made a recent assessment of the safety of historic landfill sites that are in close proximity to urban areas.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Local Authorities have the statutory duty to inspect their Areas to identify contaminated land (including historic landfills and non-permitted sites) in accordance with a written inspection strategy which they must publish and maintain.

The Environment Agency has responsibility to require those responsible to remediate historic landfills and non-permitted sites if they have been determined as contaminated land and designated as a ‘special site’ by the local authority under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Since 2000, 54 sites have been designated as special sites including 13 historic landfills Contaminated Land Special Sites - data.gov.uk


Written Question
NHS: Long Covid
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has undertaken an impact assessment on the impact that long covid has had on the NHS workforce.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

No assessment has been made of the potential merits of collecting data on the prevalence of long COVID. On 25 April 2024, the Office for National Statistics will be publishing additional analysis from the fortnightly Winter Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Study, including data on trends in ongoing symptoms of COVID-19. This article will expand on the existing analysis published in the Winter Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Study’s data tables, to look more in depth at trends in self-reported symptoms of COVID-19, including ongoing symptoms and associated risk factors. No assessment has been made of the impact that long COVID has had on the National Health Service workforce.


Written Question
Long Covid
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of collecting data on the prevalence of long covid.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

No assessment has been made of the potential merits of collecting data on the prevalence of long COVID. On 25 April 2024, the Office for National Statistics will be publishing additional analysis from the fortnightly Winter Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Study, including data on trends in ongoing symptoms of COVID-19. This article will expand on the existing analysis published in the Winter Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Study’s data tables, to look more in depth at trends in self-reported symptoms of COVID-19, including ongoing symptoms and associated risk factors. No assessment has been made of the impact that long COVID has had on the National Health Service workforce.


Written Question
Zane Gbangbola
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of opening an independent public inquiry into the death of Zane Gbangbola during flooding in 2014.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Surrey Senior Coroner has already carried out a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding Zane Gbangbola’s death, taking into account a considerable amount of evidence.  The Coroner, as an independent judicial office holder, drew his own conclusions based on this evidence.

If there is a belief that the evidence was not considered properly during the original inquest, or that there is new evidence available, the correct process is for an application to be made to the Attorney General asking her to apply to the High Court to quash the inquest and order a fresh investigation. The High Court would take this course of action if it believed that it would be in the interests of justice.

I believe that this remains the proper process to follow. An assessment of the merits of an inquiry should be made at the appropriate time if, and when, the legal processes have been exhausted.