Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much her Department spent on the Healthy Start Scheme in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
2022-23 financial year spend information is subject to the upcoming DHSC Annual Report and Accounts publication, which is due to be published imminently. Healthy Start costs will be available following this publication.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Justice during the debate on the Victims and Prisoners Bill of 4 December 2023, Official Report, column 138, when his Department plans to start a public consultation.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is committed to ensuring that the bereaved remain at the heart of the inquest process. We are therefore entirely sympathetic to the Hon Member’s campaign to establish a role for the bereaved in the registration of their loved one’s death following an inquest.
However, this is a sensitive and complex issue, and it is important that we identify the most appropriate solution, particularly in light of the provisions contained within the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill and the move towards an electronic register.
To support consideration of that solution, we will as the Minister of State for Justice, the Rt Hon Edward Argar MP, announced on 4 December (Hansard, column 138), be undertaking a full public consultation to gather the widest possible range of views. We aim to launch this consultation as soon as practicable in 2024.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence of 28 November 2023, Official Report, column 246WH, if his Department will provide the 150 Atomic Weapons Establishment files to the Defence Select Committee with personal details redacted.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I have asked officials to review the 150 items and provide them to me. I will then personally assess them and consider their release into the public domain, as I committed to do during the debate on Nuclear Test Veterans: Medical Records on 28 November (Official Report, column 245WH).
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence during the debate on Nuclear Test Veterans: Medical Records of 28 November 2023, Official Report, column 245WH, when his Department plans to examine the 150 Atomic Weapons Establishment files.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I have asked officials to review the 150 items and provide them to me. I will then personally assess them and consider their release into the public domain, as I committed to do during the debate on Nuclear Test Veterans: Medical Records on 28 November (Official Report, column 245WH).
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for cancer treatment.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Improving cancer treatment waiting times is a top priority for the government and is a key focus of our elective recovery plan, backed by an additional £8bn in revenue funding across the Spending Review Period.
In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced it is providing over £390m to Cancer Alliances. This will support delivery of operational priorities for cancer which includes increasing and prioritising cancer treatment capacity.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many initial army training staff were (a) investigated for and (b) convicted of sexual offences against recruits under the age of 18 in the last three years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the amount of money local authorities spent on employing political assistants in the financial years (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to prevent Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from entering into the environment in South Shields constituency.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A Defra report, produced in collaboration with the Environment Agency, conducted a study to determine the levels of PFAS chemicals in estuarine and coastal sediments - Science Search (defra.gov.uk). Results indicate there are a range of different PFAS present in English estuarine sediments, which included the Tyne estuary. Concentrations were found to be low in English estuary sediment. The Environment Agency continues to monitor PFAS in estuaries, and is currently considering levels across the water, biota and sediment.
The Environment Agency have been developing risk profiles for several site types where PFAS release is likely to have occurred or may be ongoing because of different historic and current land uses. This work has provided valuable information about the distribution and sources of PFAS in the environment in England. Several strategies are being developed to manage risk from these sorts of sources and the potential release of PFAS. This risk profiling work has not identified any specific sites in South Shields.
In the UK REACH Work Programme for 2021-22, Defra asked the EA and Health and Safety Executive to examine the risks posed by PFAS and develop a 'Regulatory Management Options Analysis' (RMOA). Defra welcomed the RMOA recently published and is working with its partners to develop the recommendations for risk management measures, building on the commitment in the 25 Year Environment Plan to tackle chemicals of concern.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to collaborate with (a) water companies and (b) scientific experts on future investment in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances remediation for South Shields.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) has worked with water companies and their research body, UK Water Industry Research, on the Chemicals Investigation Programme (CIP) since 2010. CIP has conducted investigations into PFOS and PFOA, and the CIP3 phase has established their concentrations in sewage works, their catchments and the receiving waters. Based on this work targeted investigations will be conducted in the next phase of CIP, known as CIP4, none of which need to be carried out in South Shields.
In the UK REACH Work Programme for 2021-22, Defra asked the EA and Health and Safety Executive to examine the risks posed by PFAS and develop a 'Regulatory Management Options Analysis' (RMOA). Defra welcomed the RMOA recently published and is working with its partners to develop the recommendations for risk management measures, building on the commitment in the 25 Year Environment Plan to tackle chemicals of concern.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions there were for (a) scurvy, (b) rickets, (c) vitamin D deficiency and (d) malnutrition in age groups (i) up to four, (ii) five to nine, (iii) 10-16 and (iv) over 17 years in (A) 2020/21 and (B) 2021/22.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The following tables show activity in National Health Service hospitals and NHS-commissioned activity in the independent sector in England, with a count of Finished Admission Episodes with a “primary” or “primary or secondary diagnosis” of scurvy, rickets, vitamin D deficiency and malnutrition by age group for 2020/21 and 2021/22:
2020/21 | Primary Diagnosis | |||
Patient Age (years) | Scurvy | Rickets | Vitamin D Deficiency | Malnutrition |
0-4 | 1 | 41 | 28 | 11 |
5-9 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 7 |
10-16 | 2 | 8 | 50 | 16 |
17 or over | 2 | 0 | 586 | 765 |
2020/21 | Primary or Secondary Diagnosis | |||
Patient Age (years) | Scurvy | Rickets | Vitamin D Deficiency | Malnutrition |
0-4 | 3 | 41 | 1,715 | 71 |
5-9 | 4 | 1 | 1,698 | 43 |
10-16 | 10 | 8 | 4,713 | 165 |
17 or over | 151 | 0 | 126,785 | 9,681 |
2021/22 | Primary Diagnosis | |||
Patient Age (years) | Scurvy | Rickets | Vitamin D Deficiency | Malnutrition |
0-4 | 2 | 41 | 64 | 14 |
5-9 | 6 | 8 | 21 | 11 |
10-16 | 4 | 3 | 91 | 15 |
17 or over | 3 | 1 | 863 | 843 |
2021/22 | Primary or Secondary Diagnosis | |||
Patient Age (years) | Scurvy | Rickets | Vitamin D Deficiency | Malnutrition |
0-4 | 5 | 41 | 2,054 | 73 |
5-9 | 17 | 8 | 1,810 | 67 |
10-16 | 29 | 3 | 6,022 | 140 |
17 or over | 144 | 1 | 167,169 | 10,242 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS England
The root causes of malnutrition may be clinical, for example disease-related, social and/or economic. These problems often interact in a complex cycle. Some health conditions can lead to malnutrition including eating disorders, although malnutrition itself is not an eating disorder.