Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has updated guidance on the use of single-sex facilities in response to the Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We will review and update policy wherever necessary to ensure it complies with the latest legal requirements. We aim to ensure appropriate facilities are available for all staff.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in response to the Rt hon. Member for Tatton at Health Questions on 6 May 2025, when the relevant Minister will meet with the Rt hon. Member for Tatton.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My private office has reached out to the Rt. Hon. Member for Tatton to find a time for the meeting.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 March 2025 to Question 35647 on Coronavirus: Research, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority case rulings with reference to (a) AUTH/3835/10/23 and (b) 0316/10/24 on the governance of the Government’s mRNA research and development partnership with Moderna.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In April 2025, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) was made aware that Moderna was to be issued a public reprimand by the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA) appeal board. Moderna would be subject to an audit following two recent cases where they had been ruled to have breached the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry Code.
The Government has conducted an initial assessment of the PMCPA’s ruling, and has determined that it will not impact the delivery of the Moderna-United Kingdom Strategic Partnership.
The UKHSA will work with Moderna to ensure any recommendations from the report are duly considered and implemented, and to obtain assurance that these will be upheld for the duration of the partnership.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 proportion of government health expenditure that will be spent on mental health in each year of this parliament.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Written Ministerial Statement was published on 27 March 2025. This contained information on Government health expenditure in 2024/25 and 2025/26.
No estimate has been made for the remaining years of Parliament beyond this. However, mental health remains a priority for the Government, and this is backed by our commitment to the Mental Health Investment Standard in 2025/26.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the increase in National Insurance Contributions on the (a) financial viability and (b) capacity of the third sector in the health sector.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the vital work carried out by voluntary organisations, including in the heath sector, and is committed to supporting small businesses and charities. That is why the Employment Allowance has been more than doubled to £10,500. As a result, over half of the businesses with National Insurance contribution (NIC) liabilities will either benefit or see no increase in their contributions. In addition, eligible businesses and charities will continue to be able to claim reliefs on employer NICs, including those for employees under 21 years old and apprentices under 25 years old. Integrated care boards have developed plans to commission services in 2025/26 from providers, both National Health Service and third sector, to best meet the needs of their local populations, in response to national planning guidance.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings the Minister for Mental Health has had with the Chief Executive of Mind since her appointment; and what the dates were of those meetings.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministerial meetings with external organisations are routinely published on the GOV.UK website on a quarterly basis.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what meetings the Minister for Mental Health has had with external bodies since her appointment.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministerial meetings with external organisations are routinely published on the GOV.UK website on a quarterly basis.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to UKHSA FOI Request Ref: 617 H5 Influenza Vaccine, whether one tender response was received; and what steps he has taken to encourage more responses.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
One tender response was received. The requirement for this vaccine specified that the product must be licensed for use in the United Kingdom. At the time the tender was published, only one supplier was able to meet this criterion. This was despite prior engagement with the market ahead of the release of the tender documentation.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) routinely undertakes proactive market and horizon scanning to identify emerging technologies and new suppliers across a range of industries. We remain committed to fostering a competitive environment that encourages innovation, while meeting the scope of the UKHSA to respond to public health outcomes.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to FOI2025/00320, for what reason the Adjuvanted Zoonotic Influenza Vaccine was authorised via UK Regulation 56.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Adjuvanted Zoonotic Influenza Vaccine (Surface Antigen, Inactivated) Seqirus suspension for injection in a pre‐filled syringe (PLGB 47991/0013) was authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency via UK Regulation 56 of The Human Medicines Regulations 2012 on 6 October 2023. This created a duplicate unbranded licence that was identical to Aflunov suspension for injection in a pre-filled syringe (PLGB 47991/0004), which was authorised in the United Kingdom on 29 November 2010 by a European Commission decision, following a centralised procedure by the European Medicines Agency (EMA; EMEA/H/C/002094). Subsequent to the granting of this duplicate unbranded licence, further lifecycle management actions were authorised for this licence.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has received the final post-authorisation safety study report for the BNT162b2 covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A post-authorisation safety study is a study that is carried out after a medicine has been authorised to obtain further information on a medicine's safety, or to measure the effectiveness of risk-management measures.
A total of 22 clinical studies are included, or were previously included, as additional pharmacovigilance activities in the Risk Management Plan (RMP) for the Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty) vaccine. Of these studies, nine are reported as phase one, two, or three studies. Of the remaining studies, 10 are safety studies and three are vaccine effectiveness studies. Seven studies are ongoing, and 15 have been completed.
Milestones for these studies, including the due date of the submission of the final clinical study reports, are outlined in the RMP. The final study report for the clinical study Post Conditional Approval Active Surveillance Study Among Individuals in Europe Receiving the Pfizer BioNTech Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccine is due to be submitted to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency by 30 September 2025.