Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether officials in her Department have had recent discussions with the Care Quality Commission on antibiotic underdosing.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Officials from the Department have not had any recent discussions with the Care Quality Commission on antibiotic underdosing. General guidance on prescribing and the use of medicines is published online by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and is available at the following link:
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has had discussions with stakeholders on antibiotic line flushing.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Officials from the Department have not had any recent discussions with stakeholders on antibiotic line flushing. Good clinical practice is to flush an intravenous line with saline after a medicine has been administered, to ensure the full dose is delivered to the patient. This is not unique to antibiotics.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether there are pending applications for arms export licences for arms to Israel.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics, including data on outcome, end user destination, overall value, type (e.g. military, other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.The most recent Official Statistics cover the period 1 April - 30 June 2023. Information regarding export licensing decisions made between 1 July - 30 September 2023 will be published after April 2024 and information regarding export licensing decisions made between 1 October - 31 March 2024 will be published later this year.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Compliance Assessment Process has made of (a) Israel's commitment and capability to comply with International Humanitarian Law and (b) its past record of compliance with IHL.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We have previously assessed that Israel is committed and capable of complying with International Humanitarian Law. We regularly review our assessment.
The Government operates a robust and thorough assessment of licence applications against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. We regularly publish data on export licensing decisions on the dedicated gov.uk site: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data. That data covers export licensing decisions made to the end of June 2023. Information regarding export licensing decisions made since 1 July 2023 has not yet been published.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what is the value of the (a) 28 extant and (b) 28 pending arms export licences to Israel identified in the Change of Circumstances review in 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We have previously assessed that Israel is committed and capable of complying with International Humanitarian Law. We regularly review our assessment.
The Government operates a robust and thorough assessment of licence applications against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. We regularly publish data on export licensing decisions on the dedicated gov.uk site: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data. That data covers export licensing decisions made to the end of June 2023. Information regarding export licensing decisions made since 1 July 2023 has not yet been published.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether there are pending applications for arms export licences for arms to Israel as of 19 March 2024.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
HM Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics, including data on outcome, end user destination, overall value, type (e.g. military, other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.
The most recent Official Statistics cover the period 1 April - 30 June 2023.
Information regarding export licensing decisions made between 1 July – 30 September 2023 will be published after April 2024 and information regarding export licensing decisions made between 1 October – 31 March 2024 will be published later this year.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
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 publish the report on the plastic in wet wipes consultation.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the public consultation on the proposed ban of wet wipes containing plastic, Defra has been working with the Welsh Government, Scottish Government and NI Executive to prepare a UK-wide Government response. This will be published this Spring.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason has the results of the consultation on plastic in wet wipes not yet been published.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have been working closely with the Devolved Administrations to publish a UK-wide Government Response and agree a joined-up approach to the proposed ban across the UK. Our shared goal is to deliver a ban that is effective and proportionate. The UK-wide Government Response will be published this Spring.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of international coordination on supporting peace, human rights and democracy in Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
On Friday, the UN Security Council adopted the UK-led resolution 2724, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan during Ramadan. This resolution supports the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Ramtane Lamamra, to co-ordinate regional peace efforts. We continue to call on Sudan’s warring parties to commit to a meaningful peace process that will deliver the stability the Sudanese people deserve.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment the Government has made of the impact of (a) smartphone and (b) social media use by under 16s on their (i) mental health and (ii) safety.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is committed to making the UK the safest place to be a child online, as evidenced by the landmark Online Safety Act.
Harmful and age-inappropriate online content and activity can be particularly damaging for children. That is why the Online Safety Act places robust, much-needed responsibilities on technology companies – including social media platforms, search services and other services which host user-generated content – to keep all users, but particularly children, safe online.
In 2019, the UK Chief Medical Officers noted that the available research did not present evidence of a causal relationship between screen-based activities and mental health problems; however, some research found associations between screen-based activities and negative effects such as increased risk of anxiety or depression.
The government is committed to ensuring that children have a positive experience online, using the internet for connecting with peers, as well as to access educational resources, information, and entertainment.