Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department’s call for views on new local authority capital flexibilities, published on 19 December 2023, if he will publish a list of investment properties valued at an estimated £23.2 billion.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government does not collect data on individual local authority assets, including investment assets. Details of these assets should be held locally by councils.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of workers that do not qualify for statutory sick pay because they earn less than the Lower Earnings Limit.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department’s latest estimate is that in Quarter 1 of the financial year 2022/23 there were around 1.5 million employees in the UK who earned below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL). This figure does not include workers who are self-employed. This is an update to the position from the DWP’s 2019 ‘Health is Everyone’s Business’ consultation using data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS).
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many workers in Scotland do not qualify for statutory sick pay because they earn less than the Lower Earnings Limit.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on those who earn below the Lower Earnings Limit in Scotland is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of workers that earn less than the Lower Earnings Limit.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department’s latest estimate is that in Quarter 1 of the financial year 2022/23 there were around 1.5 million employees, 5% of th, in the UK who earned below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL). This figure does not include workers who are self-employed.
This is an update to the position from the DWP’s 2019 ‘Health is Everyone’s Business’ consultation using data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). In the 2022/23 financial year, the LEL was set at £123 per week.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate she has made of when the HIV action plan implementation steering group will publish its PrEP roadmap.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The roadmap to help guide our efforts to improve equitable access, uptake and use of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is now expected to be made available in early 2024.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) men who have sex with men, (b) women, (c) Black men and (d) Black women that were accessing PrEP in England in (i) 2021, (ii) 2022 and (iii) 2023.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data for 2023 is not yet available and is to be published in autumn of 2024. The following table shows the number of people in 2021 and 2022 who initiated or continued HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) at sexual health services (SHSs) in England in the past two years for the demographic groups requested, as well as the proportion among those with HIV PrEP need:
| 2021 | 2022 |
England | 61,510 (69.7%) | 86,324(71.0%) |
Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men | 51,689 (72.2%) | 72,457 (73.5%) |
Women | 1,237 (31.5%) | 2,467 (41.9%) |
Black men (black African, black Caribbean and black other categories) | 2,408 (61.7%) | 2,986 (61.7%) |
Black women (black African, black Caribbean and black other categories) | 80 (19.0%) | 175 (30.2%) |
More data is available at the following links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hiv-annual-data-tables
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
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 PrEP in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is extremely effective at preventing HIV, and oral PrEP is routinely available in specialist sexual health services (SHSs) since 2020.
Routine HIV PrEP services are commissioned by local authorities through the public health grant (PHG) which covers a wide range of public health services, including HIV PrEP and other SHSs. HIV PrEP medication is provided by NHS England and funded through the Department’s overall budget allocation to NHS England.
The Department provided £11 million in 2020/21 and more than £23 million in 2021/22 through the PHG for routine commissioning of PrEP services. From 2022/23, funding for PrEP services has been fully included within the PHG.
The Department allocated more than £3.4 billion to local authorities in England to fund public health services through the PHG in in 2022/23 and more than £3.5 billion in 2023/24.
Individual local authorities decide on spending priorities and commissioning of SHSs, including HIV PrEP services, based on an assessment of local need and the type of services that best suit their population and which may include activities to raise awareness of HIV PrEP.
As part of the HIV Action Plan, the Department is investing over £3.5 million from 2021-2024 to deliver HIV Prevention England (HPE), which aims to improve knowledge of HIV, including evidence-based prevention interventions such as PrEP, and reduce stigma within affected communities. HPE is designed to complement locally commissioned prevention activities in areas of high HIV prevalence and for communities at significant risk of HIV.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding her Department provided for educational programmes to inform people at high risk of acquiring HIV about PrEP in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is extremely effective at preventing HIV, and oral PrEP is routinely available in specialist sexual health services (SHSs) since 2020.
Routine HIV PrEP services are commissioned by local authorities through the public health grant (PHG) which covers a wide range of public health services, including HIV PrEP and other SHSs. HIV PrEP medication is provided by NHS England and funded through the Department’s overall budget allocation to NHS England.
The Department provided £11 million in 2020/21 and more than £23 million in 2021/22 through the PHG for routine commissioning of PrEP services. From 2022/23, funding for PrEP services has been fully included within the PHG.
The Department allocated more than £3.4 billion to local authorities in England to fund public health services through the PHG in in 2022/23 and more than £3.5 billion in 2023/24.
Individual local authorities decide on spending priorities and commissioning of SHSs, including HIV PrEP services, based on an assessment of local need and the type of services that best suit their population and which may include activities to raise awareness of HIV PrEP.
As part of the HIV Action Plan, the Department is investing over £3.5 million from 2021-2024 to deliver HIV Prevention England (HPE), which aims to improve knowledge of HIV, including evidence-based prevention interventions such as PrEP, and reduce stigma within affected communities. HPE is designed to complement locally commissioned prevention activities in areas of high HIV prevalence and for communities at significant risk of HIV.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to provide effective HIV (a) testing, (b) treatment and (c) counselling services for the black community.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since 2013, the Government has mandated local authorities in England to commission comprehensive open access to most sexual health services, including free and confidential HIV testing, and provision of the HIV prevention drug PrEP through the Public Health Grant, funded at £3.4 billion overall in 2022-23. It is for individual local authorities to decide their spending priorities based on an assessment of local need and to commission the service lines that best suit their population.
NHS England are responsible for providing HIV treatment and care, which continues to have very high coverage and effectiveness across England. In 2022, among those with known treatment status, 98% received treatment, and 98% of those treated were virally suppressed.
The Government is committed to improving the quality of life for people living with HIV including within the black community. As part of the Government’s HIV Action Plan, a Workforce Task and Finish group was established in 2023, which will explore innovative ways for the workforce to provide better support to people of all demographics, including mental health support. They will present their recommendations to the HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group, who will agree how the advice will be taken forward.
As set out in the NHS England Roadmap, specialised HIV inpatient and outpatient services have been identified as key areas for greater integrated care systems (ICS) leadership by NHS England and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). This will allow local systems to simplify and strengthen HIV care pathways with other services through effective local partnerships, including psychosocial support and mental health and counselling services, for a more holistic approach to care.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
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 impact of the availability of (a) education, (b) employment and (c) housing for the black community on rates of HIV transmission within that community.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the potential impact of the availability of education, employment and housing for the black community on rates of HIV transmission within that community.
Statutory guidance on relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education is the responsibility of the Department for Education. This ensures that pupils understand transmission of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and that they understand how and where to access confidential sexual and reproductive health advice and treatment, amongst other key issues.
The HIV Action Plan is the cornerstone of our approach in England to drive forward progress and achieve our goal to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030. A key principle of our approach is to ensure that all populations benefit equally from improvements made in HIV outcomes.
As part of the Plan, the Department has committed £3.5 million to fund a national HIV prevention programme for England, HIV Prevention England (HPE). The programme aims to support communities who are disproportionately affected by HIV, with a particular focus on Black African communities, delivering a nationally co-ordinated programme of HIV prevention work that is designed to complement locally commissioned prevention activities in areas with high HIV prevalence.
NHSE England is also investing £33 million to fund and roll out the blood-borne virus emergency department (BBV ED) opt-out testing programme covering the 21 local authorities with the highest HIV prevalence. Findings published by UKHSA show that the programme has been particularly successful in engaging harder to reach groups, such as older people, women, people from non-white British backgrounds, and people living in the most deprived areas.
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, open access sexual health services to meet local demand and individual local authorities decide on spending priorities based on an assessment of local need for sexual health services, including HIV prevention and testing. We are providing more than £3.5 billion this financial year to local authorities through the Public Health Grant to fund public health services, including sexual health services, increasing to £3.575 billion in 2024/25.