Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to place opioid-overdose reversal Naloxone alongside existing public access defibrillators.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is working to expand access to naloxone, and to increase the availability of this life saving medicine. We will shortly update legislation to enable more services and individuals to provide take-home supplies of naloxone without a prescription. This follows a public consultation in which the responses were overwhelmingly supportive of our proposals. The consultation outcome is available at:
These changes mean naloxone can be given to a family member or friend of a person who is known to be using opiates, and to professionals working with people who use these drugs, to save lives in the event of an overdose.
Whilst the government has no current plans to place naloxone alongside public access defibrillators, we are committed to making naloxone as accessible as possible to those who need it. We are therefore considering the feasibility and potential benefits of a range of options, including making naloxone available in locked boxes in public places.
We have also launched a £5 million fund to tackle drug deaths across the United Kingdom, which is funding research projects that are considering other innovative ways to make naloxone more readily available. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/5-million-fund-to-tackle-fatal-drug-deaths-across-the-uk
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council started to investigate neurodegenerative diseases in professional sportspeople.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council began its investigation into neurodegenerative diseases in professional sportspeople on 20 May 2021.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been waiting for more than 12 months for (a) knee and (b) hip replacement surgery.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Waiting list management information shows that there were 3,469 people waiting for more than 12 months for hip replacement surgery, and 5,714 people waiting for more than 12 months for knee replacement surgery, as of 5 May 2024.
The National Health Service has been hit by the most disruptive industrial action in its history, and as of April 2024, approximately 1.4 million hospital appointments have been rescheduled since December 2022. The NHS is working incredibly hard to ensure that those who have been waiting the longest receive treatment as soon as possible, and staff are going above and beyond to make this happen.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2024 to Question 25469, how many of the (a) former miners and (b) widows of former miners receiving a Mineworkers' Pension Scheme pension are aged (i) over 90, (ii) 80 to 89, (iii) 70 to 79, (iv) 60 to 69, and (v) below 60 years of age.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The breakdown by age of former miners in receipt of pensions and dependents at 30 September 2023 is as follows:
Age | Former Miners in receipt of a pension | Dependents | |
| 6259 |
| |
60-69 | 37513 | 3500 | |
70-79 | 27157 | 6239 | |
80-89 | 14133 | 8982 | |
90+ | 2959 | 3876 |
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the average cost of fees is for a recipient of a pension through the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the year to September 2023, Scheme expenses totalled £36m. The number of members in receipt of a pension at 30 September 2023 is 112,057. Therefore, the cost of scheme expenses per member in receipt of a pension is £321.27.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many former miners are not yet eligible to receive their mineworkers' pension.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There are currently 34 members who are not in receipt of a pension and are under age 50 and therefore not yet eligible to receive their MPS pension.