Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances, what assessment he has made of (a) the effectiveness of the Committee's performance and (b) its timeliness in responding to applications in 2019-20; and how many (i) products the Committee approved and (ii) new products were submitted to it for approval in that 12 month period.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances (ACBS) Secretariat, ACBS members and industry representatives of the British Specialist Nutrition Association have concluded that the current application form and guidance are leading to inconsistent quality in submissions from manufacturers and a new application form and guidance is required As a result, a joint project with industry to improve ACBS processes began in 2019. This was paused due to COVID-19 and will resume as soon as the ACBS and its stakeholders are able to do so.
As part of the project, a bespoke report was produced and shared with the British Specialist Nutrition Association on 18 February 2020 showing that the average time for the ACBS to respond to all types of applications was 28 working days.
From 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 the Committee approved 103 products and 35 new products were submitted to it for approval.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances takes to work with stakeholders; and whether the Committee's work is publicly accessible.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Department is responsible for the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances (ACBS). The Committee and its secretariat work closely with stakeholders including arranging regular meetings with industry representatives at the British Specialist Nutrition Association. Much of the Committee’s work covers commercially sensitive information. However, the minutes of ACBS meetings are published at the following link:
https://app.box.com/s/k8a2gxf6b8emexz6neekq134yx9vi35y
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances publishes (a) an annual report, (b) minutes of meetings, (c) conflict of interest declarations and (d) a performance review; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Department is responsible for the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances (ACBS).
The Department publishes the minutes of the ACBS meetings at the following link:
https://app.box.com/s/k8a2gxf6b8emexz6neekq134yx9vi35y
The minutes include a record of the interests declared by members of the ACBS and any conflicts.
The Department has not published an annual report or performance review of work relating to the ACBS.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to proceed with proposals on the mandatory fortification of flour and gluten-free products with folic acid.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Department published a United Kingdom-wide consultation on the proposed mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid which ran from 13 June to 9 September 2019. A post consultation update was made available on GOV.UK. We received 1,442 responses from a wide range of stakeholders. Publication of the consultation response has been delayed due to COVID-19 related work taking priority. We will publish our response as soon as possible.