Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on transporting technetium and krypton generators by air instead of road in the event that the UK leaves the EU without deal; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
Our number one priority is for patients to continue to have access to medicines, including medical radioisotopes such as krypton and technetium, whatever the European Union exit outcome, and we have robust contingency plans in place.
Leaving the EU with a deal remains the Government’s top priority. However, as a responsible Government we must plan for every possible outcome including ‘no deal’. The Department has published guidance to industry and the health and care system to allow them to make informed plans and preparations. This is available on GOV.UK.
The Department has worked with the pharmaceutical industry to ensure that planes are contracted to bring in medical radioisotopes under the appropriate specialist conditions and suppliers are working closely with the National Health Service to minimise any potential impact of changes to delivery times.
We are confident that if everyone does what they need to do, the supply of medicines and other medical products, including medical radioisotopes, will be uninterrupted.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) men and (b) women have died from anaphylaxis; and of those how many had an epinephrine autoinjector administered prior to death in each of the past five years.
Answered by Steve Brine
This information is not available.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the safety of Cellou Dalein Diallo in Guinea.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The outcome of the February 2018 Guinean municipal elections has been heavily disputed, resulting in an increase in political tensions in the country. In this context, we are aware of reports of shooting at the vehicle convoy of the opposition party leader, Cellou Dalein Diallo, in Conakry late last year. Together with EU and other international partners we are monitoring the situation closely. The international community continues to urge dialogue between the political parties and essential preparation for forthcoming legislative elections. Peaceful elections will be essential to reassuring investors and other partners, and not least the people of Guinea.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what oversight his Department has on the content included in Life in the United Kingdom: A guide for new residents.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Office manages the Life in the United Kingdom contract and approves the content of each publication.
The Department is reviewing the content of the handbook to ensure it re-flects modern society and British values – including the diversity of the UK.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the people listed in the next edition of Life in the United Kingdom: A guide for new residents reflect the diversity of the UK.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Office manages the Life in the United Kingdom contract and approves the content of each publication.
The Department is reviewing the content of the handbook to ensure it reflects modern society and British values including the diversity of the UK.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the next edition of the publication entitled Life In The United Kingdom: A Guide For New Residents is due to be published.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Regular updates are made to the handbook to ensure the content remains factually correct. There is no planned date for publishing an updated edition.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment the Commission has made of the effect of the contract for offsite screening of incoming mail to the Houses of Parliament on the ability of Members to receive next-day mail.
Answered by Tom Brake
Mail is collected from the SW1 delivery office in Pensbury Place, London, SW8 by the mail screening contractor at the following times (Mon-Fri) 01:30, 03:30, 04:30, 05:30, 07:00 & 09:00. Post is security screened and subsequently delivered on the same day to the post room in PCH at 05:35, 06:45, 08:30, 10:00, 12:00 & 13:40 where it is sorted and delivered to Members offices at 9am & 12 noon.
Any signed for or Special Delivery items received after the 12 noon delivery are delivered to Members during the afternoon. All other items of post are delivered to Members the next day at 9am.
The Houses of Parliament have no control over delays to the post across the wider Royal Mail network.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will investigate delays experienced by Members receiving incoming mail.
Answered by Tom Brake
Mail is collected from the SW1 delivery office in Pensbury Place, London, SW8 by the mail screening contractor at the following times (Mon-Fri) 01:30, 03:30, 04:30, 05:30, 07:00 & 09:00. Post is security screened and subsequently delivered on the same day to the post room in PCH at 05:35, 06:45, 08:30, 10:00, 12:00 & 13:40 where it is sorted and delivered to Members offices at 9am & 12 noon.
Any signed for or Special Delivery items received after the 12 noon delivery are delivered to Members during the afternoon. All other items of post are delivered to Members the next day at 9am.
The Houses of Parliament have no control over delays to the post across the wider Royal Mail network.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Home Affairs, with reference to his oral contribution of 5 September 2018, Official Report, column 169, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the new power to detain people at the UK border to determine whether they are engaged in hostile state activity on the security of the UK.
Answered by Ben Wallace
Schedule 3 to the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security introduced new powers that would allow ports and border officers to stop, question, search and detain persons at UK ports to determine whether they are or have been engaged in hostile activity.
The Bill completed its parliamentary passage on Tuesday 22 January but has not yet received Royal Assent. Following Royal Assent, the Schedule 3 powers will not come into force until the associated statutory guidance has been subject to public consultation, debated by both Houses of Parliament and subsequently commenced by regulations.
These powers were identified as a key gap in the capability of UK law enforcement to tackle the threat from hostile activity and the Government is pleased that Parliament has supported their passage in the Bill.
Once in force, the powers will be subject to the scrutiny and oversight of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner who will report annually on their exercise.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 5 September 2018, Official Report, column 169, what progress the PM has made in pushing for new EU sanctions regimes against those responsible for cyber-attacks and gross human rights violations.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK has actively supported proposals for three new EU thematic sanctions regimes in order to strengthen our international resilience to hybrid threats. These regimes are in different stages of development in the EU.
The chemical weapons regime was adopted at the Foreign Affairs Council on 15 October, and on 21 January the EU adopted the first listings under that regime in response to the use of chemical weapons in Salisbury and Syria. These actions demonstrate the resolve of the UK and our allies to tackle the proliferation and use of chemical weapons in contravention of global norms.
We welcomed the October European Council conclusions which gave a mandate for work on EU cyber sanctions. We are coordinating with EU partners to support the development of a cyber sanctions regime. We are also very supportive of ongoing policy discussions following the Dutch initiative to establish an EU global human rights sanctions regime. This will strengthen the EU’s ability to tackle human rights violations and abuses, wherever they may occur, and allow the EU to respond quickly and appropriately.