Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
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 merits of psychological support for post-surgical orthopaedic infections.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We have made no such assessment. Anyone experiencing mental ill health as a result of a post-surgical orthopaedic infection should speak to their general practitioner, or refer themselves to their local NHS Talking Therapies service.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that best practice guidelines for prosthetic infection are implemented across elective surgery clinical care pathways.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is working with NHS England to improve perioperative care. This should ensure best practice guidelines are implemented across surgery clinical care pathways, including for prosthetic infections. In May 2023, NHS England published guidance setting out five core perioperative care requirements relating to the care of adult patients awaiting planned inpatient surgery. These measures address the key objective of identifying health needs as early as possible in perioperative pathways, and then using time on the waiting list to optimise health. The NHS England National Elective Recovery and Outpatients programme is working with NHS England regional teams to help oversee and support compliance, and will continue to do so throughout 2024/25.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to increase statutory sick pay for people unable to work while living with cancer.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has already increased the rate of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) this year, in April the rate of SSP was increased by the September 2023 CPI of 6.7% to £116.75. This represents a £20 per week increase in the rate of SSP since 2021.
SSP is just one part of our welfare safety net and our wider Government offer to support people in times of need. Anybody who is on a low level of income during the period that they are sick and who requires further financial support may be able to claim Universal Credit, depending on their personal circumstances.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to remove the earnings threshold for statutory sick pay.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Since 2019 over 500,000 more people now earn above the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) and can therefore benefit from Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). However, now is not the right time for structural reform of SSP, which includes removing the LEL.
SSP is just one part of our welfare safety net and our wider Government offer to support people in times of need, many of those with earnings below the LEL are already in receipt of benefits, such as Universal Credit.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential impact of the level of statutory sick pay on health outcomes.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to a previous response provided by the Minister of State for Care to Question UIN 902448.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press notice entitled PM to announce largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine on visit to Poland, published on 23 April 2024, whether the package of equipment will include (a) Python Minefield Breaching Systems and (b) Trojan Armoured Engineer Vehicles.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The military aid package announced on 23 April 2024 does not include Python Minefield Breaching Systems or Trojan armoured engineer vehicles.
The package does include more than 400 armoured, protected, and all-terrain vehicles, more than 1,600 munitions in the form of both strike and air defence missiles, as well as additional Storm Shadow long-range precision-guided missiles.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press notice entitled PM to announce largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine on visit to Poland, published on 23 April 2024, whether the package of equipment will include the Dragon Fire laser system.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The military aid package announced on 23 April 2024 includes more than 400 armoured, protected, and all-terrain vehicles, more than 1,600 munitions in the form of both strike and air defence missiles, as well as additional Storm Shadow long-range precision-guided missiles. The DragonFire system is under development for first deployment in 2027 and as such is not included in this package.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press notice entitled PM to announce largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine on visit to Poland, published on 23 April 2024, whether the package of equipment will include remote Minefield Breaching Systems.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The military aid package announced on 23 April 2024 does not include remote Minefield Breaching Systems.
The package does include more than 400 armoured, protected, and all-terrain vehicles, more than 1,600 munitions in the form of both strike and air defence missiles, as well as additional Storm Shadow long-range precision-guided missiles.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press notice entitled PM to announce largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine on visit to Poland, published on 23 April 2024, whether the package of equipment will include FV107 Scimitar vehicles.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The military aid package announced on 23 April 2024 does include FV107 Scimitar vehicles.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press notice entitled PM to announce largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine on visit to Poland, published on 23 April 2024, what the 400 vehicles are that will be sent to Ukraine.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
We will provide over 400 vehicles to Ukraine, consisting of 160 protected mobility Husky vehicles; 162 armoured vehicles comprised of further AS90 155mm artillery guns and Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked); and 78 all-terrain vehicles made up of Bv-206 and Viking.
These will provide much needed additional artillery support, reconnaissance capabilities, and amphibious mobility to support development of the Ukrainian marine corps.