Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of people with sight loss who have accessed NHS mental health support services between 1 January 2023 and 10 May 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to publish its response to the Animal Welfare Committee's Opinion on the Welfare of Farmed Fish at the Time of Killing.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston, on 10 March 2023, PQ UIN 158986.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to (a) recognise the contribution of civilian interpreters who worked for the Armed Forces in Afghanistan and (b) commemorate those who lost their lives because of their service.
Answered by James Heappey
The Ministry of Defence and the UK remains indebted to all Afghan nationals who risked their lives working for and alongside UK forces in Afghanistan. It is in recognition of this contribution and associated risk that the Government introduced the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme on 1 April 2021 to provide relocation or other assistance to Afghan nationals who meet the criteria set out in the Immigration Rules. As of June 2023, we have relocated over 12,200 people to safety in the UK under the ARAP scheme.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help facilitate collaboration between (a) the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and (b) biotechnology companies developing (i) organ-on-a-chip technologies and (ii) human-specific methods for assessing the safety of new drugs.
Answered by Will Quince
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is aware of organ-on-chip technologies to better identify potential toxicity of novel medicines and has engaged with other organisations active in this space such as the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research who have hosted meetings on this theme. The MHRA has also provided scientific advice to at least one biotechnology company on the use of this technology to support proof of concept for a new medicine. The MHRA does not identify those with whom it may have had discussions for reasons of commercial sensitivity.
In relation to human specific methods, some medicines have been developed which only have activity in humans, such as eculizumab (Soliris), tebentafusp (Kimmtrak) or CAR T cell products (for instance, Kymriah, Yescarta and Tecartus). These medicines were developed using human specific methods; however, versions of these medicines that were active in animals were, in some cases, also used. The MHRA supports the developers of these products by its offer of scientific advice services, the Innovation Office and the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what funding his Department has allocated for conflict prevention in (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Conflict prevention is a broad term that describes activity that seeks to avert violence.
A range of programmes funded through Official Development Assistance (ODA) and the Conflict, Security, Stabilisation Fund (CSSF) can be considered conflict prevention, such as preventing violent extremism or promoting effective land management. The FCDO does not track conflict prevention spend as a separate activity.
The FCDO's latest estimate of its ODA spending for 2022-23 is £7.56 billion. The FCDO's indicative ODA budget for 2023-24 is £8.1 billion. The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) will replace the CSSF with a budget of almost £1 billion.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had discussions with the Leader of the House on finding parliamentary time for the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 17 May 2023 to the hon. Member for Preston, PQ 184295.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
Whether her Department is taking steps to help support the development and use of blockchain technology.
Answered by Paul Scully
In the spring 2023 Budget, the government committed to be ahead of the curve on the future of web technology, which includes Web3 and other blockchain-based technologies.
My department will work to maximise the potential of Web3 and spur UK growth and innovation, alongside empowering individuals to influence how their data is used, and minimising any harms to the economy, security, and society.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing VAT on veterinary (a) services and (b) medicines for 12 months and then undertaking a review of that policy; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of that policy on costs for pet owners.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
VAT has been designed as a broad-based tax on consumption, and the twenty per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services, including veterinary medicines and veterinary services. While there are exceptions to the standard rate, these have always been strictly limited by both legal and fiscal considerations.
Although all taxes are kept under review, the Government has no plans to change the VAT treatment of veterinary services or medicines.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2023 to Question 117640 on Trapping, what recent discussions she has had with the devolved administrations on the potential merits of banning snares.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
A date is being sought for a meeting with Lesley Griffiths, MS for Rural Affairs in the Welsh Government. I will be interested to discuss the Welsh Government’s plans to ban the use of snares in Wales. I also hope to engage with Mairi Gougeon MSP in the Scottish Government given her responsibilities cover animal welfare, wildlife management and wildlife crime. In the meantime, my officials are in regular contact with colleagues in the devolved administrations as this government continues to consider how snares are regulated as part of our continued drive to maintain the highest animal welfare standards in the world.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the proposal in the Health and Disability White Paper, CP 807, published in March 2023, to remove the Work Capability Assessment, whether he plans to amend the Personal Independence Payment assessment.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We want the system to continue to support people who need it most, without the requirement to have limited capability for work or work-related activity to access additional support, as is the case with the Work Capability Assessment. Instead, we want to encourage people to start, stay and succeed in work where they are able to, without the worry that they will lose financial support.
For the group that receive the UC health element as a result of being determined to have LCWRA, but do not receive PIP, we will carefully consider whether they meet the PIP assessment and eligibility criteria.