Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether official statistics on suicides in armed forces veterans will be published annually.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Office for Veterans’ Affairs, Office for National Statistics and the Ministry of Defence have collaboratively developed a new approach for calculating veteran suicides in England and Wales.
This year, the ONS published suicide statistics for 2021 using this new approach and it intends to continue publishing veteran suicide stats on a yearly basis.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will hold discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the adequacy of resources for tackling NHS waiting times in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Government stands ready to support the Executive to reduce unacceptably long waiting times. The Government has made £3.3bn available to the Executive to spend on its priorities, including over £30m to address healthcare waiting lists.
I am clear that tackling waiting lists and stabilising health services in Northern Ireland is the start of a much bigger challenge in transforming services for the longer term. Innovative strategic thinking is needed to find solutions that will balance budgets and improve all public services across Northern Ireland. The Government is excited to work with Executive Ministers on plans that will deliver for Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions she has had with Ofcom on the eligibility of satellite broadband for the universal service obligation scheme.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
There have been no recent discussions with Ofcom on the eligibility of satellite broadband for the Broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO).
The USO remains technology agnostic and any connectivity solution that can meet the minimum parameters, including required speeds and the current cost per month threshold of £56.20, can be used both to determine eligibility and to deliver a connection.
Currently Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite technology is unlikely to meet the needed requirements however, last year, DSIT published a consultation to review the USO and ensure it remains up to date. The government response will be published later this year.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress her Department has made on the establishment of the Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit scheme.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit programme has been established and the first call for proposals is now open.
Further information on in the initial call for proposals may be found here: https://www.find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/grants/connectivity-in-low-earth-orbit-c-leo-2
Further information on the programme may be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/c-leo-programme
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of the economic impact of delays in the Project Gigabit Lot 4 procurement process on households in the North East of England.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The supplier that was awarded the Project Gigabit contract for the North East (Lot 4) was unable to proceed after failing to secure the funding it required.
To maintain the delivery of gigabit coverage to premises in the North East, we have worked with suppliers to bring forward additional projects under the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. The remaining premises will be included in a call-off under our cross-regional framework, which we aim to have in place this summer. We will press the successful supplier to begin to build premises in the North East as soon as possible to minimise any delay. Consequently, the economic impacts of this change in approach will be kept as low as possible.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, for what reason the type B procurement of Lot 4 of Project Gigabit was not successful.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The supplier that was awarded the Project Gigabit contract for the North East (Lot 4) was unable to proceed after failing to secure the funding it required.
To maintain the delivery of gigabit coverage to premises in the North East, we have worked with suppliers to bring forward additional projects under the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. The remaining premises will be included in a call-off under our cross-regional framework, which we aim to have in place this summer. We will press the successful supplier to begin to build premises in the North East as soon as possible to minimise any delay. Consequently, the economic impacts of this change in approach will be kept as low as possible.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2023 to Question 1672 on Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Vaccination, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's statement of 1 September 2023 on a respiratory syncytial virus immunisation programme for infants and older adults.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Officials across the Department, the UK Health Security Agency, and NHS England are continuing to develop options and plans based on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice, regarding expanded respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) immunisation programmes to protect infants and older adults.
This is taking into account clinical and operational factors, such as timing and coordination with other national immunisation programmes. As part of this work, the Government is engaging the market on its requirements for products that would enable RSV programmes to be implemented. A final decision on these programmes will be taken following the outcome of this process.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the impact of extreme weather on the risk of intimate partner violence.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has not made any formal assessment on the impact of extreme weather on the risk of intimate partner violence.
The prevalence of domestic abuse has remained relatively stable over recent years, but there was a decline seen between the year ending March 2020, a year largely unaffected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and the most recent figure for the year ending March 2023.
The government are taking important steps to tackle intimate partner violence, including implementation of the Tackling VAWG Strategy, Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan and the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps Veterans UK has taken to support veterans and their families.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence delivers a range of services to Veterans and their families. This includes the administration and payment of Armed Forces pensions and compensation, the provision of tailored advice and assistance through the Veterans Welfare Service, Defence Transition Services and the Integrated Personal Commissioning for Veterans.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) adults and (b) children were admitted to hospital for a tooth extraction due to decay in the region covered by the NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows child and adult hospital admission for dental extraction due to decay in the North East and North Cumbria footprint, based on the registered general practices, each year from 2019 to present:
Year | Adult | Child | Total |
2019/20 | 2,172 | 2,539 | 4,711 |
2020/21 | 924 | 1,434 | 2,358 |
2021/22 | 1,539 | 2,341 | 3,880 |
2022/23 | 1,747 | 2,376 | 4,123 |
2023/24 | 1,270 | 1,704 | 2,974 |
Total | 7,652 | 10,394 | 18,046 |
Source: Secondary Uses Service data is available on the NHS Digital website via the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/secondary-uses-service-sus
Note: Based on Primary diagnosis K02, Primary procedure, F09, F10.