Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance the Government has provided to local authorities on enforcing the labelling of allergen information on non-prepackaged fresh food.
Answered by Steve Brine
It is a legal requirement that food businesses selling non-prepacked foods, like a sit down restaurant meal, must provide accurate information on the use of allergenic ingredients. The Food Standards Agency provides guidance, tools and e-learning facilities that local authorities can use to assess compliance with the food allergen rules. They have also provided face-to-face training for enforcement officers.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury of 13 March 2018, 35WS, if he will list the projects supported by the £14m allocated to the Food Standards Agency; and if he will publish the total estimated cost of those projects.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has several workstreams relating to the consequences of leaving the European Union which are supported by £14 million of HM Treasury funding. These cover the regulatory regime for food and feed safety, and include food crime and incidents handling, import controls for food products and food safety risk assessment and risk management functions. The FSA has developed delivery plans for a range of negotiated and contingency outcomes and is working with other Government departments and the devolved administrations where there are issues of joint policy responsibility. Due to the sensitivity of these plans to the ongoing negotiations it would not be appropriate to publish a full list with total costs at this stage.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many food standards samples were submitted to each local authority's appointed public analyst in each of the last five years; how many of those samples submitted were taken as part of a Food Standards Agency funded co-ordinated sampling programme in each authority; and how many of those samples were paid for by the local authority.
Answered by Steve Brine
Sampling and surveillance of food is an essential part of an overall approach to protecting public health. Public Analyst Laboratories have an essential part to play in this. The numbers of samples submitted to each Public Analyst Laboratory, as reported by local authorities on the UK Food Surveillance System (UKFSS) can be seen in the tables below.
2016/17 | |
Public Analyst Lab | Number of samples |
Minton/Worcester shared code | 339 |
Public Analyst Lab, Stafford | 403 |
Public Analyst Lab, Hampshire | 814 |
Public Analyst Lab, Lancashire | 868 |
Public Analyst, Kent | 1,415 |
Public Analyst, London | 596 |
Public Analyst, Minton | 742 |
Public Analyst, Northern Ireland | 2 |
Public Analyst, Norwich | 1,162 |
Public Analyst, West Yorkshire | 910 |
Public Analyst, Wolverhampton | 5,308 |
Public Analyst, Worcester | 803 |
Grand Total | 13,362 |
2015/16 | |
Public Analyst Lab | Number of samples |
Minton/Worcester shared code | 2,095 |
Public Analyst Lab, Stafford | 409 |
Public Analyst Lab, Hampshire | 1,111 |
Public Analyst Lab, Lancashire | 1,311 |
Public Analyst, Kent | 1,600 |
Public Analyst, London | 1,020 |
Public Analyst, Minton | 1,165 |
Public Analyst, Northern Ireland | 1 |
Public Analyst, Norwich | 1,779 |
Public Analyst, West Yorkshire | 1,192 |
Public Analyst, Wolverhampton | 3,317 |
Public Analyst, Worcester | 1,252 |
Grand Total | 16,252 |
2014/15 | |
Public Analyst Lab | Number of samples |
Minton/Worcester shared code | 1,847 |
Public Analyst Lab, Stafford | 578 |
Public Analyst Lab, Hampshire | 1,210 |
Public Analyst Lab, Lancashire | 1,363 |
Public Analyst, Cardiff | 301 |
Public Analyst, Kent | 1,781 |
Public Analyst, London | 1,283 |
Public Analyst, Manchester | 5 |
Public Analyst, Minton | 1,137 |
Public Analyst, Northern Ireland | 28 |
Public Analyst, Norwich | 1,587 |
Public Analyst, West Yorkshire | 1,847 |
Public Analyst, Wolverhampton | 3,581 |
Public Analyst, Worcester | 1,276 |
Grand Total | 17,824 |
2013/14 | |
Public Analyst Lab | Number of samples |
Public Analyst Lab, Stafford | 883 |
Public Analyst Lab, Aberdeen | 810 |
Public Analyst Lab, Dundee | 654 |
Public Analyst Lab, Edinburgh | 1,465 |
Public Analyst Lab, Glasgow | 1,715 |
Public Analyst Lab, Hampshire | 1,338 |
Public Analyst Lab, Lancashire | 1,612 |
Public Analyst Lab, Somerset | 1 |
Public Analyst, Cardiff | 766 |
Public Analyst, Kent | 1,722 |
Public Analyst, London | 1,324 |
Public Analyst, Minton | 916 |
Public Analyst, Northern Ireland | 2,377 |
Public Analyst, Norwich | 1,468 |
Public Analyst, West Yorkshire | 2,575 |
Public Analyst, Wolverhampton | 3,460 |
Public Analyst, Worcester | 1,136 |
Grand Total | 24,222 |
|
|
Data from UKFSS indicates the following number and percentage of samples submitted that were taken as part of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) sampling plan in each of the last five years. Samples submitted not taken as part of the FSA sampling plan were funded by local authorities.
| No of samples taken as part of the FSA sampling programme |
2016/17 | 2,857 (21%) |
2015/16 | 5,205 (32%) |
2014/15 | 6,274 (35%) |
2013/14 | 7,154 (30%) |
2012/13 | 5,027 (12%) |
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the top ten drugs bought by the NHS from EU countries were by (a) volume and (b) price.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Department does not hold this information.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many disposable coffee cups were purchased by his Department in each of the last five years.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department does not purchase disposable coffee cups directly. The Department used single use disposable cups on its estate in the numbers in the table and cannot specify how many were specifically for hot drinks. The cups were served from the cafes and restaurants on its estate and purchased by its catering supplier. Information is not held prior to October 2014.
October 2014 to September 2015 | 332,540 |
October 2015 to September 2016 | 340,540 |
October 2016 to September 2017 | 325,220 |
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many vehicles in his Department's fleet are (a) electric vehicles and (b) ultra-low emission vehicles.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department does not have a fleet of vehicles.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) metered-dose and (b) dry powder inhalers were prescribed in England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Steve Brine
The number of metered dose and dry powder inhalers prescribed in England in each of the last financial years can be found in the table below:
Time Period | Metered Dose Inhalers Total Number of Items | Metered Dose Inhalers Total Number of Inhalers | Dry Powder Inhalers Total Number of Items | Dry Powder Inhalers Total Number of Inhalers |
1Financial 2012/13 | 16,865,011 | 22,200,978 | 6,232,791 | 77,106,658 |
Financial 2013/14 | 33,285,250 | 43,706,232 | 13,050,690 | 163,352,892 |
Financial 2014/15 | 34,896,944 | 45,485,666 | 13,796,383 | 170,303,819 |
Financial 2015/16 | 34,999,252 | 45,253,625 | 14,120,657 | 169,800,742 |
Financial 2016/17 | 35,821,122 | 45,780,844 | 14,456,394 | 168,747,335 |
2Financial 2017/18 | 17,456,205 | 22,171,264 | 7,181,685 | 83,215,366 |
Total | 173,323,784 | 224,598,609 | 68,838,600 | 832,526,812 |
Notes:
1Financial 2012/13 covers time period October 2012 to March 2013
2Financial 2017/18 covers time period April 2017 to September 2017
This information has been provided by the NHS Business Services Authority.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has undertaken a cost-benefit analysis of encouraging the prescription of more dry powder inhalers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Department has not undertaken a cost-benefit analysis. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has made assessments on the health effectiveness of inhalers, which are used to treat a number of health conditions and have published a number of resources to assist clinicians in treating those conditions. The Department is not leading on policies related to fluorinated greenhouse gases. We, however, will continue to provide advice to Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs on any potential health impact in relation to their policies.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of replicating the relevant functions of the European Medicines Agency after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Steve Brine
Our overall aim in the negotiations is to ensure that patients in the United Kingdom and across the European Union continue to be able to access the best and most innovative medicines while being assured that their safety is protected. We are committed to continue a close working relationship with the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and the exact nature of this relationship will be determined through our negotiations.
The UK already has substantial capacity and expertise to regulate and evaluate the safety of our medicines. The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) directly assesses the vast majority of medicines used by patients within the UK. The MHRA is globally recognised for its expertise and they typically undertake between 20 – 35% of the EMA’s licensing and vigilance work, including a significant proportion of pharmacovigilance work and safety referrals.