Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will commit additional funding for clinical trials on the repurposing of drugs to treat Epidermolysis Bullosa; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Morris
The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). While the usual practice of the NIHR is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics, the NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of health or care research, including trials for the repurposing of drugs for conditions such as Epidermolysis Bullosa. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS hospitals follow the sepsis six care pathway approach; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The information requested is not held centrally. However, all 29 pathology networks in the National Health Service in England have the capability to undertake the tests required to support the diagnosis of sepsis. Healthcare providers are encouraged to adopt the National Early Warning Score (NEWS2) which supports clinicians to identify and respond to patients at risk of acute deterioration, including those with suspected sepsis. Since 2019, NEWS2 has been implemented in 100% of ambulance trusts and all except one acute trust in England.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
What steps his Department is taking to increase the number of places on medical courses available to undergraduates.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The government is committed to ensuring that the number and distribution of medical school places are in line with England’s workforce requirements and continues to monitor the effectiveness of current arrangements.
Applications for medicine and dentistry made by the June deadline increased by over 20,000 this year compared to last year for all domiciles. We have increased the medical and dentistry caps so that providers can take on more students and we have run a brokerage scheme to help move over 80 students at oversubscribed providers into unfilled places.
In addition, we are providing up to £10m in grant funding for providers to take on more students in high-cost subjects, such as medicine, dentistry, nursing and other lab-based courses.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department plans to take to help ensure investment for projects in the UK Innovation Corridor; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The R&D Places Strategy, to be published later this year, will ensure that research and innovation benefits the economy and society in nations, regions and local areas across the UK contributing to the Government’s wider levelling up ambitions. We want to build on existing place-based funding initiatives and work with stakeholders to promote increased private investment across the UK to support promising research and innovation that drives local economic growth.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how the newly launched Advanced Research and Invention Agency will support the UK’s ambition to become a global scientific superpower and the work of the UK Innovation Corridor in emerging sectors such as Life Sciences, Advanced Manufacturing and R&D.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Advance Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) will cement the UK’s position as a science superpower, building on the UK’s proud history of scientific excellence by seeking to fund transformational advances in science and technology – discoveries that create new technologies and new industries that drive our future economy. ARIA will be equipped for this work by having minimal research bureaucracy and prioritising agility: it will move quickly and decisively to ensure the UK retains its competitive edge in R&D. We will appoint an exceptional and visionary leadership team and entrust them to set the research agenda on where and what to fund for ARIA.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the announcement in the 2021 Budget of £100 billion of funding for infrastructure, how that funding will be allocated across the South East region to (a) transport projects, such as East West Rail and the West Anglia mainline, (b) the roll out of high speed broadband and 5G and (c) other services to support the long-term growth of that region and places within the UK Innovation Corridor.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government has committed to increase investment in infrastructure for the benefit of the whole of the UK. As part of this, we will invest £760 million to deliver the next phase of East West Rail, reinstating direct rail services between Bicester and Bletchley and creating 1500 skilled jobs. Local areas in the South East will also benefit from the Government’s landmark £5bn commitment to support the rollout of gigabit connectivity in the hardest to reach parts of the country and our ambition for the majority of the population to have access to a 5G signal by 2027. Furthermore, in 21-22 we are investing £14.6 billion in research and innovation grants and facilities across the UK, backing the priorities set out in the UK Government’s Research and Development Roadmap. The Government welcomes any endeavour that aims to support innovation and ‘build back better’, including the initiatives of the Innovation Corridor to link opportunities in the South East.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has for a satellite radiotherapy centre for Hertfordshire.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Hertfordshire radiotherapy service is provided by East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust from a specialised cancer centre in Northwood in North Middlesex. The cancer service is not clinically sustainable on its present site and a review is underway to relocate the services, including radiotherapy.
Final options are expected to be decided in April 2021 before the public consultation, which is expected to start from June 2021, dependent on receiving confirmation that capital funding will be available, and a decision expected next autumn.
No capital funding has been identified for either a satellite radiotherapy centre or the relocation of the main centre.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of cancer patients receiving treatment at Mount Vernon Hospital live in Hertfordshire.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As of November 2020, 44% of cancer patients receiving treatment at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre live in Hertfordshire. In 2019/20, 32% of activity on the Mount Vernon site was from West Hertfordshire or the Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group area and 12% from East and North Hertfordshire.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to make a decision on the future of Mount Vernon cancer centre.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Hertfordshire radiotherapy service is provided by East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust from a specialised cancer centre in Northwood in North Middlesex. The cancer service is not clinically sustainable on its present site and a review is underway to relocate the services, including radiotherapy. Final options are expected to be decided in April 2021 before the public consultation which is expected to start from June 2021 and a decision expected next autumn.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to reduce sewage releases by water companies into chalk streams; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As part of its planning the Environment Agency (EA) has assessed the impact of sewage discharges on the water environment which has informed the development of the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) for the period 2020 to 2025. This programme of work is now being implemented by the water companies at a cost of over £4 billion with many of the improvements targeted at improving river water quality to support fisheries and improved habitats for wildlife. Within the programme there is work associated with sewage discharges at about 39% of the chalk stream water bodies in England. This work consists of improvement monitoring of sewage treatment works’ performance, investigations and improvements schemes. These investigations will inform further improvement work in the next investment programme (2025 to 2030).
Additionally, a new Taskforce has been established between Defra, the Environment Agency, Ofwat, the Consumer Council for Water and Water UK to set out clear proposals to address the volumes of sewage discharged into our rivers from storm overflows. The impacts on chalk streams are being considered by the taskforce as part of the prioritisation of work on storm overflows.