Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department takes to ensure that at least one official from his Department is present during all (a) meetings and (b) phone calls relating to Government business between Ministers and third parties.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Department operates in line with the Ministerial Code which states at 8.14 that “a private secretary or official should be present for all discussions relating to Government business. If a Minister meets an external organisation or individual and finds themselves discussing official business without an official present… any significant content should be fed back to the department as soon as possible”.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's process is for (a) recording and (b) keeping minutes of phone calls relating to Government business made by Government ministers and officials.
Answered by Edward Argar
Formal, structured meetings are usually minuted. Guidance is available to help officials meet their obligation under the Civil Service Code to ‘keep accurate official records’, which includes making records of decisions and actions that take place in meetings.
Specific procedures are in place for external meetings involving ministers in ‘Guidance on the management of Private Office Papers’, which is available at the following link:
https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/popapersguidance2009.pdf
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department’s process is for (a) recording and (b) keeping minutes of all meetings relating to Government business.
Answered by Edward Argar
Formal, structured meetings are usually minuted. Guidance is available to help officials meet their obligation under the Civil Service Code to ‘keep accurate official records’, which includes making records of decisions and actions that take place in meetings.
Specific procedures are in place for external meetings involving ministers in ‘Guidance on the management of Private Office Papers’, which is available at the following link:
https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/popapersguidance2009.pdf
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there is a body within his Department responsible for providing guidance and training to staff on how to manage their information and records equivalent to the Knowledge and Information Management team at the Department for Transport.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Department’s Information Risk Management and Assurance Directorate sets policy for information and records management, including the provision of advice and guidance.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that adequate stocks of diabetic (a) equipment and (b) medicine remain available in pharmacies across the UK in the context of the shortage of HGV drivers.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Department continues to engage closely with the sector to assess the impact of logistics and supply disruptions on the continued supply of medical products, including the impact of HGV driver shortages. Whilst we were made aware of some localised concerns, there have not been any significant impacts on medical supply chains that have impacted on patients.
The Department has contingency plans in place to help ensure continuity of supply of medical products, including the following;
These plans, alongside other mitigations, enable us to help ensure continued supply during periods of national disruption, including for diabetic equipment and medicine in pharmacies. Pharmacists should continue to place orders in the normal way. If pharmacists have any concerns regarding supply, they should continue to report them via the normal route.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the shortage of HGV drivers on medical supply chains for pharmacies.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Department continues to engage closely with the sector to assess the impact of logistics and supply disruptions on the continued supply of medical products, including the impact of HGV driver shortages. Whilst we were made aware of some localised concerns, there have not been any significant impacts on medical supply chains that have impacted on patients.
The Department has contingency plans in place to help ensure continuity of supply of medical products, including the following;
These plans, alongside other mitigations, enable us to help ensure continued supply during periods of national disruption, including for diabetic equipment and medicine in pharmacies. Pharmacists should continue to place orders in the normal way. If pharmacists have any concerns regarding supply, they should continue to report them via the normal route.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost of publishing the names of companies in the fast-track PPE procurement lane.
Answered by Edward Argar
We have not made this estimate.