Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will take steps to ensure that women who are (a) self-employed and (b) earn less than £10,000 per year have access to workplace pensions.
Answered by Paul Maynard
Automatic enrolment (AE) has helped millions more women to save into a pension, with pension participation rates among eligible women in the private sector rising from 40% in 2012 to 87% in 2022.
The government is committed to build on the success of AE and is making progress on implementing the measures as set out in the 2017 review. The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 was introduced into Parliament with government support and provides the necessary powers.
Once implemented, the measures will disproportionately increase the pension saving of lower earners; a woman working part-time earning National Living Wage could see her pension almost double as a result when saving over her career.
The AE framework cannot be straightforwardly extended to people who are self-employed, as there is no employer to enrol them into a scheme; select a scheme or make contributions.
The department is currently working with research partners to explore the feasibility of building and testing retirement savings solutions in digital platforms. This includes accountancy software and payment platforms, used by self-employed people to manage their money.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of the EU Commission’s decision to lower the legal limits on nitrites in processed meat products; and whether she plans to bring in such restrictions.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Food Standards Agency (FSA), which holds policy responsibility for the safety of food additives, is assessing the impact of the new European Union decision. Nitrates are important additives that perform a range of technological functions, including control of microorganisms such as the pathogen Clostridium botulinum which is responsible for botulism, an often fatal condition. The FSA would wish to ensure there are no unintended food safety consequences related to lowering nitrate/nitrite levels before considering next steps.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential health benefits of lowering the legal limits on nitrites in processed meat products.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Food Standards Agency (FSA), which holds policy responsibility for the safety of food additives, is assessing the impact of the new European Union decision. Nitrates are important additives that perform a range of technological functions, including control of microorganisms such as the pathogen Clostridium botulinum which is responsible for botulism, an often fatal condition. The FSA would wish to ensure there are no unintended food safety consequences related to lowering nitrate/nitrite levels before considering next steps.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made representations to the Israeli authorities on the (a) shelling of the maternity department at Nasser Hospital on 17 December 2023, (b) detention of healthcare staff from Kamal Adwan hospital on 13 December 2023 and (c) International Committee of the Red Cross access to those detained.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
We are aware of reports of attacks against healthcare facilities and infrastructure. Healthcare workers, emergency services personnel, civilian buildings including hospitals and medical facilities that are not used for military purposes must not be targeted. We support Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas, but Israel must protect civilians in Gaza and comply with International Humanitarian Law. We are aware of reports over Israeli detention practices. We are particularly concerned over reports about Israel's extensive use of administrative detention, which should be used only where it is justified in accordance with international law. Those under detention should either be charged or released. The UK is committed to working with Israel to secure improvements in its detention practices and repeatedly calls on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law. The safety of humanitarian personnel and healthcare workers in Gaza is critical to enable aid to reach those who need it most. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary continue to make this clear in engagements with their Israeli counterparts.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Israel on the location of the four Palestinian health workers who have been detained since 22 November 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
We are aware of reports over Israeli detention practices. We are particularly concerned over reports about Israel's extensive use of administrative detention, which should be used only where it is justified in accordance with international law. Those under detention should either be charged or released. The UK is committed to working with Israel to secure improvements in its detention practices and repeatedly calls on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law. This has been repeatedly raised by both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary with Prime Minister Netanyahu. The safety of humanitarian personnel and healthcare workers in Gaza is critical to enable aid to reach those who need it most. The FCDO is actively engaging with international partners and those operating on the ground to do all we can to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will hold discussions with employer representatives on freedom of speech in the context of the conflict in Israel-Palestine.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Minister for Women and Equalities has met with Jewish employers to discuss the impact of rising antisemitism on their staff.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the RFA Argus will be utilising its hospital facilities for casualties from the conflict in Gaza.
Answered by James Heappey
RFA ARGUS is in the eastern Mediterranean and contains a small Primary Casualty Receiving Facility. RFA ARGUS is currently tasked to be on standby to deliver practicable support.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to provide covid-19 (a) tests and (b) treatment to immunocompromised patients in winter 2023-24.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS702 on 30 March 2023, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will maintain a range of capabilities to protect those at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. We have retained appropriate levels of testing to support diagnosis for clinical care and treatment and to protect higher risk individuals. Those who are eligible for COVID-19 treatments can collect free rapid lateral flow test kits from a local pharmacy. Those who are immunocompromised are eligible for COVID-19 treatments and influenza antivirals in the community, enabling them easy access to treatment.
Higher risk individuals, their carers, and household contacts, are also part of the priority cohort in line for booster vaccines. UKHSA continues to encourage people to take vaccines they are eligible for, most recently via the ‘get winter strong’ campaign. More information on the campaign is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukhsa-campaign-get-winter-strong-with-flu-and-covid-19-vaccines
Guidance for people whose immune system means they are at a higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19 is available at the following link:
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the findings of Asthma and Lung UK's report entitled Saving your breath, published in September 2023, if he will make it his policy to increase funding for respiratory research to £141 million per year by 2030.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department funds respiratory research through the National Institute for Health and care Research (NIHR). It is not usual practice for the NIHR to ring-fence a proportion of its budget for research into particular topics or conditions. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including into respiratory conditions. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. In all disease areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that any underspend of the allocated Equitable Life compensation will be distributed amongst policyholders.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Government allocated £1.5 billion to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme. Before it ceased operations in 2016, the Scheme issued £1.12 billion in tax-free payments to nearly 933,000 policyholders. The remainder of the £1.5 billion has been set aside for future payments to the With-Profits Annuitants. Further information is available in the Final Report on the Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-final-report).