Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing certainty of funds to people who (a) receive continuing healthcare funding and (b) have a terminal illness.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to undertake such an assessment, as guidance is in place to ensure an appropriate approach to individuals in this situation. Individuals with a primary health need arising from a rapidly deteriorating condition which may be entering a terminal phase, are eligible for Fast Track NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). The fast track pathway is designed to ensure that eligible individuals receive appropriate care with minimal delay.
The National Framework on CHC makes clear that integrated care boards (ICBs) should monitor the effectiveness of the care arrangements, and consider whether, and at what point, a reassessment of eligibility is appropriate. Where an individual in receipt of Fast Track NHS CHC is expected to die in the very near future, the ICB should continue to take responsibility for the care package until the end of their life. Fast Track NHS CHC funding should not be removed without eligibility being reconsidered, through the completion of a CHC Decision Support Tool by a multidisciplinary team.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his speech to the Conservative Party conference on 2 October 2023, on what evidential basis he said that the UK was one of the fastest growing European G7 countries since the date of the EU referendum.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The calculations underlying this statistic were based on public information available on the 29 September 2023, including quarterly GDP data published by the Office for National Statistics for the UK and OECD data for the remaining G7 European economies.
The data showed that cumulative GDP growth in the UK since the referendum (change on 2016 Q2) through to 2023 Q2 of 8.2% was greater than that of Germany (5.7%) and Italy (4.7%) and slightly lower than France (8.6%).
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making access to Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccinations available to farming and agricultural families that regularly interact with livestock.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination is not usually recommended for people aged over 16 years old, unless the risk of exposure is great. The vaccination can be offered to veterinary staff and those who handle animals or animal materials, for instance abattoir workers, which could be infected with tuberculosis (TB). Based on the current available evidence, only a very small subset of farmers may be at high risk of TB exposure and therefore eligible for vaccination. This does not include farmer’s household contacts or children who would not constitute a risk sufficiently high enough to warrant a recommendation for the vaccine. If the level of risk should increase, then the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation could be asked to review this.
Eligibility for the BCG vaccination as an occupational health vaccine should be based on an individual risk assessment. Those eligible would need to access the vaccine through a private occupational health provider, and may seek further advice from the National Farmers Union. Non-National Health Service providers can charge for this service.
Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH), all new employees, including farmers, should undergo a pre-employment health assessment, which should include a review of immunisation needs. The COSHH risk assessment will indicate which pathogens staff are exposed to in their workplace, such as bovine TB. Staff considered to be at risk of exposure to pathogens should be offered routine pre-exposure immunisation as appropriate. This decision should also take into account the safety and efficacy of available vaccines.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
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 help support applicants for continued healthcare funding who appeal a decision to (a) NHS England and (b) the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A public information leaflet is on the GOV.UK website in multiple languages, explaining the full process for appealing to NHS England or to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, as well as the eligibility decisions for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). This leaflet is available at the following link:
CHC guidance, named the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care, states that any individual being considered for CHC at the screening or referral stage should be given a copy of this leaflet, along with any relevant local information about processes and contact details. This guidance is available at the following link:
NHS England has also commissioned a free Information and Advice Service for CHC from Beacon. This service provides independent and high-quality support on navigating CHC assessments and care planning, or to appeal against a decision about CHC eligibility. Further information is available at the following link:
https://beaconchc.co.uk/how-we-can-help/free-information-and-advice-on-nhs-continuing-healthcare/
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the evidential basis is for his Department's tweet of 29 September 2023 that the UK was the fastest growing European G7 country since 2010.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The calculations underlying this statistic were based on public information available on the 29 September 2023, including quarterly GDP data published by the Office for National Statistics for the UK and OECD data for the remaining G7 European economies.
The data showed that cumulative GDP growth in the UK from the beginning of 2010 (change on 2009 Q4) through to 2023 Q2 of 24.2% was greater than that of France (16.4%), Italy (3.5%) and Germany (21.2%).
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make it her policy to establish walk-in clinics in each Integrated Care Board; and what estimate she has made of the cost of doing so.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The commissioning of establishing local services in the National Health Service is a matter for integrated care boards. The Government has no plans at this time to roll out hubs nationally.
Based upon current schemes which are either operational or under development in England, and assuming a facility floorplan of 3,000 square metres, the construction of a single walk-in hub service would cost £21.4 million in 2024/25 prices. Ongoing running costs for each building could be approximately £2 million to £2.3 million dependent on whether it was operational seven days a week and included wider primary care services such as dentistry.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the evidential basis is for his Department's tweet of 6 January 2024 that the UK had the lowest effective average personal tax rate in the G7; and what the effective average personal tax rate is in each G7 country.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to rewarding hard work through a fair and simple tax system that is also competitive internationally. The Government is taking a responsible approach by delivering tax cuts within the fiscal rules.
The tweet of 6 January 2024 was based on the most recently published data from the OECD’s Taxing Wages 2023 publication. This shows the total personal tax liability divided by salary for a single employed individual with no children on average earnings for Germany (37.4%), Italy (28.8%), France (27.7%), Canada (25.6%), the US (24.8%) and Japan (22.3%). Following the 2p NICs cut made at Autumn Statement, the effective personal tax rate for an employee on £44,300 (the OECD’s figure for UK average earnings) reduced from 23.6% to 21.5%, which would be the lowest rate in the G7, according to the latest available OECD data. This has fallen to 20.1% following the further 2p NICs cut made at Spring Budget.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Hughes Report: Options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh, published by the Patient Safety Commissioner on 7 February 2024, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implication for her policies of the provision of financial redress for people harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government commissioned the Patient Safety Commissioner (PSC) to produce a report on redress for those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. We are grateful to the PSC and her team for completing this report and our sympathies remain with those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. The Government is now carefully considering the PSC’s recommendations and will respond substantively in due course.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will exempt not for profit organisations delivering welfare services for people living with dementia from VAT.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
VAT has been designed as a broad-based tax on consumption, and the twenty per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Whilst there are exceptions to the standard rate, these have always been strictly limited by both legal and fiscal considerations.
Welfare services for people living with dementia provided by local authorities and similar bodies and charities are exempt from VAT, meaning no VAT is charged to the final consumer.
Welfare services for people living with dementia, provided by state regulated private welfare organisations, are also exempt from VAT. State regulated suppliers are those that are registered with the Care Quality Commission, and are eligible for the VAT exemption where they are providing services that are state regulated.
The regulation requirement ensures that VAT relief is limited to providers certified as offering safe and high-quality welfare services. This is a long-standing requirement, and there are no plans to make changes to these rules.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an estimate of the number and proportion of SMEs that have received funding from her Department in East Devon constituency in each of the last three years.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department has a wide range of programmes and is pleased that the first of the new Regions and Nations Funds includes East Devon constituency. The new South West Investment Fund launched in July 2023 and has already invested £32,000 into Exeter Eyewear based at Exeter Science Park.
Through its business as usual programmes and Covid support schemes, the British Business Bank facilitated funding to the following number of businesses in East Devon in the last three years: