Asked by: Steve Brine (Conservative - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of babies aged 0-3 months who developed group B Strep infection in 2019 were BAME.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The data is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Steve Brine (Conservative - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on the Group B Streptococcus testing GBS3 trial; and when that trail is expecting to resume as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, some aspects of the GBS3 trial were stopped temporarily, including the randomisation of sites to the different arms of the trial and recruitment of participants. However, the team continued with other research related tasks to ensure smooth site opening for the trial re-start.
Training, randomisation and opening of sites to the trial requires the full engagement of maternity and microbiology services. The GBS3 trial hopes to randomise the first sites in September and begin recruiting women early in 2021 but this is dependent on the status of services at the time. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has set out the Restart Framework to guide the restart of NIHR research activities which is available at the following link:
https://www.nihr.ac.uk/documents/restart-framework/24886
Asked by: Steve Brine (Conservative - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to support Strep B Awareness Month from 1 July to 31 July 2020.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
Public Health England’s national programme Start4Life provides advice and practical guidance to parents-to-be and families with babies and under-fives, to help them adopt healthy behaviours and build parenting skills. The Start4Life website can be accessed at the following link:
Start4Life has been supporting Group B streptococcus Awareness month by posting from social media channels throughout July. The posts have been designed to raise awareness of Group B Strep, testing in pregnancy and the warning signs to look for in newborn babies.
Channels include Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Start4Life has also been re-sharing posts made by Group B Strep Support, a United Kingdom charity.
Asked by: Steve Brine (Conservative - Winchester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to introduce the deposit return scheme for plastic bottles.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government committed in its manifesto to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers to incentivise people to recycle plastic and glass, and is seeking powers to do so in the Environment Bill. Since consulting on its introduction in 2019, the Government has been developing proposals for a DRS for drinks containers using further evidence and ongoing engagement with stakeholders. The scope of the scheme is being further developed and will be presented in a second consultation. The Government is reviewing its implementation timeline for the proposed introduction of the scheme, which will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Steve Brine (Conservative - Winchester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Ofsted registered (a) nurseries and (b) childminders have closed in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Vicky Ford
This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to my hon. Friend and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Steve Brine (Conservative - Winchester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent guidance his Department has issued to schools on overseas trips during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department for Education’s ‘Actions for Schools during the coronavirus outbreak guidance’ – which includes advice to schools regarding educational visits and school trips, both overseas and domestic - was last updated on 3 June. The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-school-closures/guidance-for-schools-about-temporarily-closing.
The guidance states that the Government advises against any overseas or domestic visits for children under 18 organised by schools and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advises against all non-essential international travel. The Department for Transport’s advice to avoid public transport and unnecessary journeys and Public Health England (PHE) social distancing measures remain in place. Schools affected by these restrictions should work with their tour operator and/or insurance company. The Department will continue to review this position based on FCO and PHE advice.
Further information is available in the guidance ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19): travel advice for educational settings’, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-travel-advice-for-educational-settings.
Asked by: Steve Brine (Conservative - Winchester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what adjustments will be made to GCSE grade boundaries to make allowance for the fact that year 10 children will have not received their full entitlement to education due to the covid-19 outbreak when they take GCSE examinations in 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We recognise that students who are studying GCSE, A level or equivalent courses, and are due to take exams and assessments in 2021, will have experienced disruption to their education. We are working with Ofqual and the awarding organisations to develop our approach to next year’s exams and assessments in light of this.
Asked by: Steve Brine (Conservative - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his policy is on NHS trusts working with local manufacturers and businesses to secure supply of personal protective equipment; and whether trusts will be reimbursed for stock acquired locally.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are no restrictions in place on individual organisations sourcing personal protective equipment (PPE) from suppliers, providing the PPE is compliant with requirements.
Asked by: Steve Brine (Conservative - Winchester)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to provide support to Business Improvement Districts during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Government is committed to supporting Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and recognises the important role they play in rebuilding our high streets and towns, and that they will be even more important now as we look forward to the recovery phase from the current crisis. On 1 May, Government announced that we will be making available up to £6.1 million of support to BIDs to cover the equivalent of core operational costs for three months. This funding will be based on a fair percentage of a BID’s levy income from each BID’s operating year ending in 2019/20.
This is in addition to legislation included in the Coronavirus Act 2020 on 25 March. The clause enables BIDs to extend the maximum duration of their BID arrangements until 31 March 2021, delaying BID ballots due to take place between now and 31 December 2020 until March 2021. This will ensure that they are conducted in a safe and effective way.
Asked by: Steve Brine (Conservative - Winchester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidelines her Department issues on inset days at schools in England.
Answered by Nick Gibb
This is a matter for schools to decide. We have empowered schools to lead the delivery of high-quality professional development for their teachers through the creation of the national network of teaching schools, and we are supporting this through the development of a new Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development. Decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rightly rest with schools, head teachers, and teachers themselves, as they are in the best position to judge their own requirements.
The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document specifies that teachers must be available for work for 195 days each year and that they may only be required to perform duties other than teaching pupils on five of those days. It is for schools to decide for themselves how best to make use of those five days, including whether they should be used for in-service training.