Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the University of Manchester's article entitled Reforming UK fertility legislation: the effects of online DNA testing, published on 27 November.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Government asked the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in 2021 to undertake a review and public engagement about priorities for modernising the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act. HFEA published its report on 14 November 2023, which is available at the following link:
While the Department has made no assessment, HFEA’s report makes references to the points raised in the University of Manchester's article, noting the rapidly developing field of genetic testing, including direct to consumer testing, and includes proposals about access to donor information. The Government is considering the issues raised in the report and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to launch a consultation on the disclosure of industry payments to the healthcare sector.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department is developing a UK-wide public consultation on the disclosure of industry payments to the healthcare sector. The consultation will seek views on the possible introduction of regulations through new secondary legislation, as well as views on alternative options to regulations. We anticipate this will launch by autumn 2023.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of covid-19 vaccines procured by the UK Government have reached their expiry date without being used as of 13 June 2022.
Answered by Maggie Throup
As of 13 June 2022, 929,040 doses or 11,613 packs of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine have reached the expiry date without being used. This accounts for 1.62% of the total AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine volume procured by the Government and held by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) for storage and distribution. No other COVID-19 vaccine has expired whilst under the ownership of the UKHSA.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the immigration health surcharge on (a) the financial circumstances of non-EU migrants and their families working on the frontline of the NHS during the coronavirus outbreak and (b) staff retention in the NHS after the outbreak has ended.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Department has made no such assessment.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, from which budget in his Department the increase in funding for the England Infected Blood Support Scheme has been allocated.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Department undertakes a comprehensive annual planning exercise each year to allocate resources. The increase in infected blood payments was factored into this exercise for 2019/20 and scope was found to ensure that the costs can be met.