Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects to publish the new National Suicide Prevention Strategy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We have committed to publish a new national suicide prevention strategy this year and are engaging widely across the suicide prevention sector to understand what further action we can take to reduce suicides amongst different groups.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide targeted funding to support local area services for suicide prevention work beyond 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Whilst funding beyond 2024/25 is subject to future Spending Reviews, we will consider further opportunities to build upon the £57 million we are investing into suicide prevention from 2019/20 to 2023/24 through the NHS Long Term Plan. Through this funding, all areas of the country are seeing investment to support local suicide prevention plans and the development of suicide bereavement services.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that funding allocated to breast cancer screening units is not diverted into the symptomatic pathway.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service breast screening services are commissioned with funds which are dedicated to the NHS Breast Screening Programme. The screening pathway at both the initial screening stage, and if further diagnostic testing is required, is conducted in clinics which only accommodate women who have attended invitations from the screening programme. Provision for women with symptoms is funded from other sources and via separate clinics.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 22 February 2023 to Question 48769 on Breast Cancer: Screening, whether his Department requires GP's to introduce text message alerts for all breast screening services.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Invitations and text reminders to attend breast screenings are not sent out by general practitioners. They are sent out through breasts screening units using the national information technology system commissioned by NHS England, which generates invitations.
In line with the NHS Long Term Plan and the Sir Mike Richards Independent Review of National Cancer Screening Programmes in England, NHS England has committed to the promotion of the use of text messages in screening.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to announce the details of the application process and criteria for the Community Automated External Defibrillator Fund.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently in the pre-procurement stage in its process of determining a selected partner for the Automated External Defibrillator Fund. The criteria for assessing whether proposed recipients are eligible to access the Automated External Defibrillators Fund will be part of the procurement process. A typical procurement that is compliant with the regulations can take anywhere from three to six months depending on the procurement route chosen.
The Department will publish in due course a notice informing interested organisations of the upcoming opportunity and invite them to bid for the grant through GOV.UK.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the impact of existing legislation on the import of (a) foie gras and (b) real fur on animal welfare.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Action Plan for Animal Welfare outlined our intention to explore potential action on the import of animal fur. We have since conducted a Call for Evidence on the fur sector along with other forms of engagement with interested parties. We are continuing to build our evidence base on the fur sector. We are also committed to building a clear evidence base to inform any potential future decisions relating to foie gras imports.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the (a) quantity and (b) value of (i) foie gras and (ii) real fur imported into the UK in each year since 2015.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Data on the volume and value of fatty livers (which includes foie gras) and imported fur (including skins and articles of clothing, apparel and accessories) is publicly available on the UK Trade Info website - Trade data - UK Trade Info
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the time taken to consult and legislate on the proposed mandatory display of food hygiene ratings in England on consumers.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is operated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in partnership with local authorities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The FSA has not made a recent assessment. However, evidence from Wales and Northern Ireland demonstrates that mandatory display has improved transparency, which encourages businesses to achieve better levels of compliance with hygiene requirements.
This is therefore a long-standing ambition of the FSA, and the FSA will continue to explore opportunities to progress a statutory scheme with the Department which would sponsor the legislation. In the meantime, the FSA is working hard with its local authority partners to maintain and improve the impact and benefits of this highly successful public health scheme.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) pedestrians and (b) other people were (i) killed and (ii) seriously injured in collisions where the driver of the vehicle left the scene in (A) 2021 and (B) 2022.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The number of pedestrians and other road users that were killed or seriously injured in reported road collisions that involved at least one of the drivers leaving the scene in 2021 is shown below.
| Killed | Seriously injured |
Pedestrians | 49 | 860 |
Other casualties | 37 | 1,600 |
Data for 2022 will be published in September 2023.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Scotland Office:
What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on Scotland’s role in the defence and security of the UK.
Answered by John Lamont - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
Scotland Office Ministers have regular discussions with the Ministry of Defence on all matters relating to defence in Scotland.
This includes the critical role of our armed forces’ presence at our strategic bases in Scotland, RAF Lossiemouth and Faslane, which are vital to maintaining the security of the UK and our NATO allies.