Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue guidance to hospital trusts on vaccinating vulnerable inpatients against covid-19 on admission rather than discharge.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
There are no current plans to issue guidance to hospital trusts on vaccinating vulnerable inpatients against COVID-19 on admission rather than discharge.
Timing of vaccinations for vulnerable inpatients, if they have not already been vaccinated as one of the priority cohorts, would be a decision for clinicians responsible for their care taking into account their risk of contracting COVID-19 relative to the potential impact of the vaccine on their treatment.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish percentage rates of covid-19 vaccination for the (a) first and (b) second dose, by priority group, at Clinical Commissioning Group level.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
NHS England is continually reviewing the data and information it publishes about COVID-19 and the related vaccine. The level of data published about the vaccination programme has increased since the original dataset was first published.
Further information on vaccination levels across the country is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/
The latest data on first and second dose vaccinations is available at the following link:
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking as a result of new customs arrangements to ensure that (a) the sight-preserving eye drops atropine and (b) other medicines sourced inside the EU are able to reach patients and clinical trial participants in the UK.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our priority is to ensure that patients continue to have access to the medicines and clinical trial supplies they need, including eye medicines such as atropine. We continue to work closely with the pharmaceutical industry, sponsors of clinical trials, the National Health Service, and others in the supply chain to deliver the shared goal of continuity of safe patient care under all circumstances.
The Department wrote to all suppliers of medicines and medical products, including sponsors of clinical trials, coming to the United Kingdom from or via the European Union on 17 November 2020. The letter sets out how we are continuing to work with suppliers and sponsors to deliver our multi-layered approach to mitigate any potential disruption to supply of medicines into the UK, including supplies for clinical trials, now that the UK has left the EU Single Market and Customs Union.
The letter is available at the following link:
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many former Speakers of the House are in receipt of a pension associated with that office.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Speaker pensions are paid from the Consolidated Fund account. These accounts do not list Speaker pensions independently. They are listed as part of the number of recipients of Pensions for Parliamentary Officers for political and civil services. (P31 of the 2019/20 Consolidated Fund accounts)
The number of pensions in payment quoted in the Consolidated Fund accounts, relate to pensions for former Prime Ministers, Speakers, Comptrollers and Auditors General, Parliamentary Commissioners, Information Commissioners, Northern Ireland Chief Electoral Officers and Chairs of the Electoral Commission.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a crowdsourcing scheme for covid-19 vaccine acceleration ideas.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
At the start of the pandemic, the Government acted swiftly to establish the Vaccine Taskforce to ensure that the UK population has access to clinically effective and safe vaccines. Activity includes:
The UK was the first country in the world to start a vaccination programme using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, shortly followed by the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine. Due to our swift and decisive action there has been a regular and steady supply of vaccine doses arriving into the UK since early December 2020. We are on track to offer a first dose of the vaccine to priority cohorts 1 to 4, as advised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, by 15 February 2021.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, when Parliament plans to introduce a rapid covid-19 testing programme for people working on the parliamentary estate.
Answered by Pete Wishart
Parliament in conjunction with the Department of Health and Social Care, has set up a pilot programme for onsite rapid testing, in line with a number of workplaces across the country. The pilot went live on Monday 25 January. Rapid testing is one of a number of useful mitigations that can be used by the House. The most effective measures remain, in line with public health advice, social distancing and the reduction of numbers on site.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of the ministerial work of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Business and Industry) comprises overseeing the (a) Vaccine taskforce and (b) Covid-19 vaccination programme.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
I am fully committed to ensuring that the entire adult UK population has been offered a vaccine by Autumn 2021. We are working hard to meet the initial target of offering a first dose to all those in priority cohorts 1 to 4, as advised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, by 15th February.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will issue guidance on the duties importers and exporters are liable for on goods of Turkish origin exported to the EU via the UK.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The UK has negotiated a Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU. This agreement maintains zero tariffs and zero quotas on trade in goods between the UK and EU, where goods meet the relevant rules of origin. Rules of origin specify the minimum amount of UK/EU content that is required for the good to be considered ‘originating’ in either market. A very small number of products that contain significant inputs from outside the UK and EU may face tariffs.
Guidance to check product-specific and country-specific information on tariffs and regulations that currently apply to UK trade in goods can be found at https://www.gov.uk/get-rules-tariffs-trade-with-uk and at https://www.gov.uk/check-duties-customs-exporting.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the (a) quality of responses to his Department's consultation on total restriction of online advertising for products high in fat, sugar and salt, and (b) potential merits of extending that consultation to allow for more responses to be submitted.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We have already received a number of responses to the current consultation, and we hope that the public and industry stakeholders make full and constructive contributions to the consultation. The consultation is due to close on 22 December, having run for a total of six weeks. We have no plans to extend the consultation.
When we announced that we would be consulting on a total online HFSS advertising restriction we committed to this being a short consultation.
The Covid 19 pandemic has highlighted that for our nation to be a healthy, resilient country we need to help prevent obesity developing and support those who are already overweight or living with obesity to reduce their weight and improve their health. The Prime Minister is clear that this is a priority for him and he wants to push ahead with measures to tackle obesity, and get policies implemented as soon as possible.
Our 2019 consultation was open for 12 weeks as it dealt with a broader range of policy including: TV, online, other media, and products in scope. This consultation just focuses on online, therefore we think a short consultation is appropriate.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the removal of the Extra Statutory Concession on VAT on goods supplied at duty-free and tax-free shops on the economy.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Ahead of the end of the transition period, the Government has announced the VAT and excise duty treatment of goods purchased by individuals for personal use and carried in their luggage arriving from or going overseas (passengers). The following rules will apply from 1 January 2021:
- Passengers travelling from Great Britain to any destination outside the United Kingdom (UK) will be able to purchase duty-free excise goods once they have passed security controls at ports, airports, and international rail stations.
- Personal allowances will apply to passengers entering Great Britain from a destination outside of the UK, with alcohol allowances significantly increased.
- The VAT Retail Export Scheme (RES) in Great Britain will not be extended to EU residents and will be withdrawn for all passengers.
- The concessionary treatment on tax-free sales for non-excise goods will be removed across the UK.
The Government published a consultation which ran from 11 March to 20 May. During this time the Government held a number of virtual meetings with stakeholders to hear their views and received 73 responses to the consultation. The Government is also continuing to meet and discuss with stakeholders following the announcement of these policies.
The detailed rationale for these changes are included in the written ministerial statement and summary of responses to the recent consultation: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2020-09-11/hcws448 and https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/a-consultation-on-duty-free-and-tax-free-goods-carried-by-passengers. A technical note has also been issued to stakeholders to expand on this document and to respond to issues raised by stakeholders.
HMRC estimate that VAT RES refunds cost around £0.5 billion in VAT in 2019 for around 1.2 million non-EU visitors. In 2019 the ONS estimate there were substantially more EU visitors (24.8 million) than non-EU passengers (16.0 million) to the UK. This implies an extension to EU residents would significantly increase the cost by up to an estimated £0.9 billion. This would result in a large amount of deadweight loss by subsidising spending from EU visitors which already happens without a refund mechanism in place, potentially taking the total cost up to around £1.4 billion per annum.
The concessionary treatment on tax-free sales currently affects airports that fly to non-EU destinations. The extension of duty-free sales to EU bound passengers will be a significant boost to all airports in England, Scotland and Wales, including smaller regional airports which have not been able to offer duty-free to the EU before.
HMRC estimate that around £150 million of VAT is not charged as a result of tax-free airside sales. As with the VAT RES, extending the relief to the EU would significantly increase the cost of the scheme and result in a large amount of deadweight loss by subsidising spending from EU-bound passengers which already happens.
The final costings will be subject to scrutiny by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and will be set out at the next forecast.
The Government also recognises the challenges the aviation sector is facing as it recovers from the impacts of Covid-19 and has supported the sector throughout the pandemic, and continues to do so, including schemes to raise capital, flexibilities with tax bills, and financial support for employees.