Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government response to the petition entitled Owen's Law - Change the law around allergy labelling in UK restaurants, published on 14 July 2021, what recent progress the Food Standards Agency has made on assessing the proposal to introduce mandatory allergen labelling on restaurant menus.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
All food businesses are under a legal obligation to provide information on the presence of the 14 major allergens in food, including in the non-prepacked sector, such as in restaurants and cafes, so that people who have allergies and intolerances are able to make safe food choices. Current requirements state that for food items provided in restaurants, allergen information must be clearly signposted and can be provided in writing or verbally.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA), who has policy responsibility for food safety, is currently considering how to improve the provision of information for people with allergies and researching different approaches for the provision of written and verbal information to improve the accuracy and communications of allergen information. The FSA has recently commissioned several pieces of research in this area. These will provide new evidence on the nature and extent of food hypersensitivity reactions, different international approaches to written information, and the business operating models of small and micro businesses in the non-prepacked sector. These reports will be published in due course and will be presented to the FSA Board to consider next steps.
Additionally, the FSA has conducted a study visit to the Republic of Ireland to understand the practical implementation of their legislation mandating written allergen information and a workshop with key stakeholders. This evidence will be used to support careful consideration of any potential changes and to assess the impacts for both consumer safety and food businesses.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2023 to Question 184919 on Allergies: Health Services, for what reasons no specific assessment has been made.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made on the regional availability of allergy care in England as the majority of these services are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs have a statutory responsibility to provide a comprehensive health service to their local populations subject to local prioritisation and funding, including access to specialist medical services for people with allergy where appropriate.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to create the role of a national allergy tsar within the NHS.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has no plans to appoint a national allergy Tsar.
There is an established Clinical Reference Group (CRG) responsible for providing national clinical leadership for specialised immunology and allergy services. The group’s membership includes clinicians, commissioners, public health experts, patients and carers and is chaired by the National Speciality Advisor Dr Claire Bethune.
Information about the CRG can be found at the following link:
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
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 regional availability of allergy care provision across England.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 potential merits of each Integrated Care Service having a specialist (a) allergy service, (b) allergy nurse and (c) dietician.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) prevent, (b) improve treatment for and (c) promote awareness of allergies.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The majority of services for people living with allergies are commissioned locally through integrated care boards. However, to support and improve treatment for patients with more complex allergic conditions, NHS England commissions some specialised services, including specialist allergy clinics. There is an established Clinical Reference Group responsible for providing national clinical leadership for specialised immunology and allergy services.
To help promote awareness of allergies, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance on a range of allergy conditions. NICE promotes its guidance via its website, newsletters and other media.
The Food Standards Agency also works to raise awareness of food hypersensitivity, and has carried out several campaigns aimed at supporting both people with food hypersensitivities and food businesses.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
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 merits of appointing a national allergy lead.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has no plans to appoint a national allergy lead.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
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 to help reduce referral waiting times for patients with allergies who need to be tested by an allergy specialist.
Answered by Will Quince
Specialist allergy services are commissioned by NHS England Specialised Commissioning in line with the published service specification. While no specific assessment has been made of the adequacy of waiting times, the service specification sets out standard referral processes and equity of access to services, as well as highlighting the response time and prioritisation targets. There are regular review meetings between regional commissioning teams and providers to ensure compliance with service standards.
To reduce waiting times more generally for elective services, the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out how the National Health Service will recover and expand elective services over the next three years.
We have allocated more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund already made available in 2021/2022 to increase elective activity. This funding aims to deliver the equivalent of approximately nine million additional checks and procedures and 30% further elective activity by 2024/25 than pre-pandemic levels. A proportion of this funding will be invested in workforce capacity and training and we have committed to invest £5.9 billion for new beds, equipment and technology.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
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 to (a) reduce the NHS backlog and (b) ensure that patients who need to be tested for allergies have timely access to allergy clinics.
Answered by Will Quince
Specialist allergy services are commissioned by NHS England Specialised Commissioning in line with the published service specification. While no specific assessment has been made of the adequacy of waiting times, the service specification sets out standard referral processes and equity of access to services, as well as highlighting the response time and prioritisation targets. There are regular review meetings between regional commissioning teams and providers to ensure compliance with service standards.
To reduce waiting times more generally for elective services, the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out how the National Health Service will recover and expand elective services over the next three years.
We have allocated more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund already made available in 2021/2022 to increase elective activity. This funding aims to deliver the equivalent of approximately nine million additional checks and procedures and 30% further elective activity by 2024/25 than pre-pandemic levels. A proportion of this funding will be invested in workforce capacity and training and we have committed to invest £5.9 billion for new beds, equipment and technology.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
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 to improve waiting times for patients who require to be tested for allergies.
Answered by Will Quince
Specialist allergy services are commissioned by NHS England Specialised Commissioning in line with the published service specification. While no specific assessment has been made of the adequacy of waiting times, the service specification sets out standard referral processes and equity of access to services, as well as highlighting the response time and prioritisation targets. There are regular review meetings between regional commissioning teams and providers to ensure compliance with service standards.
To reduce waiting times more generally for elective services, the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out how the National Health Service will recover and expand elective services over the next three years.
We have allocated more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund already made available in 2021/2022 to increase elective activity. This funding aims to deliver the equivalent of approximately nine million additional checks and procedures and 30% further elective activity by 2024/25 than pre-pandemic levels. A proportion of this funding will be invested in workforce capacity and training and we have committed to invest £5.9 billion for new beds, equipment and technology.