Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many never events occurred within NHS England in each year since 2019; and how many and what proportion of these incidents involved Physician Associates in each year.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Information on Never Events is published by NHS England, and all available data on Never Events is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/never-events-data/
NHS England does not collect specific data relating to Physician Associate involvement in Never Events, and as such the information is not held.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the use of different economic forecasts by (a) the Bank of England and (b) the OBR on (i) monetary and (ii) fiscal decisions.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England, so the government rightly does not comment on the conduct of monetary policy. The MPC publishes its forecasts on a quarterly basis to inform its monetary policy decisions.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the UK government’s independent official forecaster and publishes economic and fiscal forecasts at least twice per year alongside fiscal events. The OBR provides independence, transparency and credibility via its assessment of the economic and fiscal position and as the official forecaster it is right that it is the basis for government fiscal policy decisions.
The MPC and the OBR have different responsibilities, so it is right that they produce their own forecasts. The MPC’s forecasts reflect policy announced by the government and fiscal assumptions from the OBR and HM Treasury.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that hauliers comply with requirements of the Border Target Operating Model to subject consignments to (a) physical and (b) documentary checks.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has been promoting the key benefits and changes by sector and timeframe that traders in the EU and EFTA will need to be aware of and ready for. The Government has been hosting a series of events and engagements, as well as promoting translated communications assets to businesses across the EU to increase business readiness for these changes. We would encourage all traders within the supply chain to work together to be as ready as possible for these upcoming changes. We are monitoring sentiment across key trading partners to measure readiness and understanding, and are seeing positive trends.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to publish details on how the NHS long-term workforce plan will be implemented.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have established a Long Term Workforce Plan Governance Board which will ensure the delivery and review the progress of the Long Term Workforce Plan’s implementation. The modelling NHS England has used in the plan is founded on data, evidence, and analysis and provides a set of broad ranges to measure the potential impact of actions over its 15 year timeframe. We have committed to refreshing the modelling that underpins the plan every two years, or in line with fiscal events.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to publish further information on the implementation of the NHS long-term workforce plan.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have established a Long Term Workforce Plan Governance Board which will ensure the delivery and review the progress of the Long Term Workforce Plan’s implementation. The modelling NHS England has used in the plan is founded on data, evidence, and analysis and provides a set of broad ranges to measure the potential impact of actions over its 15 year timeframe. We have committed to refreshing the modelling that underpins the plan every two years, or in line with fiscal events.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is collating data from toxicology reports of non-fatal overdose incidents to assess the risk from synthetic opioids.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is undertaking a number of actions to address the risk that synthetic opioids pose. The Department has a longstanding surveillance system in place to collect information on the nature and location of novel drug use, drug markets, and reports alerting us to drug harms experienced. We continue to monitor the threat posed by synthetic opioids, and are working to improve drug surveillance on synthetic opioids through the development of an early warning system. This will include, with the permission of coroners, toxicology results for fatal overdose cases from across England as soon as the information is available, enabling the Department to closely monitor the substances causing deaths.
We know that most overdoses take place when individuals are alone, or accompanied by others also using drugs. This means they are largely transitory and hidden events, with no opportunity for sampling. A key indicator, therefore, is those who do come into contact with first responders, who are administered the lifesaving opioid reversal drug naloxone, or who are admitted to hospital. Ambulance data represents an opportunity for rapidly identifying local spikes in overdoses and, for this purpose, we are establishing data feeds with ambulance trusts in England, on callouts where naloxone has been administered.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with the (a) Chair and (b) Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on its statutory function to operate a system of post marketing surveillance in the UK for (i) fatal outcomes and (ii) adverse reactions in patients who have received a covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) fulfils the requirements set out in the Human Medicines Regulation Part 11, in respect of obligations on the licensing authority to conduct surveillance of all medicinal products, including COVID-19 vaccines.
For COVID-19 vaccines, the MHRA implemented a proactive strategy, which included prospective safety data collection, and use of a range of domestic and international data sources and methodologies. For all products, events and outcomes, each data source is assessed based on its strengths and limitations, using appropriate methodologies and, where appropriate, statistical thresholds for those data. The MHRA also work closely with public health partners in reviewing the effectiveness and impact of the vaccines, to ensure the benefits continue to outweigh any possible side effects.
The MHRA keep all available evidence under review including studies, published literature, and data arising from the widespread use of COVID-19 vaccines in the United Kingdom and globally. Ministers routinely engage with officials from the MHRA on a number of issues.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the (a) short and (b) long term impact of (i) extreme weather and (ii) storms on the economy.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) was published in July 2023. It set out policies and actions to respond to the 61 climate risks and opportunities identified in the independent Third Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3), including risks arising from changing climatic conditions and extreme weather events. As part of CCRA3, the Climate Change Committee produced an analysis of the monetary valuation of risks and opportunities, as well as an analysis of the indicative costs and benefits of adaptation.
The Treasury continues to work to determine what additional research and analysis, including economic analysis, is required to ensure robust adaptation.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help fill job vacancies in Romford constituency.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the constituency and across the London Borough of Havering, the local Romford Jobcentre team are supporting residents into work and helping those in work to progress to higher paid jobs. We are working with local and national employers to help fill vacancies quickly, delivering Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), recruitment days, Job Fairs, and work trials.
The weekly job club in Romford Jobcentre provides support on CV preparation, job applications and interview techniques, along with information sessions on a range of subjects to help customers into work, including information about different employment sectors, advice on childcare, support for those with additional health needs and motivational sessions.
The Jobcentre provides a bespoke service to employers, to match and screen candidates, and offers regular Job Fairs focussed on specific sectors and customer groups, with recent events to coincide with older workers week and national apprenticeship week. The team are also working with the London Borough of Havering to develop local support.
In partnership with the College of North East London we have recently offered SWAPs for local customers to gain skills and enhance their applications for the Logistics and Warehouse sectors. Care Provider Voices deliver a range of adult social care opportunities, with Springboard offering opportunities in the hospitality sector.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help expand the support offered by Jobcentres in (a) Romford constituency and (b) the London Borough of Havering.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The local Jobcentre team are collaborating with a range of partners to support people into work and help employers fill vacancies. In addition to hosting job fairs and delivering Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). Romford Jobcentre is working with Havering Council, local colleges, childcare providers and other organisations to provide an employment and skills offer to help meet the recruitment needs of local employers.
This includes outreach support at the Rainham Childrens Centre and Havering Council, working with family practitioners, social workers, and probation to provide a holistic approach to supporting families in the borough, as well as support with CV preparation provided through Havering Library service, a Job Fair delivered in partnership with Havering Works and SWAPs delivered with Havering Adult College.
Disability Employment Advisers offer advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work, alongside close working with Change Grow Live, Havering Talking therapies, Havering Mind, the Social Prescribing team, and Richmond Fellowship. Romford Jobcentre colleagues also attend local events to highlight the support available, as well as Access to Work and Disability Confident.