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1608121

registered interest
date	28/03/2023
answering body	Department for Business and Trade
answering dept id	214
answering dept short name	Business and Trade
answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
hansard heading	Automotive Transformation Fund: Hydrogen
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, for what reason hydrogen combustion engines are not eligible for automotive transformation funding.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	175660
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2023 answer text <p>At present, all commercial internal combustion engines produce exhaust emissions that are harmful to health. Although some companies claim hydrogen combustion engines are close to zero NOx emissions, as well as CO2, Government has yet to see evidence to illustrate that zero harmful emissions at the exhaust are possible in either laboratory or real-world conditions.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to focus innovation support to fully zero emission solutions. However, if technology developments enable renewable hydrogen to be used in combustion engines with zero harmful tailpipe emissions, then we would welcome this development.</p> answering member constituency Wealden answering member printed Ms Nusrat Ghani question first answered 03/04/2023 14:35:25 answering member 4460 label Biography information for Ms Nusrat Ghani
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1606241

registered interest
date	22/03/2023
answering body	Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
answering dept id	215
answering dept short name	Energy Security and Net Zero
answering dept sort name	Energy Security and Net Zero
hansard heading	Electricity: Standing Charges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of geographical variations in electricity standing charges.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	171549
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/03/2023 answer text <p>The standing charge includes some electricity distribution costs, which vary regionally to reflect the different costs of maintaining and upgrading the distribution network in different regions. Ofgem, as the independent energy regulator overseeing network charges, has previously reviewed regional differences in network charges. Its report found that there are advantages in charges that broadly reflect the costs that different users place on the system. In particular, this cost-reflective approach to network charging supports an efficient system where overall network costs are minimised for consumers across Great Britain.</p> answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway question first answered 30/03/2023 15:21:28 answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1606242

registered interest
date	22/03/2023
answering body	Department for Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	217
answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Local Press: Government Assistance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to provide financial support to local newspapers.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	171550
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to supporting local and regional newspapers as vital pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information.</p><p>However, as the independent Cairncross Review into the future of journalism identified, society is increasingly moving online and local news publishers are facing significant challenges in transitioning to sustainable digital business models.</p><p>The Government supported the majority of Cairncross recommendations and has taken them forward through a range of fiscal and regulatory interventions. With regard to financial support, this has included the delivery of the £2 million Future News Fund; the zero rating of VAT on e-newspapers; and the extension of a 2017 business rates relief on local newspaper office space until 2025. The BBC also supports the sector, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme. The Government was pleased to see the BBC conduct a thorough review of this initiative in 2020, as recommended by the Cairncross Review. As set out in our response to the Review, we would support any efforts by the BBC to grow the scheme.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez question first answered 24/03/2023 15:54:03 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1606245

registered interest
date	22/03/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Prescription Drugs: Waste Management
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the waste of prescription medicines.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	171551
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2023 answer text <p>NHS England is leading a programme on medicines optimisation which aims to help patients to improve outcomes and safety, take medicines as intended, avoid taking unnecessary medicines and reduce wastage. For example, Regional Medicines Optimisation Committees were established in 2016 to support and optimise local prescribing practice and reduce unwarranted variation. Community pharmacies also offer the New Medicines Service, providing further support to patients newly prescribed certain medicines, and the Discharge Medicines Service, enabling hospitals to refer recently discharged patients to a community pharmacy for support with new medication.</p><p> </p><p>Structured Medicine Reviews are offered by general practices (GPs) where increasingly pharmacists are part of multi-disciplinary teams to review patients’ medication, optimise medication and prevent wastage. In addition, electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) allows a GP to send repeat prescriptions to a patient’s pharmacy to manage the dispensing of the specific medicines required. As part of the eRD service, the pharmacy is required to make sure that the patient still needs all of their medicines and dispense to the patients only those that are needed.</p><p> </p><p>In September 2021, the findings and recommendations of the national overprescribing review were published, setting out a series of practical and cultural changes necessary to ensure patients receive the most appropriate treatment for their needs while ensuring value for money.</p><p> </p><p>All pharmacies must by law accept unwanted medicines from patients for disposal. However, the Department does not promote the reuse of medicines returned from patients. Where medicines have left a pharmacy, it is not possible to assure the quality of returned medicines on physical inspection alone. When medicines are returned from patients’ homes, there is no way of guaranteeing that the medicines have been stored or handled appropriately. This could affect patient safety. Therefore, no estimate of the potential savings of repurposing unused prescribed medication has been made.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien grouped question UIN 171552 171553 171554 question first answered 27/03/2023 16:18:15 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1606246

registered interest
date	22/03/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Prescription Drugs: Recycling
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that surplus prescribed medication is recycled.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	171552
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2023 answer text <p>NHS England is leading a programme on medicines optimisation which aims to help patients to improve outcomes and safety, take medicines as intended, avoid taking unnecessary medicines and reduce wastage. For example, Regional Medicines Optimisation Committees were established in 2016 to support and optimise local prescribing practice and reduce unwarranted variation. Community pharmacies also offer the New Medicines Service, providing further support to patients newly prescribed certain medicines, and the Discharge Medicines Service, enabling hospitals to refer recently discharged patients to a community pharmacy for support with new medication.</p><p> </p><p>Structured Medicine Reviews are offered by general practices (GPs) where increasingly pharmacists are part of multi-disciplinary teams to review patients’ medication, optimise medication and prevent wastage. In addition, electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) allows a GP to send repeat prescriptions to a patient’s pharmacy to manage the dispensing of the specific medicines required. As part of the eRD service, the pharmacy is required to make sure that the patient still needs all of their medicines and dispense to the patients only those that are needed.</p><p> </p><p>In September 2021, the findings and recommendations of the national overprescribing review were published, setting out a series of practical and cultural changes necessary to ensure patients receive the most appropriate treatment for their needs while ensuring value for money.</p><p> </p><p>All pharmacies must by law accept unwanted medicines from patients for disposal. However, the Department does not promote the reuse of medicines returned from patients. Where medicines have left a pharmacy, it is not possible to assure the quality of returned medicines on physical inspection alone. When medicines are returned from patients’ homes, there is no way of guaranteeing that the medicines have been stored or handled appropriately. This could affect patient safety. Therefore, no estimate of the potential savings of repurposing unused prescribed medication has been made.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien grouped question UIN 171551 171553 171554 question first answered 27/03/2023 16:18:15 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1606247

registered interest
date	22/03/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	General Practitioners: Pharmacy
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce waste in GP dispensing practices.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	171553
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2023 answer text <p>NHS England is leading a programme on medicines optimisation which aims to help patients to improve outcomes and safety, take medicines as intended, avoid taking unnecessary medicines and reduce wastage. For example, Regional Medicines Optimisation Committees were established in 2016 to support and optimise local prescribing practice and reduce unwarranted variation. Community pharmacies also offer the New Medicines Service, providing further support to patients newly prescribed certain medicines, and the Discharge Medicines Service, enabling hospitals to refer recently discharged patients to a community pharmacy for support with new medication.</p><p> </p><p>Structured Medicine Reviews are offered by general practices (GPs) where increasingly pharmacists are part of multi-disciplinary teams to review patients’ medication, optimise medication and prevent wastage. In addition, electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) allows a GP to send repeat prescriptions to a patient’s pharmacy to manage the dispensing of the specific medicines required. As part of the eRD service, the pharmacy is required to make sure that the patient still needs all of their medicines and dispense to the patients only those that are needed.</p><p> </p><p>In September 2021, the findings and recommendations of the national overprescribing review were published, setting out a series of practical and cultural changes necessary to ensure patients receive the most appropriate treatment for their needs while ensuring value for money.</p><p> </p><p>All pharmacies must by law accept unwanted medicines from patients for disposal. However, the Department does not promote the reuse of medicines returned from patients. Where medicines have left a pharmacy, it is not possible to assure the quality of returned medicines on physical inspection alone. When medicines are returned from patients’ homes, there is no way of guaranteeing that the medicines have been stored or handled appropriately. This could affect patient safety. Therefore, no estimate of the potential savings of repurposing unused prescribed medication has been made.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien grouped question UIN 171551 171552 171554 question first answered 27/03/2023 16:18:15 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1606248

registered interest
date	22/03/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Prescription Drugs: Waste Management
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the potential savings to the public purse of repurposing unused prescribed medication.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	171554
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2023 answer text <p>NHS England is leading a programme on medicines optimisation which aims to help patients to improve outcomes and safety, take medicines as intended, avoid taking unnecessary medicines and reduce wastage. For example, Regional Medicines Optimisation Committees were established in 2016 to support and optimise local prescribing practice and reduce unwarranted variation. Community pharmacies also offer the New Medicines Service, providing further support to patients newly prescribed certain medicines, and the Discharge Medicines Service, enabling hospitals to refer recently discharged patients to a community pharmacy for support with new medication.</p><p> </p><p>Structured Medicine Reviews are offered by general practices (GPs) where increasingly pharmacists are part of multi-disciplinary teams to review patients’ medication, optimise medication and prevent wastage. In addition, electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) allows a GP to send repeat prescriptions to a patient’s pharmacy to manage the dispensing of the specific medicines required. As part of the eRD service, the pharmacy is required to make sure that the patient still needs all of their medicines and dispense to the patients only those that are needed.</p><p> </p><p>In September 2021, the findings and recommendations of the national overprescribing review were published, setting out a series of practical and cultural changes necessary to ensure patients receive the most appropriate treatment for their needs while ensuring value for money.</p><p> </p><p>All pharmacies must by law accept unwanted medicines from patients for disposal. However, the Department does not promote the reuse of medicines returned from patients. Where medicines have left a pharmacy, it is not possible to assure the quality of returned medicines on physical inspection alone. When medicines are returned from patients’ homes, there is no way of guaranteeing that the medicines have been stored or handled appropriately. This could affect patient safety. Therefore, no estimate of the potential savings of repurposing unused prescribed medication has been made.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien grouped question UIN 171551 171552 171553 question first answered 27/03/2023 16:18:15 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1606249

registered interest
date	22/03/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Modern Slavery Act 2015
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the disclosure and reporting obligations of the Modern Slavery Act 2015; and what steps she is taking to ensure that all qualifying companies fulfil their disclosure and reporting obligations under that Act.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	171555
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2023 answer text <p>Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more to report annually on the steps taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.</p><p>Compliance with section 54 is high. Following a Home Office commission, the Business &amp; Human Rights Resource Centre completed an audit of compliance with Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act. The high-level findings of this audit were published on 17 September 2020 in the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s annual report, available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-anti-slavery-commissioners-annual-report-2019-to-2020" target="_blank">Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s annual report 2019 to 2020</a>.</p><p> </p><p>To further increase compliance with section 54, the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/919937/Government_response_to_transparency_in_supply_chains_consultation_21_09_20.pdf" target="_blank">Government_response_to_transparency_in_supply_chains_consultation</a>, published on 22 September 2020, committed to taking forwards an ambitious package of measures to strengthen the Act’s transparency legislation, including: extending the reporting requirement to public bodies with a budget of £36 million or more; mandating the specific reporting topics statements must cover; and requiring organisations to publish their statement on the Government registry.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has also committed to introduce financial penalties for organisations who fail to meet their statutory obligations to publish annual modern slavery statements. These measures require primary legislation and will be introduced when parliamentary time allows.</p><p> </p><p>The Government registry was launched in March 2021 as a key tool to monitor and improve compliance with Section 54. Since launch, over 9,800 modern slavery statements covering over 32,800 organisations have been voluntarily submitted.</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines question first answered 03/04/2023 09:54:51 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1604427

registered interest
date	15/03/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Attendance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure attendance levels in school recover to pre-covid-19 pandemic levels.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	166363
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/03/2023 answer text <p>The Department is clear that being in school and ready to study is crucial to pupils’ attainment, wellbeing, and wider life chances.</p><p>The Department is focusing on supporting pupils to recover from the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic through an ambitious multi year programme and almost £5 billion has been made available for education recovery. This funding for education recovery includes up to £1.5 billion on tutoring and nearly £2 billion of direct funding to schools so they can deliver evidence based interventions based on pupil needs. It also includes £400 million on teacher training opportunities, and over £800 million for additional hours in 16-19 education.</p><p>In addition, the Department has brought together an Action Alliance of lead professionals from key frontline services that support families. Members from education, health, justice, the third sector and parent organisations have collectively committed to use their roles and organisations to undertake activities to improve attendance.</p><p>The Department has also published new ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance which makes clear the importance of addressing the barriers to attendance through strong multi agency working at school, multi academy trust and Local Authority levels.</p><p>This guidance intends to ensure greater consistency in the attendance support offered to pupils and families, regardless of where they live, and emphasises the importance of providing attendance support in an earlier and more targeted way to respond to pupils’ individual needs.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 23/03/2023 16:36:44 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1604428

registered interest
date	15/03/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Attendance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support schools to increase the level of pupil attendance.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	166364
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/03/2023 answer text <p>The Department has a comprehensive attendance strategy to improve school attendance. Guidance has been published setting out how the Department expects schools, trusts and Local Authorities to work together to improve attendance. This can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1099677/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1099677/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf</a>.</p><p>The Department’s guidance is clear that schools should develop and maintain a whole school culture that promotes the benefits of high attendance, have a clear school attendance policy and have effective day to day processes in place to follow-up absence. The guidance sets out that schools are expected to rigorously use attendance data to identify patterns of poor attendance, at individual and cohort level, as soon as possible so that all parties can work together to resolve them before they become entrenched. To help schools to do this, the Department has recently launched new functionality which allows mainstream schools that are sharing daily attendance data to compare attendance with other schools within their Local Authority. This can be seen under the ‘compare your attendance tab’ in view your education data, at: <a href="https://viewyourdata.education.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://viewyourdata.education.gov.uk/</a>. The tool will help schools to identify strengths and priorities and signpost to additional guidance and support.</p><p>The Department has employed expert attendance advisers who are playing an important role working closely with Local Authorities and a number of multi-academy trusts with higher levels of persistent absence to review their current practice and support them to develop plans to improve. The Department has also recently launched a £2.32 million attendance mentor pilot to deliver intensive one to one support to a group of persistently and severely absent pupils. The pilot will run for three years supporting a total of 1,665 pupils. The findings from this pilot should enable schools, trusts, and Local Authorities to address persistent and severe absence more effectively.</p><p>My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has established an alliance of national leaders from education, children’s social care and other relevant services to work together to raise school attendance and reduce persistent absence.</p><p>Schools and Local Authorities can also use a range of measures to provide support for and/or sanctions against parents when their child’s irregular attendance in school becomes a problem. These measures are used to reinforce parents’ responsibilities and to support them in improving their child’s attendance at school.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 23/03/2023 16:01:26 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson