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1029465

	registered interest
	date	20/12/2018
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Gatwick Airport: Unmanned Air Vehicles
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the closure of Gatwick Airport on 19 and 20 December 2018 after illegal drone use threatened flight safety for the future resilience at that airport.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	204480
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2019 answer text <p>The recent use of a drone to disrupt Gatwick airport operations was a serious criminal offence. The Department is working closely with the Home Office, Police, CAA and all UK airports to ensure that appropriate lessons are learnt from this incident, and appropriate mitigations put in place to reinforce their protection. Department for Transport and Home Office Ministers will be meeting with key UK airports this week to discuss their counter-drone strategies in the wake of the Gatwick incident.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is introducing a number of measures to build on existing regulations to improve safety and security at airports and other critical infrastructure sites, set out in our consultation response published on 7th January, which can be found here:<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-future-of-drones-in-the-uk-consultation" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-future-of-drones-in-the-uk-consultation</a>.</p><p> </p><p>These measures include new powers for the police to ensure they are able to enforce the law for offences involving drones, and increased drone restriction zones around airports.</p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman question first answered 14/01/2019 16:14:35 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1039028

	registered interest
	date	10/01/2019
	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	Asparaginase
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Erwinase will be available for the treatment for children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia between January 2019 and March 2019; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	207238
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/01/2019 answer text <p>Erwinase is produced by Porton Biopharma Ltd (PBL) and is licensed and distributed by Jazz Pharmaceuticals under a global licencing agreement.</p><p> </p><p>Due to increased demand for Erwinase and because PBL are manufacturing at capacity, until increases in capacity are brought into beneficial use there will be occasional stock-outs.</p><p> </p><p>The product is currently in stock in the United Kingdom. The Department has been informed, it is likely there will be a short stock-out in early February 2019 and then a further batch is planned to be released to Jazz Pharmaceuticals, who are responsible for the packaging/distribution and allocation of worldwide product supply, anticipated to reach the UK market by mid-February 2019 which should last until the end of March 2019.</p><p> </p><p>The Department and Public Health England (PHE) are in close contact with, and have been kept informed by the PBL management of short periods of interrupted supply. PBL have and will be implementing a series of initiatives to increase capacity and better supply the market in both the short and long term. PBL are fully aware of the consequences that the unavailability of Erwinase has on patients and are absolutely committed to working with all involved to resolve any issues and be able to supply this critical medicine.</p><p> </p><p>The Department and PHE will continue to monitor the situation closely.</p> answering member constituency Winchester answering member printed Steve Brine question first answered 18/01/2019 12:18:00 answering member 4067 label Biography information for Steve Brine
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1039045

	registered interest
	date	10/01/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Local Government: Crawley
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the accuracy of allegations (a) of approximately £500,000 being spent inefficiently by Crawley Borough Council on a recent IT project and (b) that freedom of information requests by residents on that subject have not been fully responded to; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	207242
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/01/2019 answer text <p>Local councils act independently of central government. They are accountable for their actions to their electorate and there are mechanisms in place for local people to hold councils to account. This means that any questions about spending decisions, the delivery of services, or the performance of a council are for that council to respond to. If local people remain unsatisfied with the response they receive from the council they can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman for advice.</p><p>In respect of Freedom of Information requests, if a requester is unhappy with the response of the local authority to their FOI requests, they can ask the independent Information Commissioner to investigate.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 18/01/2019 13:09:17 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1046054

	registered interest
	date	22/01/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Education: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent comparative assessment he has made of the level of funding for education in (a) England and (b) EU member states.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	211265
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/01/2019 answer text <p>The Department uses internationally comparable data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to assess how our funding compares internationally.</p><p> </p><p>This data shows that the UK is among the higher spenders on education at primary and secondary level. The UK government spends 3.8% of GDP on primary and secondary educational institutions, compared to an EU22 average of 3.0%. Within the EU, only Belgium (4.1%) and Finland (4.0%) spend a higher proportion of GDP on primary and secondary educational institutions than the UK. The OECD data also shows that the UK is the top spender in the G7 on schools and colleges delivering primary and secondary education, as a percentage of GDP.</p><p> </p><p>Total expenditure on primary and secondary educational institutions as a percentage of GDP, from government sources (2015) in EU countries in the OECD analysis can be found in the table below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Country</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Expenditure as a percentage of GDP</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Austria</p></td><td><p>3.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Belgium</p></td><td><p>4.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Czech Republic</p></td><td><p>2.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Denmark</p></td><td><p>Missing</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Estonia</p></td><td><p>2.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Finland</p></td><td><p>4.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>France</p></td><td><p>3.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Germany</p></td><td><p>2.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Greece</p></td><td><p>2.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hungary</p></td><td><p>2.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Ireland</p></td><td><p>2.5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Italy</p></td><td><p>2.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Latvia</p></td><td><p>3.3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Luxembourg</p></td><td><p>2.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Netherlands</p></td><td><p>3.2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Poland</p></td><td><p>2.9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Portugal</p></td><td><p>3.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Slovak Republic</p></td><td><p>2.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Slovenia</p></td><td><p>3.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Spain</p></td><td><p>2.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sweden</p></td><td><p>3.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>United Kingdom</p></td><td><p>3.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>EU22 average</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>3.0</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The data on expenditure on educational institutions as a percentage of GDP by source of funds is available in Table C2.2 of the OECD’s Education at a Glance 2018 publication at the following link: <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/education-at-a-glance-2018/total-expenditure-on-educational-institutions-as-a-percentage-of-gdp-by-source-of-funds-2015_eag-2018-table140-en" target="_blank">https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/education-at-a-glance-2018/total-expenditure-on-educational-institutions-as-a-percentage-of-gdp-by-source-of-funds-2015_eag-2018-table140-en</a>.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 30/01/2019 13:42:26 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1047994

	registered interest
	date	25/01/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Foie Gras: Imports
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to ban foie gras imports after the UK leaves the EU.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	212612
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/01/2019 answer text <p>We have some of the highest standards of animal welfare and the production of foie gras by force feeding is banned in the UK as it is incompatible with our domestic legislation. Once we leave the European Union, there will be an opportunity to consider whether the UK can adopt a different approach to foie gras imports and sales in the UK.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 31/01/2019 14:03:57 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1050100

	registered interest
	date	28/01/2019
	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	Haematological Cancer
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 29 March 2018 to Question 134294 on Haematological Cancer, when he plans for the evaluation of the rapid diagnostic centres to be published; and he plans for that evaluation to inform the national roll-out of the centres as proposed in the NHS Long-Term Plan.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	213321
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2019 answer text <p>Ten multi-disciplinary diagnostic centres are being piloted through the Accelerate, Co-ordinate, Evaluate (ACE) partnership between Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support and NHS England. This pilot programme will end in March 2019. Early findings from those sites informed the plans for roll out of the Rapid Diagnostic Centres as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.</p><p> </p><p>During 2019/20, the ACE Programme will share further evaluation from the pilot centres. The findings will continue to inform plans for expansion of the Rapid Diagnostic Centres, alongside work being led by Cancer Alliances to improve early diagnosis.</p> answering member constituency Winchester answering member printed Steve Brine question first answered 05/02/2019 15:31:33 answering member 4067 label Biography information for Steve Brine
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1050101

	registered interest
	date	28/01/2019
	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	Asparaginase
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2019 to Question 207238 on Asparaginase, what steps Porton Biopharma will take to increase capacity of erwinase and better supply the (a) UK and (b) world market for the remainder of 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	213322
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2019 answer text <p>Porton Biopharma Ltd (PBL) are implementing a series of initiatives to increase capacity and supply in both the short and long term. These include the following:</p><p>- Extending operational activities to 24 hours a day, seven days a week to maximise fermentation of the product;</p><p>- Implementing an ongoing capital programme including construction of a new pharmaceutical fermentation facility. The facility was completed in April 2018 and is currently undergoing testing; it has an increased capacity fermentation suite which will enable PBL to manufacture at larger scale and is due to start producing product Q3 2019 for regulatory approval to market;</p><p>- A new filling and freeze-drying building was completed in February 2016. The installation of a new filling line which covers the entire process, including vial washing, filling, stoppering and freeze drying. The new line has been designed with systems which monitor all critical parameters throughout the process to accelerate batch release and will accommodate increased capacity. The beneficial use of this and the fermentation facility will coincide to maximise increased product output; and</p><p>- Sourcing replacement suppliers, including for new stoppers and new vials for the product, ensuring that maximum batch sizes can be achieved with minimal product rejects. This programme is complete.</p><p> </p><p>PBL has made significant investments into increasing product capacity and will continue to release future batches as soon as they become available to Jazz Pharmaceuticals (who are responsible for the packaging/distribution and allocation of worldwide product supply).</p> answering member constituency Winchester answering member printed Steve Brine question first answered 05/02/2019 15:09:48 answering member 4067 label Biography information for Steve Brine
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1051411

	registered interest
	date	30/01/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Research: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy what comparative assessment he has made of trends in the level of spending on research and development in the (a) UK and (b) EU member states.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	214535
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/02/2019 answer text <p>The Government is increasing public R&amp;D spending by £7 billion by 2022, this is the largest increase on record.</p><p>The department regularly assesses comparative levels of R&amp;D expenditure in the UK and EU member states.</p><p>The latest ONS data estimates that overall gross R&amp;D expenditure in the UK was £33.1bn in 2016, which was 1.7% of GDP in that year. The latest OECD international comparison of R&amp;D expenditure ranked the UK 10<sup>th</sup> among EU member states, with overall gross R&amp;D expenditure in the EU28 estimated at 1.9% of GDP in 2016. More details can be found here <a href="https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Foe.cd%2Fmsti&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7C6510a2f90baf44375ded08d68cf62dab%7Ccbac700502c143ebb497e6492d1b2dd8%7C0%7C0%7C636851388031421726&amp;sdata=UcM3BPVpEoXLweRwCTbDydMMK5cPS87%2F5a3lidlxGcw%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">http://oe.cd/msti</a></p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 08/02/2019 14:44:31 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1058949

	registered interest
	date	11/02/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Non-native species
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether Natural England plans to consult on the implementation of the Invasive Alien Species Order 2019 to create species action plans that allow a flexible and risk-based management approach to licensing the release of (a) grey squirrels, (b) muntjac deer and (c) other widespread species where their release poses no threat to native wildlife.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	219390
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/02/2019 answer text <p>While the rescue of wildlife will not be illegal under the Order, the re-release of listed invasive species that have been taken from the wild will not be permitted.</p><p> </p><p>Neither grey squirrel nor muntjac deer are protected in the UK and both are highly invasive species which cause significant impacts on domestic ecosystems and protected species. Grey squirrels also have a negative impact on our forestry.</p><p> </p><p>There are no plans to allow the release of widespread invasive species listed under the EU Invasive Alien Species Regulation 2014, except as part of a specific licenced activity aimed at supporting the control of the species.</p><p> </p><p>The UK is committed to reducing the impacts of invasive non-native species within our borders. The Invasive Aliens Species (enforcement and permitting) Order 2019 is part of fulfilling these commitments, as laid out by the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan. The Order also fulfils our obligations under the EU regulation to manage our widespread invasive non-native species.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 19/02/2019 13:42:00 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1060961

	registered interest
	date	14/02/2019
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Railways: Tickets
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	What plans his Department has to expand smart ticketing for rail passengers.
	tabling member constituency	Crawley
	tabling member printed	Henry Smith
	uin	909229
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/02/2019 answer text <p>We have launched a consultation on extending the very popular pay-as-you-go Oyster system to other parts of the south-east, and we are looking at the underlying principles for the rest of the country, too. As the public consultation document sets out, we are considering different options, and I would encourage anyone who believes their local station should be included in a pay-as-you-go zone to respond to the consultation, saying what they want and why.</p> answering member constituency Harrogate and Knaresborough answering member printed Andrew Jones question first answered 14/02/2019 14:59:17 answering member 3996 label Biography information for Andrew Jones
	tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith