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  • Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what equality impact assessment he has made of the effect of extending entitlement to the human papilloma virus vaccination only to designated categories of people and not to others.

    Jane Ellison

    In November 2015, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters, advised that a targeted human papillomavirus vaccination programme should be undertaken for men who have sex with men up to 45 years of age who attend genitourinary medicine and HIV clinics. They noted that this should be subject to procurement of the vaccine and delivery of the programme at a cost-effective price.

    The Department is considering the JCVI’s advice and is undertaking a full equality analysis. The Department will confirm its plans in due course.

  • Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to carry out an equality impact assessment of the tender decision on the universal girls vaccination programme for the human papilloma virus; and what the implications are for that programme of a decision to award it to one using the bivalent vaccine.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department has no plans to conduct an equality impact assessment on the tender decision following the on-going re-procurement of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for the adolescent girls programme. The current programme, recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the expert body that advises the government on all immunisation matters, protects girls against HPV strains 16 and 18 which are responsible for about 70% of cervical cancers.

    The Department and Public Health England are currently undertaking a procurement exercise to secure vaccine to support the girls programme and as this is a competitive tender, it would not be appropriate to pre-judge the outcome of that exercise. The procurement will take account of the costs and benefits of all vaccines offered to establish which provides best value for money for the National Health Service.

  • Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to extend the age group entitled to receive the human papilloma virus vaccinations for women.

    Jane Ellison

    The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme for girls was introduced in 2008, on the recommendation of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters. The aim of the programme is to prevent cervical cancer related to HPV infection.

    When the routine programme was introduced in 2008, a catch-up programme was also rolled out to offer the vaccine to women up to age 18 years. This was also based on advice from the JCVI that the catch-up, as well as the routine programme, would be cost-effective.

    The JCVI also noted that ‘catch up’ vaccination for women aged 18 to 25 years was not cost-effective at the vaccine price considered and, on this basis, did not advise the routine vaccination of women beyond the age 18. In 2015, the JCVI revisited the issue and noted that the cost-effectiveness of a catch-up programme for women above 18 years who had not received the vaccine was considered unlikely to be cost-effective. On this basis, we do not have any plans to offer HPV vaccine routinely to women aged 18 and over at this time. Clinicians are however able to offer vaccinations outside of the national programme to women at high risk using individual clinical judgement.

  • Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when human papilloma virus vaccinations will be available to men who have sex with men through genito-urinary medicine clinics; and what steps his Department is taking to promote that availability.

    Jane Ellison

    In November 2015, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters, advised that a targeted human papillomavirus vaccination programme should be undertaken for men who have sex with men up to 45 years of age who attend genitourinary medicine and HIV clinics. They noted that this should be subject to procurement of the vaccine and delivery of the programme at a cost-effective price.

    The Department is considering the JCVI’s advice and is undertaking a full equality analysis. The Department will confirm its plans in due course.

  • Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Maria Caulfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to monitor and evaluate the effect of the men who have sex with men human papilloma virus vaccination programme.

    Jane Ellison

    In November 2015, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advised that a targeted human papilloma virus vaccination programme for men who have sex with men attending genito-urinary medicine and HIV clinics should be undertaken, subject to procurement of the vaccine and delivery of the programme at a cost-effective price. The Department and Public Health England are considering the JCVI’s advice, including how such a programme could be monitored and evaluated.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reasons his Department’s strategy on the abolition of the death penalty has not yet been renewed.

    Mr David Lidington

    I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 January to Question 22083 to the Hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green. https://wqa.parliament.uk/Questions/Details/28353

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many employees in his Department have (a) taken the CESG Certified Cyber-Security Training Course and (b) received other relevant cyber-security training.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    HM Government takes the cyber security training of its staff extremely seriously. There are a range of cyber security courses available depending on the role of specific staff; including the e-learning course, ‘Responsible for Information’ which is available to all civil servants on the Civil Service Learning Website.
    This course, the development of which was funded through the National Cyber Security Programme, addresses information security, including cyber security. There are different modules for general users, Information Asset Owners, Senior Information Risk Owners, and Board and Non—Executive Board members. To date over 487,000 civil servants have taken the course.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise with the EU the issue of (a) the dismissal by the General Court of the EU of first listing challenges brought by individuals on the EU’s targeted human rights sanctions list and (b) imposing such sanctions on North Korea’s suspected human rights violations.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We welcome the EU General Court’s dismissal of challenges brought by individuals listed for violating human rights in Iran. The human rights situation in Iran remains a matter of serious concern. We are also deeply concerned by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) appalling human rights record. We will continue to consider a broad range of policy options whenever we discuss the DPRK with other EU member states. The EU already has autonomous measures against the DPRK in place which complement and enforce UN sanctions, targeting the nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Any new measures or sanctions regime introduced at the EU level must clearly improve the human rights situation. They must also satisfy our ability to defend the legality of the decision.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he had during the visit of President Narendra Modi to the UK in November 2015 on outstanding payments to British companies for services provided during the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The British High Commission in New Delhi has repeatedly raised with the Government of India the dispute over payment of the British company Satellite Information Services (SIS), urging them to settle the case, and has provided consistent support to SIS. I also raised this case with the Indian High Commissioner in London in October 2015. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) discussed opportunities and challenges for British business in India with Prime Minister Modi during his visit to the UK in November 2015. We will continue to press for a satisfactory settlement.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on how many occasions he or his predecessor has given evidence to committees of the House on arms sales to (a) Saudi Arabia and (b) other countries in each of the last six years.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has provided evidence on UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia and other countries to committees of the House on a number of occasions in the last six years. From the start of the 2010-12 session until recently this has involved the submission of written and oral evidence to the Committees on Arms Export Controls (the CAEC) as part of their annual inquiries. The Rt Hon the Lord Hague of Richmond (the former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs) and the Secretary of State gave oral evidence to the CAEC on global UK arms exports on 7 February and 19 December 2012 and 8 January 2014, and 1 December 2014, respectively. The former Secretary of State was questioned about arms exports to Saudi Arabia on 7 February and 19 December 2012. Details about such evidence, including the Government’s response of 31 July 2015 to the most recent CAEC inquiry, can be found in the committees published reports.