Tag: Lord Black of Brentwood

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when a vaccine will be procured for the human papilloma virus vaccination programme for men who have sex with men.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department and Public Health England are currently undertaking a procurement exercise to secure vaccine to support the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme for girls. 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.

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 HPV 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 JCVI acknowledged that finding a way to implement its advice would be challenging and made clear that work was needed by the Department and others to consider commissioning and delivery routes for this programme. This work is already underway and we will announce our plans as soon as we can.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-07-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the risks to individual and public health of significant numbers of individuals accessing generic versions of Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis online from overseas.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It would not be possible or practical to monitor how individuals choose to access medicines or services outside of the National Health Service or to assess the impact on that individual. Registered pharmacies that operate online and that may supply drugs for use as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) are the responsibility of the General Pharmaceutical Council. We are aware that some local authority commissioned sexual health services are offering monitoring of the pharmacological efficacy of generic PrEP however this is a matter for local decision.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-12-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what funding they are making available under the UK Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund to combat the illegal tiger trade and tiger farming.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

In December 2013, Defra and the Department for International Development announced a £10 million fund over the period from 2014/15 to 2017/18 to help developing countries tackle the illegal wildlife trade, to be administered by Defra. In March 2015, the Secretary of State for International Development announced that an additional £3 million would be made available for this purpose. Most of this funding is distributed through the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund.

Nineteen successful projects from the first round of the UK Government’s Challenge Fund were announced in December 2014. These included a number of projects that aimed to reduce the demand for illegal wildlife products in Asia, build capacity and strengthen law enforcement to combat wildlife trafficking. Challenge Funding directly benefitting tigers includes a £210,000 contribution towards a project strengthening institutional frameworks to combat wildlife trafficking in Indonesia, which is also supporting local communities mitigate human-tiger conflict. The Fund has also contributed over £59,000 to a project producing educational children’s videos in Vietnam, one of which is on tigers, to help reduce the demand for illegal wildlife products.

A second round of the Challenge Fund opened in August 2015. We expect to announce the successful projects from the second round early this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the procurement of a human papilloma virus vaccination programme currently taking place includes the vaccine needed for men who have sex with men.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department and Public Health England are currently undertaking a procurement exercise to secure vaccine to support the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme for girls. 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.

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 HPV 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 JCVI acknowledged that finding a way to implement its advice would be challenging and made clear that work was needed by the Department and others to consider commissioning and delivery routes for this programme. This work is already underway and we will announce our plans as soon as we can.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-07-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether individuals using generic versions of Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) obtained online from overseas can access free at the point of need the appropriate monitoring and tests that are required, including as necessary tests for the pharmacological efficacy of the generic drugs they are taking, even though Truvada for PrEP has not been commissioned by NHS England.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It would not be possible or practical to monitor how individuals choose to access medicines or services outside of the National Health Service or to assess the impact on that individual. Registered pharmacies that operate online and that may supply drugs for use as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) are the responsibility of the General Pharmaceutical Council. We are aware that some local authority commissioned sexual health services are offering monitoring of the pharmacological efficacy of generic PrEP however this is a matter for local decision.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-12-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of India about the conservation of Asian elephants including banning the use of elephants in tourist attractions.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The UK is committed to conserving Asian elephants and recognises the growing threats to their populations, particularly from poaching and cross-border illegal trade in live animals to meet the demand from the tourist and entertainment industries. The UK has been working internationally through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to increase protection for Asian elephants. In 2014 the UK led successful efforts to ensure that Asian elephant range states have relevant legislation and enforcement in place to tackle illegal cross-border trade.

During Indian Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the UK on 12 November, he and the Prime Minister issued a joint statement resolving to work together to improve protection for both captive and wild Asian elephants. This provides a firm foundation for future co-operation with India to address this important issue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the human papilloma virus vaccination programme for men who have sex with men will commence.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department and Public Health England are currently undertaking a procurement exercise to secure vaccine to support the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme for girls. 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.

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 HPV 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 JCVI acknowledged that finding a way to implement its advice would be challenging and made clear that work was needed by the Department and others to consider commissioning and delivery routes for this programme. This work is already underway and we will announce our plans as soon as we can.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-07-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they collect statistics on the number of domestic animals that die as a result of being locked in a car or other motor vehicle either because of lack of oxygen or from heat; and if so, how many such deaths were recorded in the last five years.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government does not keep records of numbers of animals that die as a result of being locked in cars. Records of prosecutions related to animals dying in vehicles would fall under the general offence of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal which do not provide details of individual cases.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 16 September (HL2087), whether they have established success criteria for the budgeted spend of £2 million for Operation Grange in 2015–16.

Lord Bates

The Home Office funds the cost of Operation Grange from the Special Grant budget. The level of funding provided to the Metropolitan Police in relation to this investigation is reviewed regularly and will continue to be monitored. The Metropolitan Police keep the Home Office informed of the progress of the investigation through regular updates. These include an assessment of the need for continued funding which is linked to whether there remain continued lines of investigation to pursue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 16 September (HL2087), whether they have any plans to spend an amount equivalent to the spending on Operation Grange in 2015–16 on the search for Ben Needham, or other missing children; and if not, why not.

Lord Bates

This Government is clear that unresolved missing children cases, like that of Ben Needham, are never closed and will continue to support the Greek authorities in its investigations. In 2014, South Yorkshire Police requested a Special Grant payment of £700k to support its investigation into the disappearance of Ben Needham. This funding was approved. No decisions have been made in respect of police funding for 2016/17, but any request from South Yorkshire Police will be considered carefully.