Written questions by Anderson.

How long patients will be able to use (a) Wegovy and (b) Mounjaro on the NHS; and how long they can safely be used for.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources, and for providing guidance for the health and care system on best practice.The NICE has published guidance on semaglutide (Wegovy) for managing overweight and obesity. It states that it should be used for a maximum of two years. Re-prescribing Wegovy would be at the discretion of local systems following an additional referral. Integrated care boards are responsible for arranging the provision of health services within their area in line with local priorities, considering population need, and taking account of relevant guidance. This includes the commissioning of NHS specialist weight management services.The NICE has not yet published final guidance on the use of tirzepatide (Mounjaro) for managing overweight and obesity. In its draft guidance, there is no mandatory stopping time, but the NICE does recommend that treatment cessation should be considered if less than 5% of the initial weight has been lost after six months.Neither Wegovy nor Mounjaro has time limits on their use in their Summary of Products Characteristics documents, which describe the properties and the officially approved conditions of use of a medicine. Information is continuously collected after a medicine is placed on the market, to monitor real-life experience with the product. The Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency closely monitors this information, to make sure that the benefits of the medicine continue to outweigh the risks. Both Wegovy and Mounjaro contain new active substances and are subject to additional monitoring through the Black Triangle Scheme, though this does not mean that they are unsafe.

Whether patients can be re-administered weight loss medication on the NHS if they regain weight following treatment.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources, and for providing guidance for the health and care system on best practice.The NICE has published guidance on semaglutide (Wegovy) for managing overweight and obesity. It states that it should be used for a maximum of two years. Re-prescribing Wegovy would be at the discretion of local systems following an additional referral. Integrated care boards are responsible for arranging the provision of health services within their area in line with local priorities, considering population need, and taking account of relevant guidance. This includes the commissioning of NHS specialist weight management services.The NICE has not yet published final guidance on the use of tirzepatide (Mounjaro) for managing overweight and obesity. In its draft guidance, there is no mandatory stopping time, but the NICE does recommend that treatment cessation should be considered if less than 5% of the initial weight has been lost after six months.Neither Wegovy nor Mounjaro has time limits on their use in their Summary of Products Characteristics documents, which describe the properties and the officially approved conditions of use of a medicine. Information is continuously collected after a medicine is placed on the market, to monitor real-life experience with the product. The Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency closely monitors this information, to make sure that the benefits of the medicine continue to outweigh the risks. Both Wegovy and Mounjaro contain new active substances and are subject to additional monitoring through the Black Triangle Scheme, though this does not mean that they are unsafe.

What steps her Department is taking to tackle anti-social behaviour in social housing.

Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 gives social landlords, as well as the police and other frontline agencies a range of powers and tools to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB), and they are expected to use those powers promptly and proportionately, putting the needs of victims at the heart of their response.The Regulator of Social Housing’s Neighbourhood and Community Standard requires registered providers to work with relevant partners to deter and tackle ASB in the neighbourhoods where they provide social housing. Under the new consumer regulation regime, the Regulator proactively seeks assurances that providers are meeting the outcomes set by the regulatory standards.Providers are also required to collect and publish data tenants’ satisfaction with their landlord’s approach to handling anti-social behaviour, which ensures that tenants and other interested parties can hold registered providers to account for the services they provide.

If her Department will make an estimate of the revenue raised by removing the freeze on fuel duty.

Revenue from fuel duty and associated VAT ensures that the Government can continue to fund the vital public services and infrastructure that people across the UK expect. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events. Full forecasts for fuel duty revenue, certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), will be published at Budget on 30 October. HMRC regularly publish statistics relating to the direct effects of illustrative tax changes, including fuel duty. The most recent version of this publication can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/direct-effects-of-illustrative-tax-changes.

How many foreign nationals released from prison have been deported in each of the last five years.

The Home Office publishes quarterly statistics on the returns of foreign national offenders (FNOs) by nationality and year. These returns are published in the Returns Detailed Datasets, Year Ending June 2024, which are available at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) The published statistics refer to enforced returns which include deportations, as well as cases where a person has breached UK immigration laws, and those removed under other administrative and illegal entry powers that have declined to leave voluntarily We are committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities. Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and, where appropriate, we will pursue their deportation, and they will be swiftly removed from the country.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled Landmark collaboration with largest pharmaceutical company, published on 14 October 2024, how many times will a patient be allowed to take a course of Mounjaro, in the context of the five year trial in Greater Manchester.

As announced on 14 October 2024, the SURMOUNT-REAL clinical trial of tirzepatide, brand name Mounjaro, is being developed between Health Innovation Manchester, The University of Manchester, and Eli Lilly and Company, with further details about the study to be published at a later date by these organisations, following on from relevant approvals.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes in the level of excise duty on (a) tobacco and (b) alcohol on the (i) illicit and (ii) non-duty paid markets for these products.

The approach used in costings certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility at Spring Budget 2024 does account for behavioural responses to changing excise duty rates, including the impact of illicit and non-duty paid markets.

Whether he plans to help increase the use of geothermal energy for heating in (a) domestic and (b) commercial spaces.

We know that to achieve net zero, we must look at how we can accelerate the potential of all low carbon technologies including geothermal. The Government understands that geothermal can play a role in our decarbonisation ambitions particularly as a low carbon source for heat via heat networks. We have commissioned research into the potential costs of geothermal heat in the UK and will use this to understand how the government can support the sector to achieve its potential, in both the domestic and commercial sectors.

Whether her Department is taking steps to help ensure school children are educated about knife crime.

Keeping children safe is a top priority for this government. Education plays a key role in ensuring children can lead safe and fulfilling lives, and it provides opportunity to intervene early, to prevent young people being drawn into crime.Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) includes content on the situations that often lead young people to carry weapons such as knives, including criminal exploitation though involvement in gangs and county lines drugs operations and in particular the grooming relationships that often accompany this. Issues around gun and knife crime can also still be taught as part of a school’s wider curriculum. For example, schools can choose to include this content as part of their personal, social, health and economic education or citizenship curriculum.Additionally, school-led Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed (‘SAFE’) taskforces have been established in 10 hotspot areas in England. The taskforces are investing in and delivering evidence-based interventions such as mentoring and social skills training to reach young people early, get them back on track with their education and reduce their vulnerability to serious violence. In alternative provision (AP), our Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforces programme enables teams of specialists such as speech and language therapists, youth justice workers and family workers to provide integrated, child-centred support in 22 APs in hotspot areas.Youth Endowment Fund’s Toolkit, backed by Home Office funding, supports schools and wider services to take evidence based interventions to tackle serious violence. More information on this toolkit is available here: http://www.youthendowmentfund.org.uk/toolkit/.

What assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the roll out of the early prison release scheme.

SDS40 is a necessary measure to avoid the collapse of the Criminal Justice System. In designing the measure, we took every possible step to mitigate risk including an 8-week implementation period, clear offence exclusions, and a huge amount of collaboration with partners across the Criminal Justice System. Once released offender will be subject to strict licence conditions and face being immediately recalled to prison should they breach those conditions.Following the first tranche of SDS40 releases that took place on 10 September, the Ministry of Justice and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service have consulted our frontline and cross government partners on how things went. Following the release of prisoners under Tranche 1 on 10 September and Tranche 2 on 22 Octoberr, we are determined to continue to take every step possible to bring the prisons system under control, reduce reoffending and to keep the public safe.As the Lord Chancellor has previously announced, the change will be reviewed in 18 months.

If his Department will consult on the use of energy standing charges.

Although standing charges are a commercial matter for suppliers, and are regulated by Ofgem, we know that too much of the burden of the bill is placed on them. The Government has worked constructively with the regulator on the issue of standing charges, and we are committed to lowering the cost of them. Ofgem’s recently published discussion paper sets out the options for how standing charges could be reduced, including by moving some supplier operational costs off standing charges onto the unit rate, increasing the variety of tariffs available for consumer in the market, and in the longer term, reviewing how system costs are allocated. Ofgem's publication can be found here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/call-for-input/standing-charges-domestic-retail-options.

What steps he is taking to help reduce the number of pharmacy closures.

Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists, as we shift care from hospitals to the community.The consultation with Community Pharmacy England on the national funding and contractual framework arrangements for 2024/25 has not yet been concluded, and we are looking into this as a matter of urgency.Pharmacies are private businesses and decisions to close reflect many factors. Patient access to pharmaceutical services remains good in England, with four in five people living within a 20-minute walk from a pharmacy, and twice as many pharmacies in the most deprived areas. Patients can also access approximately 400 Distance Selling Pharmacies, who must operate nationally and send medicines to patients’ home free of charge, and in rural areas, Dispensing Doctors can supply medicines.

Whether he plans to take steps to increase funding for pharmacies.

Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists, as we shift care from hospitals to the community.The consultation with Community Pharmacy England on the national funding and contractual framework arrangements for 2024/25 has not yet been concluded, and we are looking into this as a matter of urgency.Pharmacies are private businesses and decisions to close reflect many factors. Patient access to pharmaceutical services remains good in England, with four in five people living within a 20-minute walk from a pharmacy, and twice as many pharmacies in the most deprived areas. Patients can also access approximately 400 Distance Selling Pharmacies, who must operate nationally and send medicines to patients’ home free of charge, and in rural areas, Dispensing Doctors can supply medicines.

If he will run a national campaign to raise awareness of sepsis.

Local National Health Service trusts may already choose to run local public awareness campaigns on sepsis.Recent evidence suggests that there is high awareness of sepsis among the general public. The Department is focused on improving the clinical awareness and recognition of sepsis by healthcare professionals, so that unwell and deteriorating patients are identified promptly and started on life-saving treatment.NHS England has launched several training programmes aimed at improving the diagnosis and early management of sepsis. These programmes are regularly reviewed and revised with support from subject matter experts as new national sepsis guidance is implemented.

Whether her Department plans to review the business rates system for pubs.

The government is committed to delivering a fairer business rates system by levelling the playing field between the high street and online giants, better incentivising investment, tackling empty properties and supporting entrepreneurship. Any decisions on future tax policy will be announced by the Chancellor at a fiscal event.

What plans her Department has to inform victims of the early release of prisoners.

Victims and survivors who are eligible for and have opted into either the Probation Service’s Victim Contact Scheme or Victim Notification Scheme are provided with updates about an offender who perpetrated crime(s) against them, including when these offenders are due to be released from custody. In this way, the victims and survivors who have opted into the Schemes are given the opportunity to make representations as to the licence conditions which they would like to be in place on an offender’s release, such as an exclusion zone

How many irregular migrants are housed in Ashfield constituency; what accommodation is used to house those migrants; and what the cost is of housing those migrants.

The Government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly. This includes identifying a range of options to reduce the use of hotels over time and ensuring efficiency and value for money across all accommodation arrangements.The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates asylum accommodation costs by type.Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, by local authority, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent stats release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).The total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at HO annual reports and accounts- HO annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).

What recent progress has been made on negotiating new trade agreements.

Economic Growth is the first priority of this government. To deliver on this, one of our first steps after taking office was to announce that we were resuming Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council, India, Israel, South Korea, Switzerland and Turkey. Having carefully reviewed our negotiation objectives we have now started talks with the first of these key partners. This is a first step towards getting businesses access to international markets, boosting jobs, and delivering growth. We are also committed to ensuring UK businesses can take full advantage of CPTPP when it enters into force in December.

What steps she is taking to protect pension contributions paid into (a) NEST and (b) Government pension schemes against fraud.

This Government is committed to providing better outcomes to members of pension schemes, which includes preventing them from losing their hard-earned savings to fraud. Where there is a transfer of a pension measures are in place that give trustees of all pensions schemes the ability to block or delay the transfer if there are circumstances in the transfer process that indicates there could be a scam involvedNest is independent of Government and operates under the Nest Order which provides the legislative framework. As an authorised Master Trust, Nest is required to operate under broader pensions legislation and the relevant protections that apply. The Trustee has a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of Nest members and Nest has its own policy and processes in place to ensure members pots are protected.Most statutory Public Service Pension Schemes are unfunded, and there is thus a limited opportunity for the misappropriation of pension contributions or scheme funds. Government departments and scheme administrators responsible for individual Public Service Pension Schemes are required to manage fraud risks, in line with guidance set out in Managing Public Money.

How many and what proportion of people crossing the Channel have no documentation.

As long has been the case, the Home Office does not publish breakdowns of small boat arrivals by documentation status.