Following any delegation, integrated care boards (ICBs) would still be expected to meet and report on national performance standards for uptake and coverage, and national data for uptake and coverage of vaccinations will continue to be published. The national vaccination strategy also suggests that this is enhanced by introducing additional requirements for understanding performance in communities that are currently underserved by vaccination services, and NHS England will be working with the UK Health Security Agency, ICBs and other partners to develop this further.

NHS England and its regional commissioning teams are working with integrated care boards (ICBs) to prepare for any future delegation of commissioning responsibility for vaccination services. This is likely to include a period of formal joint working between NHS England teams and ICBs to support collaborative decision-making. As with any delegation process, an assessment of ICB readiness will be required prior to any changes being made and the Department will be involved in this assessment. Following delegation, ICBs will need to provide assurance to NHS England that they are exercising the delegated functions safely and effectively, in line with the NHS Oversight Framework.

NHS England will remain accountable to the Secretary of State for the delivery and performance of national vaccination programmes as set out in the NHS public health functions.

On all the key metrics there has been a significant improvement since the hon. Gentleman’s party was in office. If you were to ask, Mr Speaker, what the key test was for a procurement system, I would say it is wartime. Of course we are not ourselves directly at war, but in supporting Ukraine, we have seen excellence in procurement, particularly at Defence Equipment and Support, getting equipment—

As a former Minister for apprenticeships, I share the hon. Gentleman’s enthusiasm. If he wishes to find out more about the Procurement Bill, he can join me and the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Florence Eshalomi) in Committee Room 10 on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the foreseeable future. He will hear us talk about social benefit and the social value embedded within it, and I hope apprentices will be part of that.

The United Kingdom has purchased more than 150,000 vaccine doses during the monkeypox outbreak. We are prioritising vaccine stock where possible for second doses for those at highest risk to maximise protection and interrupt transmission. Regular surveillance and stakeholder engagement continues to ensure we are prepared in the event of any increase in cases.

The UK Health Security Agency continually assesses the level of risk to the United Kingdom from monkeypox infections. Risk assessments published on 23 September 2022 indicated an approximately flat daily growth rate at low levels of incidence; approximately stable geography within England; no reported deaths in the UK; and a small number of deaths reported globally. The risk assessment of 23 September is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/monkeypox-outbreak-technical-briefings/investigation-into-monkeypox-outbreak-in-england-technical-briefing-8#part-1-risk-assessment-as-of-23-september-2022

We have procured sufficient stock to deliver the vaccination strategy in full.

We have procured sufficient vaccine to deliver the current vaccination strategy. The UK Health Security Agency’s expert advice, endorsed by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, is to offer two vaccine doses to a defined high-risk cohort of 111,000 individuals in the United Kingdom. Since August 2022, the use of fractional dosing, which is safe and equally effective, allows one vial of the vaccine to provide three doses and has become the default method of vaccination.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) was established to lead on the planning for, prevention of and response to external health threats. As an executive agency of the Department, the UKHSA is responding to the monkeypox outbreak, working across Government and the health service, including the devolved administrations and local government. The UKHSA provides oversight and accountability to Ministers on the operational response.

The Department is conducting an assessment of Evusheld, including requesting advice from clinicians on the most appropriate option for the National Health Service in line with available data, the public health situation and other treatments available. While we are considering the advice received, we are currently unable to confirm a specific timetable for any decision.

In addition, the Department is determining the most appropriate patient groups which could potentially benefit from prophylactic treatment and any considerations on potential deployment.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for St Albans (Daisy Cooper MP) on 7 March 2022 to Question 131326.

Civil Servants are appointed on merit on the basis of fair and open competition and are expected to carry out their role with dedication and a commitment to the Civil Service and its core values: integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) requires all Crown servants to make their line manager or Commanding Officer aware of any potential conflict of interest that arises during their service. The MOD requires the line manager or Commanding Officer to work with the Crown servant to take appropriate action to ensure that an actual conflict of interest does not take place.

In accordance with the Ministerial Code, on appointment to each new office, Ministers must provide their Permanent Secretary with a full list in writing of all interests which might be thought to give rise to a conflict. The list should also cover interests of the Minister's spouse or partner and close family which might be thought to give rise to a conflict.

The (a) procurement and (b) design of LED street lighting is entirely a matter for each individual local highway authority.

The Department for Transport endorses the UK Roads Liaison Group’s Well Managed Highway Infrastructure Code of Practice which includes advice and guidance to highway authorities on all aspects of highways maintenance and management, including street lighting.

The Code includes links to the Institution of Lighting Professionals website which provides a wide range of resources for lighting professionals from free downloads to Professional Lighting Guides, technical reports and general publications on the latest issues within the industry.

The Government has appointed an Official Receiver who has a duty to investigate generally the business, dealings, and affairs of the company.

In this role as liquidator, the Official Receiver is independent from government.

The Government’s top priority is to safeguard the continuity of public services. We have been working with the Local Government Association (LGA) who have been supporting the local authorities to develop contingency plans. We will continue to work with the LGA and support local authorities as required.

No one individual (i.e. a Project Manager) in the Department has the authority to authorise projects which have a financial implication..

Individual payments over £10,000 must be authorised by a senior civil servant in accordance with the Department’s financial delegation framework:

Departmental policy requires that a business case must be prepared for all projects in excess of £10,000. Project delivery is monitored by individual Project Managers, in line with delegated authorities, and progress recorded and reported through appropriate departmental governance structures.

The hon. Gentleman raises a completely just point. The whole purpose behind our apprenticeship programme is to give opportunities to people who would not otherwise have them. That is why the 3 million target that we have across the economy is so important. The public sector will contribute a significant proportion of that, and I am responsible for the civil service component. We are doing very well on the civil service apprenticeship numbers. Two weeks ago, we launched a set of standards that will apply to some of the civil service apprenticeships. I hope that, in time, we will be able to fulfil exactly the aspiration that we both have in ensuring that that helps social mobility.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for mentioning apprenticeships and our commitment to continuing to work with our single-source suppliers. We can clearly see that they are some of the lead providers of apprenticeships across the defence procurement area.

Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) is an innovative £25 million programme introduced by NHS England in 2013. It specifically aims to generate valuable new evaluation data in promising areas of specialised care where the current evidence base of cost and clinical effectiveness is insufficient to support routine National Health Service commissioning, and where further formal research trials are thought to be less likely.

Each scheme - put forward by senior clinicians and other stakeholders - is funded on a time limited basis in a small number of selected centres, and then evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Once the planned number of patients has been recruited across the participating centres, each scheme closes to new patients and analysis begins. This means that the funding identified for each scheme can then be reinvested into the evaluation of additional potentially life changing specialised treatments to maximise the value and impact of the overall evaluation fund for patients. As an example, routinely funding Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy contrary to the currently published clinical commissioning policy and in advance of a formal review of any new evidence would mean that between £2 million and £4 million per year (covering the surgical costs and immediate follow up only) would then be unavailable to support the evaluation of other promising treatments.

The analysis phase for each CtE scheme will typically take between one and two years depending on how long we need to follow up patients after their treatment to identify its effectiveness. The three cardiology based CtE schemes are currently scheduled for a 15 month analysis and reporting phase, after which the data can be used by NHS England to support policy review.

However, CtE is only one form of data that might be put forward in considering a new (or revision to an existing) policy and clinicians do not need to await the final report from CtE schemes if they feel that other new substantive data becomes available more quickly.

NHS England's published clinical commissioning policies (which set out eligibility for NHS funded specialised care on the basis of the available evidence) can be reviewed at any time where there is thought to be substantive new evidence available, and around 100 such proposals were developed and considered by NHS England during 2016/17.

The policy development process is subject to both informal stakeholder testing and formal public consultation, including the opportunity for patients, clinicians and industry representatives to review and comment on the evidence base considered and the assessed impact on patients, existing services and cost.

Where a new service is routinely commissioned as a result of a policy review, NHS England works with commissioned providers to ensure that sufficient clinical expertise and supporting infrastructure is in place to provide a safe service to patients in line with nationally set requirements.

The NHS Supply Chain Core List Programme was developed in collaboration with NHS Business Services Authority and the Department. The Core List aims to achieve best value by reducing the range of like-for-like products that the National Health Service purchases. This allows the NHS to commit to larger volumes of a smaller range of products which in turn allows suppliers to provide improved prices to the NHS as greater economies of scale in manufacturing can be achieved.

Items identified as ‘Core List’ have been reviewed and assessed by a selection of industry specialists, clinical advisors and customers. Products not included in the NHS Core List are not discontinued and are therefore still available for purchase via the wider NHS catalogue offered by NHS Supply Chain.

Ultimately, decisions with regard to which urine drainage bag to purchase lies with the procurement team for each individual NHS trust.