Pharmacies that want to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical service must submit an application to the integrated care board (ICB). ICBs determine applications having regard to Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments (PNAs), undertaken by local authorities. Applications can also be made to provide benefits that were not foreseen in the PNA. If the applicant or another contractor wishes to appeal the decision of the ICB, then they can appeal the decision. Appeals are dealt with by NHS Resolution on behalf of my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

Together with Community Pharmacy England, the representative body of all pharmacy contractors in England, we keep the market entry system and underpinning processes under review, and streamline and expedite the processes where possible. For example, in May 2023, we removed the requirement for an applicant to provide fitness information if they already operate another pharmacy in the area, and the ICB already holds their up-to-date fitness information, and shortened the work history that needs to be provided to the last seven years. Applicants can also speed up the process by ensuring they provide all the right information with their application in a timely manner.

We are delivering the largest ever expansion of childcare in England’s history, which begins rolling out in just three weeks’ time, from 1 April. We did it before when we more than doubled the entitlements there had been under the previous Labour Government, and I am delighted to update the House that our latest projections show that more than 150,000 new funded places will be secured by early April. We expect that number to grow in the months ahead, saving parents more than £550 million in childcare costs.

April is just the first phase. From September, parents with children from the age of nine months until they start school will be able to benefit from that support. Only the Conservatives have a plan that hard-working parents can rely on as they grow their families. Labour has no plan, so why does it not support ours to give families the certainty they deserve?

As part of the Network North plan, the Government are providing a record funding increase of £8.3 billion for local highway maintenance in England over the next decade to enable local highways authorities to resurface roads up and down the country. Over that period, Nottinghamshire will get £138.44 million of additional funding over and above what it would have received. In the current financial year, most highways authorities in England will get 30% more funding than they did in the previous year.

On Saturday 6^th January the Government announced a significant package of support that will be available to areas in England that have experienced exceptional localised flooding as a result of Storm Henk.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has activated the Flood Recovery Framework and its package of support measures include;

• Community Recovery Grant: Eligible Local Authorities will receive funding equivalent to £500 per flooded household to support local recovery efforts.
• Business Recovery Grant: DBT may provide eligible Local Authorities up to £2,500 per eligible small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), which has suffered severe impacts from flooding that cannot be recovered from insurance.
• Council Tax Discount: The Government will reimburse eligible Local Authorities for the cost of a 100% council tax discount for a minimum of three months.

Following approval from Defra’s Secretary of State, Defra has now also activated the Property Floods Resilience (PFR) Grant scheme and the Farming Recovery Fund.

The PFR Scheme is a package of funding for property owners directly flooded by a specific weather event that grants them up to £5,000 per property to install PFR measures. The Farming Recovery Fund pays out to farmers with uninsurable damage for grants of up to £25,000 for repair and reinstatement costs.

The PFR Scheme will be administered through local authorities, who will confirm application process to eligible households and businesses in the coming weeks.

Nottinghamshire County Council are eligible for the scheme and households and businesses interested in funding may contact them directly.

We have been working closely with local and regional stakeholders including Midlands Connect and the East Midlands Development Company to support the regeneration plans for the area. We will continue to do so in assessing the implications of Network North.

The Government is investing at least £100m of capital funding in active travel infrastructure over the next two years, including for mini-Holland schemes.

Further funding to local authorities for active travel schemes in 2023/24 onwards will be announced later in the year.

Preventing tragic deaths by suicide is a priority for the Government. Our approach to improving mental health outcomes and reducing suicides is focused on three pillars: funding and resourcing vital services; spreading and implementing best practice and clear responsibilities for higher education providers; and protection for students.

We are more determined than ever to end the vile business model of people smugglers and are working with our international partners to stop people putting their lives at risk through dangerous and illegal journeys. The most recent arrangement between the UK and France means UK officers will be embedded with French counterparts, in French-led control rooms and on the ground with counterparts to stop crossings and dismantle the people smuggling gangs.

National Highways has been in contact with representatives of Spencer Academies Trust, the multi-academy trust responsible for George Spencer Academy, and has met in recent days with representatives on site to discuss their concerns about the A52 footbridge.

The UK continues to maintain close contact with the Government of France on our joint cooperation to tackle illegal migration.

Most recently, on 14 November the Home Secretary met her counterpart Minister Darmanin to agree to a new multi-year strategic and operational plan with Minister Darmanin, supported by investment of up to €72.2 million euros (approximately £62.2 million) this financial year.

Due to the continuing unprecedented high volume of small boats arrivals and the historical pressure from COVID-19 measures on the asylum system it has been necessary to continue to use hotels to accommodate some asylum seekers to meet our immediate statutory need.

Asylum seekers granted accommodation and support whilst their applications are being considered are not detained and are free to come and go as they please. They are clearly advised of the expectations the Home Office and our accommodation providers have for them to behave responsibility while they reside in our properties and not to engage in any form of criminal or anti-social activity. All incidents are reported to the Home Office immediately by the providers; this is a contractual requirement. We then work with the provider to put additional measures in place, if required. This includes working with other statutory bodies including police to investigate any potential criminal activities. We do not comment publicly on operational arrangements at individual sites.

Community cohesion is an important aspect of using contingency sites successfully and we will continue to engage with all relevant stakeholders in multi-agency forums to understand and address any concerns appropriately as the site operates.

On 1 April 2022, the Government issued updated public health advice for people whose immune system means they are at higher risk of serious outcomes from COVID-19. This set out measures for this patient group, including additional doses of COVID-19 vaccinations, eligibility for targeted antivirals and other therapeutics and guidance on protective behaviours. Those aged over 65 years old with symptoms who test positive for COVID-19 are eligible for pulse oximetry at home, which can enable timely hospital treatment if required. This is also available to people under 65 years old who are at higher risk or where clinical judgement applies.

Those aged over 75 years old have been eligible for an additional booster vaccination in spring 2022, including people in care homes for older people and also those aged 12 years old and over with a weakened immune system. On 19 May 2022, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) published interim advice on an autumn booster programme, which states that a COVID-19 vaccine should be offered in autumn 2022 to residents in a care home for older adults and staff; frontline health and social care workers; all those aged 65 years old and over; and adults aged 16 to 64 years old in a clinical risk group. The JCVI continues to review additional COVID-19 vaccinations for other groups and definitions of clinical risk groups. Its final advice on eligibility for the autumn programme will be available in due course. The Government continues to assess the current situation and the risks posed by COVID-19.

The UK Health Security Agency’s COVID-19 vaccine surveillance report shows that as of 21 April 2022, vaccine uptake among those identified as severely immunosuppressed was 95.7% for at least one dose, 94.5% for at least two doses and 88.1% for at least three doses. NHS England’s COVID Therapeutics data for the week ending 22 May 2022 shows that the number of non-hospitalised people in England who have received antivirals or neutralising monoclonal antibody treatments is 45,745. The Office for National Statistics’ survey ‘Coronavirus and clinically extremely vulnerable people in England’ published on 13 May shows that 81% of respondents were aware of guidance for people whose immune system means they are at higher risk. We have no plans to make a further assessment of the current measures which are in place.

All Ukrainians, including children, who do not have a valid Ukrainian international passport must attend a Visa Application Centre in person and provide their biometric information, as they will need a secure Entry Clearance document which will convert to permission to enter upon arrival at the UK border.

This means we can properly identify a child brought into the UK and link them to their parents or carers and help to prevent child exploitation and trafficking, which is an essential safeguard for children crossing international borders.

The United Kingdom has provided more than two million items of medical supplies to Ukraine as of 18 March 2022. We have delivered over 300,000 individual doses of medicines, as well as medical consumables such as syringes and needles. Further delivery of medicines to Ukraine is continuing, including several thousand doses of insulin.

We have sought to balance protecting staff and patients by setting minimum thresholds of National Health Service dental activity. The current threshold is 85%. Thresholds have reflected both attainment by the best performing practices and the impact of necessary infection prevention and control (IPC) procedures. The dentistry IPC guidance is based on national guidance for health and care settings, which is regularly updated to reflect the current evidence base. The latest version of the ‘COVID-19: infection prevention and control dental appendix’ was published in March 2022.

In addition, £50 million for NHS dentistry was made available in the last quarter of 2021/22 to provide access to dental appointments. NHS dentists have been asked to prioritise available capacity for urgent care, care for vulnerable groups and children followed by overdue appointments.