Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have for monitoring the impact of the new funding system for supported housing on people with a learning disability after 2019.
Answered by Lord Freud
The Secretary of State confirmed in his written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 15th September that the Government will shortly be publishing a consultation document on supported housing.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guarantees they plan to give that, once the new funding system for supported housing comes into place in 2019–20, existing tenants will not be affected negatively by any changes.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable through our welfare reforms. That is why we have exempted supported housing from the Local Housing Allowance policy until 2019/20, from which point we will bring in a new funding model which will ensure that the sector continues to be funded at current levels, taking into account the effect of Government policy on social sector rents. The new funding model will include a ring-fenced local top-up to ensure that funding is used only for supported housing provision and will support existing tenants.
The funding will be administered locally so that local authorities can respond flexibly to local need. We believe local authorities are best placed to make decisions about how to support vulnerable people in their areas and to commission the supported housing services that are needed locally.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made, or are planning to make, of the cost to the health service of poverty-related ill health.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department has not made, and is not planning to make, an estimate of the cost to the health service of poverty related ill health. However, in 2008 the Department commissioned Professor Michael Marmot of University College London to chair an independent strategic review of health inequalities in England from 2010. The Review, Fair Society, Healthy Lives, estimated that, in 2010, direct NHS healthcare costs in England associated with treating the consequences of inequality amounted to £5.5 billion per year for treating acute illness, mental illness and prescriptions. This estimate does not cover all health service activity, including primary care costs.
The review also estimated the wider costs of health inequalities, with £31-33 billion worth of productivity losses resulting from inequalities in illness, and between £20-32 billion in lost taxes and higher welfare payments. A copy of the review has been placed in the Library.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the cumulative impact of housing benefit cuts, benefit caps and council tax on the health of benefit claimants, both those in work and unemployed, since 2008, taking into account the impact of debt on mental health and the need for women to receive a healthy diet before they conceive and while they are pregnant if they are to give birth to healthy babies.
Answered by Lord Freud
Impact assessments published for welfare changes, for example those relating to the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016, are available on www.gov.uk.
Published impact assessments not available on www.gov.uk may be available at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
We already have cumulative distributional analysis published by HMT that is the most comprehensive available covering not only the effects of direct cash transfers between households and government but also the effects of frontline public service provision.
Our welfare reforms since 2010 are intended to incentivise work and make work pay. There is a strong evidence base showing that work is generally good for physical and mental health and wellbeing. We recognise that not everyone can work and therefore we provide financial assistance.
The employment rate is at 74.4 per cent which is the highest since comparable records began. In addition the number and rate of workless households are both at a record low.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 16 June (HL576), whether the trial of Mazher Mahmood is among those cases she refers to as connected to the subject of the Leveson Inquiry and which must conclude before they will consider Part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry, and which other criminal proceedings are also in that category.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
There are a number of on-going cases captured by the Leveson criteria, which were laid down to avoid the risk of prejudice to the right to fair trials in the criminal courts. The trial of Mazher Mahmood is one of these.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 26 January (HL Deb, col 1152), who, in addition to Sir Brian Leveson, will be consulted before a decision on Leveson Part 2 is made, and what form that consultation will take.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Criminal proceedings connected to the subject matter of the Leveson Inquiry, including the appeals process, have not yet been completed. We have always been clear that these cases must conclude before we consider Part 2 of the Inquiry.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 26 January (HL Deb, col 1152), whether it is their policy that the trial of Mazher Mahmood would need to be completed before Part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry could take place.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Criminal proceedings connected to the subject matter of the Leveson Inquiry, including the appeals process, have not yet been completed. We have always been clear that these cases must conclude before we consider Part 2 of the Inquiry.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards are in place to ensure that the transfer of commissioning responsibility for Tier 4 obesity services from NHS England to Clinical Commissioning Groups does not have a negative impact on patient services or clinical standards, and how they will ensure that patients receive high quality, safe and effective care should that transfer proceed in April 2016.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Specialised commissioning teams at NHS England are in contact with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and a formal process has been agreed to transfer the technical and service aspects of the commissioning responsibility.
This process includes NHS England leading on the contract negotiation for 2016/17 on behalf of CCGs based on the current service provision. Although the transfer is effective from April 2016 in terms of the contract values, the timing of the handover will be agreed between local specialised commissioning teams and CCGs, in line with their preparedness.
NHS England will continue to work with CCGs to provide support as appropriate.
NHS England does not expect the services patients receive to be affected following the transfer of obesity surgery commissioning responsibilities to CCGs from April 2016, as the change is primarily to commissioning responsibilities.
No service changes are included as part of the transfer process. The transfer process will include providing information to CCGs on pathways, provider performance and any quality issues relating to this service.
The transfer should support better integration between Tier 3 and Tier 4 services (which include obesity services) which in turn should improve access for eligible patient and streamline pathways. Clinical teams remain responsible for the quality of their services.
NHS England through its clinical reference group has finalised clinical guidance to support commissioners and clinical teams. We would also look to leadership from royal colleges and professional groups to promote best practice in this area. CCGs already have mechanisms in place to monitor provider performance and quality through the existing quality assurance processes.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what preparations have been made to achieve the safe and effective transfer of responsibility for Tier 4 obesity services from NHS England to Clinical Commissioning Groups.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Specialised commissioning teams at NHS England are in contact with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and a formal process has been agreed to transfer the technical and service aspects of the commissioning responsibility.
This process includes NHS England leading on the contract negotiation for 2016/17 on behalf of CCGs based on the current service provision. Although the transfer is effective from April 2016 in terms of the contract values, the timing of the handover will be agreed between local specialised commissioning teams and CCGs, in line with their preparedness.
NHS England will continue to work with CCGs to provide support as appropriate.
NHS England does not expect the services patients receive to be affected following the transfer of obesity surgery commissioning responsibilities to CCGs from April 2016, as the change is primarily to commissioning responsibilities.
No service changes are included as part of the transfer process. The transfer process will include providing information to CCGs on pathways, provider performance and any quality issues relating to this service.
The transfer should support better integration between Tier 3 and Tier 4 services (which include obesity services) which in turn should improve access for eligible patient and streamline pathways. Clinical teams remain responsible for the quality of their services.
NHS England through its clinical reference group has finalised clinical guidance to support commissioners and clinical teams. We would also look to leadership from royal colleges and professional groups to promote best practice in this area. CCGs already have mechanisms in place to monitor provider performance and quality through the existing quality assurance processes.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for requiring NHS Trusts to conduct reviews of deaths of people with learning disabilities as part of investigating all unexpected deaths, as suggested by the recent Mazars report, in addition to the National Learning Disabilities Mortality Review process.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The revised Serious Incident Framework published in March 2015 has sought to simplify the incident management process and ensure that serious incidents are identified correctly, investigated thoroughly and, most importantly, learned from to prevent the likelihood of similar incidents happening again. The NHS England Serious Incident Framework 2015 applies to NHS-commissioned services for those with learning disabilities. A copy is attached.