Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) disabled, and (2) older people, charged by their local authority for statutory non-residential social care and support have cut back or withdrawn from their care package since 2020–21; and what data they hold on the reasons for care package reduction and withdrawal.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Where local authorities decide to charge for the provision of care and support, they must follow the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and they must act under the Care and Support Statutory Guidance. The responsibility for interpreting and applying the law and the guidance rests with local authorities. The information requested is not held by the Government.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what information they hold, if any, on (1) which local authorities in England use external civil enforcement for the recovery of social care charge-related debt in cases other than in claims against estates and cases of convicted fraud, and (2) which local authorities in England disregard higher-rate disability benefits as chargeable income in the financial assessment of residents for non-residential social care contributions.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Where local authorities decide to charge for the provision of care and support, they must follow the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and they must act under the Care and Support Statutory Guidance. The responsibility for interpreting and applying the law and the guidance rests with local authorities. The information requested is not held by the Government.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of non-residential social care contributions income raised in 2023–24 by each local authority in England with responsibility for social care provision was collected.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Where local authorities decide to charge for the provision of care and support, they must follow the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and they must act under the Care and Support Statutory Guidance. The responsibility for interpreting and applying the law and the guidance rests with local authorities. The information requested is not held by the Government.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the progress of the Carers Action Plan 2018–20, published on 5 June 2018 and updated on 13 September 2018; and what plans they have to complete any outstanding actions.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
No recent assessment has been made. The Carers Action Plan concluded in December 2020 and there is no ongoing delivery plan.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to identify unpaid carers, and (2) to share these data across (a) different Government departments, (b) the NHS, and (c) local government.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The People at the Heart of Care: Adult Social Care Reform White Paper addressed identifying unpaid carers through increasing the use of markers in National Health Service electronic health records by simplifying current approaches to data collection and registration.
On 17 October 2022, NHS England wrote to all general practitioner (GP) practices about the importance of identifying carers and advising how caring status should be recorded on patient records. Extraction of this data from GP systems will commence shortly. There are no current plans to share this data with other Government Departments and local government.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that those not registered with a GP are able to access COVID-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
Individuals do not need to be registered with a general practitioner (GP) to use a walk-in COVID-19 vaccination site. Under the General Practice COVID-19 vaccination programme 2020/21 Enhanced Service Specification, GP practices are able to vaccinate unregistered patients when they are eligible.
Local systems have plans for full coverage of all health inclusion groups, which may include people not registered with a GP. The National Health Service and local partners will contact these patients to ensure they are offered appropriate support to receive the vaccine. We are also working with community leaders and partners on initiatives to encourage people to register with a GP.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to incorporate Inclusion Health populations within NHS England strategies.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
NHS England’s vision for health inequalities is to ensure exceptional quality healthcare for all, through equitable access, excellent experience and optimal outcomes. NHS England’s Health Inequalities Quality Improvement Programme is committed to deliver this vision by:
- Ensuring inclusion health is embedded across all core programmes and system policies to enable the restoration of NHS services inclusively;
- Mitigating against ‘digital exclusion’;
- Improving the ability to identify need and monitor/measure health outcomes by ensuring datasets are complete and timely;
- Accelerating preventative programmes; and
- Strengthening leadership and accountability across integrated care systems and national, regional and place-based systems.
NHS England and NHS Improvement’s Core20PLUS5 is a national approach to support the reduction of health inequalities at both national and system level, including for inclusion health populations. In support of Core20PLUS5, integrated care systems will be required to develop inclusion health plans. These will highlight key national, regional and local priorities.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Disabled Children’s Partnership Then There Was Silence, published on 10 September, which found that nearly three quarters of disabled children had seen their progress managing their condition regress during the pandemic.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
As part of COVID-19 recovery planning, we are working with the Department for Education and NHS England and NHS Improvement to improve the provision of health and care services for disabled children. Children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) who require additional provision will receive an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan assessment. The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 make clear that local authorities must complete an EHC plan assessment within twenty weeks after the request is received unless exceptional circumstances apply. The Department for Education monitors local authority performance on EHC plan assessments to establish where there are long-standing delays and provide support.
The forthcoming Spending Review will set out the Government’s spending plans for health and social care for future years. We have announced an additional £5.4 billion for the National Health Service to support the COVID-19 response over the next six months. This includes £2 billion to reduce waiting times for patients, including disabled children.
We welcome the findings of the five reports by the Disabled Children’s Partnership between February and September 2021 and we are considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled children and their families.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to fund dedicated COVID-19 recovery policies for disabled children and young people and their families.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
As part of COVID-19 recovery planning, we are working with the Department for Education and NHS England and NHS Improvement to improve the provision of health and care services for disabled children. Children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) who require additional provision will receive an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan assessment. The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 make clear that local authorities must complete an EHC plan assessment within twenty weeks after the request is received unless exceptional circumstances apply. The Department for Education monitors local authority performance on EHC plan assessments to establish where there are long-standing delays and provide support.
The forthcoming Spending Review will set out the Government’s spending plans for health and social care for future years. We have announced an additional £5.4 billion for the National Health Service to support the COVID-19 response over the next six months. This includes £2 billion to reduce waiting times for patients, including disabled children.
We welcome the findings of the five reports by the Disabled Children’s Partnership between February and September 2021 and we are considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled children and their families.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to tackle the backlog in health and social care assessments for disabled children and young people.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
As part of COVID-19 recovery planning, we are working with the Department for Education and NHS England and NHS Improvement to improve the provision of health and care services for disabled children. Children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) who require additional provision will receive an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan assessment. The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 make clear that local authorities must complete an EHC plan assessment within twenty weeks after the request is received unless exceptional circumstances apply. The Department for Education monitors local authority performance on EHC plan assessments to establish where there are long-standing delays and provide support.
The forthcoming Spending Review will set out the Government’s spending plans for health and social care for future years. We have announced an additional £5.4 billion for the National Health Service to support the COVID-19 response over the next six months. This includes £2 billion to reduce waiting times for patients, including disabled children.
We welcome the findings of the five reports by the Disabled Children’s Partnership between February and September 2021 and we are considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled children and their families.