Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to find departing members of (1) NHS England, and (2) the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), roles elsewhere in the public sector; and what plans they have to prevent departing members from these organisations from taking retirement packages and then gaining re-employment in NHS England or DHSC.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation. As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the pension arrangements for departing workers from (1) NHS England, and (2) the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); and what plans they have to limit the cost of such pensions in any restructuring of NHS England or DHSC.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Employees have different pension arrangements depending on the length of service and the terms and conditions of employment. Ministers will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation. As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.
There may be some short-term upfront costs as we undertake these changes, but these costs and more will be recouped in future years because of a smaller, leaner centre.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding to support children and young people's hospices will be allocated for 2025–26 compared to (1) 2022–23, and (2) 2023–24.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2022/23, NHS England provided £21 million of funding for children and young people’s hospices in England through the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant. In addition, in 2023/24, NHS England provided £25 million of funding through the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant. Finally, in 2025/26, £26 million of revenue funding is being provided to support children and young people’s hospices. This is a continuation of the funding which, until recently, was known as the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant.
Additionally, we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England, spanning 2024/25 and 2025/26, to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. The Government has released the first £25 million tranche of that funding for 2024/25, with Hospice UK kindly allocating and distributing the money to hospices throughout England. Of this first tranche of funding, children and young people’s hospices are receiving £3,065,705. This does not include hospices which provide both adult and children’s services. The second tranche of the £75 million of funding for 2025/26 will be available from April 2025, and hospices will be informed of their allocations in due course.
It is important to note that the funding outlined above does not represent the totality of the National Health Service funding provided to children and young people’s hospices, most of which are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding from their local integrated care board (ICB) for providing services within the NHS. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on the demand in that ICB area, but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.
ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of children and young people’s palliative and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and a service specification for children and young people.
The Department does not hold specific data regarding the total amount of funding children and young people’s hospices receive from ICBs each year. Individual ICBs oversee and maintain records of these transactions.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether and how they expect the plans for NHS reform announced by the Prime Minister on 6 January to improve per capita productivity in the health sector; and from which local examples of good practice these plans draw.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has now published its plan, Reforming elective care for patients, to tackle the National Health Service waiting lists. This plan sets out the reform and productivity efforts needed to ensure that patients are seen on time and have the best possible experience during their care, so that we can return to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral. A copy of the plan is attached.
It prioritises reforms that help deliver a system which is not just better for patients but also more productive in every pound spent, for example, through cutting down on missed or unnecessary appointments.
The plan focusses on learning from best practice already in the system and includes a number of case studies that display examples of where trusts have made services more productive to improve the outcomes and experiences of their patients, for example, South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre’s use of surgical hubs or the use of primary and secondary care interface working at Berkshire West.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 17 September (HL1069), whether Alan Milburn's commercial interests in healthcare were declared to the department when he provided advice to Ministers and officials; and whether the discussions with Ministers and officials included topics which touched on private sector involvement in healthcare.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said in the House of Commons on 9 September 2024, “The right honourable Alan Milburn is a former Member of this House, a member of the Privy Council and a former Health Secretary. There is a clear distinction between inviting people with a wide range of experience and perspectives into the Department to have policy debates and to generate ideas, and having meetings that are about transacting Government business. I can assure the House that nothing commercially sensitive has been shared with Alan Milburn.”
He also said that “transparency matters. That is why meetings in my Department, and their attendees, will be published in the right and proper way on a quarterly basis.” As part of this quarterly return, and in line with guidance, we will be listing the purpose of the meetings.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 17 September (HL1071), how many Departmental meetings since the last general election Alan Milburn has attended where Ministers were not present.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Central Government Corporate Transparency Commitments require Government Departments to publish details of Ministers and Senior Officials meetings with external individuals or organisations on a quarterly basis. We will be publishing the meetings that Alan Milburn attended, in accordance with the Transparency guidelines.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on 9 September (HC Deb col 578), whether Alan Milburn declared his financial interests to the Permanent Secretary; what steps have been taken to mitigate conflicts of interest in the advice from Mr Milburn; whether they will place a copy of any such declaration in the Library of the House; and whether Mr Milburn has signed a confidentiality agreement with the Department.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care stated in Parliament on 9 September 2024, it is absolutely right that people appointed to roles in public life declare their conflicts of interest so that they can be assessed when taking decisions or exercising powers to ensure that they are doing so in a way that manages those conflicts of interest and no conflict arises. Alan Milburn does not have a role in the Department of Health and Social Care.
It is also entirely legitimate for Government Departments to invite people with a wide range of experience and insight to advise on policy debates and discussions. We do not ask them all to declare their interests.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what meetings Alan Milburn has had with the Department of Health and Social Care or NHS England since the general election (1) with, and (2) without, Ministers being present; and whether his commercial and financial interests were declared ahead of such meetings.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care stated in Parliament on 9 September 2024, the Rt. Hon. Alan Milburn is a former Member of the House of Commons, a member of the Privy Council and a former Secretary of State for Health. At every Departmental meeting he has attended, he has been present at the request of ministers.
Ministerial meetings attended by third parties are declared in the quarterly transparency publication on GOV.UK. The Secretary of State also assured the House of Commons that nothing commercially sensitive has been shared with Alan Milburn.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on 9 September (HC Deb col 578), whether Alan Milburn joined any ministerial discussions, or viewed any ministerial papers, relating to private sector involvement in the NHS.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care stated in Parliament on 9 September 2024, the Rt. Hon. Alan Milburn is a former Member of the House of Commons, a member of the Privy Council and a former Secretary of State for Health. At every Departmental meeting he has attended, he has been present at the request of ministers.
Ministerial meetings attended by third parties are declared in the quarterly transparency publication on GOV.UK. The Secretary of State also assured the House of Commons that nothing commercially sensitive has been shared with Alan Milburn.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relationship between life-long exercise and long-term health; what steps they are taking to promote life-long exercise; and what support they give to voluntary initiatives such as the Daily Mile and Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The importance of physical activity across the life-course is highlighted in the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ Physical Activity Guidelines published in September 2019, including: good physical and mental development in childhood, prevention and management of health conditions in adulthood and maintaining functionality in later years. A copy of the Guidelines is attached.
Public Health England (PHE) promotes physical activity across the life course, including: resources for healthcare professionals through the Moving Healthcare Professionals Programme; public campaigns such as ‘Change4Life’ and ‘One You’, including digital behaviour change tools such as Couch to 5K; resources for schools, such as the ‘What works in schools and colleges’ guide; and resources for local areas such as the physical activity data tool.
PHE partners with many voluntary sector partners to promote the benefits of exercise, including supporting the new ‘We are undefeatable’ campaign by 16 health charities which aims to support people living with long-term conditions to get more active.