Queen’s Speech

Baroness Walmsley Excerpts

Wednesday 12th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Walmsley (LD) [V]]

My Lords, the gracious Speech made a very brief mention of the Government’s intentions on health and care, but the recent White Paper was a little more helpful. Today I ask: why this and why now? There are three key reasons why I would rather have seen a draft Bill for consultation than the immediate introduction of the forthcoming health and care Bill.

First, to integrate health and care, desirable although that is, without previously carrying out the long-awaited reform of social care is partial and unwise. It is like refurbishing one wheel of a bicycle while the other wheel is bent and rusty. For years, we have had a social care crisis. Provision is fragmented between public, private and third-sector providers, which makes consistency of standards and access to information difficult. It has been chronically underfunded for years, which makes for a lack of confidence on the part of both those who invest in it and those who need its services. Meanwhile, self-funders overpay to cover the shortfall in fees from cash-strapped local councils. This is unfair.

Worst of all, because many settings have closed, there are fewer services available for those who need them. Those who may need services in future fear, as the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, put it—yes, really fear—what might happen to them, especially if they get dementia. About a million older or disabled people are already unable to get all the support they need. There have been many opportunities to work cross-party to correct this, sort out the funding and give a decent living wage to those who work in social care, but successive Governments have failed to grasp that nettle. In the gracious Speech, we were given nothing more than another promise to deliver what the Prime Minister told us two years ago was a ready plan.

Secondly, a Bill that plans to reform a health and care system that is struggling to recover from a pandemic, without considering what state it is in and what lessons can be learned, is precipitate. One of the biggest issues, as I see it, is the staff. They are stressed and exhausted, yet they face an uphill struggle to deal with the backlog of treatment needs. The number of people now waiting more than a year for treatment has risen from 1,600 before the pandemic to almost 390,000. I welcome the recent NHS announcement of upfront money for a few integrated care services that present a cogent plan to increase their elective treatments to 120% of pre-Covid levels. This will help a few ICSs, but it is not universal.

We started this pandemic with too few beds, too few doctors and too few nurses, and no more than a five-year staffing plan for the NHS. No wonder the staff struggled. Today, on International Nurses Day, I welcome the record number of students joining the nursing profession and those returning, but we now need an independent 10-year staffing plan for NHS and social care. Will the Minister please consider the necessity for that?

Thirdly, we have a crisis in mental health. Demand was not being met before the pandemic; there were long waiting lists, especially for young people. Because of the pandemic, the situation is now much worse. I hope that, when deciding on the policy to reform and fairly fund social care, the Government will consult the sector, users and across parties.

Implementation is another challenge, but here I think we have a good example. People have rightly praised the vaccine rollout. The Vaccine Taskforce and the thousands of NHS workers and volunteers who have delivered the vaccines so brilliantly invented by Oxford University and other scientists have done a wonderful job. I believe the vaccine rollout has been a success because of two things from which we can learn: mission focus and a “whatever it takes and whatever it costs” attitude from government. That focus and that investment are needed to sort out the three crises of social care, mental health and the waiting lists. It will be cost-effective in the end, because it will reduce the pressure on acute hospitals. We need this before we try to implement the reforms in the Bill, many of which I would probably happily support at the right time. I ask the Minister whether the Government will withdraw the Bill for consultation and bring it back when they have sorted out the crises in social care, mental health and NHS and social care staffing.

Covid-19: Care System

Baroness Walmsley Excerpts

Monday 8th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, forgive me if I stated this incorrectly: it is going to be banned for those aged 16 and under but still used, when assessed as appropriate by the local authority, for those aged over 16. There will, however, be national minimum standards for that provision, which is currently unregulated, to ensure that the standard is appropriate. Those with complex needs were, as vulnerable children and young people, offered a school place throughout the pandemic. We are looking to increase Ofsted’s enforcement powers in relation to unregistered children’s homes.

[Baroness Walmsley (LD) [V]]

My Lords, teenagers with learning disabilities in residential care homes have not had as much focus as older people. It was months before these homes received enough PPE, and testing was very slow. There was no comprehensive programme for their care and education. What measures are now in place to ensure equality of care and resources between younger people and older people in care homes?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, the children’s homes that young people are placed in have now been encouraged to register for the national portal for Covid testing, so they should have that available. As I said, those young people have been offered a school place during this time and have also had access to the remote educational provision of laptops, so that they can keep in touch with social workers.

Covid-19: Early Years Sector

Baroness Walmsley Excerpts

Wednesday 20th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, as a result of the NHS plan, £2.3 billion is being invested in mental health services, and 345,000 individuals should be additionally supported within CAMHS by 2023-24. In relation to schools, mental health issues have been prioritised within guidance. We are still rolling out mental health support teams in secondary schools and have made specific links between mental health issues in the Keeping Children Safe in Education updated guidance, as it can often be a symptom of a safeguarding issue, not just a mental health problem.

[Baroness Walmsley (LD) [V]]

My Lords, even before the pandemic, 65% of children in some areas were not receiving the mandated two-and-a-half-year health visitor check because of cuts to the workforce. Will there be any additional resources for the health visitor workforce to help them to catch up with missed visits to vulnerable young families during the pandemic?

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Baroness Walmsley Excerpts

Monday 16th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, I have outlined the usual practice, which is why this convention is not incorporated directly into domestic law. As the noble Lord outlined, there are safeguards in relation to juveniles in those circumstances. We are known throughout the world as having one of the best systems to protect the rights of children in law.

[Baroness Walmsley (LD) [V]]

Last week, the Scottish Government put an end to the legal defence of justifiable assault, which could be used by those committing violence against children. Will the UK Government follow suit and put an end to the equivalent defence of reasonable chastisement, which is against the convention and confusing to parents, and which discriminates against some children?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, the Government of course do not condone any violence against children and have clear laws and policies to deal with it. We have one of the best children’s social care systems in the world. There are no plans to legislate to remove this defence in England.

Carbon Emissions

Baroness Walmsley Excerpts

Monday 9th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

I can confirm to the noble Lord that obviously the low-carbon and net-zero commitments we have made are an essential part of the National Skills Fund. We will be having consultations on certain elements of that fund going forward. The fund does now give level 3 entitlements to every adult in the UK who does not have one, including courses such as sustainable resource management and, within the T-levels we have introduced for 16-year-olds, sustainability is part of one of the first three T-levels: construction. So this is being embedded in the strategy. This has the potential to create up to 2 million jobs—currently there are 460,000 jobs in low carbon—so the Government are going to take every opportunity they can to build this for our economy.

[Baroness Walmsley (LD) [V]]

My Lords, by 2030, home heating emissions must fall by a quarter to be on track for zero carbon by 2050. Yet only 2% of boilers are being replaced by the cleanest, most efficient method: ground source heat pumps powered by renewable electricity such as wind. Will the Government ensure that their funding strategy and skills strategy together ensure that more heat pumps are installed in homes, because the Green Homes grant will not help with ground source heat pumps?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, in August of last year BEIS launched the electrification of heat demonstration project, which will, hopefully, demonstrate the feasibility of large-scale transition to electrification of heat in our homes by installing heat pumps in a representative number of homes. There are currently 1,800 qualified heat pump installers in the UK, but we know that to reach 1 million homes we need 40,000 installers. The industry is currently assessed as having the capacity to train 5,000 to 10,000 new installers a year—so this, hopefully, is within our grasp.

Education Settings: Autumn Opening

Baroness Walmsley Excerpts

Wednesday 8th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge]

My Lords, the guidance specifically encourages that part of a broad and balanced curriculum is the teaching of PE; it is essential to mental health and well-being. Even when schools returned on 1 June, the guidance was that you can have team sports as long as children are in their bubbles and you wash and clean any equipment. We encourage schools to make as much use as they can of their outdoor space.

[Baroness Walmsley (LD) [V]]

My Lords, a teacher told me yesterday about a boy in her class with ADHD who had been doing very well before the lockdown but is now showing distress and struggling at school. Today several children were very tearful; there will be many children like this across the country. Can the Minister say what training will be given to teachers to identify and deal with these situations and signpost the child to help? As the teacher said to me, sticking them on endless waiting lists for CAMHS is next to useless when they obviously need the help right now.

[Baroness Berridge]

My Lords, one reason why the balance is such to get children back into school is that it is best for their mental health and well-being to be with their peers and teachers and to have that routine. As I have outlined, the guidance makes it clear that mental health is important. We are introducing mental health support teams into schools and there is now a 24/7 helpline from the NHS. With these mental health support teams, there is support out there to get the expertise into schools to give them support. We have also resourced charities. Mental health and well-being are at the centre of what the department is delivering.