Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of modelling by the Centre for Mental Health which indicates that up to 10 million people in England, including 1.5 million children and young people, will need new or additional mental health support as a direct consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic; what plans they have to consult (1) the NHS, and (2) local authorities, about this issue; and what assessment they have made of the funding required to meet mental health support needs.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are considering the Centre for Mental Health modelling report as well as other relevant emerging evidence as part of our ongoing monitoring of the potential impact of COVID-19 on mental health.
We recognise that there is the potential for the COVID-19 pandemic to impact on people’s mental health and wellbeing. As such, we are working with the National Health Service, Public Health England and others, including local authorities to gather evidence and assess the potential longer-term mental health impacts of COVID-19.
As part of our plans for the NHS, as set out in the NHS Long Term Plan, there will be a comprehensive expansion and transformation of mental health services over the next five years with additional funding of £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24. Over half of this will go to improving community mental health services and services to help people experiencing mental health crises.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they have not published data on the results of community testing for COVID-19; and whether they plan to publish this data.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department regularly publishes the results of our community testing programmes.
Community testing for research purposes falls within Pillar 4, and the number of tests processed is available on the Testing tab of the Coronavirus Data page on GOV.UK, with positive cases reported on the Cases tab of the same webpage.
This data brings together various studies which are outlined in the COVID-19 Surveillance guidance page of GOV.UK, with specific data and analysis from each study available for download.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by End Child Poverty Child poverty in your area 2014/15 – 2018/19, published n October, which found that more children are living in poverty.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
We have examined, from what has been published, Loughborough University’s methodology for estimating housing costs by constituency. We are unable to assess how robust the method for modelling local housing costs is and we do not know the process used for calibrating the local measures with regional level statistics on child poverty from Households Below Average Income.
National Statistics on the number and percentage of children in low income are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication. These remain the most accurate published measurements of low income. The latest HBAI statistics (2018/19) show that since 2009/10, 100,000 children have been lifted out of absolute poverty (both before and after housing costs) and levels of combined material deprivation and low income for children are at their joint lowest level.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the conclusions from the Migration Advisory Committee in their report Review of the Shortage Occupation List: 2020, published on 29 September, regarding the consequences of the end of freedom of movement between the UK and EU on the recruitment of staff in the social care sector, what plans they have to address low wages in social care.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government does not have direct responsibility for pay awards in adult social care in the same way as for other areas of the public sector. The Government nonetheless maintains oversight of the social care system and we are committed to raising the profile of the social care sector. The Government expects local authorities to commission care at the rate that allows providers to employ the staff they need to deliver quality care.
We are taking action to support adult social care providers to recruit domestically. In order to attract more people to the sector we ran a national recruitment campaign. We are working with the Department for Work and Pensions to promote adult social care careers to jobseekers, and we have launched an online recruitment tool as part of this.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of people waiting more than 12 months for hospital treatment.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The restoration of NHS services should ensure that clinically urgent patients continue to be treated first, with priority then given to the longest waiting patients, specifically those breaching or at risk of breaching 52 weeks by the end of March 2021. Continued access to independent sector capacity will help support the recovery and restoration of elective services.
In addition, the Prime Minister has announced £3 billion of extra National Health Service funding to support the NHS this winter, and this includes ensuring the retention of the Nightingale hospital surge capacity and continued access to independent hospitals capacity to help meet patient demand. In the longer term, the NHS Long Term Plan aims to increase the amount of planned surgery year on year to reduce the waiting list. This will be supported by an NHS budget increase of £33.9 billion in cash terms by 2023/24.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to launch an inquiry into (1) the impact of the suspension of nurses and allied health professionals from taking calls to the NHS 111 COVID-19 Clinical Assessment Service, and (2) related safety issues identified through call audits of that service.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government has always been clear that there will be opportunities to look back, analyse and reflect on all aspects of the response to COVID-19. As the Prime Minister has said, this will include an independent inquiry at the appropriate time.
The COVID-19 Clinical Assessment Service is regularly monitored and audited to ensure its safety and to safeguard the quality of clinical advice given to patients.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to increase the rate of legal aid fees paid to barristers, and (2) to reduce the backlog of cases in the magistrates' and Crown courts.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Criminal defence lawyers play a crucial role in upholding the rule of law and the Government greatly values the work they do.
In August we announced that we would be taking forward the policy proposals that practitioners told us mattered most for the Criminal Legal Aid Review (CLAR) accelerated areas. These areas were:?unused material, cracked trials, paper-heavy cases, sending cases to the Crown Court, and?pre-charge engagement. These policies allowed us to inject up to £51 million into criminal legal aid to further strengthen the market.
We also announced that the next phase of the review would include an independently led review of the market, to ensure it can meet demand now and into the future, provide an effective and efficient service that ensures value for money for the taxpayer.
With respect to the courts, as one of the first among other comparable jurisdictions globally to resume jury trials, our Crown Courts currently list thousands of cases each week. Since late July 2020, magistrates’ courts have been completing more cases than have been received. We expect the trend of reducing the outstanding work to continue.
We are also installing plexiglass screens into over 300 courtrooms and jury deliberation rooms enabling us to open safely 250 Crown Court rooms for jury trials by the end of October. We’re also investing record amounts - the biggest single investment in court estate maintenance for more than 20 years – and unlocking vital capacity by opening Nightingale Courts to provide extra court rooms.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government on what basis they decided to reduce housebuilding in northern cities such as Newcastle and Liverpool; and what assessment they have made of how such a reduction will impact (1) house prices, and (2) rents, in affected areas.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
There has been no such decision. The consultation on changes to the current planning system set out the elements we want to balance when determining local housing need, including meeting our target of building 300,000 homes, tackling affordability challenges in the places people most want to live, regenerating brownfield sites and renewing and levelling up our towns and cities.
The proposals were out for consultation until 1 October 2020. Following consideration of the consultation responses received, the Government will reflect carefully on feedback and publish a response in due course.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consultation they undertook prior to the decision that patients may not order prescriptions by telephone from 1 September; and what assessment they have made of the impact of that decision on (1) individuals, and (2) general practitioners.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are informed by NHS England and NHS Improvement that the National Health Service has not nationally cancelled any facility for ordering repeat prescriptions. While ordering online has proven hugely popular because of the convenience and ease, this will not be possible for everyone. Ordering of repeat prescriptions is for surgeries to arrange locally. However, national guidance is clear that every local practice must put in place a system for prescriptions, which can include online and phone orders, to meet the needs of their own patients.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the level of mortality in private care homes due to COVID-19, what steps they intend to take (1) to facilitate the provision of such care by local authorities, and (2) to improve conditions in private care homes.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to shape their whole local markets to ensure that they are sustainable, diverse and offer high quality care and support for people in their local area.
On 15 April, the Department published COVID-19: Our Action Plan for Adult Social Care, which set out measures that the Government and other parts of the system were taking to support people in receipt of adult social care, both at home and in other settings. A copy of the Action Plan is attached. On 15 May, the Department published the Care Home Support Package backed by the £600 million Infection Control Fund. It sets out measures on infection prevention control, comprehensive testing, clinical support, local authority care homes support plans and support to build the workforce.
The Care Quality Commission conducts robust inspections to make sure that service providers meet quality and safety standards.