Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and Fiona Mactaggart

Thursday 9th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I did see the BBC survey, albeit not in detail. I shall ask my colleagues at the Department for Communities and Local Government to respond to my hon. Friend in detail, but it is important to recognise the benefit that the community infrastructure levy will bring in relation to future practice, as compared to section 106 agreements in the past.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

International women’s day is on 8 March. At a time when the women of the world do two thirds of the world’s work and earn only 10% of its income, when rape is used daily as a weapon of war and when the Prime Minister admits that he has failed to reach his target for promoting women to the Cabinet, may we have a debate in Government time on international women’s day?

[Mr Lansley]

I cannot at this stage clarify the arrangements for debates at or around the time of international women’s day. I hope that the hon. Lady will recall that the Government, the Opposition and the Backbench Business Committee worked well together last year to ensure that Members were provided with an opportunity to debate issues relating to women. Last year, we were able to debate particular issues such as violence against women and girls, and I know that important themes will be taken up this year, too.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and Fiona Mactaggart

Thursday 12th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

We know from the pilots held between 2009 and 2011 that where free school meals are provided to primary pupils, educational attainment has improved, particularly among children from less affluent families. Studies also show that where universal free school meals have been provided, there are social and behavioural benefits to the children and they are more likely to eat healthily during the school day. We also know, of course, the risks associated with poor diet and childhood obesity, so in addition to the measures the Deputy Prime Minister has announced and that the Government will bring in from next September, I was pleased to see the latest figures on the national child measurement programme showing the overall obesity level of children coming into reception classes is down on what it was in the previous year, and lower than in 2006.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

When we discuss the Care Bill on Monday, we will be debating amendment 118, which gives the Secretary of State for Health a kind of Henry VIII power to direct mergers and changes in hospital provision. However, in cases where hospitals actually want to merge, the situation is overcomplicated by the role of the Competition Commission. Will the Leader of the House discuss with the Secretary of State for Health the tabling of an urgent amendment to that Bill to ensure that instead of our money being spent on expensive competition lawyers, it is spent on health provision?

[Mr Speaker]

I think the hon. Lady seeks a statement, too, or a debate in the House next week. [Interruption.] Indeed.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and Fiona Mactaggart

Thursday 24th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

If my hon. Friend or Members across the House experience failures on the part of Departments, I hope Ministers will respond and take action. However, if I can be of any assistance, I will. I will certainly be in touch with the Treasury and will perhaps encourage my colleagues there to respond to my hon. Friend before they answer questions here next Tuesday.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

The right hon. Gentleman was kind enough to give a rather positive answer to a question I asked last week about whether the debate on preventing violence against women could happen on the international day of action against violence against women, on 14 February. Can he say whether he expects the Backbench Business Committee to be allocated that day, so that I can see whether we might get our debate?

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and Fiona Mactaggart

Thursday 17th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend makes an important point on behalf of his constituent. The changes in the NHS bursary application procedure mean that continuing students need to reapply for their bursary each academic year. A large number of continuing students did not reapply as requested, and this has led to a backlog. I know that the NHS Business Services Authority will take every measure it can to reduce and manage that backlog quickly. May I assure my hon. Friend that his constituent, Mr Petch, will receive his January payment in the next week?

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

On 14 February it is an international day of preventing violence against women, and MPs from all parties have supported the notion that this House should contribute to events and debates on that day. If the Leader of the House were to make an early decision and inform the Backbench Business Committee that 14 February would be a day on which it could allocate time, it might allocate it to such a debate. Will he tell the House now that we can have that debate on 14 February?

[Mr Lansley]

I am afraid I am not in a position to make that announcement now, but I entirely understand the hon. Lady’s point, not least because I heard her and other Members make it to the Backbench Business Committee at its meeting on Tuesday. I will discuss with my colleagues whether we are able to meet her request and the requests of other Members and liaise with the Committee on that.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and Fiona Mactaggart

Thursday 29th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend makes an important point on behalf of his constituents. What happened will have been very concerning for them. It is important that the Environment Agency and local authorities take a proactive approach. After the flooding in my constituency in October 2001, the local authorities and parishes, the Environment Agency, I as the Member of Parliament and others met to establish a programme to deal with precisely the risks that he mentions. I would have far preferred it if we had done that proactively, rather than waiting until the flooding had demonstrated where the risks were greatest.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

When the Government opted into the EU directive on human trafficking they claimed that the role of an independent rapporteur could be fulfilled by the interdepartmental ministerial group. Some of us queried that. The group produced its first report on 18 October. As yet, there is no sign of this House having an opportunity to debate it. Will the Leader of the House ensure that Parliament has an opportunity to debate the report on human trafficking?

[Mr Lansley]

I will, of course, look at whether there is an opportunity for such a debate. The hon. Lady may also wish to discuss the possibility with the Backbench Business Committee. I will gladly consider with my colleagues whether we can create such an opportunity.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Lansley and Fiona Mactaggart

Thursday 29th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Leader of the House of Commons (Mr Andrew Lansley)]

I continue to consider this matter and I look forward to further constructive discussions on the issue with the Procedure Committee and others.

[Fiona Mactaggart]

I am concerned about the timetable. Yesterday, the Prime Minister expressed regret, in an answer to the hon. Member for North West Cambridgeshire (Mr Vara), that he did not have control of the House of Commons agenda, but actually he does have control of most of the House agenda. A decision of the House was made in 2010 and the proposal was in the coalition agreement. When are we actually going to see the House business committee?

[Mr Lansley]

As I said, it is my responsibility as Leader of the House to ensure that we make progress in enabling the House to conduct its business effectively and efficiently. It is incumbent on me to ensure that any development in this area takes into account the progress that we have already made since May 2010. For example, just last week the Procedure Committee published its review of the operation of the Backbench Business Committee. That gives us important information about that progress, which has been very positive. It also enables us to consider the question of a House business committee constructively.

Breast Implants

Debate between Lord Lansley and Fiona Mactaggart

Wednesday 11th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend makes a number of important and perceptive points. It is, and will continue to be, one aspect of NHS advice that psychological assessment can form an important part in the management of patients referred for low-priority procedures, including cosmetic surgery. However, although we will look at cosmetic interventions and their regulation more widely, we must recognise that the issue in this instance related to what was a criminal act—seeking to adulterate the material in the implants. Many private providers were using what they regarded as properly certified implants for a perfectly proper procedure. To that extent, they were not engaging in any improper behaviour. However, they have legal and moral obligations to their patients, and I am asking them to discharge those obligations.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

It saddens me that, despite previous reports recommending more effective regulation of the cosmetic surgery industry, it has taken this crisis, causing so much distress to so many women, for the issue to be taken seriously. I am nevertheless glad that it is being taken seriously. Will the Secretary of State consider ensuring that people seeking cosmetic procedures must have independent counselling and advice from a body that will not make a profit from that procedure, and whose whole concern is the health of the patient?

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for that suggestion, and I will ask Sir Bruce’s group to consider it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Lansley and Fiona Mactaggart

Tuesday 10th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend makes exactly the right point, in that what the last Government said happened did not happen: such medicines were not available, and there was a postcode lottery in accessing many of them. That, among other reasons, is why the chief executive of the NHS published his report, which will introduce the NICE compliance strategy. We will require all NICE technology appraisals to be incorporated automatically in the local drug formularies, and the NICE implementation collaboration will support the prompt implementation of NICE guidance.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

Last week in my constituency, a community pharmacist refused to issue a blind patient with dosage packs unless they paid an additional fee. What redress will such patients have in the newly reorganised NHS regarding actions such as this by community pharmacists, which in my view are against the Disability Discrimination Act?

[Mr Lansley]

I should be grateful if the hon. Lady wrote to me about that case and gave me the opportunity to look at it, which I would be pleased to do. From my point of view, we do not countenance such requirements, through charging, denying patients access to any NHS treatment.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Lansley and Fiona Mactaggart

Tuesday 18th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

One reason for those increases in resources is the growing birth rate in that part of Berkshire. Slough mums who want to use the Ascot birthing centre at Heatherwood have been locked out since the end of September because of a lack of midwives. If the Government had provided the 3,000 midwives they promised, that centre would not be shut. What does the Secretary of State say to that?

[Mr Lansley]

As the hon. Lady knows, I am very familiar with Heatherwood, because I have two daughters who were born there in the days when it had an obstetrics service, which disappeared under the previous Government. She also knows that I visited Wexham Park in September last year to announce support to the trust in the form of loans, based on commercial principles, totalling £18 million. There is no shortage of midwives under this Government compared with the previous one. Since the election, 522 additional midwives have been recruited, and we are maintaining a record level of midwifery training places.

Decisions made locally are a matter for local commissioners. If they seek to change services, they must meet the four tests that I set out shortly after the election.

Health and Social Care (Re-committed) Bill

Debate between Lord Lansley and Fiona Mactaggart

Tuesday 6th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

Yes, I understand that and I think that my hon. Friend makes entirely the right point. This is not about a bail-out; the commissioning board and Monitor will need to agree the methodology, because neither side will wish to undermine the integrity of the regulatory structure and the price structure that Monitor is responsible for, nor will the NHS commissioning board and commissioners want to pay any more for services than is necessary to secure continued access. None the less, continuing access to quality services for patients is the essential principle, and so there will be circumstances, particularly where it has become evident that in the absence of this there would be an unacceptable deterioration in or failure of services, in which it is necessary for the methodology to add to the tariff price.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

The right hon. Gentleman will recall that very shortly after Monitor had approved the granting of foundation trust status to my local district general hospital, Wexham Park hospital, it ended up in very serious financial difficulty, and I was grateful to him when he arrived with a loan to ensure the continuation of service. What I am not clear about in the regime that he proposes is who will be able to provide those kinds of resources when something as important as the district general hospital’s future is at risk.

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for that. I will deal with that matter in a moment, because subsequent amendments in this group continue the capacity of the Department of Health, for example, to make a loan in those circumstances—that would not change.

Of the five principal changes that I was talking about—

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Lansley and Fiona Mactaggart

Tuesday 7th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I do not know the particular circumstances in Gosport, but I shall happily write to my hon. Friend. Nationally, we have more midwives than we have ever had—[Interruption.] I am being provoked by those on the Opposition Front Bench. There was a 16% increase in the number of live births in this country, but only a 4.5% increase in the number of midwives. That is the point I was about to make. The Government of whom the hon. Member for Halton (Derek Twigg) was a member failed to invest in midwifery when there was an increase in live births. That is why hospitals across the country have too few midwives, and that is why we are putting the investment in—because we did not listen to the Labour party when it said, “Cut the NHS budget.”

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

Will waiting times for in-patient treatment in hospital increase or decrease next year?

[Mr Lansley]

They will respond positively to patient choice and GP referral.

Public Health White Paper

Debate between Lord Lansley and Fiona Mactaggart

Tuesday 30th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

Yes, I do. My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The structure proposed in the NHS reform White Paper in July was to bring local authorities and the NHS together to undertake joint strategic needs assessments leading to a combined strategy. Understanding the causes of ill health, and understanding where ill health is occurring and where the greatest areas of unmet need are in a community, will impact positively both on NHS commissioning and on local authorities.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

I welcome the proposal to give public health responsibility to local government, but will the Secretary of State assure the House that his intention is to build on proven successful initiatives, such as the family nurse partnership that works with teen mothers in my constituency, and health advocates? In contrast to GPs who, when offered an opportunity to give out membership of slimming clubs, managed to give only one in six months, health advocates managed to gain about 2,000 regular participants in slimming clubs, thus helping to deal with the obesity problem in Slough.

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady. At least I know that she supports the proposal to transfer the responsibility to local government—not something I discovered from the reply of the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey). The short answer is that I have already announced that over the next four years we will double the number of family nurse partnerships, so we shall indeed support them. More than that, as Sir Michael Marmot made clear, it is vital that we combine the targeted support that the FNPs can give and a restored universal health visiting service to help every family as they start out.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Lansley and Fiona Mactaggart

Tuesday 2nd November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question, because it enables us to point out that over the period of the previous Labour Government health inequalities in this country widened—life expectancy, for example, widened by 7% for men and 12.5% for women between the richest and the poorest areas of this country. We are very clear. Our public health White Paper, which will be published shortly, will focus on how we can not only deliver a more effective public health strategy, improving health outcomes for all, but improve health outcomes for the poorest fastest.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

There is an area of the country where public health inequalities have not widened, and it is the borough of Slough. Will the Secretary of State come to Slough and look at the work of health advocates, who are ordinary citizens who help to engage people with their health and avoid some of the conditions that have led to early deaths in Slough?

[Mr Lansley]

The hon. Lady might not recall, but about five and a half years ago I visited Slough to meet the health trainers, particularly in the Asian community, who were going to help people. Their focus was on diabetes. It has been a very effective pilot and we will need to work—we will do so—with local authorities and the NHS. We should work together, using dedicated public health resources of precisely that kind, to identify the risk of diabetes and to tackle it at source.

NHS White Paper

Debate between Lord Lansley and Fiona Mactaggart

Monday 12th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right and expresses her point superbly. The process is going to be about quality, not tick-box targets, and it is going to enable the front-line staff of the NHS to have not only access to the resources that they need, but the power to use them more effectively.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

Who will have the legal responsibility for delivering the Secretary of State’s welcome promise of a health care service free at the point of delivery? If we have expensive patients who are not being well treated by the GPs, what resource do we have, as Members of Parliament representing the interests of those patients?

[Mr Lansley]

The hon. Lady will see, in the White Paper and the subsequent legislation, the continuation of the existing legal framework, which does not allow additional charges to be levied inside the NHS.