Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and Kate Green

Thursday 5th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. He will remember that Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Ministers are looking to make further statements to the House about the lessons that have been learned and about establishing greater resilience. Those will apply especially to Somerset, where we have made specific commitments. I will ask my right hon. and hon. Friends when they might be able to update him and the House about that matter in Somerset and more widely.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on funding for disabled students? The Government announced recently that there would be changes to the disabled students allowance, which enables such students to fund some of the costs associated with their higher education. I understand that there will be a very short consultation on the changes and little time for MPs to consider them before they are presented in secondary legislation. The National Union of Students will be lobbying MPs in their constituencies on the matter tomorrow. It is important that this House has the chance to discuss and debate what it has to say.

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for raising that matter, which I will of course discuss with my right hon. and hon. Friends. On the short consultation, we have tried to ensure that we are able to press forward more rapidly; therefore, many of our consultations are not as long as they used to be. That the changes will be in the form of secondary legislation affords the House an opportunity to consider them, if necessary. I do not believe that the regulations will be considered under the affirmative procedure, but that does not mean that they cannot be the subject of consideration in this House if Members so choose.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and Kate Green

Thursday 12th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I am sorry; I was not aware that the hon. Gentleman was going to raise that issue, and I have not had an opportunity to talk to my hon. Friends at the Treasury about that case. However, he clearly feels strongly about the issue and if he is in his place next Thursday for the pre-recess Adjournment debate, I know that my right hon. Friend the Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, would be more than happy to respond on behalf of the Government if he raises it at that time.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

May I join my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Nic Dakin) in asking for a debate, or at least a statement, on funding for students aged 18 in further education? My local college received a letter from the Education Funding Agency this week telling it that it will be £800 per student worse off compared with sixth-form colleges, which will be no worse off at all. Will the Leader of the House please arrange for an Education Minister to come to the Chamber to address this issue, by means of either a statement or, preferably, a full debate?

[Mr Lansley]

The hon. Lady will have heard the response that I gave to the hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Nic Dakin). I will of course discuss this with my right hon. and hon. Friends at the Department for Education to see how they might wish to update the House and perhaps Members individually.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and Kate Green

Thursday 27th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend makes very important points. I cannot offer an immediate debate, but I hope that an opportunity will arise before too long, because the 1 million apprenticeships created under this Government are vital and are making an enormous difference. We have persistent, worrying and continuing levels of youth unemployment, which grew under the last Government at a time when the economy was growing and even before we hit the Labour-induced recession. This programme should, through traineeships alongside apprenticeships, help some of the young people who have found the greatest difficulty getting into work. That will also help us to achieve the Government’s objectives clearly set out in the Queen’s Speech, which is to ensure that all young people gain access to traineeships, apprenticeships or college-based education.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

My constituent, 18-year-old Natalie McCusker, has been waiting more than 18 months for a lung transplant. I learned from a written answer on 15 May that waiting lists in the north-west are among the longest in the country. May we have a debate on selection and allocation policies for donated organs? As it is national transplant week in the week beginning 8 July, might that not be an apposite time to have the debate?

[Mr Lansley]

In this instance, it would be appropriate for the hon. Lady to approach the Backbench Business Committee or to seek an Adjournment debate, but I have great sympathy with her comments. As I have in my constituency Papworth hospital, the largest hospital provider of heart and lung transplants in the country, I am only too aware of the difficulties associated with accessing lung transplants and the availability of suitable organs for donation.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and Kate Green

Thursday 18th April 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I know that the issue raised by my hon. Friend is causing concern throughout the House. The British Government regularly raise our human rights concerns with the Burmese Government, and both the Foreign Secretary and Baroness Warsi did so this week during meetings with members of a visiting Burmese Government delegation. We have always said that when serious crimes have been committed, those who have perpetrated them must be held accountable for their actions.

If my hon. Friend were to catch your eye, Mr. Speaker, he might have an opportunity to raise the issue during Foreign and Commonwealth Office questions on Tuesday, and, given the business that I have announced, I personally imagine that he will have an opportunity to initiate his debate on Thursday.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on access to NHS data? On Tuesday, I was told in a written answer that information on A and E waiting times at Trafford general hospital was not available, but I have subsequently learnt that it is. On Tuesday, during health questions, the Under-Secretary of State for Health, the hon. Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter), agreed to meet me and parliamentary neighbours to discuss the situation. Will the Leader of the House help to expedite that meeting?

[Mr Lansley]

I will of course contact Health Ministers and ask whether they can expedite those discussions, but I should add that in the NHS we are publishing not only more data but more relevant data than ever before. That is particularly true of not just A and E waiting times, but the whole set of quality indicators on the A and E dashboard. Much more relevant information is being provided, and is being provided at hospital level. I am surprised by what the hon. Lady has said, given that we are now publishing more and better data.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and Kate Green

Thursday 20th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his remarks. I cannot confirm the timing of business beyond what I have announced to the House, and it is not my place to comment on the characteristics of any whipping operation. However, we have made it clear, as I believe all parties have, that votes on the equal civil marriage Bill will be free votes.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

May we have a debate about accurate reporting of the autumn statement? The Conservative party website currently states:

“Anyone in work and receiving benefits will gain more from paying less tax, than what they lose from benefits not increasing in real terms.”

I thought about asking for a debate on declining standards of grammar. As analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggests that lone parents and working couples with children will be net losers from the changes in the autumn statement, may we have a debate in order to get the right figures on the record?

[Mr Lansley]

The hon. Lady will recall that she will have an opportunity to debate this with my colleagues on Second Reading of the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill, on the House’s second day back. I point out to her that benefits are intended to be limited—an increase limited to 1%—but this follows five years during which benefits rose by 20%, whereas average earnings rose by 10%. We cannot ignore the simple fact that those on the lowest incomes are among those who will obtain the greatest proportionate benefit from the increase in the personal tax allowance. In April, that will increase to £9,440, which will more than halve the income tax bill of someone working full-time on the minimum wage.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and Kate Green

Thursday 29th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

There is a synchronicity between the previous question and this one as regards the relationship between banks and our local communities. I sometimes share with my hon. Friend a sense of frustration about the extent to which the conventional banking system now supports small and medium-sized businesses. That is why our right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, together with the Treasury, is so actively pursuing those issues, not least through the recent announcement of the operational start of the new business banking support and the support that that gives to new challenger banks to supply new innovative routes of lending to small businesses.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on the apparent abuse of the electrical equipment recycling market? Four multinationals—Sylvania, GE, Osman and Philips—appear to be seeking to subvert the effect of the forthcoming recast waste electrical and electronic equipment directive by operating a cartel in relation to the recycling of waste electrical equipment, which is putting the viability of independent recycling companies and local jobs, including in my constituency, at risk.

[Mr Lansley]

I am interested in what the hon. Lady says, but I am sure she will understand that I am not in a position to comment on it without any direct knowledge of those issues. From her description, she should bear in mind not only the question of whether that is a suitable topic for debate in the House, but the fact that, as I know from having served on the Standing Committees of the Competition Bill and the Enterprise Bill in previous Parliaments, legislation is in place that allows her and others who have evidence to go to the Office of Fair Trading for investigation of those practices.

Care and Support

Debate between Lord Lansley and Kate Green

Wednesday 11th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. A study published in the latter part of last year demonstrated exactly what he has set out. There has been a major increase in access to personal budgets. When we came to office, about 168,000 people had access to a personal budget. The latest figures show that we have reached 432,000 people. We are aiming for everyone who wants it to have access to a personal budget by April 2013. The draft Bill that we have published today would give legal backing to that and to access to direct payments.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

On 5 December last year, the Minister with responsibility for disabled people said in a written ministerial statement that a consultation on the independent living fund would be published in conjunction with a White Paper on social care this year. Will the Secretary of State say how a consultation on a review of the independent living fund will be meshed with the proposals in the White Paper? Will he assure me that there will be a coherent approach in Government to deal with the ILF in the context of the proposals that he is announcing today?

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady, because she gives me the opportunity to say that my colleagues at the Department for Work and Pensions will publish a document shortly. That will enable her and other hon. Members to see the relationship between the two documents.

Health Transition Risk Register

Debate between Lord Lansley and Kate Green

Thursday 10th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

In my constituency, the future of our hospital services, especially our accident and emergency service, is deeply uncertain. GP commissioning is colliding with massive cuts to social care budgets, creating considerable uncertainty about how that will pan out. Our ambulance services are being reconfigured—we are losing an ambulance to Salford—and our community services are being broken up and contracted out in penny parcels. Given all this uncertainty as transition begins to take its course in Trafford, what guarantees can the Secretary of State give to my constituents that they will be fully informed of the risks associated with such change when he is setting such a bad example nationally?

[Mr Lansley]

If the hon. Lady had looked at the document I published on Tuesday, she would realise that none of the issues she is talking about—quite properly, on behalf of her constituents—was addressed in November 2010 in the risk register. In so far as there were issues concerning the transition, not only have they been addressed but we have set out how we have mitigated them, with the specific objective of ensuring that during the process of transition there is not only business as usual in the NHS but performance is improved. That is why Labour Members should take on board the point that I made at the end of my response to the right hon. Member for Leigh: the performance of the NHS is improving during this process of transition.

Health and Social Care Bill

Debate between Lord Lansley and Kate Green

Tuesday 28th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I think opposition changed his mind.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State said this afternoon that competition will not be allowed to get in the way of sensible integration of services, so why is Trafford Healthcare proceeding with the commissioning of provider services in six penny packets, as described by my right hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Paul Goggins)? How can that support the sensible integration of services?

[Mr Lansley]

The hon. Lady must be aware that under the Bill, we will move from primary care trusts that, under current public procurement rules, are very often not capable of integrating services as they would want, to clinical commissioning groups, which will have the freedom and power to do so.

NHS (Private Sector)

Debate between Lord Lansley and Kate Green

Monday 16th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I have no knowledge of what the right hon. Lady describes. Let me remind her that those working in the NHS have a responsibility to disclose anything that that they think is to the detriment of their patients’ interests, and under legislation on public interest disclosure they have protection. I announced just before Christmas that in the latest contract for an enhanced advice line there should be a whistleblower advice line.

[Kate Green]

I note what the Secretary of State says about staff who have concerns being encouraged to express them, but in the case of Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust, where a private company has just been commissioned to provide orthopaedic pain relief services, the staff had absolutely no knowledge that that commissioning was going on. How can he be sure that staff will be able to raise concerns when there is such a lack of transparency?

[Mr Lansley]

What the hon. Lady describes is precisely what has happened time and again under the legislation we inherited, which is not transparent. Primary care trusts were not accountable or transparent and an enormous amount of activity went on with tenders that involved the private sector and was not conducted in the way that we want, which is on the basis of a tariff and on the basis of which provider is best able to deliver the highest quality.

Let me deal with the first of the myths propagated by the right hon. Member for Leigh: that we have some kind of privatisation agenda. We do not. As I recollect, the only time any Government had a specific objective to increase the role of the private sector in the NHS was when he was a Minister, his hon. Friend the Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall) was a special adviser to the Department for Health and Patricia Hewitt was Secretary of State. That was when they were saying they wanted to increase the role of the private sector to 10% or 15%, and the Health and Social Care Bill contains specific provision not to allow such discrimination in favour of private providers in future.

NHS Future Forum

Debate between Lord Lansley and Kate Green

Tuesday 14th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. Indeed, I can go further and say that one of the reasons the Future Forum has made no recommendations on the outcomes framework is that it found enthusiasm across the NHS for focusing on quality and outcomes and nothing but approval for the framework. Of course, the Labour party ignores the fact that, as stated in the White Paper we published last year, that is one of the central aspects of what we are setting out to do. He is right that the focus on outcomes, which enables people to see how this country performs in health, relative to other countries, and continuous improvement in health outcomes, rather than just a small number of focused targets, is instrumental in continuous improvement.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State is aware of the situation faced by Trafford acute trust. Will he reassure my constituents that there is no prospect of Trafford General hospital being either broken up or taken over by a private company?

[Mr Lansley]

The hon. Lady will have a further opportunity to discuss that shortly. She will know that the NHS trust in Trafford is examining whether it might merge with one of two possible foundation trusts and whether it might change its corporate configuration, as it were, but entirely within the NHS.

NHS Reform

Debate between Lord Lansley and Kate Green

Monday 4th April 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. My objective is to ensure that the statutory structure for the NHS moves on from one that had virtually no serious accountability. As Secretary of State, I could have done most of this without the legislation: I could have just abolished most of the primary care trusts and strategic health authorities. Previous Secretaries of State behaved in that cavalier fashion, but we are not doing that; we are giving Parliament the opportunity—a once-in-a-generation opportunity—to give the NHS greater autonomy and, in the process, to be transparent about the structure of accountability.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Is the Secretary of State aware of the instability that we are experiencing in the management of NHS services in Trafford, with provider services off at Ashton-under-Lyne, Wigan and Leigh on a temporary basis, with Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust forced to find a new partner for its management, and the primary care trust forced, first, to combine with other Greater Manchester care trusts for one year, before splitting into GP consortia next year? In view of all that instability and the uncertainty that it is causing to staff in the NHS and at Trafford, will the Secretary of State ensure that he has the adequate support in terms of project and change management that appears to be so lacking at present?

NHS Reorganisation

Debate between Lord Lansley and Kate Green

Wednesday 16th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I remember that if we ask the public whom they trust in public service, we find that general practitioners are at the top of the list. Members of Parliament and politicians are pretty near to the bottom of the list, so the public might take it pretty amiss that Labour politicians are insulting general practitioners by thinking that they are in it for the money. They are not; they are in it for the patients.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

[Mr Lansley]

No.

Public Health White Paper

Debate between Lord Lansley and Kate Green

Tuesday 30th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

Through our tobacco control strategy, I am looking to achieve, as we will set out, a continuing reduction in smoking prevalence. In particular, I want to identify how we can substantially reduce the initiation into smoking among young people.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

I genuinely welcome the Secretary of State’s recognition of the importance of a cross-Government approach to tackling health inequalities. He will be aware that Sir Michael Marmot identified income as one of the most important determinants of health. Will the Secretary of State make representations to his colleagues the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to ensure that everyone can have an adequate income, from those reliant on out-of-work benefits to those who are in employment?

[Mr Lansley]

I understand the hon. Lady’s point. Sir Michael Marmot has generously welcomed the White Paper’s proposals and its thrust. He made a specific proposal about a specific standard of living related to health—effectively a basic income proposal. That is not the Government’s proposal, but we intend to act on the other five domains in his report, the effect of which, among other things, will be to ensure that the welfare to work programme—the most ambitious and comprehensive programme ever initiated by any Government in this country to take people off benefits into work—will support people not only through better disability benefit assessments, which will help in health assessments, but by ensuring that people in work are healthier because they are less likely to be poverty and more likely to be free of the distress associated with unemployment.