Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what formal mechanism is in place to monitor and audit how local authorities and integrated care boards use resources designated for people with a learning disability, particularly where delegated agreements under section 75 of the National Health Service Act 2006 or equivalent arrangements are in effect, to ensure that funding intended for statutory duties is not being used to offset general budgetary deficits.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs), as set out in NHS England statutory guidance published 9 May 2023, are expected to assign an executive lead role for learning disability and autism to a suitable board member. The named lead is expected to support the board in planning to meet the needs of its local people with a learning disability and its local autistic people and to have effective oversight of, and support improvements in, the quality of care for people in a mental health, learning disability and autism.
There are clear expectations of ICBs in relation to care and support provision for people with a learning disability and autistic people, and they are held accountable through existing governance processes. The Medium-Term Planning Framework, published 24 October, sets out priorities for ICBs and providers on learning disability and autism, including reducing health inequalities and reliance on mental health inpatient care. ICBs report their spend on Learning Disability and Autism Services as part of routine financial reporting, monitored by NHS England. The Model ICB Blueprint sets out the direction of travel for the role and functions of ICBs in relation to commissioning services for the needs of their local population. There is a range of best practice guidance available and published to support ICBs to commission services for people with a learning disability.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific policy and funding steps they will take to mandate the full implementation of the learning disabilities mortality review programme recommendations.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Learning from lives and deaths reviews (LeDeR) play a vital role in identifying learning from the notified deaths of people with a learning disability and autistic people, and the recommendations made in individual reviews, as well as the annual report, are key drivers for national and local service improvement. LeDeR reviews incorporate more than just the last episode of care before a person’s death, as they also include the key health and social care experiences the person had. The Government remains committed to reviewing every death notified to LeDeR and sharing the learning from these reviews widely to inform change.
There are no plans to mandate aspects of the LeDeR programme. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are held accountable for the care of people with a learning disability through existing governance processes, such as the NHS Operating Framework and annual assessment of ICB delivery. ICBs are expected to have an Executive Lead on LeDeR and NHS England’s national LeDeR policy sets out the clear expectation that ICBs prioritise LeDeR in their delivery plans and produce an annual report on their findings and actions taken.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific policy changes they will make to ensure that integrated care boards and healthcare providers are held accountable for systemic failures in providing equitable care for people with learning disabilities.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving care for people with a learning disability and has recognised within our new 10-Year Health Plan the unacceptable inequalities and poor life expectancy this group of people faces.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are held accountable for the care of people with a learning disability through existing governance processes, such as the NHS Operating Framework and annual assessment of ICB delivery. ICBs are expected to have an Executive Lead for learning disability and autism to support the board in planning to meet the needs of its local population of people with a learning disability and autistic people and to have effective oversight of, and support improvements in, the quality of care.
Findings from learning from lives and deaths reviews (LeDeR) are a crucial tool for identifying systemic failures in the care of people with a learning disability and autistic people, as well as driving local service improvements. This is why ICBs are expected to have an Executive Lead on LeDeR and NHS England’s national LeDeR policy sets out the clear expectation that ICBs prioritise LeDeR reviews in their delivery plans and ensure that actions are implemented to improve services and reduce premature mortality.
In the recently published Medium-Term Planning Framework, published 24 October 2025, the Government reaffirmed its commitment to reducing the health inequalities faced by people with a learning disability and autistic people, setting up ambitious targets for ICBs and health care providers. This includes reducing admission rates to mental health hospitals for people with a learning disability and autistic people, and optimising existing resources to reduce long waits for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder assessments.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that the planning and funding of supported housing models are fully integrated across the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department of Health and Social Care.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government recognises that supported housing is an important part of the delivery of social homes for people with care and support needs, including for older people and disabled working-age adults with personal care needs. My Department and the Department for Heath and Social Care coordinate closely on supported housing.
At the Spending Review, the government announced £39 billion for a new Social and Affordable Homes Programme over 10 years from 2026-27 to 2035-36. We want to see new supply of supported housing in England through the new programme, in greater numbers and also across a diverse range of cohorts and housing types. This includes older people’s housing, specialist housing for those with complex needs, such as long-term housing for people with learning disabilities, autism or mental health issues, and transitional housing for those experiencing or at risk of rough sleeping and homelessness or from domestic abuse. Many of the Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities have also indicated supported housing amongst their local priorities in relation to the programme.
We know that supported housing can often cost more to deliver. In the new programme, while we will maintain the principle that all bids will be assessed for value for money based on their particular circumstances, flexibility on grant rates has been built in for accommodation where the level of design and adaptation results in higher costs. We would encourage providers to come forward with ambitious bids.
The commissioning of local housing-related support services is for local authorities to determine. Local authorities are best placed to plan and decide on local spending priorities that meet the needs of their local population. Through the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act, local authorities will be required to produce supported housing strategies to assess current and future need for supported housing in their area. The strategies will assist local authorities and housing providers with long-term planning and delivery to meet demand.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many formal meetings there have been between a minister and either (1) the senior manager, or (2) the clinical lead at NHS England, with responsibility for the learning from lives and deaths programme since July 2024, and on which dates those meetings took place.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There have been regular conversations between the relevant minister, Department officials, and senior clinical and managerial leads at NHS England in relation to improving overall health outcomes for people with a learning disability and autistic people. Insights from the programme of learning from the lives and deaths of people with a learning disability and autistic people plays an important role in shaping these broader conversations about tackling health inequalities and improving identification, access to, and the quality of services.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government why a contract worth £8 million for IT consultancy is required to support the abolition of NHS England and the transfer of many of its functions to the Department of Health and Social Care.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We inherited two head offices for the National Health Service, one for NHS England and one for the Department of Health and Social Care, and with two organisations comes two sets of corporate IT systems.
This two-year contract will maximise efficiency and boost productivity by designing and integrating the Department and NHS England’s corporate IT functions to create one single system following the merger.
All Government contracts are robustly assessed to ensure they deliver value for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures are used by NHS England or the Department of Health and Social Care to measure improvements to health for people with learning disabilities directly linked to the Core20PLUS5 programme.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Core20PLUS5 is a national approach to inform action to reduce healthcare inequalities at a system level. The approach defines a target population, the Core20PLUS, and five clinical areas to focus on that require accelerated improvement. PLUS population groups should be identified at a local level. NHS England expects to see learning disability identified as a priority cohort.
The Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme has worked closely with NHS England’s clinical programmes to develop and embed indicators which enable the monitoring of the access, experience, and outcomes for Core20PLUS populations, and this includes people with a learning disability. The Core20PLUS5 indicator for learning disability is the Percentage of patients aged 14+ on GP learning disability registers who received an annual health check.
NHS England has published a Statement on Information on Health Inequalities which sets out the data that integrated care boards (ICBs) are expected to collect. This includes that ICBs should publish in their 2023/24 and 2024/25 annual reports relating to learning disability annual health checks and adult mental health inpatient rates for people with a learning disability and autistic people. Within these annual reports, it is expected that ICBs should explain how the information has been used to guide action.
In addition, each ICB must have an executive lead for learning disability and autism who will support the board in addressing health inequalities, supporting equal access to care across all health services, and improving overall health outcomes.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what improvements have been made to life expectancy for people with learning disabilities through the Core20PLUS5 programme.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Core20PLUS5 is a national approach to inform action to reduce healthcare inequalities at a system level. The approach defines a target population, the Core20PLUS, and five clinical areas to focus on that require accelerated improvement. PLUS population groups should be identified at a local level. NHS England expects to see learning disability identified as a priority cohort.
The Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme has worked closely with NHS England’s clinical programmes to develop and embed indicators which enable the monitoring of the access, experience, and outcomes for Core20PLUS populations, and this includes people with a learning disability. The Core20PLUS5 indicator for learning disability is the Percentage of patients aged 14+ on GP learning disability registers who received an annual health check.
NHS England has published a Statement on Information on Health Inequalities which sets out the data that integrated care boards (ICBs) are expected to collect. This includes that ICBs should publish in their 2023/24 and 2024/25 annual reports relating to learning disability annual health checks and adult mental health inpatient rates for people with a learning disability and autistic people. Within these annual reports, it is expected that ICBs should explain how the information has been used to guide action.
In addition, each ICB must have an executive lead for learning disability and autism who will support the board in addressing health inequalities, supporting equal access to care across all health services, and improving overall health outcomes.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence-based assessment they have conducted of the safety of the non-regulation of unanaesthetised non-therapeutic circumcision of boys.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has no plans to make changes to the regulatory framework for unanaesthetised non-therapeutic circumcision of boys. No recent evidence-based assessment has been conducted in relation to the regulatory oversight of unanaesthetised non-therapeutic circumcision of boys.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to introduce regulations for unanaesthetised non-therapeutic circumcision of boys.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has no plans to make changes to the regulatory framework for unanaesthetised non-therapeutic circumcision of boys. No recent evidence-based assessment has been conducted in relation to the regulatory oversight of unanaesthetised non-therapeutic circumcision of boys.