Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current backlog in local authority audits; and what plans they have to deliver all outstanding audit opinions by their proposed deadline of 30 September.

Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Opposition Whip (Lords)

The Government has been clear that the significant backlog of local audits in England is unacceptable. It is taking action to deal with this backlog and put the system on a sustainable footing. On 8 February DLUHC, with local audit system organisations, issued a Joint Statement setting out a clear package of measures to meet these challenges, alongside the launch of DLUHC and National Audit Office consultations.

We proposed a statutory backstop date of 30 September 2024 for the publication of audited accounts for all years up to and including 2022/23. This will enable local authorities and firms to focus on the most recent accounts as quickly as possible. Five years of further backstop dates would allow assurance to be gradually rebuilt. The Government also recognises that important questions concerning systemic challenges must be addressed.

The Government is carefully reviewing consultation responses and will respond in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the triage system used by some GP practices which requires all contact by patients seeking a GP appointment to be conducted online.

Answered by Lord Markham

We published our Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care in May 2023, which sets out how we are moving toward a Modern General Practice (GP) model. This plan is backed by £240 million of retargeted funding, going to providing digital services, with the goal of increasing access. The plan sets out how, by improving digital access to GPs, we will free up capacity for those patients who want to contact their practice by telephone or in-person. We are also clear that online tools must always be provided in addition to, rather than as a replacement for, other channels for accessing GPs.

The sole method for GPs to procure these digital services is via NHS England’s procurement frameworks, which list pre-approved suppliers for digital and IT services. This is to ensure consistency in service provisions, as each supplier must meet a set of requirements to be entered into a framework.

As of March 2024, 93% of GPs now have digital telephony systems. This has enabled GP teams to manage multiple calls, helping to end the 8:00am rush for appointments. Trials show that this has increased patients’ ability to get through to their practice by almost a third.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of oxo-degradable film, which breaks down into microplastics in the soil, in farming, given that the EU only permits biodegradable film, which breaks down into carbon dioxide and water.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller

Healthy soil underpins a range of ecosystem services including food production, biodiversity, carbon storage and flood risk mitigation. Addressing contaminants in soil, including microplastic pollution, is vital for protecting and improving soil health. We are working to build an understanding of the impact of microplastics to soil and to develop mitigation capabilities.

The plastic problem is one of management not eradication, to reduce, reuse, and recycle the material we have and not let it escape into, and damage, our environment. We have focused our efforts in tackling the most commonly used and littered plastic items, but we are aware of concerns with the use of agri-plastics too, particularly with single-use types such as mulch films.

We are concerned about the potential for oxo-degradable plastic to release microplastics. In 2021, we published our response to a call for evidence which also covered oxo-degradable plastics. Most respondents objected to their use and supported introducing a ban. A review by the Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee (HSAC) showed there is no environmental benefit to oxo-degradable plastic, and they are likely to be harmful when released into the environment. This year, Defra has commissioned a second HSAC review and are minded to introduce a ban on this material pending evidence from the review.

The UK Government continues to take a cautious approach to biodegradable plastics. The UK standard for biodegradable plastics (EN13432) allows for contaminants in the final output: “no more than 10% contaminants to pass through a 2mm sieve”. This means that microplastics less than 2mm could be produced by a biodegradable plastic mulch film that meets the standard and be spread to land. Additionally, while we are not aware of any biodegradable plastic that can reach levels of 100% biodegradation, evidence used to inform the European Union’s legislation around biodegradable plastics in agricultural applications may not apply to the UK. The UK has differing conditions, such as temperatures and humidity levels, which affect biodegradability.

We will continue to review the evidence around both types of plastic to take a systematic approach to reducing the use of unnecessary and harmful single-use plastics.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce a statutory right of patients to be registered as an NHS patient of a dentist.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We have no immediate plans to introduce a statutory right for patients to be registered as a National Health Service patient. The Government will tackle the immediate crisis with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments, and to recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what payments they have made to whistleblowers in the NHS in each of the last five years (1) as part of non-disclosure agreements reached through out-of-court settlements, and (2) as the result of a decision by an employment tribunal.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold the information requested. National Health Service organisations are independent employers and have their own policies and procedures in resolving workplace disputes, which should be aligned to current employment law and good human resources practice. Whistleblowers cannot waive their rights to make a protected disclosure, regardless of whether they sign an out-of-court settlement agreement. The Government is committed to ensuring we genuinely protect whistleblowers and create a culture of honesty and openness, which will include a review of current enforcement measures, to give a clear message that any misuse of confidentiality clauses will not be tolerated in the NHS.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the scrutiny of NHS Foundation Trusts in cases where the chair of the board of directors is the same person as the chair of the council of governors.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

By law, the chair of a foundation trust is also the chair of the council of governors. This requirement is set out in paragraph 12 of Schedule 7 to the National Health Service Act 2006.

The rationale is to ensure that the chair, who oversees the foundation trust’s board, which is itself comprised of executives and non-executives and is responsible for the trust’s operation and plan development, serves as the link between this board and the council of governors, who are elected by the foundation trust’s members and represent the local population.

The Department has not carried out an assessment of the effectiveness of scrutiny into the dual-chair role.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases of whistleblowing there have been in the past five years across all the health and care services that are within the remit of the Department of Health and Social Care; and how many of these cases were within the NHS and how many were within the private sector.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The following table shows the total number of Freedom to Speak Up cases reported to the National Guardian’s Office (NGO), and the number and proportion raised by workers in independent organisations and National Health Service trusts, each year from 2019 to 2024:

Notes:

1. organisations categorised as independent include private hospitals, ambulances, and hospices; and
2. cases from NHS organisations do not make up all of the remaining cases as the total cases will also include cases from other organisation types supported by Freedom to Speak Up guardians, for example, non-providers, such as regulators and Arm’s Length Bodies, defence military services, and charities.

Speaking up cases brought to Freedom to Speak Up Guardians may include whistleblowing, however they may also be issues for improvement or wider matters which would not meet a formal definition of whistleblowing. Whistleblowing is when someone who works for an employer raises a concern by making a disclosure in the public interest via provisions in the Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. Speaking up is about encouraging a positive culture where people feel they can speak up about anything that gets in the way of providing good care, that their voices will be heard, and their suggestions acted upon.

The above data is collected anonymously from individual organisations and provided voluntarily to the NGO by Guardians, and as such may represent an incomplete picture. Guardians are one of many routes to speaking up internally within an organisation. Employees may also speak up to regulators, some of which may be captured as whistleblowing.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many NHS whistleblowers were heeded and were satisfied with the response of their employers.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The following table shows the data reported to the National Guardian’s Office (NGO) on the total number of workers that provided feedback about their experience of speaking up to Freedom to Speak Up Guardians, and the proportion of those workers who said they would speak up again, each year from 2019 to 2024:

Note: feedback received may be about cases that were raised in a previous financial year

Speaking up cases brought to Freedom to Speak Up Guardians may include whistleblowing, however they may also be issues for improvement or wider matters which would not meet a formal definition of whistleblowing. Whistleblowing is when someone who works for an employer raises a concern by making a disclosure in the public interest via provisions in the Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. Speaking up is about encouraging a positive culture where people feel they can speak up about anything that gets in the way of providing good care, that their voices will be heard, and their suggestions acted upon.

The above data is collected anonymously from individual organisations and provided voluntarily to the NGO by Guardians, and as such could represent an incomplete picture. Guardians are one of many routes to speaking up internally within an organisation. Employees may also speak up to regulators, some of which may be captured as whistleblowing.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of the Care Quality Commission when inspecting dental businesses; and whether they have any plans to ask them also to consider the availability of NHS appointments when carrying out dental inspections.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates all health and social care services including dental services in England. CQC carries out assessments of primary dental services to determine if they are compliant with regulations. CQC inspects 10% of dental services each year, as they are considered to pose a lower risk to patient safety than other regulated sectors, though they can, and do, inspect more frequently if concerns are raised. Instead of a single rating, CQC displays ticks and crosses against each of their five key questions to show if any enforcement or improvement actions are required.This results in a ‘regulations met’ or ‘regulations not met’ judgement. The availability of NHS dental appointments is not a condition of registration, nor is it a regulated activity, and so is not something that would be inspected. CQC does not currently look at wider areas, such as access to dental services, equity of access, efficiency of care provision, or the effectiveness of dental services. The ongoing review of the CQC by Penny Dash – and the broader regulatory landscape – will consider wider issues of how to assess, and improve, access to care, innovation in care delivery and use of resources – for all health and care services.

Integrated Care Boards took control of commissioning NHS dental activity in April 2023.

Activity in NHS dentistry is measured by the number of Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) commissioned and delivered and by the number of courses of treatment delivered. The number of appointments delivered are not used as a measurement of dental activity. Data on the number of UDAs commissioned and delivered is published each month on the NHS Business Services Authority Open Data Portal in an online format only.

Found: BARONESS DRAKE LORD THOMAS OF CWMGIEDD LORD SHIPLEY LORD WILLETTS 27_ The Schedule, page 12

Found: BARONESS DRAKE LORD THOMAS OF CWMGIEDD LORD SHIPLEY LORD WILLETTS 27_ The Schedule, page 12

Many public services use interpreting and translation services (ITS) for users of public services who would otherwise struggle to interact with them. The aim of this short inquiry will be to focus on procuring interpreting and translation services in the courts, policy recommendations for supporting services providers, and the potential role of technology in enabling interpreting and translation services.

No description available