Lord Warner Portrait

Lord Warner

Crossbench - Life peer

Became Member: 29th July 1998


1 APPG membership (as of 1 Nov 2023)
Humanist
6 Former APPG memberships
Autism, Dementia, Life Sciences, Obesity, Personalised Medicine, Proportional Representation
Long-Term Sustainability of the NHS Committee
25th May 2016 - 5th Apr 2017
Draft Modern Slavery Bill
15th Jan 2014 - 3rd Apr 2014
Draft Care and Support Bill
22nd Nov 2012 - 6th Mar 2013
Adoption Legislation Committee
29th May 2012 - 26th Feb 2013
Science and Technology Committee (Lords)
13th Nov 2007 - 15th May 2012
Science and Technology: Sub-Committee I
22nd Jun 2010 - 13th Sep 2011
Minister of State (Department of Health) (NHS Reform)
5th May 2006 - 4th Jan 2007
Minister of State (Department of Health) (NHS Delivery)
10th May 2005 - 5th May 2006
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health)
13th Jun 2003 - 10th May 2005


There are no upcoming events identified
Division Votes
Monday 23rd October 2023
Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill
voted Aye
One of 15 Crossbench Aye votes vs 29 Crossbench No votes
Tally: Ayes - 185 Noes - 218
Speeches
Monday 20th November 2023
NHS: General Medical Practitioners
I suppose I should thank the Minister for that rather optimistic reply, but is he aware that the number of …
Written Answers
Thursday 26th October 2023
Children: Health Services and Social Services
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made with the establishment of pilot schemes to assess the feasibility …
Early Day Motions
None available
Bills
Thursday 30th January 2020
Right to Die at Home Bill [HL] 2019-21
A bill to create a right to die at home.
MP Financial Interests
None available

Division Voting information

During the current Parliamentary Session, Lord Warner has voted in 54 divisions, and never against the majority of their Party.
View All Lord Warner Division Votes

Debates during the 2019 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Lord Kamall (Conservative)
(15 debate interactions)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour)
(6 debate interactions)
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
(6 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Department of Health and Social Care
(52 debate contributions)
Department for Work and Pensions
(8 debate contributions)
Leader of the House
(7 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
Legislation Debates
Health and Care Act 2022
(12,763 words contributed)
NHS Funding Act 2020
(3,861 words contributed)
Pension Schemes Act 2021
(2,321 words contributed)
View All Legislation Debates
View all Lord Warner's debates

Lords initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Lord Warner, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.


4 Bills introduced by Lord Warner


A bill to create a right to die at home.

Lords - 40%

Last Event - 2nd Reading
Thursday 30th January 2020

First reading took place on 6 June. This stage is a formality that signals the start of the Bill's journey through the Lords.Second reading - the general debate on all aspects of the Bill - is yet to be scheduled.The 2016-2017 session of Parliament has prorogued and this Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to create a right to die at home.

Lords - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading : House Of Lords
Monday 6th June 2016

A bill to create a right to die at home.

Lords - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading: House Of Lords
Tuesday 9th June 2015

A Bill to create a right to die at home

Lords - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading: House Of Lords
Monday 28th July 2014

Lord Warner has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


140 Written Questions in the current parliament

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
7th Sep 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many deaths were recorded in each calendar month of (1) 2018, (2) 2019, and (3) 2020, up to and including August.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

Dear Lord Warner,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking how many deaths were recorded in each calendar month of (1) 2018, (2) 2019, and (3) 2020, up to and including August (HL7905); and how many recorded deaths were caused by (1) COVID-19, and (2) any form of cancer, in each calendar month of (a) 2018, (b) 2019, and (c) 2020, up to and including August (HL7906).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes statistics on deaths in England and Wales. The ONS’ mortality statistics are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration. In England and Wales, deaths should ideally be registered within 5 days of the death occurring, but there are some situations that result in the registration of the death being delayed. The ONS has published a report on the impact of registration delays[1].

The ONS produces a monthly report[2] on provisional deaths in England and Wales. The most recent report goes up to July 2020 and provides breakdowns by all deaths combined and a breakdown for deaths due to COVID-19. The ONS also produces an annual report[3] which includes registered deaths by age, sex, selected underlying causes of death, and the leading causes of death.

National Records for Scotland[4] and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency[5] are responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

Table 1 shows the number of deaths by all causes, that were registered by month, in 2018, 2019, and 2020, in England and Wales. All numbers for 2020 are provisional. The data for August will be published on 18 September 2020, which we will send to you.

Table 2 shows the number of deaths that were registered where cancer was the underlying cause of death by month, 2018 and 2019, in England and Wales. The corresponding numbers by month for 2020 are not yet available, as detailed data on deaths by underlying cause are not normally published until after the end of the registration year.

Table 3 shows the number of deaths where COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death, January to July 2020, in England and Wales. Provisional data on deaths involving COVID-19 is being published, exceptionally, on an ongoing basis throughout the year: numbers of deaths due to COVID-19 in August will be available on 18 September 2020, which we will also send to you.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/impactofregistrationdelaysonmortalitystatisticsinenglandandwales/2018

[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending28august2020

[3]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregistrationsummarytables/2019

[4]https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/

[5]https://www.nisra.gov.uk/

Table 1: Number of deaths registered in 2018, 2019, 2020 by month, all causes, England and Wales[1][2][3][4]

2018

2019

2020

January

64154

53910

56,597

February

49177

45795

43,555

March

51229

43944

49,641

April

46469

44121

88,049

May

42784

44389

52,315

June

39767

38603

42,577

July

40723

42308

40,731

August

40192

38843

September

37137

40011

October

44440

46238

November

43978

45219

December

41539

47460

[1]Figures include deaths of non-residents.

[2]Figures are for the date a death was registered rather than occurred.

[3]2020 figures are provisional.

[4]2020 figures are as published, the back series has not been revised.

Source: ONS

Table 2: Number of deaths registered where the underlying cause of death was cancer, 2018 and 2019, by month, England and Wales[1][2][3][4]

2018

2019

January

14422

13859

February

11602

11667

March

11945

11659

April

11899

12261

May

12372

12425

June

11771

11284

July

12120

12838

August

12297

11959

September

11115

12107

October

13008

12977

November

12394

12197

December

11412

12186


[1]Underlying cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition (ICD-10): Malignant neoplasms (C00-C97).

[2]Figures for Cancer include deaths of non-residents.

[3]2020 figures are provisional

[4]Figures are for the date a death was registered rather than occurred.

Source: ONS

Table 3: Number of deaths registered where the underlying cause of death was COVID-19, 2020, by month, England and Wales[1][2][3][4][5]

2020

January

0

February

0

March

1631

April

29381

May

12005

June

3634

July

1023

August

September

October

November

December


[1]Underlying cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition (ICD-10): coronavirus (COVID-19) (U07.1 and U07.2).

[2]Figures for COVID-19 exclude the deaths of non-residents.

[3]2020 figures are provisional

[41]Figures are for the date a death was registered rather than occurred.

[5]2020 figures are as published, the back series has not been revised

Source: ONS

Lord True
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
7th Sep 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many recorded deaths were caused by (1) COVID-19, and (2) any form of cancer, in each calendar month of (a) 2018, (b) 2019, and (c) 2020, up to and including August.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

Dear Lord Warner,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking how many deaths were recorded in each calendar month of (1) 2018, (2) 2019, and (3) 2020, up to and including August (HL7905); and how many recorded deaths were caused by (1) COVID-19, and (2) any form of cancer, in each calendar month of (a) 2018, (b) 2019, and (c) 2020, up to and including August (HL7906).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes statistics on deaths in England and Wales. The ONS’ mortality statistics are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration. In England and Wales, deaths should ideally be registered within 5 days of the death occurring, but there are some situations that result in the registration of the death being delayed. The ONS has published a report on the impact of registration delays[1].

The ONS produces a monthly report[2] on provisional deaths in England and Wales. The most recent report goes up to July 2020 and provides breakdowns by all deaths combined and a breakdown for deaths due to COVID-19. The ONS also produces an annual report[3] which includes registered deaths by age, sex, selected underlying causes of death, and the leading causes of death.

National Records for Scotland[4] and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency[5] are responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

Table 1 shows the number of deaths by all causes, that were registered by month, in 2018, 2019, and 2020, in England and Wales. All numbers for 2020 are provisional. The data for August will be published on 18 September 2020, which we will send to you.

Table 2 shows the number of deaths that were registered where cancer was the underlying cause of death by month, 2018 and 2019, in England and Wales. The corresponding numbers by month for 2020 are not yet available, as detailed data on deaths by underlying cause are not normally published until after the end of the registration year.

Table 3 shows the number of deaths where COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death, January to July 2020, in England and Wales. Provisional data on deaths involving COVID-19 is being published, exceptionally, on an ongoing basis throughout the year: numbers of deaths due to COVID-19 in August will be available on 18 September 2020, which we will also send to you.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/impactofregistrationdelaysonmortalitystatisticsinenglandandwales/2018

[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending28august2020

[3]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregistrationsummarytables/2019

[4]https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/

[5]https://www.nisra.gov.uk/

Table 1: Number of deaths registered in 2018, 2019, 2020 by month, all causes, England and Wales[1][2][3][4]

2018

2019

2020

January

64154

53910

56,597

February

49177

45795

43,555

March

51229

43944

49,641

April

46469

44121

88,049

May

42784

44389

52,315

June

39767

38603

42,577

July

40723

42308

40,731

August

40192

38843

September

37137

40011

October

44440

46238

November

43978

45219

December

41539

47460

[1]Figures include deaths of non-residents.

[2]Figures are for the date a death was registered rather than occurred.

[3]2020 figures are provisional.

[4]2020 figures are as published, the back series has not been revised.

Source: ONS

Table 2: Number of deaths registered where the underlying cause of death was cancer, 2018 and 2019, by month, England and Wales[1][2][3][4]

2018

2019

January

14422

13859

February

11602

11667

March

11945

11659

April

11899

12261

May

12372

12425

June

11771

11284

July

12120

12838

August

12297

11959

September

11115

12107

October

13008

12977

November

12394

12197

December

11412

12186


[1]Underlying cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition (ICD-10): Malignant neoplasms (C00-C97).

[2]Figures for Cancer include deaths of non-residents.

[3]2020 figures are provisional

[4]Figures are for the date a death was registered rather than occurred.

Source: ONS

Table 3: Number of deaths registered where the underlying cause of death was COVID-19, 2020, by month, England and Wales[1][2][3][4][5]

2020

January

0

February

0

March

1631

April

29381

May

12005

June

3634

July

1023

August

September

October

November

December


[1]Underlying cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition (ICD-10): coronavirus (COVID-19) (U07.1 and U07.2).

[2]Figures for COVID-19 exclude the deaths of non-residents.

[3]2020 figures are provisional

[41]Figures are for the date a death was registered rather than occurred.

[5]2020 figures are as published, the back series has not been revised

Source: ONS

Lord True
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
7th Sep 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many recorded deaths were (1) residents of adult care homes, and (2) patients in NHS England hospitals, in each calendar month of 2020, up to and including August.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

Dear Lord Warner,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking how many recorded deaths were (i) residents of adult care homes, and (ii) patients in NHS England hospitals, in each calendar month of 2020, up to and including August (HL7908).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales. The most recent annual figures published are for deaths registered in 2019[1]. However, we do publish provisional weekly deaths registrations which are currently published for deaths registered up to 28 August 2020[2]. As part of this report, data is published by place of occurrence, which includes hospitals and places outside of hospitals, such as care homes.

Table 1 below provides the provisional number of deaths registered in care homes and hospitals by each calendar month of 2020, registered up to 28 August 2020, in England. The ‘Hospitals (acute or community, not psychiatric)’ figure includes deaths in NHS hospitals and private hospitals in England. Currently, the ONS does not publish age breakdowns of deaths registered in care homes. The figure includes children and adults, as some care homes may cater for adults as well as children. More detailed analysis on deaths, registered by place of occurrence, is available in our weekly report.

Table 1: Provisional number of deaths registered by place of occurrence, England, deaths registered between 1 January 2020 and 28 August 2020[3][4][5][6][7]

Month

Place of occurrence

Care home

Hospital (acute or community, not psychiatric)

January

12,046

24,615

February

9,231

18,229

March

10,563

20,902

April

26,835

34,520

May

14,870

18,126

June

8,579

15,191

July

7,684

14,528

August

7,151

13,362

Source: ONS

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregistrationsummarytables/2019

[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/latest

[3]Based on date a death was registered rather than occurred.

[4]All figures for 2020 are provisional.

[5]Non-residents are excluded in the England totals.

[6]These figures represent death registrations, there can be a delay between the date a death occurred and the date a death was registered. More information can be found in our impact of registration delays release.

[7]Care homes includes homes for the chronic sick; nursing homes; homes for people with mental health problems and non-NHS multi function sites.

Lord True
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
22nd Apr 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government which department is responsible for (1) maintaining the National Risk Register, and (2) ensuring all other departments have up-to-date plans to mitigate risks contained in the National Risk Register; and whether the Ministerial Code includes a duty to ensure departmental risk plans are up-to-date.

The Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) within the Cabinet Office is responsible for maintaining the National Risk Register, working closely with Government departments.

Government departments are responsible for identifying and assessing risks. Each department is also responsible for overseeing levels of preparedness within their sectors, ensuring they have up-to-date plans to mitigate and respond to risks contained in the National Risk Register.

The Ministerial Code sets out the standards of conduct expected of ministers and how they discharge their duties.

Lord True
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
22nd Apr 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government when COBRA first met in 2020 to discuss COVID-19; and on what date they rated the risk of the virus to UK public health as high.

The Prime Minister and Cabinet have been regularly briefed on COVID-19 since the outbreak of the virus. These issues have also regularly been discussed at meetings of the COBR Committee. Additionally, since 16 March, a series of Cabinet Committees have convened to support the Government’s efforts. Specific information on the frequency and content of Cabinet Committees and other Ministerial meetings is not routinely disclosed.

Lord True
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
24th Oct 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made with the establishment of pilot schemes to assess the feasibility of introducing a common identifier for children across health, care, and education services.

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
26th Apr 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the proposed report on a consistent child identifier (CCI) as provided under section 179 of the Health and Social Care Act 2022 will ensure that a CCI relates to both (1) children’s health and social care, and (2) the safeguarding and welfare of children; and if not, why not.

In response to the Health and Social Care Act 2015, the department commissioned Ivana La Valle to conduct a research report into extending the duties of the NHS number as a unique identifier from adult social care to children’s social care. The findings concluded that while there was general support for using the NHS number as a unique identifier, there was limited evidence on how this could be achieved or whether it would be possible. The government therefore supported the voluntary use of the NHS number where the local authority and health agencies decide that this is an effective way for them to share information. In 2021, as the Bill for the Health and Care Act 2022 progressed through Parliament, the debate on the need for and feasibility of introducing a consistent identifier was revisited, resulting in the government's commitment to explore the issue further in this report. Consequently, the government will report in July 2023 on government policy on the use of a consistent child identifier for children.

The department is leading a cross-government programme to meet the legislative commitment in the Health and Social Care Act 2022. A cross-government steering group, including officials from the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Home Office, have overseen the programme. The programme has also reported into the Child Protection Ministerial Group. The programme has undertaken targeted research with frontline practitioners across agencies, including health, police, schools and social care, and analysed current systems and good practice. The findings of the research and analysis will be included in a report laid before Parliament in July on the government policy on information sharing, including policy related to a consistent child identifier for children.

The focus of the research responding to the commitment in the Health and Social Care Act 2022 has been on how to improve information sharing between agencies for child safeguarding and promotion of welfare purposes. However, current and future policy recommendations may have wider reach across children’s health and social care. The government will report in July on its policy on information sharing, including policy related to a consistent child identifier for children.

Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
26th Apr 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made in discussions between the Department for Health and Social Care and the Department for Education regarding the preparing of a report regarding the benefits and implementation of a consistent child identifier, as proposed under section 179 of the Health and Social Care Act 2022; and when such a report will be published.

In response to the Health and Social Care Act 2015, the department commissioned Ivana La Valle to conduct a research report into extending the duties of the NHS number as a unique identifier from adult social care to children’s social care. The findings concluded that while there was general support for using the NHS number as a unique identifier, there was limited evidence on how this could be achieved or whether it would be possible. The government therefore supported the voluntary use of the NHS number where the local authority and health agencies decide that this is an effective way for them to share information. In 2021, as the Bill for the Health and Care Act 2022 progressed through Parliament, the debate on the need for and feasibility of introducing a consistent identifier was revisited, resulting in the government's commitment to explore the issue further in this report. Consequently, the government will report in July 2023 on government policy on the use of a consistent child identifier for children.

The department is leading a cross-government programme to meet the legislative commitment in the Health and Social Care Act 2022. A cross-government steering group, including officials from the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Home Office, have overseen the programme. The programme has also reported into the Child Protection Ministerial Group. The programme has undertaken targeted research with frontline practitioners across agencies, including health, police, schools and social care, and analysed current systems and good practice. The findings of the research and analysis will be included in a report laid before Parliament in July on the government policy on information sharing, including policy related to a consistent child identifier for children.

The focus of the research responding to the commitment in the Health and Social Care Act 2022 has been on how to improve information sharing between agencies for child safeguarding and promotion of welfare purposes. However, current and future policy recommendations may have wider reach across children’s health and social care. The government will report in July on its policy on information sharing, including policy related to a consistent child identifier for children.

Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
26th Apr 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government why the NHS number has been a mandatory consistent identifier for adults across health and adult social care since 2015 but no such identifier has been established across health and social care and protection services for children.

In response to the Health and Social Care Act 2015, the department commissioned Ivana La Valle to conduct a research report into extending the duties of the NHS number as a unique identifier from adult social care to children’s social care. The findings concluded that while there was general support for using the NHS number as a unique identifier, there was limited evidence on how this could be achieved or whether it would be possible. The government therefore supported the voluntary use of the NHS number where the local authority and health agencies decide that this is an effective way for them to share information. In 2021, as the Bill for the Health and Care Act 2022 progressed through Parliament, the debate on the need for and feasibility of introducing a consistent identifier was revisited, resulting in the government's commitment to explore the issue further in this report. Consequently, the government will report in July 2023 on government policy on the use of a consistent child identifier for children.

The department is leading a cross-government programme to meet the legislative commitment in the Health and Social Care Act 2022. A cross-government steering group, including officials from the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Home Office, have overseen the programme. The programme has also reported into the Child Protection Ministerial Group. The programme has undertaken targeted research with frontline practitioners across agencies, including health, police, schools and social care, and analysed current systems and good practice. The findings of the research and analysis will be included in a report laid before Parliament in July on the government policy on information sharing, including policy related to a consistent child identifier for children.

The focus of the research responding to the commitment in the Health and Social Care Act 2022 has been on how to improve information sharing between agencies for child safeguarding and promotion of welfare purposes. However, current and future policy recommendations may have wider reach across children’s health and social care. The government will report in July on its policy on information sharing, including policy related to a consistent child identifier for children.

Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
13th Mar 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer of Baroness Barran on 9 March (HL5961), what estimates they have made of the number of children not regularly in school; whether there has been an increase in the number of children absent from school since the COVID-19 pandemic; and whether they will fund local education authorities to maintain registers of children not in school until they can legislate to make such registers a statutory requirement.

School attendance has improved since 2010, but COVID-19 and its aftermath significantly damaged attendance levels. COVID-19 caused higher levels of sickness absence, and exacerbated existing problems with persistent absence, with vulnerable children particularly affected. Attendance is now improving, and the government is committed to returning to pre-pandemic levels and better.

In autumn/spring 2018/19 overall attendance was 96.7%. The current academic year to date attendance is 4.3 percentage points lower at 92.4%.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to make arrangements that enable them to establish, the identities of children in their area who are not receiving a suitable education. To assist with fulfilling this duty, the department expects all local authorities in England to maintain some form of register to help identify these children, in line with our guidance to local authorities on elective home education. This function is funded through existing budgets and resources.

When the suitable legislative opportunity arises to take forward the Children Not in School measures, the department will review and undertake a further new burdens assessment to assess the level of funding required to support implementation of the registers, as well as for the proposed local authority duty to support home educating families.

Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
27th Feb 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made, if any, in (1) registering, and (2) regulating, the home tuition of children to ensure that they (a) are taught a balanced curriculum, and (b) are able to secure recognised national qualifications.

The department remains committed to introducing statutory local authority registers for children not in school, as well as a duty for local authorities to provide support to home-educating families. The department will legislate for these at the next suitable opportunity, to help local authorities undertake their existing duties to ensure all children receive a suitable education and are safe, regardless of where they are educated. However, local authorities’ existing powers and duties, if used in the way set out in our guidance, are enough for a local authority to determine whether provision is suitable.

Elective home education needs to be suitable, although there is no requirement to follow the national curriculum, nor are parents required to enter children for public examinations. However, if the home education does consist of one or more of these, that would constitute strong evidence that education was ‘suitable’ in terms of section 7 of the Education Act 1996.

Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
27th Feb 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress Ofsted has made on the (1) registration, (2) regulation and (3) inspection of religious schools such as (a) madrassas, (b) yeshivas, and (c) Sunday schools where concerns have been raised about the appropriateness of the material being taught to children at such places; and what powers Ofsted has to take action, as necessary.

Out-of-school settings, such as supplementary religious schools, are not regulated under education or childcare law and are therefore not required to register with the department or Ofsted. However, the department remains committed to ensuring that children are safeguarded across all education settings and are working closely with key safeguarding partners, sector representatives, and parent groups to develop proposals for how we might further enhance safeguarding in this sector. The department will look to consult on such proposals later this year. We will be publishing updated safeguarding guidance for providers and parents, as well as a new e-learning package aimed at strengthening providers’ understanding of the arrangements they should have in place to keep children safe.

Any education setting which makes full-time provision to five or more pupils of compulsory school age (or one or more such pupils who is looked after or has an education, health and care plan), is not maintained by a local authority and is not a non-maintained special school is required to register with the department as an independent school. It is a criminal offence to conduct an educational setting which meets the definition of an independent school if this is not registered with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education.

The government has been working proactively since 2016 to identify, investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute those operating unregistered independent schools. Between 1 January 2016 and 31 August 2022, Ofsted issued warning notices to 132 settings that may be operating as unregistered schools (this includes all settings including those with a secular or faith ethos). Of those settings, 81 changed their operation to comply with legislation, 21 closed and 16 registered. There have been six successful prosecutions against those operating unregistered schools and there are several ongoing investigations.

If safeguarding concerns are raised about a specific setting, we expect local authorities to intervene, as they are legally responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in their areas, regardless of the educational setting they attend.

Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
27th Feb 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what arrangements there are for the registration and regulation of private fostering agencies; whether there is a statutory basis for such registration and regulation; and whether other agencies and local authorities are informed of misconduct by an individual foster carer provided by a private fostering agency.

All independent fostering agencies (IFAs) are registered with Ofsted under the Care Standards Act 2000 and must meet the legal requirements set out in the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011. IFAs are inspected by Ofsted under the Social Care Common Inspection Framework (SCCIF) on a three-year inspection cycle.

Under the National Minimum Standards IFAs have a duty to ensure the welfare of the children in care and a duty to work effectively in partnership with other agencies concerned with child protection, such as the responsible authority, schools, hospitals and general practitioners.

Serious incidents must be reported by IFAs to Ofsted, including any serious complaints about an approved foster parent. Local authorities must notify the Child Safeguarding Practice Review panel, and by extension the department and Ofsted, within five working days of becoming aware of a serious incident. These incidents are where abuse or neglect is known or suspected.

If a foster carer’s approval to foster is terminated, a copy of the notice must be sent to the responsible authority for any child placed by another local authority, and to the relevant local authority if the foster carer lives outside the area of the fostering service.

Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
2nd Jun 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to re-open the public consultation on "Regulating independent educational institutions"; and what measures they will be taking to protect pupils at risk in unregistered settings, including illegal religious schools, until the law is changed.

The department intends to reopen the consultation on 'Regulating independent educational institutions' when stakeholders ability to respond is less likely to be significantly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Responses received to date will be combined with responses received after the consultation reopens and fully reviewed after the consultation finally closes.

It is not yet appropriate to set a date for reopening the consultation as the situation in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak continues to change.

Ofsted continues to investigate potential illegal schools including consideration of new intelligence. Where appropriate, Ofsted have liaised with local authorities and other statutory bodies to consider whether there is appropriate action that should be taken, for example, to close settings where people are gathering illegally during the COVID-19 outbreak.

2nd Jun 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which illegal schools have continued to operate during the COVID-19 lockdown; and how they intend to mitigate the risks to the pupils attending such settings as the lockdown is eased.

The department intends to reopen the consultation on 'Regulating independent educational institutions' when stakeholders ability to respond is less likely to be significantly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Responses received to date will be combined with responses received after the consultation reopens and fully reviewed after the consultation finally closes.

It is not yet appropriate to set a date for reopening the consultation as the situation in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak continues to change.

Ofsted continues to investigate potential illegal schools including consideration of new intelligence. Where appropriate, Ofsted have liaised with local authorities and other statutory bodies to consider whether there is appropriate action that should be taken, for example, to close settings where people are gathering illegally during the COVID-19 outbreak.

16th Oct 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the evidence that the Department of Health and Social Care used to support the statement in the consultation on the Statutory Scheme to control the cost of branded health services medicines that investment in research and development in the UK was not a "net benefit".

The approach to assessing the potential impacts on investment within the statutory scheme’s impact assessment followed well-established precedent and is in line with the Green Book paragraphs 6.5 and 6.6. As such, the impact assessment considers spillover benefits of investment, with a literature review suggesting an estimated mean benefit of 34% of the overall investment, but does not account for these within the net present value calculation due to investment being one of several possible company responses to change in profitability.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
16th Oct 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to refer the Impact Assessment for the 2023 Statutory Scheme to control the cost of branded health services medicines to the Regulatory Policy Committee.

There are no plans to refer the statutory scheme Impact Assessment to the Regulatory Policy Committee. The proposals only impact companies which choose to sell to the National Health Service and are therefore considered to be in connection with procurement. Given this, the statutory exclusion from the Better Regulation Framework “Procurement 22(4)(b)” applies as confirmed previously by the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat at the Cabinet Office.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
16th Oct 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the proposed update to the 2023 Statutory Scheme to control the cost of branded health services medicines, what policy options were included in the Department of Health and Social Care's long list as alternatives to the options that were included in the final consultation.

The statutory scheme consultation sets out the options under consideration. We are in the process of analysing the responses provided, including consideration of any alternative options proposed, and will update on our preferred policy approach later this year. A copy of the impact assessment is attached.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
16th Oct 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce an end of scheme reconciliation exercise for the Statutory Scheme to control the cost of branded health services medicines.

No end of scheme reconciliation exercise was proposed in the recent consultation on updating the statutory scheme. We are in the process of considering consultation responses.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
16th Oct 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Proposed update to the 2023 Statutory Scheme to control the cost of branded medicines, whether the 2 per cent cap in growth in the cost of branded medicines was assessed against (1) inflation expectations, and (2) demographic pressures.

2% allowed growth per annum represents an 80% rise in allowed growth compared to the 1.1% per annum which applied in the statutory scheme from 2019 to 2023. The proposal is consistent with the approach that underpinned the current statutory scheme’s 1.1% allowed growth, i.e., it equals the average allowed growth of the preceding voluntary scheme.

The proposed allowed growth rate considered multiple factors including the overall fiscal path. Furthermore, consideration of the pipeline of upcoming new treatments featured within our forecast growth in spend on new treatments and, ultimately, continued growth forecast in medicine sales.

Controlling growth at this level is considered to allow for a viable overall envelope for the statutory scheme more favourable for industry compared to the existing statutory scheme arrangements, whilst continuing to ensure that spend on branded medicines is affordable to the National Health Service.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
18th Jul 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Markham on 27 June (HL8632, HL8633), what assessment they have made of the impact of a reduced rebate for products that are rendered uneconomical by the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access, as an alternative to increased prices for the National Health Service.

We are consulting on proposals to update the statutory scheme for branded medicines pricing, which is broadly commercially equivalent to the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access. The consultation includes a proposal for a “lifecycle adjustment” mechanism that would provide a flat, lower payment for older products in more competitive markets. This proposal is intended to be pro-competition as older products with little to no competition in the market currently could access this lower payment if competition develops.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
18th Jul 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Markham on 27 June (HL8632, HL8633), what is their response to the claim by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry that international investors are "abandoning UK life sciences as excessive revenue clawback rates start to bite".

The Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAS) payment percentages have been at or below those projected when the scheme was agreed. Recent increases to payment percentages reflect the scheme working as intended to adjust for increased sales of branded medicines to the National Health Service, which is the result of the positive access and uptake environment within the NHS.

The VPAS agreement was described as a “pro-innovation deal” by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry who negotiated and signed the deal on behalf of the whole pharmaceutical industry in the United Kingdom.

There are several factors which influence company investment decisions in any country or region. Available evidence suggests that supply side factors, such as availability of expert scientific labour and favourable tax conditions, are of greatest significance in the decision on future investment. However, we understand that price regulation schemes such as VPAS may be a consideration in the decision to locate some investments, which is why we are committed to agreeing a successor voluntary scheme to VPAS that supports a strong UK life sciences sector.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
18th Jul 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Markham on 27 June (HL8632, HL8633), what was the estimated value of foreign direct investment in UK life sciences for each of the past three years for which such estimates are available.

The estimated value of foreign direct investment in the UK life sciences sector can be found in the ‘Life sciences competitiveness indicators’ publication, which is available on GOV.UK in an online-only format. The estimated value of foreign direct investment in 2022 was just over £1 billion, nearly £1.9 billion in 2021 and £927 million in 2020.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
18th Jul 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Markham on 27 June (HL8632, HL8633), how many Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access-related price increase applications were submitted in each year from 2019 to 2023; and what proportion of these applications was successful in each of those years.

The following table shows the number of presentations between 2019 and 2023 to date where members of the 2019 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access had applied for a price increase. In addition, for 2023, price increase applications have been received for a further five presentations that are currently undergoing assessment by the Department.

Year

Number of Presentations

2019

34

2020

21

2021

10

2022

107

2023

32

We are unable to provide the information requested on the proportion of successful applications, as such information is commercially sensitive.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
26th Jun 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what regulatory arrangements are in place to ensure the safety of children and teenagers in respect of any private organisation providing puberty blocking hormonal treatment or gender surgery.

All healthcare providers carrying out regulated activity should follow clinical best practice and must be registered with their professional body and any other regulators, as appropriate, for that service. If a private organisation fails to meet the standards expected of it, then regulators including the Care Quality Commission have powers to inspect these services to determine whether patient safety is at risk or if best practice is not being followed.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
26th Jun 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they will take if any new organisation prescribes puberty blockers to children, other than as part of a clinical trial in accordance with the policy of NHS England.

All healthcare providers, whether they are providing an NHS funded or privately funded service, should follow clinical best practice and be registered with their professional body and any other regulators, as appropriate for that service. The Department will work with relevant regulatory bodies to ensure that any organisation and people prescribing puberty blockers are doing so in line with the regulatory framework and appropriate professional standards which any health care provider must legally meet.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
19th Jun 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access has caused a reduction in the supply of biosimilar medicines, and any associated impact on (1) patient outcomes, (2) NHS finances in the short term, and (3) the ability to make cost-savings in the longer term.

The Department recognises the important role that biosimilars and generics play in ensuring affordability, patient access, and supply resilience. We have not seen convincing evidence that the voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access has had an impact on medicines supply including biosimilars, given available mitigations such as provisions in the scheme for companies to apply for price increases should supply of products be otherwise uneconomical.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
19th Jun 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what volume of sales under the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access are off-patent medicines; and how the suppliers of such medicines are represented in negotiations for the next scheme.

The information requested is not held centrally. It would not be appropriate for us to comment on a representation of the off-patent sector as this is closely connected with an ongoing legal case.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Apr 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the British Medical Association report Building the Future: Getting IT Right, published on 5 December 2022; in particular, the finding that "nearly 76 per cent of doctors ranked 'interoperability of systems' as a 'significant barrier' to digital transformation"; and what assessment they have made of whether the absence of a consistent child identifier prevents the interoperability of IT systems for protecting children's health and care.

An assessment on interoperability has been made across several areas through the Digital Maturity Assessment, providing greater understanding of individual organisational-level capability and enabling focus on national efforts to support levelling up those organisations at a lower level of maturity.

Every child born in England is issued a National Health Service number at birth which stays with them throughout their life. The NHS number acts as a unique patient identifier and is used to share information within electronic healthcare records. This contributes to improved health outcomes for children by ensuring that health professionals identify patients correctly and have access to information to inform the delivery of appropriate care.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
26th Apr 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adverse (1) costs, and (2) effectiveness, of NHS services for children as a result of the absence of a consistent child identifier.

No specific assessment has been made. Every child is assigned a National Health Service number at birth or the first time they have contact with NHS services. The NHS number acts as a unique patient identifier and is used to share information within electronic healthcare records. This contributes to improved health outcomes for children by ensuring that health professionals identify patients correctly and have access to information to inform the delivery of appropriate care.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
26th Apr 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any adverse effects on children as a result of not establishing a consistent child identifier, especially those children with (1) complex needs and disabilities, (2) long-term conditions such as asthma, autism and epilepsy and (3) looked after children and those at risk; and whether they will publish such an assessment.

No specific assessment has been made. Every child is assigned an National Health Service number at birth or the first time they have contact with NHS services. The NHS number acts as is a unique patient identifier and is used to share information within electronic healthcare records. This contributes to improved health outcomes for children, including looked after children and those with complex needs, disabilities and long-term conditions, by ensuring that health professionals identify patients correctly and have access to information to inform the delivery of appropriate care.

Through the Health and Care Act 2022, the Government has committed to report on Government’s policy on information sharing in relation to the safeguarding of children, including looked after children and those at risk, by summer 2023. The report will include an explanation of whether it is the Government’s policy that a consistent child identifier should be used across agencies.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
13th Mar 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of vacant posts in the adult social care sector from their current high level.

We are running a national recruitment campaign until 31 March 2023 to encourage more people to consider a rewarding role in care. In February 2022, we made care workers eligible for the Health and Care Visa and added them to the Shortage Occupation list.

We are making available £15 million in 2023/24 to help local areas establish support arrangements for international recruitment and improve workforce capacity in adult social care. In addition, the £500 million adult social care discharge fund announced last September can be used by local authorities for the recruitment and retention of the social care workforce.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
13th Mar 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that staff in the adult social care sector (1) are all paid at above the legal minimum wage, and (2) have their pay brought in line with staff undertaking similar roles in the NHS.

All businesses irrespective of their size or business sector are responsible for paying the correct National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage to their staff.

If any care worker is concerned that they are being underpaid, we strongly urge them to call the the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) helpline for free, impartial and confidential advice about their rights and entitlements. Acas officers will pass on cases to HM Revenue & Customs for further consideration where appropriate.

The Department has no plans to align the pay progression of adult social care workers to National Health Service pay scales.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
13th Mar 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government whether budgets for adult social care for 2023–23 and 2023–24 were adjusted to take account of (1) increased energy and fuel costs, and (2) the need to make greater use of agency staff due to high vacancy rates.

Local authorities are responsible for setting budgets for adult social care. They are best placed to assess local resources and need. The funding we have made available gives them the flexibility to do so in their local budgets.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
13th Mar 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to measure the effectiveness of (1) NHS England's plan to fund art, music or gardening classes instead of prescribing antidepressants, announced on 2 March, and (2) the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence's draft guidance, issued on 1 March, approving the use of digitally enabled therapies for patients with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and body dysmorphia disorders.

The Department is committed to the roll out of social prescribing and associated activities, including arts, music and gardening across the National Health Service in England. Social Prescribing Link Workers (SPLWs) work with people to understand ‘what matters to them’ then to connect them to agencies for practical, emotional and social support and to community groups and activities. Where individuals consent, SPLWs capture wellbeing outcomes before and after engagement with the social prescribing service as routine practice, using standardised outcomes measures such as Office for National Statistics Four. There is growing evidence on the role that activities, whether they be creative, activity- or nature-based, improve people’s health and wellbeing. The role of SPLW is also being evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Research to determine how access, engagement and outcomes vary by delivery model, geography and population characteristics over time.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guidance has been released for guided Digital Cognitive Behavioural Therapy tools for children and young people with symptoms of low mood and anxiety. The technologies in these categories are being evaluated by NICE as part of their Early Value Assessment, which covers both clinical and cost effectiveness.

For NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression services, a key characteristic is the routing collection of clinical outcome measures and monitoring activity. NHS England’s Digitally Enabled Therapies (DETs) Assessment Criteria enables DETs to be reviewed for suitability for use in NHS Talking Therapies Services.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
8th Mar 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 6 February (HL5236), when they will publish their final impact assessment on changes to the Statutory Scheme for Branded Medicines.

The Government published its final impact assessment of updates to the statutory scheme on 2 March 2023. A copy of the impact assessment is attached.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
8th Mar 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the report by The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry False economy? How NHS medicine procurement threatens the UK’s Life Sciences growth engine, published on 23 February, that the continued current high rebate rates under the voluntary and statutory schemes for branded medicines during the next five years would mean foregoing £50 billion in GDP and £17.9 billion in tax revenues as a result of lost research and development investment; and what are their estimates of the value of the potential lost investment in this sector.

The Department carefully considers all evidence in the public domain on matters relating to the growth and competitiveness of the United Kingdom’s life science sector, including the recent report by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. This occurs in combination with broad engagement with individual companies, the National Health Service and with charities and patient representatives and will continue moving forward as part of the delivery of the Government’s Life Science Vision.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
8th Mar 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 7 February (HL5233), what assessment they have made of the reports by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (1) False economy? How NHS medicine procurement threatens the UK’s Life Sciences growth engine, published on 23 February, and (2) At the crossroads: how a new UK medicines deal can deliver for patients, the NHS and the economy, published on 1 March; and what assessment they have made of the findings of those reports that the present NHS medicine procurement system threatens the growth of the UK Life Sciences sector.

The Department carefully considers all evidence in the public domain on matters relating to the growth and competitiveness of the United Kingdom’s life science sector, including the recent report by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. This occurs in combination with broad engagement with individual companies, the National Health Service and with charities and patient representatives and will continue moving forward as part of the delivery of the Government’s Life Science Vision.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
8th Mar 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham of 14 February (HL5163), whether they will undertake a comparison of the impact of the UK's rebate rates in the voluntary scheme for branded medicines with the more favourable rebates in other European countries, given their declared ambitions for the UK life sciences sector.

We have no plans to undertake such a comparison. Differences in the structure of medicine pricing policies and systems make direct comparisons of payment percentages or rebates with other countries difficult and potentially misleading.

The Government is open to ideas about how a successor to the voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access should operate from 2024 onwards. We will be considering a range of factors and will work with industry to consider learning from approaches in the United Kingdom and internationally, to agree a mutually beneficial successor that supports better patient outcomes; ensures the sustainability of National Health Service spend on branded medicines; and enables a strong UK life sciences industry.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
2nd Feb 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect the additional (1) ambulances, and (2) hospital beds, announced on 30 January to be staffed and in operational use by patients.

The Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services was published on 30 January 2023 and sets out plans for increasing National Health Service capacity. A copy of the plan is attached.

The plan includes over 800 new ambulances, of which 100 are specialist mental health ambulances, in 2023/24, with the majority of these on the road by next winter. There will be an additional 5,000 staffed beds in 2023/24 as part of the permanent bed base for next winter.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
2nd Feb 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what forecasts they have made of the number of extra NHS staff required to make operational the additional (1) ambulances, and (2) hospital beds, announced on 30 January; and what estimates they have made of the revenue costs of employing those extra staff.

NHS England has asked systems as part of the 2023/24 planning round to develop and implement integrated urgent and emergency care workforce plans based on capacity and demand assessments in line with local population need. As such, these estimates are still under consideration.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
2nd Feb 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what forecasts they have made of the number of additional (1) GPs, (2) nurses, (3) hospital consultants, and (4) radiographers, they will need by 2030, compared with the numbers currently available, according to the latest available data.

To support the overall health workforce, the Department has commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term plan for the National Health Service workforce for the next 15 years.

The Government has committed to publishing the high-level workforce plan this year, including independently verified projections for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed in five, 10 and 15 years’ time.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
2nd Feb 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government which financial year or years the additional £250 million announced on 9 January 2023 to speed up hospital discharges relate to; whether this is additional funding or a reallocation of existing budgets; and whether some of the £250 million will be spent on adult social care provided by local government.

The £50 million capital funding announced on 9 January 2023 is a reallocation within the Department’s 2022/23 budget where some underspends have emerged in-year. The funding can be used to provide expanded spaces that can handle larger volumes of patients, for example to expand hospital discharge lounges and ambulance hubs. NHS England has worked with local areas and trusts to identify where the investments are deliverable in this financial year, have the best impact, and fit with their existing estate. The funding will be provided to the individual trusts through issuing public dividend capital.

The £200 million discharge funding announced on 9 January 2023 will provide short-term National Health Service step-down care packages to help ease the pressure on hospital beds. It will be for the local NHS trust to determine the most clinically appropriate settings for community-based care. The funding is held centrally by NHS England and allocated to integrated care boards (ICBs) and has been taken from the Department’s existing 2022/23 budget. ICBs lead on the procurement and purchasing of this additional capacity, working closely with local authorities, in line with local need.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
2nd Feb 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the latest information they have, by financial year, on (1) adult social care providers handing back contracts to local authorities, (2) the number of new residential and nursing home care providers being registered, (3) the rise or fall in the registration of new home care providers, and (4) the number of people waiting to be assessed for adult social care.

The commissioning of care and support services is a matter for local authorities. The Department does not have oversight of contract hand backs, with local authorities being used to manage entry and exit of care providers in the market and having appropriate plans in place to minimise any disruption to services.

The Care Quality Commission notes that from financial years 2017/18 to 2022/23, there was a net overall increase of 79,081 beds. 4,151 care homes were registered in this period, with 3,126 care homes unregistered, leading to a net increase of 1,025 care homes. 8,764 home care providers were registered in the same period, with 3,640 home care providers unregistered, meaning a net increase of 5,124 home care providers.

The Department does not hold adult social care assessment data centrally.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
30th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the real terms decline in medicines spend since 2019 on (1) patient outcomes, and (2) foreign direct investment into UK research and development.

An impact assessment was published in December 2022 as part of the consultation on the impact of changes to the Statutory Scheme for Branded Medicines. The Department has received materials from pharmaceutical industry Trade Associations and from individual companies about a wide range of issues relevant to both the voluntary and statutory schemes for branded medicines pricing. We will be considering this evidence over the coming weeks and will publish our response alongside the final impact assessment.

The latest data published by the NHS Business Services Authority on prescribing costs in hospitals and the community for 2021/22 shows spending on medicines increased from £15.74 billion in 2019/20 to £17.78 billion in 2021/22, which is also an increase in real terms.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
30th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the mechanisms for pricing schemes for innovative medicines in the UK, and those in comparative countries such as (1) Germany, (2) Spain, and (3) Ireland.

No assessment has been made.

The Government is open to ideas about how a successor to Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access should operate from 2024 onwards and will work with industry and apply learning from approaches in the United Kingdom and internationally to agree a mutually beneficial successor that that supports better patient outcomes; ensures the sustainability of National Health Service spend on branded medicines; and enables a strong UK life sciences industry.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
30th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the link between the use of innovative medicines by the NHS and (1) the placement of clinical trials in the UK, (2) patient outcomes, and (3) employment levels in the life sciences industry in the UK.

Whilst we have made no specific assessment, the Government’s Life Sciences Vision sets out our ambition to stimulate the United Kingdom’s life sciences sector. The vision commits the Government to supporting the National Health Service to test, purchase and spread innovative technologies more effectively, so that cutting-edge science and innovations can be embedded widely across the NHS as early as possible, and rapidly adopted in the rest of the world. We are working with industry and system partners to make the NHS the country’s highest driver of innovation.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
30th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to increasing medicine spending in line with the overall increase in NHS funding.

As part of our preparations to negotiate with the pharmaceutical industry a mutually beneficial successor scheme to the current Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAS), the Government is considering all relevant issues such as the use of a cap on allowed sales.

In the December 2022 consultation on the impact of changes to the Statutory Scheme for Branded Medicines, which included an associated Impact Assessment, we consulted on the scheme’s methodology which is based around ensuring we continue to control growth at a rate of 1.1% and maintain broad commercial equivalence with VPAS. The Department has received materials from the pharmaceutical industry, Trade Associations and from individual companies about a wide range of issues relevant to both the Voluntary and Statutory Schemes for branded medicines pricing. We will be considering this evidence over the coming weeks, and will publish our response alongside the final Impact Assessment.

With regard to increasing medicine spend, the Secretary of State met with industry Trade Associations in 2022 and was clear that, whilst we cannot agree any change to the current scheme, the Government is open to ideas about how a successor to VPAS should operate from 2024 onwards and that we will work with industry to agree a successor scheme that supports better patient outcomes, ensures the sustainability of National Health Service spend on branded medicines, and enables a strong United Kingdom life sciences industry.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
30th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the sustainability of a market cap model as used in the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access.

As part of our preparations to negotiate with the pharmaceutical industry a mutually beneficial successor scheme to the current Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAS), the Government is considering all relevant issues such as the use of a cap on allowed sales.

In the December 2022 consultation on the impact of changes to the Statutory Scheme for Branded Medicines, which included an associated Impact Assessment, we consulted on the scheme’s methodology which is based around ensuring we continue to control growth at a rate of 1.1% and maintain broad commercial equivalence with VPAS. The Department has received materials from the pharmaceutical industry, Trade Associations and from individual companies about a wide range of issues relevant to both the Voluntary and Statutory Schemes for branded medicines pricing. We will be considering this evidence over the coming weeks, and will publish our response alongside the final Impact Assessment.

With regard to increasing medicine spend, the Secretary of State met with industry Trade Associations in 2022 and was clear that, whilst we cannot agree any change to the current scheme, the Government is open to ideas about how a successor to VPAS should operate from 2024 onwards and that we will work with industry to agree a successor scheme that supports better patient outcomes, ensures the sustainability of National Health Service spend on branded medicines, and enables a strong United Kingdom life sciences industry.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
26th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes to the rebate in the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access, and to the accompanying Statutory Scheme, on (1) foreign direct investment into the UK Research and Development, (2) employment levels in the life sciences industry in the UK, and (3) medicines launches in the UK.

An impact assessment was published in December 2022 as part of the consultation on the impact of changes to the statutory scheme for branded medicines. The Department has received materials from pharmaceutical industry Trade Associations and from individual companies about a wide range of issues relevant to both the voluntary and statutory schemes for branded medicines pricing. We will be considering this evidence over the coming weeks and will publish our response alongside the final impact assessment.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
26th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the impact assessment for the Statutory Scheme for controlling the costs of branded health service medicines, which states that the proposed rebates pose a remote risk to the supply of medicines to the NHS.

The impact assessment published in December 2022 on the impact of proposed changes to payment percentages in the statutory scheme for branded medicines pricing considered matters relevant to the risk to the supply of medicines of any changes.

We have little evidence to suggest that, given the available mitigations, changes to volume-based payment rates will lead to supply issues.

We work closely with suppliers, NHS England, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the devolved Governments and other stakeholders to ensure patients continue to have access to the treatments they need.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
26th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they have received from industry of the impending impact on UK Research and Development investment of rising payment rates under the voluntary and statutory schemes for branded medicines.

The Department has received materials from pharmaceutical industry Trade Associations and from individual companies about the impact of payment percentages under the voluntary and statutory schemes.

These include responses to the assessment made by the Department in the draft impact assessment that accompanies our recent consultation on increased rates in the statutory scheme. We will be considering this evidence over the coming weeks and will publish our response alongside the final impact assessment.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
26th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their response to the consultation on the extent of the impact on inward investment of higher payments under the statutory scheme to control the costs of branded medicines, what assessment they have made of the sensitivity analysis used to assess that impact; and whether they are proposing changes to that analysis.

The Department has received materials from pharmaceutical industry Trade Associations and from individual companies about the impact of changes to the voluntary and statutory schemes for branded medicines prices.

These include responses to the assessments made by the Department in the draft impact assessment that accompanies our recent consultation on increased rates in the statutory scheme. We will be considering this evidence over the coming weeks and will publish our response alongside the final impact assessment.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
26th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the differential rebate rates in the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access when compared to other countries, including Germany, and the impact of those rates on (1) foreign direct investment into UK Research and Development, and (2) the prioritisation of the UK as a launch market for innovative medicines.

No assessment has been made.

The Government is open to ideas about how a successor to the voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access (VPAS) should operate from 2024 onwards. The Government will work with industry and apply learning from approaches in the United Kingdom and internationally to agree a mutually beneficial successor that supports better patient outcomes; ensures the sustainability of National Health Service spend on branded medicines; and enables a strong UK life sciences industry.

Within VPAS there are strong incentives to launch new products in the UK in the form of the new active substance exemptions, which allow innovative medicines containing new active substances to set their list price freely and exempts such medicines from payments for three years.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
23rd Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what arrangements they have put in place to advise (1) GPs, and (2) patients, on their ability to use diagnostic and surgical hubs as an alternative to waiting for treatment at their local hospital.

A table showing surgical hubs and community diagnostic centres (CDCs) established in 2022, with the services provided, the National Health Service region, the relevant integrated care system and NHS trust, the name of the hub and the date of opening, is attached due to the size of the data. Information on the selection criteria for each CDC and surgical hub is not held centrally.

Local systems undertake an evaluation of the most appropriate locations for CDCs, including consideration of accessibility, affordability and addressing inequality and deprivation. Business cases are scrutinised by a national approvals panel with clinical and diagnostic experts to assess feasibility prior to approval. CDC locations are also subject to Ministerial approval. Surgical hub locations have been selected by a clinically-led process to ensure that sites are connected to the appropriate services to deliver high quality outcomes for patients and to consider health inequalities. The independent sector were not invited to participate in the selection of CDCs or surgical hubs.

NHS England has engaged with patient forums and undertaken a public awareness campaign on the expansion of services. The Department and NHS England are working with general practitioners (GPs), cancer charities and patient representatives to expand direct GP access to diagnostic scans for those with concerning symptoms which do not align with the two-week cancer referral target to see a specialist.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
23rd Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the independent sector was invited to participate in the selection of (1) NHS diagnostic and treatment hubs, or (2) elective surgical hubs; and if so, whether this was on the basis of a specific volume of service contracts or spot purchases.

A table showing surgical hubs and community diagnostic centres (CDCs) established in 2022, with the services provided, the National Health Service region, the relevant integrated care system and NHS trust, the name of the hub and the date of opening, is attached due to the size of the data. Information on the selection criteria for each CDC and surgical hub is not held centrally.

Local systems undertake an evaluation of the most appropriate locations for CDCs, including consideration of accessibility, affordability and addressing inequality and deprivation. Business cases are scrutinised by a national approvals panel with clinical and diagnostic experts to assess feasibility prior to approval. CDC locations are also subject to Ministerial approval. Surgical hub locations have been selected by a clinically-led process to ensure that sites are connected to the appropriate services to deliver high quality outcomes for patients and to consider health inequalities. The independent sector were not invited to participate in the selection of CDCs or surgical hubs.

NHS England has engaged with patient forums and undertaken a public awareness campaign on the expansion of services. The Department and NHS England are working with general practitioners (GPs), cancer charities and patient representatives to expand direct GP access to diagnostic scans for those with concerning symptoms which do not align with the two-week cancer referral target to see a specialist.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
23rd Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what elective surgical hubs were established in 2022; what are their locations; what services each hub provides; how they were selected; and when each one became operational.

A table showing surgical hubs and community diagnostic centres (CDCs) established in 2022, with the services provided, the National Health Service region, the relevant integrated care system and NHS trust, the name of the hub and the date of opening, is attached due to the size of the data. Information on the selection criteria for each CDC and surgical hub is not held centrally.

Local systems undertake an evaluation of the most appropriate locations for CDCs, including consideration of accessibility, affordability and addressing inequality and deprivation. Business cases are scrutinised by a national approvals panel with clinical and diagnostic experts to assess feasibility prior to approval. CDC locations are also subject to Ministerial approval. Surgical hub locations have been selected by a clinically-led process to ensure that sites are connected to the appropriate services to deliver high quality outcomes for patients and to consider health inequalities. The independent sector were not invited to participate in the selection of CDCs or surgical hubs.

NHS England has engaged with patient forums and undertaken a public awareness campaign on the expansion of services. The Department and NHS England are working with general practitioners (GPs), cancer charities and patient representatives to expand direct GP access to diagnostic scans for those with concerning symptoms which do not align with the two-week cancer referral target to see a specialist.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
23rd Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what NHS diagnostic and treatment hubs were established during 2022; what are their locations; what services each hub provides; how they were selected; and when each one became operational.

A table showing surgical hubs and community diagnostic centres (CDCs) established in 2022, with the services provided, the National Health Service region, the relevant integrated care system and NHS trust, the name of the hub and the date of opening, is attached due to the size of the data. Information on the selection criteria for each CDC and surgical hub is not held centrally.

Local systems undertake an evaluation of the most appropriate locations for CDCs, including consideration of accessibility, affordability and addressing inequality and deprivation. Business cases are scrutinised by a national approvals panel with clinical and diagnostic experts to assess feasibility prior to approval. CDC locations are also subject to Ministerial approval. Surgical hub locations have been selected by a clinically-led process to ensure that sites are connected to the appropriate services to deliver high quality outcomes for patients and to consider health inequalities. The independent sector were not invited to participate in the selection of CDCs or surgical hubs.

NHS England has engaged with patient forums and undertaken a public awareness campaign on the expansion of services. The Department and NHS England are working with general practitioners (GPs), cancer charities and patient representatives to expand direct GP access to diagnostic scans for those with concerning symptoms which do not align with the two-week cancer referral target to see a specialist.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
23rd Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to identify the range of costs among NHS acute hospital providers for (1) routine (a) hip, (b) knee, and (c) cataract, operations, (2) routine (a) CT, (b) MRI scans, and (c) x-rays, and (3) routine pathology tests; and whether they will publish such information as an aid to holding NHS providers to account for public expenditure.

NHS England collects and publishes ‘National Cost Collection for the NHS’ annually in an online only format. This data is collected by Healthcare Resource Groups (HRGs), which are standard groupings of clinically similar treatments using similar levels of healthcare resources.

This data will show HRGs for hip, knee, cataract procedures and outpatient computerised tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) when the relevant clinical coding has been documented in the patient’s record. A cost for the activity will then be assigned by the relevant National Health Service trust. However, where a CT or MRI has been undertaken during an inpatient episode or attendance in accident and emergency, this will be included in the composite cost of the HRG and will not be separately identifiable.

While information on x-rays and pathology testing is collected, this is for direct access for general practitioners (GPs). The report of an x-ray or result of a pathology test is returned to the GP rather than a hospital clinician or consultant. Where this procedure is undertaken at the request of a hospital clinician or consultant, it is not reported separately.

Additionally, data on costs is also made available to NHS providers through Patient Level Information Costing System (PLICS) dashboards, the Model Hospital and Getting It Right First Time programmes, which support health providers to improve patient treatment and productivity. The PLICS dashboards allow trusts to examine data to understand the difference between costs incurred in comparison to other similar organisations. NHS England uses this information and other performance data to hold NHS organisations to account.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
22nd Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) pharmacists, (2) registered nurses, (3) physiotherapists, (4) occupational therapists, (5) radiographers, (6) and paramedics, are registered to prescribe medicines; what proportion of each of those professions are licensed; and what plans they have to expand the numbers of each of those groups registered and the range of medicines covered.

This information is not held centrally. Pharmacists, registered nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiographers and paramedics are subject to statutory regulation and must be registered with the relevant healthcare regulatory body to practise in the United Kingdom. Pharmacists are regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council, registered nurses are regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council and physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiographers and paramedics are regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council.

Pharmacists, registered nurses, physiotherapists, therapeutic radiographers and paramedics are legally entitled to be independent prescribers. Diagnostic radiographers are legally entitled to be supplementary prescribers. Individuals must have completed an approved post-registration training course and have an annotation placed against their name in the professional register to state that they have completed this course before this entitlement can be utilised. Occupational therapists are currently able to supply and/or administer medicines under a Patient-Specific Direction or Patient Group Direction within local clinical governance arrangements.

The Department is responsible for providing the legal framework for allowing registered health professionals to train as independent prescribers. Healthcare providers are responsible for utilising the legal framework to increase local capacity according to clinical need and the desired service configuration. The medicines which may be prescribed is dependent on the individual’s clinical competence and scope of practice. Where any controlled drugs are to be prescribed, there must be specific provision in the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
22nd Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of physician assistants currently employed in the NHS; and what plans they have to expand the number of physician assistants in England.

As of June 2022, there were 1,261 full time equivalent (FTE) physician associates (PAs) employed in National Health Service hospital trusts and commissioning bodies. This is an increase of 18% from the previous year. In September 2002, there were also 1,362 FTE PAs employed in general practice and Primary Care Networks, an increase of 51% from the previous year.

There are approximately 1,800 students on a PA programme. Health Education England offers a £5,000 preceptorship allowance paid to employers to support the supervision and educational needs for newly qualified PAs working in primary care.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
22nd Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government how many British citizens trained as doctors in Eastern European medical schools, including in countries outside the EU, in each year from 2015 to date; and how many have registered as medical practitioners with the General Medical Council.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
22nd Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government how many British applicants trained as medical students in each year from 2015 to 2021; and how many of those applicants were accepted to train as doctors in each of those years.

The information requested on the nationality of students on medical courses in England or the United Kingdom is not held centrally. However, the Office for Students (OFS) reports the intake of medical students at UK medical schools by ‘home fees’ and ‘other fees’ status. ‘Home’ fee status refers to students eligible to pay the ‘home’ level of tuition fees, where individuals must be resident and ‘settled’ in the UK on ‘the first day of the first academic year’ of their course. With some exceptions, they must also have been ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK for the three years prior to that date. The following table shows the number of starters in English medical schools by ‘home’ fees status in each year since 2015/16.

2015/16

5,445

2016/17

5,495

2017/18

5,460

2018/19

6,120

2019/20

6,885

2020/21

7,570

2021/22

7,780

Source: OFS medical and dental intakes

The information requested on the number of British nationals or the number of ‘home fees’ students who subsequently join the Foundation Programme of training in UK hospitals is not held centrally.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
22nd Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government how many registered medical practitioners have (1) left, and (2) joined, NHS employment, in each year since 2015.

The following table shows the number of Hospital and Community Health Service doctors which have joined and left active service in the National Health Service hospital trusts and commissioning bodies in June of each year since 2014.

Period

Number of leavers

Number of joiners

June 2014 to June 2015

15,507

17,963

June 2015 to June 2016

17,222

17,950

June 2016 to June 2017

16,109

19,164

June 2017 to June 2018

16,580

19,524

June 2018 to June 2019

18,413

21,670

June 2019 to June 2020

17,114

26,243

June 2020 to June 2021

17,806

20,915

June 2021 to June 2022

19,846

24,207

Source: NHS Digital workforce statistics

This includes those staff moving to or joining from settings such as primary care and general practice. This movement is commonplace with the rotations of placements undertaken by doctors in training grades. It will also include staff who choose to take breaks from active service such as career breaks and maternity or paternity leave.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
22nd Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) doctors, (2) registered nurses, and (3) medical scientists, were employed as locums in each year since 2015; and what was the cost for each of those three groups in each of those years.

While data on agency staff by headcount is collected, this information has not been centrally validated.

The following table shows expenditure on agency staff in the healthcare science, medical and dental and nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff groups in each year from 2017/18 to 2020/21. This data was not collected prior to 2017 and information for 2021/22 has not been centrally validated.

Financial year

Healthcare science

Medical and dental

Nursing, midwifery and health visiting

2017/18

£40,101,511

£949,883,470

£808,661,687

2018/19

£35,670,387

£937,864,774

£843,282,221

2019/20

£31,906,249

£918,617,743

£878,521,144

2020/21

£34,733,978

£918,879,984

£837,822,620

Note: Information based on provider financial return.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
14th Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the training and support currently delivered to GPs to ensure that they make patients aware of their choices when selecting a provider for consultant-led treatment.

The National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups Responsibilities and Standing Rules Regulations 2012 state that integrated care boards and NHS England, in exercising its commissioning functions, have a duty to ensure that the awareness and availability of choice is publicised to referrers and patients. NHS England has regulatory oversight and operational implementation of patient choice and provides advice and guidance to the public, patients, referrers, commissioners and providers on the choices available in England and how patient choice can be facilitated.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
14th Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the benefits of moving to a system of local pay bargaining within the NHS, whilst preserving a national pension scheme.

The independent Pay Review Body process is the established mechanism for determining pay increases in the public sector, including for National Health Service staff, outside of negotiating pay and contract reform deals. Terms and conditions for NHS staff are agreed nationally through collective agreements with trade unions. The Department is represented on the NHS Staff Council for Agenda for Change staff and at the Joint Negotiating Committees for medical staff.

Flexibility exists within the national terms and conditions for employers to use local recruitment and retention premia. We understand that these flexibilities are seldom used by employers locally due the administrative process, complying with legislation on equal pay and the risk of exacerbating recruitment, retention and pay issues with neighbouring trusts and within the local labour market.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
14th Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to increase patient awareness that travel and accommodation costs will be paid for by the NHS if they choose to receive treatment outside their local area.

The National Health Service asks those patients offered earlier treatment at an alternative provider whether they are able to travel and discusses any issues associated with that offer. This may include covering costs associated with travel and overnight accommodation, if clinically appropriate.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
14th Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government how they calculate NHS productivity; and whether, in each year since 2009, it has increased.

The Government uses the Office for National Statistics’ measure of Quality-Adjusted Total Factor Productivity growth, which reviews how the level of quality adjusted outputs produced per input has changed compared to the previous year. Quality-adjusted output is measured through cost-weighted activity, where more intensive treatments are attributed more weight than lower intensive treatments. This is then quality adjusted where increased life expectancy, shorter waiting times, improved survival rates and patient reported outcomes all increase output. Inputs include both labour and non-labour inputs, where labour inputs are weighted by expected skill level.

The following table shows whether English healthcare productivity increased in each year since 2009/10.

Financial year

Productivity increase/decrease

2009/10

Decrease

2010/11

Increase

2011/12

Increase

2012/13

Increase

2013/14

Increase

2014/15

Increase

2015/16

Increase

2016/17

Increase

2017/18

Increase

2018/19

Decrease

2019/20

Decrease

The productivity measure usually reports 21 months following the end of the financial year. We expect data for 2020/21 to be published in January 2023.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
14th Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government, what assessment they have made of the proportion of patients who were offered a choice of where they received their NHS consultant-led treatment in each year since 2015.

This information is not held in the format requested. However, NHS Digital has collected data on the proportion of patients offered a choice of provider for elective referrals from those who responded to the Manage Your Referral (MYR) NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS) Survey. The MYR e-RS Survey enables patients who have used e-RS for elective referrals for directly bookable services to record their experience of being offered a choice of elective care provider. These results are available to integrated care boards and NHS England to review, assure and improve in order to meet its responsibilities related to patient choice.

The following table shows the responses received to the question “When you agreed to be referred to a specialist, did you talk about the different hospitals or services you could go to?” in each year since 2018.

Year

Yes

No

Don’t know

Sample size

2018

39%

59%

2%

6,962

2019

38%

60%

3%

4,722

2020

35%

62%

3%

8,099

2021

32%

65%

2%

6,158

2022

31%

66%

3%

5,045

The following table shows the responses received to the question “Did you feel that you were able to make choices that met your needs?” in each year since 2018.

Year

Yes

No

Don’t know

Sample size

2018

39%

59%

2%

6,962

2019

77%

15%

9%

4,722

2020

77%

14%

9%

8,099

2021

74%

16%

10%

6,158

2022

71%

18%

11%

5,045

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
14th Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government, what was the annual pay increase provided to (1) medical consultants, (2) GPs, (3) nurses, (4) porters, and (5) NHS Chief Executives, for each year since 2009; and how this compared to the RPI rate in each of those years.

The Pay Review Body process is the established mechanism for determining pay increases in the public sector, outside of negotiating multi-year pay and contract reform deals.

A table showing annual increases to basic pay for National Health Service consultants, salaried general practitioners (GPs) and GP partners, nurses and health visitors and NHS Chief Executives in each year from 2009/10 to 2022/23 compared with the average Retail Price Index inflation is attached, due to the size of the data.

Information on pay increases for porters is not held in the format requested.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
1st Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the NHS England (1) capital allocation, and (2) capital spend, for the financial years (a) 2019–20, (b) 2020–21, and (c) 2021–22, on (i) acute hospitals, (ii) primary care and community health services, and (iii) mental health services.

The Department’s capital allocated by HM Treasury for the National Health Service is shown in the following table.

2019/20

2020/21

NHS England

£260,000,000

£365,000,000

NHS Providers Capital Budget

£4,572,000,000

£7,145,000,000

NHS England’s spend in 2019/20 was £255 million and £331 million in 2020/21.

The information on acute hospitals, primary care, community health and mental health services is not held in the format requested. However, the following table shows spend in NHS acute, mental health and community health trusts in 2019/20 and 2020/21.

2019/20

2020/21

NHS acute trusts

£3,435,390,000

£5,839,004,000

NHS mental health trusts

£606,706,000

£668,068,000

NHS community health trusts

£64,215,000

£122,280,000

The financial data for 2021/22 is currently being audited and will be published in the Department’s forthcoming Annual Report and Accounts.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
1st Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government how much of NHS England's capital expenditure in the financial years (1) 2019–20, (2) 2020–21, and (3) 2021–22, went on (a) new imaging equipment, and (b) elective surgery capacity.

The information on elective surgery capacity is not held in the format requested. However, the following table shows capital expenditure on new imaging equipment and urgent emergency care which supported elective surgery capacity in National Health Service providers in England in 2019/20 and 2020/21.

2019/20

2020/21

New imaging equipment

£64,314,000

£94,683,000

Urgent emergency care which supported elective surgery capacity

£56,931,000

£391,755,000

Notes:

  1. The expenditure shown for new imaging equipment consists of all funding granted by the diagnostic screening programme. However, it does not include investment in imaging equipment NHS trusts made using operational capital or COVID-19 funds.
  2. The expenditure for urgent emergency care which supported elective surgery capacity was classified as accident and emergency upgrades and urgent emergency care programmes.

Financial information for 2021/22 is currently being audited and will be published in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
1st Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have regularly to measure public awareness of patients’ right to choose where they receive their NHS consultant-led treatment.

The Manage Your Referral (MYR) NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS) survey enables patients who have used e-RS for elective referrals for directly bookable services to record their experience of a choice of elective care provider.

The survey includes a question which measures whether patients are aware of the choices available for the location of a first outpatient appointment. The MYR e-RS survey is currently active and data is continuously collected and reviewed. The specific questions relating to patients’ choices and awareness levels are currently being reviewed to ensure we understand their experiences.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
1st Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made with rolling-out the capacity alerts system for the NHS e-referral service; and when they intend to make that a requirement for all referrals from general practice.

We are exploring the option of such alerts within the National Health Service e-Referral Service (e-RS) system to identify where there are capacity pressures within individual services. These have been utilised previously at the point of referral to allow referring clinicians to view capacity within providers. The re-introduction of this option requires further work to ensure there are no unintended consequences and regional oversight with local system commissioners to ensure provision for patient referrals is always available.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
1st Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to ensure a consistent approach across all Integrated Care Boards that allows for the timely accreditation of providers of (1) new, and (2) additional, patient services under the Any Qualified Provided (AQP) model.

NHS England has enforcement powers in relation to patient choice provisions and engages directly with integrated care boards to support compliance with statutory duties. NHS England also advises patients, providers and commissioners on the relevant regulations. Providers may raise concerns relating to patient choice provisions directly with NHS England.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
1st Nov 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what, if any, central contracts have been let by NHS England with independent care providers to increase NHS (1) diagnostic, and (2) elective surgery, capacity; and what guidance has been given by NHS England to local commissioners to use independent service providers in order to reduce the backlog of NHS patients awaiting (a) diagnosis, and (b) treatment.

The majority of commissioning between independent sector providers and the National Health Service takes place locally. While central contracts were regularly used by NHS England during the pandemic, in 2022/23 there have been no central contracts between NHS England and independent care providers to increase diagnostic or elective surgery capacity.

In February 2022, NHS England published the Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care, which sets out how the National Health Service will recover and expand elective services over the next three years. It advises that effective use of the independent sector should be encouraged to increase capacity and reduce waiting times. A copy of the plan is attached.

In January 2022, NHS England published the 2022/23 priorities and operational planning guidance, which states that independent sector should be considered to manage winter pressures and increase capacity, including through virtual wards. A copy of the guidance is attached.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
31st Oct 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the most recent available figures for the number of staff recruited to and leaving ambulance trusts in England.

The following table shows the annual headcount of staff joining and leaving in each ambulance trusts in England between July 2021 and July 2022.

Joiners

Leavers

East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust

389

357

East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust

567

763

London Ambulance Service NHS Trust

1,315

817

North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

429

324

North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust

755

713

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

835

831

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

560

598

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

794

579

West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust

1,141

807

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

825

665

Source: NHS Digital workforce statistics July 2022; Turnover from organisation by benchmarking tool

Notes:

  1. Staff commencing or returning from maternity leave are not counted as joiners or leavers in this information. This differs from NHS Digital’s other published turnover statistics.
  2. Junior doctors have been excluded due to rotation between organisations as part of training.
  3. Recorded staff may leave one National Health Service trust to join another. This data does not show staff leaving the health system entirely.
Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
31st Oct 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the London Ambulance Service has met any of the government pledges on waiting times, as set out in the handbook to NHS Constitutions, for responding to Category 1 to Category 4 calls in any monthly period over the past 3 years; and if so, what those periods were.

This information is not held in the format requested. The following table shows the mean Category 1 response time in hours, minutes and seconds for each ambulance trust in England in September 2022. However, this is not comparable to September 2010 and September 2016 as the current standards for ambulance response times were introduced in 2017/18. The following table also shows the last monthly period in which each ambulance trust in England responded to Category 1 calls within an average of seven minutes.

Trust

Mean Category 1 ambulance response time in September 2022

Last period in which mean Category 1 response time was less than or equal to seven minutes

East Midlands

00:09:07

July 2020

East of England

00:10:49

April 2021

Isle of Wight

00:10:40

Has not been achieved within the reporting time period

London

00:07:14

May 2022

North East

00:07:31

February 2022

North West

00:08:43

June 2020

South Central

00:09:42

May 2021

South East Coast

00:09:28

May 2020

South Western

00:11:10

July 2020

West Midlands

00:08:20

May 2021

Yorkshire

00:10:00

July 2020

Source: NHS Quality Indicators

The mean Category 1 (C1) response time standard of seven minutes was last met by the London Ambulance Service (LAS) in April and May 2022. Between September 2019 and February 2020, the response time standard was achieved in each month except December 2019. The standard was achieved in each month between May 2020 and August 2021 and January to February 2022. The 90th percentile response time standard of 15 minutes for C1 incidents has been met by the LAS in every month in the last three years except in March 2020.

The mean response time standard of 18 minutes for Category 2 (C2) incidents was last met by the LAS in February to April 2021 and between May and November 2020. The C2 90th percentile response time standard of 40 minutes was last met by the LAS in February to April 2021. It was met in each month between May and November 2020, September to October 2019 and January 2020.

The Category 3 90th percentile response time standard of 120 minutes was last met by the LAS in February and March 2021 and between April and November 2020. The Category 4 90th percentile response time standard of 180 minutes was last met by the LAS in February 2021 and in each month between April and November 2020 except September and also in October 2019 and January 2020.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
31st Oct 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government when was the last monthly period in which each ambulance trust in England responded to Category 1 calls within an average of 7 minutes.

This information is not held in the format requested. The following table shows the mean Category 1 response time in hours, minutes and seconds for each ambulance trust in England in September 2022. However, this is not comparable to September 2010 and September 2016 as the current standards for ambulance response times were introduced in 2017/18. The following table also shows the last monthly period in which each ambulance trust in England responded to Category 1 calls within an average of seven minutes.

Trust

Mean Category 1 ambulance response time in September 2022

Last period in which mean Category 1 response time was less than or equal to seven minutes

East Midlands

00:09:07

July 2020

East of England

00:10:49

April 2021

Isle of Wight

00:10:40

Has not been achieved within the reporting time period

London

00:07:14

May 2022

North East

00:07:31

February 2022

North West

00:08:43

June 2020

South Central

00:09:42

May 2021

South East Coast

00:09:28

May 2020

South Western

00:11:10

July 2020

West Midlands

00:08:20

May 2021

Yorkshire

00:10:00

July 2020

Source: NHS Quality Indicators

The mean Category 1 (C1) response time standard of seven minutes was last met by the London Ambulance Service (LAS) in April and May 2022. Between September 2019 and February 2020, the response time standard was achieved in each month except December 2019. The standard was achieved in each month between May 2020 and August 2021 and January to February 2022. The 90th percentile response time standard of 15 minutes for C1 incidents has been met by the LAS in every month in the last three years except in March 2020.

The mean response time standard of 18 minutes for Category 2 (C2) incidents was last met by the LAS in February to April 2021 and between May and November 2020. The C2 90th percentile response time standard of 40 minutes was last met by the LAS in February to April 2021. It was met in each month between May and November 2020, September to October 2019 and January 2020.

The Category 3 90th percentile response time standard of 120 minutes was last met by the LAS in February and March 2021 and between April and November 2020. The Category 4 90th percentile response time standard of 180 minutes was last met by the LAS in February 2021 and in each month between April and November 2020 except September and also in October 2019 and January 2020.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
31st Oct 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what the Category 1 (most urgent) response time was for each ambulance trust in England in September 2022; and what were the comparable figures for September 2010 and September 2016.

This information is not held in the format requested. The following table shows the mean Category 1 response time in hours, minutes and seconds for each ambulance trust in England in September 2022. However, this is not comparable to September 2010 and September 2016 as the current standards for ambulance response times were introduced in 2017/18. The following table also shows the last monthly period in which each ambulance trust in England responded to Category 1 calls within an average of seven minutes.

Trust

Mean Category 1 ambulance response time in September 2022

Last period in which mean Category 1 response time was less than or equal to seven minutes

East Midlands

00:09:07

July 2020

East of England

00:10:49

April 2021

Isle of Wight

00:10:40

Has not been achieved within the reporting time period

London

00:07:14

May 2022

North East

00:07:31

February 2022

North West

00:08:43

June 2020

South Central

00:09:42

May 2021

South East Coast

00:09:28

May 2020

South Western

00:11:10

July 2020

West Midlands

00:08:20

May 2021

Yorkshire

00:10:00

July 2020

Source: NHS Quality Indicators

The mean Category 1 (C1) response time standard of seven minutes was last met by the London Ambulance Service (LAS) in April and May 2022. Between September 2019 and February 2020, the response time standard was achieved in each month except December 2019. The standard was achieved in each month between May 2020 and August 2021 and January to February 2022. The 90th percentile response time standard of 15 minutes for C1 incidents has been met by the LAS in every month in the last three years except in March 2020.

The mean response time standard of 18 minutes for Category 2 (C2) incidents was last met by the LAS in February to April 2021 and between May and November 2020. The C2 90th percentile response time standard of 40 minutes was last met by the LAS in February to April 2021. It was met in each month between May and November 2020, September to October 2019 and January 2020.

The Category 3 90th percentile response time standard of 120 minutes was last met by the LAS in February and March 2021 and between April and November 2020. The Category 4 90th percentile response time standard of 180 minutes was last met by the LAS in February 2021 and in each month between April and November 2020 except September and also in October 2019 and January 2020.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
31st Oct 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total funding for ambulance trusts for the current financial year; and what was the total funding for each of the five preceding years in real terms.

The following table shows the income received by National Health Service ambulance trusts for healthcare services provided in cash figures and real terms in each year from 2017/18 to 2022/23. The information for 2022/23 is the planned income for the year.

Financial year

Cash terms £'000

Real terms £'000

2017/18

2,465,389

2,726,718

2018/19

2,586,946

2,810,920

2019/20

2,875,277

3,045,038

2020/21

3,491,005

3,474,467

2021/22

3,646,086

3,646,086

2022/23 (Planned)

3,584,157

3,444,516

Note:

The real terms figures are calculated using the Gross Domestic Product deflators published by HM Treasury on 30 September 2022. Figures are in 2021/22 prices.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
31st Oct 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what the vacancy rate for ambulance staff was in the most recent period in 2022 for which such information was available; and what was the comparable figure for the same period in 2018.

This information is not collected in the format requested. However, in June 2022, the vacancy rate for all staff employed in National Health Service ambulance trusts in England was 6.1% and in June 2018, the equivalent vacancy rate was 6.5%.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Oct 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure patients are able to access information about local waiting times on the NHS app; and when they expect to implement these plans.

The Department is currently working with NHS England to develop the My Planned Care online platform to provide advice and support to patients awaiting surgery and to prepare for hospital consultations, treatment or surgery. This includes information on waiting times at their hospital to allow patients to make the appropriate choices for their care.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Oct 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of the e-Referral Services (e-RS) by NHS GPs to support patient choice.

The Manage Your Referral (MYR) NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS) Survey enables patients who have used e-RS for elective referrals for directly bookable services to record their experience of being offered a choice of elective care provider.

The MYR e-RS Survey includes a question on whether patients are aware of the choices available to them when attending a first outpatient appointment. In 2021/22, 50% of 7,000 patients surveyed reported that they were aware of the choice of hospitals or clinics for an appointment. The Survey’s results are available to integrated care boards and NHS England to review in order to meet its responsibilities relating to patient choice.

Use of the e-RS for referrals from general practitioners for consultant-led first outpatient appointments is mandated in the latest NHS and GP Standard Contracts.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Oct 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of patients who are aware of their right to choose where they receive their consultant-led treatment.

The Manage Your Referral (MYR) NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS) Survey enables patients who have used e-RS for elective referrals for directly bookable services to record their experience of being offered a choice of elective care provider.

The MYR e-RS Survey includes a question on whether patients are aware of the choices available to them when attending a first outpatient appointment. In 2021/22, 50% of 7,000 patients surveyed reported that they were aware of the choice of hospitals or clinics for an appointment. The Survey’s results are available to integrated care boards and NHS England to review in order to meet its responsibilities relating to patient choice.

Use of the e-RS for referrals from general practitioners for consultant-led first outpatient appointments is mandated in the latest NHS and GP Standard Contracts.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
16th Sep 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in calculating the COVID-19 related laboratory capacity required for NHS and public health purposes in England for the period to 31 March 2021, what are their estimates of the number of tests required per week for (1) NHS staff and patients, (2) adult social care staff and service users, (3) secondary school children over the age of 16, (4) teachers and teaching assistants, (5) full-time students aged 18-22, and (6) public transport staff.

We do not publish data in the format requested.

16th Sep 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the laboratory capacity for COVID-19 tests per week available in England (1) within the NHS, and (2) in private and other laboratories; and what is the utilisation rate of that weekly capacity in each group at the latest date for which information is available.

For the week commencing 18 January 2021 the number of tests conducted in pillar 1 was 592,698 against a capacity of 1,352,685, which is a utilisation rate of 43.82%. In pillar 2, the number of tests conducted was 3,233,418 against a capacity of 4,321,944, which is a utilisation rate of 74.81%.

16th Sep 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether all the laboratories available for COVID-19 tests are (1) currently, or (2) planning to be, working seven days a week and in shifts covering most of each day.

Since the start of the pandemic, we increased the capacity of National Health Service and Public Health England laboratories, as well as setting up an entirely new nationwide network of new Lighthouse laboratories and partner laboratories to process samples. Lighthouse laboratories and partner laboratories have continued to maximise capacity. This includes recruiting staff, mobilising additional equipment and optimising workflows. All Lighthouse laboratories are now working on a 24 hours a day, seven days a week basis.

16th Sep 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assesment has been made of funding and creating extra capacity in (1) NHS, (2) private, and (3) other laboratories, before 31 March 2021.

HM Treasury approved £22 billion of spending this year for the NHS Test and Trace programme. This covers testing to meet demand over the winter. We are providing an additional £7 billion for NHS Test and Trace to support increased testing, including community testing and ongoing improvements to contact tracing. Eighty per cent of this will be directly spent on laboratories, tests and testing kits.

7th Sep 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of pathology laboratory testing capacity was available to the NHS in England for COVID-19 tests at the end of March 2020; and what is the current available capacity.

Pillar 2 uses Lighthouse laboratories and has partnership arrangements with public, private and academic sector laboratories. The United Kingdom’s daily COVID-19 testing capacity passed the 500,000 on 31 October. Testing capacity in the UK across all pillars between 29 October and 4 November was at 4,367,049 tests, an increase of 21% compared to the previous week.

7th Sep 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many COVID-19 laboratory tests, excluding antibody tests, in England were completed in each calendar month of 2020, up to and including August.

The Government does not publish data in the format requested. The Government publishes information, from 20 March onwards, on daily tests processed and daily testing capacity at GOV.UK. We provide data on daily testing capacity by swab tests, using polymerase chain reaction assay, within pillars 1, 2, and 4 to show if someone has COVID-19; and antibody testing of a blood sample within pillar 3 and pillar 4 to show if people have antibodies from having had COVID-19.

10th Jul 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 15 June (HL4726), whether the COVID-19 Hospital Discharge Service Requirements authorised NHS Trusts to make incentive payments to care homes to admit patients discharged from acute hospitals, irrespective of whether they posed an infection risk to other residents in the care homes; and whether such payments are permissible.

It is our priority to ensure that everyone is discharged safely from hospital and to the most appropriate available place.

Funding announced alongside the COVID-19 Hospital Discharge Service Requirements was not conditional on care homes accepting discharged patients. Discharges from hospital are decided by local clinicians and only happen when doctors determine it is in an individual patient’s best interests.

This is an unprecedented global pandemic and at every stage we have been guided by the latest scientific advice. We keep our policies under continuous review, based on the emerging international and domestic evidence.

10th Jul 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 15 June (HL4730), how many (1) claims, and (2) payments,  have been made to the families of deceased care homes staff under the terms of the life assurance scheme for frontline National Health Service and social care staff; and what steps they have taken to draw the attention of families of deceased care homes staff to this scheme.

The Government launched the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance scheme on 20 May 2020. The scheme is non-contributory and pays a £60,000 lump sum where staff who had been recently working where personal care is provided to individuals who have contracted COVID-19 die as a result of the virus.

As of 13 July 2020, the scheme administrator has received 29 claims for social care as a whole in England, of which 25 claims are from the families of staff who had been providing adult social care in a care home. This is out of a total of 57 claims to the scheme. Of these 25, eight have been agreed for payment subject to receiving probate, nine require further information and eight are in the process of consideration.

The Department worked closely with stakeholders in the adult social care sector to ensure the details of the scheme were made as widely available as possible. This included cascading the information to employers through provider representatives, and also through the Care Quality Commission.

10th Jul 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government on what dates any guidance on COVID-19 was issued to care homes by (1) Public Health England, (2) the Care Quality Commission, and (3) any other public body, between 1 February and 30 June; and whether any such guidance has been made available to Parliament.

Public Health England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the Department have all published guidance relevant to care homes.

Due to the fast-moving situation with the pandemic, all guidance has been published online in order to reach target audiences quickly. The CQC has also released their guidance through a regular weekly bulletin.

A table listing the guidance with dates of issue, and showing those documents shared with Parliamentarians, is attached due to the size of the data.

10th Jul 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what review arrangements are in place to assess whether care homes’ access to personal protective equipment, including masks, meets their requirements; and what national schemes are in place to ensure an adequate supply of such equipment to care homes (1) now, and (2) in the future.

During this unprecedented global outbreak, we have kept our social care guidance under constant review and have been working tirelessly with the sector to reduce transmission and save lives. The Government is fully committed to ensuring care homes feel confident in their personal protective equipment (PPE) supply. We are now confident in the stocks and sources of supply of PPE to meet the needs of health and social care over the next seven and 90 days.

More widely, in the long term, we have set out a comprehensive action plan to support the adult social care sector throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. This has included £3.2 billion of funding for councils and providing millions of items of PPE.

10th Jul 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government to publish the latest waiting times for key NHS hospital diagnostic tests, including (1) MRI, (2) CAT, and (3) ultrasound, scans; and the equivalent figures for (a) six, and (b) 12, months previously.

Data for median waiting times for MRI, CT and Non-obstetric Ultrasound tests is provided in the following tables. It should be noted that all data is provisional and subject to review.

Data provided is between the months of May 2020 – May 2019 this is the most recent data available as collection and reporting has a two-month delay.

MRI

Date

Waiting time median (weeks)

May 2020

7.7

April 2020

6.5

March 2020

3.1

February 2020

2.1

January 2020

1.9

December 2019

2.6

November 2019

2.0

October 2019

2.1

September 2019

1.9

August 2019

2.2

July 2019

2.1

June 2019

2.0

May 2019

2.2

CT

Date

Waiting time median (weeks)

May 2020

4.7

April 2020

5.3

March 2020

2.6

February 2020

1.8

January 2020

1.6

December 2019

2.3

November 2019

1.7

October 2019

1.8

September 2019

1.7

August 2019

1.8

July 2019

1.8

June 2019

1.7

May 2019

1.9

Non-obstetric ultrasound

Date

Waiting time median (weeks)

May 2020

7.8

April 2020

6.4

March 2020

3.0

February 2020

2.0

January 2020

1.8

December 2019

2.6

November 2019

1.9

October 2019

2.1

September 2019

2.0

August 2019

2.3

July 2019

2.2

June 2019

2.1

May 2019

2.2

10th Jul 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what extra funding has been made available in 2020 to (1) GPs, (2) NHS community health services, and (3) Public Health England, to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public safety remains the Government’s top priority and the Chancellor of the Exchequer has been clear from the outset that the National Health Service will get whatever funding it needs to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

£31.9 billion of support for healthcare was set out in the summer economic update. This includes over £15 billion for personal protective equipment (PPE), and £10 billion for NHS Test and Trace. The Government has also confirmed a further package of £3 billion for the NHS as part of the COVID-19 recovery strategy, covering support for winter. The total level of funding that is needed may change further.

Details on a funding package for general practitioners (GPs) of nearly £200 million have been confirmed. This covers the legitimate additional costs of the response borne by GP practices due to the pandemic. NHS providers are currently able to claim for COVID-19 costs retrospectively under the temporary finance regime that has been put in place until the end of September. This is operating at trust/foundation trust level rather than for specific services such as community health services. Allocations totalling an additional £2.7 billion are then being made available to local systems for the rest of the year. Funding specific to Public Health England forms part of the NHS Test and Trace budget and the PPE budget the specific distribution to PHE is currently being agreed.

3rd Jun 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many COVID-19 tests are currently being completed each week in (1) NHS and other public sector, and (2) private, laboratories.

To provide a more comprehensive response to a number of outstanding Written Questions, this has been answered by an information factsheet Testing – note for House of Lords which is attached, due to the size of the data. A copy has also been placed in the Library

3rd Jun 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether NHS patients will be able to obtain through their GPs a test to establish if they have COVID-19 as part of their NHS primary care services; and if so, when.

With the support of NHS England, we have been piloting COVID-19 swab testing in a small number of general practices around the United Kingdom. The aim was to improve access to testing by enabling general practitioners to test symptomatic patients who present to general practice settings, when deemed it clinically appropriate, for example for some patients who are vulnerable and may otherwise struggle to access a test through the main testing routes.

2nd Jun 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the capacity of beds that are fully staffed, funded and available for use by patients in each of the Nightingale hospitals in England; what have been the occupancy levels of these hospitals since their opening; and how many (1) doctors, and (2) nurses, are currently employed in each of these hospitals.

The available capacity and staffing of the Nightingale hospitals is decided locally by National Health Service trusts and varies over time based on demand. At present, the Nightingale hospitals are on standby but are ready to be stood up if needed. The continued future use of the Nightingale hospitals is currently under consideration.

The Government has stated that the NHS will get what it needs in terms of funding during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of patients admitted to each of the Nightingale Hospitals is not available in the format requested. Admission data for COVID-19 patients is published online by NHS England and NHS Improvement at trust level but not for individual hospitals.

2nd Jun 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any of the Nightingale hospitals in England are being used for (1) inpatient, or (2) outpatient, treatment of patients with (a) cancer, or (b) cardiac conditions, whose treatment had been delayed due to COVID-19.

The development of the Nightingale hospitals was a response to an unprecedented challenge as they provided extra capacity to manage surges in demand due to COVID-19.

To provide additional capacity for the National Health Service the Nightingale hospitals have been flexed to respond to changing demand and it was recently announced that Harrogate and Exeter Nightingale hospitals are to be used to increase diagnostic capacity in a COVID-19 free environment. Regions and host trusts will continue to consider future use and the Nightingales will be an important part of ensuring the NHS has the capacity required at this time and in the coming months.

2nd Jun 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many patients from (1) nursing homes, or (2) care homes, have been transferred to Nightingale hospitals in England since these hospitals were opened.

The information requested is not collected centrally.

2nd Jun 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is an NHS tariff price for COVID-19 pathology tests; if so, what is their price; and if not, how are these tests priced.

To provide a more comprehensive response to a number of outstanding Written Questions, this has been answered by an information factsheet Testing – note for House of Lords which is attached, due to the size of the data. A copy has also been placed in the Library

19th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many care homes have reported a suspected outbreak of symptomatic or confirmed COVID-19 since 15 March; and whether those outbreaks were reported to the Care Quality Commission.

Data on outbreaks are published weekly on COVID-19: number of outbreaks in care homes – management information data set. The latest published analysis from 21 May provides data on outbreaks between 2 March until 17 May 2020 and shows that 5,876 care homes in England have reported an outbreak of suspected or confirmed COVID-19. The latest weekly update and summary report are attached.

Public Health England has shared a care home situation report which provides data on outbreaks with the Care Quality Commission on a daily basis since 1 April 2020.

19th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) what instructions were given to NHS acute hospital trusts on, or around, 15 March about discharging patients to make beds available for COVID-19 patients; (2) how many beds in total the NHS in England was trying to make available; (3) which organisation issued the instructions; (4) following these instructions, (a) what proportion of patients were discharged to nursing or care homes, and (b) what proportion of those patients were tested for COVID-19 before discharge; and (5) what advance information and guidance was given to care homes about this mass discharge from acute hospitals.

On 19?March 2020, the Department and the National Health Service co-published COVID-19 Hospital Discharge Service Requirements,?setting out guidance on supporting the safe discharge of patients who no longer need acute care. A copy of this guidance is attached.

The guidance also sets out the steps that care providers should be taking and we provided £1.3 billion to support the process. We have provided advice to care homes throughout the pandemic in response to the latest conditions and emerging evidence.

The COVID-19 hospital discharge service requirements were expected to help free up 15,000 hospital beds across England.

On 2 June, NHS England published an analysis on discharges to care homes. This data was not previously available. The data showed that the proportion of people discharged to care homes, nursing homes and hospices between 15 March and 16 April was 2.8%.

A small number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 may be discharged from the NHS within the 14-day period from the onset of COVID-19 symptoms and also require ongoing social care. If a care home provider does not feel they can provide the appropriate care for these individuals, the individual’s local authority should secure alternative appropriate accommodation and care for the remainder of the required isolation period.

19th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what communication they have had with individual nursing and care homes about emergency sources of supplies of personal protective equipment since 15 March; whether the Care Quality Commission was involved in any such communications; and whether a lack of personal protective equipment for staff during a pandemic is grounds for questioning a care home’s Care Quality Commission registration.

Every Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered provider received at least 300 face masks in mid-March to meet a spike in demand for personal protective equipment (PPE). Providers can contact their Local Resilience Forum (LRF) if they are unsuccessful in obtaining PPE and can request an emergency PPE pack through the National Supply Disruption Response system if they cannot access PPE through their LRF. The CQC has disseminated guidance and information on PPE from central Government to the health and social care sectors and has engaged social care stakeholders to check understanding and provide clarity. The CQC’s Emergency Support Framework also considers issues arising out of a lack of PPE. Any enforcement action, which could impact on a provider’s registration, is balanced against wider pressures including obtaining PPE.

19th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that their extra funding for care homes announced since 15 March has arrived in the bank accounts of care homes; and what consideration they have given to transferring such funding direct to care homes.

The Government has taken significant steps to provide financial support for public services during COVID-19, including making £3.2 billion available to local authorities so they can address pressures on local services caused by the pandemic, including in adult social care. To improve transparency, local authorities should also publish on their websites the support they are offering to providers of residential and domiciliary care services, as well as any other social care services they are supporting. We have asked for these to be published by 29 May 2020.

Furthermore, on 15 May we published details of an additional £600 million Infection Control Fund for Adult Social Care to support adult social care providers in England reduce the rate of transmission in and between care homes and to support workforce resilience. The Government will continue to monitor pressures in the National Health Service and local government and will keep future funding under review.

19th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the scheme for paying £60,000 to families of NHS staff who died in the COVID-19 pandemic will apply to families of care home staff who died in the pandemic.

The Government has launched a life assurance scheme for frontline National Health Service and social care staff. The scheme is non-contributory and pays a £60,000 lump sum where staff who had been recently working where personal care is provided to individuals who have contracted COVID-19 die as a result of the virus.

Care home staff are eligible, providing that their work requires them to be present in frontline settings where COVID-19 is present, and that they are employed by an organisation registered by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide social care services.

Furthermore, any social care staff working in non-CQC registered settings are also eligible, if their employer receives public funding.

19th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance about COVID-19 has been given to supported living facilities since 15 March to enable residents and staff of such facilities to be protected; and how many residents of such facilities have died or are suspected to have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

Previously, Public Health England published guidance for supported living providers. This was withdrawn on 13 May and updated guidance for the sector is being developed.

Guidance on the provision of home care was published on 22 May and is available in an online only format at GOV.UK. This may also be relevant to supported living settings where domiciliary care is provided.

The Care Quality Commission advised that it is not possible to isolate death notifications where providers register for multiple service types. Therefore, they have analysed deaths reported by providers who are registered to provide supported living services only.

Between 10 April and 15 May 2020, there were 39 deaths notified - 18 of which have been COVID-19 related, whether suspected or confirmed. It is important to note that this may not offer a complete picture of all deaths in supported living settings.

23rd Apr 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will cite the scientific and public health evidence that they used to justify the blanket restriction on the movement of people with no underlying health conditions outside their own homes; and what consideration they gave to the alternative of introducing measures to ensure people without underlying health conditions maintained social distancing and wore personal protective equipment to prevent infection to themselves and others but were otherwise free to move as they desired.

The Government has published the scientific evidence supporting its action on social distancing. In the document, Potential effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions on a COVID-19 epidemic in the UK 26 February 2020, the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling assessed four different response options. It outlined that social distancing for 13 weeks could reduce the peak by up to 50-60%, showing that this measure would have the largest impact than the other proposed measures in containing the outbreak. A copy of Potential effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions on a COVID-19 epidemic in the UK 26 February 2020 is attached.

The Government continues to be led by the evidence in our response to COVID-19. Following the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies’ advice, we think there will be some benefit for people wearing face coverings for epidemiological reasons and for giving people confidence as we return to work.

We will set out plans soon on what role face coverings may have as we look towards easing any lockdown measures.

22nd Apr 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government on what date they first requested help from the British Healthcare Trades Association to obtain personal protective equipment, and other equipment, needed as a result of COVID-19; and what action has been agreed as a result of their discussions with that Association.

The Department meets with a number of trade associations, including the British Healthcare Trades Association, on a weekly basis. There have been regular discussions at these meetings on the challenges of responding to COVID-19. The Government issued a ‘call to arms’ for industry partners and other manufacturers to respond through a central hub for COVID-19 support. So far, we have received over 12,000 offers of support.

27th Feb 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Bethell (HL Deb, cols 248 and 253), what measure of inflation they used in the cash figures for the four financial years included in the NHS Funding Bill.

Under the NHS Funding Bill 2019-20, the Government commits to increase investment in the National Health Service in the years to 2023-24 (compared with 2018-19) by £33.9 billion in cash terms.

At the time the NHS settlement was confirmed in January 2019, real terms growth calculations used the GDP Deflator forecasts, as set out in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook in October 2018.

The NHS funding settlement was fixed in cash terms and it is these cash budgets that underpin the NHS Long Term Plan.

27th Feb 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Bethell (HL Deb, cols 248 and 253), whether (1) NHS Trusts with loans will have to repay those loans or service them from the cash figures in the NHS Funding Bill, (2) new loans will be available from those cash figures for Trusts in financial difficulty, and (3) the new financing framework promised for 2020–21 will be published before the start of the financial year.

The National Health Service is funded through the NHS funding settlement for finance costs on loans drawn from the Department. Individual trusts are, therefore, expected to finance loan repayments from either their internal resources or surplus cash generated from operating activities. Those cash reserves are ultimately financed by the NHS funding settlement.

Loans are provided to trusts from the Department’s own cash limit set as part of HM Treasury Parliamentary Supply Estimates that are presented to and voted upon by Parliament. The NHS is expected to achieve financial balance within the figures set out in the NHS Funding Bill and that includes covering any deficits associated with loans that have been provided.

As explained in the NHS planning guidance dated January 2020, we are considering whether reforms to the cash regime might be appropriate and will provide further detail on this ahead of 2020-21. The following table shows loans issued to trusts in difficulty in the current financial year until 31 December 2019.

Interim revenue support

Interim capital support

NHS trusts

£830 million

£70 million

NHS foundation trusts

£630 million

£120 million

Total

£1,460 million

£190 million

27th Feb 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding they have provided to the NHS for the 2020–21 financial year for tackling the £6.5 billion backlog in building maintenance.

Part of National Health Service capital expenditure by NHS organisations is self-financed and used to address their operational capital requirements, including backlog maintenance rather than through funding that has been centrally allocated. The extent of spend on backlog is dependent on local operational planning which is currently underway.

Additionally, some backlog maintenance will be tackled through the larger transformational capital programmes by replacement of old run-down estate with new facilities. Since 2017, the Government has announced over 170 Sustainability and Transformation Plan capital schemes amounting to around £3.3 billion, including the 20 hospital upgrades announced in August 2019. In addition, as part of the Health Infrastructure Plan launched in September 2019, the Government announced £2.8 billion funding to back its commitment to build 40 new hospitals. However, while these programmes will often address significant backlog maintenance the related funding element is not separately identified.

27th Feb 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of loans to NHS Trusts in financial difficulty at the end of the current financial year.

The National Health Service is funded through the NHS funding settlement for finance costs on loans drawn from the Department. Individual trusts are, therefore, expected to finance loan repayments from either their internal resources or surplus cash generated from operating activities. Those cash reserves are ultimately financed by the NHS funding settlement.

Loans are provided to trusts from the Department’s own cash limit set as part of HM Treasury Parliamentary Supply Estimates that are presented to and voted upon by Parliament. The NHS is expected to achieve financial balance within the figures set out in the NHS Funding Bill and that includes covering any deficits associated with loans that have been provided.

As explained in the NHS planning guidance dated January 2020, we are considering whether reforms to the cash regime might be appropriate and will provide further detail on this ahead of 2020-21. The following table shows loans issued to trusts in difficulty in the current financial year until 31 December 2019.

Interim revenue support

Interim capital support

NHS trusts

£830 million

£70 million

NHS foundation trusts

£630 million

£120 million

Total

£1,460 million

£190 million

27th Feb 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to monitor progress by NHS England in the delivery of its Long Term Plan for the NHS against the cash figures in the NHS Funding Bill; whether those arrangements will identify specific progress in relation to mental health services and community health services, including the deployment of additional staff; and what plans they have to keep Parliament and the public informed on progress in delivering the Long Term Plan.

We have agreed a number of headline metrics against which progress on delivering the NHS Long Term Plan will be measured. NHS England published these headline metrics along with initial proposals for the specific measures to underpin them in July 2019. The metrics and proposed measures include real spend on primary and community health services, as well as on mental health services, rolling out community services response times, and the number of adults and children accessing mental health services.

We are working with NHS England and NHS Improvement to finalise the underpinning measures. Both metrics and the measures will be embedded in the Government’s statutory mandate to NHS England from 2020-21, and performance against them will therefore be reflected in the Government’s annual assessment of NHS England’s performance which includes performance against the mandate. Both the mandate and the annual assessment will be laid in Parliament and published.

25th Feb 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to ensure that social care workers doing equivalent jobs to NHS workers are paid equivalent rates.

The majority of social care in England is delivered by private companies. It is a matter for those employers to determine the rate of pay for their staff, including social care workers. The National Minimum Wage is the legal minimum employers must pay their workers. In addition, local authorities, as commissioners of adult social care were given market shaping duties by the Care Act 2014 and must work with care providers to determine a fair rate of pay for fair work based on local market conditions.

The relative levels of pay in the National Health Service and social care are kept under frequent review.

25th Feb 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the costs of aligning the pay of NHS and social care workers.

The majority of social care in England is delivered by private companies. It is a matter for those employers to determine the rate of pay for their staff, including social care workers. The National Minimum Wage is the legal minimum employers must pay their workers. In addition, local authorities, as commissioners of adult social care were given market shaping duties by the Care Act 2014 and must work with care providers to determine a fair rate of pay for fair work based on local market conditions.

The relative levels of pay in the National Health Service and social care are kept under frequent review.

25th Feb 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the level of unmet and partially-met need within adult social care, and (2) the cost of addressing that need in 2024–25.

The Department has made no assessment of unmet and partially met need within adult social care. Therefore, it has made no assessment of cost of any unmet or partially met need for 2024-25.

This Government has enshrined in legislation, through the Care Act 2014, councils’ statutory responsibility to meet eligible needs. This eliminates the postcode lottery of eligibility across England.

25th Feb 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the stability of the adult social care provider market.

We are pleased that 84% of adult social care providers are rated as good or outstanding by the Care Quality Commission (February 2020).

However, we know the social care sector is under pressure due to growing need for care. We are providing councils with a £1 billion grant for adults and children’s social care on top of maintaining £2.5 billion of existing social care grants for 2020/21.

Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the care needs of their populations, and to develop and build local market capacity. This funding will support local authorities to meet rising demand and continue to stabilise the social care system.

25th Feb 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford on 28 January (HL489), how many places in care or nursing homes the NHS funded in the last financial year for which figures are available; what was the total expenditure incurred; and how many homes were involved.

The Adult Social Care Activity and Finance Report for 2018/19 shows that, in that year, from the potential clients who applied for adult social care packages, 14,030 received a package that was 100% funded by the National Health Service. There are likely to be other packages that are funded in part by the NHS, but this information is not held centrally.

Information on the overall expenditure of the NHS on care home placements and the homes concerned is not held centrally.

28th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the expenditure at constant prices of the Better Care Fund for each financial year since its inception; what is the expected expenditure of that Fund in the current year; and what is the forecast expenditure for financial year 2020/21.

The total expenditure through the Better Care Fund (BCF) from 2015-16 to 2018-19 in nominal and constant prices is set out in the following table. This includes National Health Service clinical commissioning group (CCG) contributions, the Disabled Facilities Grant, the improved BCF and additional voluntary NHS and local government contributions.

In 2019-20, the BCF will be a minimum of £6.422 billion in nominal prices. This excludes voluntary contributions, which were over £2 billion in 2018-19.

For 2020-21, the 2019 Spending Round announced that the NHS CCG minimum allocations would continue into 2020-21 with a real-terms increase of 3.4%, and that the improved Better Care Fund would be maintained at flat cash.

Total BCF Contribution

Nominal prices

2018/19 prices

2015/16

£5.3 billion

£5.7 billion

2016/17

£5.9 billion

£6.1 billion

2017/18

£7.3 billion

£7.5 billion

2018/19

£7.7 billion

£7.7 billion

28th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have commissioned any independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the Better Care Fund in (1) improving the discharge of patients from acute hospitals and (2) reducing pressure on local authority adult social care budgets.

The Policy Research Unit on Quality and Outcomes of Person-Centred Care (QORU) was commissioned by the Department to carry out a system’s level evaluation of the Better Care Fund (BCF) covering its first year in 2015/16. A system-level evaluation of the Better Care Fund: Final Report was published in 2018, a copy of which is attached.

QORU found that areas which spent more BCF money per person had fewer delayed transfers of care than areas with low spending and concluded that the BCF reduced delays. The evaluation also found that local areas planned to spend a quarter of their BCF funding on maintaining social care services in 2015/16, underlining the contribution that the BCF makes to maintaining social care expenditure.

We continue to monitor and evaluate the BCF, to inform our approach to the Fund going forward. Last year, 93% of local areas agreed that joint working had improved as a result of the BCF.

28th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimates they have made of the proportion of patients in acute hospital wards in England that are there inappropriately because of the absence of adult social care services; what the annual cost of such patients is to the NHS; and what plans they have to reduce such proportions and costs.

The information is not available in the format requested.

28th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average daily cost of a bed in (1) an acute hospital ward; (2) a nursing home; and (3) a residential care home, in England in the latest financial year for which information is available.

The average daily costs of a bed in an acute hospital ward and in a care home setting are calculated differently and come from different sources, so are not directly comparable.

28th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many contracts were handed back to local authorities in England in the financial years (1) 2017/18, (2) 2018/19, and (3) 2019/20 by (a) nursing homes, (b) residential care homes, and (c) domiciliary care organisations; and which local authorities were involved.

This information is not collected centrally.

28th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to stabilise the funding of the adult social care sector in England in order to enable the agreement of a long-term funding plan for that sector.

We are providing councils with access to an additional £1.5 billion for adults and children’s social care in 2020/21. This includes an additional £1 billion of grant funding for adults and children’s social care, and a proposed 2% precept that will enables councils to access a further £500 million for adult social care. This £1.5 billion is on top of maintaining £2.5 billion of existing social care grants and will support local authorities to meet rising demand and continue to stabilise the social care system.

Putting social care on a sustainable footing, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, is one of the biggest challenges we face as a society. The Government will bring forward a plan for social care this year.

15th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement all sections of Part 1 of the Care Act 2014; and whether the proposals of the Dilnot Commission will be taken into account in their future plans for funding adult social care.

Putting social care on a sustainable footing, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, is one of the biggest challenges we face as a society. The Government will bring forward a plan for social care this year. There are complex questions to address, which is why we will seek to build cross-party consensus. We will consider all options available to ensure that every person is treated with dignity and offered the security they deserve, and that nobody needing care is forced to sell their home to pay for it.

15th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to transfer responsibility for the funding provision of nursing home care to the NHS.

The Government has no current plans to transfer responsibility for the funding provision of nursing home care to the National Health Service.

The NHS already provides NHS-funded nursing care. This is funding for care homes which supports the provision of nursing care by registered nurses to individuals who are assessed as eligible for funded nursing care.

15th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) nursing homes, and (2) nursing home beds, were registered with the Care Quality Commission at the end of September in the financial years from 2015/16 to 2019/20.

The following table shows the number of nursing homes registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) along with the number of nursing home beds, between 2015 and 2019.

Active at

Number of nursing homes

Number of beds

30 September 2015

4,515

219,733

30 September 2016

4,446

218,972

30 September 2017

4,436

220,317

30 September 2018

4,440

222,216

30 September 2019 1

4,379

221,283

Source: CQC database as at 16 January 2020.

Notes:

1The data is as at 16 January 2020.

All other data is as at 1 April 2019.

‘Nursing homes’ are defined as locations with the service type of 'care home service with nursing'.

15th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to allocate funds over the next four financial years for the increase of "step down care" nursing home beds to relieve pressure on acute care hospitals and adult social care services.

The Care Act 2014 placed a duty on councils to offer a meaningful choice of services, so that people have a range of high quality, appropriate care options to choose from and that they get the services that best meet their needs. Decisions on how to allocate funding to comply with this duty are for councils.

We are also providing councils with an additional £1 billion of grant funding for adults and children’s social care, on top of maintaining £2.5 billion of existing social care grants next year. In addition, the Government has proposed a 2% precept that will enable councils to access a further £500 million for adult social care.

22nd Apr 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what penalties a police officer can impose on an individual over 70 years old, who has no underlying health conditions and adheres to other government social distancing guidance, who leaves their home to visit family members during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The powers to restrict individual movements are contained in the Health Protection Regulations 2020, under the Public Health Act 1984, which was certified as Human Rights Act compliant by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Rt Hon Matt Hancock.

The penalties for those who do not comply apply to anyone aged 18 and over. If members of the public do not comply with these new measures, then the police response will follow the 4 Es approach – engaging, explaining, encouraging, and then, as a last resort, enforcing, including through issuing fixed penalty notices and dispersing gatherings.

Baroness Williams of Trafford
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
22nd Apr 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what specific legislative provisions are in use currently to curb the movement outside their own homes by people aged over 70; and whether that legislation is considered as compatible with the Human Rights Act 1998 and has been certified as such by a Minister of the Crown.

The powers to restrict individual movements are contained in the Health Protection Regulations 2020, under the Public Health Act 1984, which was certified as Human Rights Act compliant by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Rt Hon Matt Hancock.

The penalties for those who do not comply apply to anyone aged 18 and over. If members of the public do not comply with these new measures, then the police response will follow the 4 Es approach – engaging, explaining, encouraging, and then, as a last resort, enforcing, including through issuing fixed penalty notices and dispersing gatherings.

Baroness Williams of Trafford
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
25th Feb 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to involve councils in decisions about reform of the immigration system in relation to the adult social care workforce.

The Government published details of the new UK’s Points Based System on 19 February.

A comprehensive programme of communication and engagement will be launched this month, focusing on users and key sectors. It will involve relevant stakeholders, including local authorities.

Baroness Williams of Trafford
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
30th Sep 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is permitted for up to 15 people to attend a humanist wedding; and if so, whether they have plans to clarify rules for marriages and civil ceremonies.

Humanist wedding ceremonies can take place at this time with 15 people present. This is also the case for marriages and civil ceremonies.

15th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their planned increase in expenditure in the 2020/21 financial year, at 2019/20 prices, on (1) adult, and (2) children's, social care.

It is for local authorities to determine their spending on social care. The Government is providing councils with access to an additional £1.5 billion for adults and children’s social care in 2020/21. This includes an additional £1 billion of grant funding for adult and children’s social care, on top of maintaining £2.5 billion of existing social care grants. The Government has proposed a 2 per cent precept that will enable councils to access a further £500 million for adult social care specifically.

Viscount Younger of Leckie
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
15th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much was spent at constant prices on (1) adult, and (2) children's social care, in each financial year from 2009/10 to 2018/19; and what is the estimated expenditure for the 2019/20 financial year.

Local authority expenditure on children’s social care between 2014/15 and 2018/19 in constant prices is published in table 1b here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2018-to-2019-final-outturn. Due to significant changes to local authorities’ responsibilities in 2014 it is not possible to compare expenditure before and after this date. Expenditure for the years 2009/10 to 2013/14 is published (attached) here https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing#2013-to-2014

Expenditure for adult social care between 2010/11 and 2018/19 is published here https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/adult-social-care-activity-and-finance-report/2018-19/appendix-b-final. This data includes Better Care Fund income from the NHS and other historic transfers, as detailed in the report. The same information is presented in constant prices in the table below.

Year

Real terms expenditure (18-19 prices)

2009-10

£18.39bn

2010-11

£18.50bn

2011-12

£17.58bn

2012-13

£17.01bn

2013-14

£16.86bn

2014-15

£16.63bn

2015-16

£17.15bn

2016-17

£17.39bn

2017-18

£17.49bn

2018-19

£17.92bn

Local authorities’ budgeted expenditure for both adults and children’s social care in 2019/20 is published (attached) here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/812505/Local_Authority_Revenue_Expenditure_and_Financing_2019-20_Budget__England.pdf This data excludes Better Care Fund income and so is not comparable to the data above.

Viscount Younger of Leckie
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)