Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which (1) NHS trusts, and (2) ambulance trusts, currently have UK armed forces deployed to them; and how many personnel are deployed to each trust.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The information on National Health Service trusts which have requested and received support from the armed forces is not held in the format requested. However, the following table shows the number of Military Aid to Civilian Authorities applications made by NHS England and the number of rejected applications in each month in 2021. Data for December 2021 is not yet available therefore we are unable to provide the information requested on the number of personnel currently deployed to all NHS trusts.
| Military Aid to Civilian Authorities applications from NHS England | Number of rejected applications |
January | 32 | 2 |
February | 14 | 0 |
March | 2 | 0 |
April | 1 | 0 |
May | 1 | 0 |
June | 1 | 0 |
July | 1 | 0 |
August | 3 | 0 |
September | 0 | 0 |
October | 0 | 0 |
November | 2 | 0 |
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many NHS trusts have requested support from the UK armed forces in every month of 2021 so far; which NHS trusts made such requests; and of those that made such requests, which ones were (1) successful, and (2) rejected.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The information on National Health Service trusts which have requested and received support from the armed forces is not held in the format requested. However, the following table shows the number of Military Aid to Civilian Authorities applications made by NHS England and the number of rejected applications in each month in 2021. Data for December 2021 is not yet available therefore we are unable to provide the information requested on the number of personnel currently deployed to all NHS trusts.
| Military Aid to Civilian Authorities applications from NHS England | Number of rejected applications |
January | 32 | 2 |
February | 14 | 0 |
March | 2 | 0 |
April | 1 | 0 |
May | 1 | 0 |
June | 1 | 0 |
July | 1 | 0 |
August | 3 | 0 |
September | 0 | 0 |
October | 0 | 0 |
November | 2 | 0 |
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many referrals Operation Courage received in (1) June, (2) July, and (3) August.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Operation Courage has a recurrent annual budget of £17.6 million. This will increase to £18.5 million per year following the £2.7 million of additional funding. Discussions are ongoing between NHS England and Operation Courage providers on the number of care co-ordinators which can be appointed and when this will take effect. Referrals to Operation Courage in June 2021 were 437; 363 in July; and 362 to 28 August.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when care co-ordinators will be appointed as a result of the £2.7 million funding increase for Operation Courage.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Operation Courage has a recurrent annual budget of £17.6 million. This will increase to £18.5 million per year following the £2.7 million of additional funding. Discussions are ongoing between NHS England and Operation Courage providers on the number of care co-ordinators which can be appointed and when this will take effect. Referrals to Operation Courage in June 2021 were 437; 363 in July; and 362 to 28 August.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many care co-ordinators will be appointed as a result of the £2.7 million funding increase for Operation Courage.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Operation Courage has a recurrent annual budget of £17.6 million. This will increase to £18.5 million per year following the £2.7 million of additional funding. Discussions are ongoing between NHS England and Operation Courage providers on the number of care co-ordinators which can be appointed and when this will take effect. Referrals to Operation Courage in June 2021 were 437; 363 in July; and 362 to 28 August.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the annual budget for Operation Courage (1) before, and (2) after, the £2.7 million funding increase.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Operation Courage has a recurrent annual budget of £17.6 million. This will increase to £18.5 million per year following the £2.7 million of additional funding. Discussions are ongoing between NHS England and Operation Courage providers on the number of care co-ordinators which can be appointed and when this will take effect. Referrals to Operation Courage in June 2021 were 437; 363 in July; and 362 to 28 August.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what the timeframe is for the £2.7 million funding increase for Operation Courage.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Operation Courage has a recurrent annual budget of £17.6 million. This will increase to £18.5 million per year following the £2.7 million of additional funding. Discussions are ongoing between NHS England and Operation Courage providers on the number of care co-ordinators which can be appointed and when this will take effect. Referrals to Operation Courage in June 2021 were 437; 363 in July; and 362 to 28 August.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to review the adequacy of mental health services provided by (a) local authorities and (b) mental health trusts; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The NHS Long Term Plan sets out how we will reform services over the next ten years, including mental health services. The NHS Long Term Plan Implementation Framework requires sustainability and transformation partnership (STP) areas and integrated care systems to develop five-year plans (‘system plans’) this year, setting out how they will deliver the Long Term Plan commitments up to 2023/24.
NHS England and NHS Improvement regions will play the primary role in supporting systems with the development of their five-year plans. These regions, working with national colleagues, will assure the robustness of local plans against the Long Term Plan’s mental health ambitions.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance her Department issues to local authorities on the level of fees charged by social care providers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Care Act 2014 placed duties on local authorities to shape their local markets so that there is an adequate supply of provision which ensures all adult social care service users have a choice of high-quality services. In the case of state-funded care, local authorities negotiate with care providers to achieve a balance of quality, effectiveness and value for money for the public purse.
The level of fees charged to people who fund their own care is a private contractual matter.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance he has issued to local authorities on awarding social care contracts; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Commissioning social care is a matter for local authorities who are best placed to understand the needs of local people and communities, and how to meet them
The Department supports local authorities to commission social care by funding a number of sector-led improvement activities. These are delivered in partnership with the Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and offer all local areas support in meeting the challenges of adult social care delivery
We also fund the Social Care Institute for Excellence and Think Local, Act Personal to create best practice digital guidance about commissioning and to promote the principles of co-production and personalisation within social care commissioning.