Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of paramedic prescribers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department remains committed to exploring the extension of medicine responsibilities for non-medical professionals, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. This will support the aim that patients are cared for, and treated by, the most appropriate healthcare professional to meet their needs.
Many regulated healthcare professionals have already received extended medicine responsibilities and prescribing rights, and the Department is committed to assessing the impact that these changes have had on patient care. No specific assessment of the impact of the Misuse of Drugs (England, Wales, and Scotland) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulation 2023 has been made so far. The Department is progressing with work to better understand the uptake of current medicine responsibilities, including prescribing responsibilities, for professions such as paramedics.
There is a process in place for making changes to prescribing responsibilities to ensure proposals are safe and beneficial for patients. The Department is carefully considering proposals for the extension of such responsibilities to a range of healthcare professionals, and will review outstanding requests as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of The Misuse of Drugs (England, Wales, and Scotland) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulation 2023 on patient care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department remains committed to exploring the extension of medicine responsibilities for non-medical professionals, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. This will support the aim that patients are cared for, and treated by, the most appropriate healthcare professional to meet their needs.
Many regulated healthcare professionals have already received extended medicine responsibilities and prescribing rights, and the Department is committed to assessing the impact that these changes have had on patient care. No specific assessment of the impact of the Misuse of Drugs (England, Wales, and Scotland) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulation 2023 has been made so far. The Department is progressing with work to better understand the uptake of current medicine responsibilities, including prescribing responsibilities, for professions such as paramedics.
There is a process in place for making changes to prescribing responsibilities to ensure proposals are safe and beneficial for patients. The Department is carefully considering proposals for the extension of such responsibilities to a range of healthcare professionals, and will review outstanding requests as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to expand prescribing rights for controlled drugs by paramedic prescribers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department remains committed to exploring the extension of medicine responsibilities for non-medical professionals, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. This will support the aim that patients are cared for, and treated by, the most appropriate healthcare professional to meet their needs.
Many regulated healthcare professionals have already received extended medicine responsibilities and prescribing rights, and the Department is committed to assessing the impact that these changes have had on patient care. No specific assessment of the impact of the Misuse of Drugs (England, Wales, and Scotland) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulation 2023 has been made so far. The Department is progressing with work to better understand the uptake of current medicine responsibilities, including prescribing responsibilities, for professions such as paramedics.
There is a process in place for making changes to prescribing responsibilities to ensure proposals are safe and beneficial for patients. The Department is carefully considering proposals for the extension of such responsibilities to a range of healthcare professionals, and will review outstanding requests as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025. what estimate she has made of the number of current recipients of Universal Credit health element affected by changes in Universal Credit health rates in (a) Middlesbrough & Thornaby East parliamentary constituency, (b) Middlesbrough local authority, (c) Tees Valley Combined Authority area and (d) the North East; and if she will make an estimate of future recipients of Universal Credit health element affected by changes in Universal Credit health rates in those areas.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the “Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper” will be published in due course, with some information already published alongside the Spring Statement.
However, the OBR does not publish impacts of policies at a more localised level.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the aggregate financial value of the proposed changes to Universal Credit health rates for people in (a) Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency, (b) Middlesbrough Council, (c) Tees Valley Combined Authority area and (d) the North East.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the “Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper” will be published in due course, with some information already published alongside the Spring Statement.
However, the OBR does not publish impacts of policies at a more localised level.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Impacts, published in March 2025, what estimate she has made of the number and proportion of additional people there will be in relative poverty in each Parliamentary constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has yet been made.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she had discussions with disabled people's groups on the introduction of the requirement that claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We urgently need reform to stop people from falling into inactivity, restore trust and fairness in the system and promote the interests of disabled people. This means we need to take decisive action to tackle a situation in which PIP claims are set to double from 2 million to over 4.3 million this decade. We are consulting on how best to support those affected by the changes. We will also consider improvements to the PIP assessment. We will launch a wider review of the PIP indicators, which I shall lead, and we will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.
We will be bringing forward changes in a Bill so Parliament can fully debate and vote on them.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Impacts, published in March 2025, what estimate she has made of the number and proportion of additional people there will be in relative poverty in (a) Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency, (b) Middlesbrough Council, (c) Tees Valley Combined Authority area and (d) the North East.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has yet been made.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the aggregate financial value of the loss of entitlement to Carer's Allowance following proposed changes to entitlement to the Personal Independent Payment for people in (a) Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency, (b) Middlesbrough Council, (c) Tees Valley Combined Authority area and (d) the North East.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has yet been made.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who will no longer qualify for Carer's Allowance following the proposed changes to entitlements to the Personal Independent Payment in (a) Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency, (b) Middlesbrough Council, (c) Tees Valley Combined Authority area and (d) the North East.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has yet been made.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.