Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 reduce waiting times for joint replacement surgery in Gosport constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission and a top priority for the Government, including waits for joint replacement surgery. We have committed to achieving the NHS Constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by the end of this Parliament. As a first step, we will deliver an additional 2 million operations, scans, and appointments during our first year in Government, which is the equivalent to 40,000 per week.
We are also supporting dedicated and protected surgical hubs to help reduce elective surgery wait times, including for joint replacement, by focusing on high volume low complexity surgeries, as recommended by the Royal College of Surgeons of England, transforming the way the National Health Service provides elective care.
As of November 2024, there are currently 110 operational surgical hubs across England. There are currently two operational surgical hubs within the Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Integrated Care System offering trauma and orthopaedics services, including joint replacement, those being the Lymington Hospital Elective Hub, and the Winchester Country Hospital Elective Hub. Patients in the Gosport constituency can be referred to the two surgical hubs for trauma and orthopaedics services.
The Department and NHS England will set out details on the allocation of further funding at the earliest opportunity, including how many new surgical hubs will be established.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is providing financial resources to integrated care boards to allow them to allocate resources effectively.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department provides funding to NHS England, which in turn allocates a large part of its funding to the integrated care boards. Planned spend by integrated care boards is currently £141 billion for the financial year 2024/25, with boards responsible for the strategic commissioning of services to meet the needs of their local populations.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the level of the bus fare cap on rates of bus travel in Gosport constituency.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In the Budget on 30 October, the government confirmed it will invest over £150 million to introduce a new £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London from 1 January until 31 December 2025. Under the plans of the previous administration, the current £2 cap on bus fares had been due to expire on 31 December 2024, and prior to the Budget, there was no further funding available to maintain the cap beyond this point.
Considering all its impacts, the fare cap is not financially sustainable for taxpayers and bus operators at £2. Capping fares at £3 will keep bus travel affordable while ensuring the cap is fair to taxpayers, helping millions of people access better opportunities, travel for less and protect vital bus routes, including in Gosport.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraph 3.82 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October, how much of the flood resilience funding will be spent in Gosport constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is investing £2.4 billion over this year and next year to improve flood resilience by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences. The list of projects to receive Government funding will be consented over the coming months in the usual way through Regional Flood and Coastal Committees, with local representation.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to develop an acquired brain injury strategy.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government wants a society where every person, including those with a long-term condition such as an acquired brain injury (ABI), receives high-quality, compassionate continuity of care, with their families and carers supported.
We will change the National Health Service so that it becomes not just a sickness service, but one able to prevent ill health in the first place. This will help us be better prepared for the change in the nature of disease and allow our services to focus more on the management of chronic, long-term conditions, like ABIs, including rehabilitation where appropriate.
A decision on the next steps on ABIs at the national level will be taken in the coming months. Meanwhile, we have committed to develop a 10-year plan to deliver an NHS fit for the future. We will be carefully considering input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan over the coming months. The engagement process has been launched and I would encourage my fellow Parliamentarians to engage with that process, to allow us to fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are, including on ABI. More information about how they can input into the plan is available at the following link:
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services such as rehabilitation and reablement services, and ensuring that there is appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their population. The core ICB allocations formula is an estimate of the relative need for healthcare resources in each ICB, and is recommended by an independent committee. The formula includes a range of adjustments that account for the fact that the costs of providing health care may vary between rural and urban areas.
Often, rehabilitation and reablement services don’t provide services exclusively for patients with brain injuries, but also provide rehabilitation for patients with other conditions, such as stroke and Parkinson’s disease. Therefore, it is difficult to quantify the total about of funding that is spent on brain injury reablement services specifically.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of fracture liaison services in Gosport constituency.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the current postcode lottery for access to quality Fracture Liaison Services in constituencies across the country. That is why the Government is committed to their expansion, and the Department is working closely with NHS England on how to ensure better quality and access, including ways to best support local systems.
Fracture Liaison Services are commissioned by integrated care boards who are best placed to make decisions according to local need. The Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme, which includes a dedicated Fracture Liaison Service database, is a national clinical audit of fracture prevention care, delivered by the Royal College of Physicians. This includes reporting on individual Fracture Liaison Services, and supports local and national service improvement.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 improve care for people living with arthritis in Gosport constituency.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Services for those with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including arthritis, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs), including the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB, which covers the Gosport constituency. The Department expects MSK services and fragility fracture to be fully incorporated into local integrated care system planning and decision-making.
At a national level, NHS England is working to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and care of patients with MSK conditions such as arthritis, and increase support for patients with arthritis through its Getting It Right First Time rheumatology programme. In January 2023, NHS England also published an improvement framework to reduce community MSK waits while delivering the best outcomes and experience. This supports integrated care systems to improve timely access to commissioned MSK triage and therapy services.
To support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, and in the provision of services for people living with arthritis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published expert guidance for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, with further information available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng100
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng226
The Department funds research into MSK conditions, including arthritis, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Through the NIHR, the Department spent approximately £26.3 million on MSK research in 2023/24, and £79.2 million since 2019/20. Six NIHR Biomedical Research Centres have MSK conditions as a research theme. In particular, the Leeds Biomedical Research Centre aims to improve treatment for osteoarthritis. The NIHR, in collaboration with Versus Arthritis, also funds a dedicated UK Musculoskeletal Translational Research Collaboration, aligning investment in MSK translational research and creating a United Kingdom-wide ambition and focus to drive cutting edge research and improve outcomes for patients.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to review the cap on Continuity of Education Allowance in (a) 2024/25, (b) 2025/26, (c) 2026/27, (d) 2027/28 and (e) 2028/29.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Rates for the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) are reviewed and calculated on an annual basis to take into account increases in school fees. Rates become effective in August each year, allowing claimants to submit claims before the start of the new academic year in September.
Following the Budget statement by the Chancellor on 30 October 2024, the MOD confirmed that it would carry out an in-year re-rating of CEA. There are no plans to change the current annual CEA rating cycle in subsequent academic years.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how the Connect to Work scheme will support people living with arthritis to remain in employment.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 12 November 2024 to PQ12617
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill: Scope (Premises), updated on 1 November 2024, if she will make an estimate of the number of those premises with (a) 200 to 300, (b) 301 to 400, (c) 401 to 500, (d) 501 to 600, (e) 601 to 700 and (f) 701 to 800 individuals present at any one time.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
Estimates for the capacity of venues are based on a floorspace factor calculation (where no known capacity is available), drawing from ordnance survey data. The breakdown is:
Number of individuals expected at venue | Estimated number of venues in grouping |
200-300 | 62336 |
301-400 | 31787 |
401-500 | 23597 |
501-600 | 13227 |
601-700 | 9031 |
701-800 | 7539 |
As a result of pre-legislative scrutiny, Government made changes to the Bill removing the smallest premises from scope and reducing the number of venues in the standard tier from approximately 278,900 to an estimated 154,600.
In addition, responsible persons will now be able to assess the number of people that may reasonably be expected to be present. This is considered a fairer basis to reflect actual usage of venues.
When considering the appropriate threshold, Government’s concern is to ensure venues where a sizable amount of people gather are in scope, ensuring those responsible are required to take proportionate and reasonable action to mitigate the impacts of a terrorist attack. We are confident that, because of the changes detailed, the Bill strikes an appropriate balance between protecting the public and preventing undue burden on organisations in scope.