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, with reference to Alzheimer’s Research UK and the Royal College of Psychiatrists report entitled Are we ready to deliver disease modifying treatments?, published on 26 May 2021, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's findings that 36 per cent of psychiatrists think their services could adapt to deliver a new treatment within a year; and what steps his Department is taking to prepare the NHS for future dementia treatments following the approval of lecanemab in the US.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
NHS England has a proactive national dementia programme in place and is monitoring international trial data with great interest, including studies looking into new ways of more easily diagnosing dementia at an earlier stage.
Any decision on the potential scale of testing infrastructure and workforce to support the administration of new treatments will take account of numerous factors. These include the quality of trial evidence to emerge that supports a future licence in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, and whether it is subsequently determined by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to be a clinically and cost-effective National Health Service treatment option.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with HM Treasury on the below inflation rise in early years funding.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Ministers and officials have regular discussions with HM Treasury on matters relating to early years funding.
On 15 March 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the hourly rates for childcare entitlements will be substantially uplifted, on top of the additional investments announced at the 2021 Spending Review.
The department will provide £204 million of additional funding this year, increasing to £288 million by 2024/5, for local authorities to further increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers, with further uplifts to follow each year. This will include an average of 30% increase in the 2 year old rate from September 2023 and means that in 2024, the average hourly rate for 2 year olds will be more than £8 per hour and around £11 per hour for under 2s. The 3 to 4 year old rate will rise by 4% to over £5.50 per hour from September 2023, with further uplifts beyond this.
This funding is in addition to the £4.1 billion that the government will provide by 2027/28 to facilitate the expansion of the new free hours offer. This will ensure all eligible working parents in England will, by September 2025, be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week, for 38 weeks of the year, from when their child is 9 months old to when they start school.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of potential impact of the high-end television tax relief on (a) levels of drama and comedy production, (b) the UK's creative economy and (c) jobs and talent development.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government recognises the value of the UK’s world leading creative industries and the creative industries tax reliefs help ensure that these sectors remain world-class, projecting our values and influence around the world.
The objective of high-end TV tax relief is to support and incentivise the production of culturally British content. In the year ending March 2022, £397 million of high-end TV tax relief was paid in response to 370 claims, representing 355 programmes.
In November 2022, an evaluation of the film and TV tax reliefs was published. The evaluation can be accessed here: Creative Industry Tax Reliefs Evaluation - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help (a) support the online advertising industry and (b) hold discussions with that industry on designing outcomes for the Online Advertising Programme further to the formal consultation that has already taken place.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
My Department is committed to supporting a thriving advertising industry and works closely with its representatives to ensure the new reforms planned through the Online Advertising Programme (OAP) are proportionate and coherent.
The OAP is designed to ensure a level playing field for businesses by introducing regulation for the most concerning online advertising harms in order to keep UK internet users safe. Increasing transparency and accountability whilst preserving the current system where it is working will help us drive innovation and sustainable growth in the online advertising market.
Regarding the consultation on the OAP, we continue to engage closely with industry including recent ministerial roundtables with key industry stakeholders to discuss progress. We have also secured a delay to the High Fat, Salt or Sugar restrictions until 9 December 2023, to support the advertising industry further and ensure they are sufficiently prepared ahead of implementation.
We will publish a Government response to the OAP consultation in due course, and will continue to engage the industry on the outcomes of the consultation following publication.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing an Education, Health and Care Plan for children who (a) are undergoing and (b) have recently undergone cancer treatment.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
For a child diagnosed with cancer, it is desirable that they continue to attend school if they are well enough, both to maintain their education and for the benefits of being with their friends. This may not always be possible, either on a short- or long-term basis.
Where a child has additional or different needs to those which can be met in mainstream provision, the child is considered to have a special educational need and disability (SEND). Whether or not a child requires an education, health and care (EHC) plan will depend on the nature of their cancer, its treatment and the child’s ability to access education. All EHC plans are tailored to the needs of the individual child and the 2014 SEND Code of Practice 0 to 25 years, sets out how the assessment of the child’s needs should be conducted. Current legislation means that there is adequate provision for a child with cancer to have an EHC plan if they require it to continue their education, even if this is in a setting outside of their usual school.
Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 places a duty on local authorities to make alternative arrangements for children of statutory school age who cannot attend school for any reason. This should be taken into account as part of the child’s EHC plan assessment and reviews so that they can be provided with suitable education in a setting which balances their educational needs and their health condition. For example, home tutoring for a child vulnerable to infection due to cancer treatment.
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, if he will take steps to ensure that additional funding for hospital discharge will be allocated to registered care settings.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The Department has no current plans to provide discharge funding directly to care providers.
The £500 million Adult Social Care Discharge Fund has been distributed to local authorities and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). The funding has been pooled locally into the Better Care Fund, to facilitate joint planning and decision-making across health and care systems. This funding should be used for locally determined measures to reduce delayed discharge, which could include funding care packages in registered care settings.
The additional £200 million funding specifically for short term care is held centrally by NHS England (NHSE) and allocated to ICBs, who may work with registered care settings where that is the most appropriate approach in their circumstances.
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 assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of workforce pressures within the NHS on people living with cancer.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
No specific assessment has been made.
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, if the Government will publish a sustainable and funded plan for the cancer workforce to ensure the training and retention of more healthcare professionals to tackle the Cancer backlog.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Health Education England is implementing the priorities in the Cancer Workforce Plan Phase 1 and is investing an additional £50 million in 2022/23 to further expand the cancer and diagnostics workforce.
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 assessment he has made of the potential impact of increased inflation on (a) his Department's budget and (b) patient care in the NHS.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government is investing an additional £3.3 billion in 2023/24 and 2024/25 to respond to pressures on the National Health Service and improve emergency, elective and primary care. The NHS resource budget in England will increase to £160.4 billion in 2023/24 and £165.9 billion in 2024/25.
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 his plans are for the (a) arrangement and (b) independence of a review into disputes relating to treatment of critically ill children as set out in the Health and Care Act 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Department has commissioned the Nuffield Council on Bioethics to undertake a review into disputes relating to treatment of critically ill children, which will commence on 12 December 2022. The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is an independent charitable body which will be responsible for the design, project management, activities and methods used in the review and its recommendations.