Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Catherine West and Edward Argar

Tuesday 27th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

I am grateful to the shadow Minister for her question. She will be aware that Lord Bellamy, whose portfolio covers the family courts, is looking at this issue carefully. Although it is not in my portfolio, I understand that two of the three limbs of the report she mentioned have already been implemented, and we anticipate implementing the final element later this year.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

10. What steps his Department is taking to reform the criminal justice system to help tackle violence against women and girls.

Future of the NHS

Debate between Catherine West and Edward Argar

Monday 31st January 2022 Westminster Hall

[Edward Argar]

As the hon. Lady will know, the former chief executive of the NHS, Lord Stephens, was clearing in saying that the

“overwhelming majority of these proposals are changes that the health service has asked for.”

We should do the right thing by them and by patients. It is the right time for the Bill: it is the right prescription at the right time.

The substance of the petition, which has framed many speeches by hon. Members today, calls for the Government to renationalise the NHS. I have to say that it has never been denationalised. The NHS is and always will be free at the point of use. The Government are committed to safeguarding the principles on which the NHS was created. The hon. Member for Denton and Reddish set that out very clearly. We have no plans for privatisation.

[Catherine West]

Will the Minister give way?

[Edward Argar]

I will make a little progress; if I have time, I will give way to the hon. Lady, with whom I sat on a committee of London councils when we were looking at social care reform way back in 2010.

We all recognise the importance of preserving this great national asset for the future and ensuring that the NHS remains comprehensive and free at the point of use, regardless of income, on the basis of need. The Government remain steadfast in their commitment that the NHS is not, and never will be, for sale to the private sector.

We are determined to embrace innovation and potential where we find it, but that is different from many of the accusations in the speeches we have heard today. I know it is tempting to scaremonger and set out accusations about what this Act does, even when people know better, as I know hon. Members do, but that reflects scaremongering rather than reality. There has always been an element of private provision in healthcare services in this country. Labour Members should know that because, as the Nuffield Trust said in 2019,

“the available evidence suggests the increase”—

in private provision—

“originally began under Labour governments before 2010”.

[Catherine West]

Will the Minister give way?

[Edward Argar]

I will just finish this point and then give way to the hon. Lady. The hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Ian Byrne) made the point, which the hon. Member for Middlesbrough touched on as well, that it is important to look at the extent of the involvement of private sector providers, which accelerated when the Labour party was in power. The hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby talked about the 2012 legislation and “any qualified provider”, but that was not brought in by the 2012 legislation; it was brought in by the Gordon Brown Government in 2009-10, under the term “any willing provider.” The name was changed, but nothing substantive changed from what the Labour Government had introduced in terms of the ability to compete for contracts.

[Edward Argar]

One more sentence and I will give way to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West); then I will try to bring in the hon. Gentleman.

One of the key changes allowing private sector organisations to compete for and run frontline health services came in 2004, again under a Labour Government, when the tendering for provision of out-of-hours services by private companies was allowed.

[Catherine West]

The Minister is being very gracious. How is the Act going to ensure that there is no conflict of interest between private providers who sit on integrated care boards and who then provide services? Are we going to end up with another Randox scandal?

Health and Care Bill

Debate between Catherine West and Edward Argar

Report stage
Monday 22nd November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Health (Edward Argar)]

I am grateful for this evening’s debate. More than once during the passage of the Bill, I have put on the record the Government’s commitment to improving and protecting the public’s health and have paid tribute to the hard work and dedication of our NHS and public health professionals in rising to the greatest infectious disease challenge of modern times. I would again like to put on the record those important points, with which I know Opposition Front Benchers agree.

Our commitment to public health is clear in the Bill, in the proposals set out in the Government’s recently published plan for health and care, “Build Back Better”, and in our wider programme of public health reform. A focus on the prevention of avoidable diseases is a central principle in delivering a sustainable NHS and in levelling up health outcomes across the country.

Childhood obesity is one of the biggest health challenges that this nation faces. The latest data from the national childhood measurement programme revealed that approximately 40% of children leaving primary school in England were overweight or living with obesity.

[Catherine West]

The Minister is being generous in allowing interventions. Is the Bill silent on the challenge around prescriptions for exercise? In an earlier intervention, I mentioned the impact of school swimming. Unfortunately, we are going backwards: fewer 11-year-olds can swim 25 metres—that is just an example. On childhood obesity, we need to address both: not just diet, but exercise.

--- Later in debate ---

[Catherine West]

rose—

[Edward Argar]

We have considered what help people want and when they want it.

--- Later in debate ---

[Edward Argar]

My right hon. Friend is right to highlight that this is talking about personal care costs, so he is right in his point on that.

Did I see the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West) rise earlier?

[Catherine West]

The Minister did indeed. He is being very generous in giving way. A lot of research went into the work by Mr Dilnot some time ago and a very independent assessment was made. Can he explain why, in this clause, he is going away from those recommendations and taking a fresh look at it?

[Edward Argar]

While the hon. Lady and I do not always agree on everything, she asks a perfectly a reasoned and measured question. I pay tribute to Andrew Dilnot’s work on his report. I just happen to think that, on this point, we diverged from what he proposed and we believe that what we are proposing is the right way forward. We have always intended for the cap to apply to what people personally contribute, rather than on the combination of their personal contribution and that of the state. It will mean that people with fewer chargeable assets meter towards the cap more slowly, because they are paying much less each week than people who are entirely self-funding. This amendment will make it simpler to understand the amount that will go towards the cap and make it fairer.

NHS England Funding: Announcement to Media

Debate between Catherine West and Edward Argar

Monday 25th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

We should make sure that general practice is an attractive career for newly qualified doctors wherever they are in the country. I suspect it will be for those individuals joining the profession to determine where they wish to practise, but I suspect my hon. Friend will do a very good job of explaining to them the joys of working in Rother Valley.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

There are very worrying press reports about a lack of midwifery. Can the Minister put his hand on his heart and tell us that every single trust in the country has a safe ratio of staff to women giving birth?

[Edward Argar]

The hon. Lady asks a very important question. Patient safety, including in midwifery and births, is central to what we are about in this Government and in NHS England. That is one reason why we have seen more than 9,000 more nurses, midwives and health visitors recruited, but we need to continue to do more, and we will continue to do so.

Covid-19

Debate between Catherine West and Edward Argar

Tuesday 12th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

It is always a pleasure to hear from my hon. Friend, who is also my friend, in this House, and he raises an extremely important point. I can give him the reassurance that I, other Ministers and particularly the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Nadhim Zahawi), who is leading the vaccine deployment effort, will continue to look at ensuring that every means appropriate is utilised to ensure that people in my hon. Friend’s constituency and across the country get notified when their turn is up, so that they have every opportunity to get that life-saving injection.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

rose—

--- Later in debate ---

[Edward Argar]

I will give way briefly to the hon. Lady, and then to my hon. and gallant Friend.

[Catherine West]

Does the Minister agree with the suggestion that, given that youth unemployment is shooting up, this might be the time for Royal Mail to take on some extra staff to cover those who are off sick? It is crucial that people know when their appointments are so that they do not miss that golden opportunity to get the jab.

[Edward Argar]

I had the pleasure of working with the hon. Lady in a past life before either of us were Members of this House, and she makes a typically sensible suggestion, which I am sure Royal Mail will have heard. I hope that it will reflect carefully on what she has said.