NHS Industrial Action: Government Preparations

Debate between Chris Bryant and Will Quince

Monday 12th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

I do not know where the hon. Lady got the impression that I or anybody else was demonising NHS staff—far from it. The unions have chosen to bring forward this action. As I said, I hugely value and appreciate all NHS staff. That is why we have given them a pay rise this year, on top of the 3% pay award last year, when pay across the wider public sector was frozen.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

I think the Minister knows that there is no clinician in the land who really wants to go on strike. Many clinicians feel that the crisis has been coming for a long time because of the issues around morale and lack of workforce, which I have asked the Minister about on many occasions. He keeps saying that the workforce plan is imminent, but that will not solve the immediate problems.

One nurse said to me the other day that what worries her most is that at any one time, several hundred thousand people in the country are waiting for their test results, particularly in relation to cancer. How will the Minister ensure that people get their cancer results in time to meet all the other cancer plan deadlines?

[Will Quince]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question; I know that he has a particular interest in the matter. We are looking to ensure that as many NHS services as possible continue during strike days. On his broader point about pay settlements, the average pay settlements in the private sector are within the range of 4% to 6%.

[Chris Bryant]

Not in the NHS.

[Will Quince]

Within the private sector it is 4% to 6%. The uplifts strike a careful balance in recognising the huge importance of public sector workers while minimising inflationary pressures and, of course, having an eye on managing the country’s debt.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and Will Quince

Tuesday 6th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

We have record numbers going into general practice, which is the remit of the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough (Neil O’Brien), but part of the plan is to make it more attractive through practice improvement through cloud-based telephony, the additional roles reimbursement scheme, the 24,000 extra staff in primary care, developing multi-function staff so that people can develop their skills and have specialism but still practise as a GP, increasing the use of pharmacy, moving towards more continuity of care and the new GP contract for 2024-25.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

But when are we going to see the workforce plan? The other day I spoke to a radiologist who runs a radiology department. There are meant to be 15, but there are only five and they have not had a single person apply. It needs more radiologists and radiographers. We have a national shortage of dermatologists, which is one reason why skin cancers are not being picked up, and a national shortage of pathologists and histopathologists. We need a dramatic increase in the number of people working in the NHS. When are we going to see that workforce plan?

[Will Quince]

As I said, we have committed to publishing a comprehensive workforce strategy, which, as the Chancellor set out, will be independently verified. That will come soon. We have also set out new pension flexibilities. However, it is important to point out that we have 29,000 more nurses and we are on track to meet our 50,000 target. We have 3,700 more doctors compared with last year, 9,100 extra nurses and 2,300 more GPs.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and Will Quince

Monday 13th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

7. How many people in Wales in receipt of universal credit are in work.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Will Quince)]

In June 2021, there were 107,000 people on universal credit in employment in Wales.

[Chris Bryant]

I do worry about this cut to universal credit of £20 a week. In a constituency such as mine, that is taking £6.5 million out of the local economy. That is going to make it more difficult for local businesses to afford extra staff and more difficult for people to find jobs, so it is a completely counterproductive measure, leaving aside the cruelty of making families struggle on even less money. As I understand it, the Secretary of State said this morning to people who are going to lose the £20 a week, “Well, you just either need to get a better job or work more hours.” Can the Minister explain to us, and to the 2,543 people in the Rhondda who are in employment and on universal credit, how many extra hours at the national minimum living wage they would have to work to get that £20?

[Will Quince]

That of course would depend on their individual circumstances, but to answer the hon. Gentleman’s question, the Government have always been clear that the £20 increase was a temporary measure to support households affected by the economic shock of covid-19. There have been significant positive developments in the public health situation since the uplift was introduced, with the success of the vaccine roll-out, restrictions being lifted and our economy opening up, and now there are more than 1 million live vacancies in our jobs market. I will take one issue with what the hon. Gentleman said: he referred to a cut. A cut would represent savings. There are no savings. What he is proposing is an extra £6 billion to £9 billion, which would need to be raised by taxes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and Will Quince

Monday 7th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that matter. I have not seen the report, so I will go away and dig it out. We have invested £8 million to develop the evidence on what works to support people to progress in work, including enhancing our operational capability to support claimants to make good decisions on job switching.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

The thing is, it is really difficult for many families in my constituency on the minimum wage, as they may have to travel quite substantial distances to be able to work, while having to meet family responsibilities at the same time. They end up not being able to do enough hours to make the whole package add up at the end of the week. How are the Government going to make sure that such families have a chance to provide for themselves? That is all they are trying to do.

[Will Quince]

The statistics show that full-time work reduces substantially the chances of poverty. The absolute poverty rate for children where both parents work full-time is only 4%, compared with 44% where one or more parents are in work, so we need to support more people into work, and we are doing so, for example, by offering 30 hours of free childcare to parents of three and four-year-olds. The national living wage is £8.21, increasing to £10.50 by 2024, and we have taken millions out of paying tax altogether.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Bryant and Will Quince

Monday 1st July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

Without knowing the exact figure, it is too many. My role within the Department, and the role of the Department itself, is to address that. My hon. Friend will know too well that the best route out of poverty is work. That is why our focus is on universal credit. Universal credit is working in terms of getting more people into work, and more people are staying in work.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

The best way out of poverty is probably properly paid work. The real problem for many of my constituents and their children is the fact that they have very low levels of savings, so when somebody loses their job, perhaps because a company closes, the real danger is that when they go on to universal credit they have to wait for five weeks for a payment and have nothing to fall back on. I really do beg the Government to reconsider the issue of the five weeks. The worst possible thing of all is saying, “You can borrow some money”, because suddenly a family ends up in debt, and that is when the children end up not having food unless it comes from a food bank.

[Will Quince]

I recognise the passion with which the hon. Gentleman raises his point, but, in terms of the five-week wait, nobody has to wait for their first payment of universal credit, as 100% of their indicative advance is available on day one. It is interest-free, repayable over 12 months—and, as the Secretary of State has said, that will in future be moving to 16 months. That is available and about 60% of people are currently taking it up.