Oral Answers to Questions

Chris White Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jeremy Hunt]

I have expressed my concerns on the behalf of patients about some of the things that have been happening, but I respect the fact that it is a matter for this House and its relevant Committee, not for the Government, to deal with. I do have concerns, and it is important that patients have confidence in the ombudsman, because it is a vital, independent avenue to challenge NHS trusts when things go wrong.

[Chris White (Warwick and Leamington) (Con)]

T9. Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating chief executive Glen Burley and the whole team at Warwick hospital on delivering the excellent new orthopaedic ward, which I was honoured to be invited to open? Will he tell the House what support the NHS is being given for similar state-of-the-art facilities across the country?

Manufacturing

Chris White Excerpts

Thursday 24th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)]

Order. I am keen to make sure that every Member who has indicated a wish to speak in this debate—

[Chris White (Warwick and Leamington) (Con)]

rose—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)]

You may sit down, Mr White, as I will not forget you and you do need to know this before you start speaking. I am going to change the time limit, because if we have 10-minute speeches, we will not get everybody in. I am therefore reducing the time limit to eight minutes per Back Bencher from you onwards, Mr White. However, you have the great joy of being called next, so the Floor is yours.

[Chris White (Warwick and Leamington) (Con)]

Thank you very much for that warning, Madam Deputy Speaker.

May I, too, start by thanking the Backbench Business Committee for securing time for this important debate? As co-chair of the Associate Parliamentary Manufacturing Group, alongside my friend the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman), I have a particular interest in this area of policy. I was pleased to hear from earlier speakers who were able to bring their own experience to this debate, for example, my hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman) and the hon. Member for Burnley (Gordon Birtwistle). I am also pleased that Westminster is being visited today by the leader of my local district council, who also has a background in manufacturing industry. Perhaps it would not hurt too much if more Members of Parliament had a background or personal experience in manufacturing, engineering or industry itself.

If we do not secure both a rebalancing of our economy towards manufacturing and growth in the sector, the UK will be very much the weaker, not least in my constituency, which is home to names such as Ford. Things have changed very much over time. My area has one major manufacturing works; the reason why we no longer have soot on our food is because Flavel, which won an award at the Great Exhibition, managed to change that by an innovative process and, to this day, the factory is still producing cookers in my constituency.

As the right hon. Member for Wolverhampton South East (Mr McFadden) said, we need to look forward. What does a prosperous manufacturing sector need? It needs a large skills base, a strong communications network, a focus on exports and the opening up of new markets. There has been progress on the first point. In Warwick and Leamington, we have 210 additional apprenticeships compared with last year. Great thanks must go to places such as Warwickshire college for managing to secure that.

Young people need to be encouraged to make a positive choice to take up careers in manufacturing. As the hon. Member for Huddersfield said, if that is to happen, design and technology must play a much greater part in our schools. We need to build on it through our entire education system. We cannot just wait until young people are 16 before they begin thinking about careers in the sector—it should thread right through our education system.

We cannot afford to fall behind other countries in this vital area. We should be under no illusion: competitors like China and India will be doing more, not less, to educate their young people in those subjects. The national curriculum is under review and I hope that the Department for Education will consider the importance of design and technology for the future of our economy and work with organisations such as the Design and Technology Association to ensure that D and T remains at the heart of the curriculum.

I believe that if we are to see long-term progress for manufacturing, we need the Government to be at one with the sector as a whole. Given the importance of manufacturing to our economic future, it makes sense that, as has been mentioned, the Government should create a dedicated Minister for manufacturing, and I would support the creation of such a Minister.

[Mr Sheerman]

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that if that Minister for manufacturing was linked to a clear long-term strategy for manufacturing, that would be even better?

[Chris White]

I very much agree. A Minister and a strategy could go hand in hand.

We need a strategic vision for manufacturing, with measurable targets of success so that we can see how our efforts at rebalancing our economy make headway and whether more needs to be done to help the sector. A Minister for manufacturing, tasked with creating a cross-departmental manufacturing strategy with targets and measurement tools to plot success or failure, would be a good start.

The Government, for example, could make it their goal to boost manufacturing to 15% of our GDP by 2015. This “15 by 15” target would send a powerful signal and boost confidence in the manufacturing sector as a whole. The mere creation of a Minister and a strategy will not bring about growth and jobs, but it will signal the Government’s intent, give manufacturers a voice in the decisions on economic policy, better co-ordinate Government manufacturing policy and ensure that manufacturing is properly considered across all Departments.

The UK is now the ninth biggest manufacturer in the world, unfortunately down two places on the previous year. We need to recognise that although we need to promote high-tech manufacturing we cannot ignore the rest of the industry. To quote a recent report,

“‘low-tech’ does not mean ‘low-value’”.

A Minister with responsibility for all manufacturing could ensure that it was not ignored and that we had a strategy in place that benefited all manufacturers.

If we are to remain at the forefront of manufacturing globally, businesses need to be able to access the funds that they need to compete and grow. I therefore also support the creation of a bank for industry, similar, perhaps, to the green investment bank. We should not be content to allow Britain to slip down the league any further and we should make it our goal to climb back to the top of the table.

Care Services (Older People)

Chris White Excerpts

Tuesday 7th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Paul Burstow]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for making that very important point. The 6 million or more carers in this country are undoubtedly the backbone of our care system and save us a large sum of money—over £100 billion according to the most recent estimate by Carers UK. I will go beyond thanking them and make the point that the Government have committed £400 million extra to supporting the extension of respite support for carers. We are determined to make sure that that money gets through to those who need it.

My hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne’s remarks about commissioning and the need for it to be multidisciplinary, involving social care and other expertise, is undoubtedly right. Indeed, my Department is in the process of developing a pack to support health and social care commissioners, particularly in relation to dementia commissioning. It will offer guidance on key aspects of dementia care and the need for early diagnosis and intervention. My hon. Friend was right to refer to the under-diagnosis and late diagnosis of dementia and how that can reduce life chances and the opportunity to plan for the progression of the disease. There will also be guidance on offering better support for people at home and in care homes and on providing better care in hospitals, which means addressing issues of training that have been mentioned.

[Chris White (Warwick and Leamington) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that excellent examples of charities and social enterprises such as Castel Froma in my constituency that put social goals before short-term profit provide some of the best models for the future of care homes? Should the Government not do all that they can to encourage the provision of services by those organisations to the sector?

[Paul Burstow]

I am grateful for that point. Part of the Government’s growth strategy is about recognising the value that micro-enterprises and social enterprises can offer in delivering good-quality social care.

We are producing supporting guidance for commissioners on the reduction in the use of anti-psychotic medication, which is often overlooked by commissioners. Having spent a decade campaigning for an end to the inappropriate and over-prescribing of anti-psychotics, I was delighted when the previous Government finally commissioned an independent review that clearly revealed the cost of the use of those drugs—lives shortened, lives dimmed, and 1,800 deaths a year, which is truly shocking. That is why as a Minister I am determined to hold the system to account to deliver a two-thirds reduction in the prescribing of those drugs by November this year. That ambitious target was set in 2009, and it requires action by a number of agencies and the provision of the alternatives that my hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne discussed.

To make that change, the Government need active support from the front line, the third sector and professional bodies, and we have worked closely with Dementia Action Alliance and many other organisations to support a national call for action to reduce the use of anti-psychotics, which will be launched later this week. My hon. Friend discussed the variation in services across the country, and it is worth saying that the NHS spends £8.2 billion a year on dementia. I do not think there is compelling evidence that it is all well used, which is why we are auditing service provision around the country to gauge progress, for example in the development of memory services. Taken with clear requirements on primary care trusts to publish their dementia plans and work with their social care partners, there will be more transparency than ever before, so commissioners will be held to account for delivery in that area.

My hon. Friend touched on a number of issues relating to NHS reforms, and discussed the need to improve research. I have the privilege of chairing the ministerial advisory group on dementia research, and one of the key issues in delivering more investment in dementia research is securing more quality bids for research funds in the first place. I am delighted that more than 121 new bids have recently been made and are being evaluated, making it very likely that I will be in a position later this year to announce good news about our moving towards significantly increased investment in dementia research. The key is not just throwing money at the problem but making sure that the talents in scientific skills in this country are brought to bear on it, and that expertise is brought into this area to make sure that we solve the problems effectively.

My hon. Friend made some important points about NHS reforms. Having just concluded the listening exercise, we are waiting for Steve Field and the NHS Future Forum to publish their conclusions next week. My hon. Friend discussed the role that health and wellbeing boards can play in integrating services. That is something that was part of the original legislation and which, I am pretty certain, will remain in the legislation. It is an essential building block in delivering more integration of health and social care.

In conclusion, health and social care reform is long overdue. My hon. Friend made a powerful case for acting swiftly on that reform. The Government have acted in a determined fashion to put in place the building blocks to enable that reform to take place. We have secured the funds to sustain the system while we put those reforms in place, and we are committed to delivering on dementia. I have no doubt that if we deliver good-quality dementia care services and model our services around the needs of dementia sufferers and their families, care and compassion will be built into the system, which will address many of the concerns that have rightly been rehearsed in the House over recent months. It will also enable us to get the very best out of the £8.2 billion that is already spent on dementia services, and ensure that the extra resources that this Government are putting into the NHS over the next few years get to the front line and deliver the improvements that all Members want to see.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne for raising the subject this evening, and I look forward to continuing to work with him through his all-party group to make sure that we keep these issues firmly in the spotlight, driving forward the improvements that all our constituents expect.

Question put and agreed to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Chris White Excerpts

Tuesday 26th April 2011 Commons Chamber

[Anne Milton]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. I am aware of the recent “Dispatches” programme and the fact that the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is implementing a number of service changes in a number of areas, including Rochdale. Those changes are part of the “Healthy Futures” and “Making it Better” programmes, both of which have been subject to full consultation with local people. NHS North West has confirmed that both programmes meet the four tests for service change, but if the hon. Gentleman continues to have concerns, I am sure one of the ministerial team will deal with them personally.

[Chris White (Warwick and Leamington) (Con)]

9. What steps he is taking to maintain front-line services in the NHS.

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley)]

We are increasing funding for the NHS in each year of this Parliament, amounting to an increase of £11.5 billion over its course. Over the next few years, planned improvements in the efficiency of use of NHS resources, increasingly led by front-line staff, will support modernisation of the NHS to respond to rising demand and new technologies. Not least, we are cutting administration costs across the system by one third, saving £1.7 billion a year, every penny of which will be available for reinvestment in front-line services.

[Chris White]

Will the Secretary of State join me in praising the work of chief executive, Glen Burley, and the excellent team of health professionals at Warwick hospital, who are improving community care while seeking to reduce management costs? Will the Secretary of State also take the opportunity to visit Warwick hospital to discuss how those things can be done at local level?

[Mr Lansley]

I am glad to endorse my hon. Friend’s congratulations to the staff and team at Warwick hospital. I hope to have an opportunity to visit that hospital at some future date. Across the NHS, we are setting out not least to increase productivity and efficiency, stimulate innovation, reduce administration costs and put more decision-making responsibility into the hands of those who care for patients, which the Labour party failed to do.

Oral Answers to Questions

Chris White Excerpts

Tuesday 7th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

Beyond 2012 it would indeed. The reason we are in this position is not least because when NICE produced its guidance, my predecessor, John Reid, in effect told PCTs that they should not feel obliged to have regard to it and arbitrarily changed it. It is precisely that kind of political interference with what should be a clinically-led decision about the appropriate structure of commissioning services that I am proposing to do away with.

[Chris White (Warwick and Leamington) (Con)]

15. What support his Department plans to provide for front-line services in adult social care.

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Paul Burstow)]

Protecting adult social care services is a clear priority for this Government. The spending review fully protects all existing grant funding for social care, and by 2014 an additional £2 billion a year will be available to support social care. Along with a programme of efficiency, those additional funds will enable councils to maintain access to social care while meeting demographic and other cost pressures and delivering new approaches to improve quality and outcomes over the next four years.

[Chris White]

I am grateful to the Minister for his response. In my constituency, residents of Whitnash are trying to set up a social enterprise to take over the running of a local care home. Will the Government encourage and support councils such as Warwickshire to respond positively to such initiatives, and will he meet residents of Whitnash so as to understand some of the issues that they face?

[Paul Burstow]

In our vision for adult social care, we very much argued the case for the greater use of social enterprises and the involvement of voluntary organisations as a way in which we can better deliver more personalised and appropriate public services of the very sort that the hon. Gentleman is talking about to our local communities.