Clive Jones
Main Page: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)Department Debates - View all Clive Jones's debates with the Leader of the House
(1 day, 8 hours ago)
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Lucy Powell
I take this opportunity to once again congratulate my hon. Friend on all his campaigning and all the times he has raised with me and other Ministers the lower Thames crossing—I am sure he is pleased with this week’s announcement.
I join my hon. Friend in welcoming some of the measures outlined in our devolution White Paper around community ownership and the right to buy, so that communities like his can take on and restore, or bring back to life, vital community assets like the one he describes. I am sorry to hear that the owner of the pub in his constituency is not engaging in the way they should.
Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)
The Secretary of State for Health made a promise to the House that the Government will recruit an extra 1,000 GPs. In a recent statement, he said they have already recruited hundreds of GPs. We have asked for evidence of that claim, but the Minister of State for Care has not been able to provide us with a specific figure. Will the Leader of the House inquire with her colleagues as to whether hundreds of new GPs have been hired, so that we can see what progress the Government are making?
Lucy Powell
The hon. Member is absolutely right that it is vital that we recruit more GPs. We have been left a terrible situation with the NHS workforce. That is why workforce planning was at the heart of our recent 10-year plan for the national health service. I will absolutely ensure that Health Ministers and the Secretary of State for Health regularly come to this House to update us on progress, and I will get him a correct figure, if I can, as soon as possible from the Department of Health and Social Care.