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Written Question
Health Services: Consultants
Thursday 13th April 2023

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much (a) NHS England, (b) Health Education England and (c) NHS Digital spent on consultancy work on the organisational merger and headcount reduction programme; how much NHS England (i) has spent and (ii) plans to spend under its contract with PA Consulting; what the length is of the contract between NHS England and PA Consulting; how much Health Education England (A) has spent and (B) plans to spend under its contract with KPMG; what the length is of the contract between Health Education England and KPMG; and with reference to the Health Service Journal article entitled McKinsey wins £1m contract to devise new NHSE data model, published on 10 February 2023, what the value was of work contracted by NHS England has with McKinsey outside of the contract in place between December 2022 and March 2023.

Answered by Will Quince

Contract notices are published on Contracts Finder, which is available at the following link:

www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/

These notices include details on the length and value of contracts. All contracts were awarded via an open and fair process through established procurement frameworks.

Consultancy work on the organisational merger and headcount reduction programme will support the organisation in finalising its design and delivering changes to NHS England’s ways of working and shape that save up to £400 million each year.


Written Question
NHS England: Consultancy
Tuesday 21st March 2023

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the NHS England Chief Data and Analytics Office spent on consultancy work by (a) contract, (b) provider, (c) time period and (d) value in (i) each financial year since 2018-19 and (ii) the 2022-23 financial year to 24 February 2023.

Answered by Will Quince

The following table shows the spend in pounds as per each spend category for the financial years since the Chief Data and Analytics Office was established. It has been provided in an aggregated format, as the information requested on contracts and providers is commercially sensitive.

Spend category

2021/22

2022/23

Grand total

Implications of legal merger between NHS England and NHS Digital

-

1,009,000

1,009,000

Other Data & Analytics Consultancy

942,750

288,600

1,231,350

Grand Total

942,750

1,297,600

2,240,350


Written Question
Low Emission Zones: Greater London
Thursday 9th March 2023

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data sharing agreements his Department has in place with the (a) Mayor of London and (b) DVLA to facilitate enforcement of the ULEZ.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) and it is their responsibility to manage and oversee the transport network. This includes decisions with regards to road schemes which charge users. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport, has a data sharing agreement in place with Transport for London to provide information about UK registered vehicles.

These arrangements are in keeping with the Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (England) Regulations 2002. The release of DVLA information for this purpose is governed by Regulation 27 of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002.


Written Question
Low Emission Zones: Greater London
Thursday 9th March 2023

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of registered private cars would (a) meet and (b) not meet the London Ultra Low Emission Zone standard by fuel type in each local authority area.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor and TfL, and it is their responsibility to manage and oversee the transport network. This includes decisions with regards to road schemes which charge users. It was for the Mayor to assess the impact of the expansion of the ULEZ on those with private cars. DfT does not hold this information centrally.


Written Question
NHS England: Thompson
Monday 6th March 2023

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the article in the Health Service Journal entitled Branding agency hired to help cultivate new personality for NHSE, published on 7 February 2023, what the value of NHS England's contract with Thompson for work referenced in that article is; and if he will publish the interim update for senior leaders.

Answered by Will Quince

As part of the implementation of the legal merger of NHS England with Health Education England and NHS Digital approved by Parliament through the Health and Care Act 2022, Thompson were contracted to provide independent support and advice to minimise the risk of disruption to communications with the wider health and care system, operational and strategic partners and stakeholders, and staff patients and the public from the new combined organisation. The value of the contract was £80,000.


Written Question
NHS England: Pay and Recruitment
Thursday 2nd March 2023

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many new posts NHS England has (a) established and (b) recruited to as part of the NHS75 Communications Team; at what (i) grades and (ii) salaries these posts have been established; and what the total (A) salary costs and (B) budget is of the NHS75 Communications Team.

Answered by Will Quince

NHS England have established and recruited one temporary nine month post. They are also organising a national event for 2,200 National Health Service staff, volunteers and partners. This post is graded at agenda for change band 8c £67,064 to £77,274 pro-rata for nine months.

The total NHS England budget for the programme is the salary cost. Other costs will be covered by sponsorship, donations or similar income.


Written Question
Young People: Carers
Friday 3rd February 2023

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish a list of all the data her Department collects and holds on assessing the needs of young carers; if she will publish links to that data for (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023 to date; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

When a child is assessed as being in need of children’s social care services, social workers will record factors that are relevant to that episode of need, with ‘young carer’ as one of those possible factors. The recorded factors are published annually in the statistics release ‘Characteristics of children in need’, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need.

The data for 2019/20, 2020/21, and 2021/22 shows that in England, a young carer was identified in around 18,000-19,000 episodes of need in each year, or around 4% of episodes with assessment factor information recorded. This data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/af9db862-a2e7-42fa-8b24-08dafb06f66e.

There can be differences in the recording practices between local authorities, therefore the assessment factors data should be treated with a degree of caution.

From January 2023, all primary and secondary education settings in England will be asked annually if a student undertakes caring responsibilities at home, via the School Census. This will increase young carers visibility in the school system, give a wealth of demographic evidence on who young carers are, and provide an annual data collection to help identify long-term trends.


Written Question
Young People: Carers
Friday 3rd February 2023

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the quality of data held by the Government on young carers and on assessing the needs of young carers, and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

When a child is assessed as being in need of children’s social care services, social workers will record factors that are relevant to that episode of need, with ‘young carer’ as one of those possible factors. The recorded factors are published annually in the statistics release ‘Characteristics of children in need’, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need.

The data for 2019/20, 2020/21, and 2021/22 shows that in England, a young carer was identified in around 18,000-19,000 episodes of need in each year, or around 4% of episodes with assessment factor information recorded. This data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/af9db862-a2e7-42fa-8b24-08dafb06f66e.

There can be differences in the recording practices between local authorities, therefore the assessment factors data should be treated with a degree of caution.

From January 2023, all primary and secondary education settings in England will be asked annually if a student undertakes caring responsibilities at home, via the School Census. This will increase young carers visibility in the school system, give a wealth of demographic evidence on who young carers are, and provide an annual data collection to help identify long-term trends.


Written Question
Floods: Sewers
Thursday 26th January 2023

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of flooding on sewage overflows.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The recent heavy and intense rainfall has shown how storms can overwhelm both drainage and sewerage networks leading to sewage overflows and / or to flooding of roads and properties. To improve the future capacity of the sewer network the Environment Agency, Water UK and Ofwat have worked with risk management authorities to inform water company Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans. These plans will help improve resilience to surface water and drainage flood risks and play an important part in eliminating harm from storm overflows.


Written Question
Flood Control
Thursday 26th January 2023

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to help reduce surface water flooding since 25 October 2022.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Surface water flooding is localised and complex and is the responsibility of lead local flood authorities (LLFAs) to manage and mitigate. They do this in partnership with highways authorities and water companies. It is for LLFAs to determine the best approach to mitigating the risk.

The Government is also taking action. On 10 January 2023 Government published the review of making sustainable drainage systems mandatory in new developments through the implementation of Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. Sustainable drainage uses features such as ponds and grass to absorb the rain and tanks and pipes to slow the flow, reducing the risk of surface water flooding. Government accepted the recommendation Schedule 3 is implemented and will now consider scope, threshold and process. There will be a public consultation later this year, with implementation expected during 2024.

In July 2021 we restated our commitment to ensuring surface water flood risk is tackled and published a progress update on our Surface Water Management Action Plan and our response to the independent review into surface water and drainage responsibilities. Progress is being made on these through:

  • changing partnership funding rules to enable more surface water schemes in our new £5.2bn flood defence programme which is expected to deliver around 500 surface water schemes better protecting around 30,000 properties.
  • providing funding to increase surface water flood risk mapping in 28 LLFAs areas (nine are in London) providing 3.6 million people with more detailed information
  • improving forecasting and response to surface water flooding through a project led by the Environment Agency, Met Office and Flood Forecasting Centre.
  • requiring water companies to produce Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans to address current and future pressure on drainage networks and to develop collaborative solutions.