Asked by: Emily Darlington (Labour - Milton Keynes Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking with the Department of Health and Social Care to reduce the number of people discharged from NHS care into homelessness.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In January 2024, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department of Health and Social Care published Discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, guidance to help staff plan safe discharges and prevent homelessness after NHS care.
We will look closely at the issue of people being discharged from NHS care into homelessness in our cross-government Homelessness Strategy.
Asked by: Emily Darlington (Labour - Milton Keynes Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of hospitals delivering specialist multi-disciplinary teams for patients experiencing homelessness.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department published guidance in 2024 called Discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness to support the care transfer hub, which is available at the following link:
This guidance recognises the necessity for multi-disciplinary teams. It recommends that dedicated housing options officers are embedded within the care transfer hub and advises hospitals treating over 200 homeless patients a year to offer access to a specialist multi-disciplinary homeless discharge team.
Some areas of the country have introduced High Intensity Use Services to proactively meet the needs of the most frequent attenders of the local accident and emergency, a significant portion of whom are experiencing homelessness. These services include multi-disciplinary teams that are helping to address health inequalities faced by this cohort while alleviating pressure on urgent and emergency care pathway,
Asked by: Emily Darlington (Labour - Milton Keynes Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment the Intellectual Property Office has made of the potential behavioural impact of (a) the risk of injunction threats, (b) legal costs and (c) high licensing fees in the licensing of Standard Essential Patents on (i) SMEs and (ii) other UK technology companies.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government recognises the importance of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) to the UK economy and has sought evidence from industry to identify how SEP licensing practices function to encourage innovation and promote competition.
The IPO continues to assess industry evidence on how the SEPs ecosystem impacts on UK SMEs and technology companies and is considering policy options that could help improve its functioning, including SEP licensing conditions. Any options requiring regulatory change would be part of a consultation and a final decision on holding a consultation would rest with Ministers.
Asked by: Emily Darlington (Labour - Milton Keynes Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made on reducing the cost of housing refugees using Official Development Assistance.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Let me state again that the Government is committed to reducing the costs of asylum accommodation, including ending the use of hotels over time. As we make progress on those objectives, it will reduce the amount of UK Official Development Assistance that needs to be used to house asylum refugees in this country.
Asked by: Emily Darlington (Labour - Milton Keynes Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will hold discussions with Cabinet colleagues on increasing spending on international development to 0.7% of GDP in the next spending review.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
This Government is committed to restoring ODA spending at the level of 0.7 percent of GNI as soon as fiscal circumstances allow. The Government is currently undertaking a Spending Review and will set out its approach to the House in due course.