Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of each upper tier local authority to meet the demand for social care in the next (a) 12 months and (b) five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people. In performing that duty, a local authority must have regard to the need to ensure that it is aware of current and likely future demand for such services, and to consider how providers in their local area might meet that demand.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing local authorities’ delivery of these duties. The CQC started these assessments in December 2023, and will assess all 153 local authorities in England over the next two years. The assessments facilitate the sharing of good practice and help us to target support where it is most needed. If an assessment identifies that a local authority has failed or is failing to discharge its functions under the Care Act 2014 to an acceptable standard, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has powers to intervene.
The Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund includes grant conditions which require each local authority to submit an adult social care capacity plan. These were submitted to the Department in June 2024 and are currently undergoing processing and quality assurance.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase innovation in adult social care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that innovation is vital in supporting the adult social care sector to adjust to the changing needs of the population. We want to support local authorities and providers to adopt new approaches to delivering care, improving outcomes for people who draw on care, and their unpaid carers. This includes enshrining home-first principles that enable people to live independently in their communities for longer.
The Accelerating Reform Fund aims to address barriers to the adoption and scaling of innovation in adult social care and improve support for unpaid carers. Local authorities are supported to take forward locally identified innovative projects, working collaboratively with other local authorities, the National Health Service, care providers, and voluntary and community organisations in their integrated care system footprints.
Through the Adult Social Care Technology Fund, we are also supporting local systems to test, scale, and evaluate innovative digital solutions to ensure people are supported in their own homes for longer. We know there are opportunities for technologies to transform care, and by building our evidence base we can help identify care technologies with the potential for wider rollout.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS services can meet additional demand in (a) the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin integrated care board and (b) England in winter 2024-25.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has written to integrated care boards (ICBs), trusts, and primary care networks to set out a national approach to 2024/25 winter planning. This builds on the priorities in the National Health Service’s planning guidance, and sets out the key steps to be taken to support the delivery of high-quality care for patients this winter.
The Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB is undertaking an improvement programme that aims to better respond to the pressures of the demand upon the urgent and emergency care services. This is delivering changes to meet needs now, throughout winter, and sustainably for the future. There is a focus on the following areas:
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that upper tier local authorities can meet additional demand for social care services in (a) Shropshire and (b) England in winter 2024-25.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 17 September, I wrote to all local authorities, setting out priorities for improving service resilience across social care this winter. The letter emphasises the importance of close partnership working and joint planning between local authorities, the NHS and community partners. Local authorities are expected to have business continuity plans in place for a range of risks, including for localised disruptions caused by adverse winter weather.
The Department funds Partners in Care and Health, delivered by the Local Government Association, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, and the Social Care Institute for Excellence, to provide a support offer that helps local authorities tackle operational challenges, including during winter.
Under the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund (MSIF), local authorities must submit an adult social care capacity plan that provides assurance that plans are in place to meet estimated local demand for different types of long-term care services, with a focus on winter. These were submitted to the department in June 2024. The member’s local authority, Shropshire, submitted their 2024/25 capacity plan which is currently undergoing processing and quality assurance.
MSIF is designed to support increased adult social care capacity, improve market sustainability, and enable local authorities to make improvements to adult social care services. Shropshire has been allocated just over £6 million of MSIF funding in 2024/25 to support these aims.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will have discussions with liquid gas supplier companies on customer payment processes.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Secretary of State and I meet regularly with a range of stakeholders.
Details of Ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Published declarations include the purpose of the meeting and the names of any additional external organisations or individuals in attendance.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve recruitment in adult social care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst much of the responsibility for recruitment rests with adult social care employers, the Department recognises the scale of reforms needed to support sustainable workforce growth. These reforms include: the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme, allowing funding for certain training courses and qualifications; the continuing development of the Care Workforce Pathway, a universal career structure for the workforce setting out the knowledge, skills, values, and behaviors needed to work in adult social care; and the launch of a new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate qualification.
On 10 of October 2024, recognising the central role of our amazing care workforce, we took a critical step, introducing the legislation that will establish the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for care professionals. Fair Pay Agreements will empower worker and employer representatives to negotiate fair pay, terms, and conditions in a regulated and responsible manner. This will help to address the recruitment and retention crisis in the sector, in turn supporting the delivery of high-quality care.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 potential impact of the number of children with education and health care plans who will require support after the age of 25 on the adult social care system.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department commissions the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre (CPEC) at the London School of Economics to produce projections of the long-term demand and cost of adult social care services in England. These include projections of the number of working aged adults, namely those aged between 18 and 64 years old, in receipt of local authority-funded care services. The most recently published CPEC projections show that the number of working age adults in receipt of social care services is projected to increase by 29% between 2018 and 2038. As with any projection of the future, CPEC estimates are based on a specific set of data and assumptions and should therefore be treated with caution. The projections are available at the following link:
https://www.lse.ac.uk/cpec/assets/documents/cpec-working-paper-7.pdf
The Department is committed to building consensus on the long-term reform needed to create a National Care Service that addresses challenges working age disabled adults currently face and that is shaped for those who will have support needs in the future, including children who currently have health and care plans. The Government will set out next steps for a process that engages with adult social care stakeholders in due course.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of delaying the release of the 2024-25 funding allocation of the Accelerating Reform Fund on unpaid carers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that innovation is vital to support adult social care to adjust to the changing needs of the population. We want to support local authorities to adopt new approaches to delivering care, improving outcomes of people who draw on care and their unpaid carers. This includes enshrining home-first principles that enable people to live independently in their communities for longer.
The Government is committed to ensuring that families have the support they need. We want to ensure that people who care for family and friends are better able to look after their own health and wellbeing.
The Accelerating Reform Fund (ARF) aims to address barriers to the adoption and scaling of innovation in adult social care and improve support for unpaid carers. A decision on the release of 2024/25 funding allocations for the ARF will be shared shortly.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the 2024-25 funding allocations of the Accelerating Reform Fund will be released.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that innovation is vital to support adult social care to adjust to the changing needs of the population. We want to support local authorities to adopt new approaches to delivering care, improving outcomes of people who draw on care and their unpaid carers. This includes enshrining home-first principles that enable people to live independently in their communities for longer.
The Government is committed to ensuring that families have the support they need. We want to ensure that people who care for family and friends are better able to look after their own health and wellbeing.
The Accelerating Reform Fund (ARF) aims to address barriers to the adoption and scaling of innovation in adult social care and improve support for unpaid carers. A decision on the release of 2024/25 funding allocations for the ARF will be shared shortly.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of patients that are fit to be discharged but have remained in hospital due to the unavailability of social care since January 2022.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.