Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to increase levels of home ownership.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government has a range of schemes available to help improve access to home ownership, including First Homes, Shared Ownership, Right to Buy, the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme and the Lifetime ISA. We have also doubled the threshold for Stamp Duty and expanded First Time Buyers Relief.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make it her policy to allow pharmacies to sell vitamin B12 injections.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To make a medicinal product available for sale in a pharmacy without a prescription, the product must be reclassified to pharmacy only status, also known as [P] medicines, by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
This process is triggered by an application submitted to the MHRA by a company which holds a licence for the particular product. The MHRA will consider all submitted applications, with a decision to reclassify a medicine reached following a robust evaluation of the relevant data, including evidence of the safe use and supply of the product without a prescription. The company must also demonstrate in their application that the criteria specified in relevant legislation, such as the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, have been met.
In accordance with the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, regulation 62(3), Prescription-Only Medicine status will apply where: a direct or indirect danger exists to human health, even when used correctly, if used without medical supervision; there is frequently incorrect use, which could lead to direct or indirect danger to human health; further investigation of the activity or side-effects is required; or the product is normally prescribed for parenteral administration, via injection.
Currently, United Kingdom law specifies that all products administered by injection must be subject to a prescription. The MHRA is therefore unable to reclassify the status of injections, including Vitamin B12, to [P] medicines, as this would not be consistent with the legislation.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department has taken to support GPs with increases in workloads; and what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of this support.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care, published by NHS England in May 2023, sets out actions to cut bureaucracy and workload, which includes reducing demands of general practice (GP) time from unnecessary or low-value asks, improving the interface between primary and secondary care, and significantly streamlining the Impact and Investment Fund by reducing the number of indicators from 36 to five in 2023/24.
We are working with NHS England to increase the GP workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice. NHS England has made available a number of recruitment and retention schemes to boost the GP workforce. This includes the National GP Induction and Refresher scheme, the Return to Practice programme, and the International Induction Programme.
Through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), Primary Care Networks and practices have recruited over 36,000 additional staff including nursing associates, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and social prescribing link workers, hitting the Government's target to recruit 26,000 a year, ahead of the March 2024 deadline. The expanded primary care teams funded through the ARRS not only add extra clinical capacity, helping to reduce the burden on GPs, but also form the basis for multi-disciplinary teams to work on improving the care offered to patients.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve levels of GP retention.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care, published by NHS England in May 2023, sets out actions to cut bureaucracy and workload, which includes reducing demands of general practice (GP) time from unnecessary or low-value asks, improving the interface between primary and secondary care, and significantly streamlining the Impact and Investment Fund by reducing the number of indicators from 36 to five in 2023/24.
We are working with NHS England to increase the GP workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice. NHS England has made available a number of recruitment and retention schemes to boost the GP workforce. This includes the National GP Induction and Refresher scheme, the Return to Practice programme, and the International Induction Programme.
Through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), Primary Care Networks and practices have recruited over 36,000 additional staff including nursing associates, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and social prescribing link workers, hitting the Government's target to recruit 26,000 a year, ahead of the March 2024 deadline. The expanded primary care teams funded through the ARRS not only add extra clinical capacity, helping to reduce the burden on GPs, but also form the basis for multi-disciplinary teams to work on improving the care offered to patients.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help people with complex disabilities find suitable employment opportunities.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has a wide range of initiatives to support disabled people and people with health conditions, including people with complex disabilities, to start, stay and succeed in work. These include:
Building on existing provision and the £2 billion investment announced at the Spring Budget 2023, we announced a new package of support in Autumn Statement 2023. This includes:
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support young disabled people into employment.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Access to Work is a demand-led discretionary grant which supports the recruitment and retention of eligible disabled people aged 16 and over in sustainable, paid employment. Access to Work plays an active role in supporting the transitions of young disabled people into employment, by providing funding for in work support including vocational programmes such as Supported Internships, Traineeships and Apprenticeships.
To help raise awareness of support available when young disabled people move into employment, identify adjustments and reduce the need for multiple assessments, a series of passports and planners have been developed, with the Adjustments Planner focusing on transitions from education to employment.
The Adjustments Planner provides students with a transferable record of their adjustments, support, and work requirements and can help the student settle into college/university life. It can also offer support beyond education by smoothing the transition into employment - reducing the burden when applying for Access to Work, enabling support to be put in place quickly and removing the need for the student to repeat personal details.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of using (a) the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and (b) other enrichment opportunities to develop skills for the workplace within a further education setting alongside the work placement required in T-Level qualifications.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Employability, enrichment and pastoral (EEP) are an important part of current post-16 study programmes as they prepare students for future education, employment and life.
T Levels were introduced in 2020, and are high-quality, Level 3 qualifications that equip students with the skills, knowledge and behaviours they need to progress into skilled employment. As set out in the department’s delivery guidance, providers are encouraged to take advantage of EEP support and work taster activities in the first and/or second year of the T Level programme to help with student preparation. This guidance can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1163906/T_Level_industry_placements_-_delivery_guidance.pdf.
As part of the T Level, students also complete a minimum of 315 hours in an industry placement working with external employers. The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and other enrichment opportunities can be incorporated into a T Level industry placement, provided that the activity is occupationally relevant to the T Level and meets all requirements outlined in our T Level delivery placements guidance. To do this, providers may choose to incorporate one or more of the flexible delivery approaches outlined in our guidance.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Government's planned expenditure on buildings decarbonisation between 2022 and 2025, whether (a) schools and (b) hospitals are able to use their allocated share of that funding on the removal of asbestos while installing replacement heating equipment.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme provides grants for public sector bodies to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures. Removal of asbestos may be considered an eligible ‘enabling cost’ provided the asbestos survey or removal is directly linked to measures that are part of the approved programme of works. Applicants should consult the guidance published by Salix Finance, who deliver the scheme, for the full eligibility criteria.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of excluding ADHD spend from Mental Health Investment Standard money and Mental Health service development funding on (a) waiting lists and (b) ICB core funding.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No such assessment has been made. We expect integrated care boards to continue to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard so that investment in mental health services increases in line with their overall increase in allocation for that year. All but one of the integrated care boards met the Mental Health Investment Standard in 2022/23.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the outcome of the rebuilding survey at Rawlins Academy in Loughborough.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Rawlins Academy is part of the School Rebuilding Programme which will transform buildings at 500 schools and sixth-form colleges over the next decade. It will rebuild or refurbish poor condition buildings, providing modern designs, with new buildings being net zero carbon in operation.
The department’s surveys at Rawlin’s Academy have recently started and are due to complete in the New Year. The department will share the outcome of these surveys with the school shortly.