Five Year Forward View

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Sheila Gilmore

Thursday 23rd October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Of course I would be delighted to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency. Morecambe Bay hospital is one of the hospitals whose problems we are looking at in a way that should have happened before but did not. We are turning round that hospital. We are determined to do it and we want his constituents to have absolute confidence in the quality of hospital care they receive.

[Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State told us that a strong NHS needs a strong economy, so I presume he is extremely worried about the fact that reduced tax revenues have led, on this Government’s watch, to higher borrowing this year.

[Mr Hunt]

That is why we continue to take the tough and difficult decisions—[Interruption] that keep this country on the right economic path and which are opposed at every turn by Labour. They told us that our economic plans would lead to a million jobs being lost—[Interruption.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Sheila Gilmore

Tuesday 21st October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jeremy Hunt]

I can confirm that there are no such plans and it will remain free at the point of delivery. Nor do we have any plans to pay private providers 11% more than NHS providers, as happened under the previous Labour Government.

[Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)]

In response to my amendment to the Care Bill earlier this year about the portability of care packages to the countries of the UK, the Minister of State, Department of Health, the right hon. Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb), promised that a voluntary framework would be in place by November. It is 10 days until November, so how is progress going?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Sheila Gilmore

Tuesday 14th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I have spoken to my hon. Friend about the scheme, which sounds excellent. Obviously we want to encourage it, while working within the correct processes. The Under-Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter), has agreed to meet him to do all we can to speed it along.

[Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)]

One of the things that some older people would like is to move closer to their families. Will the Secretary of State update me on what discussions he is having with the Scottish Government on the portability of home care packages across the border?

[Mr Hunt]

We are very keen to make home care packages much more portable. There are problems with home care packages across the board, particularly the 15-minute slots that, frankly, are completely unacceptable. We are definitely looking at that issue and I encourage the hon. Lady to talk to the Minister responsible for care services, my hon. Friend the Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb), to get more details on the progress we are making.

Health and Social Care

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Sheila Gilmore

Monday 13th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am going to make some progress.

The third question that the Care Bill addresses is about sustainable funding for care. We are all going to have to pay more for social care costs, either for ourselves or our families. Tragically, every year, up to 40,000 people have to sell the homes that they have worked so hard for all their lives to fund their care.

Our system does not just fail to help those who need it; it actively discourages people from saving to ensure that they have the funds. In 1997, Labour promised a royal commission on long-term care. The commission reported in 1999, and its recommendations were ignored. We then waited 10 whole years for a Green Paper, which arrived in 2009 and, again, was able to deliver nothing.

In stark contrast, in just three years, the coalition Government commissioned a report from Andrew Dilnot, have accepted it and are now legislating for it. The Care Bill will introduce a cap on the costs that people have to pay for care in their lifetimes. With a finite maximum cost, people will now be able to plan through their pension plan or an insurance policy. With a much higher asset threshold for state support, many more people will get help in paying for their care.

[Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)]

I respectfully suggest that the Secretary of State should look at the situation north of the border, where reform to change who pays has worsened the situation because no extra funding was put into care; all that happened was that we shuffled around who actually paid. Will he look carefully at that situation so that it is not repeated? How much extra funding is he going to put into the system?

[Mr Hunt]

I agree with the hon. Lady that the amount of financial support is important. I gently say to her that her party wants to cut the NHS budget, which would make the situation vastly worse.

The Bill is a vital element of our plans to improve the lives of the frail and elderly and of people with long-term conditions and disabilities, but it is only one element. Other areas that do not require legislation will come together in a plan for vulnerable older people. The plan will consider all aspects of how we look after older people most in need of support from the NHS and social care system. It will look at how our hospitals are set up to support frail and elderly patients, particularly those with dementia, in emergencies. Of course, we must continue to give people with serious needs immediate access to highly specialised skill, but in many cases we could offer better alternatives outside hospital. That would improve clinical outcomes and reduce pressure on A and E departments.

Secondly, the plan will look at primary care—in particular, the role of GPs in supporting vulnerable older people. Active case management of vulnerable people is making a huge difference in some parts of the country and we will look at whether the primary care sector as a whole has the incentives, investment and skills to deliver that. We will also consider the provision of out-of-hours services and how to restore public confidence in them following the disastrous changes to the GP contract in 2004.

Thirdly, the plan will look at the barriers and incentives that prevent joint commissioning and stop people from getting joined-up care. In particular, it will consider the operation of financial incentives in the system, which can act as an unnecessary and counter-productive barrier. The Minister responsible for care, my hon. Friend the Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb), who is leading on integration, will announce further practical steps forward later this week.

I intend to announce the plan in the autumn, with implementation from April 2014. It will require a great deal of careful work, ask difficult questions and make tough decisions, but if it leads to more personal, more integrated and more compassionate care, it will stand alongside the Care Bill as an important step forward in reforming the care received by millions of people.

Leveson Inquiry

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Sheila Gilmore

Wednesday 25th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. For the benefit not of the House, but of those who are listening to and interested in our proceedings, I make the factual observation that a request for a statement by the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport very properly comes from the shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, rather than from the shadow Secretary of State for International Development.

[Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)]

The very many people throughout the country who wrote to us when the responsibility for the decision was transferred to the Secretary of State will now feel that they were absolutely right and the Government were absolutely wrong. Can the Secretary of State explain why he is such a poor manager of his staff that he did not know what messages were going out under the authority of the special permission to communicate?

[Mr Hunt]

I manage my staff closely but I do not know every—[Interruption.] Excuse me. I—

Phone Hacking and the Media

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Sheila Gilmore

Monday 11th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

With respect to the hon. Lady, we have two independent reviews, one of which is looking into all illegal and improper activity, and the other of which is looking into press ethics. I think that all the activities about which she is concerned will be covered.

[Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State indicated at the beginning of his statement that he had been late in preparing the statement because something had happened within the past half hour. He then went on to say that he was here instead of the Prime Minister because an important development had taken place. However, we were given to understand two or three hours ago that it would indeed be the Secretary of State making the statement. Surely these statements do not square.

[Mr Hunt]

Had News Corporation not withdrawn its undertakings half an hour before I spoke, I would have had another important announcement—one that is no longer valid—to make to the House about the operation of those undertakings. That is why the Prime Minister said that I was the appropriate person to make this statement.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Sheila Gilmore

Thursday 28th April 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)]

T7. In the light of the considerable concerns arising from the ongoing criminal investigations into phone hacking in the News International stable, is the Secretary of State now minded to postpone his decision on the future of BSkyB until such time as those criminal investigations have been concluded?

[Mr Hunt]

The decision I have to take about the Sky merger relates to media plurality, and we are in the process of taking that decision. I am very concerned about the news about phone hacking. It is a criminal offence. Two people have already gone to prison and three people have been arrested. As the Prime Minister said yesterday, the police must follow their investigations wherever they lead because the public must have confidence that, with a free press, the press use that freedom responsibly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Sheila Gilmore

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)]

T4. In my relatively short time in the House, what has struck me as being extremely helpful has been the time given to statements. Can the Minister explain why a statement on BSkyB, which has been widely trailed in the press this morning and all over the radio, appears to have been postponed until such a late time in the day? Will he also comment on the statement that placing independent directors on The Times newspaper in the past has proved wholly ineffective?

[Mr Hunt]

You, Mr Speaker, very kindly gave me permission to make my statement to the House at 3 o’clock. I did not have any control over the time. I actually have the statement with me, and I would be happy to deliver it right away, but Mr Speaker has generously given me a slot at 3 o’clock, and that is when I intend to address the issues that the hon. Lady raises.

BSkyB

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Sheila Gilmore

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. It is written in black and white that they are not allowed to purchase any additional shares in the new company without the consent of the Secretary of State. Were they to be in breach of that, they would threaten the entire deal that, if it goes ahead, will allow them to purchase the remaining shares in the rest of Sky. So the sanctions are very considerable indeed, and we will monitor the deal very carefully to ensure that there is compliance. My hon. Friend will see, when he looks at the undertakings, that they contain a number of explicit provisions to ensure compliance. Those provisions have satisfied the Office of Fair Trading and Ofcom, and that is why I have confidence in them as well.

[Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)]

The deal that Mr Murdoch really wants—the buy-out that gives him control of BSkyB—might well have happened by the time that the circumstances described have taken place, so where is the real sanction? Might it not be better from the public point of view if it were not the Secretary of State but an independent person who had any say on further buy-out shares?

[Mr Hunt]

I recognise the hon. Lady’s concerns. When she has a chance to look in detail at the undertakings, she will find that many of them have to be delivered before the purchase of the Sky shares is allowed to go ahead. We have been very strict on the timelines and want to ensure that as much of it as possible is delivered as quickly as possible. As for who should be the final decision maker, all I will say is that because I have been so conscious of the public’s worries about the motivations of politicians in these kinds of decisions, I have sought independent advice at every stage before taking the decisions in this process, and if I am required to make any similar decisions I will continue to seek independent advice in the future.