Economic Growth

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Tuesday 14th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Hunt]

With respect, I think the hon. Member needs to look at the facts. We have given an average of £3,300 in cost of living support to families across the country this year and last. In Scotland, 700,000 households have benefited from our cost of living payments, which have reached more than 1 million pensioners.

I want to return to my main point about the impact of making work pay. As a result of that change, not only have a lot of people been lifted out of poverty, but unemployment has gone down by a million, after going up by nearly half a million under Labour, and the unemployment rate has halved. That is the difference: if we make work pay, as the Conservatives do, we lift people out of poverty and put people into work.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

What would the minimum wage be worth now if the right hon. Member’s party had succeeded in its attempts to wreck the legislation when it was introduced by the last Labour Government?

[Jeremy Hunt]

I simply say that we did not just build on that reform but improved it massively more than Labour proposed, because we turned it into the national living wage, which is far more generous than the original minimum wage.

Autumn Statement

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Thursday 17th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Hunt]

My hon. Friend is right to make the case for a lightly taxed dynamic economy, and I would like to bring taxes down from their current level. We are faced with the necessity of doing something fast to restore sound money and bring inflation down from 11%, which is why we have made difficult decisions today. But yes, my hon. Friend is absolutely right: there is no future for this country unless we get back on the path to being a lower taxed economy.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

As we have seen, the Tory party might learn more from its mistakes if it wasn’t so busy denying them, and I congratulate the Chancellor on a wonderful, “not me, guv” performance. In the interests of candour, will he confirm that what he told the House today is that after 12 years in power, the Tory plan is to cut around £27 billion from public spending?

[Jeremy Hunt]

I confirm that what the hon. Gentleman said is wrong. The plans I announced today show that we are protecting public spending in real terms over the next five years.

Economic Update

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Hunt]

It will not have been a secret to my right hon. Friend that I am sympathetic to that, because I campaigned for it very loudly and visibly when I was a Back Bencher, but all these things have to be sustainable. Any increase in Defence spending has to be an increase that we can sustain over many years. I agree with him entirely that the duty of a Government is to provide security for the population, in all senses of the word.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Does the Chancellor’s compassionate conservatism extend to raising the minimum income component of pension credit, or is he prepared to let the poorest pensioners in the land be sacrificed on the altar of Trussonomics?

[Jeremy Hunt]

I would gently say to the hon. Gentleman that, while I completely understand how important it is to support our most vulnerable pensioners, what they need more than anything is a strong economy that can pay for the support that we would want to give them.

Death of Jamal Khashoggi

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Monday 22nd October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I always listen very carefully to what my right hon. Friend says. I know that he has immense personal experience and connections with people in Yemen. I want to reassure him that our position on Yemen is not dictated by the strategic partnership that we have with Saudi Arabia. What we say to Saudi Arabia and the UAE is that we are absolutely clear that there needs to be a political process. I believe—I have been in the job only a short time—that the partnership that we have with Saudi Arabia and the Emirates means that our voice is much more listened to than it otherwise would be. None the less, the situation on the ground is appalling and it persists and we need to continue to do everything we can to seek a resolution.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

The Foreign Secretary said in his statement that it is right that the Turkish authorities should lead the investigation. Has that been made crystal clear to the Saudi authorities who seem to be implying that they can conduct their own investigation?

[Mr Hunt]

That is a very important point, which is why, in my statement, I issued a list of questions that I think the investigation needs to answer to be credible. In particular, we need to recover the body and to find out why these 15 people were in Turkey and what their purpose was. We have not heard any of that. From my perspective, having credible answers to all these things is a very important element as to whether this investigation is credible at all.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Tuesday 6th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Will the Secretary of State give an assurance that any accountable care organisations that he establishes will not be able to use commercial confidentiality excuses to evade scrutiny under freedom of information legislation?

[Mr Hunt]

Public money is public money, and Members have a right to know how it is being spent, so we will absolutely ensure that those contracts are signed in a fair way.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Tuesday 19th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

There have been 15,000 violent assaults on mental health workers in the west midlands over the last five years. What is the Government’s response to the Care Quality Commission’s opposition to routine searches of all mental health service users for weapons on admission or return to acute in-patient units?

[Mr Hunt]

I have a great deal of sympathy with what the hon. Gentleman has said. We are putting a lot of effort into patient safety and staff safety in mental health trusts, and we are discovering that there is a wide variation between practices. The hon. Gentleman has made an important point, and, if I may, I will write to him to inform him of our progress.

NHS Shared Business Services

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Tuesday 27th June 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am happy to confirm that. I think that in such situations it is important to allay public concerns about what might have happened. What happened was unacceptable, but no patient data were lost.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State says that no patients were harmed and that the documents were securely stored, but 35 sacks of mail were destroyed. How does he know that he made the right call in every situation?

[Mr Hunt]

Just to be clear, what I said was that to date there is no evidence of any patients being harmed, but the process of proper clinical review, with multidisciplinary teams, will take until the end of the year. We have to do this properly to get to the answer. We hope that it remains the case that no patients were harmed, but we will not know that until the end of the year. However, throughout this whole process we have prioritised the highest risk cases and made sure that they get the most urgent attention.

Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Bill

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

2nd reading: House of Commons & Programme motion: House of Commons
Monday 24th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that issue. Although the measures he mentions are not directly covered in this Bill, he reminds the House that the business of getting value for money from our drugs business is everyone’s business throughout the NHS. There is a huge amount of prescribing of medicines that is not strictly necessary. Indeed, we had further evidence of that from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges this morning. My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point: this Bill is part of the effort to get better value for money from our medicines budget, but initiatives such as the one he talks about are equally important.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Further to that question, I can see how the Bill will deal with the issue of debranding, and that is very welcome, but I understand there are three other areas of concern. There is the question of price delay, which the Competition and Markets Authority has been looking at, and there are the problems of tying and bundling and so-called loyalty schemes, all of which act to inflate the cost of medicines to the NHS artificially. Will the Bill also deal with those areas?

[Mr Hunt]

It will deal with some of those concerns, and we will listen to all the concerns raised by hon. Members during the progress of the Bill. On the particular issue the hon. Gentleman raises, the CMA is already investigating the behaviour of pharmaceutical companies in certain situations, but it has become clear to us that there is a particularly unethical and unacceptable practice of drugs companies getting control of generic drugs for which they command a monopoly position and then hiking the prices. There was one product whose price increased by 12,000% between 2008 and 2016, and if the price had stayed the same as before the increase, the NHS would have spent £58 million less. The Government’s conclusion is that the simplest and quickest way to sort this out is through new legislation, but I will happily take the hon. Gentleman’s other concerns offline and look into them further.

NHS Major Incidents

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Wednesday 28th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

That is absolutely right, but Members on the two sides of the House hold different views. We believe in devolving power locally and we want local decision-making. We accept that that might mean that sometimes services are slightly different in one part of the country compared with another, but the benefit is that we do get that local knowledge. In the past few weeks, I have spoken to South Western ambulance service, which had particular pressures over Christmas, to ask whether there is anything we can do from the centre. What I want to ensure is that the decisions that keep my hon. Friend’s constituents safe are made locally, because they are likely to be better than any that I could make in Whitehall.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State is very reassuring when he says that, under him, the NHS is free from political news management. If that is the case, why does he not free it from the constraints of election purdah, and allow these officials to get on with their jobs without having to second-guess the consequences of some of the decisions?

[Mr Hunt]

We are not in election purdah. The point is that during election purdah we will continue to publish the weekly A and E performances and other figures from the Office for National Statistics, and that has always been the system. But there is a difference between what is happening in the run-up to this election and what happened in the run-up to the previous election. This time, the CQC is free to speak up, without fear or favour, about the quality of care in every single hospital in this country, and it will continue to do so.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Tuesday 13th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I have met the doctors in Chippenham and been personally lobbied on that plan. I thought it sounded very promising, so I am happy to take it away and look at it again, and hopefully at some stage they can get some of the funding.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

T4. The Bournbrook Varsity medical centre is about to face a double-whammy financial crisis, as NHS England scraps its minimum practice income guarantee and forces it to switch from a personal medical services contract to a general medical services contract. Why should that excellent practice, which has done all that could be asked of it, and its patients be victimised because a high proportion of the patients are young students? Will the Secretary of State agree to look at this disaster immediately?

[Mr Hunt]

I am very happy to look at that issue.

NHS Investigations (Jimmy Savile)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Thursday 26th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. Today’s report is about the NHS and the BBC report is ongoing, as is the report being done by the Department for Education and the work being done by other Departments. We have to wait for the BBC to make its own statement on the matter, but my priority now is NHS patients, and the reason that I wanted to go at speed on this was to make sure that any changes we need to make now, we do so.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State says, quite understandably, that we cannot undo the past, but there are several people culpable in this affair who are still drawing substantial NHS pensions. Why does he not consider docking their pensions, as a consequence for their behaviour and as a clear warning to others?

[Mr Hunt]

I do not rule that out at all. If someone has behaved in a way that is in breach of either the law or the regulations that were in place at the hospital in which they worked, and there is a way to have legal redress such that things like pensions can be docked, I think that they should face the full consequences of that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Tuesday 10th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Well, I must say that that sounds like a pretty irresistible offer, and I will give it careful consideration. Local community hospitals have an important role to play in our NHS because of the high standard of compassionate care that they deliver, and because they are easy for relatives to get to. I am delighted to see my hon. Friend campaigning for his local hospital, and delighted that it is doing so well.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

T2. A Birmingham trust has recently announced that it will be possible to cut 1,000 beds across the city by setting a maximum stay of seven days for most patients. Not surprisingly, this has caused some alarm. Are Ministers aware of that proposal? What guidance, if any, can they offer in regard to such proposals?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Tuesday 14th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

T7. The Secretary of State has had a letter from 118 specialists about the MenB—meningococcal B— vaccine. It is available to parents who pay privately, but denied to most of our children by the Joint Committee on Vaccine and Immunisation. Will the Secretary of State agree to meet the families of children who have had meningitis B and consider all the points raised by the clinicians before letting the JCVI rule out access to the vaccine?

[Mr Hunt]

I recognise the real concern over the previous advice given by the JCVI. I hope that the hon. Gentleman agrees that, on something as important as this, it is helpful to have an independent body coming to these decisions and making a ruling. When a ruling is made, we are legally bound to accept the advice, which means that there is a measure of independence. I have met families campaigning for the MenB vaccine. We are waiting to hear what the JCVI says in February. We should let it come to its conclusion after re-reviewing all the advice and the literature.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Tuesday 22nd October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am greatly looking forward to visiting my hon. Friend’s hospital on Thursday and going out on the front line. I agree that we need to celebrate success. This has been a difficult year for the NHS as we have learned to be much more transparent about problems when they exist, but one of the advantages of having a chief inspector is that his team will be able to identify and recognise outstanding practice, so that everyone will understand that, as well as some of the problems that get more attention, brilliant things are happening throughout our NHS.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Is the Secretary of State comfortable with a surgeon such as Ian Paterson flitting between the NHS and the private sector, making the same blunders in both but being subject to different levels of accountability and his victims having access to different levels of redress?

[Mr Hunt]

As I said in response to an earlier question, the responsibility to be transparent about care should apply equally in the public and the private sector. Obviously, in the public sector we have more levers, because we are purchasing care and we can impose more conditions than it is possible to do in the private sector. The most important thing is to have a culture in which such problems come to light quickly when they happen, so that they are dealt with and not repeated.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Tuesday 10th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The truth is that many in the NHS had their fingers burnt when the previous Government, with the best of intentions, tried to address the problem, unfortunately with abysmal results and billions of pounds wasted. I do not think that we should let that failure stop us doing what we know can transform services. When we look at the changes that have been made in the banking, airline and retail industries, we see that we need to use the benefits of modern technology in the NHS. It will save thousands of lives.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

How could any Secretary of State imagine that it is okay to preside over a situation in which there are only five consultants working overnight in A and Es across the entire country?

[Mr Hunt]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that consultant cover is not as good as it needs to be, and not just in A and E departments, but across NHS hospitals, so I hope that he will support me in moving forward with a seven-day NHS, which is a very big change and might be opposed by people working in the NHS. I am delighted that I can be assured of his support.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Tuesday 16th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

We are considering whether something can be done with the NHS number. At the moment, people can visit any GP and, completely legally—whether or not they are entitled to NHS care—get an NHS number. That number can then become a passport that can be used throughout the system, so we are examining whether there is a way of giving people either a temporary NHS number, or a different NHS number, that can be tracked through the system so that if they undergo complex medical care that is chargeable, we are able to trace that and collect the money from them.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

If we are to make this work, do not we need a clearer idea about the real cost? Is it the £200 million that the Secretary of State has been quoted as using, the £10 million suggested by the Prime Minister, or the £33 million that the Under-Secretary of State for Health, the hon. Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry), has cited in a parliamentary written answer?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Tuesday 16th April 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I wholeheartedly agree with my right hon. Friend. I was in the accident and emergency unit at Watford hospital last week when a lady with advanced dementia was admitted. She had bruises all over her face after having had a fall. The shocking reality was that that A and E department knew nothing about that lady. It did not know her medical history, and it did not know whether that was her normal condition. There was no proper joined-up link between the social care system and the NHS. Tackling that issue is probably the single biggest long-term and strategic challenge that we have to address in the NHS.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Was Professor Malcolm Grant, the chairman of NHS England, talking about dementia sufferers when he said today that the NHS would have to charge for particular treatments? If not, will the Secretary of State specifically rule that out?

[Mr Hunt]

Professor Malcolm Grant did not say that. What he actually said was that if the NHS considered charging, he would oppose it. I agree with him; I would oppose it, too.

Social Care Funding

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Monday 11th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. The shadow Health Secretary complained this morning that we have not adopted the precise cap that Andrew Dilnot said he would have liked. That would have cost an extra £2.4 billion a year by 2020, on top of the plans that we have announced. It is up to the Opposition to tell us how they would find that money if that is what they want to happen.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

Is it not likely that the decline in domiciliary services will accelerate to the point at which people are forced to enter residential care? Has the Health Secretary factored those rising costs into his calculations?

Regional Pay (NHS)

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Wednesday 7th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

May I gently remind the hon. Lady that she stood for election on a manifesto that did not include abolishing the 2003 Act or the Health Act 2006, which gave foundation trusts the freedom to set their own pay and conditions? [Interruption.] I ask Labour Members to let me answer the question. May I also remind her that the previous Government, whom she supported, introduced “Agenda for Change”, which does not pay the same amount throughout the country for the same work? It actually includes a lot of flexibility for regional pay.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

So far, the Secretary of State is describing what he sees as the benefits of flexibility. I put it to him that if a number of regions adopt the south-west’s approach, he will eventually be confronted by the fact, as the Secretary of State, that the poorest parts of this country will not be able to attract the doctors they need. What will he do then?

[Mr Hunt]

All we are doing is supporting what the hon. Gentleman’s Government did, which was to introduce flexibilities for the people who run foundation trusts to set pay and conditions in order to get the best health care in their areas, including in his constituency, in that of the right hon. Member for Leigh and in mine. The previous Labour Government did not just support that; they legislated to require it. They introduced foundation trusts—

Public Confidence in the Media and Police

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Steve McCabe

Wednesday 20th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

They were irrelevant because the person who was making the decision was myself, and I was making it on my own. This was not a matter of collective responsibility. This was a quasi-judicial process. I wish I could take more decisions completely on my own without any reference to the Prime Minister, the Chancellor or other Cabinet colleagues. This is the only such decision I have ever been privileged to make.

[Steve McCabe]

I do not believe that any discussion that the Prime Minister has is irrelevant. But is the right hon. Gentleman confirming that the Prime Minister did have discussions about BSkyB, and will he tell us who he had them with and what they were about?

[Mr Hunt]

I will confirm that the Prime Minister had no inappropriate conversations with Rebekah Brooks at any time.