Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2025 to Question 23655 on Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal, whether his Department has had discussions with the Local Government Ombudsman on the issuing of fixed penalty notices for householders who leave items (a) inside and (b) immediately outside the curtilage of their property.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers to help tackle fly-tipping including fixed penalty notices and seizing vehicles. They can also prosecute which can lead to a significant fine, a community sentence or even imprisonment. It is for local authorities to determine what enforcement action, if any, is appropriate in the circumstances.
We are considering whether further guidance for local authorities is necessary with regards to fly-tipping enforcement. Any announcements on this will be made in the usual way.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2025 to Question 23653 on Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal, how much funding her Department has provided for the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in the 2024-25 financial year; and what the (a) terms of reference and (b) estimated delivery dates are for the commission to WRAP to provide guidance on best practice.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As a charity organisation WRAP’s annual report and accounts detailing Defra grant funding is available from the Charity Commission on Gov.UK. WRAP is working with and engaging Local Authorities to help bring together good practice by Spring.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has issued guidance to local waste authorities on whether fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping can be issued in relation to domestic waste receptacles located within the curtilage of a dwelling.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers to help tackle fly-tipping including fixed penalty notices and seizing vehicles. They can also prosecute which can lead to a significant fine, a community sentence or even imprisonment. It is for local authorities to determine what enforcement action, if any, is appropriate in the circumstances.
We are considering whether further guidance for local authorities is necessary with regards to fly-tipping enforcement. Any announcements on this will be made in the usual way.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 improve digital (a) literacy and (b) confidence in NHS clinical staff.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are striving for digital services to improve access, experiences, and outcomes for the widest range of people, based on their preferences, as any digital healthcare benefits will be limited if people remain digitally excluded.
Mitigating against the risk of digital exclusion is one of five key priorities that NHS England has asked the integrated care systems to address in their drive to reduce healthcare inequalities. NHS England successfully ran a number of programmes to support patients, carers, and health service staff with their digital literacy. These include:
NHS England has also published a framework for NHS action on digital inclusion and is developing further resources to support practical actions and to build clinical confidence in using digital tools. All digital programmes are actively considering how they can contribute to improvements in healthcare inequalities and digital inclusion.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 potential merits of publishing year-round data on the number of patients being treated in temporary care environments.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is clear that patients should expect and receive the highest standard of service, and is determined to tackle the issue of corridor care.
On 30 January, we published Road to recovery: the government's 2025 mandate to NHS England, which set out the priorities and actions to be taken to reform and improve urgent and emergency care services.
We continue to keep the data available and published to support improvements to urgent and emergency care services under review. Subject to data quality, NHS England would intend to publish data collected on the use of temporary escalation spaces in the spring.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 end the use of corridor care in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is clear that patients should expect and receive the highest standard of service, and is determined to tackle the issue of corridor care.
On 30 January, we published Road to recovery: the government's 2025 mandate to NHS England, which set out the priorities and actions to be taken to reform and improve urgent and emergency care services.
We continue to keep the data available and published to support improvements to urgent and emergency care services under review. Subject to data quality, NHS England would intend to publish data collected on the use of temporary escalation spaces in the spring.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 implications for its policies of exploitative employment practices by social care employers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have seen unacceptable increases in unethical practices and exploitation in the adult social care sector. The Department works closely with regulators, local authorities, other departments, and enforcement bodies to share concerns and intelligence about unethical practices in adult social care. The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority investigates reports of worker exploitation and illegal activity, such as human trafficking, modern slavery, forced labour, and other labour market offences. The Government is also delivering the legislation for a new flagship Fair Work Agency, ensuring fair and strong employment rights for all.
In relation to the exploitation of international recruits, £16 million has been provided to regional partnerships this financial year to support them to prevent and respond to unethical practices. The Home Office has also recently announced measures to ban rogue employers from sponsoring overseas workers.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 end exploitative employment practices by social care employers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have seen unacceptable increases in unethical practices and exploitation in the adult social care sector. The Department works closely with regulators, local authorities, other departments, and enforcement bodies to share concerns and intelligence about unethical practices in adult social care. The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority investigates reports of worker exploitation and illegal activity, such as human trafficking, modern slavery, forced labour, and other labour market offences. The Government is also delivering the legislation for a new flagship Fair Work Agency, ensuring fair and strong employment rights for all.
In relation to the exploitation of international recruits, £16 million has been provided to regional partnerships this financial year to support them to prevent and respond to unethical practices. The Home Office has also recently announced measures to ban rogue employers from sponsoring overseas workers.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 assessment of the effectiveness of community pharmacies in maintaining public health.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pharmacies are commissioned to deliver a range of evidence-based services that contribute to public health, including providing advice on maintaining health, treatment for common conditions, identifying people with high blood pressure, initiating and managing oral contraception, and providing vaccination services.
National Health Service pharmaceutical services delivered in community pharmacy are also subject to evaluations to assess outcomes such as clinical appropriateness, and impacts on patients and other parts of the NHS. This includes the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s evaluation of Pharmacy First to assess how the service has been implemented across England, including impacts on prescribing in the general practice setting, use of hospitals, and how the service has impacted access to care and costs for different patient groups.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 NHS England to tackle diagnostic overshadowing of dementia symptoms for patients with learning disabilities.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The annual health check for people with learning disabilities should include a review of mental health, including signs of dementia, especially in adults with Down’s syndrome. People requiring an assessment for dementia should be referred to a clinician with specialist expertise in the mental health of people with learning disabilities. Assessment for dementia should be supplemented with tools devised for use with people with learning disabilities. Under the Health and Care Act 2022, from 1 July 2022 Care Quality Commission registered providers are required to ensure that their staff receives specific training on learning disability and autism, appropriate to their role. This will help to ensure that staff have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and informed care.
To support providers to meet the statutory training requirement, we have been rolling out the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism to the health and adult social care workforce. This training includes content on avoiding diagnostic overshadowing and frequently co-occurring conditions. Over two million people have completed the e-learning package, which is the first part of this training, and over 1,700 trainers are delivering the interactive second part of this training across the country.
The Department funds dementia research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), which includes research with people with learning disabilities. For example, the NIHR is funding a study testing the neuroimaging method of functional near infrared spectroscopy to detect cognitive decline in people with Down’s syndrome.