Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kevin Hollinrake and Sajid Javid

Tuesday 19th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

First, may I take this opportunity to congratulate all the health and care workers across Devon on the fantastic work they are doing? The right hon. Gentleman will know that the Government have set out clearly their approach to dealing with the pandemic and that we are very much focused on vaccinations, which are working, building a wall of defence, treatments and testing.

[Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

Further to the last question on NHS dentistry from the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper), we are in a difficult situation across North Yorkshire, where there is no NHS dentist availability across the whole of Thirsk and Malton. It will take the NHS two years to recommission the service in Helmsley—the closed practice in Helmsley—and the Thirsk practice has just closed its doors with its current list of patients. Will my right hon. Friend set out exactly what we can do to increase the availability of NHS dentistry?

[Sajid Javid]

Again, my hon. Friend is right to raise this issue. As we have just heard from other hon. Members, there is a real issue with dentistry across England, including in North Yorkshire, and we know how the pandemic has had an impact on that. Dentists have tried to do the best they can in those circumstances. The changes we are making to infection prevention and control will help. We are looking at further measures, and I understand that my hon. Friend will be meeting the Minister shortly to discuss his issues in North Yorkshire carefully.

Health and Care Bill

Debate between Kevin Hollinrake and Sajid Javid

2nd reading
Wednesday 14th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

There have been wide-ranging consultations on the Bill, as I mentioned, which have taken place over the past two years. While I cannot say specifically which trade union or which particular organisation has been spoken to, as I was not in the Department at the time, I know that the conversations have been wide ranging.

The Bill is not the limit of our ambitions on the nation’s health. We are also transforming public health; we are bringing the Mental Health Act into the 21st century; and, by the end of this year, we will set out plans putting adult social care on a sustainable footing for the future.

We are also ambitious for our workforce. I have commissioned Health Education England to refresh its strategic framework for health and social care workforce planning. HEE will work in partnership across the sector and gather views from the widest possible range of stakeholders to help us to shape a workforce with the right skills, the right knowledge and the right values for the year ahead.

[Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend has set out his plans to introduce a plan for social care by the end of the year, and I know that he is looking for a cross-party solution. In a joint inquiry by two Select Committees—the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee and the Health and Social Care Committee—one of the recommendations was a system with a German-style social care premium. Would that potentially feature in his recommendations, and does he agree that that is a much fairer system than a Dilnot-style system that incentivises people to spend their assets or move them somewhere where they cannot be touched?

[Sajid Javid]

First, my hon. Friend is right to say that it would be great if all or most Members of this House, and certainly the different parties, could agree on a new system. I look forward to speaking to all hon. Members about what a future social care system could look like. In terms of the detail, I am afraid that he is just going to have to wait a moment longer, but I agree that the work by the Select Committees will, of course, inform our decisions.

I turn in a little more detail to the measures and themes that are captured in the Bill. The first is more integration. We know that different parts of the system want to work together to deliver joined-up services, and we know that, when they do that, it works. We have seen that with the non-statutory integrated care systems in the past few years. They have united hospitals and brought together communities, GPs, mental health services, local authority care and public health, and it works. We recognise that there are limits on how far this can go under the current law, so this Bill will build on the progress of integrated care systems by creating integrated care boards and integrated care partnerships as statutory bodies. England’s 42 ICSs will draw on the expertise of people who know their areas best. They will be able to create joint budgets to shape how we care for people and how we promote a healthy lifestyle. With respect to the specific geographies of the ICSs themselves, as I have said elsewhere, I am willing to listen.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kevin Hollinrake and Sajid Javid

Tuesday 11th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

Let me tell the hon. Lady what we have seen under 10 years of Tory rule, after Labour’s great recession. We have had nine consecutive years of growth. We have an economy that is nearly 17% bigger than it was in 2010, and 3.9 million jobs have been created—I would think that a party that calls itself the Labour party would welcome that. Unemployment is at its lowest level for 45 years, and according to the International Monetary Fund, our economy will grow faster this year than those of Italy, Japan, France and Germany.

[Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

Small and medium-sized enterprises are critical to economic opportunity and would undoubtedly benefit from greater access to business finance, yet challenger banks suffer from the same capital requirements as larger banks, despite the fact that they do not present the same systemic risk. Will my right hon. Friend say what he might be able to do to change that situation?

[Sajid Javid]

This is something that I have discussed with regulators. My hon. Friend is right in his general point about challenger banks and the risks that they may or may not represent. It is right that we take a fresh look at this because having more competition in the banking sector is a good thing, especially for SMEs.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kevin Hollinrake and Sajid Javid

Tuesday 7th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sajid Javid)]

Increasing productivity is the best way to boost wages, improve living standards and enhance prosperity. We have worked hard to build a stronger, fairer economy, dealing with the deficit, helping to get people into work, and cutting taxes for families and businesses. We will continue to invest responsibly, including by investing billions more in infrastructure, creating a new national skills fund and boosting investment in research and development. We will invest to unleash the potential of the whole country, so that no place is left behind.

[Kevin Hollinrake]

Productivity is damaged if SMEs feel that there is no fair system for resolving disputes with their bank, yet the eligibility rules for the new Business Banking Resolution Service exclude 85% of historical claims, including, incredibly, those that have been through the recently discredited Lloyds bank customer review. Will the Chancellor meet me to discuss how we make this fit for purpose and not simply a fig leaf to cover past banking malpractice?