Oral Answers to Questions

Layla Moran Excerpts

Tuesday 19th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

No, it is not. Labour Members like to draw attention to north-south divides and so on, but the issues about health inequalities are much more complex than how money is spent and where. Within my constituency, for example, there are differences of 10 years in life expectancy depending on the particular locality. We need a much more multi-layered approach to tackling inequality, and that is what this Government will have.

[Layla Moran (Oxford West and Abingdon) (LD)]

3. What discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the effect of the tier 2 visa cap on recruitment in the NHS and social care sector.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

Last week the Home Secretary removed doctors and nurses from the tier 2 visa cap.

[Layla Moran]

In Oxfordshire, the situation with social care workers is at least as bad a problem. Of course we all very much welcome the removal of doctors and nurses from the cap, but what about social care workers? Why are we focusing on only half the problem?

[Mr Hunt]

Perhaps I can help the hon. Lady by pointing out that tier 2 visa cap is specifically for higher-paid workers. We do need to think about social care workers, but a lot of them are lower paid. That is why we are putting together a 10-year workforce plan for the health and social care sectors, both of which are very important. We will make sure that that goes hand in glove with the NHS plan that we announced yesterday.