Asked by: Leigh Ingham (Labour - Stafford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing guidelines to social workers for parents with autism.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Social workers involved in an autistic person’s care have a duty to promote their human rights, safety and wellbeing, assess their needs and help facilitate access to the right services.
The regulator for the social work profession, Social Work England, sets the professional standards. These are standards all social workers must meet. The professional standards include that social workers must be able to provide, or support people to access, advice and services tailored to meet their needs.
Social workers complete initial education and training, for which training providers must meet Social Work England’s Education and Training Standards. These standards require training providers to ensure that the course is continually updated because of developments in research, legislation, Government policy and best practice.
Additionally, under the Health and Care Act 2022, Care Quality Commission-registered providers are required to ensure their staff receive specific training on learning disability and autism appropriate to their role. This will help to ensure that staff, including social workers, have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and informed care.
To support this, we have been rolling out the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism. Over two million people have already completed the e-learning package which is the first part of this training.
Asked by: Leigh Ingham (Labour - Stafford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the levels of ambulance delays for Category (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3 and (d) 4 calls; and what assessment he has made of the impact of ambulance delays on healthcare in Stafford constituency in the last 12 months.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ambulance services in Stafford are provided by the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust, with responsibility for commissioning services a matter for the local Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board. Any assessment of the specific local actions needed to improve response times should be undertaken and agreed locally by National Health Service organisations in the best interests of the local population and patients.
At a national level, the Government and NHS England are committed to improving ambulance response times. The NHS 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance sets national priorities, which include improving accident and emergency waiting times and ambulance response times compared to 2024/25.
Asked by: Leigh Ingham (Labour - Stafford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of open NHS Dentists (a) on the most recent date for which figures are held and (b) in 2010 in Stafford Constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of 4 February 2025, in the Stafford constituency, there were 13 National Health Service dentist practices, with five showing as ‘accepting new child patients when availability allows’ and two showing as ‘accepting new adult patients when availability allows’. Data is not held on the number of open NHS dentists in the Stafford constituency for 2010.
This data is sourced from the Find a Dentist website and is matched to constituencies based on the postcode data shown on the website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist/
Asked by: Leigh Ingham (Labour - Stafford)
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 potential merits of regulating companies that are funded by local government to provide day activity services to adults with disabilities.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. The CQC has powers under the Health and Care Act 2008 to regulate adult social care services to make sure they provide safe, effective, compassionate, and high-quality care. Where concerns on quality or safety are identified, the CQC uses the regulatory and enforcement powers it has available, and will take action to ensure the safety of people drawing on care and support.
Day activity centres, in which social, recreational, and care services may be provided to older people or those with a disability, are not currently within the scope of the CQC’s regulation, as set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
Any changes to those regulations would be subject to the usual Parliamentary process, which would include a public consultation, and thus an opportunity to consider the merits of further regulation of services.
Asked by: Leigh Ingham (Labour - Stafford)
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 potential impact of changes to (a) funding and (b) National Insurance contributions at the Autumn Budget 2024 on hospices.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life, and their loved ones.
The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.
At the Autumn Budget 2024, we have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances, enabling the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26. The employer National Insurance contributions (ENICs) rise will be implemented in April 2025, and the Department will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course.
The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, like hospices, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with ENIC liabilities either gain or see no change next year. Businesses and charities will still be able to claim ENIC reliefs, including those for under 21-year-old and under 25-year-old apprentices, where eligible.