Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to end rental bidding wars by landlords and letting agents (a) nationally and (b) in Beckenham and Penge constituency.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Renters’ Rights Bill will prohibit rental bidding practices.

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 dementia care and support for (a) patients and (b) families post-diagnosis in (i) England and (ii) Beckenham and Penge constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England is committed to delivering high quality care and support for every person with dementia, and central to this is the provision of personalised care and support planning for post diagnostic support.

The Department has produced guidance on what to expect from health and care services following a dementia diagnosis, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/after-a-diagnosis-of-dementia-what-to-expect-from-health-and-care-services/after-diagnosis-of-dementia-what-to-expect-from-health-and-care-services

There has been a longstanding priority in the London Borough of Bromley, including Beckenham and Penge, to ensure fast and effective dementia diagnostic services, as well as a strong community support offer which is provided by the Bromley Dementia Support Hub and MindCare Dementia respite service. These services are delivered through a partnership of National Health Service and voluntary sector partners to ensure that there is a tailored offer of support for those who need it.

The Bromley Dementia Support Hub, together with the MindCare Dementia Service provided by South-East London Mind, and in partnership with the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, Bromley Well, and Age UK Bromley and Greenwich, offers a range of support services and stimulating activities both in-person and online for people living with dementia, and their friends and family carers.

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 adequacy of access to maternal mental health services.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

People with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they deserve or need, which is why we will fix the system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health, and that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it. We will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on hospitals.

NHS England’s three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services commits to offering all women a personalised care and support plan, considering physical health, mental health, and social complexities, with an updated risk assessment at every contact.

Specialist perinatal mental health services are available in all 42 integrated care system (ICS) areas of England. Maternal mental health services are available in 40 of the 42 ICS areas in England, and the last two are being supported by NHS England to ensure they are up and running as soon as possible. There are currently 19 Mother and Baby Units across England, with 153 operational beds.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect (a) people with dementia and Alzheimer's and (b) other vulnerable people from (i) financial abuse, (ii) fraud and (iii) scammers.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

The impact of fraud extends beyond financial losses. It is important that victims of fraud receive the critical support that they are rightly entitled to.

Improving support for victims is a key part of the Fraud Strategy and the replacement of Action Fraud over the course of 2025 will improve the service victims receive.

All 43 police forces in England and Wales have now also rolled out the National Economic Crime Victim Care Unit service to ensure victims receive tailored support. Furthermore, we are supporting National Trading Standards in the rollout of their Multi Agency Approach to Fraud, bringing together local services to improve support to the most vulnerable victims.

Through the Fraud Strategy we also continue to tackle the ways in which vulnerable people might be targeted by fraudsters. We are working with Ofcom to stop malicious number spoofing and prevent mass texting services from abuse by fraudsters.

Under our Telecommunications Charter, the industry has introduced firewalls that detect and stop scam texts from reaching customers. Finally, we legislated to require the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to introduce mandatory reimbursement for APP scams, ensuring more victims get their money back.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle (a) financial scams and (b) fraud nationally.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is committed to working with law enforcement, civil society and industry to better protect the public and businesses from this appalling crime.

We have committed to completing the outstanding commitments of the Fraud Strategy set out by the previous government and are determined to do more. We will be working closely with partners to develop our new, expanded strategy over the coming months. Details of our approach will be set out in due course.

In the meantime, the Government brought together key partners across law enforcement, industry and victim groups at the Joint Fraud Taskforce last month, launching an Insurance Fraud Charter with key insurance firms to reduce insurance fraud.

In parallel, we have taken steps to ensure a new corporate criminal liability offence of Failure to Prevent Fraud comes into effect next year and played a central role in the adoption of the first ever UN resolution on fraud, which will strengthen the international response.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking with local authorities to help support kinship carers in (a) Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) other areas.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department recognises the important role that kinship carers play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children and the role of local authorities to support them.

​The government has recently announced a £40 million package to trial a new Kinship Allowance in up to ten local authorities to test whether paying an allowance to cover certain costs, such as supporting children to settle into a new home with relatives or for activities to support their wellbeing, can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends. This trial will help us make decisions about future national rollout. The department will share further detail on the process for selecting the local authorities taking part in the programme in due course.

The government recently published updated guidance for local authorities, the Kinship Care statutory guidance. This guidance outlines the framework for the provision of support for kinship children and their carers.

​The department also appointed the first National Kinship Care Ambassador, who will work alongside local authorities to help improve their kinship practice and local policies, and ensure they are following national guidance. As well as providing bespoke support to some local authority teams, they will share learning nationally so that more local authorities can benefit from evidence of best practice.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her planned timetable is for the introduction of the trial kinship carer allowance.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

​​​​The department recognises the important role that kinship carers play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children and the role of local authorities to support them.

​​The government has recently announced a £40 million package to trial a new Kinship Allowance in up to ten local authorities to test whether paying an allowance to cover certain costs, such as supporting children to settle into a new home with relatives, or for activities to support their wellbeing, can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends.

The programme will begin in 2025 and decisions about future national rollout will be informed by the findings of the evaluation. The department will share further detail on the timetable and delivery of the programme in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to increase the availability of peer support groups in (a) Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) other areas.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

As part of the department’s measures to champion kinship care, the government has extended the delivery of over 140 peer support groups across England, available for all kinship carers to access, where they can come together to share stories, exchange advice and support each other.

The department is also delivering a package of training and support that all kinship carers across England can access.

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 (a) to raise awareness of (i) pregnancy and (ii) baby loss and (b) improve bereavement care for (A) mothers and (B) families impacted.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to ensuring that all women and babies receive safe, compassionate, and personalised care, particularly when things go wrong. In February 2024, the Department launched the Baby Loss Certificate service. This service is a non-statutory, voluntary scheme to enable those who have experienced any pregnancy loss to record and receive a certificate to provide recognition of their loss, if they wish to do so.

To support the reduction of preventable baby loss, all trusts are implementing the third version of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle, which provides maternity units with detailed guidance and a package of interventions to reduce stillbirths, neonatal brain injury, neonatal death, and preterm birth.

Many trusts have specialist bereavement midwives, who are trained to care for and support parents and families who have suffered the loss of their baby. All trusts are now signed up to The National Bereavement Care Pathway, which acts as a set of standards and guidance that trusts should follow when a patient has suffered a baby loss.

Paid Parental Bereavement Leave was introduced in 2020. This entitlement is available to parents who lose a child under 18 years old, including where a baby is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

In May 2024, NHS England published a new national policy framework to provide all National Health Service staff who suffer a miscarriage with up to 10 days additional paid leave. Women who experience a miscarriage in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy are offered up to 10 days paid leave, and their partners are offered up to five. The new guidance supports NHS employees and provides managers and colleagues with advice on how to support people affected by baby loss, including ensuring that staff who return from work after their pregnancy loss are offered occupational health support, including referrals to specialist services at their trust, or specialist miscarriage and baby loss charities and organisations.

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 including in his 10 Year Plan offering young people pre-participation cardiac screening within the community.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

No assessment has been made on the potential merits of including community pre-participation cardiac screening into the 10-year plan.

This is because the UK National Screening Committee does not recommend offering screening for sudden cardiac death in people under the age of 39 years old. Research showed that current tests are not accurate enough to use in young people without symptoms. Individuals with the condition may receive a negative test result, a false negative, giving them false reassurance.

Furthermore, individuals who do not have the condition may receive a positive test result, a false positive, which can lead to unnecessary tests, treatments, and caution against exercise, which itself is harmful.

Found: TUESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2024 Members present: Louise Haigh , in the Chair Gareth Bacon Liam Conlon