Point of Order
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Caroline Johnson
Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I seek your guidance about how this House can obtain answers from the Government, particularly the Department of Health and Social Care. On Budget day I tabled a question asking what the changes to national insurance contributions would cost the NHS both directly and indirectly. On 4 November I got a holding answer, and on 11 November I was given an answer that did not answer the question. On 8 November I tabled a question to break it down into small pieces. Last night I received yet another holding answer. We have had very little clarity from the Minister this morning. Are we truly supposed to believe that, three weeks after their own Budget, which the Government took almost four months to prepare, they do not know or cannot quantify its effects? [Interruption.] Surely, it is a discourtesy not to provide the House with an answer to a written question, and incompetent not to know the answers—
Mr Speaker
Order. First of all, a point of order is meant to be short. And I remind Members who are joining in that I do not need any help.
Dr Johnson
Could you please advise me, Mr Speaker, on how to get to the truth, so that this House and my constituents can understand the magnitude of the effect of these national insurance contribution changes on the NHS?
Mr Speaker
All hon. Members on all sides of the House are entitled to answers. I am sure that Government Members have heard what has been said about the failure to answer within time, and I am sure that it will be rectified. We will leave the point of order at that.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Caroline Johnson(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Dr Johnson
It is always a pleasure to answer the hon. Gentleman. That work will be ongoing. We want to recruit from the widest possible groups in our communities, and to encourage young people to think about a career in policing.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Caroline Johnson(4 months, 1 week ago)
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Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)
I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his position. I should declare that I have been working in the NHS for 23 years, currently as an NHS consultant paediatrician. I look forward to using that experience in my new role as shadow Minister of State to scrutinise the Government constructively.
Under the new hospital programme, the previous Government had already opened six hospitals to patients, with two more due to open this financial year and 18 under construction. The Government are now putting that at risk by launching a review of that work, delaying those projects, which are vital to patients across the country. Could the right hon. Member please confirm when the review will be completed?
Wes Streeting
First, I welcome the hon. Lady to her new post. I must say I preferred her much more as a Back-Bench rebel than a Front-Bench spokesperson, but I have enormous respect for her years of contribution to the NHS and the experience that she brings to this House. I always take her seriously.
However, on this one, once again I say to the Opposition that they handed over an entirely fictional timetable and an unfunded programme. The hon. Lady might not know because she was not there immediately prior to the election, but the shadow Secretary of State, who is sitting right next to her, knows exactly where the bodies are buried in the Department, where the unexploded bombs are, and exactly the degree to which this timetable and the funding were not as set out by the previous Government.