Oral Answers to Questions

Marion Fellows Excerpts

Tuesday 5th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Maria Caulfield]

It remains our intention to bring forward a mental health Bill when parliamentary time allows. We have the draft Mental Health Bill, which we have put through pre-legislative scrutiny. We are looking at the report from the Joint Committee and will be responding to that shortly.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

12. What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in the cost of living on mental health.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maria Caulfield)]

We are acutely aware of the impact that the cost of living has on mental health, which is why this Conservative Government spent over £350 billion during the pandemic on protecting people’s jobs and over £60 billion during the recent cost of living pressures to pay for their energy bills.

[Marion Fellows]

The Centre for Mental Health, the British Psychological Society and others have raised serious concerns about the UK Government’s new back to work plan, warning that the increased threat of applying benefit sanctions or coercing people into jobseeking will be detrimental to claimants struggling with their mental health. Does the Minister share my concern about this, and has she made any representations to her Cabinet colleagues about the mental health impact of these measures?

[Maria Caulfield]

That is the difference between the SNP and the Conservatives: we have aspiration for people, and we absolutely want to support people with mental health problems and illness to get into work. They should have the same opportunities to get into work, and not just to get a job, but to get a good job and get a career. If we look at its website, Mind supports people getting into work, saying that it is not just a source of income, but provides a “sense of identity” and “structure” as well as support, confidence and ambition.

--- Later in debate ---

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

We now move to topical questions. We are running late because questions have been too long, as have answers. I often make this plea. In any case, Members should not be reading their questions—questions are not meant to be read; they are meant to be questions. Can everybody please cut out those bits that say their constituency is beautiful, for example, and just ask a question? We all believe that our constituencies are beautiful, and none more so than mine.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Victoria Atkins)]

My priority as Secretary of State is to reform our NHS and social care system to make it faster, simpler and fairer. Since my appointment, we are making progress. To make our system faster, we have hit our manifesto target to recruit and retain 50,000 more nurses for our NHS, and to deliver 50 million more GP appointments, achieving both commitments months ahead of time. We have made an offer to health unions that I hope will end the consultants’ strike, which has disrupted care for the public and put a strain on staff. To make our system simpler, we have announced Pharmacy First, which will make it quicker and easier for millions of people to access healthcare on the high street. To make our system fairer, we have agreed a deal with pharmaceutical companies that will save the NHS £14 billion in medicine costs and give patients access to more life-saving treatment. The NHS is one of the reasons I came into politics—[Interruption.] I know Labour Members do not like to hear that, but I look forward to working with patients and staff across the country—[Interruption.]

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Order. I do not need any help, thank you. The Secretary of State has answered the first question at length. I am sure that means she will answer the other questions much more briefly.

[Marion Fellows]

People with disabilities and serious health conditions already have higher living costs, and the proposals in the work capability assessment activities and descriptors consultation will mean that if they are reassessed they will lose £390 a month. I appreciate that the Secretary of State is new to her role, but will she commit as a priority to taking this up and consulting Cabinet colleagues, to ensure that people who are disabled and have serious health conditions are not pushed even further into dire poverty?

[Victoria Atkins]

As I said earlier, careful thought has gone into the announcements that were made in the autumn statement, and of course I will work with the Secretary of State and the Chancellor to ensure that the commitments we already have to people living with disabilities are maintained, and that we have their wellbeing at the heart of all our policy making.