Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
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 help (a) reduce bureaucracy and (b) improve access to treatments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While health is a devolved matter, to reduce bureaucracy the Government and NHS England have launched a Red Tape Challenge, to address bureaucracy between primary and secondary care, to give our health professionals time back to do what they do best.
We are working to improve access by increasing the number of appointments delivered in general practice (GP), and taking the pressure off those currently working in the system, by investing £82 million in England to recruit over 1,000 newly qualified GPs through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. We are also training thousands more GPs and ending the 8:00am scramble for appointments by introducing a modern booking system.
Last January, Pharmacy First was launched, which enables patients to receive treatment for seven common health conditions from a pharmacy without the need to visit a GP. In dentistry, we are working to ensure patients can start to access 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments as soon as possible, targeting the areas that need them most.
Additionally, funding announced in the Autumn Budget will support the delivery of an additional 2 million operations, scans, and appointments during our first year in Government, which is the equivalent to 40,000 per week, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring that patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks.
As part of the Government’s five long-term missions, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS and make it fit for the future. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed to move healthcare from hospital to the community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. The online portal is available for engagement at the following link:
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the number of people that will be impacted by the increase to the national minimum wage in Glasgow North East constituency.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government will publish an Impact Assessment alongside the legislation that implements the increase to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage in 2025. This will include analysis of the number of workers affected by region and country. More granular estimates by constituency are subject to greater data reliability issues due to survey response rates.
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on support for women on maternity leave in Scotland.
Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland
This Government is committed to ensuring families have the best start in life.
Through the Employment Rights Bill, we will strengthen the protections for pregnant women, and new mothers returning to work.
These legislative measures aim to tackle maternity and pregnancy discrimination and avoid women leaving the workforce.
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support Team GB and ParalympicsGB to build on their successes in 2024.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are fully committed to multi-year funding for our elite sport system and enabling our athletes to excel on the world stage.
This means supporting them financially to match and build on their success in Paris, helping them to deliver at LA 2028. We will set out further details at the Spending Review.
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when he plans to announce more detail on the establishment of Great British Energy offices in Glasgow.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are currently focused on making Great British Energy’s Aberdeen Headquarters a reality. Once Great British Energy is set-up in Aberdeen, we will work towards opening sites in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and we will provide further detail on this in due course. We are committed to delivering these additional sites, that will enable Great British Energy to tap into a wider labour market, maximising skills and expertise across Scotland.