Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to reduce NHS staff burnout.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The health and wellbeing of National Health Service staff is a top priority. NHS organisations have a responsibility to create supportive working environments for staff, ensuring they have the conditions they need to thrive, including access to high quality health and wellbeing support.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will roll out Staff Treatment hubs to ensure all staff have access to high quality occupational health support, including for mental health.
To further support this ambition, we will work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals, support to work healthily and flexibly, and tackling violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the workplace.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to introduce regulatory limits on the volume of water extracted out at sea, following the 2025 UN Ocean Conference.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to protecting the natural environment and will consider any relevant issues and options as they arise.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
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 prioritise UK-trained resident doctors in the allocation of specialist training posts; and what steps he is taking to increase the number of such funded posts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan published on 3 July, we will work across Government to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period for specialty training. Over the next three years we will also create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. We will set out the next steps in due course.
We will publish a new 10 Year Workforce Plan later this year to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential role of family hubs in (a) neighbourhood health and (a) the delivery of integrated community-based health services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan outlined proposals for a new Neighbourhood Health Service, which embodies our preventative principle, that care should happen as locally as it can. Neighbourhood health services will build on, and will coordinate with Best Start Family Hubs and Start for Life services to continue to integrate children’s services, National Health Services, and public health.
The Neighbourhood Health Service will mean that millions of patients are treated and cared for closer to their home by new teams of health professionals, providing easier, more convenient access to a full range of healthcare services on people’s doorsteps.
The impact of Family Hubs and Start for Life services will take time to be realised. The current Family Hubs and Start for Life programme is subject to two national, independent evaluations to understand its implementation and impact.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing a strategy on children and armed conflict.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The latest UN Secretary General's (UNSG) report on Children and Armed Conflict is shocking. It shows that children are being harmed and denied lifesaving aid on an unprecedented scale.
As the UK made clear in our statement at the UN Security Council open debate on Children and Armed Conflict on 25 June, the UK calls on all parties to armed conflict to immediately end and prevent grave violations against children, and for perpetrators to be held to account. The UK also remains committed to promoting and defending the UN's Children and Armed Conflict mandate.
The Minister for Africa met Save the Children and War Child on 3 July to discuss the UNSG's report and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) approach to protecting children affected by armed conflict. The FCDO is currently reviewing our approach to children in conflict.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to help improve recruitment and retention in the Armed Forces.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The current Government inherited a crisis in recruitment and retention from the last administration.
The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) 2025 is clear that Defence must now meet the longstanding challenge of recruiting and retaining new generations with different requirements. We are committed to the vision that long-term success depends on reconnecting society with the Armed Forces and the purpose of Defence, and for recruitment the focus should be on speed, drastically shortening the period between applicants expressing interest and joining.
To achieve this, Defence will offer novel ways of entry into the Armed Forces that attract more people from a wider range of backgrounds. The Army and Navy are developing short term employment opportunities - “gap year” schemes - for young men and women across a variety of exciting roles that will upskill, provide apprenticeships, and a flavour of life in the Armed Forces.
Full plans will be announced in due course now that we have published the SDR, but we have already introduced several initiatives to improve recruitment including pay increases for new recruits and existing personnel, the scrapping of outdated medical policies, the implementation of a direct-entry cyber pathway and the setting of ambitions to make conditional offers of employment and provisional training start dates in much shorter time. All of these have achieved results; year on year there are now increased applications to the Armed Forces, increased inflow by 19% – including exceeded recruitment targets by the Royal Navy – and at the same time we have reduced outflow by 7%.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time taken to process rural payments.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) understands the importance of cashflow for farmers and rural businesses. It makes payments for schemes and grants against published performance indicators and continues to look at opportunities to issue payments as promptly as possible.
Performance in relation to the financial year (1 April to 31 March) is reported each year within the RPA Annual Report and Accounts and will be published in the summer.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
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 adequacy of the availability of training for social care staff to (a) understand and (b) address the needs of brain injury survivors.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We intend to develop an acquired brain injury (ABI) Action or Delivery Plan, with input from NHS England and other Government departments, to be published in autumn 2025. The 10-Year Health Plan will provide the overarching plan for the future of the National Health Service, and a subsequent ABI Plan would then focus on specific actions and deliverables for ABI against the backdrop of the 10-Year Health Plan.
Community rehabilitation for people with neurological conditions is named as one the integrated care board-funded core components of community health services. Further information on Standardising community health services planning guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/standardising-community-health-services/
The Department launched the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme (LDSS) in September 2024, providing funding for eligible care staff to complete courses and qualifications. The scheme is backed by up to £12 million this financial year.
We have published a list of over 200 training courses and qualifications which are eligible for funding from the LDSS, including training to enable staff to support care users with specific needs and medical conditions. It also includes qualifications to enhance quality of care more broadly, including the new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate (L2ASCC).
The L2ASCC is an accredited occupational qualification for all eligible non-regulated care staff aged 19 years old and over. It is based on the Care Certificate standards and ensures that those working in the sector have the right skills to provide the right care for individuals who draw on care and support.
While brain injuries are not explicitly mentioned, the L2ASCC and the Care Certificate standards provide a foundation of knowledge and skills necessary to support individuals in the adult social care sector safely and effectively.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to provide financial support for local community-based (a) rehabilitation and (b) reablement services for brain injury survivors.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We intend to develop an acquired brain injury (ABI) Action or Delivery Plan, with input from NHS England and other Government departments, to be published in autumn 2025. The 10-Year Health Plan will provide the overarching plan for the future of the National Health Service, and a subsequent ABI Plan would then focus on specific actions and deliverables for ABI against the backdrop of the 10-Year Health Plan.
Community rehabilitation for people with neurological conditions is named as one the integrated care board-funded core components of community health services. Further information on Standardising community health services planning guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/standardising-community-health-services/
The Department launched the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme (LDSS) in September 2024, providing funding for eligible care staff to complete courses and qualifications. The scheme is backed by up to £12 million this financial year.
We have published a list of over 200 training courses and qualifications which are eligible for funding from the LDSS, including training to enable staff to support care users with specific needs and medical conditions. It also includes qualifications to enhance quality of care more broadly, including the new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate (L2ASCC).
The L2ASCC is an accredited occupational qualification for all eligible non-regulated care staff aged 19 years old and over. It is based on the Care Certificate standards and ensures that those working in the sector have the right skills to provide the right care for individuals who draw on care and support.
While brain injuries are not explicitly mentioned, the L2ASCC and the Care Certificate standards provide a foundation of knowledge and skills necessary to support individuals in the adult social care sector safely and effectively.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to make the NHS chickenpox vaccination available to all children.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is considering the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s recommendation, published in November 2023, to introduce a varicella, also known as chickenpox, programme into the immunisation schedule for children.
It is important that any proposed change to the childhood immunisation schedule is comprehensively assessed to maintain the high standards of the United Kingdom’s world-leading vaccination programmes and ensure the best value for money for taxpayers.
The Government will make a final decision about whether to introduce a chickenpox programme, including the eligibility and timing of any potential programme, when this work has concluded.