Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Kinnock and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 11th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Kinnock]

After the disastrous 14 years that we have had, we are facing a very serious situation in terms of mental health provision. It will take some time to get the workforce in place, but we have a clear commitment to having a specialist in every school. The appointment and training of those specialists will take some time. We are also rolling out open-access Young Futures hubs in every community. I am confident that the combination of those two interventions will get us back to having mental health services that this country can be truly proud of.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee.

[Layla Moran (Oxford West and Abingdon) (LD)]

I welcome the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the hon. Member for West Lancashire (Ashley Dalton), to her place. I look forward to working with her, as I do with other Ministers.

As the Minister for Care will know, 20% of the burden on the NHS is due to mental health, yet only 10% of the budget is allocated towards it. The mental health investment standard has been a welcome maintenance under this Government. However, the Select Committee heard from Amanda Pritchard the other day that the standard is guaranteed for only the next two years. Does the Minister agree that the standard has had a positive effect on mental health community services, and would he commit to protecting it?

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[Stephen Kinnock]

We in this Chamber should, whenever possible, pay tribute to the people providing those frontline services, who every day work heroically in very difficult circumstances. My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the pressures on the workforce—we are very conscious of that. We will bring forward a workforce plan in the summer, and we are working at pace to recruit the 8,500 mental health workers.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

Last week, the Secretary of State issued a new mandate for the NHS in which a number of mental health targets were dropped. I accept that targets that drive perverse behaviours should be dropped and that some sharpened focus is necessary, but mental health waiting lists are at a record high, huge numbers of people are not at work because of poor mental health, and our young people are being let down badly by CAMHS, not least in my constituency of North Shropshire. Does the Secretary of State accept that mental health targets should be reinstated and that mental health should be treated with equal priority to physical health?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Kinnock and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 7th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Kinnock]

There is a pattern here. The Conservatives welcome the additional investment in health and care but oppose the choices that we have made to raise the revenue. They need to tell us which services they would cut or which taxes they would raise instead.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

Coverage Care, a not-for-profit adult social care provider in North Shropshire that operates 11 care homes and employs around 1,000 local staff, has been in touch to say that it expects the impact of the increase in national insurance contributions to be £840,000 in the first full year of implementation. Given that there are huge numbers of vacancies across adult social care in North Shropshire, will the Secretary of State consider exempting social care providers from the national insurance increase? Otherwise we are putting money into social care with one hand and taking it away with the other.

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[Mr Speaker]

Can Members please remember that these are topical questions?

[The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)]

We are making a priority of resuming consultations with the sector to stabilise community pharmacy. Pharmacy First has built on existing services to increase the clinical scope. The conditions treated under Pharmacy First vary across the UK, and the NHS will keep this under review.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Kinnock and Lindsay Hoyle

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Kinnock]

That is an extremely important question. I recognise that dementia is a huge issue that impacts on the entire country and, indeed, many Members on both sides of the House. We are absolutely committed to the research that is fundamental to addressing the problem, and our fair pay agreement is about not just pay but training and terms and conditions. We will be ramping up dementia training for our adult social care workforce.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Sir John Whittingdale (Maldon) (Con)]

The Labour manifesto spoke of the need for a consensus on social care, and the Secretary of State has said that he wants to reach out across the political divide—although the message does not seem quite to have reached the Minister yet. During Health and Social Care questions in July, the Minister said that there would be announcements in the near future, but since then we have heard nothing. We are ready to talk; when will the Government be ready?

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[The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)]

By cutting mental health waiting lists and intervening earlier, we can get this country back to health and back to work. There are 2.9 million people who are economically inactive, a large proportion owing to mental health issues. Many people can be helped back into work through talking therapies. We will put a mental health professional in every school and roll out 8,500 specialists. I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the matter further.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson.