Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the increase in the number of people that will have palliative care needs over the next 10 years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Currently, approximately 600,000 people die per year in the United Kingdom. It is estimated that up to 90% of deaths could benefit from palliative and end of life care.
The Office for National Statistics has projected that, by 2040, approximately 800,000 people a year will die in the UK. Also, current trends point to a growing proportion of people dying from chronic disease, particularly cancer and dementia. Taking these considerations together, it has been estimated that the number of people needing palliative and end of life care could increase by 42% by 2040.
We have committed to develop a 10-Year Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered, from hospital to community, from treatment to prevention, and from analogue to digital. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan.
In February, I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, in a roundtable format with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan. I have followed up with meetings with officials from the Department and NHS England. I also recently met with my Hon. Friend the Member for York Central, and Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, to discuss the progress of their independent commission into palliative and end of life care, including the commission’s first of three reports, published on 13 May, to which we will formally respond in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the is taking to help increase the number of midwifery staff in hospitals in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about the recruitment of midwifery staff are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level to ensure they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
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 increase the number of midwives in Stepping Hill hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about the recruitment of midwifery staff are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level to ensure they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to maintain the current residence nil rate inheritance tax band of £175,000.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to UIN 44920.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish an impact assessment on the potential impact of the proposed changes to disability benefits on voluntary organisations before the legislation is introduced.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab).
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children live in households claiming (a) income-based employment and support allowance and (b) new style employment and support allowance.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not held.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an additional allowance for divorced persons before inheritance tax is payable by their next of kin.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The estates of all individuals benefit from a £325,000 nil-rate band for inheritance tax. The residence nil-rate band is a further £175,000 and it is available to those passing on a qualifying residence on death to their direct descendants, such as children or grandchildren. This means qualifying estates, whether or not the deceased was married or single at the time of death, can pass on up to £500,000 in these circumstances.
A surviving spouse or civil partner is able to pass on up to £1 million in certain circumstances if the estate of the first spouse or civil partner did not use any of their nil-rate band or residence nil-rate band. This could be because all the assets were left to the surviving spouse or civil partner, and the exemption for transfers between spouses and civil partners applied.
Any unused nil-rate band or residence nil-rate band is not transferable between other individuals. However, the rules for all individuals mean that two divorced individuals can still pass on up to £500,000 each, and so up to £1 million in total, to their children without an inheritance tax liability because of these nil-rate bands.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of households that claim Universal Credit and are affected by the two-child limit (a) were affected from the start of their claim and (b) were previously affected under a claim for Tax Credits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Of the 380,000 Universal Credit (UC) households affected by the policy in April 2024, 236,000 (61%) were affected in their first assessment period on UC and the rest became affected in a subsequent assessment period. Using slightly different data to allow linking to Child Tax Credit (CTC) data, 106,000 (28%) of households affected on UC in April 2024 had a previous CTC claim at some point and 99,000 (27%) were affected by the two-child policy during their CTC claim.
Figures and percentages provided may not sum to the total due to rounding and use of different data sets.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Cabinet Siting and Pole Siting Code of Practice 2016 on the number of complaints from residents about the proposed site locations of new poles and cabinets for telecommunications equipment.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is aware of public concerns about the deployment of additional broadband infrastructure, despite the guidance provided in the Cabinet Siting and Pole Siting Code of Practice 2016. This is why I asked operators to consider revising the Code of Practice to take into account communities’ concerns. Operators have responded by convening the Telecommunications Poles Working Group, which has now published its best practice recommendations, setting out expectations for how operators can pay due regard to community interests. The Government will continue to monitor the impact of these recommendations on public concern about the deployment of broadband infrastructure.