Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Will Quince and Justin Madders

Tuesday 17th October 2023 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

I thank my hon. Friend for his supplementary question. While I cannot pre-empt the outcome of the consultation, which closes on 18 December, I can assure him that there will be no sudden changes in the way patients receive their care. Any move will of course be carefully planned with the full involvement of current teams, and clear information will be provided for parents and families. NHS England will help as many experienced staff as possible to move to the future centre, and I can reassure my hon. Friend that that centre will build on all the strengths of the existing service and provide the best quality of care for patients.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

12. What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of integrated care systems.

Edenfield Centre: Treatment of Patients

Debate between Will Quince and Justin Madders

Thursday 13th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. I understand that a Bill to reform the Mental Health Act is in the Lords. I cannot give her a further update on that as I am not the responsible Minister, but it is important to stress that it is part of a number of measures that the Government have taken to improve on some of the challenges that she rightly pointed out. Whether that is the use of force Act, the NHS patient safety strategy, the mental health safety improvement programme, the patient safety networks that I mentioned, the new requirement for learning disability and autism training for staff or the HOPE(S) model, a lot is going on. I know that the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson), will be happy to meet her to update her further.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

If a test of the Government is how the most vulnerable in society are protected, I am afraid that this is yet another failure—as has been said, this is not the first time that it has happened. The CQC inspected the trust only a couple of months before the documentary was aired, which raises serious questions about the efficacy of CQC inspections. What challenge has it been given about its findings?

[Will Quince]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. As a former Children’s Minister who every week read the serious incident notification report, I am a little bit disappointed in it for one reason. I mentioned some of the steps that the Government are taking, and yes, we always need to do more, but no Government can ever legislate for or produce procedure or guidance that will stop anyone who is not acting with empathy and kindness. In this case, we have seen some of the most horrific abuse. No Government can legislate to stop that, but we must do all in our power to identify it and prevent it. The CQC has an important role in that. My understanding is that, as soon as a whistleblower brought the matter to its attention, it investigated. We then understand that there was the BBC investigation. Of course, we will look at how the CQC responded and hold it to account.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Will Quince and Justin Madders

Monday 27th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

Absolutely. Income inequality has been falling under this Government in real terms, and the national living wage will rise to £8.72 in April and to £10.50 by 2024. My hon. Friend rightly points out that our tax changes have made basic-rate taxpayers over £1,200 better off than in 2010. We have doubled the free childcare available to working parents of three and four-year-olds to 30 hours per week, saving them up to £5,000 per year per child.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

10. What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the roll-out of universal credit.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Will Quince)]

A record 32.9 million people are in work in this country, up by over 3.8 million since 2010. Universal credit has successfully rolled out and is now available in every jobcentre, with a caseload of 2.8 million claimants. We continue to build evidence on the experiences of claimants through our ongoing programme of research and evaluation. The next phase of delivery is to learn how to safely move people across from legacy benefits, which we are doing through our “Move to UC” pilot.

[Justin Madders]

I have some extra information for the Minister’s research and evaluation. A problem regularly raised in my constituency surgeries is that claimants who receive two payslips in one month find themselves in real difficulty the following month. That is happening far too often for it to be loaded on individuals. Can something be done to alleviate these difficulties?

[Will Quince]

The hon. Gentleman characteristically asks a very good question. Universal credit is based on real-terms earnings information, so it is a complex problem. We are subject to litigation on this matter, so I cannot go into too much detail, but I would be happy to meet him at a later point to discuss this issue further. I am keen to find a solution.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Will Quince and Justin Madders

Thursday 11th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

I will certainly echo the comments made by the hon. Lady about those sporting teams in Scotland. Her question is better related to the Pensions Minister, so I will ensure that he responds fully to the points she raises. However, I would say, on WASPI women, that any amendment to the current legislation that creates a new inequality between men and women would be unquestionably highly dubious as a matter of law, and the Government’s position on the changes to the state pension age remains clear and consistent.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

2. What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of British Sign Language courses.