Correspondence Jan. 19 2024
Committee: Health and Social Care Committee (Department: Department of Health and Social Care)Found: The Government’s proposed changes are taking place in the context of severe shortages of social care
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of not increasing pupil premium funding in line with inflation on disadvantaged students.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Pupil premium funding is rising to over £2.9 billion in 2024/25, an increase of around £90 million from 2023 to 2024. In 2024/25 the pupil premium funding rate for primary pupils is £1,480, and £1,050 for secondary pupils. Looked-after, and previously looked-after, children attract a higher rate of £2,570.
These rates for 2024/25 were an increase of 1.7% on those for 2023/24. This increase was in line with inflation as measured by the GDP deflator forecasts when the rates were announced for 2024/25. As the inflation forecast for 2024/25 has since reduced, the increase in pupil premium rates of 1.7% is now higher than the latest inflation forecast.
This increase ensures that this target funding continues to help schools to support disadvantaged pupils and close attainment gaps.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of Integrated Care Systems that have a specialist multidisciplinary and crisis support service for (a) autistic people and (b) people with a learning disability; and whether she has made an assessment of the (i) adequacy and (ii) availability of such services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The information requested is not held centrally as these services are commissioned locally. The NHS Long Term Plan committed to increased investment in intensive, crisis and forensic community support to enable people with learning disabilities and autistic people to receive personalised care in the community, closer to home, and with reduced preventable admissions to inpatient services. All systems are expected to have a seven-day multi-disciplinary service and crisis care to support people when they are unwell.
NHS England has worked with local systems to help them understand their gaps against this commitment and has invested £121 million to support local systems in continuing to develop and implement these services during 2023/24. NHS England has commissioned the Local Government Association to work with local systems more intensively to identify and address challenges in implementing this model of community infrastructure, through the peer review programme.
NHS England will continue to work with regional teams and local systems to identify and share areas of good practice, where services have been successful in reducing avoidable admissions to hospital, and helping people to leave hospital when they are clinically ready for discharge.
Each integrated care board produces a five-year joint forward plan with partner trusts and foundation trusts. This will include the needs of the entire local population, including people with a learning disability and autistic people.
Written Evidence Apr. 24 2024
Inquiry: Preterm BirthFound: We would like to stress the importance of timely and optimal nutrition support in improving short
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how her Department plans to use Section 95 (3) 251ZA Information Standards (Compliance) of the Health and Care Act 2022 to ensure that NHS providers meet the communication needs of patients set out in the Accessible Information Standard.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department plans to implement Section 95 later this year. This will be subject to Parliament’s approval of the regulations setting out the procedure for preparing and publishing mandatory information standards, on which the Department has recently consulted.
Once Section 95 is in force and compliance with information standards becomes mandatory, the Department will use section 251ZA, where appropriate, to monitor compliance with information standards, including by requiring National Health Service providers and others to whom information standards apply, to provide information for this purpose.
NHS England is responsible for the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), and plans to update the AIS to take account of the statutory approach to information standards in due course. NHS England has also completed a review of the AIS to help ensure that the communication needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss are met in health and care provision. One of the aims of the review was to strengthen assurance of implementation of the AIS, and a self-assessment framework has been developed to support providers of NHS and social care services to measure their performance against the AIS, and develop improvement action plans to address gaps in implementation.
NHS England will publish a revised AIS in due course. Following publication, NHS England will continue work to support its implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and updated e-learning modules on the AIS, to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard, and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it.
Asked by: Mochan, Carol (Scottish Labour - South Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to ensure that a more preventative approach to the health and wellbeing of young people is being adopted within communities across all government portfolio areas.
Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health
The Scottish Government wants to ensure that every child can attain the highest level of health and wellbeing possible.
Between pre-birth and starting school, all children in Scotland are entitled to support from our universal Health Visiting service. In addition, 3- and 4-year-olds are entitled to 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare (ELC). We have also invested in targeted early years interventions such as the Family Nurse Partnership, ELC funding for eligible 2-year-olds and perinatal and infant mental health services. This work is underpinned by our Early Child Development Transformational Change Programme which focuses on prevention, better integration of policies, identifying policy and implementation gaps, and building collaboration across the whole system.
The health and wellbeing of school-aged children is also supported by Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). Health and Wellbeing is one of the eight curricular areas in CfE and is one of the three core areas that are the responsibility of all staff in a school. Furthermore, the Scottish Government has invested in the recruitment of School Nurses and School Counsellors, both of whom are able to prevent the escalation of health and wellbeing concerns.
Our work across all child health and wellbeing interventions continues to be guided by ‘Getting it right for every child’ (GIRFEC). GIRFEC is embedded across Scottish Government portfolios and helps to safeguard, support and promote the health and wellbeing of all children and young people.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to implement section 95 of the Health and Care Act 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department plans to implement Section 95 later this year. This will be subject to Parliament’s approval of the regulations setting out the procedure for preparing and publishing mandatory information standards, on which the Department has recently consulted.
Once Section 95 is in force and compliance with information standards becomes mandatory, the Department will use section 251ZA, where appropriate, to monitor compliance with information standards, including by requiring National Health Service providers and others to whom information standards apply, to provide information for this purpose.
NHS England is responsible for the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), and plans to update the AIS to take account of the statutory approach to information standards in due course. NHS England has also completed a review of the AIS to help ensure that the communication needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss are met in health and care provision. One of the aims of the review was to strengthen assurance of implementation of the AIS, and a self-assessment framework has been developed to support providers of NHS and social care services to measure their performance against the AIS, and develop improvement action plans to address gaps in implementation.
NHS England will publish a revised AIS in due course. Following publication, NHS England will continue work to support its implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and updated e-learning modules on the AIS, to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard, and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) stigma and (b) gender norms on trends in the number of men accessing mental health services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England’s Advancing Mental Health Equalities Strategy launched in September 2020, to assess inequalities in access, including those based on gender, and to set out guidance on how services should be taking this into account.
Fundamentally, this strategy aims to ensure that access to the timely, high-quality mental healthcare as described in the NHS Long Term Plan is equitable, by equipping systems with the tools and enablers they need to bridge the gaps between people, such as men, faring worse than others in mental health services.
Middle-aged men are identified in Suicide prevention in England: 5-year cross-sector strategy, as a priority group for action. The strategy acknowledges that stigma can be a barrier to people seeking support, and it encourages local government, the National Health Service, and voluntary sector organisations to work together to encourage the reduction of this stigma.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Education to help close the gap in exam results between boys and girls.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Raising attainment for all pupils, no matter their gender or background is at the heart of this government’s agenda, and we are committed to providing a world-class education system for all.
The latest data show that, while girls continue to outperform boys across most headline measures, the gender gap between boys and girls is narrowing.
At KS2 in 2022/23, the gender gap between boys and girls at the expected standard in reading, writing and maths has decreased since 2021/22 and is the lowest it has been since 2016/17. KS4 results show the gender gap has narrowed across all headline measures when comparing 2022/23 with both 2018/19 and 2021/22.
The Schools White Paper (March 2022) was clear about the direction of travel needed to improve attainment. It set out our long-term vision for a school system that helps every child to fulfil their potential by ensuring that they receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time – founded on achieving world-class literacy and numeracy.
This is supported by significant investment in education. Next year, including the recently announced funding for pension contributions, overall school funding is increasing by £2.9 billion compared to 2023-24, taking the total to £60.7 billion in 2024-25 – the highest ever level in real terms per pupil. This will help schools in their vital work to close attainment gaps, and level up educational opportunities.
Alongside this, the department takes a range of steps to improve attainment and outcomes for all pupils, including improving the quality of teaching and curriculum resources, strengthening the school system, increasing attendance, and providing targeted support where needed.
We know that disadvantaged pupils and those with additional needs are more likely to fall behind and need extra support to reach their full potential. This is why we provide additional funding as part of schools’ overall funding to support disadvantaged pupils through the pupil premium, which will rise to over £2.9 billion in 2024-25, an increase of £80 million from 2023-24.
Programmes such as Free School Meals that support over 2 million children, the Holiday Activities and Food programme (HAF), and support for up to 2,700 breakfast clubs also support disadvantaged pupils.
We also continue to collaborate with other government departments to address out-of-school factors that we know have a significant impact on attainment outcomes.