Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of the support provided by local authorities for care leavers.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Supporting care leavers to make a successful transition from care to independence is a priority for this government. Care leavers face barriers to securing and maintaining affordable housing, which is why the department committed to delivering the actions within ‘Mission 5’ of the Care Review implementation plan to increase the number of care leavers in safe, suitable accommodation and to reduce care leaver homelessness by 2027.
This commitment includes bringing forward legislation, when parliamentary time allows, for ‘Staying Put’ to support young people for longer and for ‘Staying Close’ to be a national entitlement, recognising that young people in the general population are leaving home at older ages. The department will also bring forward legislation, when parliamentary time allows, to remove the local connection requirement for care leavers seeking access to social housing at the next available opportunity.
The government is providing funding for the following programmes in the current spending review period (2022/2025) to support care leavers to find suitable accommodation. This includes:
Ofsted inspects the adequacy of the support provided by local authorities for care leavers. In January 2023, Ofsted introduced a new, separate judgement in the inspection framework for local authority children’s services, specifically assessing the experiences and progress of care leavers.
Alongside this, a care leaver Ministerial Board, co-chaired by the Secretaries of State for the Department for Education and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, brings together relevant Ministers from across government to consider what more can be done to improve outcomes for care leavers and to help to achieve the five care-leavers-related ‘Missions’ as set out in the government’s children’s social care strategy, ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’. This includes looking to increase the number of care leavers in safe, suitable accommodation and to reduce care leaver homelessness.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support care leavers to find a home when they leave local authority care.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Supporting care leavers to make a successful transition from care to independence is a priority for this government. Care leavers face barriers to securing and maintaining affordable housing, which is why the department committed to delivering the actions within ‘Mission 5’ of the Care Review implementation plan to increase the number of care leavers in safe, suitable accommodation and to reduce care leaver homelessness by 2027.
This commitment includes bringing forward legislation, when parliamentary time allows, for ‘Staying Put’ to support young people for longer and for ‘Staying Close’ to be a national entitlement, recognising that young people in the general population are leaving home at older ages. The department will also bring forward legislation, when parliamentary time allows, to remove the local connection requirement for care leavers seeking access to social housing at the next available opportunity.
The government is providing funding for the following programmes in the current spending review period (2022/2025) to support care leavers to find suitable accommodation. This includes:
Ofsted inspects the adequacy of the support provided by local authorities for care leavers. In January 2023, Ofsted introduced a new, separate judgement in the inspection framework for local authority children’s services, specifically assessing the experiences and progress of care leavers.
Alongside this, a care leaver Ministerial Board, co-chaired by the Secretaries of State for the Department for Education and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, brings together relevant Ministers from across government to consider what more can be done to improve outcomes for care leavers and to help to achieve the five care-leavers-related ‘Missions’ as set out in the government’s children’s social care strategy, ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’. This includes looking to increase the number of care leavers in safe, suitable accommodation and to reduce care leaver homelessness.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support local authorities with housing vulnerable elderly citizens in (a) Romford and (b) England.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer my Hon Friend to my answer to Question UIN 201711 on 23 October 2023. This is part of the £2 billion of funding committed to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over three years.
The right housing can play a vital role in delivering improved wellbeing and health, and greater independence, for many older people. It is for local authorities such as London Borough of Havering in Romford to plan for the right housing options, working with local partners, based on the needs of older people locally.
The £11.5 billion Affordable Homes programme (2021-26) (England) includes delivery within the programme of new supply of supported and sheltered housing. This is alongside other investment in specialist housing for older and disabled people with personal care needs, through the Department for Health and Social Care.
The Government has established an independent Older People’s Housing Taskforce to look at how a greater choice of housing might be provided for older people. The year-long Taskforce launched in May 2023 and the Government is looking forward to receiving its final recommendations in 2024.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support local authorities with housing vulnerable homeless families in (a) Romford and (b) England.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer my Hon Friend to my answer to Question UIN 201711 on 23 October 2023. This is part of the £2 billion of funding committed to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over three years.
The right housing can play a vital role in delivering improved wellbeing and health, and greater independence, for many older people. It is for local authorities such as London Borough of Havering in Romford to plan for the right housing options, working with local partners, based on the needs of older people locally.
The £11.5 billion Affordable Homes programme (2021-26) (England) includes delivery within the programme of new supply of supported and sheltered housing. This is alongside other investment in specialist housing for older and disabled people with personal care needs, through the Department for Health and Social Care.
The Government has established an independent Older People’s Housing Taskforce to look at how a greater choice of housing might be provided for older people. The year-long Taskforce launched in May 2023 and the Government is looking forward to receiving its final recommendations in 2024.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to offer both flu and covid-19 vaccines to people aged 50 to 64 in winter 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) guides the approach to the immunisation programmes in England. For both the COVID-19 and flu vaccination programmes, the JCVI have advised a targeted approach to protect the most vulnerable from severe disease (hospitalisation and death) including older individuals and individuals with specified existing clinical conditions and the Government accepted that advice. The current COVID-19 and flu vaccination programmes started in England on 11 September 2023.
Following advice from the JCVI, the following groups are eligible for vaccination in the 2023/24 flu vaccination programme:
- those aged 65 years old and over;
- those aged six months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups;
- pregnant women;
- all children aged two or three years old on 31 August 2023;
- eligible school aged children (Reception to Year 11);
- those in long-stay residential care homes;
- carers in receipt of carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person;
- close contacts of immunocompromised individuals; and
- frontline health and social care workers.
On 8 August 2023, the Government accepted advice from the JCVI on who should be offered a COVID-19 vaccine in the autumn 2023 booster programme. The eligible groups are:
- residents and staff in a care home for older adults;
- all adults aged 65 years and over;
- persons aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group;
- frontline health and social care workers;
- persons aged 12 to 64 years who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression; and
- persons aged 16 to 64 years who are carers.
Currently therefore, those aged 50 to 64 years old are not, based on age alone, eligible for COVID-19 vaccination or free flu vaccination in the current vaccination programmes. However, if individuals meet any of the eligibility criteria for flu and/or COVID-19 vaccination set out above, they will be able to receive vaccination(s). The JCVI will continue to review evidence and will provide further advice regarding future vaccination programmes in due course.
Asked by: Earl Russell (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure accurate and timely monitoring of (1) new COVID-19 cases, and (2) new variants of the disease; and when the next round of booster vaccines will be made available to each age group.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) conducts routine monitoring and surveillance of COVID-19 and the emergence and spread of new variants internationally via a range of surveillance systems and genomic capabilities. These systems report on infection rates, hospitalisations and the risks posed by new variants.
This year’s autumn influenza and COVID-19 vaccine programmes is starting earlier than planned in England, on 11 September 2023, as a precautionary measure. Speeding up the Autumn vaccine programme will deliver greater protection, supporting those at greatest risk of severe illness and reducing the potential impact on the National Health Service.
The COVID-19 vaccine will be offered to:
- residents in a care home for older adults;
- all adults aged 65 years and over;
- persons aged six months to 64 years in a clinical risk group;
- frontline health and social care workers;
- persons aged 12 to 64 years who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression; and
- persons aged 16 to 64 years who are carers and staff working in care homes for older adults.
An appointment will be offered to eligible people between September and December 2023, with those at highest risk being called in first. Those eligible for vaccination are encouraged to take up the offer of the vaccine as soon as they are called to ensure they head into winter with the best protection.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to deal with the closure of care homes for older people due to rising interest rates.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to ensure that people have a range of high-quality, sustainable, and person-centred care available to them, and that they can access the services that best meet their needs. This includes ensuring that, where providers exit the market, care provision is maintained with minimum disruption. The Government recognises the pressures faced by the adult social care sector, including rising interest rates, and is making available up to £7.5 billion of additional funding over two years to support adult social care and discharge. We expect local authorities to use the additional funding available for social care to go beyond meeting inflationary pressures, including those experienced in 2022/23.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department provides local planning authorities on supporting (a) elderly and (b) disabled people with their housing needs.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that local authorities should assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those who require supported housing, and reflect this in planning policies. We also published guidance in 2019 to help councils put policies in place to achieve this.
In addition, as part of our recent consultation on a revised National Planning Policy Framework, we proposed additional wording which would explicitly set out that local authorities should plan for the needs of older people, including for retirement, housing with care and care homes. We will be publishing a government response to the consultation in due course.
The Government has established an independent Older People’s Housing Taskforce and asked it to examine how to improve house options for people in later life and to make recommendations to Ministers. The taskforce is expected to make its report to Ministers in the spring of 2024.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of recognising people who have severe learning disabilities as being clinically vulnerable for the purposes of the eligibility criteria for covid-19 booster jabs.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is the independent body made up of scientific and clinical experts who advise Government on which authorised vaccines the United Kingdom should use and which groups in the population should be offered initial or further doses of a particular vaccine.
The primary aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme continues to be the prevention of severe disease, such as hospitalisation and mortality, arising from COVID-19. The JCVI identified at the start of the programme a number of groups in the population at high clinical risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19. One of these clinical risk groups covers those with chronic neurological disease. This includes all those with severe learning difficulties. The full list of conditions covered is defined in tables two and four of the UK Health Security Agency guide to vaccinators known as the Green Book.
For each new COVID-19 booster campaign the JCVI considers which groups should be recommended for a further booster. For the current spring campaign, the JCVI has recommended boosters were needed only for those at the very highest risk of serious outcomes. This covered those in care homes for older people, all those aged 75 years old or over and all those aged 5 or over who are immunosuppressed. The JCVI has advised that there should be a further booster programme in autumn 2023 for those at higher risk of severe COVID-19. Advice from the JCVI on which risk groups are recommended for a booster dose in autumn 2023 is expected ahead of autumn.
Asked by: Lord Jones (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people residing in care homes.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department collects data on the number of people residing in care homes on a monthly basis.
The Data reported in Capacity Tracker (CT) shows that in the week ending 14/05/2023 the number of people in younger and older adult care homes was 363,972. This figure is made up of both private and local authority funded clients. Data is from adult social care in England, monthly statistics, COVID-19 Vaccination statistics June 2023, Table 10.
The Short- and Long-Term collection (SALT) shows that at year end 2021/22 the number of people in care homes (residential and nursing) accessing long term support was 175,680. This figure only includes clients whose care is commissioned or funded by local authorities. Those who privately finance and organise their care are not included. Data is found in SALT Table 38.