Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of patients (a) waiting for mental healthcare and (b) on NHS waiting lists for physical conditions who are also waiting for mental healthcare.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There is currently no waiting times standard covering all mental health service areas. For services where a waiting times standard does exist, the latest position over the period from November 2023 to January 2024 was published by NHS England on 14 March 2024.
Information on routine and urgent referrals to children and young people’s eating disorder services and referrals to the early Intervention in Psychosis pathway is available at the following link:
Information on referrals to NHS Talking Therapies is available at the following link:
For referrals to adult community mental health services waiting for a second contact, referrals to children and young people’s community mental health services waiting for a first contact and Accident & Emergency attendances for mental health or self-harm, information is being collected to prepare for the proposed new waiting time standards being developed as part of the Clinically-led review of National Health Service access standards but these are NOT yet associated with a target. The latest position over the period from November 2023 to January 2024 is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-services-monthly-statistics/performance-january-2024
Information on the number of patients on NHS waiting lists for physical conditions who are also waiting for mental healthcare is not held centrally.
Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we are expanding and transforming NHS mental health care so that more people can get the support that they need more quickly. Between 2018/19 and 2023/24, the NHS forecasts that spending on mental health services has increased by £4.6 billion in cash terms, compared to the target of £3.4 billion in cash terms set out at the time of the NHS Long Term Plan. All integrated boards are also on track to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard in 2023/24.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of value lost to the economy through period inequity, as set out in the report, The State of Period Equity in the UK, published by In Kind Direct on 29 February.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No formal assessment has been made. Menstrual health and gynaecological conditions are a priority in the Women’s Health Strategy for England. This strategy sets out our ambitions for improving information provision and tackling stigma surrounding topics such as periods and menstrual health, so society is better able to support women across their lives, including in schools and in workplaces. The statutory relationships, health, and sex education curriculum covers several areas of women’s health, including menstrual health. In July 2023 we launched a women’s health area on the National Health Service website, which brings together over 100 health topics, and includes a section on periods.
The Government is also committed to making period products more financially accessible, which will reduce barriers faced by women and girls in accessing education and work. The Period Product Scheme is available to girls and women in state-funded schools and colleges, providing a wide range of free period products, so that periods are not a barrier to education. 99% of secondary schools, 94% of post 16-year-old education organisations, and 75% of primary schools have used the scheme since it began in 2020. Free period products are also available for people in hospital and in custody. Since 1 January 2021, a zero rate of VAT has applied to sanitary products, and in January 2024 this was extended to include period pants.
Within the workplace, flexible working arrangements can allow individuals, including women suffering from menstrual problems, to work at a time, place, and during hours that support their needs. The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act makes changes to the right to request flexible working, to provide employees with better access to flexible working arrangements.
More widely, the Government continues to support people on lower incomes, including those who struggle to afford period products. We will spend approximately £124 billion on people of working age and children, through the welfare system in Great Britain, and the Government has provided support, totalling £96 billion, from 2022 onwards to help households with the cost of living. We are providing further support for 2024/2025, including uprating working age benefits by 6.7%, raising the National Living Wage, and extending the Household Support Fund in England for a further six months.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to help ensure greater job security for seafarers in the last two years.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In July 2023 we launched the Seafarers’ Charter, which among other measures requires that operators who obtain full Charter status do not use voyage contracts except in exceptional circumstances. This means that seafarers aboard ships run by a Charter operator can be confident that in most cases after their period of time aboard a vessel has ended, they will continue to have work without needing to reapply. I am pleased that 5 of the 6 major international ferry companies operating from the UK have now committed to meeting the Charter requirements.
Examples of ‘exceptional circumstances’ might be if a seafarer has been taken ill and the operator needs to bring someone onboard at short notice to cover the position, or if a piece of machinery has broken and they brought an additional seafarer onboard to fix it while it the vessel was underway.
We continue to work to improve seafarer protections in the UK and around the world.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that providers of NHS services are protecting the whereabouts of domestic abuse victims from perpetrators.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are security and legislative protections in place to protect patient data, and ensure data is used across the health and social care system in a safe, secure, and legal way. This includes data protection rules which prevent National Health Service employees from disclosing addresses of victims of domestic abuse.
Each organisation’s terms and conditions of employment include strict guidelines on how staff handle and protect patients’ information. Staff must also be regularly trained in information governance responsibilities. Professional bodies such as the General Medical Council also set out standards which their members must meet.
General practices have two options if they are worried that having access to their record might cause harm to a patient or another individual. They can either redact specific items on the record, or disable patient access entirely.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Heathrow Border Force staff have been asked to accept new terms and conditions as part of the Heathrow Change Programme; and how many such staff are (a) women and (b) disabled people.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
No members of staff have been asked to accept new terms and conditions. All staff were given a range of options on which they could make the decision which best suited them.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria for people with long covid to access (a) Universal Credit and (b) Employment and Support Allowance.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made.
People living with a condition arising from exposure to the Covid-19 virus can access the financial support that is available through Statutory Sick Pay, Universal Credit, New Style ESA or Pension Credit depending on individual circumstances.
Disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment or Attendance Allowance do not include or exclude by condition, instead they look at the needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability. Therefore people living with a condition arising from exposure to the Covid-19 virus are also able to access these benefits in the same way as other people with long-term conditions or disabilities.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on implementing its nine-point plan in relation to P&O ferries since July 2022.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has made substantial progress in implementing the Nine Point Plan. This includes:
· Bringing in the Seafarers’ Wages Act, which will ensure that those working on ships operating a regular international service from the UK are paid at least an equivalent to the National Minimum Wage while in UK waters. This will help to reduce the financial benefit of employing seafarers from far afield on worse terms and conditions. The Act is expected to come into force in the summer alongside French legislation which together will form a minimum wage corridor across the Dover strait, backed by law on both sides.· Introducing a statutory Code of Practice to address ‘fire and rehire’ practices, aiming to ensure employees are properly consulted and treated fairly. Employment tribunals will be able to increase employee compensation by 25% if an employer unreasonably fails to comply.· Launching the Seafarers’ Charter, with Brittany Ferries, Condor, DFDS, Stena Line and now P&O Ferries committing to work towards meeting its requirements. These include paying seafarers at least an equivalent to the national minimum wage throughout their engagement, having 2 week on / 2 week off tours of duty as a baseline on high-intensity routes, and providing adequate training and development opportunities.
We continue to work to improve seafarer welfare in the UK and around the world.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of shipping companies on the working conditions of seafarers.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Seafarer welfare is a priority for the Government and Ministers regularly discuss this with maritime stakeholders. Most recently, on 19 March Lord Davies met the Chief Executive of Brittany Ferries, one of the five major international ferry companies operating from the UK that has committed to working towards meeting the requirements of the Seafarer’s Charter.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will list the mandatory employment conditions excluding national minimum wage rates which apply to seafarers working on routes between maritime ports in the territorial waters of (a) the UK and (b) France.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Extensive details of mandatory employment conditions for seafarers are set out in international conventions including the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 and corresponding UK legislation.
In addition to improving working conditions through our Nine Point Plan for Seafarer Protections, the UK continues to play a leading role internationally in improving seafarer welfare.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants have conditions of employment which impose (a) no and (b) a four day limit on the number of days each week that they can work from home; and whether he has made a comparative assessment of the productivity of those who work from home for four days or more each week and those who do not.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There is no information available centrally on how many civil servants have conditions of employment that impose no, and a four day limit on the number of days each week they can work from home. Decisions on terms and conditions of employment are made by the employing department, depending on their specific business requirements and nature of the role. Where business requirements allow for it, departments will operate flexible working arrangements.
Civil servants are expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in the office with decisions on implementing and evaluating this expectation made by departments. A small number of home working contracts are in place but these are not routinely approved other than for a very small number of roles, or where a workplace adjustment is agreed for conditions recognised under the Equality Act. Equally, there are also employees who work only from the workplace, due to the nature of their roles, or through personal choice.
There have been no specific central comparative assessments within the civil service of productivity of those who work from home for four days or more each week. It is recognised within departments that there are clear benefits of face-to-face working, including productivity, with complex tasks and problem solving undertaken more efficiently.