Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to ensure that Integrated Care Boards have the (a) accountability and (b) resources necessary to effectively promote innovation in the context of the duty to promote innovation in the Health and Care Bill.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government has tabled amendments in the Committee stage of the Bill to ensure appropriate accountability for innovation. This includes amendments requiring a joint forward plan for integrated care boards (ICB) and partners setting out how the board will promote innovation and requiring an annual report. These will be published and reviewed by NHS England. There are also accountability mechanisms for ICB Chief Executives and Chairs to foster a culture of innovation. The Department will continue to work with the National Health Service and the Accelerated Access Collaborative to ensure that best practice in promoting innovation is communicated to ICBs and support Academic Health Science Networks on adoption.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to support local authoities to prevent children absconding from care.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has issued statutory guidance for local authorities that clarifies steps to prevent children going missing from home or from care. The guidance stipulates to local authorities explicit actions that care settings must take to prevent looked after children going missing. The statutory guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-who-run-away-or-go-missing-from-home-or-care.
The guidance also makes clear that children’s home regulations require providers to have up-to-date procedures in place to prevent children going missing and to take swift, effective action if they do go missing to ensure their safety. We also expect the child’s care plan to include details of arrangements in place to keep the child safe, and to minimise the risk of the child going missing from their placement, whether this be a children’s home or a foster placement.
The Department is working closely with representatives from local authorities, police forces, Ofsted and the children’s voluntary sector, to consider how the current ‘missing’ statutory guidance might be refreshed and further strengthened. This will help to ensure it continues to be fit to support local authorities and their partners to protect vulnerable children. We will issue further updates on this work in due course.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help support adoptive parents of children who have been subject to neglect while under the care of foster parents; and if he will take steps to ensure that (a) local authorities are encouraged to investigate allegations of neglect by foster carers and (b) children with long-term behavioural difficulties which result from such neglect are provided with the support they need.
Answered by Will Quince
Local authorities have a duty to assess the support needs of anyone who is affected by an adoption placement. The adoption support fund provides support for essential therapeutic services for eligible adoptive and special guardianship order families, on the basis of assessed need.
As addressed in the National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services and in the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011, the fostering service must put in place and implement a written policy to safeguard children placed with foster carers from abuse or neglect, that includes the procedures to be followed in the event of such an allegation (regulation 12 and standard 22). Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018) is the government’s statutory guidance that provides the framework within which agencies work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
As with all children with behavioural needs, local authorities work with schools and other agencies to ensure that they can access the support for their specific requirements.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to respond to a letter dated 11 August 2021 from the hon. Member for West Lancashire reference, ZA57289 regarding a foster care allowance claim.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
A reply was sent to the hon. Member by the Minister for Welfare Delivery, on behalf of the Secretary of State, on 29 September 2021.
Asked by: Allan Dorans (Scottish National Party - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that European citizens who are resident in the UK who may not be aware of the requirement to apply for settled status because they are (a) elderly, including those living in local authority and private care homes and suffering from conditions such as dementia, and (b) young people who may be in local authority and foster care have access to information to enable them to apply for that status under the EU Settlement Scheme by the deadline of 30 June 2021.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Since the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) opened in March 2019, the Home Office has undertaken a broad range of communications and stakeholder engagement activity to encourage EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members to apply for and obtain status. This has included targeted stakeholder engagement with hard to reach and vulnerable groups, including collaborative work with local authorities, and a comprehensive, £7.9 million advertising campaign.
We are committed to making sure everybody eligible for the EUSS can apply, including those who are vulnerable or need extra support. We have awarded £22 million of funding to a network of now 72 charities and community organisations across the UK, to ensure important information and assistance gets through to those who are hardest to reach and no one is left behind. These organisations have helped more than 250,000 vulnerable people to apply to the EUSS already, including elderly people living in local authority and private care homes and those suffering from dementia.
In England, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services is continuing to engage with social care departments across the country. They are delivering engagement webinars to key stakeholders such as the Principal Social Workers and the Care Provider Alliance to provide information and are signposting the support available through the grant-funded network.
In Scotland, Citizen’s Advice Scotland are working with care providers in the Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and Stirling local authority areas.
In Northern Ireland, Advice NI and Step are funded to provide support to the care sector.
In Wales, support is provided by both Newport Mind and TGP Cymru.
In relation to children in care and care leavers, the Home Office continues to engage extensively with relevant stakeholders, such as the Department for Education, local authorities and local government associations in England, Wales and Scotland, Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, to ensure staff and applicants are supported and informed throughout the application process.
The Home Office also holds a programme of teleconferences for local authority staff working with children in care, which provide a forum to exchange information, ask questions and raise issues.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of covid-19-related economic pressures on dog owners on the welfare of their dogs.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government recognises that the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect individuals, businesses and charities caring for animals, including as a result of the economic pressures that some owners may be subject to. In April 2020, the Government commissioned the Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) to advise on the potential short-term animal welfare impacts relating to the pandemic. Their preliminary report in June 2020 highlighted some concerns about the ability of businesses, veterinarians and charities to continue to provide services to animal keepers; the need for contingency planning; and the impact of owners’ physical and mental health on their ability to care for their animals. However, the committee’s second report, published in December 2020, concluded that many of the animal welfare risks identified in its first report had not been fully realised, particularly in the case of companion animals.
The Government has also provided updated advice for pet owners on looking after their animals throughout the pandemic: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-people-with-animals We also continue to maintain close contact with animal welfare organisations, monitoring trends in animal cruelty levels, pet acquisition and pet relinquishments.
These organisations do valuable work, often on a voluntary basis, protecting animals against cruelty and, in the case of rescue and rehoming organisations, ensuring that unwanted and abandoned animals in the UK are offered the opportunity of a forever home. Throughout this challenging period, we have ensured that rescue and rehoming organisations are permitted to stay open, that staff and volunteers can continue to work and tend to the animals in their care, and that rehoming, fostering and adoption services can continue in accordance with Covid-19 secure guidance.
The sector has kept us regularly updated of the developing situation, sharing their surveys particularly with respect to rescue and rehoming rates, and information on cruelty investigations. The latest figures from a survey by the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes (ADCH) show that in Quarter 4 of 2020 there was a 24% Year on Year reduction of cat intake and a 32% reduction in dogs entering rescues. 68% of rescues have reported more people wish to foster dogs or cats and 58% have seen an increase in people wishing to rehome a dog or cat, illustrating the resilience of the sector and the positive picture for pets.
With the exception of those businesses and venues required to close, the Government has emphasised that it is important for business to carry on, not least to ensure the economy keeps working and in the case of pet businesses and animal welfare charities to help safeguard the welfare of the nation’s pets. Pet businesses play a key role in this and should operate within the strict advice on social distancing and hygiene. In addition, the Canine and Feline Sector Group has issued its own guidance to owners and pet businesses on how they can care for their pets and continue to operate under the restrictions in place to limit the spread of coronavirus. See: https://www.cfsg.org.uk/coronavirus/
We will maintain our close dialogue with animal welfare organisations, enforcement agencies and sector groups to understand the longer-term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, monitor the animal welfare implications of this and offer appropriate advice.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the upcoming ban on unregulated accommodation for children aged under 16, whether children in care who are settled in children’s homes will be required to move out before they formally leave care at 18.
Answered by Vicky Ford
This government firmly believes that every child in the care system deserves to live in a high-quality setting that meets their needs and keeps them safe. Anything less is unacceptable. We are clear that independent and semi-independent provision can be the right option for some older children, but it must be of high quality, and the young person must be ready for the level of independence that it promotes. As more older children are entering the care system, it is important that we ensure that there is a high-quality option available to facilitate the development of their independence, as they prepare for adult life and for leaving care.
We are introducing national standards for independent and semi-independent settings for children in care and care leavers aged 16 and 17 to raise the bar for this provision. This will work towards ensuring that local authorities can be confident when making placements in this provision and will strengthen our ability to take action against poor providers and, most importantly, will ensure that our children and young people are safe and have the best possible chances of success in life.
These settings, however, cannot meet the needs of children under the age of 16. These children are too young to be placed in independent and semi-independent provision. They should be placed in foster care or children’s homes, and that is why we are banning the practice of placing children under 16 in unregulated settings from September.
The ban on placing children under 16 in unregulated settings is in no way intended to create a default position at which children are placed in semi-independent or independent provision on their 16th birthday, as many of these young people’s needs will be best met by a placement in foster carers or in children’s homes. Local authorities have statutory duties to meet the needs of the children whom they look after and they should continue to place young people in settings that best meet their needs.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support has been made available to animal rescue and rehoming charities during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Animal rescue organisations do excellent work, often on a voluntary basis, protecting animals against cruelty and ensuring that unwanted and abandoned animals in the UK are offered the opportunity of a forever home. I am acutely aware that the coronavirus pandemic, and specifically the measures put in place to control the spread of the virus, continue to affect individuals, businesses and charities caring for animals. Protecting the welfare of animals remains a priority for Defra throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
The sector has kept us regularly updated of the developing situation, sharing their surveys particularly with respect to the rescue and rehoming of companion animals, and sharing information on cruelty investigations. It has been encouraging to see the sector working collaboratively and successfully to support itself and to safeguard the welfare of equines in their care in the face of financial hardship and uncertainty.
The latest figures from a survey by the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes (ADCH) show that although the animal rescue sector has seen a drop in income during the pandemic the financial sustainability in the sector appears to be improving. This suggests that rescues have adapted to the new situation either through fundraising in different ways or taking advantage of grants made available by the ADCH and other sources. More rescues are now taking in dogs and cats and more are rehoming. In Quarter 4 of 2020 there was a 24% Year on Year reduction of cat intake and a 32% reduction in dogs entering rescues. 68% of rescues have reported more people wish to foster dogs or cats and 58% wish to rehome a dog or cat.
National equine welfare charities have also kept us closely informed of the status of the Covid-19 Equine Rescues Emergency Fund established by the Pet Plan Charitable Trust together with World Horse Welfare and the National Equine Welfare Council. The current picture of equine welfare is better than feared, but we continue to keep things under review.
We have worked closely with sector groups to update guidance to animal rescue and rehoming organisations, and other animal charities and businesses. This has enabled them to undertake core operations as far as possible, whilst maintaining compliance with the social distancing rules and need for hygiene precautions to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. Throughout this period, we have ensured that rescue and rehoming organisations are permitted to stay open, that staff and volunteers can continue to work and tend to the animals in their care, and that rehoming, fostering and adoption services can continue in accordance with Covid-19 secure guidance.
We take the concerns of the sector very seriously and are keeping a close watch on in-take levels and trends in animal relinquishments. Defra remains committed to continued engagement with the sector to understand the longer-term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, monitor the animal welfare implications of this and offer appropriate advice.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to support animal rescue organisations affected financially by the covid-19 pandemic; and whether he plans to allocate further funding to help protect the welfare of animals in their care.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Animal rescue organisations do excellent work, often on a voluntary basis, protecting animals against cruelty and ensuring that unwanted and abandoned animals in the UK are offered the opportunity of a forever home. I am acutely aware that the coronavirus pandemic, and specifically the measures put in place to control the spread of the virus, continue to affect individuals, businesses and charities caring for animals. Protecting the welfare of animals remains a priority for Defra throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
The sector has kept us regularly updated of the developing situation, sharing their surveys particularly with respect to the rescue and rehoming of companion animals, and sharing information on cruelty investigations. It has been encouraging to see the sector working collaboratively and successfully to support itself and to safeguard the welfare of equines in their care in the face of financial hardship and uncertainty.
The latest figures from a survey by the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes (ADCH) show that although the animal rescue sector has seen a drop in income during the pandemic the financial sustainability in the sector appears to be improving. This suggests that rescues have adapted to the new situation either through fundraising in different ways or taking advantage of grants made available by the ADCH and other sources. More rescues are now taking in dogs and cats and more are rehoming. In Quarter 4 of 2020 there was a 24% Year on Year reduction of cat intake and a 32% reduction in dogs entering rescues. 68% of rescues have reported more people wish to foster dogs or cats and 58% wish to rehome a dog or cat.
National equine welfare charities have also kept us closely informed of the status of the Covid-19 Equine Rescues Emergency Fund established by the Pet Plan Charitable Trust together with World Horse Welfare and the National Equine Welfare Council. The current picture of equine welfare is better than feared, but we continue to keep things under review.
We have worked closely with sector groups to update guidance to animal rescue and rehoming organisations, and other animal charities and businesses. This has enabled them to undertake core operations as far as possible, whilst maintaining compliance with the social distancing rules and need for hygiene precautions to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. Throughout this period, we have ensured that rescue and rehoming organisations are permitted to stay open, that staff and volunteers can continue to work and tend to the animals in their care, and that rehoming, fostering and adoption services can continue in accordance with Covid-19 secure guidance.
We take the concerns of the sector very seriously and are keeping a close watch on in-take levels and trends in animal relinquishments. Defra remains committed to continued engagement with the sector to understand the longer-term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, monitor the animal welfare implications of this and offer appropriate advice.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the financial sustainability of animal rescue organisations.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Animal rescue organisations do excellent work, often on a voluntary basis, protecting animals against cruelty and ensuring that unwanted and abandoned animals in the UK are offered the opportunity of a forever home. I am acutely aware that the coronavirus pandemic, and specifically the measures put in place to control the spread of the virus, continue to affect individuals, businesses and charities caring for animals. Protecting the welfare of animals remains a priority for Defra throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
The sector has kept us regularly updated of the developing situation, sharing their surveys particularly with respect to the rescue and rehoming of companion animals, and sharing information on cruelty investigations. It has been encouraging to see the sector working collaboratively and successfully to support itself and to safeguard the welfare of equines in their care in the face of financial hardship and uncertainty.
The latest figures from a survey by the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes (ADCH) show that although the animal rescue sector has seen a drop in income during the pandemic the financial sustainability in the sector appears to be improving. This suggests that rescues have adapted to the new situation either through fundraising in different ways or taking advantage of grants made available by the ADCH and other sources. More rescues are now taking in dogs and cats and more are rehoming. In Quarter 4 of 2020 there was a 24% Year on Year reduction of cat intake and a 32% reduction in dogs entering rescues. 68% of rescues have reported more people wish to foster dogs or cats and 58% wish to rehome a dog or cat.
National equine welfare charities have also kept us closely informed of the status of the Covid-19 Equine Rescues Emergency Fund established by the Pet Plan Charitable Trust together with World Horse Welfare and the National Equine Welfare Council. The current picture of equine welfare is better than feared, but we continue to keep things under review.
We have worked closely with sector groups to update guidance to animal rescue and rehoming organisations, and other animal charities and businesses. This has enabled them to undertake core operations as far as possible, whilst maintaining compliance with the social distancing rules and need for hygiene precautions to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. Throughout this period, we have ensured that rescue and rehoming organisations are permitted to stay open, that staff and volunteers can continue to work and tend to the animals in their care, and that rehoming, fostering and adoption services can continue in accordance with Covid-19 secure guidance.
We take the concerns of the sector very seriously and are keeping a close watch on in-take levels and trends in animal relinquishments. Defra remains committed to continued engagement with the sector to understand the longer-term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, monitor the animal welfare implications of this and offer appropriate advice.