Asked by: Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the underlying factors that contribute to higher HIV transmission rates among marginalised groups of women, such as sex workers, transgender women, and immigrants.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We remain committed to improving sexual and reproductive health in England, including for women from all groups.
The HIV Action Plan is the cornerstone of our approach in England to drive forward progress and achieve our goal to end new HIV transmissions, AIDS and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030. A key principle of our approach is to ensure that all populations benefit equally from improvements made in HIV outcomes, including women.
As part of the HIV Action Plan, the Department is investing over £3.5 million from 2021-2024 to deliver the National HIV Prevention Programme, a nationally co-ordinated programme of HIV prevention work that is designed to complement locally commissioned prevention activities in areas of high HIV prevalence and for communities at risk of HIV transmission, with a particular focus on black African women. HIV Prevention England (HPE) aims to improve knowledge and understanding of HIV transmission and reduce stigma within affected communities through the delivery of public campaigns such as National HIV Testing Week, and evidence-based HIV prevention interventions in partnership with local organisations and charities, including women-led organisations.
HPE works with a wide range of models and their network of influencers. As part of HPE campaigns, a range of people share their stories and experiences on HIV, STIs and sexual health this includes women and other people who are likely to be recognisable to specific demographics.
Since 2013, the Government has mandated local authorities in England to commission comprehensive open access to most sexual health services, including free and confidential HIV testing, and provision of the HIV prevention drug PrEP through the Public Health Grant, funded at £3.4 billion overall in 2022/23. It is for individual local authorities to decide their spending priorities based on an assessment of local need and to commission the service lines that best suit their population.
In 2022, we published the Women’s Health Strategy for England setting out our 10-year ambitions and actions to improve health for women and girls.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the integration of immigrants in UK society; and what plans they have to improve this integration.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Government takes the integration of immigrants into UK society very seriously and this is reflected in our specific resettlement and welcome programmes for arrivals from Ukraine, Afghanistan and Hong Kong. These programmes are all designed to support new arrivals in understanding life in our country, their responsibilities, and the opportunities that exist for them.
Through bespoke resettlement and welcome packages for arrivals from Ukraine, Afghanistan and Hong Kong, the Government continues to monitor the integration needs of new arrivals, working closely with local authorities and other organisations to gather data and inform policy development.
All refugees to the UK have immediate access to the labour market and to mainstream services that support their integration, including benefits and healthcare. We ask local authorities to provide monitoring data on refugees who arrive via a UK Resettlement Scheme, which covers their first year in the UK. The data covers key areas such as education, employment, health and English language.
The Government also understands the vital role that education plays in promoting integration and preparing our children and young people for life in a modern and diverse Britain. All schools must promote community cohesion; and are required to actively promote our shared values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
If she will waive or reduce the cost of the Immigration Health Surcharge for people and families on low incomes coming to the UK under the British National (Overseas) visa scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
BN(O) status holders and their dependants must pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). Applicants pay the appropriate amount of IHS depending upon the length of leave they apply for (either 30 months or 5 years). Like other nationals coming to the UK, it is only right they contribute to our healthcare system. IHS Income goes directly into our brilliant NHS.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of permanently removing the immigration health surcharge for all key workers contributing to the response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The overall purpose of Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) is to ensure a contribution to our magnificent NHS is made by those who can access its services.
Health and social care workers from overseas are doing this already through their work. This is why the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care have worked to exempt these groups from payment of the IHS through the introduction of the Health and Care Worker visa and the launch of the IHS reimbursement scheme.
However, it is only fair on UK taxpayers to expect people arriving in the UK, to work in non-healthcare roles, to contribute to the comprehensive range of NHS services available to them from their arrival. IHS payments help to sustain vital NHS services and provide comprehensive access to those services, regardless of the amount of care needed during their stay.
Many other countries require those migrating to them to take out private health insurance and they can face charges if they need to access services, which can be far more expensive than the IHS and does not always provide the comprehensive cover the NHS does, especially for pre-existing conditions.
The IHS ensures those who choose to come to the UK to work, study or live do not need to worry about insurance or pay for unexpected treatment whilst they are here. This represents a fair deal for migrants, for the UK taxpayer and for our world-class NHS.
To date, the IHS has raised over £1.5 billion for the NHS throughout the UK. Income from the IHS is distributed to the devolved administrations, including the Scottish Government, in line with the Barnett formula.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2020 to Question 119191, if she will provide refunds for payments of the immigration health surcharge made prior to 31 March 2020 by people working in the (a) health and (b) care sector.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Following the announcement in May that health and care workers would no longer be required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge, the policy was backdated to 31 March to bring it in line with the introduction of visa extensions for health and care workers.
Health and care workers who paid the health surcharge to cover the period from 31 March 2020 onwards may be eligible for a refund. Refunds will not be made for the period prior to 31 March 2020.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing refunds for payments of the immigration health surcharge made by people working in the (a) health and (b) care sector prior to 31 March 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Health and care workers who paid the health surcharge to cover the period from 31 March 2020 onwards, may be eligible for a refund. This includes those who were working in the health and care sector before that date.
More information on this policy can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/refunds
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in each of the last six months how many health and care workers have (a) paid the immigration health surcharge, (b) applied for a refund for that charge and (c) been successfully refunded.
Answered by Kevin Foster
This information is not readily available nor held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost due to the fact the IHS is payable across multiple application routes. For example, where the customer is on a visa with a general right to work and subsequently takes up employment, we do not have a record who the employer is.
Since the Prime Minister’s announcement, we have been working at pace to identify and issue refunds to those customers who are eligible and hold Tier 2 (General) visas.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason his Department does not collect data on how many migrants have received bills for healthcare treatment in error during the covid-19 exemption period for charges.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Administration and the charging of patients is the responsibility of individual National Health Service trusts. The Department does not routinely seek additional data which was not routinely collected before COVID-19, to enable NHS trusts to focus on the delivery of their services to patients.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance the NHS issues to people with settled status on providing documentary evidence to prove that they are entitled to free NHS treatment.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
European Economic Area (EEA)/Swiss citizens do not require confirmation of settled/pre-settled status to access National Health Service care. Settled/pre-settled status is an immigration status related to the European Union Settlement Scheme, securing an individual’s rights under the Withdrawal Agreement to reside in the United Kingdom beyond 2020.
Access to free NHS secondary care is entirely based on being ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK. Being ordinarily resident means, broadly, living in the UK on a lawful and properly settled basis for the time being, with non-EEA nationals who are subject to immigration control also required to have an immigration status of ‘indefinite leave to remain’. From 2021, the new global immigration system will apply the same requirements to migrants from the EEA and Switzerland.
Where a patient’s ordinarily resident status is not known, it will be for the NHS organisation that provides the treatment to assess this, based on the evidence of lawful, settled residence the patient provides.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Immigration Health Surcharge exemption will extend to international volunteers from other countries working, or currently applying to work, in (1) Camphill communities, and (2) other health and social care settings, under Tier 5 visa arrangements.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department is working to identify those working in the health and care sector, who will be eligible for the reimbursement from 1 October. We will publish further details about how to apply and demonstrate eligibility in the coming months.