Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many places were (a) available and (b) taken up for the Youth Offer in (i) 2021, (ii) 2022, (iii) 2023 and (iv) 2024 as of 21 May.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Youth Offer launched on the 20 September 2020 and provides support for 16–24-year-olds who are on Universal Credit to help them move into employment. It includes three elements:
The Youth Offer is a demand led programme and is available to eligible young claimants on Universal Credit.
The most recent data available is up to end of April for Starts on the Youth Offer.
Starts between dates | Youth Employment Programme | Youth Hub | Youth Employability Coach | Youth Offer |
21/09/2020 – 31/03/2021 | 206,700 |
|
| 206,700 |
01/04/2021 – 31/03/2022 | 259,300 | 14,800 | 21,700 | 295,800 |
01/04/2022 – 31/03/2023 | 272,700 | 15,100 | 18,300 | 306,200 |
01/04/2023 – 31/03/2024 | 308,900 | 14,200 | 20,800 | 344,000 |
01/04/2024 – 30/04/2024 | 24,300 | 1,200 | 2,100 | 27,600 |
Total Starts | 1,072,000 | 45,300 | 63,000 | 1,180,300 |
Notes:
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with Janssen on the adequacy of supply of the ADHD medication Concerta XL.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has been working hard with industry to help resolve supply issues with some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines, including Concerta XL tablets, which are affecting the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. This has involved asking that suppliers expedite deliveries to boost supplies of these important medicines, and addressing regulatory issues to ensure continuity of supply. As a result of our ongoing activity and intensive work, some issues have been resolved. We expect the disruptions to the supply of Concerta XL tablets to be resolved in May 2024.
The Department held a roundtable with all suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablet suppliers, including Janssen, in April 2024, to discuss the challenges they are facing, what they are doing, and what needs to be done to address these issues.
We have worked closely with specialist clinicians during this time to develop management advice for the National Health Service. The guidance includes advice for ADHD service providers and specialists to offer rapid response to primary care teams seeking urgent advice for the management of patients. This includes those known to be at a higher risk of adverse impact because of these shortages.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure patients have access to Concerta XL.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has been working hard with industry to help resolve supply issues with some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines, including Concerta XL tablets, which are affecting the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. This has involved asking that suppliers expedite deliveries to boost supplies of these important medicines, and addressing regulatory issues to ensure continuity of supply. As a result of our ongoing activity and intensive work, some issues have been resolved. We expect the disruptions to the supply of Concerta XL tablets to be resolved in May 2024.
The Department held a roundtable with all suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablet suppliers, including Janssen, in April 2024, to discuss the challenges they are facing, what they are doing, and what needs to be done to address these issues.
We have worked closely with specialist clinicians during this time to develop management advice for the National Health Service. The guidance includes advice for ADHD service providers and specialists to offer rapid response to primary care teams seeking urgent advice for the management of patients. This includes those known to be at a higher risk of adverse impact because of these shortages.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medication in Weaver Vale constituency.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has been working hard with industry to help resolve supply issues with some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines, which are affecting the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. This has involved asking that suppliers expedite deliveries to boost supplies of these important medicines, and address regulatory issues to ensure continuity of supply. As a result of our ongoing activity and intensive work, some issues have been resolved. Many strengths of lisdexamphetamine and all strengths of atomoxetine capsules and guanfacine are now available, although medicine supply issues remain for some strengths of lisdexamphetamine and methylphenidate. We continue to escalate these issues with manufacturers to ensure that they are taking responsibility for resolving them as quickly as possible, and to drive and monitor progress.
We monitor and manage medicine supply at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand. The Department does not hold information on stockholdings at a local level.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, what assessment they have made of the competence of the Youth Justice Board given that girls are being accommodated in male prisons, despite specific care needs illustrated by the official statistics 'Safety in the Children and Young People Secure Estate: Update to December 2023', published on 25 April, which stated that the rate of self-harm among girls on the secure estate is 66 times higher than for boys.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Responsibility for the management of the youth secure estate in England and Wales was transferred from the Youth Justice Board to the Youth Custody Service, a distinct arm of His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), in 2017.
There are various mechanisms to monitor the performance of the Youth Justice System, including youth custody. The Minister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probation chairs the Youth Justice Quarterly Performance Board (YJQPB), which provides strategic oversight on how effectively the Youth Justice System is performing. The Board uses key metrics and other intelligence across the entirety of the system to identify challenges and drive action to address these. Senior representatives across the Youth Justice System, including the Youth Custody Service, Youth Justice Board and other stakeholders within Government and the public sector collaborate to monitor the key metrics and drive change.
In addition, the Minister monitors specific custody-related performance updates through regular meetings with senior managers from Youth Custody Service.
Girls in the youth estate may be accommodated in mixed-gender settings, including within the Secure Children’s Home sector, Oakhill Training Centre and at HMYOI Wetherby. Placement decisions are made according to individual need, within the placement options available. Within each sector, each child has his or her own room - boys and girls do not mix. However, as they may do while at school within the community, boys and girls do mix in education and association areas- and are supervised by staff at all times.
Any girl in the youth estate who is at risk of self-harm will be supported through the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process, ensuring she has a dedicated case manager; and girls with the most complex needs will receive additional monitoring and more intensive case management.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support (a) young disabled Londoners and (b) young black Londoners into employment.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key.
The Government therefore has an ambitious programme of initiatives to support disabled people and people with health to start, stay and succeed in work. These include: Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies; the Work and Health Programme; Access to Work grants; Disability Confident; a digital information service for employers; Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres; increasing Work Coach support in Jobcentres; increasing access to Occupational Health; and expanding the Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care programme.
Building on this, we announced significant additional investment during the 2023 fiscal events. Alongside the delivery of our existing initiatives, we are now focused on delivering this package which includes: introducing Employment Advisors into MSK services; a new voluntary employment programme called Universal Support (US) which will provide wraparound support to 100,000 people a year once fully rolled out; WorkWell in approximately 15 pilot areas to provide light touch work and health support; exploring new ways of providing individuals receiving a fit note with timely access to support through our call for evidence launched on 19 April 2024; and establishing an expert group to advise on a voluntary national baseline for Occupational Health provision.
The Department for Work and Pensions Jobcentre youth offer provides a range of options to those seeking employment, including young Black Londoners. Additionally, we are taking targeted action where there is a high ethnic minority employment gap. The DWP Youth Offer provides individually tailored work coach support to young people aged 16 to 24 who are in the Universal Credit Intensive Work Search group. This includes the Youth Employment Programme, Youth Employability Coaches for young people with additional barriers to finding work, and Youth Hubs across Great Britain.
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, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of developing a national strategy for paediatric (a) intensive therapy units and (b) rehabilitative services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no current plans to undertake such an assessment. Guidance on the delivery of paediatric critical care services is a matter for NHS England and the relevant professional bodies. Integrated Care Boards are responsible for the commissioning of paediatric rehabilitative services.
An NHS England review of paediatric critical care services was published in 2019, with a further National Specialty Report on Paediatric Critical Care produced in 2022.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the level of risk to women and girls arriving in the UK via small boats of trafficking for sexual exploitation in 2024.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Home Office publishes statistics on small boat arrivals to the UK in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ release. Data on small boat arrivals by year, sex and age group is published in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, with the latest data up to the end of December 2023.
Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Future irregular migration publication release dates can be found on the research and statistics calendar.
No assessment has been made of the risk to woman and girls arriving in the UK via small boats to trafficking for sexual exploitation. However, all individuals arriving on small boats will be assessed on arrival, including assessments to identify vulnerability and safeguarding needs. Where there are indicators of modern slavery, the individual will be referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). The NRM aims to lift victims out of situations of exploitation, provide them with a short period of intensive support and specialist care, and put them in a position where they can begin to rebuild their lives with increased resilience against future exploitation. In the last two years alone almost 30,000 people have had access to the protections of the NRM.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) women and (b) girls have arrived in the UK via small boats in each year since 2018.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Home Office publishes statistics on small boat arrivals to the UK in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ release. Data on small boat arrivals by year, sex and age group is published in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, with the latest data up to the end of December 2023.
Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Future irregular migration publication release dates can be found on the research and statistics calendar.
No assessment has been made of the risk to woman and girls arriving in the UK via small boats to trafficking for sexual exploitation. However, all individuals arriving on small boats will be assessed on arrival, including assessments to identify vulnerability and safeguarding needs. Where there are indicators of modern slavery, the individual will be referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). The NRM aims to lift victims out of situations of exploitation, provide them with a short period of intensive support and specialist care, and put them in a position where they can begin to rebuild their lives with increased resilience against future exploitation. In the last two years alone almost 30,000 people have had access to the protections of the NRM.
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 guidance she issues to mental health services on their obligations to a people that (a) police and (b) local authorities find too unwell to be in the community.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
On 26 January 2024, new statutory guidance was published for those being discharged from mental health inpatient settings. This sets out how health and care systems can work together effectively to support the discharge process from all mental health inpatient settings, and ensure the right support in the community. The guidance also includes best practice on how patients and carers should be involved in discharge planning. There are currently no plans to update this guidance covering the process for discharge.
The Mental Health Act Code of Practice provides statutory guidance on the care and treatment of patients detained under the Mental Health Act, including consideration of whether someone is ready to be discharged, and who should be involved in making this decision.
As part of its planning guidance, NHS England has asked all local systems to review their community mental health services to ensure that they have clear policies and practice in place for patients with serious mental illness, who require intensive community treatment and follow-up, but where engagement is a challenge. NHS England plans to provide national guidance by Autumn 2024, to support these reviews. NHS England will consider further steps as appropriate, following the completion of the reviews.