Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the publication Delivering for rural England: the second report on rural proofing, published 3 September 2022, what specific submissions her Department made to help inform the report; and if she will publish (a) those submissions and (b) the minutes from meetings discussing Departmental contributions to that report.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
‘Delivering for rural England’, published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, included contributions from the Department of Health and Social Care. The report set out the Department for Health and Social Care’s approach to rural proofing of health policies, in addition to specific measures to address the challenges of delivering health care in a rural setting. We are unable to provide the specific information requested as it relates to the formulation or development of Government policy.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason public health grant funding per person is often less in rural local authorities.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
The Public Health Grant’s distribution is weighted towards areas facing the greatest population health challenges. The allocation of funding on a per capita basis would not take account of different levels of need. All local authorities received an increase to the Public Health Grant in 2021/22 and a 2.8% increase in 2022/23 and the Grant will continue to increase during the Spending Review period.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
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 address rural workforce shortages.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
There are currently over 30,000 additional staff working in National Health Service provider trusts and commissioning bodies compared to July 2021, including a further 3,500 doctors and 9,100 nurses. We aim to deliver 50,000 nurses by the end of March 2024, with over 29,000 additional nurses working in the NHS now compared to September 2019. We also funded an increase of 1,500 undergraduate medical school places each year for domestic students in England and delivered five new medical schools in England.
The Department has also commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term workforce plan. The plan will review the roles and staff numbers required, including in rural areas and the actions and reforms needed to improve recruitment and retention.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many trainee GPs in receipt of Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme funds remained in rural areas post-training.
Answered by Will Quince
The data requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
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 reduce the disparity in ambulance response times in (a) urban and (b) rural areas.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Local commissioners and National Health Service ambulance trusts are responsible for the delivery of appropriate response times for local populations. We are providing an additional £150 million for ambulance services in 2022/23 to support improvements in response times through additional call handler recruitment and retention and other funding requirements.
All ambulance response time categories contain a 90th centile standard, including in rural areas with potentially longer travel times. Ambulance trusts also deploy Community First Responders to respond to the highest priority 999 calls and provide interventions while ambulances are en route, including in rural areas.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason his Department's second report on rural proofing, Delivering for rural England, published on 3 September 2022, does not make reference to specific social care policies in relation to rural areas.
Answered by Scott Mann - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
My Department works across HM Government to compile the annual report on rural proofing which is based on contributions provided by individual Departments in respect of the policy areas for which they are responsible. The Department of Health and Social Care leads on the provision of health and care services to rural communities and the report published on 3rd September describes the significant work being done to address issues of rurality in delivering those services.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason his Department's second report on rural proofing made no reference to the work undertaken by the APPG on Rural Health & Social Care and its report looking at rural health and care provision.
Answered by Scott Mann - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
My Department works across HM Government to compile the annual report on rural proofing which is based on contributions provided by individual Departments in respect of the policy areas for which they are responsible. The Department of Health and Social Care leads on the provision of health and care services to rural communities and the report published on 3rd September describes the significant work being done to address issues of rurality in delivering those services.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the forecast on 13 July 2022 by Devon County Council of a Dedicated Schools Grant overspend of £32.1 million, what assessment he has made of the impact this will have on that council's ability to improve (a) provision and (b) outcomes for pupils with SEND.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Local authorities are statutorily responsible for meeting the special educational needs of the children and young people in their area. In doing so, they must take responsibility for the effective and sustainable management of their high needs systems and associated spending. Overspends on local authorities’ high needs blocks are for local authorities to manage, and they do not affect an authority’s duty to carry out its statutory responsibilities.
In 2021, Devon was invited to participate in the Safety Valve intervention programme for local authorities with the very highest dedicated schools grant (DSG) deficits. The Safety Valve programme is not a cost cutting exercise, it is focused on improving performance of local high needs systems and ensuring this is achieved in a sustainable way. The programme requires the local authorities involved to develop substantial plans for reform to their high needs systems to rapidly place them on a sustainable footing. If the local authorities produce DSG management plans that create lasting sustainability and are effective for children and young people, the department will provide financial support to the authority, to assist in the elimination of its DSG deficit, so long as the authority delivers on its plans.
Devon took part in the programme in 2021, and negotiations are not yet concluded. The local authority is developing plans to improve both the high needs system and its financial management. Their focus on improving outcomes for children and young people should be supported by plans to reach a more sustainable position and reduce its overspend.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the communication received by the hon. Member from Newton Abbot from her Department on 6 December 2022 stating that the Department proposes to respond to multiple constituent enquiries from hon. Members in a single letter, what advice her Department has received about the compatibility of those proposals with GDPR requirements.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The multi-response approach is compliant with GDPR guidelines. As is standard practice, MP’s offices are expected to ensure that they only share the information obtained from the Home Office with the relevant constituent to ensure compliance.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he will take steps to ensure that people who pay for utilities via a site manager will be able to access the energy bills support scheme.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for St Albans on 20th June 2022 to Question 18990.