Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to bring waiting times for mental health patients in-line with waiting times for physical health patients.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

We remain committed to achieving parity between mental and physical health services, as outlined in the parity of esteem definition set out in a letter to the Public Accounts Committee in February 2024.

Given funding is important for reaching parity of esteem, we are making good progress with investment in National Health Service mental health services. Between 2018/19 and 2023/24, NHS spending on mental health has increased by £4.7 billion in cash terms, as compared to the target of £3.4 billion in cash terms set out at the time of the Long-Term Plan. For 2024/25, mental health spend is forecast to continue to grow, and will make up 9.01% of all recurrent NHS spending.

In February 2022, NHS England published the outcomes of its consultation on the potential to introduce five new access and waiting time standards for mental health services, as part of its clinically led review of NHS Access Standards. These are: for an urgent referral to a community based mental health crisis service, a patient should be seen within 24 hours of referral, across all ages; for a very urgent referral to a community based mental health crisis service, a patient should be seen within four hours of referral, for all age groups; patients referred from accident and emergency should be seen face to face within one hour by a mental health liaison or children and young people’s equivalent service; children, young people and their families and carers presenting to community-based mental health services, should start to receive care within four weeks of referral; and adults and older adults presenting to community-based mental health services should start to receive help within four weeks of referral.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of car insurance premiums in the last 12 months.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

My Department has not made an assessment of the rising cost of motor insurance premiums over the past year. However, officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry on a variety of issues such as the cost of insurance. I will also soon meet with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, and industry, to discuss this matter further.

The Government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority rules. It is the responsibility of individual motor insurers to set their premiums and the terms and conditions of their policies, and the Government does not intervene in or seek to control the market.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority on the regulation of car insurance premiums.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate car insurance premiums. However, the Government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under the FCA rules.

Department for Transport officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry on a variety of issues such as the cost of insurance. It is the responsibility of individual motor insurers to set their premiums and the terms and conditions of their policies, and the Government does not intervene in or seek to control the market.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of NHS provision for the diagnosis of ADHD in (a) Oxfordshire and (b) England.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment and treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance. The NICE guideline on ADHD does not recommend a maximum waiting time from referral for an assessment of ADHD to the point of assessment or diagnosis. The Department has not made a specific assessment of the availability of National Health Service provision for the diagnosis of, or treatment of, ADHD in Oxfordshire.

In respect of the adequacy of ADHD service provision nationally, in December 2023, NHS England initiated a rapid piece of work to consider ADHD service provision within the NHS. The initial phase of work identified challenges, including with current service models and the ability to keep pace with demand. Following this initial review, NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, and to help provide a joined up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.

Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems which are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.

In respect of the availability of NHS provision for the treatment of ADHD nationally, the Department is aware of, and taking action to address, disruptions to the supply of medicine used for the management of ADHD. Disruptions to the supply of medicines have been primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. Nationally, the Department has been working hard with industry to help resolve those issues as quickly as possible. As a result of our ongoing activity, some issues have been resolved. However, we know that there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, including methylphenidate and guanfacine. The latest information we have received from manufacturers is that these should largely be resolved by May 2024 and October 2024, respectively.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of NHS provision for the treatment of ADHD in (a) Oxfordshire and (b) England.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment and treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance. The NICE guideline on ADHD does not recommend a maximum waiting time from referral for an assessment of ADHD to the point of assessment or diagnosis. The Department has not made a specific assessment of the availability of National Health Service provision for the diagnosis of, or treatment of, ADHD in Oxfordshire.

In respect of the adequacy of ADHD service provision nationally, in December 2023, NHS England initiated a rapid piece of work to consider ADHD service provision within the NHS. The initial phase of work identified challenges, including with current service models and the ability to keep pace with demand. Following this initial review, NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, and to help provide a joined up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.

Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems which are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.

In respect of the availability of NHS provision for the treatment of ADHD nationally, the Department is aware of, and taking action to address, disruptions to the supply of medicine used for the management of ADHD. Disruptions to the supply of medicines have been primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. Nationally, the Department has been working hard with industry to help resolve those issues as quickly as possible. As a result of our ongoing activity, some issues have been resolved. However, we know that there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, including methylphenidate and guanfacine. The latest information we have received from manufacturers is that these should largely be resolved by May 2024 and October 2024, respectively.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of average waiting times for receiving NHS mental health (a) treatment and (b) other support services on the (i) wellbeing and (ii) employment of patients requiring those services.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

While no such assessments have been made, through the NHS Long Term Plan the Government is providing record levels of investment and increasing the mental health workforce, to expand and transform National Health Service mental health services in England, helping to reduce waiting times. The NHS is also working towards implementing new waiting time measures for people requiring mental healthcare in both accident and emergency and in the community, to increase transparency, drive improvements in the quality of data, promote timely access to the most appropriate and high-quality support, and drive accountability in local systems.

The 2023 Spring Budget contained a package of over £400 million to support the long-term sick and disabled in remaining in or entering employment. This included approximately £75 million for the expansion of the Individual Placement and Support scheme, to help people with severe mental illness into employment. At the 2023 Autumn Statement, we announced a further £795 million of funding to increase the number of sessions per course of Talking Therapies treatment and broaden access, leading to an expected additional 384,000 people completing a course of treatment by 2028/29. It will also fund an additional 100,000 Individual Placement and Support places over five years, which will help people with severe mental illness gain and retain paid employment.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the impact of trends in the number of patients waiting for mental health treatment on the economy.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

While no such assessments have been made, through the NHS Long Term Plan the Government is providing record levels of investment and increasing the mental health workforce, to expand and transform National Health Service mental health services in England, helping to reduce waiting times. The NHS is also working towards implementing new waiting time measures for people requiring mental healthcare in both accident and emergency and in the community, to increase transparency, drive improvements in the quality of data, promote timely access to the most appropriate and high-quality support, and drive accountability in local systems.

The 2023 Spring Budget contained a package of over £400 million to support the long-term sick and disabled in remaining in or entering employment. This included approximately £75 million for the expansion of the Individual Placement and Support scheme, to help people with severe mental illness into employment. At the 2023 Autumn Statement, we announced a further £795 million of funding to increase the number of sessions per course of Talking Therapies treatment and broaden access, leading to an expected additional 384,000 people completing a course of treatment by 2028/29. It will also fund an additional 100,000 Individual Placement and Support places over five years, which will help people with severe mental illness gain and retain paid employment.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Sixth-Fifth Report of the Committee on Public Accounts of Session 2022-23 on Progress in improving NHS mental health services, HC 1000, if she will make an assessment of the reasons for the reported shortage of mental health professionals in the NHS workforce.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

We are committed to attracting, training, and recruiting the mental health workforce of the future, as well as retaining and developing our current workforce. Since 2016, we have expanded and diversified the types of roles that are available, as well as upskilling and transforming the workforce to deliver innovative models of care. However, while there have been significant increases, we acknowledge that the rise in demand for services means that more growth is needed to improve and expand services, to keep in line with this. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out the need to grow the overall mental health and learning disability workforce the fastest of all care settings, at 4.4% per year up to 2036/37.

To support this ambition, the plan sets out a number of targeted interventions for the mental health workforce, including increasing mental health training places by 13% by 2025/26 and 28% by 2028/29. These interventions will be delivered via partnerships working across the Department of Health and Social Care, integrated care systems and providers, as well as with wider partners such as the Department for Education and Office for Students.

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 staffing levels of mental health professionals in the NHS meet levels of demand for their services.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

To deliver the NHS Long Term Plan’s mental health commitments and help reduce waiting times, our aim has been to grow the mental health workforce nationally by an additional 27,000 professionals by March 2024.

We are making positive progress, delivering three quarters of this, or approximately 20,800 new professionals, by December 2023, with further growth expected to have been achieved once the full year figures for 2023/24 are available. This growth is in addition to the commitment to grow the National Health Service’s mental health workforce by 19,000 between 2016/17 and 2020/21, as set out in Stepping Forward to 2020/21: the mental health workforce plan for England, which was achieved in September 2021.

At a national level, we are committed to attracting, training, and recruiting the mental health workforce of the future, as well as retaining and developing our current workforce. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan’s modelling projections set out a need to grow the overall mental health and learning disability workforce the fastest of all care settings, at 4.4% per year up to 2036/37, to help improve access to services and quality of care.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will publish the (a) minutes, (b) attendee lists, (c) expenses, (d) gifts exchanged and (e) other relevant details of the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs' meeting with President Donald Trump on 8 April 2024.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Relevant transparency data relating to the Secretary of State's recent visit to the USA will be published on Gov.uk in line with the usual reporting requirements.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will have discussions with the Association of British Insurers on reducing insurance premiums for households.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors on an ongoing basis.

Insurers make decisions about the terms on which they will offer cover following an assessment of the relevant risks. The Government does not intend to intervene in these commercial decisions as this could damage competition in the market.

However, the Government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly. The Financial Conduct Authority requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive). The FCA has been clear that it will be monitoring firms to ensure they are providing products that are fair value, and, where necessary, it will take action.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support people in Oxfordshire who have been affected by Storm Henk.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Storm Henk impacted large parts of Oxfordshire, including homes, businesses and infrastructure. My thoughts are with those affected.

The Environment Agency worked tirelessly to minimise the impacts of flooding by operating flood assets, issuing flood warnings, making sure rivers were free of blockages and, where appropriate, putting out temporary barriers. Following the storm the Environment Agency continues to engage with impacted communities to gather information that will help them, and partners, better understand how they can support the communities to increase their resilience flooding.

The Environment Agency is working with partners to provide a joined-up approach so that communities get the most appropriate and swift support, including the ongoing work to develop and deliver projects such as the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme.

In January 2024, the Government announced the launch of the Flood Recovery Framework for areas most affected by Storm Henk. These schemes closed on 12 April and included:

• Community Recovery Grant - £500 per eligible flooded household.
• Business Recovery Grant - £2,500 per eligible small or medium business.
• Council tax and business rates relief – Minimum three months of relief per eligible household/business.

Defra also activated the Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Repair Grant scheme where eligible properties can receive up to £5,000 to install PFR measures. Households and business who suffered from internal flooding should contact Oxfordshire County Council to apply. The PFR scheme opened on 8 January and will close in July 2025.

We are also actively reviewing the areas eligible for support through the Farming Recovery Fund to ensure it supports areas where farmland is most impacted due to Storm Henk. Oxfordshire is among these areas being considered for inclusion in the Fund. We are working through the impacts and will set out the position on the additional areas to be included in the Fund shortly. We will write to all those eligible farmers informing them of the funding they are able to claim.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ensure that British citizens with lawful dual citizenship are able to (a) vote and (b) stand for elections in all parts of the UK and overseas territories.

Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

A British citizen with dual nationality can register to vote and qualify to stand in UK parliamentary, local and police and crime commissioners (PCC) elections as a British citizen, as long as they meet the other qualifying requirements, such as age and residency.

The online Register to Vote service includes information to assist individuals with more than one nationality. On the section of the service requesting nationality information, text below that question advises applicants with more than one nationality to include them all. The same guidance appears on paper application forms.

The Electoral Commission produces guidance for EROs to use when processing applications to register to vote. This guidance advises that when an application is received from a dual national, the ERO “should always process an application in accordance with the nationality that provides the higher level of franchise”.

Elections in UK overseas territories are determined by each territory and the Government has no plans to change this. Each Overseas Territory has its own rules and regulations regarding voting and candidacy eligibility.

The UK Government believes that the current fundamental structure of our constitutional relationships with the Overseas Territories is the right one. Elected governments of the Territories have powers to the maximum extent possible, consistent with the UK retaining those powers necessary to discharge its sovereign responsibilities.

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Found: _NC10 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen

Found: _NC10 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen

Found: _NC10 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen

Found: REPORT STAGE Friday 19 April 2024 8 _NC10 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran

Found: _NC10 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen

Found: _NC10 Bob Blackman Nickie Aiken Tracey Crouch Layla Moran Paula Barker Selaine Saxby Stephen