Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to meet their manifesto commitment to provide open-access mental health services for children and young people in every community; and what is the expected timeline for full implementation.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is establishing Young Futures Hubs to bring together services that improve access to opportunities and support for children and young people in community settings, promoting positive outcomes and enabling them to thrive.
Since 2024/25, 24 Early Support Hubs received top-up funding of £8 million to expand their early intervention and prevention support for children and young people's mental health and to take part in an ongoing evaluation of these services.
The evaluation of the Early Support Hubs project will make a significant contribution to the design and implementation of Young Futures Hubs, ensuring that services continue to evolve to meet the needs of young people.
Young Futures Hubs will provide early wellbeing support and ensure there is no wrong front door for children and young people, including those aged 18 to 25 years old, seeking mental health help. Hubs will direct individuals to National Health Service mental health services where more specialist support is required.
The hubs will be designed in partnership with local areas, drawing on local understanding of need and the landscape of existing services. The Government aims to establish 50 hubs over the next four years in the places where they will have the greatest impact. The first eight Young Futures Hubs will launch by the end of this financial year, supported by £2 million of investment.
Also, we will accelerate the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage by 2029.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific measures they are taking to ensure young people aged 18-25 can access appropriate mental health support in the community.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is establishing Young Futures Hubs to bring together services that improve access to opportunities and support for children and young people in community settings, promoting positive outcomes and enabling them to thrive.
Since 2024/25, 24 Early Support Hubs received top-up funding of £8 million to expand their early intervention and prevention support for children and young people's mental health and to take part in an ongoing evaluation of these services.
The evaluation of the Early Support Hubs project will make a significant contribution to the design and implementation of Young Futures Hubs, ensuring that services continue to evolve to meet the needs of young people.
Young Futures Hubs will provide early wellbeing support and ensure there is no wrong front door for children and young people, including those aged 18 to 25 years old, seeking mental health help. Hubs will direct individuals to National Health Service mental health services where more specialist support is required.
The hubs will be designed in partnership with local areas, drawing on local understanding of need and the landscape of existing services. The Government aims to establish 50 hubs over the next four years in the places where they will have the greatest impact. The first eight Young Futures Hubs will launch by the end of this financial year, supported by £2 million of investment.
Also, we will accelerate the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage by 2029.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in response to Space Youth's "Hear Their Healing" campaign call for a youth-led inquiry into the mental health needs of young people.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will publish a new National Youth Strategy, which will set out how the Government will support young people in all aspects of their lives, including support for mental health, wellbeing, and the ability to develop positive social connections.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has directly engaged with over 20,000 young people to hear about their worries and hopes for the future. Key themes coming through the engagement process include the need for more in-person opportunities that give access to trusted adults and mentors, along with fun opportunities to connect with peers that are accessible both in terms of access to transport and through the use of digital resources for signposting. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will be publishing an interim report shortly, and the strategy will be published in autumn.
The Department of Health and Social Care is also working across Government and with NHS England to set up a network of community Young Futures Hubs. Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to improve access to opportunities and support for young people at a community level, promoting positive outcomes and enabling them to thrive.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) disabled, and (2) older people, charged by their local authority for statutory non-residential social care and support have cut back or withdrawn from their care package since 2020–21; and what data they hold on the reasons for care package reduction and withdrawal.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Where local authorities decide to charge for the provision of care and support, they must follow the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and they must act under the Care and Support Statutory Guidance. The responsibility for interpreting and applying the law and the guidance rests with local authorities. The information requested is not held by the Government.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what information they hold, if any, on (1) which local authorities in England use external civil enforcement for the recovery of social care charge-related debt in cases other than in claims against estates and cases of convicted fraud, and (2) which local authorities in England disregard higher-rate disability benefits as chargeable income in the financial assessment of residents for non-residential social care contributions.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Where local authorities decide to charge for the provision of care and support, they must follow the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and they must act under the Care and Support Statutory Guidance. The responsibility for interpreting and applying the law and the guidance rests with local authorities. The information requested is not held by the Government.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of non-residential social care contributions income raised in 2023–24 by each local authority in England with responsibility for social care provision was collected.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Where local authorities decide to charge for the provision of care and support, they must follow the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and they must act under the Care and Support Statutory Guidance. The responsibility for interpreting and applying the law and the guidance rests with local authorities. The information requested is not held by the Government.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the progress of the Carers Action Plan 2018–20, published on 5 June 2018 and updated on 13 September 2018; and what plans they have to complete any outstanding actions.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
No recent assessment has been made. The Carers Action Plan concluded in December 2020 and there is no ongoing delivery plan.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to identify unpaid carers, and (2) to share these data across (a) different Government departments, (b) the NHS, and (c) local government.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The People at the Heart of Care: Adult Social Care Reform White Paper addressed identifying unpaid carers through increasing the use of markers in National Health Service electronic health records by simplifying current approaches to data collection and registration.
On 17 October 2022, NHS England wrote to all general practitioner (GP) practices about the importance of identifying carers and advising how caring status should be recorded on patient records. Extraction of this data from GP systems will commence shortly. There are no current plans to share this data with other Government Departments and local government.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that those not registered with a GP are able to access COVID-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
Individuals do not need to be registered with a general practitioner (GP) to use a walk-in COVID-19 vaccination site. Under the General Practice COVID-19 vaccination programme 2020/21 Enhanced Service Specification, GP practices are able to vaccinate unregistered patients when they are eligible.
Local systems have plans for full coverage of all health inclusion groups, which may include people not registered with a GP. The National Health Service and local partners will contact these patients to ensure they are offered appropriate support to receive the vaccine. We are also working with community leaders and partners on initiatives to encourage people to register with a GP.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to incorporate Inclusion Health populations within NHS England strategies.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
NHS England’s vision for health inequalities is to ensure exceptional quality healthcare for all, through equitable access, excellent experience and optimal outcomes. NHS England’s Health Inequalities Quality Improvement Programme is committed to deliver this vision by:
- Ensuring inclusion health is embedded across all core programmes and system policies to enable the restoration of NHS services inclusively;
- Mitigating against ‘digital exclusion’;
- Improving the ability to identify need and monitor/measure health outcomes by ensuring datasets are complete and timely;
- Accelerating preventative programmes; and
- Strengthening leadership and accountability across integrated care systems and national, regional and place-based systems.
NHS England and NHS Improvement’s Core20PLUS5 is a national approach to support the reduction of health inequalities at both national and system level, including for inclusion health populations. In support of Core20PLUS5, integrated care systems will be required to develop inclusion health plans. These will highlight key national, regional and local priorities.