Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations the Government has received on the applicability of the national minimum wage and the national living wage to staff who are asleep during a sleep-in shift at work.
Answered by Margot James
The Government has received representations from social care providers and charities, social care workers, and hon. Members writing on behalf of their constituents.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to repeal section 1 of the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act 1920 in so far as that provision applies to voluntary work by persons under the age of 16 engaged in heritage railways, canal charities and similar undertakings.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Government has no current plans to repeal this legislation, but we are keeping the legislation under review. We appreciate the valuable work done by the organisations mentioned, and understand that young people may benefit from volunteering, but it is important that young people in employment, whether volunteers or paid employees, work safely in suitable environments.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many social care workers there are by nationality.
Answered by David Mowat
The information is not collected centrally by the Department.
Skills for Care, the partner in the sector skills council for social care, in England, collects data on the nationality of the adult social care workforce. The attached table adult social care workforce nationality contains estimated information on the number of direct care roles by nationality.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what evaluation her Department has made of the Mental Health Services and Schools Link Pilots; and what plans she has to extend those pilots.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The pilot of joint training for nominated single points of contact in schools and mental health services is being independently evaluated. The evaluation findings will be available in spring 2017 and will provide an assessment of the effectiveness of the pilot design and implementation, including its sustainability and potential for wider rollout. The evaluation is also looking at the extent to which the pilot resulted in delivery improvements, including in joint working practices between, and the timeliness and appropriateness of referrals from, schools to specialist mental health services; as well as any wider cultural and systems improvements.
We have already shared some of the emerging practice from the pilot through national events, to inform local planning. We will use the formal evaluation findings to determine whether there is value in further roll out of specific training or models of single point of contact, and whether further testing is required of any aspects.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what evaluation her Department has made of the Mental Health Services and Schools Link pilots; and what plans her Department has for those pilots to be extended.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The pilot of joint training for nominated single points of contact in schools and mental health services is being independently evaluated. The evaluation findings will be available in spring 2017 and will provide an assessment of the effectiveness of the pilot design and implementation, including its sustainability and potential for wider rollout. The evaluation is also looking at the extent to which the pilot resulted in delivery improvements, including in joint working practices between, and the timeliness and appropriateness of referrals from, schools to specialist mental health services; as well as any wider cultural and systems improvements.
We have already shared some of the emerging practice from the pilot through national events, to inform local planning. We will use the formal evaluation findings to determine whether there is value in further roll out of specific training or models of single point of contact, and whether further testing is required of any aspects.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has considered the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on delivering the required growth of the mental health workforce in England set out in the Five Year Forward View.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Department of Health officials are working together with officials at the Department for Exiting the European Union to ensure that the workforce implications for the National Health Service and care sectors are considered as part of the discussions around leaving the EU.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the number of NHS England's mental health workforce by nationality.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Published National Health Service Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) data already provides information on the nationality of the mental health workforce.
However, this data is self-reported and many members of staff choose not to specify their nationality or are not asked to.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether clinical commissioning groups' medicine management teams are held accountable by NHS England where they choose not to follow NICE guidelines.
Answered by David Mowat
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) cannot ignore National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines without having a clear clinical case for doing so, as they are based on the best available evidence. In the event of this happening there would have to be a clear documented rationale signed off through CCG governance.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the number of clinical commissioning groups that have undertaken an equality impact assessment before making changes to their prescription policy.
Answered by David Mowat
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for decisions on commissioning health services to best meet the needs of their local population and are accountable for local prescribing policy decisions. In commissioning services CCGs will reflect the needs of local people and support improvements in health and healthcare outcomes.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what accountability mechanisms are in place for the scrutiny of decisions made by a clinical commissioning group's medicine management team.
Answered by David Mowat
The majority of clinical commissioning groups (CCG), including medicine management teams, are represented on wider Area Prescribing Committees (APCs). APCs work to support clinicians across their geographical area with evidence-based and cost effective prescribing decisions. CCGs will scrutinise decisions in different ways in accordance with their own governance arrangements.