Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when local authorities will be informed of the provisional public health grant budgets for 2023–24.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
We will announce 2023/24 Public Health Grant allocations to local authorities shortly.
Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the funding they provide to local authorities is sufficient to deliver statutory public health responsibilities.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
At the Spending Review 2021, we considered the need for local authority public health funding and confirmed that the public health grant to local authorities in England would increase over the settlement period. In 2022/23, the Grant increased by 2.81% to £3.417 billion. This is in addition to targeted investment through local Government in Start for Life support and drug and alcohol treatment services.
We will announce 2023/24 Public Health Grant allocations to local authorities shortly, and in doing so will consider the impact of changes to pay and inflation trends and forecasts since the Spending Review.
Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children with nutritional anaemia were treated in each of the English NHS regions in (1) 2019, and (2) 2020.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce specific policies that will reduce the occurrence of nutritional anaemia in children.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
While we have no specific plans to do so, the Government’s advice on a healthy, balanced diet for children is shown in the Eatwell Guide. The Eatwell Guide is a visual representation of the types and proportions of foods needed for a healthy balanced diet, including variety of iron rich foods essential in preventing anaemia.
Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many instances of nutritional anaemia in children have been treated in paediatric units in hospitals in England in (1) 2019, and (2) 2020.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The information is not held in the format requested. Data on admissions do not record the type of ward or unit where a patient was treated and does not represent the number of incidences treated.
Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the the Royal College of Psychiatrists' analysis published on 14 September that estimated that the number of high-risk drinkers has risen from 4.8 million in February to 8.4 million during the COVID-19 pandemic; and what steps they plan to take based on any such assessment.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Local authorities are responsible for assessing local needs and commissioning alcohol services to meet these needs, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. Public Health England (PHE) supports local authorities in this work by providing advice, guidance and data.
PHE has been collecting and publishing a range of data on alcohol sales and consumption during the period of the pandemic. This data can be viewed as part of the Wider Impacts of COVID-19 on Health monitoring tool, which is available in an online only format.
The data indicates that while many people have taken the opportunity of lockdown to moderate their drinking, or to not drink at all, there is a group of people who are drinking at levels which increase their risk of harm.