Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to commemorate the women who worked at the Chilwell and other shell filling factories during the First World War.
Answered by Lord Henley
In the last Parliament, The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy worked with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Recognition for Munitions Workers to explore ways to ensure that the collective efforts of all those who worked in munitions factories were not forgotten. This included several positive steps such as the march past of former munitions workers in the Remembrance Sunday parade in 2012. While the All Party Parliamentary Group is no longer active, my Department is continuing to work with campaigners to establish how the valiant collective effort of former munitions workers could be recognised.
BEIS has no plans for any specific local commemoration which are best determined at a local level.
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to commemorate the victims of the explosion at the Chilwell Shell Filling Factory that took place on 1 July 1918.
Answered by Lord Henley
In the last Parliament, The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy worked with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Recognition for Munitions Workers to explore ways to ensure that the collective efforts of all those who worked in munitions factories were not forgotten. This included several positive steps such as the march past of former munitions workers in the Remembrance Sunday parade in 2012. While the All Party Parliamentary Group is no longer active, my Department is continuing to work with campaigners to establish how the valiant collective effort of former munitions workers could be recognised.
BEIS has no plans for any specific local commemoration which are best determined at a local level.
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that 50 per cent of Clinical Commissioning Groups in England are planning to reduce the proportion of their budgets spent on mental health support in 2017–18, compared to 2016–17.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
It is for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to determine the level of spend on specific services. CCGs are required to achieve the Mental Health Investment Standard (MHIS) - i.e. to increase their spend on mental health services in excess or equal to the growth in their programme allocation and to deliver on the operational targets laid out in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health.
NHS England now publishes CCG mental health spend. Over 80% of CCGs met the MHIS in 2016/17 and are forecast to achieve the standard in 2017/18. Assurance processes are in place centrally and regionally to review and to validate reported spend. For 2018/19 all CCGs will be required to meet the MHIS and this will be subject to confirmation by their auditors.
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether Clinical Commissioning Groups are allocating the additional investment promised by Her Majesty's Government for mental health to mental health services.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
It is for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to determine the level of spend on specific services. CCGs are required to achieve the Mental Health Investment Standard (MHIS) - i.e. to increase their spend on mental health services in excess or equal to the growth in their programme allocation and to deliver on the operational targets laid out in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health.
NHS England now publishes CCG mental health spend. Over 80% of CCGs met the MHIS in 2016/17 and are forecast to achieve the standard in 2017/18. Assurance processes are in place centrally and regionally to review and to validate reported spend. For 2018/19 all CCGs will be required to meet the MHIS and this will be subject to confirmation by their auditors.
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will consider ring-fencing existing levels of funding for mental health services in 2018–19.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Department does not generally ring-fence budgets within the National Health Service. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 gave clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) the autonomy to make decisions about the health services that best meet the health needs of their population.
They do this based on evidence of patient needs locally. However, NHS England’s Mental Health Investment Standard requires the local NHS to increase mental health investment by the same proportion as overall allocations. This is planned to be met across England as a whole in 2017/18 and 2018/19. For 2018/19 all CCGs will be required to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard and this will be subject to confirmation by their auditors.
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made in ensuring that mental health has parity of esteem with physical health with regard to funding.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Government set parity of esteem in physical and mental health in law in the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The independent Mental Health Taskforce’s Five Year Forward View for Mental Health report in February 2016 and July 2016 Implementing the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health plan set out detailed recommendations for achieving parity of esteem between physical and mental healthcare. Copies of both reports are attached. The Government’s response to the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health report accepted all the report’s recommendations in January 2017 and created a detailed action plan for taking forward the recommendations, including how we will monitor progress and report transparently. A copy of the Government’s response is attached. The report set out a strategy for change in four key areas to drive forward improvements in mental health: promoting good mental health and helping people lead the lives they want to live, integrating care, creating a seven day National Health Service for mental health and hard wiring mental health across health and social care.
NHS England’s Mental Health Investment Standard also requires the local NHS to increase mental health investment by at least the same proportion as overall allocations. This is planned to be met across England as a whole in 2017/18 and 2018/19. For 2018/19 all clinical commissioning groups will be required to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard and this will be subject to confirmation by their auditors.
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to publish proposals for eliminating out of area placements for non-specialised services for acute adult psychiatric care.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
In February 2016, the independent Commission on Acute Adult Psychiatric Care described widespread problems with finding acute inpatient beds. As a result, the Commission made a recommendation to eliminate the practice of sending people out of the area for care due to local acute bed pressures.
NHS England has, in collaboration with all arms’ length bodies, prepared a response to all of the recommendations. It is currently in the final stages of clearance and is intended to be published shortly.
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to publish proposals for introducing a maximum four hour wait for acute adult mental health care and bringing greater parity between mental and physical health.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
NHS England has made significant progress in relation to the development of a comprehensive set of mental health care pathways, including an acute mental health care pathway.
Whilst much of the pathway content has been finalised, the material is currently being reviewed to ensure that it is in line with the wider Five Year Forward View strategy and that it provides the most helpful guidance to both commissioners and providers in relation to the commissioning and implementation of services to improve access and outcomes for people with mental health problems.
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to publish proposals for a new acute adult care pathway for mental health.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The pathway for acute adult mental health care has been developed in draft and is currently being considered for publication over the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Crisp (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish their response to the report of the Commission on Adult Inpatient Psychiatric Care.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
NHS England, working with other arm’s length bodies, has prepared a response to recommendations from the Commission on Adult Psychiatric Care in England. The response will be published in due course.
Inappropriate out-of-area placements are unacceptable and the Government has committed to eliminate these in non-specialist, acute mental health care by 2020/21.