Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they maintain a complete, current, and accurate list of all establishments to which a GP can refer a patient for a scan, including the new community diagnostic hubs, and if so, what is the URL of the website hosting this list.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold a central list of all establishments to which a general practitioner can refer a patient for a scan.
The Organisation Data Service, operated by NHS Digital, holds and publishes unique identification codes and accompanying reference data for organisations that are involved in health and social care in England and beyond. This covers a wide variety of National Health Service and non-NHS organisations, such as NHS trusts and independent sector healthcare providers, including those that provide diagnostic scans.
A list of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) is published by NHS England, and is available on the NHS.UK website, in an online only format. Where a newly opened CDC starts to deliver activity, this will be captured in an updated publication. This includes temporary CDC sites that are delivering services on an interim basis whilst the permanent CDC site is under construction.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the diagnosis codes that will be used in the Office for National Statistics' assessment announced in the press release issued by NHS England on 5 December 2024 entitled "World leading NHS trial to boost health and support people in work”; and whether that analysis linking health and tax records will respect the National Data Opt Out.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The research plan is not complete yet, but it will consider what data should be used, including diagnosis codes, and how people's choices to opt-out will be respected.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) trial and (2) introduce artificial intelligence to speed up legal processes and reduce the courts backlog.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government continues to explore the use of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the efficiency of courts and legal processes.
The Ministry of Justice has established a new Justice AI Unit, led by the Department’s first Chief AI Officer, to develop a comprehensive AI strategy for the Department and its agencies.
With regards to the criminal courts, the Government is committed to bearing down on the outstanding caseload in the Crown Court and the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts led by Sir Brian Leveson will assess how the use of new technologies, including AI, could be used to improve efficiency across the criminal courts. Furthermore, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has ambitious plans to leverage new technologies to redesign and enhance legal systems and processes. Plans include the integration of AI into casework, potentially unlocking thousands of hours in improved productivity.
In the Family Courts, we are considering where both policy and technology can work together to improve services. We are seeking to reduce demand by using AI to signpost people to the right information to assist in their situation and provide AI tools such as parent arrangement planners to help separating parents to resolve issues quickly and without the need to involve courts. We aim to blend both AI, other technologies and policy to form cohesive services that address both court backlogs and court demand.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to cancel the cap on social care costs, what plans they have to raise public awareness of the availability of 'immediate needs annuity' and 'deferred needs annuity' policies offered by insurance companies to allow individuals to fund their later life social care costs.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government inherited an undeliverable commitment to implement charging reforms in October 2025, as funding was not guaranteed and preparations for full rollout were not on track. Whilst there are no current plans to promote specific private insurance products for funding future social care costs, we have announced the independent Casey Commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.
The Commission will consider the long-term transformation of adult social care, including what long-term and sustainable funding solutions should look like. It will build on the expert proposals of other reviews, including that of Sir Andrew Dilnot, into care funding and support.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they are ensuring that digital inclusion is a core consideration, where relevant, when updating existing or delivering new policies across all government departments.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Digital inclusion is a priority for this Government. It means ensuring that everyone has the access, skills, support and confidence to participate in our modern digital society, whatever their circumstances. Work is ongoing to develop our approach to tackling digital exclusion and coordinating across government departments continues to be a core part of this work. We hope to say more on this soon.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Ofwat and water companies about encouraging or incentivising domestic and business customers to install rainwater harvesting systems.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises that rainwater harvesting and other forms of water reuse can play a key role in helping non-households and businesses meet the statutory water demand reduction target of 9% by March 2038. We are therefore supporting water companies and developers to deliver water efficiency through both rainwater harvesting and other forms of water reuse.
We supported Ofwat on their consultation to provide environmental incentives to developers which included considering where new technologies and water efficient practices could be integrated into buildings and developments. Ofwat reported that water reuse solutions are likely to be an important tool for improving water efficiency in the medium term.
We are also looking into allowing water companies to supply treated, non-potable water, including rainwater, for certain water demands such as toilet flushing.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what engagement is taking place between the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Treasury with regard to the newly formed Financial Inclusion Committee and the future Financial Inclusion Strategy, given the commitment within the Committee’s Terms of Reference to look at the link between digital and financial inclusion.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 5 December, Government announced it will develop a Financial Inclusion Strategy, alongside a supporting Committee, to tackle the problem of financial exclusion. Digital exclusion can be a significant barrier in how consumers are able to access and use financial services products. This is why digital inclusion will be a key area of focus within the Financial Inclusion Strategy and will be considered by the digital inclusion and access to banking sub-committee.
HM Treasury is working closely with the Department of Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT), the lead department for digital inclusion, to ensure that this work complements wider initiatives to address the barriers which can affect consumers, such as digital skills, access to devices and connectivity, and a lack of support and confidence.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether there are enough hospital beds and ambulances for this winter; and what steps are they taking to increase them.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The national approach on priorities for winter planning were issued by NHS England on 16 September 2024, setting out the key steps to be taken to support the delivery of high-quality care for patients this winter. Provisions for resourcing of hospital beds and ambulances for this winter are an operational matter for the National Health Service.
The NHS is managing extra demand over the winter period, by strengthening same day emergency care, offering more falls services for older people, and with upgraded 24-hour live data centres.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the cut in the winter fuel payment on hospital admissions this winter.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
An impact assessment of the cut in winter fuel payment on hospital admissions this winter has not been produced. The Government has taken action to ensure low-income households are protected this winter.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people as of 1 December who were medically fit to be discharged from hospital had not been.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 1 December 2024, the number of patients in England remaining in hospital who were medically fit to be discharged was 12,086.