Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the governance of the National Institute for Health Protection will include representatives from both national and local government.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are currently developing the transition process to support full and formal establishment of the National Institute for Health Protection. Future governance arrangements will be determined as part of this process over the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to invest additional resources into public health to help public health teams meet any backlog in the demand for services which had to be stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government has provided £3.2 billion of additional funding for local government to help them respond to COVID-19 pressures across the services they deliver. Local authorities will take spending decisions based on local priorities and the Government is keeping the position under review.
Funding beyond 2020/21 will be set out at the next spending review.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the White Paper on the Mental Health Act 1983 will include measures that prioritise prevention and early intervention, as proposed by the Local Government Association in its Bright Futures campaign and in its submission to the review of the Mental Health Act 1983.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
We will publish our White Paper in the next few months. This will set out the Government’s response to Sir Simon Wessely’s Independent Review of the Mental Health Act.
Our intention is that this White Paper will pave the way for reform to the Mental Health Act 1983, and tackle issues addressed by the Review. We will ensure that people subject to the Act receive better care and have a much greater say in that care.
We will consult publicly on our proposals and we will bring forward a Bill to amend the Act when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their plans to reform care and support will consider adults of all ages and unpaid carers, as well as older people.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Putting social care on a sustainable footing, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, is one of the biggest challenges we face as a society. The Government will bring forward a plan for social care this year. The Government will seek to build cross-party consensus and will outline next steps shortly.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to bring forward their proposals to reform adult social care and support; and whether they intend to work closely with the Local Government Association to take forward those proposals.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Putting social care on a sustainable footing, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, is one of the biggest challenges we face as a society. The Government will bring forward a plan for social care this year. The Government will seek to build cross-party consensus and will outline next steps shortly. The Department engages with stakeholders on a regular basis, including the Local Government Association, and will work with them and others as we take forward proposals.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O'Shaughnessy on 5 December 2018 (HL11677), whether they plan to publish their considerations on the findings of the Local Government Association green paper for adult social care and wellbeing, published in November 2018; and if so, when.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Government will consider closely the findings of the Local Government Association’s report as we bring forward proposals to reform the social care system.
In the development of the Green Paper on Adult Social Care we have noted the important contributions made by a number of recent reports, including the Local Government Association’s report. The Green Paper will be published at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what analysis they have conducted into the prevalence of female genital mutilation in England.
Answered by Baroness Manzoor
An estimated 137,000 women in the United Kingdom are affected by female genital mutilation (FGM). NHS Digital publishes annual experimental statistics – the FGM Enhanced Dataset – which supports the Department’s FGM Prevention Programme by presenting a national picture of the prevalence of FGM in England. The most recent quarterly statistics, published in December 2018 and covering the period July-September 2018, show that there were 1,630 women and girls who had an attendance where FGM was identified or a procedure related to FGM was undertaken. These accounted for 2,025 attendances reported at National Health Service trusts and general practitioner practices where FGM was identified or a procedure related to FGM was undertaken. There were 925 newly recorded women and girls in this period.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Local Government Association, The lives we want to lead: findings, implications and recommendations on the LGA green paper for adult social care and wellbeing, published in November.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Government will consider closely the findings of the Local Government Association’s report.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to allocate additional funding to adult social care in the next financial year.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Government has announced a further £650 million of new money for social care for 2019-20.
The funding is in two parts:
- An additional £240 million in 2019-20 for adult social care to alleviate winter pressures on the National Health Service; and
- A further £410 million in 2019-20 to improve social care for older people, people with disabilities and children.