Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to ensure that the health and care needs of people with learning disabilities are addressed through a dedicated strategic framework; and what mechanisms for national accountability will be included in such a framework.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan recognises the need to reduce health inequalities for people with a learning disability and sets out our aims to support a shift to empowering patients and preventing sickness, rather than just treating it, and offering more holistic, on-going support in the community.
The Government is committed to improving care for people with a learning disability. Whilst there are no plans to develop a dedicated strategic framework, there is significant work already underway and clear expectations in place for health and care services to take actions which should improve health outcomes for this group. This includes the roll out of mandatory training on learning disability and autism for health and care staff, implementation of a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag, continued uptake of annual health checks and health action plans, and the Mental Health Act reforms. Progress continues to be made on these initiatives.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are expected to drive service improvements and governance through existing frameworks. ICBs have an Executive Lead on learning disability and autism and an Executive Lead on learning from lives and deaths, or LeDeR. Each ICB is required to consider and demonstrate how they will reduce the health inequalities faced by people with a learning disability and autistic people within their local populations within the five-year strategic plans mandated as part of the Medium-Term Planning Framework, which is available on the NHS.UK website.
The Government recognises that more could be done to ensure consistent delivery and will continue to work with NHS England to strengthen oversight and support where needed.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in light of research by Dr George Julian showing that the Care Quality Commission has secured only one prosecution for a death involving a person with a learning disability in over a decade, what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the CQC's enforcement strategy in this area.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an independent regulator, and decisions on enforcement action are a matter for the CQC, exercised in line with its statutory remit and published enforcement policy.
Prosecution is one of a range of regulatory tools available to the CQC and is used where breaches are serious, there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction, and prosecution is in the public interest, particularly where other regulatory action would not be proportionate or sufficient.
In making these decisions, the CQC is guided by The Code for Crown Prosecutors, and all criminal investigations are conducted in accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and its codes of practice.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 30 March (HL15723), whether the interim leadership cover for the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board carries out the same statutory duties as the redundant Chief Executive role; and if so, what assessment they have made of the compliance of this redundancy with the HM Treasury guidance on Public Sector Exit Payments and value for money protocols.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether (1) NHS England, or (2) the Department of Health and Social Care, were contacted by the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board regarding the redundancy of its previous Chief Executive prior to the redundancy payment being issued in October 2025; if so, on what date that contact occurred; and for what purpose that contact was made.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 30 March (HL15724), whether the post of the previous chief executive of the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board was identified for the redundancy pool as a direct result of a legal merger or abolition of that ICB as part of the reduction of ICBs from 42 to 26; and if no such merger or abolition was formally proposed for South Yorkshire ICB, on what basis that post was identified for redundancy under that framework.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what executive powers will be held by the newly appointed Mayoral Health Commissioners in Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire; and how these roles will facilitate improvements in health outcomes in the absence of formal powers over NHS Integrated Care Boards.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, recently announced plans for NHS England to appoint new National Health Service integrated care board chairs in Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire, who will also serve as the Mayor’s Health Commissioner.
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill allows a commissioner to be delegated some functions of the combined authority, if considered necessary.
Reporting jointly to the health service and democratically elected local mayors, these new leaders will be expected to mobilise partners locally to improve health outcomes for the local population, including by supporting delivery of the three key shifts we have set out in the 10-Year Plan: from hospital to community; from sickness to prevention; and from analogue to digital. No additional NHS performance indicators have been set centrally.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what performance metrics and key performance indicators will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the new powers granted to the Mayors of Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire under the recent health devolution deals.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, recently announced plans for NHS England to appoint new National Health Service integrated care board chairs in Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire, who will also serve as the Mayor’s Health Commissioner.
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill allows a commissioner to be delegated some functions of the combined authority, if considered necessary.
Reporting jointly to the health service and democratically elected local mayors, these new leaders will be expected to mobilise partners locally to improve health outcomes for the local population, including by supporting delivery of the three key shifts we have set out in the 10-Year Plan: from hospital to community; from sickness to prevention; and from analogue to digital. No additional NHS performance indicators have been set centrally.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 9 February (HL13391), why the Chief Executive of South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board received contractual redundancy pay before the approval of the national model voluntary redundancy scheme by the Treasury in November 2025.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As referred to in the answer to HL15722 and HL15723, the redundancy exercise arose from structural reform reducing the number of integrated care boards (ICBs) from 42 to 26, which resulted in the removal of a number of Chief Executive roles.
Contractual National Health Service redundancy arises where a role is removed as part of an organisational restructuring and the postholder’s employment is terminated on a compulsory basis, in line with their contractual NHS terms and conditions of service. This applies, for example, where an ICB is abolished or merged and the Chief Executive role therefore ceases to exist.
In contrast, the national model voluntary redundancy scheme applies only where an employer chooses to offer staff the option of a voluntary exit. These contractual redundancy arrangements pre-date the later development of the national model voluntary redundancy scheme which required HM Treasury’s approval before it could be offered by employers.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 9 February (HL13391), whether they were consulted before the announcement by South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board on 3 September 2025 of the chief executive's retirement; and what assessment they have made of the public transparency of announcements of retirement when the retiring individual is receiving a redundancy payment.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is not required to be consulted on and does not have responsibility for local announcements made by the integrated care boards (ICBs) about individual employment matters, including retirements. ICBs are independent statutory employers and are responsible for managing their own workforce and communications. They are expected to act in accordance with employment law, contractual obligations, and to communicate appropriately and transparently within those frameworks.
In the case of the South Yorkshire ICB, the redundancy payment referenced was contractual and arose from the removal of the role resultant from ICB reforms. It was not linked to the timing or manner of any subsequent announcement regarding the Chief Executive’s retirement.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (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 the level of bureaucracy for trusts participating in the national provider improvement programme.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The intensive recovery programme (IRP) has been built to give the most challenged providers the support to turn around their performance in a precise and structured way. It will not directly replace the National Provider Improvement Programme (NPIP); however we are reviewing the improvement approach to ensure organisations receive the right level of support.
NPIP segmentation is derived from performance against the NHS Oversight Framework (NOF) and provider capability. The most challenged providers have been designated from a combination of sustained financial deficit for 11 or more years, long-standing issues, and those in segment five of the NOF.
The five organisations that have been selected for the IRP are the first wave of providers in the regime, and the programme will aim to cover more organisations in the future.