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Written Question
Pregnancy: Mental Health Services
Monday 8th January 2024

Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an estimate of the number of people accessing perinatal mental health services by NHS inclusion groups since 2017.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

The attached tables show the number of people accessing perinatal mental health services by age, ethnicity and indices of Deprivation deciles from 2019/20 to 2021/22. Data prior to 2019/20 is not included as the analysis of perinatal services did not exist prior to this year and as such would be subject to data quality considerations. Data for 2022/23 is due to be published on 22 February 2024.

Written Question
Department for Work and Pensions: Disability
Tuesday 19th December 2023

Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help support disabled employees in his Department.

Answered by Paul Maynard

  • DWP is recognised as a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, which demonstrates the departmental commitment to attracting, recruiting, retaining, and supporting career progression of disabled people. This assessment has recently been validated by Business Disability Forum.
  • Annually we update the DWP voluntary reporting on disability, mental health and wellbeing - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) voluntary report on Gov UK which provides updated information on the activity on our support for disabled employees.
  • Our DWP Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Approach has a long-term strategic intent that our products, services, and environment are ‘inclusive by design’ to ensure that as many people as possible, particularly groups who are traditionally excluded from being able to use an interface or navigate an environment, can access these. We use this to support our Disability Inclusion Action Plan that prioritises building capability, raising awareness, streamlining processes and improving policies.
  • In June 2023, 22% of DWP staff indicated that they had a disability (an increase of 3.7% compared to June 2021) and 13.6% of Senior Civil Servants in the department declared a disability (an increase of 1.6% compared to June 2021).
  • Workplace adjustments are considered as a matter of course for any colleague who experiences a barrier and/or difficulty at work including those with a health condition; enabling them to develop and fulfil their potential. We have a programme of activity in place to ensure that both line managers and employees understand the requirement to consider adjustments and the process for putting them in place.
  • DWP have a strong relationship and remains well connected to staff diversity and inclusion networks, such as Mental Health First Aiders, Ambassadors for Fair Treatment, and our disability network - THRIVE. It utilises them to raise awareness and provide education on the importance of diversity in the workplace. Additionally, they can be used as recruitment panel volunteers and the wider sharing of vacancies across communities of disabled colleagues. We also learn and utilise lived experiences throughout our decision making.
  • DWP’s internal and external communications team collaborate with our Disability Network colleagues (THRIVE) to deliver whole DWP communications throughout the year – linking to specific events such as Neurodiversity Week or International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
  • Our Disability and Mental Health Champion works closely with our disability networks and sponsors the Civil Service Deaf and Hard of Hearing Network, spearheading communication campaigns, publishing blogs and working with her Senior Civil Service colleagues to highlight challenges and promote learning.
  • DWP has established a Centre of Expertise for resourcing, within it, is a team focused on diversity and inclusion in recruitment. The team leads on ensuring our recruitment processes are inclusive and enable our drive for equitable representation across the workforce, thus supporting DWP’s equality objectives.
  • DWP have been awarded the RNIB Visibly Better Employer (VBE) status. We are proudly promoting our status; including within our adverts and candidate pack, profile on diverse jobs boards, social media, and Civil Service Careers websites; including the badge to show that we are a Visibly Better Employer.
  • We have worked with Government Recruitment Service (GRS) to develop a Recruitment Adjustment Passport, to lead the way for the Civil Service. The Passport will gather a candidate’s adjustment requests for the end-to-end recruitment process to alleviate difficulties, repetition, and inconsistencies throughout.
  • DWP has been leading activity in trialling new recruitment practices that better support a broader range of candidates. Using improving branding to encourage Disabled people to apply for our roles – as well as acting as a role model to all other employers.
  • DWP ensures digital environments, as well as physical environments, are inclusive and accessible. A new Accessibility Practice SharePoint site was launched on 24th July 2023. which provides guidance on various aspects of accessibility. We have Accessibility Standard Leads throughout our corporate functions.
  • A new DWP Digital Accessibility Policy was approved and published in June 2023. This sets out the responsibilities of product teams and individuals in creating accessible products and internal communications. It explains in detail how to comply with the Equality Act (2010), the Public Sector Equality Duty (2011) and the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations (2018/2022).
  • During 2022 DWP introduced a structured approach to improving accessibility and inclusion in the design of DWP buildings.
Written Question
Buses: Exhaust Emissions
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for zero and low emission buses.

Answered by Guy Opperman

Since February 2020, an estimated 4,200 Zero Emission Buses (ZEBs) have been funded across the UK, including 1,300 ZEBs supported by £280m through the ZEBRA 1 programme. We announced a further £129m in September 2023 under the ZEBRA 2 programme.

My department has an ongoing monitoring and evaluation project for ZEBRA. An interim evaluation report was published in June 2023.

Written Question
Department for Work and Pensions: Remote Working
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of his Department's employees work on a fully remote basis.

Answered by Paul Maynard

The DWP has 407 members of staff that are recorded as being permanent Homeworkers which equates to 0.46%. This is data as of 30th November 2023.

Written Question
Genomics: Babies
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the system readiness to introduce whole genome sequencing for newborns as part of the NHS.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson

The Generation Study is a research study that will evaluate the utility and feasibility of screening newborns for a larger number of childhood-onset rare genetic conditions in the National Health Service, using whole genome sequencing. Genomics England are working closely with the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) to ensure the research generates the right evidence to inform any potential screening recommendations by the UK NSC and commissioning decisions by the NHS. If the evidence from the study indicates that the use of whole genome sequencing in newborn screening is effective, meets the criteria set by the UK NSC and a positive recommendation is made by the UK NSC, health ministers in the United Kingdom will then decide if this recommendation should be accepted. In the meantime, the UK NSC continues to assess proposals for additional conditions for newborn screening as they are received.

Written Question
Genomics
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress has been made on the NHS Generation Study.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson

Genomics England has established a set of four principles to determine which rare genetic conditions should be looked for as part of their research study. In October 2023, Genomics England published a list of over 200 conditions which will be screened for as part of the study. Recruitment to the study is due to begin in early 2024. Genomics England have been working with a group of National Health Service sites who will be among the first to recruit participants.

Written Question
Babies: Blood Tests
Thursday 30th November 2023

Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the capacity of the UK National Screening Committee to review new rare conditions for inclusion in a national newborn heel prick screening programme.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson

The UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) remit was expanded last year to consider targeted, and risk stratified screening proposals, in addition to covering population screening programmes. A recruitment campaign is ongoing to expand capacity to be able to manage the increased volume of work expected. In terms of reviewing the evidence for newborn blood spot conditions the UK NSC has an annual call mechanism where proposals to screen for new topics can be submitted. The annual call for 2024 will open in July.

Written Question
Carbon Monoxide: Alarms
Tuesday 28th November 2023

Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of mandating the use of carbon monoxide alarms in all health settings.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson

There are no plans to make an assessment. Guidance on ventilation and air filtration systems in National Health Service facilities is provided in Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 03-01: Specialised Ventilation for Healthcare Premises. As with all guidance provided on the NHS estate, it is reviewed on an ongoing basis and will be updated to reflect changes in approach to relevant areas. The memorandum is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/HTM0301-PartA-accessible-F6.pdf

There is a range of national resources available to promote carbon monoxide safety. This includes guidance on GOV.UK, the NHS website and from the Health and Safety Executive. The UK Health Safety Agency also has a programme of work, much of it delivered in partnership with other organisations, to increase awareness of carbon monoxide exposure risks and help to prevent them.

Written Question
Carbon Monoxide: Alarms
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of mandating the use of carbon monoxide alarms in all health settings.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Written Question
Bus Services: Franchises
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of franchising more local bus services.

Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport

The Government will support any Local Transport Authority wishing to franchise their bus services.

The Bus Services Act 2017 provides automatic access to franchising powers to Mayoral Combined Authorities in England.

Other authorities can request those powers from the Secretary of State but need to demonstrate that they have the capability and resources to deliver franchising, and that franchising is the best option to deliver improvements for passengers.

The Department is currently revising the Bus Services Act 2017 Franchising Scheme Guidance, published in November 2017, to provide updated and detailed advice on the franchising process.

Regarding the current action on Go North East, I hope both sides can come to a mutually acceptable agreement that delivers for passengers.