Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of abolishing Healthwatch organisations on the transparency of patient feedback in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The abolition of Healthwatch England and the transfer of its functions, as well as the changes to Local Healthwatch, requires primary legislation. The timing of this is subject to the will of Parliament and will happen when parliamentary time allows. A full Impact Assessment would be produced in line with HM Treasury's Green Book standards and published on the Government’s website when legislation is introduced in Parliament.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) families and (b) carers can effectively (i) raise and (ii) resolve complaints about adult social care provision in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the vital roles that unpaid carers and families play. The Government is committed to supporting them, including by ensuring that they can effectively raise and resolve complaints about adult social care, including in Surrey Heath.
By law, all health and social care services must have a procedure for dealing efficiently with complaints. Anyone receiving adult social care or their family, carer, or representative has the right to complain about decisions, service delivery, or related issues.
If an individual is not satisfied with the way a provider or local authority has dealt with a complaint, they may escalate it to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) who can investigate individual concerns. The LGSCO is the independent complaints lead for adult social care and investigates complaints from those receiving social care.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator for health and social care in England. Whilst the CQC is unable to investigate individual complaints, the CQC encourages the public to “share their experience” through an online feedback mechanism which allows them to raise concerns about the services they receive from providers. Any such cases shared with the CQC will be investigated as part of its ongoing monitoring of providers.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the use of educational technology on student preparedness for paper-based examinations in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is committed to ensuring students are well prepared for all forms of assessment, including paper-based examinations. While constituency-specific data for Surrey Heath is not held, the department continues to assess the impact of educational technology (EdTech) nationally. Evidence from the Education Endowment Foundation and the Technology in Schools Survey shows that digital tools can accelerate learning and improve attainment when used effectively. However, EdTech is intended to complement, not replace, traditional teaching, especially where paper-based exams remain standard.
The department works closely with Ofqual to ensure technology use does not compromise the fairness or validity of assessments.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of taking steps to help reduce phone use by school children in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Mobile phones have no place in our schools.
Schools should prohibit the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime, as set out in the ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance, published in 2024.
The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.
Research from the Children’s Commissioner, with responses from nearly all schools and colleges in England, shows that the overwhelming majority of schools, 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools, already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.