Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the rise in the cost of living on the levels of support people who pay for or contribute to their local authority social care support are able to afford.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Local authorities have a duty to meet the eligible needs of individuals in certain situations, including where the individual has assets below the means test threshold and is therefore eligible for funded support.
Whether a local authority can charge an individual for some or all of the cost of their care will depend on their financial situation. Under the Care Act 2014, charging is based on principles including that people should not be charged more they can afford to pay. It would therefore be for the local authority to determine whether a revised financial assessment is required in the event the cost of living is impeding an individual’s ability to contribute to meeting their eligible care needs.
We have announced that we will reform our overall data and assurance approach to improve the quality, timeliness and accessibility of adult social care data. From April 2022, we have unfrozen the Minimum Income Guarantee for those receiving care in their own homes and the Personal Expenses Allowance for care home residents. We have implemented this reform ahead of the planned timetable to support people with income levels.
From October 2023, we will implement a more generous means testing regime to ensure that more people will receive support for their care costs at an earlier stage and retain more of their savings when contributing to care costs. We will continue to work with the sector to understand the potential impact of inflationary pressures on adult social care costs by October 2023.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of patients not seen within the operational standard of the Cancer Pathway in (a) the South West and (b) Exeter as at 22 March 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This information is not available in the format requested, as data on cancer pathways is collected at trust and clinical commissioning group level.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for South Africa's status as a covid-19 red list country of data and genetic sequencing from that country showing the relative prevalence of the Beta and Delta variants of covid-19.
Answered by Maggie Throup
All countries, including South Africa, are continually monitored. The Joint Biosecurity Centre’s (JBC) assessments which inform Ministers’ decisions on red, amber and green categorisation are reviewed every three weeks. The JBC uses a range of factors in its assessments, such as variant prevalence, genomic surveillance capability, virus transmission risk and variants of concern and variants under investigation. The methodology for international travel risk assessment is available at the following link:
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been granted exemptions from quarantining in a hotel after returning from a covid-19 red list country; and for what reasons those exemptions were granted.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The information on exemptions from ‘red list’ countries is not available in a consolidated format as individual departments are responsible for managing exemptions relevant to their responsibilities. Exemptions from managed quarantine are agreed on a case by case basis and are recorded by the relevant Government department.
Exemptions include those that are work related such as jobs that are essential for the effective running of the country, for medical and compassionate reasons or for safeguarding unaccompanied minors. Those seeking an exemption on medical or compassionate grounds would be granted an exemption before travel while in some other categories, prior approval for an exemption is not required. In these cases, relevant documentation would be presented to confirm exemption from managed quarantine. Due to the range of conditions and evidence required to satisfy each exemption, this data is not collected in a central record.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the overall cost was of (a) travel and (b) subsistence for the UK Delegation when attending the G7 Health Ministers summit in July 2021.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Ministers travelled in official vehicles for this event. Travel expenses for senior Departmental officials supporting Ministers totalled £1,018.44.
It is not possible to separate the United Kingdom delegation’s subsistence costs from the overall event costs. All hotel costs were included in the Department’s booking for exclusive use of the hotel during the G7 event. Hotel costs and costs of official dinners during the event were part of the overall Cabinet office budget for this event. The hotel costs for core delegates, including from G7 partner countries and UK supporting officials was £54,422 excluding VAT. The cost of official dinners was £4,195 excluding VAT.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many of his Department's ministers have been exempted from quarantine in a hotel after returning to the UK from a covid-19 red list country to which they have travelled for the purposes of conducting official business.
Answered by Maggie Throup
None of the Department’s ministers have returned from a ‘red list’ country and therefore no exemptions have been required.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse was of Gina Colangelo's (a) travel, (b) subsistence and (c) other expenses claimed by Gina Colangelo for the G7 Health Minister's meeting in June 2021.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Ms Coladangelo attended the G7 Health Minister’s meeting as a part of the UK delegation.
All travel and subsistence costs were covered as part of the Department’s overall booking. Ms Coladangelo did not claim any additional expenses.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role former non-executive director Gina Colangelo played in the G7 Health Minister's meeting in June 2021.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Ms Coladangelo attended the G7 Health Minister’s meeting as a part of the UK delegation.
All travel and subsistence costs were covered as part of the Department’s overall booking. Ms Coladangelo did not claim any additional expenses.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS software will be amended to allow multiple covid-19 vaccinations to be recorded and the appropriate vaccinations required for domestic and international travel passes be displayed by the NHS app.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Currently, the first and last vaccine doses are shown on the NHS COVID Pass for international travel, with a maximum of two doses in accordance with international standards. We are reviewing the implications of booster vaccines for international travel certification, including how these doses could be incorporated into the NHS COVID Pass for travel, subject to international guidelines.
Multiple vaccinations, or doses in addition to a full course of a COVID-19 vaccine and boosters, are not required for domestic certification and therefore do not impact the domestic NHS COVID Pass.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to allow people enrolled on the Novavax covid-19 vaccine trial to receive either two doses or a booster dose of an approved covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The decision for a participant in a vaccine trial to receive a further vaccination should be made in conjunction with clinicians. This may vary depending on the vaccine. The clinical guidance for administering further vaccinations for trial participants is currently under review.