Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that the proposed reforms to Public Health England will enhance the role of nature-based interventions to support health and wellbeing.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Prevention of ill-health remains a top priority. In July 2020, Environment Secretary George Eustice announced a £4.27 million investment for a cross-government project aimed at preventing and tackling mental ill health through green social prescribing.
The Government will continue its focus on health improvement and preventing ill-health, with support from the expert teams who currently sit in PHE, who will continue with their excellent work. We will be consulting with staff and engaging with an external stakeholder advisory group on where PHE’s health improvement functions would be best placed in order to support the public health system in our aim to increase healthy life expectancy.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
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 effect of access to national parks on (a) mental and (b) physical recovery from illness.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government wants people to remain fit and active at all times. The Chief Medical Officer is clear that being physically active is important to long-term health and crucial for keeping people healthy during the ongoing pandemic. Evidence suggests that regular physical activity can promote good physical health and help manage stress and anxiety.
Throughout the pandemic, parks and outdoor green spaces have remained open. People are able to go outdoors for a walk, run, cycle or any other independent way they normally get active. The Government has published detailed guidance for members of the public on how they can exercise outdoors and for outdoor facilities on re-opening.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
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 effect on the operation of hospices of the increase in employer pension contributions.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department has made no assessment of the impact the increase in the NHS Pension Scheme employer contribution rate will have on hospice operations. It is for hospices as individual employers to oversee how they operate within the available budget.
In addition to the long-term funding settlement for the National Health Service, HM Treasury committed to providing extra funding to meet the costs of to the NHS arising from the ongoing actuarial valuation of the NHS Pension Scheme. Work is ongoing to ensure the additional cost to participating employers is appropriately funded. Discussions are underway with NHS England and NHS Improvement to determine the optimum method for distributing this funding to NHS commissioners and service providers. Arrangements will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has commissioned or undertaken external workforce modelling for nursing.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The Department works closely with Health Education England (HEE), the organisation that has responsibility for workforce planning, to understand the nursing workforce supply and demand by using analytical modelling techniques. In developing their workforce plans, HEE engages with a range of stakeholders including professional bodies and sustainability and transformation partnership.