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Written Question
General Practitioners: Government Assistance
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department has taken to support GPs with increases in workloads; and what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of this support.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care, published by NHS England in May 2023, sets out actions to cut bureaucracy and workload, which includes reducing demands of general practice (GP) time from unnecessary or low-value asks, improving the interface between primary and secondary care, and significantly streamlining the Impact and Investment Fund by reducing the number of indicators from 36 to five in 2023/24.

We are working with NHS England to increase the GP workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice. NHS England has made available a number of recruitment and retention schemes to boost the GP workforce. This includes the National GP Induction and Refresher scheme, the Return to Practice programme, and the International Induction Programme.

Through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), Primary Care Networks and practices have recruited over 36,000 additional staff including nursing associates, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and social prescribing link workers, hitting the Government's target to recruit 26,000 a year, ahead of the March 2024 deadline. The expanded primary care teams funded through the ARRS not only add extra clinical capacity, helping to reduce the burden on GPs, but also form the basis for multi-disciplinary teams to work on improving the care offered to patients.


Written Question
General Practitioners: Labour Turnover
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve levels of GP retention.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care, published by NHS England in May 2023, sets out actions to cut bureaucracy and workload, which includes reducing demands of general practice (GP) time from unnecessary or low-value asks, improving the interface between primary and secondary care, and significantly streamlining the Impact and Investment Fund by reducing the number of indicators from 36 to five in 2023/24.

We are working with NHS England to increase the GP workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice. NHS England has made available a number of recruitment and retention schemes to boost the GP workforce. This includes the National GP Induction and Refresher scheme, the Return to Practice programme, and the International Induction Programme.

Through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), Primary Care Networks and practices have recruited over 36,000 additional staff including nursing associates, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and social prescribing link workers, hitting the Government's target to recruit 26,000 a year, ahead of the March 2024 deadline. The expanded primary care teams funded through the ARRS not only add extra clinical capacity, helping to reduce the burden on GPs, but also form the basis for multi-disciplinary teams to work on improving the care offered to patients.


Written Question
Employment: Disability
Wednesday 14th February 2024

Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)

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 people with complex disabilities find suitable employment opportunities.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government has a wide range of initiatives to support disabled people and people with health conditions, including people with complex disabilities, to start, stay and succeed in work. These include:

  • The Work and Health Programme providing tailored and personalised support for disabled people;
  • Access to Work grants helping towards extra costs of working beyond standard reasonable adjustments;
  • Disability Confident encouraging employers to think differently about disability and health, and to take positive action to address the issues disabled employees face in the workplace;
  • A digital information service for employers providing better integrated and tailored guidance on supporting health and disability in the workplace;
  • Increasing access to occupational health, including the testing of financial incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises and the self-employed;
  • Increased Work Coach support in Jobcentres for disabled people and people with health conditions to help them move towards and in to work;
  • Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres offering advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work;
  • Introducing Employment Advisors to Musculoskeletal Conditions (MSK) services in England, helping individuals with MSK conditions to return to or remain in employment.
  • Work in partnership between the DWP and health systems, including Employment Advice in NHS Talking Therapies, and the Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) programme, a Supported Employment model (place, train and maintain) delivered in health settings, aimed at people with physical or common mental health disabilities to support them to access paid jobs in the open labour market.

Building on existing provision and the £2 billion investment announced at the Spring Budget 2023, we announced a new package of support in Autumn Statement 2023. This includes:

  • Doubling the number of places on the Universal Support employment programme, to provide support for 100,000 people per year when fully rolled out;
  • Formally launching WorkWell, which will bring together the NHS, local authorities and other partners, in collaboration with jobcentres, to provide light touch work and health support in approximately 15 pilot areas;
  • Building on the extension of the certification of the fit notes to a wider range of healthcare professions, exploring new ways of providing individuals receiving a fit note with timely access to work and health support; and
  • Establishing an expert group to support the development of the voluntary national baseline for Occupational Health provision.

Written Question
Employment: Disability
Wednesday 14th February 2024

Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support young disabled people into employment.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Access to Work is a demand-led discretionary grant which supports the recruitment and retention of eligible disabled people aged 16 and over in sustainable, paid employment. Access to Work plays an active role in supporting the transitions of young disabled people into employment, by providing funding for in work support including vocational programmes such as Supported Internships, Traineeships and Apprenticeships.

To help raise awareness of support available when young disabled people move into employment, identify adjustments and reduce the need for multiple assessments, a series of passports and planners have been developed, with the Adjustments Planner focusing on transitions from education to employment.

The Adjustments Planner provides students with a transferable record of their adjustments, support, and work requirements and can help the student settle into college/university life. It can also offer support beyond education by smoothing the transition into employment - reducing the burden when applying for Access to Work, enabling support to be put in place quickly and removing the need for the student to repeat personal details.


Written Question
Further Education: Extracurricular Activities
Tuesday 13th February 2024

Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of using (a) the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and (b) other enrichment opportunities to develop skills for the workplace within a further education setting alongside the work placement required in T-Level qualifications.

Answered by Robert Halfon

Employability, enrichment and pastoral (EEP) are an important part of current post-16 study programmes as they prepare students for future education, employment and life.

T Levels were introduced in 2020, and are high-quality, Level 3 qualifications that equip students with the skills, knowledge and behaviours they need to progress into skilled employment. As set out in the department’s delivery guidance, providers are encouraged to take advantage of EEP support and work taster activities in the first and/or second year of the T Level programme to help with student preparation. This guidance can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1163906/T_Level_industry_placements_-_delivery_guidance.pdf.

As part of the T Level, students also complete a minimum of 315 hours in an industry placement working with external employers. The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and other enrichment opportunities can be incorporated into a T Level industry placement, provided that the activity is occupationally relevant to the T Level and meets all requirements outlined in our T Level delivery placements guidance. To do this, providers may choose to incorporate one or more of the flexible delivery approaches outlined in our guidance.


Written Question
Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme: Asbestos
Wednesday 10th January 2024

Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Government's planned expenditure on buildings decarbonisation between 2022 and 2025, whether (a) schools and (b) hospitals are able to use their allocated share of that funding on the removal of asbestos while installing replacement heating equipment.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme provides grants for public sector bodies to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures. Removal of asbestos may be considered an eligible ‘enabling cost’ provided the asbestos survey or removal is directly linked to measures that are part of the approved programme of works. Applicants should consult the guidance published by Salix Finance, who deliver the scheme, for the full eligibility criteria.


Written Question
Mental Health Services: Finance
Wednesday 20th December 2023

Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)

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 assessment of the potential impact of excluding ADHD spend from Mental Health Investment Standard money and Mental Health service development funding on (a) waiting lists and (b) ICB core funding.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

No such assessment has been made. We expect integrated care boards to continue to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard so that investment in mental health services increases in line with their overall increase in allocation for that year. All but one of the integrated care boards met the Mental Health Investment Standard in 2022/23.


Written Question
Rawlins Academy: Repairs and Maintenance
Friday 15th December 2023

Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the outcome of the rebuilding survey at Rawlins Academy in Loughborough.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

Rawlins Academy is part of the School Rebuilding Programme which will transform buildings at 500 schools and sixth-form colleges over the next decade. It will rebuild or refurbish poor condition buildings, providing modern designs, with new buildings being net zero carbon in operation.

The department’s surveys at Rawlin’s Academy have recently started and are due to complete in the New Year. The department will share the outcome of these surveys with the school shortly.



Written Question
Health Services: Visual Impairment
Friday 15th December 2023

Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that healthcare information is accessible to blind and partially-sighted people; and whether she has had recent discussions with NHS England on the effectiveness of the accessible information standard.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

It is the responsibility of individual National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers to comply with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) and to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment or sensory loss, including blind and partially-sighted people.

NHS England has completed a review of the AIS to help ensure that everyone’s communication needs are met in health and care provision.

The review considered the effectiveness of the current AIS, how the standard is implemented and enforced in practice, and identified recommendations for improvement. Following publication of the revised standard in due course, NHS England will continue work to support its implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement and updated e-learning modules on the AIS to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it. The e-learning modules are accessible to everyone working in the NHS and adult social care services

A key part of the AIS review is the strengthening of assurance of compliance with implementation of the AIS. As such, an AIS self-assessment framework has been developed to support individual providers of NHS and social care services to measure their performance against the AIS and develop targeted improvement action plans to address gaps in implementation. The self-assessment framework has also been designed to help the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to gain insight into people's experiences and whether their accessible communication needs are being met, and to better understand organisational performance for inclusion in the CQC assessment framework for provider organisations.


Written Question
Flood Control: Loughborough
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency has plans to provide funding for flood mitigation in Loughborough over the next 5 years.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency (EA) is working with partners to manage flood risk within Loughborough.

The EA has allocated funding to develop the Wood Brook and Tributaries Flood Risk Management Scheme which will better protect over 150 properties. Under the Government’s partnership funding policy, £4.7 million of Flood Defence Grant in Aid is available for the scheme.

The EA is also working with partners to develop a Strategic Catchment Plan to create a holistic and long-term approach to managing flood risk within Loughborough and the wider catchment.