Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) full time equivalent headcount and b) outturn expenditure on communications for his Department was in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Edward Argar
The number of Departmental staff delivering communications functions was 80.4 full time equivalent (FTE) in 2019/20, 112.2 FTE in 2020/21 and 117.4 FTE in 2021/22. Expenditure on communications staffing was £4,336,000 in 2019/20, £4,941,000 in 2020/21 and in 2021/22, forecasted spend is approximately £5,200,000.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2021 to Question 77467 on the Health and Social Care Levy, under what legislative provision is assessment of the financial impact of the Social Care Levy on (a) private and (b) voluntary sector employers in the social care sector in the UK a devolved matter.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
In the previous answer to Question 77467, it was incorrectly stated that the Health and Social Care Levy is devolved, when it is in fact reserved. We have arranged for the record to be corrected through the Written Ministerial Statement of 1 March 2022 (HCWS647).
The Government has made many assessments of the overall impact of the introduction of the Health and Social Care Levy, which were published alongside its announcement. These include the distributional analysis of the impact of the combined tax and spending announcements, a technical annex in the Government’s plan for health and social care and a Tax Information and Impact Note.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to increase funding for research into mental health.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Department funds mental health research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR supports a wide portfolio of mental health research through various funding streams. In 2020/21, the NIHR spent £109 million on mental health research. We are also funding the Mental Health Research Initiative to expand mental health activity and build the capacity and capability of mental health research in regions which are currently under-represented. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. The NIHR’s funding is available through open competition for mental health and we encourage researchers to submit applications in this area.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities on the higher number of perinatal deaths among the Asian and Asian British community in the UK.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Department and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities have had discussions on considering the evidence for the higher number of perinatal deaths in the Asian and Asian British community.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the financial impact of the Social Care Levy on (a) private and (b) voluntary sector employers in the social care sector in (i) the UK and (ii) Scotland.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
No assessment has been made as this is a devolved matter.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on developing novel, seamless funding mechanisms for programmes of mental health research as recommended in the Framework for Mental Health Research published by his Department in 2017.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is developing funding mechanisms for mental health research through various programmes and initiatives. The NIHR works with the Medical Research Council (MRC) to reduce delays and identify promising interventions and is funding a number of mental health studies based on earlier investment from the MRC.
We are also funding the Mental Health Research Initiative, which is a substantial investment to expand current mental health research activity. This initiative is working across the NIHR’s programmes and infrastructure schemes, to build capacity and capability in mental health research in regions which are currently underrepresented.