Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
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 restrict off-label prescription of diabetes medication.
Answered by Will Quince
We are aware of a supply issue with Ozempic. We have issued guidance in the form of Medicine Supply Notifications and, on 18 July 2023, issued a National Patient Safety Alert with advice for healthcare professionals on how to manage patients requiring this medicine. Our guidance is clear that glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist medicines, such as Ozempic, that are solely licensed to treat Type 2 diabetes should only be used for that purpose and should not be routinely prescribed for weight loss.
The General Pharmaceutical Council, General Medical Council, Health and Care Professions Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council and Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland have also issued a joint statement stressing the importance of health and care professionals meeting regulatory standards in relation to these medicines. We have also added some of these products to the list of medicines that cannot be exported from, or hoarded in, the United Kingdom.
We are continuing to work closely with manufacturers and others working in the supply chain to help ensure the continued supply of these medicines for patients in the UK, for example by asking suppliers to expedite deliveries. We have provided advice for healthcare professionals on how to manage patients requiring this medicine whilst there are shortages and are keeping this under review as the situation evolves. If any patient is concerned about their treatment, they should discuss this with their clinician at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
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 increase stocks of diabetes medication.
Answered by Will Quince
We are aware of a supply issue with Ozempic. We have issued guidance in the form of Medicine Supply Notifications and, on 18 July 2023, issued a National Patient Safety Alert with advice for healthcare professionals on how to manage patients requiring this medicine. Our guidance is clear that glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist medicines, such as Ozempic, that are solely licensed to treat Type 2 diabetes should only be used for that purpose and should not be routinely prescribed for weight loss.
The General Pharmaceutical Council, General Medical Council, Health and Care Professions Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council and Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland have also issued a joint statement stressing the importance of health and care professionals meeting regulatory standards in relation to these medicines. We have also added some of these products to the list of medicines that cannot be exported from, or hoarded in, the United Kingdom.
We are continuing to work closely with manufacturers and others working in the supply chain to help ensure the continued supply of these medicines for patients in the UK, for example by asking suppliers to expedite deliveries. We have provided advice for healthcare professionals on how to manage patients requiring this medicine whilst there are shortages and are keeping this under review as the situation evolves. If any patient is concerned about their treatment, they should discuss this with their clinician at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that temporary accommodation used to house homeless children is a suitable standard.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Local authorities must ensure any temporary accommodation placement is suitable and should try to place individuals within their own area. Government has been clear that the long-term use of B&B accommodation for families with children is inappropriate and unlawful and we are determined to stop this practice.
If an authority places a household in temporary accommodation outside of the local area, this should be as a last resort, and they should still try to place the household as near as possible to the original local authority.
The Government is taking steps to increase quality and regulation across all housing stock, including temporary accommodation. This includes reviewing the Decent Homes Standard, improving the way social housing is regulated through The Social Housing Regulation Act and delivering a better deal for renters through the Renters Reform Bill.
The Government has provided local authorities in excess of £1 billion over the next 3 years through the Homelessness Prevention Grant to help them prevent homelessness and provide temporary accommodation.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to reduce the number of councils offering temporary accommodation outside of their areas.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Local authorities must ensure any temporary accommodation placement is suitable and should try to place individuals within their own area. Government has been clear that the long-term use of B&B accommodation for families with children is inappropriate and unlawful and we are determined to stop this practice.
If an authority places a household in temporary accommodation outside of the local area, this should be as a last resort, and they should still try to place the household as near as possible to the original local authority.
The Government is taking steps to increase quality and regulation across all housing stock, including temporary accommodation. This includes reviewing the Decent Homes Standard, improving the way social housing is regulated through The Social Housing Regulation Act and delivering a better deal for renters through the Renters Reform Bill.
The Government has provided local authorities in excess of £1 billion over the next 3 years through the Homelessness Prevention Grant to help them prevent homelessness and provide temporary accommodation.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
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 rough sleepers are not discharged from hospital back onto the streets.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to promoting safe and timely discharge for people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness, to appropriate accommodation. During 2020/21 and 2021/22, the Department, through the Shared Outcomes Fund, provided a total of £15.85 million to 17 sites to pilot Out of Hospital Care Models supporting people at risk of homelessness.
These models provide interim accommodation and care and support while full assessments of individual needs are carried out. Feedback from sites suggests these models are important in supporting discharge and maintain flow.
Whilst full evaluation is still underway, there are positive preliminary findings, including savings to the National Health Service and other public services due to the programme. A final evaluation of the programme will be delivered in December 2023 and from this we will share learning to encourage local areas to adopt similar models.
In addition, we will continue to work to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Duty to Refer people believed to be homeless or at risk of homelessness, from NHS services to local authorities with their consent.
Improving how discharges are arranged for people experiencing, or at risk of homelessness, will also be supported by our wider work to improve discharge processes. This includes ensuring effective care transfer hubs are in place for every system ahead of winter to coordinate and support timely discharge to the right setting for people with more complex needs.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many integrated care boards have made specific reference to (a) homelessness and (b) rough sleeping populations in their localised strategy.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Joint Forward Plans (JFPs) are developed by integrated care boards (ICBs) and their partner National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts as their local plans for delivering healthcare services in their local area. Under the Health and Care Act 2022, JFPs are not assured nationally and so this information is not held centrally.
The Health and Care Act 2022 requires ICBs to address in their JFP how they will discharge their general statutory duties, including their duty to reduce health inequalities, which is outlined in section 14Z35 of the Act.
NHS England supports ICBs to address health inequalities through the Core20PLUS5 approach, which includes people experiencing homelessness. More information on Core20PLUS5 is available at the following link:
NHS England has issued guidance to ICBs on developing their JFPs, including access to support on addressing health inequalities. Therefore, every JFP should address tackling health inequalities, including for those experiencing homelessness, either directly or by reference to an existing agreed local strategy. More information on JFPs is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/joint-forward-plan/
JFPs can be found on ICB websites, and should be considered alongside local joint health and wellbeing strategies produced by the Health and Wellbeing Board and integrated care strategies developed by the integrated care partnership. Guidance on the preparation of integrated care strategies prepared by the Department highlights the importance of addressing the needs of inclusion health groups, and more information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to assist local authorities with the highest proportion of spend on temporary accommodation relative to their overall revenue.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government publishes statistics on local authority revenue expenditure and financing in England, which can be found here: Local authority revenue expenditure and financing England: 2023-24 budget - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Councils are ultimately responsible for the management of their own finances. At the last Local Government Finance Settlement, Government made available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England, an increase in Core Spending Power of £5.1 billion or 9.4% in cash terms on 2022/23.
The Homelessness Advice and Support Team (HAST) in DLUHC are set up across the country to provide advice, support and challenge to Local Authorities to help them improve the delivery of homelessness services to families and single people. Each Local Authority has a dedicated adviser.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an estimate of the ten local authorities with the highest expenditure on temporary accommodation as a proportion of their total revenue budgets.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government publishes statistics on local authority revenue expenditure and financing in England, which can be found here: Local authority revenue expenditure and financing England: 2023-24 budget - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Councils are ultimately responsible for the management of their own finances. At the last Local Government Finance Settlement, Government made available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England, an increase in Core Spending Power of £5.1 billion or 9.4% in cash terms on 2022/23.
The Homelessness Advice and Support Team (HAST) in DLUHC are set up across the country to provide advice, support and challenge to Local Authorities to help them improve the delivery of homelessness services to families and single people. Each Local Authority has a dedicated adviser.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of funding temporary accommodation on the financial stability of local authorities.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government publishes statistics on local authority revenue expenditure and financing in England, which can be found here: Local authority revenue expenditure and financing England: 2023-24 budget - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Councils are ultimately responsible for the management of their own finances. At the last Local Government Finance Settlement, Government made available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England, an increase in Core Spending Power of £5.1 billion or 9.4% in cash terms on 2022/23.
The Homelessness Advice and Support Team (HAST) in DLUHC are set up across the country to provide advice, support and challenge to Local Authorities to help them improve the delivery of homelessness services to families and single people. Each Local Authority has a dedicated adviser.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to monitor local authority homeless strategies in respect of their ability to (a) prevent homelessness, (b) achieve value for money and (c) promote best practice.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government publishes statistics on local authority revenue expenditure and financing in England, which can be found here: Local authority revenue expenditure and financing England: 2023-24 budget - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Councils are ultimately responsible for the management of their own finances. At the last Local Government Finance Settlement, Government made available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England, an increase in Core Spending Power of £5.1 billion or 9.4% in cash terms on 2022/23.
The Homelessness Advice and Support Team (HAST) in DLUHC are set up across the country to provide advice, support and challenge to Local Authorities to help them improve the delivery of homelessness services to families and single people. Each Local Authority has a dedicated adviser.