Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 that deafblind people can access appropriate social care in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) the rest of England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Care Act 2014 and Care and Support (Assessment) Regulations 2014, local authorities are responsible for ensuring people with complex disabilities, including deafblind people, access the right care and support. Under the Equality Act (2010), local authorities must also make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are performing against their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including their duties relating to the access and provision of care and support for people with complex disabilities. Support for people with complex disabilities will form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care. In that context, the CQC will, for example, report on how the local authorities work with deafblind people when there is something important to highlight, such as something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement. The CQC is assessing all 153 local authorities in England. So far, the CQC has published over twenty assessments, including an assessment for Hertfordshire County Council, which is available at the following link:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports/Hertfordshire1
By identifying local authorities’ strengths and areas for improvement, CQC assessments facilitate the sharing of good practice and help us to target support where it is most needed. These steps will help to ensure that people with complex disabilities, including deafblind people, do not face barriers to accessing appropriate care.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 improve support for family carers in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring that families have the support they need. Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires them to provide a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, including support for carers.
On the 7 of April 2025, the Government increased the Carer’s Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage. This represents the largest increase in the earnings limit since the Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976.
Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service highlighted the need for a fresh approach to supporting and involving unpaid carers, to improve outcomes across the board, for carers, for those they care for, and the NHS itself.
These findings will be carefully considered as part of our 10-year plan to reform and modernise the NHS, and as we continue to shape our plans to reform adult social care, including through the National Care Service.
We have launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.
The commission will start a national conversation about what care and support working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 help reduce barriers to social care for (a) deafblind people and (b) other disabled people with complex needs in (i) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (ii) the rest of England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Care Act 2014 and Care and Support (Assessment) Regulations 2014, local authorities are responsible for ensuring people with complex disabilities, including deafblind people, access the right care and support. Under the Equality Act (2010), local authorities must also make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are performing against their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including their duties relating to the access and provision of care and support for people with complex disabilities. Support for people with complex disabilities will form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care. In that context, the CQC will, for example, report on how the local authorities work with deafblind people when there is something important to highlight, such as something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement. The CQC is assessing all 153 local authorities in England. So far, the CQC has published over twenty assessments, including an assessment for Hertfordshire County Council, which is available at the following link:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports/Hertfordshire1
By identifying local authorities’ strengths and areas for improvement, CQC assessments facilitate the sharing of good practice and help us to target support where it is most needed. These steps will help to ensure that people with complex disabilities, including deafblind people, do not face barriers to accessing appropriate care.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to include people impacted by low-grade brain tumours which follow the cancer pathways, care and treatment, but are not technically cancer in the National Cancer Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for all cancer patients, including those with brain tumours.
Although low-grade brain tumours are generally non-cancerous, they can have similar, serious symptoms and require surgery or radiotherapy to treat. The Government has invested in new lifesaving and life-improving research, supporting those diagnosed and living with brain tumours.
The plan will include further details on how we will speed up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately bringing this country’s cancer survival rates back up to the standards of the best in the world.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department have to extend the Start for Life programme beyond the 75 upper-tier local authorities that currently receive funding.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2025/26, £57 million will be made available to 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation to provide a range of Start for Life services. Funding for future years is being considered as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will take steps to prioritise the reform of funding for (a) palliative and (b) end-of-life care in the NHS 10-year plan.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and families receive the care they need when and where they need it, including those who need palliative and end of life care.
As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we have been carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, including the hospice sector.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to include lung health in the NHS 10-Year Health Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving respiratory health in all parts of the county.
More tests and scans delivered in the community will allow earlier diagnosis, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all help people manage their long-term conditions, including respiratory conditions, closer to home. Earlier diagnosis of conditions will help prevent deterioration and improve survival rates. Taking action to reduce the causes of the biggest killers, such as enabling a smoke free generation, can further help prevent lung conditions.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be offered by the NHS in the Spring booster programme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The spring 2025 campaign will continue to use mRNA vaccine supply secured under existing pandemic contracts with Pfizer and Moderna. Those eligible will be offered either Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines during the spring 2025 campaign.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase the role of hospices in providing care in communities.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life.
The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative and end of life care services, including hospices, will have a big role to play in that shift.
Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life and their loved ones.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on ovarian cancer research in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with cancer being one of the largest areas of spend, at over £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority. The NIHR has funded 17 research projects into ovarian cancer for the period 2019/20 to 2023/24, with a combined total funding value of £6.4 million, and enabled 109 clinical research studies into ovarian cancer to take place in the National Health Service in 2023/24.
Examples of NIHR investments in ovarian cancer research include the ROCkeTS study, which aims to identify the best diagnostic tests for ovarian cancer. The NIHR has also funded the MR in Ovarian Cancer, or MROC, study, which studies the impact of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging on the staging and management of patients with ovarian cancer.
The NIHR continues to welcome high quality funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including ovarian cancer research.