Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to provide targeted financial support for people with long-term conditions such as Parkinson’s disease during the cost of living crisis.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living, including people with Parkinson’s disease. Over recent years, the government has demonstrated its commitment to supporting the most vulnerable with one of the largest support packages in Europe. The total support over 2022- 2025 to help households and individuals with higher bills amounts to £108 billion – an average of £3,800 per UK household.
We provided a Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 in June/July 2023 to people in receipt of certain disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Disability Living Allowance (DLA). This is in addition to the £150 payment paid in September 2022.
We estimate that nearly 60 per cent of individuals who received an extra costs disability benefit would have received the means-tested benefit Cost of Living Payments, worth up to £900. Over 85 per cent would have received either or both of the means-tested and the £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment.
We also increased extra costs disability benefits by 10.1 per cent from April 2023 and by 6.7% from April 2024 in line with the Consumer Price Index.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the Household Support Fund meets the needs of people with Parkinson’s disease.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Household Support Fund (HSF) is a scheme run by Upper Tier Local Authorities in England to provide support to those most in need towards the cost of essentials. Local Authorities have the discretion to design their own local schemes within the parameters of the guidance and grant determination set out for them by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The Household Support Fund is an intentionally flexible scheme, designed to enable Local Authorities to respond to local need. Local Authorities have the ties and knowledge to best determine how this support should be provided to their local communities.
We encourage Local Authorities to consider a wide range of households who are potentially in need of support, including families with children, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers and disabled people. Local Authorities have the flexibility to deliver the scheme through a variety of routes, including offering vouchers to households, directly providing food, or issuing grants to third parties. It is for each local council to decide how, where and when they distribute their funding and to ensure that it is accessible to those who need it.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that there are sufficient numbers of Parkinson’s specialist nurses.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, backed by more than £2.4 billion over the next five years, the National Health Service will focus on expanding the number of clinicians, including nurses, who train to take up enhanced and advanced roles, and work as part of multidisciplinary teams with the right skills to meet the changing needs of patients. The ambition is to train at least 3,000 advanced practitioners in 2024 and 2025 across all specialties, and to increase the number in training to 5,000 a year by 2029. The Long Term Workforce Plan also sets out actions and reforms needed to improve workforce supply and retention.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that Parkinson’s specialist nurses are retained in the profession.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, backed by more than £2.4 billion over the next five years, the National Health Service will focus on expanding the number of clinicians, including nurses, who train to take up enhanced and advanced roles, and work as part of multidisciplinary teams with the right skills to meet the changing needs of patients. The ambition is to train at least 3,000 advanced practitioners in 2024 and 2025 across all specialties, and to increase the number in training to 5,000 a year by 2029. The Long Term Workforce Plan also sets out actions and reforms needed to improve workforce supply and retention.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
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 improve care for people with Parkinson's disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I would like to thank my Honourable friend who is a tireless campaigner on this issue.Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that health and social care professionals are trained in Parkinson’s-related dementia care.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The standard of training for health care professionals is the responsibility of the health care independent statutory regulatory bodies. They set the outcome standards expected at undergraduate level and approve courses and Higher Education Institutions to write and teach the curricula content that enables their students to meet the regulators outcome standards.
Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all nevertheless emphasize the skills and approaches a health care practitioner must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients, including for dementia.
Individual employers across health and social care are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role, and for investing in the future of their staff by providing continuing professional development (CPD) funding. The required training needs are set out in the Dementia Training Standards Framework, which is available at the following link:
https://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/info-hub/dementia-2015-updated-2018/
The framework was commissioned and funded by the Department, and developed in collaboration with the sector. It sets out the essential knowledge, skills, and expected learning outcomes applicable across the health and care spectrum.
It is applicable to health and social care staff who work with people living with dementia, staff providing direct care and support, and those who provide leadership in transforming care, including social care managers and leaders.
To supplement local National Health Service employer investment for CPD, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out NHS England’s commitment to continue national CPD funding for nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals. There are a variety of resources available on the NHS England e-learning for health platform, designed to enhance the training and education of the health and social care workforce. This includes a programme on dementia care, and modules in Parkinson’s disease in geriatric medicine.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
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 provide training in Parkinson’s-related dementia care for health and social care professionals.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The standard of training for health care professionals is the responsibility of the health care independent statutory regulatory bodies. They set the outcome standards expected at undergraduate level and approve courses and Higher Education Institutions to write and teach the curricula content that enables their students to meet the regulators outcome standards.
Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all nevertheless emphasize the skills and approaches a health care practitioner must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients, including for dementia.
Individual employers across health and social care are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role, and for investing in the future of their staff by providing continuing professional development (CPD) funding. The required training needs are set out in the Dementia Training Standards Framework, which is available at the following link:
https://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/info-hub/dementia-2015-updated-2018/
The framework was commissioned and funded by the Department, and developed in collaboration with the sector. It sets out the essential knowledge, skills, and expected learning outcomes applicable across the health and care spectrum.
It is applicable to health and social care staff who work with people living with dementia, staff providing direct care and support, and those who provide leadership in transforming care, including social care managers and leaders.
To supplement local National Health Service employer investment for CPD, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out NHS England’s commitment to continue national CPD funding for nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals. There are a variety of resources available on the NHS England e-learning for health platform, designed to enhance the training and education of the health and social care workforce. This includes a programme on dementia care, and modules in Parkinson’s disease in geriatric medicine.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will hold discussions with (a) the hon. Member for North Tyneside and (b) Parkinson's UK on the potential impact of the social security system on people living with Parkinson's disease.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) assesses individuals against a set of descriptors to determine how their health condition or disability affects their ability to work. The WCA takes into account the functional effects of fluctuating and degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s. A key principle is that the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on them, not the condition itself.
Claimants with the most severe health conditions and disabilities whose condition is unlikely to ever improve are no longer routinely reassessed.
From 2025, we are reforming the WCA to reflect new flexibilities in the labour market and greater employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions, whilst maintaining protections for those with the most significant conditions. Claimants who currently have no work-related requirements, except in some very limited circumstances, will not be reassessed or lose benefit because of these changes.
When making decisions on changes to the WCA, we carefully considered over 1300 consultation responses, including from disabled people, people with health conditions, and the organisations that represent and support them. We also engaged directly with clinical experts, employer groups and disability organisations across the country.
With these changes to the WCA criteria, 371,000 fewer people will be assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity by 2028-29 and will receive personalised support to help them move closer to employment. A further 29,000 individuals will be found fit for work by 2028-29 and will receive more intensive support to search for and secure work than would be the case under the current WCA rules. These figures are not based on specific conditions. This is because the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on their ability to work, not the condition itself.
The department routinely engages with a wide range of organisations that represent and support disabled people and people with health conditions, including people living with Parkinson’s disease.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to review planned changes to the Work Capability Assessment to reflect the impact on people with (a) Parkinson's and (b) other long-term conditions.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) assesses individuals against a set of descriptors to determine how their health condition or disability affects their ability to work. The WCA takes into account the functional effects of fluctuating and degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s. A key principle is that the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on them, not the condition itself.
Claimants with the most severe health conditions and disabilities whose condition is unlikely to ever improve are no longer routinely reassessed.
From 2025, we are reforming the WCA to reflect new flexibilities in the labour market and greater employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions, whilst maintaining protections for those with the most significant conditions. Claimants who currently have no work-related requirements, except in some very limited circumstances, will not be reassessed or lose benefit because of these changes.
When making decisions on changes to the WCA, we carefully considered over 1300 consultation responses, including from disabled people, people with health conditions, and the organisations that represent and support them. We also engaged directly with clinical experts, employer groups and disability organisations across the country.
With these changes to the WCA criteria, 371,000 fewer people will be assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity by 2028-29 and will receive personalised support to help them move closer to employment. A further 29,000 individuals will be found fit for work by 2028-29 and will receive more intensive support to search for and secure work than would be the case under the current WCA rules. These figures are not based on specific conditions. This is because the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on their ability to work, not the condition itself.
The department routinely engages with a wide range of organisations that represent and support disabled people and people with health conditions, including people living with Parkinson’s disease.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will meet with Parkinson’s UK and the hon. Member for Bootle to discuss the experience of people with Parkinson’s in the social security system.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) assesses individuals against a set of descriptors to determine how their health condition or disability affects their ability to work. The WCA takes into account the functional effects of fluctuating and degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s. A key principle is that the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on them, not the condition itself.
Claimants with the most severe health conditions and disabilities whose condition is unlikely to ever improve are no longer routinely reassessed.
From 2025, we are reforming the WCA to reflect new flexibilities in the labour market and greater employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions, whilst maintaining protections for those with the most significant conditions. Claimants who currently have no work-related requirements, except in some very limited circumstances, will not be reassessed or lose benefit because of these changes.
When making decisions on changes to the WCA, we carefully considered over 1300 consultation responses, including from disabled people, people with health conditions, and the organisations that represent and support them. We also engaged directly with clinical experts, employer groups and disability organisations across the country.
With these changes to the WCA criteria, 371,000 fewer people will be assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity by 2028-29 and will receive personalised support to help them move closer to employment. A further 29,000 individuals will be found fit for work by 2028-29 and will receive more intensive support to search for and secure work than would be the case under the current WCA rules. These figures are not based on specific conditions. This is because the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on their ability to work, not the condition itself.
The department routinely engages with a wide range of organisations that represent and support disabled people and people with health conditions, including people living with Parkinson’s disease.