Asked by: Matt Hancock (Conservative - West Suffolk)
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 improve the UK's genomic sequencing capabilities to prepare for a future pandemic.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Alongside the UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) COVID-19 genomic sequencing and analysis, the organisation continues to maintain and develop genomic sequencing for gastrointestinal pathogens, tuberculosis, polio and monkeypox. UKHSA will continue to develop a pathogen genomics programme with available resources, to transform and enable wider pathogen analysis and, integration with clinical and public health data analysis to ensure that we are able to detect new, and emerging threats to protect the population and health services.
UKHSA is already engaged in some important global partnerships to ensure we have strong surveillance systems in place. We work with the World Health Organization, the Wellcome Trust and with other public health agencies, and we are supporting the development of a network of hubs to increase surveillance and enhance genomic analysis and awareness. This builds on the success of UKHSA’s New Variant Assessment Platform set up during the pandemic and now working in 14 countries and with six regional collaborators to improve early detection of COVID variants and pathogens of pandemic potential. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-variant-assessment-platform#overview
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children have been transferred under the mandatory provisions of the National Transfer Scheme since 23 November 2021, broken down by local authority.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The National Transfer Scheme (NTS) transferred 3,148 children transferred to local authorities between 1 July 2021 and 30 September 2022. This compares to 739 children transferred in the same time frame in the previous year, a 326% increase.
With the increase in the numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC), we are working closely with local authorities to find more appropriate long-term care placements under the NTS. We are also providing local authorities with children’s services with £15,000 for every eligible young person they take into their care from a dedicated UASC hotel, or the Reception and Safe Care Service in Kent, by the end of February 2023.
National Transfer Scheme data is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rasi-resettlement-asylum-support-and-integration-data-q3-2022 This data is broken down by local authority however as the data is published quarterly it is not possibly to split out the number of transfers from a specific date mid quarter.
The Home Office has robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure young people in hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority. The young people in hotels are not detained and are free to leave the accommodation, in line with standard local authority accommodation for looked after children. To minimise the risk of a child going missing, records of children leaving and retuning to the hotel are kept and monitored. Support workers accompany children off site on activities and social excursions, or where specific vulnerabilities are identified. Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses.
When any young person goes missing the ‘missing persons protocol’ is followed and led by our directly engaged social workers. The MARS (Missing After Reasonable Steps) protocol supports safeguarding planning and prevention. The local authority chairs a multi-agency forum for any young person missing from a hotel, in conjunction with the police and Home Office. When used correctly, similar protocols within police forces have reduced the number of missing episodes from placements by 36%.
Intelligence gathered in relation to young people who went missing from hotels and are subsequently located is fed into the appropriate agencies for consideration.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will undertake an assessment of the risk of unaccompanied children going missing from hotels in which they have been housed by the Home Office under the National Transfer Scheme at particular times in the transfer process based on the experience and testimony of children who have gone missing and been found; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The National Transfer Scheme (NTS) transferred 3,148 children transferred to local authorities between 1 July 2021 and 30 September 2022. This compares to 739 children transferred in the same time frame in the previous year, a 326% increase.
With the increase in the numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC), we are working closely with local authorities to find more appropriate long-term care placements under the NTS. We are also providing local authorities with children’s services with £15,000 for every eligible young person they take into their care from a dedicated UASC hotel, or the Reception and Safe Care Service in Kent, by the end of February 2023.
National Transfer Scheme data is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rasi-resettlement-asylum-support-and-integration-data-q3-2022 This data is broken down by local authority however as the data is published quarterly it is not possibly to split out the number of transfers from a specific date mid quarter.
The Home Office has robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure young people in hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority. The young people in hotels are not detained and are free to leave the accommodation, in line with standard local authority accommodation for looked after children. To minimise the risk of a child going missing, records of children leaving and retuning to the hotel are kept and monitored. Support workers accompany children off site on activities and social excursions, or where specific vulnerabilities are identified. Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses.
When any young person goes missing the ‘missing persons protocol’ is followed and led by our directly engaged social workers. The MARS (Missing After Reasonable Steps) protocol supports safeguarding planning and prevention. The local authority chairs a multi-agency forum for any young person missing from a hotel, in conjunction with the police and Home Office. When used correctly, similar protocols within police forces have reduced the number of missing episodes from placements by 36%.
Intelligence gathered in relation to young people who went missing from hotels and are subsequently located is fed into the appropriate agencies for consideration.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to assess the adequacy of the support that the NHS provides to Integration Care Boards on dental service provision.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
NHS England is responsible for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population. Many of these functions will transfer to integrated care boards (ICBs) from April 2023, who will work with commissioners and providers.
Prior to delegation decisions being taken, NHS England undertook a comprehensive assessment to ensure ICBs were ready to take on commissioning responsibility for delegated functions. NHS England has published an Assurance Framework to ensure that commissioning functions are carried out safely and effectively by ICBs. NHS England is providing support to all ICBs during the transition period.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local councils have had intervention from the Government to ensure that they provide effective complaints procedures regarding their local offer.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Part Three of the Children and Families Act 2014, imposes a range of duties on local authorities in England in relation to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in their areas, or for whom they are otherwise responsible. These include:
The 2014 Act requires my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, to issue a code of practice giving guidance to local authorities, and others, about the exercise of their functions under Part Three of the Act, to which they must have regard. This statutory guidance is the ‘Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years’ (2015), which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25.
Local authorities must publish a summary of comments at least annually. All local areas are subject to robust SEND inspections, and Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have just commenced a strengthened local inspection framework, which does include judgements about the Local Offer where appropriate. Where a local area’s Local Offer is identified as a significant weakness by Ofsted/CQC, the department provides intervention and support to secure improvement.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has given to local authorities on ensuring the education, health and social care services work together to provide services with young people with special educational needs.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Part Three of the Children and Families Act 2014, imposes a range of duties on local authorities in England in relation to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in their areas, or for whom they are otherwise responsible. These include:
The 2014 Act requires my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, to issue a code of practice giving guidance to local authorities, and others, about the exercise of their functions under Part Three of the Act, to which they must have regard. This statutory guidance is the ‘Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years’ (2015), which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25.
Local authorities must publish a summary of comments at least annually. All local areas are subject to robust SEND inspections, and Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have just commenced a strengthened local inspection framework, which does include judgements about the Local Offer where appropriate. Where a local area’s Local Offer is identified as a significant weakness by Ofsted/CQC, the department provides intervention and support to secure improvement.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has given to local authorities on informing young people regarding disability and special educational needs.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Part Three of the Children and Families Act 2014, imposes a range of duties on local authorities in England in relation to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in their areas, or for whom they are otherwise responsible. These include:
The 2014 Act requires my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, to issue a code of practice giving guidance to local authorities, and others, about the exercise of their functions under Part Three of the Act, to which they must have regard. This statutory guidance is the ‘Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years’ (2015), which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25.
Local authorities must publish a summary of comments at least annually. All local areas are subject to robust SEND inspections, and Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have just commenced a strengthened local inspection framework, which does include judgements about the Local Offer where appropriate. Where a local area’s Local Offer is identified as a significant weakness by Ofsted/CQC, the department provides intervention and support to secure improvement.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has provided to local authorities on identifying young people with special educational needs.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Part Three of the Children and Families Act 2014, imposes a range of duties on local authorities in England in relation to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in their areas, or for whom they are otherwise responsible. These include:
The 2014 Act requires my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, to issue a code of practice giving guidance to local authorities, and others, about the exercise of their functions under Part Three of the Act, to which they must have regard. This statutory guidance is the ‘Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years’ (2015), which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25.
Local authorities must publish a summary of comments at least annually. All local areas are subject to robust SEND inspections, and Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have just commenced a strengthened local inspection framework, which does include judgements about the Local Offer where appropriate. Where a local area’s Local Offer is identified as a significant weakness by Ofsted/CQC, the department provides intervention and support to secure improvement.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
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 ensure that 111 advice line has adequate capacity to provide a timely service, including for members of the public calling when they are not able to access other parts of the NHS.
Answered by Will Quince
The National Health Service is building the capacity of NHS111 to give patients the help they need, including arranging clinical advice direct from healthcare professionals, making urgent appointments at a range of health services, or offering a timed slot at a local accident and emergency where appropriate.
NHS England has invested an additional £50 million in funding for NHS111 in 2022/23 to increase capacity and NHS111 call handling performance is also being improved through the implementation of regional call management, enabling better integration between providers, and ensuring total NHS 111 capacity is being used effectively.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 help improve the integration of the care pathway for people with autism.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are no current plans to make a specific assessment. The Health and Care Act 2022 builds on the work of non-statutory integrated care systems (ICSs) by establishing integrated care boards (ICBs) and requiring the creation of Integrated Care Partnerships. These provide the framework for more streamlined, integrated decision making.
We expect ICBs to have regard to the relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines when commissioning services, including autism services. Each ICB is also expected to have an Executive Lead for learning disability and autism to support the ICB in delivering care and support for autistic people in their area.
In addition, NHS England are developing a national framework which will support ICSs to make best use of resources to deliver improved outcomes in all age autism diagnostic care pathways.