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Lord Low of Dalston – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Low of Dalston on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make available to Parliament their assessment of the impact of the stronger regulatory powers available to the Care Quality Commission since 2008 on the provision of human rights-compatible care to service users, including the evidence on which that assessment is based, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in its report Legislative Scrutiny: Care Bill (11th Report, Session 2013–14, HL Paper 121).

Earl Howe

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (2008 Act) all providers of regulated activities have to register with the CQC and meet a set of requirements of safety and quality. As the CQC is a public authority it has a legal obligation in relation to protecting, respecting and fulfilling people’s rights under the Human Rights Act 1998 (1998 Act).

If a provider fails to meet these requirements the CQC has a wide range of enforcement powers that it can use to protect patients and service users from the risk of poor care.

The CQC has advised that it has taken the following published enforcement action during the financial year 2013-14.

– The CQC undertook two urgent cancellations of providers’ registration;

– The CQC undertook 53 cancellations of providers’ registration;

– The CQC imposed a condition on a provider on 45 occasions;

– The CQC varied a provider’s condition of registration on 13 occasions;

– The CQC undertook an urgent variation of a provider’s conditions of registration on 13 occasions;

– The CQC imposed 1,269 warning notices on providers and 18,408 compliance actions on providers; and

– The CQC issued over 500 fixed penalty notices.

The CQC monitors and inspects health and social care providers under regulations which stipulate that providers must deliver care and treatment to people with due regard to their age, sex, religion, sexual orientation, race, cultural and linguistic background and disability (Regulation 17).

Where services do not meet standards for Regulation 17, the CQC sets compliance actions and monitors whether providers have taken action to meet the standard. If they have not, the CQC may take enforcement action. Between 1 October 2012 and 30 September 2013, the CQC found 48 services did not comply with Regulation 17, leading to enforcement action. This enforcement action is set out in the following table.

Enforcement action around Regulation 17 in 2012-13

Acute hospitals	1
Mental health hospitals/hospitals for people with a learning disability	2
General practitioners	0
Dentists	2
Care homes	36
Home care agencies	3
Other social care services	4
Total	48

The CQC’s consultation ‘A New Start’, in June 2013 on how it regulates, inspects and rates services included a section on how Human Rights would be protected by changes to its regulatory model. To accompany the consultation, the CQC produced a draft document entitled, ‘Equality and Human Rights Duties Impact Analysis (decision making and policies)’, to give more detail about the impact of the proposed changes on equality and human rights and how they would promote equality and human rights for people who use health and social care services.

The CQC also consulted on its approach to human rights as part of a broader consultation on changes to regulation of care services. The CQC explained its proposed strategy for delivering on its commitment to promote equality, diversity and human rights in its regulatory work; to provide detail about what the strategy will mean in practice; and to receive feedback from important stakeholders.

The CQC held the consultation between 9 April 2014 and 4 June 2014. The CQC will respond to the results of the consultation in September 2014.

The consultation can be found at the following web link:

www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20140406_our_human_rights_approach_public_consultation_final.pdf

In January 2014 the CQC published ‘Equality Counts’, a report providing information about equality in its workforce and for people who are affected by its regulatory policies and practices. The CQC will use the information in this report to drive its work in promoting equality and human rights, both in its regulatory functions and as an employer. The CQC will continue to develop its new approach to ensure equality in different types of health and social care services.

01/11/2022

Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made by each local authority in the United Kingdom in making changes to their information technology services to remain part of the gov.uk secure network.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

The Public Services Network (PSN) is a new and trusted single network for government. Ninety-eight per cent of local authorities have already transitioned to PSN, with the remainder due to transfer before the end of summer.

The Cabinet Office is supporting local authorities as they transition to PSN by providing guidance, project managers and information assurance specialists.

01/11/2022
Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been issued to local authorities to make the required changes to their information technology services to remain connected to the gov.uk secure network.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

The Public Services Network (PSN) is a new and trusted single network for government. Ninety-eight per cent of local authorities have already transitioned to PSN, with the remainder due to transfer before the end of summer.

The Cabinet Office is supporting local authorities as they transition to PSN by providing guidance, project managers and information assurance specialists.

01/11/2022
Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what changes local authorities are required to make to their information technology services in order to remain connected to the gov.uk secure network.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

The Public Services Network (PSN) is a new and trusted single network for government. Ninety-eight per cent of local authorities have already transitioned to PSN, with the remainder due to transfer before the end of summer.

The Cabinet Office is supporting local authorities as they transition to PSN by providing guidance, project managers and information assurance specialists.

01/11/2022
Lord Beecham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government in how many cases since the passage of the Justice and Security Act 2013 the public interest immunity procedure has been invoked; and how much compensation has been paid as a result.

Lord Faulks

The Public Interest Immunity procedure may be used in a wide variety of court proceedings and as such no central record exists of its application.

01/11/2022
Lord Beecham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government in how many cases since the passage of the Justice and Security Act 2013 applications have been made for closed material procedures to be employed; and how many have been successful.

Lord Faulks

In accordance with section 12 of the Justice and Security Act 2013, the Government will lay before Parliament, in the course of 2014, a report on the use of the closed material procedure under section 6 of that Act. This will include the numbers of applications made and whether such applications have been granted.

01/11/2022
Lord Avebury – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Avebury on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will seek discussions with the government of Bangladesh on that government’s proposed Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Act 2014 and its impact on overseas donors and the non-governmental organisations in Bangladesh in receipt of such donations.

Baroness Warsi

The British Government recognises the important role of non-governmental organisations. Together with other donors we plan to discuss the draft Foreign Donations Act with the Government of Bangladesh, and will consult non-governmental organisations that will be affected by the legislation. We welcome the consultations that have taken place between the Government of Bangladesh and non-governmental organisations, and hope these will continue.

01/11/2022
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the detailed breakdown of the estimated £12 to £15 million total cost of the special administration process in relation to Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust.

Earl Howe

The £7,250,000 incurred by the special administration process at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust relates to the period when the trust special administrators (TSAs) were appointed in April 2013, to the point at which the Secretary of State announced his decision to accept the TSAs’ proposals in February 2014.

We are informed by Monitor that the total figure of £7,250,000 can be broadly broken down as follows:

– Cost of the TSAs and supporting team to run the Trust – £2,000,000;

– Cost of solution development – £3,600,000; and

– Cost of stakeholder engagement and consultation – £1,650,000.

Monitor has estimated the total cost of the special administration process will be £12 to £15 million. This was first announced as part of its decision to accept the TSAs’ final proposals on 16 January 2104 and re-stated in an announcement on 13 March 2014. This includes the £7,250,000 and £250,000 expenses incurred up to the point of the Secretary of State’s decision.

The remainder of the estimated total cost consists of costs incurred in the period leading up to the dissolution of the trust. These are the cost of continuing to employ a team to run the trust, and the cost of implementing the recommendations set out in the TSAs’ Final Report.

We are also informed by Monitor that an original budget for the remaining costs was agreed at approximately £7,000,000.

That total figure of £7,000,000 can be broadly broken down as follows:

– Cost of the TSAs and supporting team to run the Trust – £1,500,000;

– Cost of delivering the transaction – £2,100,000; and

– Cost of splitting the Trust – £3,400,000.

The team running the trust will be required to remain in place up to the point at which the trust is dissolved.

01/11/2022
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the detailed breakdown of the £7,250,000 so far incurred by the special administration process in relation to Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust.

Earl Howe

The £7,250,000 incurred by the special administration process at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust relates to the period when the trust special administrators (TSAs) were appointed in April 2013, to the point at which the Secretary of State announced his decision to accept the TSAs’ proposals in February 2014.

We are informed by Monitor that the total figure of £7,250,000 can be broadly broken down as follows:

– Cost of the TSAs and supporting team to run the Trust – £2,000,000;

– Cost of solution development – £3,600,000; and

– Cost of stakeholder engagement and consultation – £1,650,000.

Monitor has estimated the total cost of the special administration process will be £12 to £15 million. This was first announced as part of its decision to accept the TSAs’ final proposals on 16 January 2104 and re-stated in an announcement on 13 March 2014. This includes the £7,250,000 and £250,000 expenses incurred up to the point of the Secretary of State’s decision.

The remainder of the estimated total cost consists of costs incurred in the period leading up to the dissolution of the trust. These are the cost of continuing to employ a team to run the trust, and the cost of implementing the recommendations set out in the TSAs’ Final Report.

We are also informed by Monitor that an original budget for the remaining costs was agreed at approximately £7,000,000.

That total figure of £7,000,000 can be broadly broken down as follows:

– Cost of the TSAs and supporting team to run the Trust – £1,500,000;

– Cost of delivering the transaction – £2,100,000; and

– Cost of splitting the Trust – £3,400,000.

The team running the trust will be required to remain in place up to the point at which the trust is dissolved.

01/11/2022
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to support transgenderpeople’s mental health and wellbeing.

Earl Howe

We expect people with transgender issues to have the same access to National Health Service treatment, including mental health services, as anybody else in the population. Mental Health has been a priority for this Government for several years now. We made this commitment explicit in the Health and Social Care Act 2012 which, for the first time, creates equal status for mental and physical health across Government and for the NHS and social care.

Since April 2013, gender identity services have been commissioned by NHS England. NHS England will continue to work with the transgendered community, clinical experts and stakeholders through the clinical reference group for gender identity services, to produce a single and consistent policy for the whole of England.

In order to ensure equitable access to services, an England-wide Interim Protocol was consulted on, developed and became operational on 1 November 2013. The Protocol is based on the previously published and well received Scottish Protocol. The Protocol relies on the publication of the Inter-Collegiate “Good practice guidelines for the treatment of adults with gender dysphoria” published at the end of October 2013. A fully consulted policy document and service specifications will be published during 2014.

In addition, NHS England has commissioned a review of transgendered patients’ access to the NHS. This review has considered all aspects of access to NHS services and is currently being finalised in readiness for publishing.

01/11/2022