Tag: Barbara Keeley

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of GP surgeries offer extended opening hours.

Alistair Burt

We are committed to transforming general practice, and ensuring general practitioner (GP) services are available seven days a week by 2020. Of the total 7,875 GP surgeries in England, over 2,500 practices are involved in the Prime Minister’s GP Access Fund and are currently offering improved access, including extended hours, to around 17 million patients according to the latest figures.

Additionally, the Extended Hours Directed Enhanced Service (DES), in place since 2008/09, is a way that GP practices are incentivised to offer extended access through the contract. 5,875 practices received a payment for 2014/15, totalling £83.984 million. Practices providing this DES could also be taking part in the GP Access Fund. Key requirements include the provision of additional clinical sessions (routine appointments including emergency appointments), provided outside of core contracted hours, in keeping with patient preference.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the National Living Wage on the level of provision of adult social care in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19.

Alistair Burt

The new National Living Wage will ensure that lower paid care workers are better paid for the vital work they do.

The National Living Wage does not directly impact on the level of provision of adult social care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2016-01-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2016 to Question 25215, if he will estimate the difference between the additional cost to social care providers of paying the new national living wage and the amount available to local authorities through the social care precept and the Better Care Fund in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19.

Alistair Burt

It is the decision of local councils whether to raise the adult social care precept in order to pay for adult social care in their local area. The precept gives local areas who are best placed to respond to local needs and pressures the flexibility to be able to do so.

The additional amount available to local authorities for adult social care through the social care precept and the Better Care Fund are as follows:

	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19
Additional Better Care Fund	0	105	825
Adult Social Care precept	393	821	1,290

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings of the report, Prevent, Reduce, Delay: Are councils meeting their new duties to support unpaid carers, published by the Carers Trust in October 2015, on the level of compliance by councils with their duty under the Care Act 2014 to prevent carers developing a need for support.

Alistair Burt

The Care Act 2014 and guidance are clear about the provision of preventative services. Under the Care Act, local authorities have a responsibility to support carers in a number of ways. This includes duties on local authorities to provide information and advice and universal preventative services for carers.

The Carers Trust report Prevent, Reduce, Delay: Are councils meeting their new duties to support unpaid carers is a helpful contribution to the evidence around the new prevention duty and how councils are working to fulfil it as regards carers.

However, it is difficult to draw conclusions about practice from the report, given the uncertainty it notes about how councils have interpreted the Freedom of Information request on which the report is based, and the variable quality of responses.

We continue to pursue other measures to monitor and support implementation of the Care Act.

To support implementation of the reform programme, we have established a joint Programme Management Office between the Department, Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Adults Social Services. This unprecedented partnership is driving collaborative working with the sector, influencing the local implementation of these changes to support a consistent and coherent approach. This approach was recognised by the National Audit Office as best practice and should be adopted by other programmes.

The programme includes a series of stocktakes of local authority readiness and the latest, from June 2015, demonstrates an overall positive picture on implementation:

– Councils’ confidence in their ability to deliver the Care Act Reforms in 2015/16 remains high, with 99% very or fairly confident.

– 89% of councils say that they are ‘on track’ with their implementation. The remaining 11% report themselves as only slightly behind.

The Department is also leading on the development of a new National Carers’ Strategy that will examine what more we can do to support existing carers and the new carers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2016 to Question 23722, what estimate his Department has made of the additional cost to social care providers of paying the new national living wage.

Alistair Burt

Our analysis of the cost of the national living wage was based on projections and data on pay including the national living wage from the Office of Budget Responsibility and Skills for Care.

This analysis informed the decision to provide a settlement which means local government has access to the funding it needs to increase adult social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has spent on health and social care for people aged over 65 in each year since 2009-10.

Alistair Burt

The table below shows the current expenditure on healthcare for people aged over 65 since 2009/10. This covers total spend on secondary healthcare, primary medical services and prescribing services. Data for 2013/14 and 2014/15 is not available in the format requested.

	Gross Current Expenditure on health care for people aged 65 and over (£000s)
2009/10	78,414,543
2010/11	82,091,832
2011/12	84,768,874
2012/13	85,821,639

Expenditure on social care for people aged over 65 since 2009/10 from local government funding sources is available on the Health and Social Care Information Centre(HSCIC) (in full) website at the following link. In addition, the National Health Service transferred almost £3.5 billion to local authorities for expenditure on social care, including a transfer worth £1.1 billion in 2014/15. Data is not collected to show how much of this spend is for the elderly compared to working age adults with social care needs.

http://www.hscic.gov.uk/searchcatalogue?topics=2/Social+care/Social+care+expenditure/Personal+Social+Services+expenditure&sort=Most+recent&size=10&page=1#top

For 2014/15 HSCIC published provisional data for social care expenditure on 16 September 2015. This can be found at the following link. This is not comparable to previous years because of a change in reporting requirements.

http://www.hscic.gov.uk/pubs/pssexpcosts1415

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2016-01-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of closing the College of Social Work on the ability of social workers to achieve the best outcome for people with dementia and for their carers.

Alistair Burt

We recognise the significant amount of work that the College of Social Work undertook and its achievements in helping raising professional standards for social work. Practice guidance for social work with people with dementia and their carers was developed by the College and published in 2015, helping raise the quality of social work practice in this crucial area. The Chief Social Workers and officials supported the College to ensure that this and other resources continue to be available through the sector and play a role in the future development and growth of social work.

On 14 January, the Secretary of State for Education announced the creation of a new regulatory body for social work, responsible for driving up practice standards and raising the status of the social work profession. This body will support the development of further specialisms in social work practice, including dementia, helping deliver our ambition to continue to raise the quality and status of a profession which plays such a vital role in improving the lives of our most vulnerable people.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2015-11-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of in-work households in Salford in receipt of tax credits with an underlying entitlement to working tax credit in each of the last five tax years did not have a claim with an underlying entitlement to working tax credit in the following year.

Damian Hinds

The answers are only available at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2016-01-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether all newly-appointed healthcare assistants and social care support workers receive training on dementia as part of the Care Certificate process.

Ben Gummer

As of 1 April 2015, all new health care assistants and social care support workers are expected to attain the new Care Certificate within their first 12 weeks of employment. In order to do so, each new worker must demonstrate to their employer that they meet all 15 of the Care Certificate standards of fundamental skills and knowledge. Standard 9 of the Care Certificate concerns awareness of mental health, dementia and learning disabilities.

In meeting this standard, each worker must show that they understand: the needs and experiences of people with mental health conditions, dementia or learning disabilities; the importance of promoting their health and wellbeing; the adjustments which may be necessary in delivering their care; and the importance of early detection. They must also prove that they understand the legal context, including mental capacity considerations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2015-11-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average duration of an in-work tax credit claim containing an underlying entitlement to working tax credit have for claimants in Salford (a) in them last full year for which figures are available and (b) year to date.

Damian Hinds

The answers are only available at disproportionate cost.