The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-11-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they hold on the occupancy levels of registered care homes in the last five years for which information is available.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The information requested is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 19 November (HL3562), in the absence of centrally collected data on the occupancy levels of registered care homes, on what data the Care Quality Commission relies to discharge its oversight function for the publicly-funded nursing and residential care sectors.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The purpose of market oversight, amongst other things, is to protect people who may be placed in vulnerable circumstances due to the failure of a ‘difficult to replace’ adult social care provider. It does this by monitoring in arrears the quarterly financial returns of those providers captured by the scheme. Since inclusion in the scheme is a reflection of provider size, by definition it is the larger providers that are captured by the scheme and as such market oversight is concerned with the overall consolidated financial performance. Consequently, it would not ordinarily consider occupancy levels for individual registered care homes.
The types of information the Care Quality Commission collects from registered care providers as part of its Market Oversight Scheme is included in published guidance – Market Oversight of ‘difficult to replace’ providers of adult social care. The guidance is attached.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the finding of the report An Unholy Mess, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign last year, that a significant number of religiously selective schools are employing religious selection criteria that was not permitted by their relevant religious authority, contrary to the School Admissions Code.
Lord Nash
Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.
Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant without undue delay. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.
We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-03-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of (1) how many health professionals will return to permanent NHS jobs as a result of price caps on agency staff spending, and (2) how many nurses will leave nursing as a result of those caps.
Lord Prior of Brampton
No formal assessment has been made by the Department to estimate the specific numbers of health professionals that will return to permanent National Health Service jobs as a result of the introduction of price caps on agency staff spending, or on the number of nurses that may leave nursing as a result.
Trust boards have primary responsibility for monitoring the local impact of the price caps and ensuring patient safety.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-11-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimates they have made of the impact of the National Living Wage on registered care providers, both domiciliary and residential, in the first year of the National Living Wage’s introduction; and whether they will classify the National Living Wage as a new burden on local authorities for which they should receive grant increases to pay care providers.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department has engaged with the social care sector, including care providers, to understand how the introduction of the National Living Wage will affect them. The overall costs to local authorities of providing social care are being considered as part of the Spending Review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 23 November (HL3565), what advice they will give to local authorities affected by significant withdrawal of residential care providers in particular areas from publicly-funded adult social care in the event that this prevents those authorities from stepping in to ensure people’s needs.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government has worked with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and the Local Government Information Unit to publish guidance to support local authorities to develop effective contingency plans for provider failure- Care and Continuity: Contingency planning for provider failure. The guidance is attached.
It is expected that local authorities will keep these plans under review and update them as necessary to reflect current market conditions and risks.
Should there be a significant withdrawal of residential care providers from the publically funded adult social care market putting pressure on local authorities’ capacity to discharge their statutory functions in the short-term, the Government will work with the sector to develop bespoke contingency plans to support local government to manage the situation. This could include supporting work with neighbouring local authorities and ADASS regional networks.
More widely, the Government will continue to support local authorities to discharge their functions under the Care Act 2014 which require them to shape a sustainable market that meets the needs of their local population.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the objection submitted to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator that a state-funded school sought to prioritise the admission of children on the basis of whether or not their parents have sex during the period of a mother’s menstruation.
Lord Nash
Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.
Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant without undue delay. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.
We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-03-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether NHS trusts can breach price caps on agency spending if they consider that it is essential to do so in order to ensure patient safety.
Lord Prior of Brampton
NHS trusts are able to override the price caps on agency spending if it is considered essential to do so to ensure the safety of patients.
The circumstances in which trusts can override the caps is set out in the attached guidance: ‘Price Caps for Agency Staff: Rules’.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-11-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the additional national insurance contributions that will be made in the first year of the introduction of the National Living Wage; and what assessment they have made of whether that source of revenue could be used to fund the extra cost of publicly-funded social care.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
As set out in Table B.3 in of their July 2015 Economic and Fiscal Outlook, the Office for Budgetary Responsibility estimate that, by 2020-21, the National Living Wage will increase income tax and NICs receipts by around £0.1bn. They assume that, by 2020-21, the overall impact of the policy on the public finances is to reduce public sector net borrowing by £0.2bn.
The Chancellor will set out full plans for public expenditure at the Spending Review on 25th November.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment the Department of Health or NHS England has made of the risk of the wide-scale withdrawal of adult social care providers from publicly-funded social care markets and the implications of such a withdrawal for the NHS; and whether such a possible withdrawal features on the Department of Health risk register.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department monitors a number of risks to the health and social care system through its high level risk register, including the availability of good quality adult social care that is affordable for local authority and National Health Service commissioners.
The Department is working with local authorities, NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and the provider sector to understand the extent of this risk and its potential drivers, which will include consideration of the extent to which some providers are possibly withdrawing from the publically funded adult social care market.
The Care Act (2014) places duties on local authorities to step in and ensure people’s needs continue to be met if a provider fails financially and services cease. The Department has worked with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Information Unit to publish guidance to support local authorities develop effective contingency plans for provider failure – Care and Continuity: Contingency planning for provider failure. The guidance is attached. The guidance recommends that contingency plans are co-produced with relevant partners, including NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups to ensure these plans are aligned.
Local authorities routinely manage market exits in their area and discharge their Care Act duties. If a situation arose that local authorities found challenging, for example because of its scale and the lack of spare capacity in the area, the Department would work with partners to support them.