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12 Jan 2009 : Column 182W—continued
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 8 December 2008, Official Report, columns 30-8WS, on primary care trust revenue allocations/NHS operating framework, what assessment he has made of the pace of change policy relating to the new resource allocation formula; and in what year he expects primary care trusts will receive an actual revenue allocation equivalent to the target revenue allocation determined by the weighted capitation formula. [245813]
Mr. Bradshaw: Pace of change policy for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 revenue allocations ensures stability of funding for primary care trusts (PCTs), and allows them to make progress nationally and in local priority areas:
no PCT will receive less than an average of 5.2 per cent. per year over two years;
under target PCTs will receive average growth (5.5 per cent.) per year, or above; and
by the end of 2010-11, no PCT will be more than 6.2 per cent. below its fair share of available resources.
We are committed to bringing PCTs to their target allocations as soon as is practicable. However, this has to be consistent with all PCTs receiving sufficient extra funding to enable them to deliver on national and local priorities. Pace of change policy for the next round of allocations will be considered in the light of the overall resources available for the NHS.
Public Analyst Laboratories
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which public analyst laboratories were open in 1997. [245803]
Dawn Primarolo: In 1997 there were public analyst laboratories in Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Carmarthen, Cardiff (Cardiff City Authority laboratory), Cardiff (Mid-Glamorgan Authority laboratory), Chester, Dundee, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Hull, Leicester, Liverpool, London (London Bridge), London (New Cross), Manchester, Matlock, Newcastle, Norwich, Preston, Salford, Sheffield, Southsea, Stafford, Wakefield, Worcester, Taunton, West Malling and Wolverhampton.
Race for Health Programme
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary care trusts are taking part in the Race for Health Programme. [245760]
Ann Keen: To date, 21 primary care trusts are participating in the Race for Health programme. The PCTs are: Berkshire East, Bradford and Airedale Teaching, Bristol, Ealing, Haringey Teaching, Hastings and Rother, Lambeth, Leeds, Leicester City, Liverpool, Luton Teaching, Manchester, Norfolk, Oldham, Shropshire County, South Birmingham, Suffolk, Trafford, Wandsworth, Westminster, and Wolverhampton City.
Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare NHS Trust: Billing
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will encourage the Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare NHS Trust to settle its invoices to small and medium-sized enterprises within the target of 10 days. [246107]
Mr. Bradshaw: We do not currently collect such performance data because no specific requirement has yet been placed on national health service bodies to meet a 10-day target.
However, David Nicholson, NHS Chief Executive, wrote to all NHS trust Chief Executives on 21 October 2008 asking them to examine and review existing payment practices and payment performance and to move as closely as possible to the 10-day payment commitment that has been set for Government Departments wherever practical. Bill Moyes, Executive Chair, Monitor, has written similarly to all NHS foundation trusts.
Schizophrenia
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department plans to allow patients with paranoid schizophrenia who have a history of violence to choose their own treatment options. [245730]
Phil Hope: “Our Choices in Mental Health”, written in consultation with service users and carers and published in 2006, sets out a framework that will make choice available locally to people who use mental health services in England. A copy of the publication has been placed in the Library. When “Our Choices in Mental Health” was published, it was considered that offering a choice of provider or treatment to service users with more severe and enduring conditions would not always be appropriate.
The Care Programme Approach, the process of assessing mental health users’ needs, should provide each mental health service user with an opportunity to be actively involved in agreeing their treatment plans with their care coordinator.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Advisory Group
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the work of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Advisory Group; and if he will make a statement. [245759]
Phil Hope: In autumn 2007 the Department decided to review the work of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Advisory Group (SOGIAG) to date with a view to strengthening procedures and giving the group more support from officials. The Office for Public Management (OPM) was commissioned to undertake this independent review. A copy of their report has been placed in the Library.
Following the OPM report the Department has refreshed the group. In summer 2008 the Department went through an open appointments process and now has a new external high-level Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Advisory Group. Work has begun on several projects, including in the areas of suicide prevention for LGBT people, the social care needs of LGBT people, and partnership working with community organisations.
The Department has also begun a process of reviewing how we engage with all equality stakeholders and this review is due to report in spring 2009.
Sight Impaired
Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines his Department follows in respect of making printed materials and forms accessible to people suffering red/green colour blindness. [245717]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department follows Royal National Institute of Blind People ‘See it Right’ guidelines in the production of its publications. This includes guidelines on the use of red and green in printed materials. All departmental publications are published through Central Office for Information, which has a policy of adherence to these guidelines.
Social Enterprise Investment Fund
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much he expects the Social Enterprise Investment Fund to spend in 2008-09. [245746]
Phil Hope: Applications to the Social Enterprise Investment Fund are currently being assessed. However, £11 million capital and £7 million revenue has been allocated to the Social Enterprise Investment Fund for 2008-09.
Social Enterprise Pathfinder Projects
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on each of the 26 social enterprise pathfinder projects set up by his Department; and if he will make a statement. [245747]
Phil Hope: This information is not held centrally. The Department has commissioned an external evaluation of the Social Enterprise Pathfinders. The evaluation report is expected in early spring 2009.
Social Services
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to increase public awareness and understanding of national social care needs. [244765]
Phil Hope: Ahead of publishing the Care and Support Green Paper early in 2009, the Department has been raising awareness of existing social care services while seeking views about future care and support services. A six-month public engagement process was established this year in order to gather views and comments from stakeholders, service users and members of the public which will help inform next year's Green Paper. In addition, we achieved media coverage both national and regional, and worked with stakeholders to obtain coverage in their communication channels, including newsletters and websites. Once the process of analysing the responses has been finalised, plans will be made to publish a report of the responses received alongside the Green Paper.
The ‘Putting People First’ initiative was set-up in 2007 as a concordat with other Government Departments and range of stakeholders from the care sector. This identifies a key role for local government in providing access to information, advice and advocacy (where it is needed) in enabling people to exercise choice and control over their lives.
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will commission research to analyse potential financial savings to the Department of Health of providing preventative care services to people with low and moderate needs. [244768]
Phil Hope: We recognise the importance of research to support development in this area, which is why we have invested in the Partnership for Older People Projects and the work of the Care Services Efficiency and Delivery Team on enablement. Both of these provide an evidence base on the most effective forms of early intervention and this work is continuing.
The Government have also published “Improving Health and Work: changing lives” on 25 November 2008, which is our vision to create a society where the links between work and health are recognised by all, where everyone aspires to a healthy and fulfilling working life and where health conditions and disabilities are not a bar to enjoying the benefits of work. A copy of the publication has been placed in the Library. This includes evidenced based policy work on early intervention, for example ‘fit for work’ pilots. These aim to help people back to or remain in work when they develop a health condition or impairment. We are testing a range of services to provide support for people who develop health conditions.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that social care needs are met. [245018]
Phil Hope: The responsibility for delivery of social care and ensuring that social care needs are met rests with local authorities. The Department provides the policy framework to support local authorities in meeting their statutory requirements.
Local authorities have reported a continued increase in social care expenditure. Last year (2007-08), provisional data show that local authorities reported gross current spend on adult social care services was £15.6 billion. This has increased by 85 per cent. over the last 10 years.
From 2008-11, the Department has committed to contributing over £3.5 billion into adult social care services specific revenue grants and the area based grant (ABG—this enables flexibility for local authorities to make decisions concerning local priorities, of which social care is one, and delivering public services). This is an average increase of over 10 per cent. per year from the Department.
The Department will continue to work collaboratively with local authorities and their representative bodies, other Government Departments (working across the boundaries of social care, health, housing and employment), service users and other key stakeholders to evaluate the risks and opportunities to support the delivery of social care. The vision for social care is laid down in “Putting People First”, a copy of which has already been placed in the Library. This document was signed by six Secretaries of State and a range of key stakeholders from local government and partner bodies. The Department is now working with all of these stakeholders to support the delivery of that vision. The Department is investing more than half a billion pounds in developing more personalised care services through the Social Care Reform grant.
Social Services: Fees and Charges
Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to meet the Coalition on Charging to discuss its report Charging into Poverty as part of his formulation of policy on charging for social care. [244101]
Phil Hope:
Most members of the Coalition on Charging have been meeting with departmental officials as part of the stakeholder engagement, which is helping to inform the development of the Green Paper on the future of
care and support. We will take full account of the Coalition's report in considering the future arrangements for care and support.
Social Services: Public Consultation
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the forthcoming Green Paper on social care will include proposals on supporting people. [246834]
Phil Hope: The whole ethos of the Care and Support Green Paper, to be published early in 2009, will be how people can be better supported in the future.
The Government intend to publish its proposals for reform in order to address demographic changes and an estimated widening gap in funding. Ahead of producing the Green Paper, the Department has run a six-month public engagement process in order to gather views and comments from stakeholders, service users and members of the public to help inform the Green Paper to help ensure this will meet the needs of those requiring support.
Social Workers
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of social workers working with local authorities but employed by an agency; and if he will make a statement. [245568]
Phil Hope: The number of agency staff working in social services departments by local authority is not held centrally. The Local Government Association estimated in 2006 that the average percentage of agency staff working in posts for adults within local authority social services departments in England was 5.2 per cent. This was estimated to equate to around 8,800 agency staff covering a range of roles including field social workers but also residential care workers and administrative staff.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent by each local authority on employing social workers via agencies in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [245569]
Phil Hope: This information is not held centrally.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the employment of social workers via agencies; and if he will make a statement. [245570]
Phil Hope: The General Social Care Council has issued statutory codes of practice for social care workers and their employers under section 62 of the Care Standards Act 2000. They provide a clear guide for all those who work in social care, setting out the standards of conduct workers and their employers should meet. They also mean that people who use services, carers and the wider public will know what standard of conduct and practice they can expect.
Third Sector Funding and Investment Review
John Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the implications for
the Section 64 scheme and the Opportunities for Volunteering scheme of his Department’s strategic review of funding and investment in the third sector; [245748]
(2) what progress the Third Sector Funding and Investment Review has made on the development of a strategic framework for investment in the third sector by his Department; and if he will make a statement. [245749]
Phil Hope: In July 2008 the Department published a response to the strategic review of Third Sector Funding and Investment consultation, undertaken between December 2007 and March 2008. A copy has been placed in the Library.
The vision for future funding of the third sector included: investment in strategic partners; support for innovation excellence and service development; promote and support volunteering; and contracting for expertise required at national level. There was strong support for this vision and the principles underpinning this approach.
From the feedback on the proposals we have developed a funding framework that underpins a wider third sector investment programme. The programme will be developed over time as more funding schemes in the Department are brought into the framework. For 2009-10 the third sector investment programme will include:
Innovation Excellence and Service Development Fund - this replaces the Section 64 General Scheme of grants - project funding; and
Strategic Partner Programme - this replaces the Section 64 General scheme of grants-core funding.
We anticipate that from 2010-11 a new volunteer investment fund, building on the existing Opportunities for Volunteering Scheme, will form part of the Third Sector Investment Programme. Moving forward, policy specific funding schemes and initiatives will be drawn under the banner of the wider programme.
This process will result in transformation of previous piecemeal arrangements for funding the third sector into a strategic portfolio of investments that will more explicitly support delivery of the Department’s objectives and priorities supporting a fundamental step change in the Department’s funding relationships with third sector organisations.
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