Weekly Political Update 11th January 2016

Employment Click on link for source

Item Summary

Written question on Before being moved in the Labour Party reshuffle the then Work and Health Shadow Employment Minister, MP (Lab, Programme of Islington South and Finsbury) asked how much and what employment support proportion of the Department for Work and Pensions budget for employment support has been allocated to the Work and Health Programme for each of the next four years.

In response the Minister of State for Employment, MP (Con, Witham) said that in the Autumn Statement the Chancellor announced a new Work and Health Programme to provide specialist support for claimants with health conditions or disabilities and those unemployed for over 2 years after current Work Programme and Work Choice contracts end. The Department is currently undertaking its normal prioritisation process to determine how funding secured at the Spending Review is allocated on an annual basis.

Health Social Care Click on link for source

Item Summary

Written question on the Peter Kyle MP (Lab, Hove) has asked the Department of Health long-term viability of what steps it is taking to help ensure the long-term viability of the the care sector care home sector; and if it will reassess the contribution that could be made to that viability of the care practitioner role.

In response the Minister of State for Community and Social Care, Alistair Burt MP (Con, North East Bedfordshire), said that a combination of the Better Care Fund, the Social Care Precept on council tax and the additional funding announced in the spending review will mean that local government has access to the funding it needs to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament. He added that:

“Under the Care Act (2014), local authorities have legal duties to shape a sustainable and diverse market of care providers capable of delivering a choice of quality services to their local population. These duties apply in respect of all care services,

Weekly Political Report, 11 January 2016 Page 1 of 9 including care home services. The Government published statutory guidance to support local authorities discharge their market shaping duties effectively, which includes guidance around adult social care commissioning.”

Bill introduced to Liberal Democrat Health Spokesman and former Minister of establish a State for Care and Support, Norman Lamb MP, has introduced a Commission to piece of legislation, the National Health Service and Social Care establish an (Commission) Bill, to establish an independent commission to independent examine the future of the National Health Service and the social commission to examine care system; to take evidence; to report its conclusions to the future of the Parliament; and for connected purposes. National Health Service and the social care Speaking to the Bill, Norman Lamb placed his call for a system commission in the context of rising demand for the NHS and social care and the financial challenges that this creates. He said that in the post-war period demand for the NHS has reason by 4% a year on average. He also quoted a number of bodies who have challenged the Government over the sufficiency of its NHS spending – quoting the Health Foundation estimate that the NHS faces a £2bn annual shortfall by 2020.

He concluded his speech by saying:

“The Government face a choice—either the system will drift into a state of crisis or we confront the existential challenge now. This transcends narrow party politics. We have to decide as a country how much we want to spend on our NHS and care system. What can we do differently to make better use of the resources available? Should we consider, as I have proposed, a dedicated NHS and care tax, and give local areas the ability to vary it? Should we end the artificial divide between the NHS and social care? We fund health and social care through three different routes—through the NHS, local authorities and the benefits system. Does that make sense?

“The NHS commands an extraordinary level of support in our country. It is an amazing demonstration of social solidarity and decency. It is also the best system in the world, according to the Commonwealth Fund in 2014. Yet we cannot take the survival of the NHS and social care services for granted. William Beveridge proposed the national health service. It is now time for a new Beveridge commission for the 21st century.”

The move has been supported by two previous Health Secretaries, Stephen Dorrell (Con) and Alan Milburn (Lab). It was also supported by a group of forty charities, including Action on Hearing Loss, in an open letter which received substantive press coverage.

Norman Lamb introduced his Bill’s First Reading under the ten- minute rule; this means that it is not scheduled to receive any further time in Parliament and it will not make any substantive progress.

Written questions on Shadow Health Minister Andrew Gwynne MP (Lab, Denton and the private care home ) has tabled a number of written questions on the sector performance of private care homes. He has asked the Department of Health what research it has conducted on the effect on patient care of variable levels of staffing at private care homes at different times of the day and on the number of private care homes with adequate staffing levels.

In response the Minister of State for Community and Social Care, Alistair Burt MP (Con, North East Bedfordshire) said that no such research has been conducted. He added that the law requires all care homes to ensure that sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff are on duty at all times to meet the needs of users of services. The Care Quality Commission has a range of enforcement powers it can use to ensure that providers of health and adult social care services comply with their legal responsibilities.

Andrew Gwynne also asked what assessment has been made of the nutritional adequacy of food provided by private care homes.

Alistair Burt said that the law requires that care homes must meet the nutritional and hydration needs of service users, including any reasonable requirements for food and hydration arising from their preferences or religious or cultural backgrounds. He reiterated that the Care Quality Commission has enforcement powers to ensure compliance with these responsibilities.

Andrew Gwynne MP asked what steps the Department of Health will take to enable union representation in private care homes.

In response Alistair Burt said that the Department of Health is not responsible for enabling trades union representation in private care homes. Such matters are for negotiation and agreement between operators of care homes, their staff and trades unions themselves.

Andrew Gwynne has also asked what the Department’s policy is on the introduction of CCTV in private care homes.

Alistair Burt said that:

“the Government believes strongly that closed circuit television (CCTV) should not be regarded as a substitute for proper recruitment procedures, training, management and support of care staff, or for ensuring that numbers of staff on duty are sufficient to meet the needs of users of services. He therefore argued that ‘use of CCTV and other forms of covert surveillance should not be routine, but should be considered on a case by case basis. The Department does not object to the use of CCTV in individual care homes or by the families of residents, provided it is done in consultation with and with the permission of those residents and their families.”

Written question on the Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government, Steve ring-fencing of the Reed MP (Lab, Croydon North) has asked the Department for social care precept Communities and Local Government how it plans to monitor whether income from the proposed two per cent rise in council tax intended to contribute to the social care levy is being spent on social care.

In response the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government, Marcus Jones MP (Con, Nuneaton) referenced the information accompanying the provisional local government finance settlement 2016-17, which was announced by my the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Greg Clark).

Relevant further information can be found here

Disability Click on link for source

National Audit Office The National Audit Office (NAO) has published a report into the published report into Government’s oversight and value-for-money in its handling of DWP contracted out the contracted out assessments of health and disability – these health and disability are the tests used to determine an applicant’s eligibility for assessments Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

The report notes that between April 2015 and March 2018, the DWP expects to carry out around 7 million assessments which it estimates will cost a total of £1.6 billion. The report found that the cost of providing assessments is rising and providers are still struggling to meet expected performance standards.

The report says that the DWP has now reduced the number of outstanding assessments and these are being processed more quickly. Providers now take four weeks to process PIP assessments, compared to a peak of 29 weeks in mid-2014, and ESA claims 23 weeks compared to 29 weeks. There is still, however, a backlog of at least 280,000 ESA assessments at August 2015.

Charities Click on link for source

Item Summary

Government The Government successfully moved an amendment to its own amendment on charity Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Bill to require fundraising debated in charities to sign-up to the proposed new system of self- Commons Committee regulation and abide by the guidance issued by fundraising regulator and to give Ministers the power to mandate an organisation with this role. The amendment also contains a reserve power to transfer the regulation of charity fundraising to a statutory basis under the Charity Commission.

The amendment (moved as New Clause 7 and now standing as Clause 14 of the Bill as amended in Public Bill Committee) is a result of the review into the practices of charity fundraising led by Sir Stuart Etherington instigated in the wake of the death of Olive Cooke. An existing clause of the Bill, Clause 13, sets out new measures that charities must take with the existing system of self-regulation to protect vulnerable people. The purposes of the new Clause is to create a reserve power which allows Minister to put the regulation of charity fundraising on a statutory footing, likely to be overseen by the Charity Commission.

In introducing the amendment the Minister for Civil Society, Rob Wilson MP (Con, Reading East) said that ‘public trust and confidence in charities has already been rocked because of the poor practice uncovered last summer’ and cited surveys showing that less than half of the public trusted charities and that 76% wanted their fundraising to be subject to tougher regulation. He summarised the amendment as:

“Proposed new section 64B of the 1992 Act will extend existing powers in relation to fundraising regulation to compel charities to comply with the requirements and guidance imposed by the fundraising regulator. It will also allow the Government to require charities to be registered with a body for the purpose of regulating charitable fundraising. Under this provision, Ministers will have the discretion to mandate with the regulation of charity fundraising any body whose principal function appears to be in line with that purpose. The provision makes it clear that that may not be a body maintained out of money provided by Parliament. That will be the case with the new fundraising regulator currently being established by Lord Grade of Yarmouth, the interim chair, and Stephen Dunmore, the interim chief executive, which will be funded by the sector itself.”

Rob Wilson added that most of the largest charities had committed to working with this new body and that he was prepared to use his power to compel others to do so. Speaking on the reserve power which would see the Charity Commission take over the statutory regulation of fundraising Rob Wilson added:

“I hope that I will never feel compelled to use this power, as it would mean that the self-regulatory system had failed. More importantly, it would mean that large charities had failed to put their house in order. However, the seriousness of the abuse in the past year or so and the impact it has had on public trust in charities has made it clear that a robust backstop is needed to ensure that the public feel that they can give with confidence and to prevent the same sorts of scandals being repeated.”

The amendment was supported by the Shadow Charities Minister, Anna Turley MP (Lab, Redcar) and was therefore passed without a division.

Debate of the ability of During the Committee Stage of the Charities (Protection and charities to undertake Social Investment) Bill the Labour Spokeswomen on the political campaigning Voluntary Sector, Anna Turley MP (Labour, Redcar) moved an amendment (New Clause 2) which enshrine in law the power of charities to undertake political campaigning and the ability to campaign for changes in the law or public policy at a national and local level.

Introducing the amendment Anna Turley said that the amendment was a direct attempt to challenge the restrictions of third party campaigning as introduced by the coalition Government in the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014. Her speech revisited many of the objections to the legislation raised by the charity sector before the general election. She argued that charities were being stifled because the legislation meant that there day-to-day activities which engaged with the public and public policy were being caught by the new legislation. She expressed her fears that the complexity of the legislation meant that many charities had chosen to disengage from campaigning.

In his response the Minister for Civil Society, Rob Wilson MP (Con, Reading East) said that the Government supported the right of charities to campaign, but that: “Charities must not support a particular political party. That is established by case law. It is defined widely, and it includes a charity promoting a political party event to its members. A charity cannot be used as a vehicle for the expression of the political views of its trustees or staff members.”

He also pointed to the independent review into third party campaigning at the 2015 general election which is being led by Lord Hodgson and is due to report in the next couple of months.

The amendment was withdraw without being put to a division.

Consultations

Title: Communications for people who are deaf or have hearing loss: market review Source: Department for Work and Pensions Deadline for written evidence: 4th March 2016

The Department for Work and Pensions has launched its Call for Evidence assess the communication provision for people who are deaf, deafblind or have hearing loss in the UK. Action on Hearing Loss lobbied the Government to undertake this market review and has been part of a steering group which set the parameters of the consultation.

The Call for Evidence is based around six core questions. These are:

Demand 1. What is size and value of the demand for the different types of communication and language support in the UK? 2. How this demand might change in the future?

Supply 3. What is the number of communication and language professionals nationally and the type and level of skills that are on offer? 4. How this supply might change in the future?

Technology 5. What are the types of technology currently available that facilitate communication and the future developments in the pipeline? 6. How might an increasing uptake of both current technology and new developments affect the market for communication and language services in the future?

Further details can be found here

Parliamentary terms

Early Day Motion (EDM) Early Day Motions are formal motions for debate submitted by MPs in the House of Commons. There is usually no time available to actually debate an EDM, but they are useful for drawing attention to specific events or campaigns and demonstrating the extent of parliamentary support for a particular cause or point of view. MPs register their support by signing individual motions.

Oral Parliamentary Question (OPQ) and Written Parliamentary Question (WPQ) Parliamentary Questions are used by both MPs and Peers to question Ministers in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. They are used to seek information, and Ministers are obliged to explain and defend the work, policy, decisions and actions of their departments, oral questions can also be used to make political points. Parliamentary questions are a vital tool in holding the Government to account. The Prime Minister answers oral questions from the House of Commons every Wednesday at midday.

Debates Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords hold debates in which Members discuss government policy, proposed new laws and current issues. All debates are recorded in a publication called 'Hansard' which is available online or in print.

All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are informal groups composed of politicians from all political parties. They provide an opportunity for cross-party discussion and co-operation on particular issues. All-party groups sometimes act as useful pressure groups for specific causes helping to keep the Government, the opposition and MPs informed of parliamentary and outside opinion.

Select Committees House of Commons Select Committees exist to scrutinise the work of government departments. Most committees have about 11 members and reflect the relative size of each party in the Commons. They conduct enquiries on a specific issue, and gather evidence from expert witnesses. Findings are reported to the Commons, printed, and published on the Parliament website. The Government then usually has 60 days to reply to the committee's recommendations.

Written ministerial statements Government ministers can make written statements to announce:  The publication of reports by government agencies  Findings of reviews and inquiries and the government's response  Financial and statistical information  Procedure and policy initiatives of government departments

Private Members’ Bills Private Members’ Bills allow backbench MPs or Peers to introduce their own legislation. There are three types of Private Members’ Bills introduced into the House of Commons:  Ballot Bills: A ballot is held at the beginning of each parliamentary year the 20 MPs whose names come out top are allowed to introduce legislation on a subject of their choice.  Ten Minute Rule Bills: The sponsoring MP is given a slot in which they may make a speech lasting up to 10 minutes in support of his or her bill  Presentation Bill: a Member is not able to speak in support of it and it stands almost no chance of becoming law

Weekly Political Report, 11 January 2016 Page 9 of 9