Written questions by Barker.

What plans his Department has to utilise the expertise of (a) dietitians and (b) other allied health professionals to tackle long-term healthcare challenges.

Dietitians are essential to a range of pathways detailed within the NHS Long Term Plan, including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke as part of the multi-disciplinary team which includes the other allied health professions (AHPs).AHPs are critical to the delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan, and plans to recover core services including, urgent and emergency care, urgent community services, primary care and community care, elective care, cancer, and diagnostics pathways. This is underpinned by the Allied Health Profession (AHPs) Strategy for England 2022 to 2027 AHPS Deliver, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/allied-health-professions-strategy-for-england-ahps-deliver.pdf

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of trends of the level of demand on statutory services provided by local authorities since June 2010.

Local authorities play a crucial role in the delivery of this Government’s missions, from driving growth, to delivering opportunities for all. The Government is under no illusions about the scale of the pressures that local authorities are facing which is impacting the services councils can provide to local people. Resetting the relationship between national and local government and improving how local government is funded in this Parliament, are crucial in ensuring local people get the support and services they need and deserve.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to give local authorities greater flexibility in respect to grant funding.

The Government was elected on a manifesto that stressed a partnership approach with local authorities and an intention to stabilise the funding system, moving away from wasteful competition and towards multi-year funding settlements.We want to have better join up across interconnected policy areas and investment programmes, reducing burdens for local authorities and fund bidders.We have been working closely with local authorities and delivery partners to inform best practice in future design and recognise the importance of supporting local capacity and capability, realistic delivery timelines and working in partnership to design future delivery arrangements. As part of this, we are also committed to deepening existing combined authority devolution settlements and widening devolution to more areas, incentivised through new powers over transport, adult education and skills, housing and planning and employment support. We will also continue to offer support for combined authorities working on their local growth plans. Those are the principles we will seek to apply as we plan future local funding.

What steps he is taking to improve (a) access to and (b) engagement with health and social care services for those who experience homelessness.

The Department recognises the importance of reducing barriers to services for those experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping. This is why we supported the development and implementation of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance, which provides recommendations on ways to improve access to, and engagement with, health and social care services for people experiencing homelessness. This guidance is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng214NHS England has also delivered the Inclusion Health Framework, which includes focus on the homeless population. Inclusion health is an umbrella term which includes homeless people and is used to describe people who are socially excluded, and who typically experience multiple interacting risk factors for poor health, such as stigma, discrimination, poverty, violence, and complex trauma.https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG214

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to end local authority competitive bidding.

The Government was elected on a manifesto that stressed a partnership approach with local authorities and an intention to stabilise the funding system, moving away from wasteful competition and towards multi-year funding settlements.We want to have better join up across interconnected policy areas and investment programmes, reducing burdens for local authorities and fund bidders.We have been working closely with local authorities and delivery partners to inform best practice in future design and recognise the importance of supporting local capacity and capability, realistic delivery timelines and working in partnership to design future delivery arrangements. As part of this, we are also committed to deepening existing combined authority devolution settlements and widening devolution to more areas, incentivised through new powers over transport, adult education and skills, housing and planning and employment support. We will also continue to offer support for combined authorities working on their local growth plans. Those are the principles we will seek to apply as we plan future local funding.

What steps his Department taking to use NHS dietitians to help reduce health inequalities.

Dietitians have an important contribution to reducing health inequalities. The Department published Addressing health inequalities across allied health professional (AHP) services: a guide for AHP system leaders in May 2024. The guide focuses on what AHP leaders need to know and what actions they can take at a system level to address health inequalities. This includes the utility of dietitians to reduce health inequalities. The guide is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/addressing-health-inequalities-across-allied-health-professional-ahp-services-a-guide-for-ahp-system-leaders/addressing-health-inequalities-across-allied-health-professional-ahp-services-a-guide-for-ahp-system-leadersWe continue to promote the framework, My role in tackling health inequalities: a framework for allied health professionals, published in 2021. This work describes how allied health professionals (AHPs), including dietitians, can raise awareness, take action, and optimise advocacy through six lenses: self; patients; clinical teams, pathway and service groups; communities and networks; systems; and nurturing the future. The framework is designed to support AHPs to do whatever they can, large or small, to tackle health inequalities. Each section of the framework is accompanied by examples of AHP-led work already under way across England. The framework is available at the following link:https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/reports/tackling-health-inequalities-framework-allied-health-professionals

What steps her Department is taking to help protect victims of domestic abuse and violence who are affected by the early release of some prisoners.

Due to acute prison capacity pressure, the Government has had no option but to introduce a change that will allow prisoners serving an eligible standard determinate sentence (SDS) to be released after serving 40% rather than 50% of that sentence in custody. Victims and survivors can be assured that probation will continue business as usual processes to build appropriate risk management plans to support the safe release of prisoners. We also have important safeguards in place for the early release scheme and have made sure that changes won’t apply to offences that can occur most frequently in the context of domestic abuse including stalking, coercive or controlling behaviour, and non-fatal strangulation. Victims and survivors who are eligible for and have opted into the Victim Contact Scheme or the Victim Notification Scheme continue to get information and updates about developments on their case. We have been working closely with the victim support sector so that frontline services have the information they need to support victims and survivors that may be impacted. All offenders released will be subject to robust licence conditions and risk management plans, monitored by the probation service. There are clear expectations in place for probation staff managing cases where there is evidence of domestic abuse. While on licence, offenders will be subject to conditions including those deemed necessary to protect the victim and wider public, such as exclusion zones, location monitoring, residence at a specified place or disclosing details of any new relationship. Offenders must comply with these conditions and attend supervision. If they fail to comply, they can be recalled to continue serving their sentence in prison.

If her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing rail discounts for schools purchasing tickets for excursions.

All Department for Transport contracted operators offer some form of group discount, with some offering substantial savings for groups of 10 or more people. In addition, many train operators participate in the GroupSave offer which offers 1/3 off Off-Peak tickets for a group of three to nine people travelling together. More detail can be found on the National Rail and local train operator websites.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote civic reconciliation in Bangladesh.

The UK Government is supporting the Interim Government in Bangladesh as it works to restore peace and order, ensure accountability and create a peaceful pathway to an inclusive democratic future. We support the work of the United Nations as it works to conduct an impartial and independent fact-finding to identify human rights violations. The UK Government is providing up to £27 million over five years (March 2023 to February 2028) under the Bangladesh Collaborative, Accountable and Peaceful Politics programme for protecting civic and political space, fostering collaboration, reducing corruption, and mitigating tensions that lead to violence.

If he will include health outcomes of those who experience homelessness in the NHS ten year plan.

The NHS 10-Year Plan will consider the change needed to meet the three health mission goals: a fairer system where everyone lives well for longer; a National Health Service that is there when people need it; and fewer lives lost to the biggest killers. Officials within the Department will work closely with partners across the health service and NHS England as the plan is developed to consider better health outcomes for socially excluded groups, including those experiencing homelessness.

What steps her Department is taking to reduce the processing times for pension credit applications.

The Department has secured funding for additional staffing to assist with the processing of the additional Pension Credit claims being made.

What steps her Department is taking to simplify the pension credit application process.

The Department continues to assess the Pension Credit service. This led to the introduction of the online claim process, providing customers with a convenient alternative claim route, alongside the existing telephony and paper application methods. As the Department continues to modernise the Pension Credit service, we continue to review the user experience, balancing simplification of application with capturing the right information to ensure accuracy of award.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that Ukrainians living in the UK are not separated from their families, in the context of changes to the Ukraine visa schemes in February 2024.

Ukrainian family members, including children, are not prevented from entering the UK. The Homes for Ukraine Scheme remains open to new applicants, their applications must be sponsored by someone who is British, Irish or who has settled status. Ukrainians who meet the eligibility criteria can also join family members through standard visa or family routes, which attract a fee. Our Ukraine schemes are kept under continual review as we look to provide stability both for those we have welcomed to the UK and those who still need our sanctuary.

For what reason each prisoner who was released under the revised terms of the early release scheme and had previously breached a restraining order was released.

Certain offences are excluded from the SDS40 change. Exclusions included the Breach of Restraining Order (BoRO) offence under Section 363 of the Sentencing Act 2020.This offence replaced an older offence in Section 5 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, which was repealed on the commencement of the Sentencing Act 2020 on 1 December 2020. At that point the new Sentencing Act offence should have been used.However, our assurance work uncovered that since December 2020, offenders have been charged and sentenced under this repealed offence. This means the 1997 Act was being used incorrectly and this created an anomaly.We took rapid action, and all 37 offenders have been returned to prison. Every victim affected and currently in the Victim Contact Scheme or Victim Notification scheme has been contacted. All prisoners in custody with this offence recorded against them have been reviewed to ensure there are no further releases in error.

What steps she is taking to support elderly, disabled people who are ineligible for pension credit with higher energy costs.

This Government is committed to pensioners. Everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement. Given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control. For those with long-term illnesses, the “extra costs” disability benefits, namely Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA), provide a tax free, non-income-related contribution towards the extra costs people with a long-term health condition can face, such as additional heating costs. They are paid monthly throughout the year. AA can be worth up to £5,600 a year and recipients are free to use their benefit according to their own priorities. Receipt of AA can provide a passport to additional amounts in means-tested benefits (notably Pension Credit and Housing Benefit) for those on low incomes providing they meet the other eligibility criteria. Other measures to support pensioners include the State Pension, which is the foundation of income in retirement and will remain so, protecting 12 million pensioners through the Triple Lock. Based on current forecasts, the full rate of the new state pension is set to increase by around £1,700 over the course of this Parliament. We are also providing support for pensioners through our Warm Homes Plan which will transform homes across the country by making them cleaner and cheaper to run. The Warm Home Discount scheme in England and Wales provides eligible low-income households across Great Britain with a £150 rebate on their electricity bill. This winter, we expect over three million households, including over one million pensioners, to benefit under the scheme. The Household Support Fund is also being extended for a further six months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An additional £421 million will be provided to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England, plus funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure the continuity of (a) patient care and (b) NHS resilience in respect to specialist food products used by the NHS in the context of the implementation of the Windsor Framework.

Defra officials are working with colleagues across the Government to ensure continuity of supply into Northern Ireland of specialist food products used by the NHS and to facilitate patient care, recognising the importance of these products to enable patients to meet their dietary requirements and live full lives.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Minister for Women and Equalities on reducing the number of women sleeping rough.

We recognise that women sleeping on the streets have different experiences and needs to men, particularly relating to experiences of violence and abuse.£9.2 million funding is available for women-specific rough sleeping services. We will take action to tackle rising levels of rough sleeping and develop a strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness.

If she will make it her policy to provide a multi-year funding settlement for the Household Support Fund.

£500 million is being provided to enable the current Household Support Fund, including funding for Devolved Administrations through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion. This means Local Authorities in England are receiving £421 million to support those in need locally.The current Household Support Fund will be in place until 30 September 2024.As a new government, we are reviewing all policies, including the Household Support Fund.