Written questions by Burgon.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of people with (a) learning disabilities and (b) autism in inpatient units; and what progress she has made on implementing (i) community-based support and )ii) housing solutions to (A) prevent unnecessary admissions and (B) facilitate timely discharge in line with the Transforming Care Programme and Building the Right Support plan.

Through our proposed reforms to the Mental Health Act, we want to ensure people with a learning disability and autistic people get the support they need in the community, improve care, and prevent admission to hospitals. We will engage with expert stakeholders to inform implementation planning, including in respect of the development of strong community services.Investment has been provided each year to enable local areas to develop community intensive support teams, community forensic teams, and crisis response 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for people with a learning disability and autistic people.For 2024/25, NHS England has allocated £124 million of transformation funding for learning disability and autism services in local integrated care board areas. This funding includes money for local systems to reduce reliance on mental health inpatient settings.In addition, NHS England has a housing capital programme, with £13 million available in 2025/26, to support areas to develop housing to help reduce the number of autistic people and people with a learning disability in a mental health hospital setting.We are also providing an immediate in-year uplift to the Disabled Facilities Grant of £86 million in 2024/25. This increase will fund approximately 7,800 additional home adaptations. This is on top of the £625 million paid to local authorities in May 2024.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of career development and progression opportunities for the social care workforce supporting people with disabilities; and if he will take steps to increase (a) the pay scales of that workforce in line with a minimum of NHS band 3 and (b) other measures that support the (i) development and (ii) retention of that workforce.

The Department has made no assessment on the potential impact of changes in the number of people working in the social care sector on services for people with disabilities. Although the Department does not collect statistics on the number of people working in social care on services for people with disabilities, the latest data from Skills for Care shows that in 2023/24, there were 1.705 million filled posts for the adult social care sector. This marks an increase of 4.2% on the previous year.The Department is continuing the development of the Care Workforce Pathway, the first national career structure for adult social care. The first phase of the pathway was published on 10 January 2024, following a call for evidence and development with a sector specific expert consultation group.Enhancing skills for staff working in social care is of critical importance. The pathway sets out the knowledge, skills, behaviours, and values needed to work in adult social care, as well as a clear career structure. The pathway includes suggested learning programmes which are available for funding through the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme (LDSS), which launched in September. The LDSS course list provides a variety of sector specific training courses and qualifications.We are introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement to the adult social care sector. This will empower worker representatives, employers, and others to negotiate pay, and terms and conditions in a regulated and responsible manner. We will engage those who draw upon, work in, and provide care and support, as well as local authorities, unions, and others from across the sector. The exact structure of that agreement is subject to consultation and negotiation.This work in combination will be an important part of the first step towards a National Care Service.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of changes in the number of people working in the social care sector on services for people with disabilities; and what steps he is taking to help improve (a) pay, (b) training, (c) career progression opportunities and (d) other recruitment and retention measures in that sector.

The Department has made no assessment on the potential impact of changes in the number of people working in the social care sector on services for people with disabilities. Although the Department does not collect statistics on the number of people working in social care on services for people with disabilities, the latest data from Skills for Care shows that in 2023/24, there were 1.705 million filled posts for the adult social care sector. This marks an increase of 4.2% on the previous year.The Department is continuing the development of the Care Workforce Pathway, the first national career structure for adult social care. The first phase of the pathway was published on 10 January 2024, following a call for evidence and development with a sector specific expert consultation group.Enhancing skills for staff working in social care is of critical importance. The pathway sets out the knowledge, skills, behaviours, and values needed to work in adult social care, as well as a clear career structure. The pathway includes suggested learning programmes which are available for funding through the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme (LDSS), which launched in September. The LDSS course list provides a variety of sector specific training courses and qualifications.We are introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement to the adult social care sector. This will empower worker representatives, employers, and others to negotiate pay, and terms and conditions in a regulated and responsible manner. We will engage those who draw upon, work in, and provide care and support, as well as local authorities, unions, and others from across the sector. The exact structure of that agreement is subject to consultation and negotiation.This work in combination will be an important part of the first step towards a National Care Service.

What plans he has to support people with communication needs access (a) online appointment bookings and (b) other digital healthcare services.

All National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers in England are required to meet the Accessible Information Standard in order to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss. Patients are able to request general practice appointments and manage secondary care appointments through local online tools and the NHS App, which can also be accessed through a web browser. The NHS App is designed to meet international accessibility standards and the services are routinely tested with a range of people with accessibility issues. User reviews and research show the NHS App and website to be highly usable and simple to use. Local online tools must also meet minimum accessibility standards. Digital healthcare services are part of a multi-channel offering, and patients unable to use digital channels can continue to access services via telephone and through traditional face to face services. Digital services must be designed to alleviate healthcare inequalities rather than exacerbate them. Our goal is to ensure that reducing healthcare inequalities and improving digital inclusion have due focus in wider inclusive user design and delivery for all digital health products and services, including through implementation of the NHS England Digital Inclusion Framework.

Whether his Department plans to increase funding for children's mental health.

We are discussing our future investment in children and young people’s mental health services. Departmental budgets for 2025/26 will be confirmed at the next Budget on 30 October 2024.

What assessment he has made of trends in the regional variation of funding for charitable hospices.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting and hospices will have a big role to play in that shift.Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding from the National Health Service. The amount of funding charitable hospices receive varies by integrated care board (ICB) area, and will, in part, be dependent on the local population need and a system-wide approach using a range of palliative and end of life care provision within their ICB footprint.We have committed to develop a 10-year plan to deliver an NHS fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff and our stakeholders as we develop the plan.More information about how members of the public, patients, healthcare staff and stakeholder organisations can input into the 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link:http://change.nhs.uk

Whether the Government plans to replace all radiotherapy machines older than ten years.

The Government announced last week that £70million will be spent on new radiotherapy machines, which will help ensure that the most advanced treatment is available to patients who need it.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for charitable hospices.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting and hospices will have a big role to play in that shift.Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding from the National Health Service. The amount of funding charitable hospices receive varies by integrated care board (ICB) area, and will, in part, be dependent on the local population need and a system-wide approach using a range of palliative and end of life care provision within their ICB footprint.We have committed to develop a 10-year plan to deliver an NHS fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff and our stakeholders as we develop the plan.More information about how members of the public, patients, healthcare staff and stakeholder organisations can input into the 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link:http://change.nhs.uk