16/01/2017 Monday in Parliament

Hello and welcome to Monday In Parliament -

our look at the day at Westminster.

MOs from across the Commons call for action to streamline

the Health Service and Social Care in England.

The local government agree they need help. The health service agrees they

need help. But the health service and local government blame each

other. Warnings that a skills shortage

in the housing industry is leading The pressure that the trades have

had up to it means we have substandard building going on.

And, in the Lords, the Government gives assurances

workers' rights won't be damaged by Brexit.

But first, the Government's been warned by MPs on all sides

of the House of the need for better communication between the Health

Conservative backbenchers were among those who told ministers

about hospital beds being taken up and constituents finding themselves

caught between health and social care providers,

Local Government Association have been

through increasing the social care precept will not be nearly enough

to address the ?2.6 billion gap facing adult social care by 2020.

Instead of exacerbating the existing postcode lottery, will the

Secretary of State not commit to additional ring-fenced

resources into social care, to tackle this crisis?

Mr Speaker, in the last spending review,

government allocated an additional ?3.5 billion a year till 2020.

to adult social care and just a few weeks ago,

I announced additional help of ?900 million over

Now, local councils do have to play a role in this.

I note that in Sunderland the average council tax bill is down

And in Sunderland, if local councillors want to

For many of my constituents, the fundamental problem in all

too many cases is that we still we still separate health care funding

Can I, therefore, urge the Secretary of State to speed up the integration

of health and social care provision, so that we can deal

with patients' needs in the round and put those first,

Between 2010 and 2020, around ?40 million will

have been taken out the adult social care budget in Hull.

And you could see the effect of that just this weekend, when you

can see what is happening in our local NHS hospitals.

Will the minister think again and make sure

that the problems the local authorities are facing are

addressed by central government ring-fenced money?

Mr Speaker, I am sure the honourable lady would welcome

the announcement that was made a few weeks ago, which is trying to

recognise those pressures she identifies.

That is additional funding. That is on top of the ?3.5 billion.

?900 million over the next two years.

But what she rightly highlights is that this

is a situation we need to keep looking at to see what more can

Most members will have had in their constituency surgeries,

The local government agree they need help.

The health service agrees they need help.

But the health service and local government blame each other

Would it not be a good idea, on a cross-party basis,

to look at a new model for social care?

Mr Speaker, my honourable friend is right, firstly,

I have seen many situations like that in my own

He also highlights the need for all of us to

talk more about this issue and see what we can do working together.

Having spent a day with carers just before Christmas, seeing what

amazing work they do, they feel frustrated because they are

Will the minister look at what can be done for increasing funding

to social care in addition to what we already done.

And make sure that is subject to a cast-iron ring fence, to ensure

the money goes where it is needed most.

Mr Speaker, I can assure my honourable friend that we will

continue to look at the resources applied to adult social care, both

from local councils and from central government, to make sure they

Also, we will continue to push the case for reform, to also

make sure all councils realise there is more more that can be done

The House of Commons library figures show that, in

the period from November 2013 to November 2016,

instances of bed blocking where social care was solely

In the 12 months to November 2016, bed

Does the minister recognise that the precept

package brought forward by the government in December is

insufficient to solve the crisis in our social care system and is

putting further pressure on our already-stretched NHS?

Mr Speaker, for the Minister recognises is that

the additional funding announced in December will make a

There is ?240 million additional coming in from the

There is an additional ?600 million - it is new money.

An additional ?600 million coming in from the precept changes.

When it comes to using that money, we all want to see a reduction

She will be aware of big differences between local

councils in delayed transfers of care and I think some councils can

The Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid.

The author of a report into the construction industry

says a shortage of skills is leading to sub-standard building.

Mark Farmer was one of the witnesses giving evidence

to MPs on the Communities and Local Government committee

He said the industry was going to have to do more with less -

What we have in construction is an ageing workforce.

One of the most advanced, in terms of age, of all the

What that suggests, based on census data

and looking at the level of new entry into the industry, that we are

going to lose 20-25% of our workforce over the next decade.

With Brexit overlaid on that, whether it is a

hard or soft Brexit - there are variations on the theme -

but it is undoubtedly going to add more pressure to that.

I could easily see a situation where we are moving towards a

situation where about one-third of our workforce is lost over

Mark Farmer said it was partly skills and training,

It is massively important that we get it into

schools earlier and to influence thinking.

To change their perception perception of the

My view is that you have to do the innovation piece first

and profile what skills we need in the future.

I think for us to have a more productive modern industry, it is a

mixture of traditional site-based working -

Artisan, Biblical skills, whatever you want to call it -

alongside approaches which may be factory-based, maybe hybrid.

Then, you stand more chance of attracting youngsters.

The youngsters are wanting something more around

the 21st century, not something from the Dark Ages and,

unfortunately, part of our industry still has that stigma

attached to them, rightly or wrongly.

We need to move the dial towards creating a different offer.

But in doing that, not only are we increasing the productivity

of being able to to do more with less -

it is an absolute certainty that that is what we are going

to have to do to stand more chance of

increasing new entrants into into the industry,

because it is more attractive to them, in terms of

They are not necessarily working on a cold and wet building site.

or carpenter, they could do it in a factory.

The committee wanted to know what impact Brexit may have. It will have

a big impact. Over the last few months, the value of the currency a

lot of foreign workforce are taking home is not as big. That is having

an impact. In London, 40 to 50% of the workforce is fallen. That is

about ten to 15% in other parts of the country. Attention how many

houses would have to be built. I do not think it is a matter of

political debate. It is a case of seeing, we need to do it. Is there

encouragement and stability to the industry for doing it. What has been

missing from the market is simply buying rented homes. You have had

between 15 and 25,000 purchased by associations. And shared ownership.

But since we have stopped building these forms, the market has not

worked. That is when it stops functioning. When we stop building.

In the last week two, quite unknown well-known house-builder had

problems with regard to property and this growing feeling that

traditional building in the house-building world is not

delivering the quality that is expected, in terms of the legacy of

defects. We are on the tip of the a spare the. The tradition and trades

are coming under very pressure -- a lot of pressure and we are building

a legacy issue downstream of defects and other issues which could be

serious. I do not want to over generalise. Most of the people are

very well trained and very complement -- competent, but that

has been diluted. The competence levels are not as high as the rear.

It needs to be of solutions, such as quality control.

Now, the case of Noel Conway, a terminally ill patient who wants

the right to end his life, was raised in the House of Lords.

who is chair of the pressure group Dignity in Dying,

asked if the Government might consider changing the law.

Lord Keen of Elie said this would be a conscience

vote for individual MPs, who had rejected a change

The short answer to the question is no. Like previous governments, we

have always made clear that this was a matter for Parliament, not

government. The other house consider the bill in 2015, but rejected it by

330-118. I thank the Minister for that reply. There has never been a

government supported Bill with relation to assisted dying. He will

be aware of Noel Conway who is taking this challenge to the High

Court. He thinks his individual human race have been breached when

the pain becomes unbearable. Does the Minister agree that 86% of

disabled people support Noel Conway and want a change in the law so that

when the town comes to face their own death, they can live there last

month 's safe in the knowledge that if they are suffering becomes

unbearable level of professional help to end it. Can we seek an

ethical bill on these lanes in the future. It remains the government

view that any change to the law is an issue for individual conscience

and a matter for Parliament rather than one of government policy. I am

aware of the case of Noel Conway. As it is no court, it would not be

appropriate for me to comment on that case.

But a former President and current patron

of the Royal College of Surgeons sounded a note of caution.

Should it ever be considered again, the medical profession has to be

excluded. They will not want to be associated with the taking of life.

They are there to save lives. Pilot is possible there are those who meet

volunteers to undertake the task, it is important and should not be

legislated because the majority of them would even be legislated to

undertake the south that was the case. I hear what he is seeing and

understand his reasoning behind his observations. I can only rephrase

that this government does not intend to legislate in respect of this

matter. Do not like this matter, give people the opportunity to make

this important decision about how they die.

Again, I can understand the noble lord's interest and concern in

respect of this matter. I will observe that Parliament has twice

addressed this issue in the recent past and has determined not to make

commitments to the suicide act. It is not supported by one single

organisation for people with progressive conditions. The very

people who would be the main beneficiaries of assisted buying.

Growing numbers of disabled people in their organisations are

campaigning against such a Bill because they feel it is desperately

unsafe. The CPS that that this in February

2010 and again in 2014. I understand the reluctance to change particular

legislation, may I ask whether the minister in consultation with his

colleagues and the CPS would consider whether reforms are

necessary with regard to CPS policy on assisted dying? My Lords, the

matter is CPS policy must be left to the CPS to determine independently

of Parliament. It is not for government to dictate what that

policy should be. It is regularly reviewed and I can say that, for

example, in the period from 2090 2016 -- 2009 two 2016. Many cases

were not proceeded with in the case of the prosecution.

You're watching Monday in Parliament.

The Government has been pressed by its own back benchers

to speed up efforts to reform health and social care.

The biggest threat to safety on the railways is terrorism,

according to the deputy chief constable

He told MPs on the Transport Committee the danger

was unpredictable, but there were others too.

The challenge from protecting the network that is wide and open, and

the risks being so I'm predictable, that is the greatest level of

concern. We have seen that recently in North Greenwich. It is a real

threat that we have to counter. In terms of more traditional crime,

protecting vulnerable people, I know it was a theme of the previous

committee, but focusing on effort and those people in crisis or at

risk on the network and then can be fun aboard the crime is where we are

putting our effort. Those types of offences that really cause people

the most physical harm and impact on the confidence to travel, so

predatory sex offending, levels of violence, particularly where that

affects railway workers. We have is seen across Europe recently

terrorist attacks involving domestic vehicles. We have seen trucks and

lorries. The biggest thing that concerns me is level crossings. We

have traced that carry up to 1000 people at peak times that are

hurtling at huge speeds with level crossings where we have flimsy

barriers. That is a major concern as far as I'm concerned. From your

perspective, what can be done to mitigate the risk but what training

is being provided to those in the control centre to try and spot some

of the signs that may be able to stop such an attack happening in

future? Absolutely. I wish it was an easy one to answer because it is

often described as Martini terrorism, because it can happen at

any place at any time. We cannot predict, as you will be familiar

with. Having an open network in the way we do and the way our running

lines cross a small country, it opens up those wonderful points. We

do a lot around level crossings. We have a large number of Network Rail

funded mobile safety vehicles that can allow us to target different

hotspots or risk locations so that we can put those preventative and

disruptive mitigations in, not just for terrorism but for trespassing

and people who are offending by not abiding by crossings. There is an

increase in sexual offences, is that people feeling more confidence or

more actual offences? How can we tell which it was? This is where we

were out of kilter with other police forces. We have recorded a greater

increase in sexual offending, and that you are right to suggest there

is a greater confidence in victims to tell us. We actively promoted our

interests and concerns. We had a number of significant initiatives in

the last two years. Worst of all, in London, there was project Guardian,

which is a collaboration. It encourages people who feel

accountable about behaviour on the Tube. That morphed into a national

campaign. If I give you a brief example, why is that important?

Quite another of the victims who converted us said, I experience this

in our journey, I don't want you to do anything further, but I want you

to know it happened. For a variety of reasons, they want to take that

approach. Using that data, we were able to analyse trends. We saw that

there was a spike in indecent assaults, touching, on a Tube line.

We were able to put undercover officers on that line and they saw

an offender who use the busy service and the nurturing of the train to

bump into people. Those victims did not know they had been victims, but

watching his behaviour and seeing him do that three or four times in a

row without getting off the service and allowed us to intervene and

arrest him. that Theresa May will signal

a so-called "hard Brexit", the European single

market and customs union. The prospect of leaving

the single market has prompted

concerns from trades unions that workers' rights

could be undermined. But the Business Minister,

Lord Prior, sought to lay

those worries to rest. We do not need to be part of an EU

single market to have strong protections for workers' rights. The

Government will not roll back EU rights in the work ways or the

workers' rights that are enjoyed, they will be brought across into UK

law. I think he has indeed touched on this, would he go one step

further and reassure the House and indeed the TUC that all the

directives contained and that are relevant be contained in the great

repeal Bill? The prime and Esther has said that under this government

we will see workers' rights not eroded and not just protected but

enhanced. The commitment of this government is clear. Obviously, for

subsequent parliaments, as we we gain sovereignty over these issues,

it will be up to individual parliaments to make those decisions.

It is a sad day when the TUC no longer has faith in the Labour

Party, the Liberal Party and this British Parliament to defend the

rights of British workers. Is it not the case that workers enjoy rights

far beyond the EU directives, especially with regard to maternity?

For workers' rights enshrined in EU law will be transferred into UK law.

But then it was added, where practical. Could the minister tell

us which workers' rights cannot be practically transferred into UK law?

I can't think of any rights that would fall into the lot practical

area. The prime and Esther went further than that. She is committed

and our whole industrial strategy is committed to bringing decent, well

paid skilled jobs to Britain. It's not often that a piece

of legislation is thought capable of helping to heal

"divisions in society". But that's what

the Labour MP Jon Cruddas thinks about the National

Citizen Service Bill. The National Citizen Service -

or NCS - was set up six years ago to give teenagers the chance

to do community work on residential

trips away from home. The Bill would give the service

a permanent legal standing. It really focuses on how we live

together. There is no more important issue addressing the country. How do

we create a nation at ease with itself and foster a notion of

service to others amongst our young people? Obviously, this is vital

given the divisions in our society, so clearly exposed around last year

around class, race geography and religion. These tensions might

continue to escalate. The suggest a brittle country. Resolving this and

healing division will indeed take time, but this Bill will help.

A Conservative, James Berry, said the citizen service

had many of the hallmarks of National Service,

recalling the words of his father who did his national service

in the 1950s with the Royal Marines and the Durham Light Infantry.

He always would tell me what a great social leveller their National

Service was, because in basic training you could be there in a

dorm with people from Eton, with stockbrokers, Alec Trish and is,

people from all different walks of life. Every conceivable background,

but any pre-existing airs and graces would be squashed by a diet of

exercise, hard work, learning new skills and having to live, eat,

sleep and work, do everything together as a team. I want won to

give young people an appetite for service, for opportunities and try

new things. Our vision is for NCS to be a common experience for all.

Scouts, cadets, people familiar with service in the same team, sharing

their expertise with people who have never done anything like this

before. NCS sees people with different background, faiths,

interests coming together at a formative age and learning the

impact they can have on the community around them.

With wide support across the parties,

the Bill was approved without a vote.

Alicia McCarthy is here for the rest of the week,