Speeches by McIntyre.

“Sonah, I want to come back to something you said. You do not have to answer this question if you do not feel comfortable, but you said you have your suspicions about why things have not happened. Does that align with what Shanthi just said? Do you think that might be part of the issue?”

“It was about the differences in how people had been treated and you had your suspicions, and you referred it back to medical professionals as to why they might deal with certain groups differently. It was Beccy’s question about pre‑existing conditions, and diabetes was the example you gave. You do not have to answer th…”

“We have also talked about the pilot you have run in Bristol. Are you aware of any other policy initiatives or programmes that are out there that enable communities to provide culturally competent care?”

“Opening up that question to the rest of the panel, is anyone else aware of particular areas?”

“It is hard to deliver systemic change.”

“In their Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the Government propose a single unique identifier for children. The intention is to be able to share information better between different agencies. Do you think that will enable better joined-up care and promote the improved outcomes we are hoping for?”

“You segued quite well to my next question, which is about the digital red book. You said that would be your No. 1 priority. What needs to be done to deliver it?”

“You mentioned having the early health checks, and I remember vividly—it was only two years ago—doing ours with our little boy. I was very motivated to go to the first one, but that is a function of the health service and the wider health system. How do we better join up the services being provided by family hubs with t…”

“You mentioned Hull and Hillingdon. What are the key factors that make them so successful in your view? How can we make sure that we are taking the best from them to the rest of the country?”

“A final question from me and then I will hand back to the Chair. My colleague Josh Fenton-Glynn tried to ask this question a couple of times and you gave new MPs a brilliant example of how not to answer a difficult question when quizzed by a Committee. You are clearly very passionate about this area and about Sure Star…”

“Thank you for your answers so far, Dame Andrea. Building on Danny’s questions, we have spoken about the consistency that family hubs provide, and about having a consistent model where you can go in and know the services that you will be able to get there. What evidence is there that they can also respond to different l…”

“Secretary of State, several times today you have mentioned that there is a lot of duplication. What exactly is duplicated between the Department and NHS England?”

“Finally from me, I appreciate that you will not be able to comment specifically, given that consultations will be ongoing, and I would not want to prejudice any of them. However, we saw reports at the weekend that the redundancies and the packages that might have to be paid to staff may end up costing the Department up…”

“It is reassuring to hear that the savings will be making their way to the frontline. Two questions follow from that. First, the hundreds of millions is a relatively small percentage of the overall spend of the Department. What impact do you think the savings will have on the frontline? I am the MP for Gloucester. When …”

“In the sense of opportunity costs or the fact that you have people man-marking instead of doing.”

“You have pre-empted my next question. It is a perfect segue. You have said that the savings will run into the hundreds of millions. Presumably, some of that is from removing some of the duplication directly. What are the other costs to the taxpayer in how the Department and NHS England are structured?”

“So, it is a direction of travel rather than a hard and fast target?”

“A number has been bandied around of a 50% reduction in workforce. How has that number been calculated?”

“Why do you think the duplication has been allowed to happen, historically?”

“I thank the Minister for his statement and for the update on the redress scheme for victims of the Horizon scandal. I also thank him for listening to my campaign to save the Kings Square post office in Gloucester and for maintaining so many vital services for Gloucester residents with today’s announcement that they wil…”