Written questions by Whately.

What steps he is taking to help ensure ambulances are not delayed outside hospitals waiting to hand over patients.

The Government has committed to supporting the National Health Service to improve performance and achieve the standards set out in the NHS Constitution, including ambulance response times.As a first step, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care appointed Professor Lord Darzi to lead an independent investigation of the NHS’ performance. The investigation’s findings were published on 12 September 2024 and will feed into the Government’s work on a 10-Year Health Plan to radically reform the NHS and build a health service that is fit for the future.Ahead of this winter, NHS England has set out the priorities for the NHS to maintain and improve patient safety and experience, including actions to support patient flow and ensure ambulances are released in a timely way. NHS England’s winter letter is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/winter-and-h2-priorities/

If she will make an estimate of the number of households that will be affected by the proposed change to the eligibility criteria for Winter Fuel Payments in (a) Faversham and Mid Kent constituency and (b) Kent.

It is estimated that around 12,400 households in Faversham and Mid Kent Constituency (2024 boundaries) and around 218,500 households in Kent (comprised of the following constituencies, 2024 boundaries: Ashford, Canterbury, Chatham and Aylesford, Dartford, Dover and Deal, East Thanet, Faversham and Mid Kent, Folkestone and Hythe, Gillingham and Rainham, Gravesham, Herne Bay and Sandwich, Maidstone and Malling, Rochester and Strood, Sevenoaks, Sittingbourne and Sheppey, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Weald of Kent) will be affected by the decision to amend the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment. This is based on February 2024 Pension Credit statistics which are available via DWP Stat-Xplore and the Winter Fuel Payment statistics for winter 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). This estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of people claiming Pension Credit in each respective constituency from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients in the same constituency. It is possible to use the Pension Credit statistics, to give a minimum estimate of the number who may be eligible for Winter Fuel Payments. Therefore, the above estimation is essentially the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients who are not claiming Pension Credit pre-policy change, as an estimate of those who will no longer receive the Winter Fuel Payment. Please note that the above estimation would not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up that we might see as a result of the Government’s Pension Credit Awareness Campaign. We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies. The published Pension Credit figures refer to households, so the number of individuals in respect of whom Pension Credit is paid will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where a claimant has a partner and / or dependents). In addition, while Pension Credit claimants constitute the majority of those that will be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, pensioners who claim other qualifying means-tested benefits will also be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment. It is not, however, possible to include those on other qualifying means-tested benefits in these figures.

What steps he is taking to help extend access to virtual wards to (a) avoid admission to hospital and (b) speed up discharge.

We are continuing to expand services to treat patients outside of hospitals when they have urgent needs, helping to prevent avoidable hospital admissions and speed up discharges. This includes using virtual wards which have benefited more than 240,000 people across the country so far. The expansion of these innovative services is allowing people to get the specialist care they need safely, and in the comfort of familiar surroundings.A new virtual wards operational framework by NHS England sets out the further action being taken to improve access to virtual wards. The framework is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/virtual-wards-operational-framework/

Whether his Department is taking steps to develop new qualifications for care workers.

We are committed to supporting a professional, well-supported social care workforce. On 6 September 2024, the Department launched the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme, which allows eligible employers to claim for funding for certain training courses and qualifications on behalf of eligible care staff. Over 150 courses and qualifications are eligible for funding from this scheme, including the new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate qualification. We will continue to work with the adult social care sector and representative organisations to monitor the impact of the funding under the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme.Furthermore, we are working with care workers and employers to develop the next part of the Care Workforce Pathway, the new national career structure for adult social care, which we will publish in due course.

If he will take steps to increase the financial support available to care workers who are seeking to gain new qualifications.

We are committed to supporting a professional, well-supported social care workforce. On 6 September 2024, the Department launched the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme, which allows eligible employers to claim for funding for certain training courses and qualifications on behalf of eligible care staff. Over 150 courses and qualifications are eligible for funding from this scheme, including the new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate qualification. We will continue to work with the adult social care sector and representative organisations to monitor the impact of the funding under the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme.Furthermore, we are working with care workers and employers to develop the next part of the Care Workforce Pathway, the new national career structure for adult social care, which we will publish in due course.

What steps he is taking to help develop a career path for care workers.

We are committed to supporting a professional, well-supported social care workforce. On 6 September 2024, the Department launched the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme, which allows eligible employers to claim for funding for certain training courses and qualifications on behalf of eligible care staff. Over 150 courses and qualifications are eligible for funding from this scheme, including the new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate qualification. We will continue to work with the adult social care sector and representative organisations to monitor the impact of the funding under the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme.Furthermore, we are working with care workers and employers to develop the next part of the Care Workforce Pathway, the new national career structure for adult social care, which we will publish in due course.

If he will take steps to increase transparency to the public accessing of data on palliative care commissioned by local ICBs.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to end of life. Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications, which are respectively available at the following two links:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/palliative-and-end-of-life-care-statutory-guidance-for-integrated-care-boards-icbs/https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/service-specifications-for-palliative-and-end-of-life-care-children-and-young-people-cyp/There is data available from National Health Service bodies to support local quality monitoring, most notably local palliative and end-of-life care profiles, through the data service Fingertips, and other guidance, analyses, and bulletins issued by the National End of Life Care Intelligence Network of the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, within the Department. Further information on local palliative and end-of-life care profiles through the Fingertips data service is available at the following link:https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/end-of-life#page/4/gid/1938133060/pat/159/par/K02000001/ati/15/are/E92000001/iid/92489/age/162/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1/page-options/car-ao-1_car-do-0_tre-do-1Additionally, the Care Quality Commission publishes ratings for the quality of end-of-life care in hospitals and hospices, and has carried out national reviews. Where people die in acute, community, or mental health hospitals, the National Audit of Care at the End of Life monitors standards related to the quality of the end-of-life care provided.Furthermore, NHS England has developed a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence. Access to the platform is available to anyone with an NHS.net email account.I recently met with NHS England and discussions have begun on how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to, and the quality of, palliative and end of life care.  We will consider next steps on palliative and end of life care in the coming months.

What steps she is taking to improve support to young carers in schools.

The government is committed to helping children and young people, including young carers, thrive and wants the best for every child and family. This department, the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England work closely together, along with other government departments and key stakeholders, to ensure support is provided for young carers across all aspects of their wellbeing, education and development and are currently giving careful consideration to the recently published report by the Carer’s Trust: ‘Caring and classes: the education gap for young carers’. This report can be accessed here: https://carers.org/downloads/young-carers-in-education-reportfinal.pdf.Young carers as a specific group within the education system were added to the school census in the 2022/23 academic year. Ofsted has committed to developing and consulting upon a revised schools’ inspection framework for September 2025. This will support the new school report card, which will also be in place from that time. A consultation on the framework and report card is scheduled to launch early in the new year.The department and Ofsted are engaging closely to take this forward and will consider how schools are to be assessed in the future in terms of their contribution to inclusion, bearing in mind the government’s mission to ensure that all children, including young carers, can achieve and thrive at school.The Children’s Social Care National Framework, issued in December 2023, is statutory guidance for local authorities. It provides clarity on the outcomes that leaders and practitioners should achieve when supporting children, young people, and families, including young carers. Safeguarding partners, and other relevant agencies including education, should read and engage with the National Framework as they have an important role in supporting positive outcomes and improving access to opportunities.The department is clear that everyone working within children’s social care should use the National Framework to understand how they can improve the outcomes and breakdown barriers for opportunity for children, young people, and families. Specific expectations have been included in the framework for practice for senior leaders, practice supervisors and practitioners to draw on the range of expertise from virtual school heads, designated safeguarding leads or designated teachers when providing help to children, young people and families, including young carers.

What estimate she has made of Network Rail's potential loss of revenue from disabling the advertising board at London Euston station this financial year.

The use of the advertising screen at Euston Station is under review with various options being considered. The potential loss of revenue is commercially confidential.

What discussions Network Rail has had with JC Decaux on the potential costs of turning off their advertising hoardings at Euston Station.

As key partners, Network Rail speaks with JCDecaux on commercial matters across its railway estate on a weekly basis, or sometimes even more frequently. The loss of revenue is being borne by Network Rail. Network Rail are unable to comment on the financial impact on JCDecaux as the terms of the agreement are commercially sensitive.