Contributions
5,553 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDHealth and Social CareIt is wonderful to see my hon. Friend looking so well, and I echo his thanks to our healthcare professionals for everything they do. I believe it is the fixed view of the British…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareActually in the last few years we have seen record increases in local council spending power, and we have continued to support councils throughout the pandemic. My right hon.…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareYes, we cannot simply continue to funnel huge sums into the NHS without getting the productivity gains that I know that everybody wants to see around the country. Of course, we…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareIt would be a great thing if the Labour party would support what we are doing. With the package we have brought forward, we will be able to fix that backlog even faster. If the…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CarePeople in the social care profession, overwhelmingly, are not paid by the Government as the hon. Member knows, but they are the beneficiaries of the living wage, which the…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareThe pandemic and the cost of the pandemic have impacted both our health and our social care systems. As I have tried to explain to the House today, they are intimately related.…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareNo, because obviously older people continue to pay the levy and the richest 14% pay half the cost of this transformation, and that is entirely the right thing to do.07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareThe hon. Member makes an exceptionally important point. In addition to the £6 billion that we put into supporting local government throughout the pandemic, we are putting more in…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareYes. I thank my hon. Friend for everything he does for local government. Of course we will make sure that we bring forward the White Paper, which will show how we intend to join…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareThe funding that we need on the scale that we need simply could not be raised in the way that the hon. Member describes or in the way that the Leader of the Opposition has vaguely…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareMy hon. Friend is spot on, and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will set out later how we will ensure local councils get the support that they need.07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareThe hon. Lady is completely right to draw attention to the suffering of people throughout the pandemic, particularly in care homes, including the mental stress they have suffered…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareThat was brilliantly and succinctly put. Does the SNP want the money or not? Do the people of Scotland want investment in their healthcare and social care or not? There is more…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareMy right hon. Friend makes an important point about compulsory vaccination. I believe it is the right thing, and, in the ways that I have described, we are making sure that we…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareI can certainly confirm that Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be getting an increment. There will be a Union dividend in the way that I described, but clearly it is up to…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareYes, because the burdens fall overwhelmingly on those who can best afford to pay, and the benefit for care workers is not only the increase in the living wage, but the colossal…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareWe are massively recruiting NHS staff. I think I am right in saying that, as I stand here today, there are 11,600 more nurses in the NHS than there were this time last year, and…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareAfter a long career of listening to Liberal Democrat opportunism, I do not think that I have heard anything quite so absurd. The right hon. Gentleman calls for more funding and…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareMy hon. Friend asks the question that everybody wants to be certain of. Absolutely, this is a legally hypothecated levy, but we will ensure that the funds that are fixed for…07 Sept 2021HANSARDHealth and Social CareI do not think there is anything much inherited on the left, the right or the middle of this particular trio. Again, I find it extraordinary that the Scottish nationalist party…07 Sept 2021