Summary

  • Work and Pensions Committee looks into modern slavery

  • Lords committee looks at UK-EU movement of people

  • Commons day starts with International Development questions

  • PMQs at noon

  • Urgent question on Green Investment Bank

  • Opposition day debate on NHS and social care funding

  • Peers kick off at 3pm with questions to ministers

  • Main business in Lords is Higher Education and Research Bill

  1. NHS chief contradicts May over spendingpublished at 19:12 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    Simon Stevens dismisses government claims the NHS is getting "more" money than asked for.

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  2. MPs vote on the NHS and social carepublished at 19:07 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    House of Commons

    The debate concludes and MPs now vote on the Labour motion:

    Quote Message

    That this House supports NHS England’s four-hour standard, which sets out that a minimum of 95% of all patients to A&E will be treated within four hours; notes the widespread public and medical professional support for this standard; further notes that £4.6bn has been cut from the social care budget since 2010 and that NHS funding will fall per head of population in 2018-19 and 2019-20; and calls on the government to bring forward extra funding now for social care to help hospitals cope this winter, and to pledge a new improved funding settlement for the NHS and social care in the March 2017 Budget."

  3. Minister: More funding is Labour's only answerpublished at 19:03 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    NHS and social care debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Philip Dunne

    Health Minister Philip Dunne accuses the opposition of failing to provide solutions during the course of the five and a half hour debate.

    He says Labour MPs "once again touted more funding as their only answer to public sector challenges". 

    He also accuses MPs of "misrepresenting" what the health secretary said on four hour targets.

  4. 'We got less than we asked for'published at 18:58 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    NHS and social care debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Barbara Keeley

    Shadow health minister Barbara Keeley now responds to the debate.

    She notes that, in the course of the debate, Conservative MPs have quoted Simon Stevens in support of their claims on NHS funding.

    "I would like to update them" she says.

    She quotes Simon Stevens from the committee hearing this afternoon - "We got less than we asked for. The government is stretching it to claim the NHS got more."

  5. Oxford academics warning of Brexit 'disaster'published at 18:49 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    A "hard Brexit" would be the "biggest disaster" to have hit the UK's universities for many years, a university head told MPs.

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  6. UK universities are a 'soft power' assetpublished at 18:32 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    Higher Education and Research Bill

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    Peers are now debating amendments relating to the position of international students in the UK.

    Conservative peer Lord Lucas calls for the university sector to gather data on the financial contribution of overseas students.

    Lib Dem peer Baroness Garden of Frognal says foreign students should be removed from the immigration statistics.

    Crossbench peer Lord Bilimoria says British universities are the country's "greatest soft power" internationally.

    He says government statements on international students have damaged the UK's reputation abroad.

    Labour peer Lord Puttnam says he is "ashamed" of having to explain the UK's attitude to overseas students when on trade missions in parts of Asia.

  7. 'Ingrowing toe nails'published at 18:31 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    NHS and social care debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Conservative Jo Churchill tells MPs that some A&Es have had people coming in with "ingrowing toe nails and dry skin complaints".

    She says NHS leaders need to make sure resources are used effectively.

    It is not just about money, she says, but the "allocation of money" and "good leadership".

  8. Self diagnosis could lead to 'disastrous consequences'published at 18:30 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    NHS and social care debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Rosena Allin-Khan

    Labour's Dr Rosena Allin-Khan attacks the Health Secretary for suggesting that people with non-urgent conditions should consider not going to A&E.

    She says she has treated patients whose seemingly minor injuries developed into life-threatening issues.

    She warns that telling people to self-diagnose could have "disastrous consequences - for which he would be responsible".

  9. Call to report on quality, not just financespublished at 18:17 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    Higher Education and Research Bill

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    Lord Sutherland

    Crossbencher Lord Sutherland is speaking on his amendment seeking to require the Office for Students to produce an annual report detailing their decisions on the registration and de-registration of institutions and on the operation of the Quality Assessment Committee.

    Lord Sutherland says he wants the annual report of the OfS to be about quality, "not just balancing the books".

  10. Proposal for regulators to work togetherpublished at 17:57 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    Higher Education and Research Bill

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    As well as creating a new regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), the bill creates a new research body: UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

    The new body brings together seven research councils, Innovate UK, which offers innovation grants for businesses, and a new body called Research England.

    Labour has proposed that the OfS and UKRI form a joint committee which would report on "the health of the higher education sector" and the state of research funding.

    The committee's reports would be made available to the government and both Houses of Parliament.

    Higher education spokesman Viscount Younger promises that ministers will "reflect carefully" on proposals for "joint responsibilities".

  11. More work needed to collect delayed discharge datapublished at 17:48 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    Public Accounts Committee

    Select Committee
    Parliament

    The final set of questions from the committee are following up on proposals to measure the rates of delayed discharge from hospital.

    Mr Stevens says the current system of measurement is overly complex and a simpler model is being worked on.

    Ms Hillier says the committee isn't seeking to add to the NHS's burdens but that delayed discharge costs money and hurts individual patients.

    Chris Wormald reiterates that some "technical work" is required to find the least burdensome way to gather that data.

  12. Minister hints at £1,000 fee for EU staffpublished at 17:47 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    No 10 says Robert Goodwill's comments about a possible levy on EU workers were "misinterpreted".

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  13. Lamb: Mental health access standards are neededpublished at 17:47 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    NHS and social care debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Norman Lamb

    Lib Dem MP and former care minister Norman Lamb applauds the Labour government for introducing access standards and regrets that they didn't introduce similar standards for someone with mental health.

    He calls on the government to now implement such standards. How can we accept that someone with mental health problems shouldn't have access to timely treatment? he asks.

    He also repeats a call he made earlier today at PMQs for the establishment of an NHS and care convention to find a funding solution.

    We can trade insults across the chamber, he says, but we all know the system is under "unsustainable pressure".

  14. 'The NHS is at breaking point': Nurses share their experiencespublished at 17:46 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    Nurses share their experiences of being overworked, understaffed and under huge pressure.

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  15. Debate on 'fair access' for studentspublished at 17:32 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    Higher Education and Research Bill

    House of Lords
    Parliament

    The bill creates a single entry system for higher education providers and the existing access regulator, the Office for Fair Access (Offa), will be merged into the new regulator, the Office for Students.

    A Labour amendment would require that the "director for fair access and participation is responsible for all of the access and participation functions of the OfS". At present, the director's work is supported by Offa.

    Responding to an earlier criticism from his Labour opposite number, the government's Viscount Younger insists that he is listening "very closely and carefully" to the points raised by peers.

    Labour's Lord Stevenson withdraws his amendment for now.

  16. How will Brexit affect the NHS?published at 17:29 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    Public Accounts Committee

    Select Committee
    Parliament

    Philip Boswell

    The SNP's Philip Boswell has a couple of questions on the impact of Brexit on the NHS.

    He asks what are the panel's main concerns in the event of a "hard Brexit" in 2019.

    Chris Wormald, permanent secretary to the Department of Health, says Brexit does not "dominate" business for them, but their main areas of concern are the workforce, drug regulation and mutual schemes such as the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).

    Simon Stevens says the UK is in a "good" position as the average age of doctors is lower, giving time to train more British medics should it become harder to recruit overseas doctors.

  17. 'Not a new problem'published at 17:29 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    NHS and social care debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Paula Sherriff

    Labour MP Paula Sherriff wonders when Conservative MPs were last at an NHS hospital.

    Conservative MP and nurse Maria Caulfield is next to speak. She says she was last in a hospital on a night shift at the weekend.

    She tells Labour MPs that it is "outrageous" to suggest that the current problems are something new.

    She recalls her working conditions under a Labour government when she says managers were "so fixated" on targets that patients were not treated according to need.

    Maria Caulfield
  18. 'Huge' reductions in agency staff spendingpublished at 17:28 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    Public Accounts Committee

    Select Committee
    Parliament

    Meg Hillier asks if agency costs will be reduced.

    Jim Mackey says "huge results" have been achieved in reducing agency costs, although the pressures of recent weeks will cause a spike in spending on agency staff.

    He says NHS Improvement is in discussion with the Royal College of Nursing on transferring agency staff from temporary employment onto NHS staff contracts.

  19. Smith: Labour offered no policies on NHSpublished at 17:26 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    NHS and social care debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Henry SmithImage source, BB

    Conservative MP Henry Smith urges MPs to remember that when the NHS asked for an additional £8bn the Conservative government provided £10bn.

    He says the "significance" of this is "often dismissed" by Labour.

    He accuses the shadow health secretary of failing to come up with a single policy suggestion.

  20. Lack of transparency over shared development planspublished at 17:26 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017

    Public Accounts Committee

    Select Committee
    Parliament

    Committee chair Meg Hillier asks the panel how the chairpersons or conveners of the shared development plans are appointed.

    Simon Stevens says its been an "informal" process; he says conveners will be paid but their roles are time-limited.

    Ms Hillier says it is "not transparent" as to how plans were drawn up and the activities of conveners.

    She says the NHS is, in effect, setting up new bodies piecemeal.  

    Mr Stevens denies this, saying different teams will be brought together to address different parts of the plan.

    "These are not statutory organisations," he says.