John McDonnell

DWP does not collect or record the cause of a customer’s death and will not usually be made aware of how a customer died. Cause of death is determined by a doctor or a coroner. There is no requirement for a Coroner to inform the department of the outcome of an inquest unless they are named as an Interested Person at that inquest - or the coroner decides to issue a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the department. This means the department is not able to collect the information suggested.

Attempted suicides and suicides are tragic and complex issues. The department takes very seriously any suggestion that its actions, including any related to the fitness for work test, may have contributed to one. Where appropriate the department will undertake an Internal Process Review to establish if anything should have been done differently or if there are any lessons the department can learn.

Thematic learning from these serious cases is fed into the departments Serious Case Panel, which has an external chair, and considers a range of evidence from across the department. We are looking at ways to increase the amount of information made public about the work of the Serious Case Panel without jeopardising the privacy of the customers whose cases have been reviewed.

The Department does not routinely capture data aligned to a 6-week clearance rate. However, we do capture data against a 50-day clearance rate and our performance is published in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Of 248,000 Pension Credit claims cleared in performance year 2023/24. 192,000 were cleared within the planned 50-day timescale, equating to 77.7%. 56,000, 22.3% were cleared outside of the of the 10-week planned timescale.

Getting people into work and helping them to progress at work is central to growing the economy. As part of our growth mission, the Government will produce a Get Britain Working White Paper, to set out the policy framework for delivering on our manifesto commitments.

The latest available take-up estimates Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial yearending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) cover the financial year 2021/2022 and suggest an overall Pension Credit take-up rate of 63%. The next take-up estimates covering the financial year 2022/2023 are due to be published in October.

This Government is committed to pensioners – everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement.

Given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control.

Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged over 80.

We know there are low-income pensioners who aren’t claiming Pension Credit, and we urge those people to apply. This will passport them to receive Winter Fuel Allowance alongside other benefits – hundreds of pounds that could really help them. We will ensure that the poorest pensioners get the support they need.

Our continued commitment to the triple lock means the full new state pension is forecast to increase by a further £1,700 over the course of the parliament.

We are also providing support through our Warm Homes Plan which pensioners will benefit from. This will support investment in insulation and low carbon heating – upgrading millions of homes over this Parliament. Our long-term plan will protect billpayers permanently, reduce fuel poverty, and get the UK back on track to meet our climate goals.

The Government is committed to a preventative approach to public health. Keeping people warm and well at home and improving the quality of new and existing homes will play an essential part in enabling people to live longer, healthier lives and reducing pressures on the NHS.

In making a decision on Winter Fuel Payment eligibility, the government had regard to the equality analysis in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements.

The Regulations entered into force on 16 September, the first day of the Winter Fuel Payment qualifying week.

A regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this legislation because the effect is on individuals and private households rather than businesses or voluntary sector organisations.

In making a decision on Winter Fuel Payment eligibility, the Government had regard to an equality analysis in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements. The equality analysis was published on Friday 13th September, and can be found here: FOI2024_65546_13_09_24.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk).

Codes are created for SNOMED CT by one of the following organisations:

- UK National Release Centre (NRC), hosted by the Technology and Information Standards (TIS) group in NHS England;

- SNOMED International, a not-for-profit organisation that owns, administers and develops SNOMED CT;

- any other NRC in any other SNOMED CT member country.

All requests made to NHS England must be compliant with the Editorial Policy and are processed in accordance with the SNOMED CT UK Edition Governance and Change Request Process. Concepts are added or changed in SNOMED CT by NHS England terminologists in line with International and UK Editorial Principles as defined by SNOMED International at the recommendation of international clinical advisory groups. The authoring process includes a technical quality assurance and peer review. Once the authoring process has been completed and quality assured, the files are published on the Terminology Reference data Update Distribution website.

There is currently a code in SNOMED CT for myalgic encephalomyelitis. The Fully Specified Name (FSN) is ‘Chronic fatigue syndrome (disorder)’. The FSN for a code is not intended for use by a clinician. Instead, a clinician is expected to make use of the synonyms for the code, which include myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Clinical systems usually display a ‘preferred term’, deemed to be the most clinically appropriate way of expressing a concept. The preferred term for the code ‘Chronic fatigue syndrome (disorder)’ is ‘Chronic fatigue syndrome’.

NHS England is reviewing the preferred term to align it with the current most clinically appropriate term for the UK, with the preferred term ‘ME/CFS - myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome’ being considered.

The Department funds research in health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC) are committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences, and treatment of long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and are actively exploring next steps for research in these areas. This includes a roundtable I hosted on long COVID on 17 October 2024, which included discussion on how long COVID research is relevant to other post-viral syndromes and how to stimulate the research community to undertake future research.

Over the last five years, the NIHR has invested almost £2.3 million in research programme funding for ME/CFS. In addition, the NIHR and the MRC are also providing £3.2 million of co-funding towards the DecodeME study, which aims to understand if there is a genetic component to the condition, and in doing so increase our understanding of ME/CFS to support the development of diagnostic tests and targeted treatments.

In the same period, the Government, through the NIHR and the MRC, has invested over £57 million in long COVID research, with almost £40 million of this through two specific research calls on long COVID. The NIHR specifically has invested £42.7 million towards research funding for long COVID. The projects funded aim to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate clinical care.

The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health including ME/CFS and long COVID. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. In all areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.

Publishing the consultation response and delivery plan for ME/CFS is a key priority for me.

The Department funds research in health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC) are committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences, and treatment of long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and are actively exploring next steps for research in these areas. This includes a roundtable I hosted on long COVID on 17 October 2024, which included discussion on how long COVID research is relevant to other post-viral syndromes and how to stimulate the research community to undertake future research.

Over the last five years, the NIHR has invested almost £2.3 million in research programme funding for ME/CFS. In addition, the NIHR and the MRC are also providing £3.2 million of co-funding towards the DecodeME study, which aims to understand if there is a genetic component to the condition, and in doing so increase our understanding of ME/CFS to support the development of diagnostic tests and targeted treatments.

In the same period, the Government, through the NIHR and the MRC, has invested over £57 million in long COVID research, with almost £40 million of this through two specific research calls on long COVID. The NIHR specifically has invested £42.7 million towards research funding for long COVID. The projects funded aim to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate clinical care.

The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health including ME/CFS and long COVID. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. In all areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.

Publishing the consultation response and delivery plan for ME/CFS is a key priority for me.

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. We will develop the role of neighbourhood health services to support children and young people in accessing high-quality holistic physical and mental health care in the community.

As part of the Government’s five long-term missions, we will launch a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the National Health Service, and make it fit for the future. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed: moving healthcare from hospital to the community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention.

A core part of the development of the 10-Year Health Plan will be an extensive engagement exercise with the public, staff, stakeholders, including the Royal Colleges and others across the child health sector. Further details on how to get involved will be set out in the coming weeks.

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. We will develop the role of neighbourhood health services to support children and young people in accessing high-quality holistic physical and mental health care in the community.

As part of the Government’s five long-term missions, we will launch a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the National Health Service, and make it fit for the future. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed: moving healthcare from hospital to the community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention.

A core part of the development of the 10-Year Health Plan will be an extensive engagement exercise with the public, staff, stakeholders, including the Royal Colleges and others across the child health sector. Further details on how to get involved will be set out in the coming weeks.

The National Health Service is broken, and reducing elective waiting lists is a key part of getting it back on its feet. Delivering 40,000 more NHS appointments per week, or two million per year, is part of our commitment to get back to NHS standards so that both adults and children can expect to wait no longer than 18 weeks for treatment.

This will mean that children waiting for elective treatment will also experience significant improvements in waiting times, care, and outcomes. Further detail regarding 40,000 more NHS appointments per week will be confirmed after the budget in October 2024.

The Government will ensure that every child has the best start in life and that we create the healthiest generation of children ever. The child health workforce, including paediatricians, health visitors, and school nurses, is central to how we will achieve this.

We are committed to training the staff we need to ensure patients, their carers, and their families are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We have also committed to the Long Term Workforce Plan, which will deliver the reform needed.

There are significant challenges within child health, as outlined by Lord Darzi’s report. Demand for services is increasing, and the health and care needs of children are becoming increasingly more complex. NHS England will continue to assess the expansion of existing pilot initiatives, such as the NHS 111 paediatric clinical assessment service pilot, in reducing accident and emergency attendance of children, young people, and supporting families.

The upcoming 10-Year Health Plan provides an opportunity to ensure that the three shifts, from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention, are prioritised and meet the needs of children and young people. This includes the opportunity to develop the role of neighbourhood health services to support children and young people accessing high-quality holistic physical and mental health care in the community.

We are committed to reducing long waits for children’s community services and improving timely access. National Health Service planning guidance asks local systems to reduce overall waiting times for community health services, with a particular focus on reducing the longest waits.

NHS England does not hold any specific data on staffing levels for children’s community health services, but has commissioned NHS Benchmarking to develop further understanding of the specific service lines and associated waiting times. NHS England has advised that this should be available by April 2025.

We will launch a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS and make it fit for the future. The 10-Year Health Plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed to move healthcare from hospital to the community, analogue to digital, sickness to prevention.

Addressing waiting times is a priority for the Government and the National Health Service. NHS planning guidance asked local systems to develop a comprehensive plan to reduce the overall waiting times for community services, including reducing waits over 52 weeks for children’s community services.

NHS England continues to monitor community services waiting lists to assess the number of people on them, and the length of time they wait for services. Data is published monthly, and is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/community-services-statistics-for-children-young-people-and-adults