argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Now we know why over decades the Labour Government totally refused to deal with this problem, and now we know why both Blair and Brown failed to do it: the right hon. and learned Gentleman has absolutely no plan. I was waiting, and I am amazed that he sat down. What is his answer to the backlogs in the NHS? What is his answer to the problems in social care? The Opposition have absolutely no plan. They have no idea how they would raise the money Let me answer some of the right hon. and learned Gentleman’s questions. We will of course be investing in social care. I thank his sister for what she is doing in social care, but we have lifted people’s wages across the country with record increases in the living wage; we are investing in 700,000 training places for people in social care; and we are making sure that we invest £500 million—that is in the plan I announced today—in the social care workforce What this plan will also do is enable us to get our wonderful NHS back on its feet and enable it to deal with the backlogs. The right hon. and learned Gentleman totally failed to explain how a Labour Government would do that. One year of capital gains tax would not even begin to deal with this problem. He has not got a solution and it is deeply irresponsible of him to come to this place without having any kind of alternative Let us be in no doubt: if we did what we have heard from the Labour party over the past few weeks, we would still be in lockdown, because the right hon. and learned Gentleman opposed coming out of stage 4; we would have absolutely nothing by way of dealing with the NHS backlogs; and after decades of inertia from the Labour party we would have absolutely no way of dealing with the anxiety of millions of families across this country who face the prospect of catastrophic social care costs This Government are dealing with those things—we are dealing with all of them. We are getting on with it. We are taking the decisive action. We are doing it all together. This is the Government who get on and deal with the people’s priorities; this is the Government who tackle social care; and, indeed, this is the party of the NHS.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree with what my hon. Friend has said. The tragedy of decades of failure to tackle this matter is that people are now facing these costs. What we are doing is investing—as we have done throughout the pandemic—about £6 billion, I think, in dealing with the immediate costs of social care to try to help people through this very difficult time. What this package offers is a way of developing a long-term solution, enabling, we hope, the private sector to come in and give people a long-term plan to fix the costs of their own social care, knowing that the Government will remove the risk of those catastrophic costs. That is the advantage of what we are doing today.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My 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 social care go to social care so that we deal with the problem of the catastrophic costs. This will not be dispensed by the NHS, but by the Treasury in the normal course of Government spending.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): After 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 then attacks the Government for providing the wherewithal to do exactly what he wants. We will be spending half a billion pounds supporting carers, and there will be 700,000 more training places. The plan supports adult care. It supports everybody who needs care up and down the country; it is not just care for the elderly.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): The reform of social care has been ducked for decades because successive Governments have put it in the too difficult box. I congratulate the Prime Minister on delivering on our commitments and his commitment. May I ask him to ensure that, as well as the money, we integrate properly the NHS with social care so that people can get the dignity that they deserve?
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): No, this plan does address the problems in the care sector. In addition to the £6 billion that we have put into supporting local government with social care during the pandemic, we are putting another £0.5 billion into supporting the care workforce. I have mentioned the 700,000 training places that we are investing in. We are also trying to ensure that people who become carers—they are wonderful people; I thank the hon. Member for what she has done—get the progression and career structure that they need, and understand how valued and respected they are.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Jacqueline Doyle-Price (Conservative, Centre-right): The public will welcome the certainty in my right hon. Friend’s announcement today, particularly with regard to the cap and the floor, but does he agree that it is time that we had a real and informed debate about the nature of old age, now that we are all living longer? The longer that we can live independently, the better it is for everyone’s wellbeing, and we can all make lifestyle choices to encourage that. Does he agree that we need a fair debate about new models of care and housing models to encourage exactly that discussion?
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend deeply; in that intervention, he has summed up the heart of the issue that I was trying to explain in my statement. It is the anxiety of millions of families up and down the country who face this uncertainty—about the finance, but also the proper setting for their relatives—that we are addressing today.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Because we are investing massively in the sector. We are putting half a billion pounds into supporting care workers and investing in 700,000 training places. We are lifting the living wage by record amounts. Above all, we are valuing care workers and showing the respect to them and their careers that I do not believe has been properly shown before, by any Government.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is right consistently to campaign in the way in which he does for low earners. We are increasing the threshold for which people can be liable for paying anything at all from £14,000 to £20,000, which is a benefit that has not really come out properly in the conversation. People need to understand that we are lifting the minimum assets for which people can be liable from £14,000 to £20,000; that helps people on low incomes. As my right hon. Friend knows, we are also increasing the living wage. I am pleased to see that one of the effects of the current rebound in the economy, which I know he will be studying, is that wages are now starting to rise again—in exactly the way that some of us who campaigned for Brexit wanted to see.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): Is not the starting point in this discussion that greater demand for social care is bound to require greater money to pay for it, and anyone who does not like these proposals needs to explain what the alternative is, which is unlikely to be clear, simple and popular? Is it not the case that, in order to create an insurance market to give people even greater reassurance about their future care costs, we need to put a cap on and that is why the cap is most welcome? Will the Prime Minister do all he can to make sure that that insurance market is stimulated? Finally, will he confirm that that cap applies to those who have care needs regardless of their age?
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The 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 indicated today; I do not think I heard a clear description of what he actually intends to do. But of course we want to make sure that people in the caring profession get the support and the investment that they need. That is why we are putting money into their training and into supporting carers, but also lifting their wages with the biggest ever increase in the national living wage. We will continue to support that.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Government Operations
Christopher Mark Clarkson (Conservative, Centre-right): I declare an interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on local government, in thanking my right hon. Friend for making the tough choices that he has today, rather than kicking the can down the road, as the Labour party did for 13 years when it had the opportunity to do something. As welcome as this injection of cash is, can I ask for an assurance that it is going to be met with the same rigorous reform that is necessary to make the system viable for years to come?
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Damian Howard Green (Conservative, Centre-right): There has been much debate about how the money is being raised, but of more concern is how the money is going to be spent. My fear is that, once you start spending on perfectly proper things like the NHS backlog, there will never come a point where there is enough money in the new fund to transfer to social care, which needs it now. You cannot spend the same pound twice. So can my right hon. Friend guarantee that the social care sector will itself see a significant uplift in its support in the immediate future?
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend has done great work on this subject and I am indebted to him for some of the advice that he has given to me personally about how to proceed in this. He is right in what he says. The issue is making sure that the funding goes where it is needed and that it is specifically ring-fenced. The investments in social care will be protected by the Government and by the Treasury.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend makes a very important point. Members across the House will know that the lower limit in Scotland is £12,500 at the moment. Lifting that to £20,000, as we are now, is something that people in Scotland may want to address. I certainly think that the cap of £86,000 is something that people in Wales will want to see, too. There is a strong benefit to the whole of the UK proceeding as one.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Shaun Stephen Bailey (Conservative, Centre-right): Additional investment is welcome, but that has to come with assurance. My constituents in Tipton, because of the Labour party, are getting turfed out of their care home, despite a £2 million underspend by Sandwell Council on adult social care. Can my right hon. Friend assure my constituents in Tipton that their campaign to save Walker Grange care home is not in vain? Will he ensure that assurance comes with the investment to stop the Labour party turfing out some of the most vulnerable people in my community?
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, Mr Speaker, and I think my hon. Friend speaks to the profound indifference of the Labour party to this issue for decades. That is why we are taking the decisive action that we are to address the problems in the whole social care system, to support care homes and to support those who must face the cost of social care.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Labor
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady should remember that 40% of companies will not be affected at all by this. I am sure she also knows that the labour market is so buoyant that not only are there huge numbers of vacancies, but wages are rising, and that is a good thing.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alicia Alexandra Martha Kearns (Conservative, Centre-right): During the pandemic, the Government stepped in to save lives and jobs. In Rutland and Melton, 47% of jobs would have been lost without those efforts. Does the Prime Minister agree that it would be wrong to meet the cost with higher borrowing and debt, which would be carried by our children? Will he commit to look at those councils that are worse funded, specifically Leicestershire and Rutland, which need real help with social care above and beyond a generic formula across the country?
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, Mr Speaker. I thank my hon. Friend for what she says about Rutland and Melton, and we will certainly make sure the councils get the funding they need. She has hit on the fundamental point: borrowing more is no answer. We are borrowing a lot, and in the end borrowing is just future tax rises for younger people or even people unborn. That is not what this Government are going to do.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Gentleman for his contribution. At least he has the guts, unlike the leader of his party, to say that he would tax people in this country to the tune of £12 billion or £13 billion a year to pay for this. This is a wealth tax on that scale. We believe that this is the right way. What we have not heard from those on the Labour Front Bench is any credible alternative.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Mark James Harper (Conservative, Centre-right): The Prime Minister was absolutely right to focus on the importance of the social care workforce. Unfortunately, the Government’s own estimate is that due to our compulsory vaccination measures, 40,000 people in that workforce will leave the sector by November. Are there urgent measures in his plan that the Government will take to replace those missing care workers so that we can deliver the high-quality care that I think everyone in the House wants to see?
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Let me say again what I have said repeatedly: the social care workforce of this country have done an amazing job and continue to do so. They did an amazing job throughout the pandemic as well as before it and beyond. I met more of them today. What they are getting from this package of measures is not only investment in their careers and progression but the long-term structure and respect that they need as a profession and the prospect of integration between what they do and what the NHS provides. That is a massive prize.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The 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 precisely to support social care. That will ramp up over time as the system kicks in. The distribution will be set out in due course by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Kevin Paul Hollinrake (Conservative, Centre-right): May I quote from a recent report from a joint inquiry by the Health and Social Care Committee and the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee on the future funding of social care, on which I sat together with 12 Opposition Members? It says: "We therefore recommend that an earmarked contribution, described as a ‘Social Care Premium’, should be introduced, to which individuals and employers should contribute. This can either be as an addition to National Insurance, or through a separate mechanism" Does that not show that there is cross-party support for such a proposal and that the Opposition’s objections are simply political opportunism?
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): People 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 Government have increased by record amounts. What we are doing is investing in their training, investing in their careers and making sure that they get the respect and the progression that they need.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend very much for his support, because it is extremely important, and I think he is completely right. We are trying to make sure that those who can pay the most do pay the most. We are trying to make sure that we address the issue of intergenerational fairness. But there is a bigger point, which I have made repeatedly. This is not something that simply affects one generation, the elderly. There are huge numbers of younger people in care who will benefit from what we are doing and every person in this country has relatives who face the problems that we are trying now to allay or to defeat.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank unpaid carers for everything that they do, and the hon. Member is quite right to point out the huge contribution that they make. What unpaid carers have now is the certainty that if they need to pay for the cost of care in some way or other, there will be a limit and they will not have to continue with their unpaid exertions, their care and love forever, because the Government are coming in to help them.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Joy Inboden Morrissey (Conservative, Centre-right): Many in this House have discussed the burden placed on councils, and I echo the concern that this money must be ring-fenced for the local authorities, who take the lion’s share of the burden for adult social care. Can the Government give greater assurances as to how the funding streams will be safeguarded and directed towards local authorities?
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I disagree vehemently with what the hon. Lady says because the economy is coming back much more strongly than many predicted, including the Office for Budget Responsibility, which is a good thing. If we had followed the advice from the Labour party we would still be in lockdown, but we are seeing growth returning and jobs being created, and I do not believe anything in this plan will do anything to dent that confidence. On the contrary, businesses want to know that their workforce have the security of a good health and social care plan to back them up, and that is what this Government are providing.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Macroeconomics
Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (Conservative, Centre-right): As Conservatives, broken pledges and tax rises should concern us. Our finances are in a perilous state; surely a radical review of the NHS is needed if this money is not going to disappear into another black hole. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the Conservative way to raise revenue is to lower taxes, not raise them?
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am a fervent admirer of the businesses of Northern Ireland and their ingenuity and ability to innovate, which I have seen many times at first hand. I know they are capable of a very dynamic recovery, and indeed believe that is going on right now. I have every confidence in my right hon. Friend the Chancellor to keep bringing forward those business-friendly, supply-side measures which will drive a very strong economic recovery.
Health and Social Care — House of Commons, 2021-09-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend, who knows a great deal about this issue and the pressures that the sector faces. I can tell him that, yes, of course it covers both residential and domiciliary, and yes, there is a £500 million fund to help the caring profession, and we will provide 700,000 training places as a direct result of what we are doing today.