My interventions during the Health and Care Bill

Sir John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con): I am grateful to the Minister. Will he confirm that the amount of tax that is going to be raised in the immediate future, in national insurance and then in a separate tax, will make up a relatively small minority of the total costs of public social care?

Will he also confirm that none of these measures addresses the issue of the hotel costs that people need to pay when they go into care homes?

The Minister of Health (Mr Edward Argar): My right hon. Friend is right to highlight that this is talking about personal care costs, so he is right in his point on that.

Did I see the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West) rise earlier?

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John Redwood: Will the Minister give us a brief comment on the recruitment of chief executives and senior management to the boards? Will we be using people who already have senior NHS jobs, meaning that there will be no redundancy and transfer costs, or will there be quite a redundancy bill because we want to change personnel?

Edward Argar: I think my right hon. Friend is talking about executive posts. Yes, there will be processes in place to ensure that employment rights are respected. There will be some roles that are completely new and there will be a competition, but I would expect that those with a significant track record and experience would therefore find themselves in a strong position. I will not prejudge any of those individual decisions.

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John Redwood: I am grateful to the Minister. Will he confirm that the amount of tax that is going to be raised in the immediate future, in national insurance and then in a separate tax, will make up a relatively small minority of the total costs of public social care?

Will he also confirm that none of these measures addresses the issue of the hotel costs that people need to pay when they go into care homes?

Edward Argar: My right hon. Friend is right to highlight that this is talking about personal care costs, so he is right in his point on that.