Health & Social Care
30mentions · last 12 months↓
View full analysis →Scrutiny of public services delivery across health, medicines, and criminal justice falls within the remit of this House of Lords select committee. The committee operates in the Upper House, taking oral evidence from ministers, NHS leaders, industry representatives, and other expert witnesses to examine policy and operational performance. Its inquiries run across multiple policy areas concurrently, allowing comparative assessment of systemic pressures and resilience. The committee has pursued an extended inquiry into ambulance service capacity and emergency department pressures, hearing evidence on how urgent and emergency care systems manage patient flow and the role of ambulance services in wider NHS resilience during 2026. Separately, it has investigated medicines supply resilience across a series of sessions examining industry perspectives, NHS England operational readiness, and Department of Health and Social Care policy, with witnesses including DHSC officials and industry representatives throughout late 2025. Most recently, the committee has also examined the intersection of policing, courts, technology and artificial intelligence, reflecting its broad oversight of public services beyond health.
13 sessions published in the last 12 months
Click any cell in the heatmap to see the sessions held that day and the insights extracted from them.
173 insights
01 Jul 2026
The Public Services Committee scrutinised the School Standards Minister and officials on the policy response to falling primary rolls, school-place planning, and the funding pressures this creates for heads. Ministers defended lagged funding, a new local decision-making framework, and stronger local authority powers under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act, while also promising clearer guidance and further consultation on admissions and the national funding formula. A major part of the evidence focused on the Government’s shift from the PE premium to a place-based sports partnership model, with assurances of a smooth transition by early 2027 and continued funding until the new model is ready. The session also covered the Government’s SEND reform package, including specialist provision packages, inclusion bases, experts-at-hand support, national inclusion standards, and measures to address postcode lotteries, transport burdens, and workforce shortages.
24 Jun 2026
The committee scrutinised falling primary school rolls, their uneven regional and school-level impacts, and what this means for funding, staffing, admissions and school viability. Witnesses said the DfE’s current response is too fragmented and reactive, arguing for a cross-government strategy, better data sharing, stronger planning for closures and mixed-age classes, and more protection in the national funding formula. The witnesses also highlighted that the decline is hitting deprived schools disproportionately and that the Government’s disadvantage-gap ambitions are not matched by current funding or workforce arrangements. They broadly welcomed the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act measures and DfE estate strategy, but said more coherent and faster local decision-making is still needed.
17 Jun 2026
The committee scrutinised the drivers and consequences of falling primary school rolls across England, with particular focus on London, rural and coastal areas, funding mechanics, admissions and the implications for school viability, staffing and standards. Witnesses agreed the demographic decline is now structural and forecastable, but warned that current funding, admissions and planning systems lag behind local realities. Key calls included more flexible and transitional funding, stronger place-based co-ordination, rural protections, better data-sharing and strategic reuse of school estate for SEND and community provision rather than abrupt closure. The witnesses also welcomed the Government’s emerging legislation and White Paper direction, but said implementation, enforcement and local flexibility will determine whether it works.
29 Apr 2026
The session scrutinised how ambulance services have evolved beyond transport to become an integral part of urgent and emergency care, with emphasis on triage, community-based care, and reducing hospital admissions. Key government positions include formal recognition of ambulance services as a core part of the system, ongoing development of neighbourhood delivery under the 10-year plan, and four-year capital planning to provide certainty. Witnesses highlighted ongoing commissioning reforms to reduce regional variation, the establishment of an ambulance commissioning framework, and moves to expand clinical roles (e.g., paramedic prescribing). They also flagged concerns about discharge delays, data integration with social care, and persistent variation in local Commissioning footprint across ICBs. The session endorsed expanding community pathways, improving access to care records, and maintaining time-based targets alongside outcome-based measures. Major-incident preparedness was confirmed as a formal, resourced activity with regular drills. Overall, the evidence demonstrates government commitment to stronger ambulance integration within local care, but ongoing challenges around commissioning consistency, discharge coordination, and data sharing remain priorities for policy improvement.
22 Apr 2026
The session scrutinised urgent and emergency care pressures in the NHS, focusing on ambulance services, ED overcrowding, mental health patients in emergency settings, and the balance between ambulance roles and community care. Witnesses highlighted data gaps, the impact of time-based targets, burnout among emergency clinicians, and the need for better alternative care pathways. Government commitments identified included reform of patient-reported experience and outcome measures within the neighbourhood health framework, and Healthwatch England noted forthcoming national data on corridor care. The discussion underscored calls for clearer roles for paramedics, expanded digital records to aid clinical decisions, and the importance of integrating mental health services and community care to relieve ED bottlenecks.
15 Apr 2026
The session scrutinised escalating ambulance-demand in England, drivers of demand (ageing population, deprivation, mental health, and Covid-era legacies), and the strain on handovers between ambulance services and Emergency Departments. Witnesses highlighted workforce evolution (advanced practitioners, paramedic prescribers), end-of-life care in the community, and the role of mental-health pathways. The committee explored governance, commissioning reforms (local ICBs vs regional/pan-ICB models), data sharing, and digital tools to improve flow. Policy signals include a shift toward neighbourhood care, greater system-navigation opportunities, multi-year funding trajectories, and a push for time to be complemented by outcomes-based measures. There was broad acknowledgement of variation across regions and geographies, with calls for consistency, scalable best practice, and better public comms to reduce unnecessary 999/111 calls.
24 Jun 2026