We’ve looked at Starmer’s complete voting record on the NHS and summarised it for you at the bottom of this report. This report reveals that Starmer abstained from voting on health issues 32 times, which is more than half of the total number of divisions on health during his tenure as MP for Holborn and St Pancras and leader of the Labour Party (32 out of 61). Even more noticeable is the fact that the last time he voted on health was back in November 2021. In fact, unless I’ve missed something, it appears as though he abstained on every single division on Health (16 in total) over the last 22 months (from 23rd November 2021 onwards). Most MPs miss some divisions for various reasons but to abstain on every single division for nearly 2yrs is pretty extraordinary.
What changed in November 2021, you might ask? Well, Medium reported reported at the time that the reason why Keir Starmer had gone quiet on the NHS privitisation bill was because his biggest donor during the leadership campaign was hedge fund manager, Martin Taylor, who happens to have a £10m stake in United Health (a US private healthcare company that was seeking £1b worth of contracts from the NHS at the time). According to the Daily Politik, Starmer had brushed the £95,000 donation under the carpet. They also reported that Taylor had donated £600,000 when Miliband was leader but when Jeremy Corbyn’s was elected, in 2015, Taylor suddenly started funding anti-Corbyn groups like Labour Together, Saving Labour and Labour Tomorrow. Then, lo and behold, in July 2022, The London Economic reports that Starmer is dropping his pledge to end private sector outsourcing in the NHS
Also, in August 2022, Skwawkbox reported… ‘Starmer accepts cash from same Tory-donating health and energy investor funding Streeting.’ Wealthy hedge fund manager, John Armitage, who holds “$800m of stock in the private health company at the heart of NHS privatisation” donated £15,000 to Wes Streeting and £12,500 to Starmer. Armitage had previously donated over £3m to the Tory party. Only this week, Skwawkbox reported… “The Labour party’s ‘Conference Arrangements Committee’ (CAC) has blocked an attempt by the Socialist Health Association (SHA) to bring a motion at next month’s party conference in Liverpool calling for a law to ban MPs from accepting donations from private health companies and their lobbyists.
Here’s a brief overview of just some of the divisions that Starmer chose to abstain on (full breakdown further down this page) :
- Vote to recruit more mental health staff and provide access to specialist mental health support in schools.
- Vote to end the non-domiciled tax status regime; and use the revenue generated (£3.2 billion a year) to expand the NHS workforce., with a view to delivering 10,000 more nursing & midwifery clinical placements, training twice the number of district nurses each year and delivering 5,000 more health visitors.”
- Vote to reject Lords amendment 80. The amendment would remove a clause from the Health and Care Bill that was intended to make the costs that would count toward the ‘cap on care’ figure to only include the local authority rate (as apposed to the combined costs incurred by both the adult & the local authority).
- Vote to reject Lords amendment 90. Amendment 90 proposed inserting a new clause into the Health and Care Bill that would provide the option to engage effective mediation in the event that there is a dispute between the parents of a child receiving palliative care and the doctors providing that care.
- A vote to reject Lords amendment 85, which proposed a consultation and report on the subject of regulating, to improve health, the prices of, and profits made from, tobacco products.
- A vote to require the Chancellor of the Exchequer to regularly review the equality impact of the Health and Social Care Levy Bill on people with low income and wealth, as well as people in different geographical locations, people from different minority groups and people of different socio-economic status.
- A vote on a amendment to the Health and Social Care Levy Bill that proposed declining a ‘Second Reading’ on the grounds that the bill was flawed in a number of areas, specifically because it “raises money for an approach announced by the Government that fails to set out a plan to fix the crisis in social care, improve pay and conditions for social care workers, or clear the NHS waiting list backlog by the end of this Parliament, while breaking the Prime Minister’s promise that no one will have to sell their home to pay for care; because it lacks a guarantee that Parliament will vote on a social care plan before spending the money it raises; and because it breaks the Government’s promise not to increase National Insurance, raising taxes on employment that will disproportionately hit working families, young people, those on low and middle incomes and businesses trying to create more jobs in the wider economy, whilst leaving income from other sources untouched.”
- A vote to support the recommendations of the Marmot review – an investigation into heath inequalities, exacerbated by cuts to public spending, and their resulting impact on the life expectancy on vulnerable sections of society – and to invest in public health.
- A vote to reform social care and support plans for free personal care.
- A vote on an amendment that would require an annual statement on the Secretary of State’s plans to achieve parity of esteem in mental health services, including the amount spent on mental health services in each of the four upcoming financial years.
- A vote to reject enabling general practice, wider NHS and certain local authority services, in a given area, to be commissioned under the same integrated care contract, where that contract could be by a public or a private body.
- A vote to give the Health and Social Care Committee access to written submissions received by Ministers since 8 June 2017 on proposals for reform of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, on the creation of accountable care organisations in the NHS, and on the effect of outsourcing and privatisation in the NHS including the creation of wholly-owned subsidiary companies; and minutes of all discussions on those subjects between Ministers, civil servants and special advisers at the Department of Health and Social Care, HM Treasury and the Prime Minister’s Office.
- A vote on a motion to require the strike ballot threshold for Key Health Workers to be raised to 40% for strike action to be legal.
Watching Channel 4’s recent piece on Labour’s NHS reform plans (linked above) and listening to Starmer emote about how the NHS is in a terrible state under the current Conservative govt, you can’t help but assess that here is a man who absolutely does not walk the talk. His absence from the front line, coupled with the decisions he has taken as leader of the Labour party, suggests that Starmer’s only real concern is how he can use the NHS to line his own pocket, which, frankly, makes him no better than Michelle Mone, or the rest of the grubby Tory profiteers who handed £millions in PPI contract to their mates.
KEIR STARMER FULL VOTING RECORD : NHS
VOTED ‘FOR’ 23 TIMES…
23rd Novermber 2021 – Health and Care Bill — Clause 135 — Regulations — Veto for Devolved Governments
A vote to require the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to obtain the consent of the relevant devolved government before powers to make regulations under the Act in an area falling within the legislative competence of a devolved institution, are exercised.
23rd Novermber 2021 – Health and Care Bill — Clause 39 — Reconfiguration of Services: Intervention Powers
MPs were voting on an amendment that would give the Secretary of State the power to intervene in decisions by NHS England or Integrated Care Boards which change the range of NHS services available to individuals, or the manner in which they are delivered.
22nd Novermber 2021 – Health and Care Bill — Schedule 2 — Integrated Care Boards: Constitution etc — Exclusion of Private Sector Representatives
MPs were voting on an amendment that proposed representatives of private providers of healthcare services, other than general practitioners who hold a contract for the provision of primary medical services in the area, may not be appointed to NHS decision-making boards, integrated care boards, or any place-based committee or sub-committee of the boards.
22nd Novermber 2021 – Health and Care Bill — Clause 69 — Procurement Regulations
MPs were voting on a clause that required greater transparency over health care contracts awarded to organisations other than an NHS trust or NHS foundation trust. In essence, it states that any contract with an annual value in excess of £5m cannot be awarded to an organisation that is not an NHS trust or NHS foundation trust unless it’s first been subjected to proper, transparent, scrutiny and a business case has been established for the award of the contract.
22nd Novermber 2021 – Health and Care Bill — New Clause 16 — Annual Report on Alcohol Treatment Services: Assessment of Outcomes
MPs were voting on a clause that required the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to produce and annual report on how the funding received by alcohol treatment providers has supported their work to improve treatment and reduce harm, including how they’ve been able to tackle excess mortality, alcohol related hospital admissions, and the burden of disease resulting from alcohol consumption
22nd Novermber 2021 – Health and Care Bill — New Clause 4 — Packaging and Labelling of Nicotine Products
MPs were voting on a clause that would give powers to the Secretary of State to prohibit branding on e-cigarette packaging which could be appealing to children.
8th September 2021 – Health and Social Care Levy — Impact Assessments
MPs were voting on an amendment to an earlier motion. In essence, the original motion proposed a tax on earnings and profits, the proceeds of which would be paid (together with any associated penalties or interest) to the Secretary of State towards the cost of health and social care but where expenses incurred in collecting the tax are to be deducted and paid instead into the Consolidated Fund. It also proposed increasing the rates of national insurance contributions for a temporary period ending when the tax becomes chargeable, with a view to using the funds to help cover the cost of the National Health Service. The amendment that they were voting on today added a proviso that required the Chancellor of the Exchequer to lay, before the House of Commons: (a) an assessment of the impact of these measures on jobs and businesses, and (b) a distributional impact assessment of these measures on different income groups and regions.”
14th July 2021 – Health and Care Bill — Decline Second Reading
MP’s were voting to decline the second reading of the Health and Care Bill on the grounds that it represented a top down reorganisation, during a pandemic, that would (in their view) lead to a loss of local accountability. They also believe that it fails to reform social care, allows further outsourcing permitting the private sector to sit on local boards and fails to reinstate the NHS as the default provider. They also felt that the bill fails to introduce a plan to bring down waiting lists for routine NHS treatment or tackle the growing backlog of care, that it fails to put forward plans to increase the size of the NHS workforce and see them better supported, and it fails to put forward a plan that would give the NHS the resources it needs to invest in modern equipment, repair the crumbling NHS estate or ensure comprehensive, quality healthcare.”
7th July 2021 – Covid-19 Public Inquiry — Immediate Commencement
MPs were voting on a motion calling on the government to immediately commence the covid-19 public inquiry, announced by the Prime Minister on 12 May 2021. The motion stated that the House believed that the Government had failed to give full details of the process behind the issuing of emergency covid-19 contracts.
19th May 2021 – Queen’s Speech — Programme for Government — Publication of Internal Review of Department for Health and Social Care Pandemic Performance
MPs were voting on whether or not to require the government to publish the Department for Health and Social Care’s internal review of their operation during the pandemic, as referenced by the PM’s official spokesman on 12 May, so that its proposals might be properly scrutinised by parliament.
14th April 2021 – NHS Pay Award — Report and Consideration by the House of Commons
MPs were voting on a motion to bring in a Bill that would require the Secretary of State to submit a report, to Parliament, on any proposal to award NHS staff a pay rise for 2021/22 below 2.1% and require the Secretary of State to move a motion in the House of Commons to approve any such report; and for connected purposes.
25th January 2021 – Council Tax: Government’s Proposed Increase — COVID-19
MPs were voting on a motion to tell the governemt to drop it’s plans to force local councils to increase council tax (in the middle of a pandemic) and, instead, for govt to provide councils with the funding they need to meet the Government’s promise to do whatever is necessary to support councils in the fight against covid-19.
14th October 2020 – Contact Tracing Funding and Powers and Resources for Councils and Public Health Teams
MPs were voting on a motion to provide more funding to local councils and public health providors, across all parts of the country, for contact tracing services and to ensure that teams receive the resources and powers they require. The motion noted “the consistently high performance of local contact tracing systems when compared with the centralised system established by the Government” and “the wealth of evidence that the considerable sums of public money spent so far on the national system would deliver better public health outcomes if devolved to local authorities and public health experts”
20th July 2020 – Trade Bill — New Clause 17 — International Trade Agreements — Protection of the NHS, the Health and Care Sector and Public Sector Workers
MPs voted on an amendment that would ensure that international trade agreements would protect the NHS, the wider health and care sector and those working in the public sector. It’s aim was to protect the NHS and publicly funded health and care services in other parts of the UK from any form of control from outside the UK.
24th June 2020 – Covid-19 — Testing of NHS and Social Care Staff
MPs voted on a motion to implement a routine weekly testing programme for all NHS and Social Care staff to enable NHS services to safely resume and ensure the continuity of services throughout the winter alongside a functional, national, public test, trace and isolate system.
14th May 2019 – Publication of Health and Social Care Documents
MPs were voting on whether or not to approve publication of documents relating to health and social care, including briefing papers and analysis provided to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (or his Ministers) since 9 July 2018 including impact assessments of public health spending reductions and any assessments made on falling life expectancy and the minutes of all discussions between the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England on funding pay risks for Agenda for Change staff working on public health services commissioned by local authorities.
12th February 2019 – Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill — Schedule 1 — Consultation on Deprivation of Liberty — Mentally Incapacitated People
MPs were voting on whether or not consultations on the subject of a mentally incapacitated person’s deprivation of liberty should be carried out by a responsible body such as a hospital manager, local authority, clinical commissioning group or local health board, instead of a care home manager.
9th May 2018 – NHS Bursaries — Student Loans — Nursing, Midwifery, Allied Health Professions and Dental Profession Subjects
MPs were voting on a motion to ANNUL an earlier amendment that would remove NHS bursaries from full-time postgraduate pre-registration courses in nursing, midwifery, allied health professions, and undergraduate dental profession subjects, for those starting from 1 August 2018, with students to be offered loans instead.
11th January 2017 – NHS and Social Care Funding
Calling 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
22nd Novermber 2016 – National Health Service Funding
A vote calling on the Government to use the Autumn Statement to address the underfunding of the NHS and guarantee sustainable financing of the NHS
14th September 2016 – Publication of NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans and Consultation
MPs were voting on a motion calling on the Government to publish the Plans and to provide an adequate consultation period for the public and practitioners to respond.
4th May 2016 – Opposition Day — NHS Bursaries
MPs were voting on a motion calling on the Government to drop their plans to remove NHS bursaries (for student nurses, midwives, allied health professionals and other healthcare staff) and instead to consult on how they can best fund and support the future healthcare workforce.
28th October 2015 – Junior Doctors’ Contracts
A vote to guarantee no junior doctor will have their pay cut as a result of a new junior doctors’ contract and for the Government to return to negotiations with the British Medical Association
VOTED ‘AGAINST’ 6 TIMES…
23rd Novermber 2021 – Health and Care Bill — Third Reading
MPs were voting for the bill to be read a third time. Broadly speaking, this bill opened the door to NHS reforms and reorganisations focusing on integration and coordination, both within the NHS, and between the NHS and local councils. It also included a provision to make the examination of female genitalia, with or without consent, for the purpose (or purported purpose) of determining virginity, an offence, and to make the reconstruction of the hymen (with or without consent) an offence.
22nd Novermber 2021 – Health and Care Bill — New Clause 49 — Cap on Requirement to Pay Care Costs
MPs were voting on a clause that would amend the legislation that provided a framework for introducing a cap on care costs. The original legislation attempted to establish: “a limit on the amount that adults can be required to pay towards eligible care costs over their lifetime.” It stopped local authorities from being able to charge people for care costs incurred once the total amount that the authority, or other authorities, or anyone else, had spent on the individual’s care had exceeded the cap. Apparently, this still did not cap the amount an individual could be required to pay. The new amendment was meant to correct the legislation such that it has its intended effect. However, without the amendment the cap on personal contributions would be lower for those for whom councils, or others, had contributed to their care costs. There would still be a cap, but it would not operate in the manner intended.
8th September 2021 – Health and Social Care Levy
MPs voted on a motion to raise taxes on income and profits to fund health and social care, and, prior to the new tax being levied, to temporarily raise national insurance to fund the NHS.
14th July 2021 – Health and Care Bill — Second Reading
MP’s vote for the Health and Care bill to be read a second time
19th January 2021 – Trade Bill — After Clause 2 — International Trade Agreements — Health and Care
MP’s were voting on whether or not to reject an amendment from the House of Lords. The Lords amendment proposed to block any trade deals that would undermine the NHS, risk the rights of public sector workers, involve non-UK arbitration schemes for public services and allowed the sale of health data.
15th March 2017 Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Bill — Duty for NHS Procurement to Consider Life Science Sector and Access to New Medicines and Treatments
MPs were voting on whether or not to reject Lords amendment 3. Amendment 3 proposed a new clause titled: ‘Duty to have regard to the life sciences sector and access to new medicines and treatments’. The clause proposed that, in order for the government to secure best value for the National Health Service in purchasing medicines and medical supplies, they must “(a) promote and support a growing life sciences sector within the United Kingdom economy; and (b) ensure that patients have rapid clinical access to new clinically effective and cost-effective medicines and treatments approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence through their technology appraisal process.”
ABSTAINED FROM VOTING 32 TIMES…
7th June 2023 – Mental Health Treatment and Support
MPs were voting on motion calling on the government to “adopt Labour’s plan to recruit thousands of mental health staff to expand access to treatment, to provide access to specialist mental health support in every school, to establish open access mental health hubs for children and young people and to bring in the first ever long-term, whole-Government plan to improve outcomes for people with mental health needs.”
28th February 2023 – NHS Workforce Expansion
MPs were voting on a motion – “That this House condemns the Government’s failure to train enough staff to tackle the worst workforce crisis in the history of the National Health Service with a current shortage of 9,000 hospital doctors and 47,000 nurses; notes reports that the draft NHS England workforce plan calls for a doubling of medical school places to address this crisis; calls on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to use the upcoming Spring Budget to end the 200-year-old non-domiciled tax status regime; and further calls on the Government to use revenue generated by ending that regime to adopt Labour’s plan to expand the NHS workforce by doubling the number of medical training places, delivering 10,000 more nursing & midwifery clinical placements, training twice the number of district nurses each year and delivering 5,000 more health visitors.”
11th January 2023 – NHS: Long-term Strategy
MPs were voting on a motion calling on the Prime Minister to acknowledge the crisis and act with the necessary urgency to mitigate the impact on patients; and further calls on the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to ensure the NHS is never in this situation again by bringing forward a long-term strategy which will end delayed hospital discharges, provide the NHS with the necessary staff to treat every patient in good time, and reform primary and community care to reduce the number of people needing hospital treatment.
6th December 2022 – NHS Workforce
MPs were voting on a motion, following a partliamentary debate, that called on the government to “end the 200-year-old non-domiciled tax status regime which currently costs taxpayers £3.2 billion a year; and further calls on the Government to use part of the funds raised to invest in the NHS workforce by doubling the number of medical training places, delivering 10,000 more nursing and midwifery clinical placements, training twice the number of district nurses per year and delivering 5,000 more health visitors to guarantee that the NHS has the staff to ensure every patient can access the care they need.”
11th October 2022 – Health and Social Care Levy (Repeal) Bill — New Clause 1 — Review of effects of Act on revenue sources of health and social care expenditure
MPs were voting on a new clause that would require the Treasury to publish an assessment of the Government’s
commitment to replace the money for health and social care that will no longer accrue from the Health and Social Care Levy.
22nd June 2022 – Deferred Division — Health and Personal Social Services
MPs were voting on whether or not to approve Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2022 (SI, 2022, No. 554)
25th April 2022 – Health and Care Bill — Clause 35 — Cap on Care Costs for Charging Purposes
MPs were voting on whether or not to reject Lords amendment 80. Lords amendment 80 proposed leaving out out Clause 140. Clause 140 makes it so the costs that count towards the cap on care costs are the costs the adult is required to pay (at the local authority rate) rather than the combined costs incurred by both the adult and the local authority.
25th April 2022 – Health and Care Bill — Clause 35 — Report on Assessing and Meeting Workforce Needs
MPs were voting on whether or not to reject Lords amendment 29B. Amendment 29B proposed reporting on the workforce needs of the health service in England three-yearly rather than five-yearly, and for the report to cover the social care and public health workforce as well.
30th March 2022 – Health and Care Bill — Clause 140 — Cap on Care Costs for Charging Purposes
MPs were voting on whether or not to reject Lords amendment 80. Lords amendment 80 proposed leaving out out Clause 140. Clause 140 makes it so the costs that count towards the cap on care costs are the costs the adult is required to pay (at the local authority rate) rather than the combined costs incurred by both the adult and the local authority.
30th March 2022 – Health and Care Bill — After Clause 148 — Dispute Resolution in Children’s Palliative Care
MPs were voting on whether or not to reject Lords amendment 90. Lords Amendment 90 would insert a new clause (‘Dispute resolution in children’s palliative care’) into the Bill, which would aim to ensure that, where there is a difference of opinion between a parent of a child with a life-limiting illness and a doctor responsible for the child’s treatment, disputes will be able to engage effective mediation.
30th March 2022 – Health and Care Bill — Clause 40 — Reconfiguration of Services: Intervention Powers
MPs were voting on whether or not to decline a Lords amendment that wanted to ‘remove’ Clause 40. Clause 40 conferred additional powers to the Secretary of State that would allow them to intervene in decisions by NHS England or Integrated Care Boards which change the range of NHS services available to individuals, or the manner in which they are delivered.
30th March 2022 – Health and Care Bill — Clause 35 — Report on Assessing and Meeting Workforce Needs
MPs were voting on whether or not to decline a Lords amendment that proposed increasing the frequency of reporting on the health workforce from every five years, to every two years and making a series of requirements for the report including that it include current and projected workforce numbers, that it cover social care and public health.
30th March 2022 – Health and Care Bill — After Clause 148 — Permitted Locations for Abortion Treatment
MPs were voting on whether or not to permit drug-mediated abortion, up-to ten weeks into a pregnancy, without requiring an in-person consultation with a registered medical practitioner, and to permit the drugs to be taken at home – opting instead to permit the required consultation with a registered medical professional to take place either in person, by telephone or by electronic means.
30th March 2022 Health and Care Bill — After Clause 148 — Tobacco Products Statutory Scheme: Consultation
MPs were voting on whether or not to reject Lords amendment 85, which proposed a consultation and report on the subject of regulating, to improve health, the prices of, and profits made from, tobacco products.
23rd Novermber 2021 – Health and Care Bill — Clause 34 — Report on Assessing and Meeting Workforce Needs
MPs were voting on an amendment that would require the Government to publish independently verified assessments every two years of current and future workforce numbers required to deliver care to the population in England, based on the economic projections made by the Office for Budget Responsibility, projected demographic changes, the prevalence of different health conditions and the likely impact of technology.
23rd Novermber 2021 – Health and Care Bill — New Clause 12 — Protection of the Title of “Nurse”
MPs were voting on a clause that aimed to make it an offence for someone who isn’t a registered Nurse or specialist community public health nurse to practice as a nurse or or have a business that uses the name or title of ‘Nurse’. Exceptions would be allowed for using terms like “veterinary nurse”, “dental nurse” or “nursery nurse”
14th September 2021 – Health and Social Care Levy Bill — Third Reading
MPs were voting on whether or not the bill should be read a third time. Essentially they were voting on whether or not to approve a 1.25% tax on individuals’ earnings or profits to be spent on health and social care.
14th September 2021 – Health and Social Care Levy Bill — New Clause 5 – Review of equality impact of Act
MPs were voting on whether or not to require the Chancellor of the Exchequer to review the equality impact of this Act on peoples income and wealth and how it effects people geographically, different minority groups or people of different socio-economic status, and then present a report to the House of Commons within six months of the passing of this Act and every 12 months thereafter.
14th September 2021 – Health and Social Care Levy Bill — New Clause 3 — Review of Revenue Effects of Act
MPs were voting on a new clause that would require that the Chancellor of the Exchequer review the revenue effects of this Act on employment, self-employment and on revenues derived from taxation on dividends, rental income and other forms of personal income.” and report his findings back to the House of Commons within six months (and every 12 months thereafter).
14th September 2021 – Health and Social Care Levy Bill — Clause 2 — Destination of Proceeds of Health and Social Care Levy
MPs were voting on whether or not to reject an amendment to Clause 2. Clause 2 stated that funds would be distributed in such shares as between health care and social care, and in such shares as between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as the Treasury may determine. The amendment would require joint agreement between the Treasury and the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as to how the levy proceeds are to be shared between the four areas and between health care and social care.
14th September 2021 – Health and Social Care Levy Bill — Second Reading
MPs were voting on whether or not the bill should be read a second time. Essentially they were voting on whether or not to approve a 1.25% tax on individuals’ earnings or profits to be spent on health and social care.
14th September 2021 – Health and Social Care Levy Bill — Decline Second Reading
MPs were voting on an amendment to a motion for the bill to be read a second time. The amendment was proposing to decline the Second Reading because “the Bill raises money for an approach announced by the Government that fails to set out a plan to fix the crisis in social care, improve pay and conditions for social care workers, or clear the NHS waiting list backlog by the end of this Parliament, while breaking the Prime Minister’s promise that no one will have to sell their home to pay for care; because it lacks a guarantee that Parliament will vote on a social care plan before spending the money it raises; and because it breaks the Government’s promise not to increase National Insurance, raising taxes on employment that will disproportionately hit working families, young people, those on low and middle incomes and businesses trying to create more jobs in the wider economy, whilst leaving income from other sources untouched.”
4th March 2020 – Austerity — Health Inequalities — Public Health
MPs were voting on whether or not to support the recommendations of the Marmot review (an investigation into heath inequalities, exacerbated by cuts to public spending, and their resulting impact on the life expectancy on vulnerable sections of society) and to invest in public health.
25th February 2020 – Social Care Reform — Free Personal Care
MPs voted on a proposal to reform social care including plans for free personal care.
25th February 2020 – Proper Funding of Public Services — Tax Avoidance and Evasion
MPs were voting on whether or not to properly fund public services, after a decade of austerity, and for the govt to take robust action to tackle tax avoidance and evasion, a problem that has caused savage cuts to public services and undermined the social security net.
4th February 2020 – NHS Funding Bill — New Clause 4 — Annual Statement on Sufficiency of NHS Funding to Meet Targets
Mps were voting on a new clause that “would require the Secretary of State to report annually on whether the allotment to the health service specified in section 1(1) year is sufficient to meet the performance targets set out in the NHS Constitution and, if not, what steps the Secretary of State is taking to ensure that those targets are met. This was a division in which only MPs from constituencies in England were eligible to vote.
4th February 2020 – NHS Funding Bill — Clause 1 — Prevention of Transferring Funds from NHS Capital Budgets to Achieve NHS Revenue Spending Requirements
MPs were voting on an amendment that would stop the Secretary of State meeting the NHS England allotment for resource spending by using funds from NHS capital budgets. This was a division in which only MPs from constituencies in England were eligible to vote.
4th February 2020 – NHS Funding Bill — Clause 1 — Annual Statement — Parity of Esteem for Mental Health Services — Spending on Mental Health Services
MPs were voting on an amendment that would require an annual statement on the Secretary of State’s plans to achieve parity of esteem in mental health services, including the amount spent on mental health services in each of the four upcoming financial years. This was a division in which only MPs from constituencies in England were eligible to vote.
20th March 2019 The Amendments Relating to the Provision of Integrated Care Regulations 2019 — Integrated Care Contracts
MPs were voting on whether or not to REJECT enabling general practice, wider NHS and, in some cases, certain local authority services, in an area, to be commissioned under the same integrated contract, where that contract could be by a public or a private body.
23rd May 2018 – NHS Reforms — Provision of Papers to Health and Social Care Committee
MPs voted on whether or not to give the Health and Social Care Committee access to written submissions received by Ministers since 8 June 2017 on proposals for reform of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, on the creation of accountable care organisations in the NHS, and on the effect of outsourcing and privatisation in the NHS including the creation of wholly-owned subsidiary companies; and minutes of all discussions on those subjects between Ministers, civil servants and special advisers at the Department of Health and Social Care, HM Treasury and the Prime Minister’s Office.
8th February 2017 – Draft Important Public Services (Health) Regulations 2017 — 40% Strike Ballot Threshold for Key Health Workers
MPs voted on a motion to require the strike ballot threshold for Key Health Workers (including staff working emergency ambulance services, hospital A&E services, hospital high-dependency & intensive care units, certain psychiatric obstetric and midwifery services) to be raised to 40% for strike action to be legal.
9th December 2015 – Opposition Day – Mental Health
MP’s were voting on whether or not to treat mental health concerns with the same priority as physical health, calling on the government to publish the NHS England’s Mental Health Taskforce report; express concern over the rate of inappropriate admissions of young people to non-specialist facilities in Scotland and over the absence of data on NHS spending on mental health services since 2011-12, while also expressing opposition to the Government’s decision not to enshrine the right to psychological therapies in the NHS Constitution. This vote called on the Government to urgently rectify this systemic inequity in entitlement to treatments, reinstate the annual survey of investment in mental health services and develop and implement in full a new strategy to improve the Government’s cross-departmental response to mental health.
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NOTE: This report has been sponsored by Spotlight readers. We’re currently hoping to find sponsorship for further research so we can produce a report on Starmer’s public profile between Aug 2017 and Sept 2023. We also want to investigate his work for the CPS and as DPP, as well as his voting record in other areas. You can sponsor this research by donating to our Starmer Deep Dive GoFundme Page…
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