STARMER PROFILE : VOTING RECORD : Healthcare

I’ve found 61, non-Covid related, divisions on NHS/ Health issues since Starmer became an MP in May 2015. Surprisingly, Starmer seems to have missed 30 of these divisions. MP's can sometimes have legitimate reasons for not voting (Corbyn didn't vote on 10 occasions for example), but Starmer missing half of all the possible divisions seems more than a little unusual. Having gone through all 61 divisions, I’ve been able to produce a summary of what each division was for. Below are some of the divisions where Starmer chose to abstain. I think it’s fair to say, this report exposes Starmer’s political alignment on public health care, more than any promise, pledge or speech he’s ever given…

9th December 2015: Opposition Day - Mental Health

A vote 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.”

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 — 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 — 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 — 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.

23rd November 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”

23rd November 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.

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.

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 — 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 — 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 — 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.

6th December 2022: NHS Workforce

MPs were voting on a motion, following a parliamentary 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 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.

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."

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."

NB: Full report available upon request. Also, if you spot any errors in this report then please contact admin@spotlight-newspaper.co.uk immediately. Thank you!

https://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=Keir_Starmer&mpc=Holborn_and_St_Pancras&house=commons&display=everyvote#divisions