Autumn term 2011
Health and Social Care
This month we will be getting behind the headlines on a bill that has attracted lots of media attention - the Health and Social Care bill. The House of Lords is currently examining it, line by line, in what's known as 'committee stage', but how well do your students understand the issues? What will it mean for them? And how can they have their say about the work of Parliament?
In one minute: the Health and Social Care bill
We gave two MPs one minute to answer the question: 'What impact do you think the bill will have on the future of health and social care?'
More videos
Explore these issues in the classroom, and teach your students about the work of pressure groups, using the downloadable classroom resource.
The Health and Social Care bill: the key issues
- Cost - The UK has a substantial budget deficit and an aging population, which means there is a growing need for health services. Can costs be cut, and efficiency increased, by restructuring the NHS?
- Competition and choice - The bill will give GPs and other health professionals extra powers to commission services for their patients from private companies. Will this empower them to choose the best services at the best prices? Or is there a danger that private companies will cherry-pick patients that have the best chances of being treated successfully while others lose out? What do your students think?
- Responsibility for the NHS - At the moment, the Secretary of State for Health is responsible for providing health services in the UK. The Health and Social Care bill does not state this obligation in the same way. The House of Lords has debated whether this change reduces the government's responsibility to provide a national health service or whether it is necessary to reflect greater autonomy in the NHS.
What do your students think about these issues?
More information:
Who am I?
This month's guest is Baroness D'Souza, Lord Speaker, elected to her role in July 2011. Watch her talking about her role as Lord Speaker, her career path before she entered the House of Lords, and how the House of Lords can help young people address the issues that matter to them.
Classroom resources
Explore different views on the Health and Social Care bill and examine campaigning methods in your classroom.
This resource pack contains concise information about five groups of stakeholders in the Health and Social Care bill. There is also a guide to methods of campaigning. Challenge your students to take the role of a pressure group and devise a campaign about health and social care, or an issue of their choice.
Download the resource
Scrutinising government bills: where do your students fit in?
Many people have suggested changes to the Health and Social Care bill as it has passed through Parliament. Who can influence the content of a bill?
You: The public
Every bill is examined by a public bill committee, which takes evidence from members of the public and organisations with an interest in the issues. Over 29,000 people sent comments to the NHS Future Forum on the Health and Social Care bill. In response, the committee suggested many changes.
House of Lords
Many Members of the House of Lords are healthcare experts. They draw on their specialist knowledge when they are debating bills, and may suggest amendments, or changes. It is very rare to have a vote at the second reading of a bill in the House of Lords but this happened with the Health and Social Care bill because it was particularly controversial.
All of Parliament
Parliament is made up of 650 MPs, over 800 Members of the House of Lords, and the monarch. Parliament as a whole has a role in passing bills and checking the work of the government (around 70 ministers from the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties). Part of their recent work has included scrutinising the Health and Social Care bill.
News round-up: Top stories this month
Protection of Freedoms bill under examination
The House of Lords has begun line-by-line examination of the Protection of Freedoms bill, which looks at regulation of CCTV, police retention of DNA data, stop and search measures, and the length of time you can be detained without trial.
Chancellor gives autumn budget statement
On 29 November, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, revealed the revised forecast for the UK's economic growth in his autumn budget statement. He also laid out the government's latest plans for changes to spending and taxation.
50 years of Prime Minister's Questions
24 October 2011 marked the 50th anniversary of Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) as a permanent event in the House of Commons. Read what was said in the first PMQs, or watch historic occasions such as the final PMQs given by Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.