Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill and its impact assessment, what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of judicial approval as a safeguard in countries with assisted suicide regimes, including the proportion of applications refused in those countries and the reasons for refusal.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The purpose of the impact assessment was to appraise the assisted dying service as described in the bill at the end of committee stage. Judicial approval is not one of the steps an applicant must follow to access the assisted dying service. Therefore, no assessment was made regarding the effectiveness of judicial approval as a safeguard.
The Government remains neutral on the policy choices in the bill, and it is rightly a matter for Parliament to decide if the safeguards in the bill are sufficient.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much NHS England has spent on maternity negligence claims in each of the past 10 years.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Resolution (NHSR) manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England.
The following table shows the total payments for maternity, including obstetrics and neonatology, clinical claims between 2015/16 and 2024/25, broken down by primary specialty and payment year:
Payment Year | Obstetrics (£) | Neonatology (£) | Total Maternity (£) |
2015/16 | 508,103,281 | 194,645 | 508,297,926 |
2016/17 | 581,810,308 | 202,864 | 582,013,172 |
2017/18 | 915,659,658 | 302,381 | 915,962,039 |
2018/19 | 950,627,331 | 634,451 | 951,261,782 |
2019/20 | 902,715,840 | 1,297,437 | 904,013,277 |
2020/21 | 849,970,193 | 3,715,683 | 853,685,876 |
2021/22 | 906,061,294 | 3,213,166 | 909,274,459 |
2022/23 | 1,086,187,276 | 20,097,430 | 1,106,284,706 |
2023/24 | 1,145,173,134 | 30,185,739 | 1,175,358,873 |
2024/25 | 1,287,368,291 | 47,037,798 | 1,334,406,089 |
Source: NHSR
Notes:
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the terms of reference are for the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, and when they will be published.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The membership of the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce is currently being finalised, and the first meeting of the taskforce will be held early this year. Following engagement with some families and stakeholders, the Terms of Reference are also being developed and will be published in due course.
This will allow the taskforce to begin to address some of the entrenched issues we know exist and be fully prepared to act once the national maternity and neonatal investigation reports in Spring 2026.The taskforce will work rapidly to transform the investigation’s recommendations into a deliverable new national action plan to drive real change.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the first meeting of the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce is set to take place.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The membership of the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce is currently being finalised, and the first meeting of the taskforce will be held early this year. Following engagement with some families and stakeholders, the Terms of Reference are also being developed and will be published in due course.
This will allow the taskforce to begin to address some of the entrenched issues we know exist and be fully prepared to act once the national maternity and neonatal investigation reports in Spring 2026.The taskforce will work rapidly to transform the investigation’s recommendations into a deliverable new national action plan to drive real change.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, for the purposes of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, and having regard to the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and the Mental Capacity Act 2005, what assessment they have made of the risks associated with permitting assistance for someone to end their own life where the person has not previously undergone any deprivation of liberty or comprehensive safeguarding assessment.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is currently under consideration in Parliament, and it is rightly a matter for Parliament to decide if the safeguards in the bill are sufficient. The Government remains neutral on the bill.
Given that the bill is still under consideration, the Government has made no assessment of the risks associated with permitting assistance for someone to end their own life where the person has not previously undergone any deprivation of liberty or comprehensive safeguarding assessment.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current national shortage level of childbirth epidural kits, what assessment they have made of the causes of that shortage, and what plans they have to address the shortage.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no supply issues regarding epidural insertion kits, but there are supply issues impacting some of the usual medicines used to provide pain relief via epidural infusion. However, a range of licensed and unlicensed bags, including unlicensed imports, remain available, and the situation is being closely monitored.
To ensure a system-wide co-ordinated approach on using these products and safe implementation, a National Patient Safety Alert was issued on 2 December 2025 with clear and comprehensive management guidance. The Department and NHS England have also worked with professional stakeholders to provide clinical advice for clinicians at hospital level to minimise potential disruption and maintain safe patient care, a copy of which is attached.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, what discussions they have had with devolved administrations about data sharing and reporting arrangements should the Bill receive Royal Assent, and whether they plan to publish any memoranda of understanding.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government remains neutral on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. The Government’s discussions about the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill with devolved administrations have focused on the workability of the bill. This has included how the reporting and data sharing requirements on the face of the bill would apply, particularly in relation to Wales. These are technical discussions that are being held at an official level and have not covered what any arrangement would look like should the bill receive Royal Assent. As the Government is neutral on the bill, no decisions have been taken on the need for memoranda of understanding.
Should the bill gain Royal Assent, detailed work on a delivery model would need to be undertaken, which would include more detailed work on data sharing and reporting arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, whether they plan to ringfence additional GP capacity for the assessments to be made by a coordinating and an independent doctor if the Bill were to receive Royal Assent.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government remains neutral on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Should the bill gain Royal Assent, detailed work on a delivery model would need to be undertaken. This work would include developing workforce regulations and guidance.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on suicide prevention strategies, including by reviewing the effect on suicide rates in countries where similar laws have been introduced.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to delivering the cross-sector Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published in 2023, which identifies priority areas for action to reduce suicides, and we will explore opportunities to go further.
The Government is neutral on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Should Parliament choose to pass this bill it will not affect the Government’s commitment to the suicide prevention strategy.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, and following the published impact assessment and equality impact assessment, what estimate they have made of the proportion of people who would be eligible for assistance to end their own life who have a history of depression, self-harm or other mental health conditions.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The published Impact Assessment and Equality Impact Assessment provides illustrative figures for aspects of the service where sufficient information and evidence is available and where the level of detail contained in the bill permits.
The Government does not have an estimate of the proportion of people who would be eligible for assistance to end their own life who have a history of mental health conditions.
Further considerations for information regarding Cohort Estimates and Impacts on individuals and specific groups of individuals can be found in section 7 and section 8 of the bill’s impact assessment, a copy of which is attached.