Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the menopause taskforce last met; and if she will publish minutes of the meeting.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Menopause Taskforce last met on 12 December 2023. Minutes of taskforce meetings are not published but are circulated to Taskforce members.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of maternal mental health services; and what steps she is taking to improve mental health services for women (a) during pregnancy, (b) post-pregnancy and (c) in cases of baby loss or birth trauma.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We are committed to expanding and transforming mental health services in England so that people, including those affected by a miscarriage, the loss of a baby or birth trauma, can get the help and support that they need, when they need it.
The Pregnancy Loss Review was published earlier this year and made 73 recommendations on improving the care and support women and families receive when experiencing a pre-24-week gestation baby loss. Our response sets out in detail what actions the Government intends to take immediately to progress 20 recommendations in relation to several key areas.
As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, we are looking to improve the access and quality of perinatal mental health care for mothers and their partners. As of February 2023, there were 35 Maternal Mental Health Services, which provide psychological therapy for women experiencing mental health difficulties related to their maternity experience. Services in each integrated care system area are due to be operational by March 2024.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data her Department holds on the number of women who have (a) been prescribed hormone replacement therapy for (i) perimenopausal and (ii) menopausal symptoms and (b) received other treatment for such symptoms in each of the last five years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The figures in the table below relate to the prescribing of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medications in England that are subsequently dispensed in the community in England, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands by a pharmacy, appliance contractor, dispensing doctor or have been personally administered by a general practice. They do not include data on medicines used in secondary care, prisons or issued by a private prescriber. As data is not captured on clinical indication it is not possible to distinguish between the two conditions. Data in the table for the prescribing of HRT medications is based on a list of products that are obtainable via an HRT prescription pre-payment certificate. These also exclude other medicines to treat menopause symptoms that are not licensed for that purpose that patients may be prescribed or purchase over the counter.
Year | Total Identified Patients |
2019/2020 | 1,455,591 |
2020/2021 | 1,384,489 |
2021/2022 | 1,813,228 |
2022/2023 | 2,344,680 |
2023/2024 (up to June 2023) | 1,671,792 |
Note: Data published 26 October 2023 – ‘Hormone Replacement Therapy - England - April 2015 to June 2023’, which is available at the following link: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/hormone-replacement-therapy-england/hormone-replacement-therapy-england-april-2015-june-2023
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce rates of conflict-related sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK regularly engages with the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), civil society and international partners on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). We welcome DRC recently formally joined the International Alliance on the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI). UK support is wide-ranging and includes vital support to CRSV survivors through our humanitarian programme. Through our partnership with the Global Survivors Fund, the UK has provided livelihood, education, medical, psychological and legal support to over a thousand survivors of CRSV, as part of broader holistic redress projects co-created with survivors to meet their needs. The UK also funds an access to justice project for CRSV survivors in eastern DRC. Working with TRIAL International, it provides legal support to survivors as well as training and mentoring to magistrates, lawyers and human rights defenders to help bring an end to the culture of impunity. We lobby the DRC Government to push for the imposition of sanctions, through the UN, against individuals who have committed human rights abuses, and on 19 June, announced new sanctions against perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict, sending a clear signal that the UK will hold accountable those responsible for these crimes.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to tackle food insecurity in Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The conflict is having a devastating impact on Sudanese populations, with 20.3 million people - 42 per-cent of the population - in need of urgent food assistance. In November, at the Global Food Security Summit in London, the UK pledged a further £14.3 million in humanitarian aid for Sudan, bringing our total support package to £36 million for 2023-2024, which includes some nutrition assistance. On 4 May, the UK Government announced £5 million of life-saving aid to help meet the urgent needs of refugees and returnees in South Sudan and Chad who have fled the violence in Sudan. This included, in Chad, £1.75 million for the World Food Programme to preposition food before seasonal floods and, in South Sudan, £1.5 million for the World Food Programme for food in border areas.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department is taking steps to help (a) the people displaced in eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and (b) reduce the outbreak of disease and hunger in that region.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The humanitarian emergency in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the most catastrophic globally. 5.5 million people are now displaced, with the majority living in unacceptable conditions and at risk of food insecurity. In addition, climate shocks are impacting agriculture, livelihoods and fishing, increasing food prices (by 16 per-cent on average) and poverty levels and resulting in a deterioration of basic infrastructure. In response, the UN's System Wide Scale Up has been extended for a second time until end of December. The UK supported the scale up and urged for more resources and action from the DRC Government and other international partners. A 3-year £98 million UK funded humanitarian and resilience programme for crisis affected communities in eastern DRC where the food security needs are the highest has recently been approved. We are currently allocating funding to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) for Cholera, to the World Food Programme (WFP) for food security and to a new consortium led by Concern to improve livelihoods of conflict affected communities that will address disease and hunger.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the progress of regional diplomatic efforts to secure peace in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK Government is committed to supporting efforts to build stability and reduce violence in The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) including through the UN Peacekeeping Mission MONUSCO, where the UK contributed £51 million in 2022/23, and have allocated £48 million for 2023/2024. The UK welcomes continued engagement from countries in the region. The UK strongly believes in the primacy of political process and we reiterate our support for the regionally led Nairobi and Luanda peace processes, which aim to counter the spiral of violence in eastern DRC. We continue to urge all parties and countries in the region to deliver on their commitments to revitalise these political processes and to turn commitments into tangible action to address shared security challenges, improve humanitarian access and reduce violence. The UK remains strongly of the view that dialogue, not violence, is the only way to achieve lasting peace in eastern DRC.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it remains her Department's policy to reform the Mental Health Act 1983.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We remain committed to bringing forward a Mental Health Bill when Parliamentary time allows us to do so. In the meantime, we are already taking forward wider commitments to improve the care and treatment of people detained under the Mental Health Act, including piloting models of Culturally Appropriate Advocacy. These pilots will provide tailored support to people from ethnic minority communities and improve their experience of being treated under the Mental Health Act.
This is alongside our wider commitment to invest at least £2.3 billion of additional funding a year by March 2024 to expand and transform mental health services within the National Health Service, so an extra two million people can get mental health support.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of (a) financial and (b) staffing support for the Pensions Ombudsman in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021, (iii) 2022 and (iv) 2023 to date.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP have increased the financial support to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO), with an additional £750,000 of funding provided in 2022/23 towards tackling the case backlog and an additional £1,698,347 in 2023/24 towards the case backlog and waiting times, enabling TPO to create a new casework support team. This has significantly increased case clearances.
The Department also provide support, when necessary, in the areas of digital, commercial, security and HR alongside continuing stewardship support and advice.
The TPO 2022/23 annual report and accounts are due to be laid in Parliament and will provide further detail.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the waiting times for the Pensions Ombudsman to respond to enquiries that the Early Resolution Team have escalated.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
TPO’s Early Resolution team (ERT) investigates complaints where TPO believes the complaint may be resolved informally. Over 80% of cases that go to ERT are resolved there, but where this is not possible, the complaint is passed to TPO’s Adjudication Team. Cases may then be escalated to the Pensions Ombudsman where the complainant does not agree with the adjudicator’s decision.
DWP have recently provided additional funding to TPO towards reducing waiting times. This funding has been used to create a new casework support team. This has significantly increased case clearances.
Due to variation in the complexity of cases, TPO does not currently hold validated data on the average time for cases to pass through the Adjudication Team and Ombudsman.