Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, regarding the Decapods: call for evidence which closed on 13 October 2023, what consideration they have made of the evidence received, when results will be published, and when a policy decision based on this evidence will be made.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is carefully considering the results from the call for evidence regarding the current use of decapods in science to inform future policy options.
The Home Office intend to commission the independent advisory body, the Animals in Science Committee (ASC), for advice on this issue. The scope of the commission to the ASC will be made public. We will then publish in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to inform and educate employers and occupational health professionals of the specific workplace adaptations that women experiencing menopause symptoms may require, and what assessment they have made of working conditions for frontline health workers experiencing menopause symptoms.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Government’s Women’s Health Strategy, improving care and support for women experiencing menopause symptoms is a priority for the Government. Helen Tomlinson has been appointed as the Government’s first Menopause Employment Champion and is working with employers to increase understanding of menopause in the workplace and support for women. In October 2023 Helen published a report, No Time to Step Back, which provides guidance to help recruit, support and retain women experiencing the menopause and stop women considering giving up their employment.
The Government has also launched a new online only space for guidance on the Help to Grow website, providing businesses, large and small, with the resources they need to help educate their organisation and workers about the menopause.
In the 2023 Autumn Statement, the Government published the response to the Occupational Health: Working Better consultation and set out plans to imminently set up an expert group to support the development of a voluntary minimum framework for quality occupational health provision. The voluntary framework will take account of existing initiatives that support those with health conditions and disabilities in the workplace and aims to set out the minimum level of quality occupational health provision that employers can adopt to help employees return to work from sickness absence, and prevent health-related job loss.
The Government also announced that it will identify longer-term options to build multidisciplinary workforce capability in work and health, building on existing work with the sector and exploring opportunities for businesses and providers to improve support for their employees. The Occupational Health Workforce Expansion Funding Scheme launched in July 2023 funds doctors and nurses to undertake occupational health training courses and qualifications with 99 Doctors and Nurses funded as part of the first round of applications.
In terms of frontline health workers, a key focus of the NHS England National Menopause Care Improvement Programme is the development of a retention programme for the National Health Service workforce, which is looking at how best to support menopausal staff and line managers in NHS settings. In November 2022, NHS England launched Supporting our NHS people through menopause, a guidance document developed for NHS line managers and colleagues. They have launched two e-learning packages, for general guidance and occupational health colleagues, and are developing one for human resources and line managers. A health and wellbeing app, Shiny Mind, is available to the nursing workforce, and launched a menopause specific section in November 2023.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the personal protective equipment (PPE) industry about regulatory and technological solutions to improve short PPE use-by dates.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Personal Protective Equipment Regulation 2016/425 sets out essential safety requirements that PPE must meet. This includes an obligation on the manufacturer to give, if possible, the month and year of obsolescence, if it is known that the design performance may be significantly affected by ageing.
The Government has had no discussions with industry about changing this requirement in the Regulation, but welcomes new technological innovation to improve short PPE use-by dates.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to educate assessors of disability benefits, including commissioned assessment services, about chronic inflammatory conditions such as Hidradenitis suppurativa and their impact on individuals' capacity to work.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have interpreted your question to refer to healthcare professionals (HCPs) who conduct Work Capability Assessments for Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA) on behalf of the department, and not Department for Work and Pensions decision makers who make decisions on entitlement to benefit.
Assessments are carried out by qualified HCPs, who receive training in assessing the impacts of a variety of disabilities including chronic inflammatory conditions, to ensure they are familiar with the clinical aspects of the conditions and their impact on daily functions.
HCPs have access to a wide range of clinical resources, including e-learning modules and case studies, to research any conditions presented. CHDA has a learning module on hidradenitis suppurativa for use by their HCPs that has been externally quality assured by a consultant dermatologist. In addition, HCPs are also expected to keep their knowledge up to date through continuing professional development.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that regulated persons in relation to forest risk commodities establish and implement due diligence systems in relation to those commodities, as required under the Environment Act 2021.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government introduced new legislation through the Environment Act to tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains. Recent research estimates that around 70% of global tropical deforestation for commercial agriculture between 2013 and 2019 was conducted in violation of national laws.
The Government announced further details of our Forest Risk Commodities regulations at COP28 in December. The new law will make it illegal for larger organisations, with a global annual turnover of more than £50m, to use key forest risk commodities produced on land illegally occupied or used. Initial secondary legislation will focus on four commodities identified as key drivers of deforestation: cattle products (excluding dairy), cocoa, palm oil and soy.
Organisations in scope will also be required to undertake a due diligence exercise on their supply chains and to report on this exercise annually. To ensure transparency, information about businesses' due diligence exercises will be published. Businesses in scope that do not comply with these requirements may be subject to fines and other civil sanctions. The secondary legislation required to operationalise the Environment Act provisions will be laid as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to inform and educate employers and occupational health professionals about the specific workplace adaptations that people with Hidradenitis suppurativa may require.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Government response to the Occupational Health: Working Better consultation published last year, the Government will develop a voluntary minimum framework for quality occupational health, aiming to set out the minimum level of provision that employers can adopt to support those with health conditions and disabilities in the workplace. This builds on the development of a digital information and advice service for employers, offering tailored guidance on health and disability, to equip employers to have work and health conversations and signpost to sources of expert support. A copy of the Government response to the consultation is attached.
The Government also announced that it will identify longer-term options to build multidisciplinary workforce capability in work and health, building on existing work with the sector and exploring opportunities for businesses and providers to improve support for their employees. The Occupational Health Workforce Expansion Funding Scheme launched in July 2023 funds doctors and nurses to undertake occupational health training courses and qualifications with 99 doctors and nurses trained to date.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce rates of violence experienced by front line healthcare workers; and what assessment they have made of the effect of such violence on staffing levels.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In January 2021, and in conjunction with the Social Partnership Forum, NHS England developed and published a national Violence Prevention and Reduction Standard. This supports employers in their efforts to provide a safe and secure working environment for National Health Service staff, with a focus on risk management, training and support for those impacted by incidences of violence or aggression.
£8.4 million has been invested into the ambulance service sector to explore the efficacy of body worn cameras in reducing violence and abuse. All ambulance trusts are now trialling cameras and an independent evaluation is underway with a final report expected towards the end of 2024.
In 2022, the Government legislated through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act to double the sentence for assaults on emergency workers to a maximum of two years.
We do not currently have a national mechanism to assess the levels of violence and aggression in the NHS on staffing levels. NHS employing organisations have a duty of care to support the health and safety of their staff and they do collect data on incidents. This is used to inform local strategies for reducing and dealing with violence and aggression.
The NHS Staff Survey does ask questions relating to incidences of violence, harassment, and abuse. The 2022 NHS Staff Survey indicated that 14.7% of NHS staff have self-reported that they had experienced at least one incident of physical violence from patients, service users, relatives, or other members of the public in the last 12 months.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote (1) the NHS Low Income Scheme to chronically ill patients, including Hidradenitis suppurativa patients, and (2) the use of pre-payment prescription certificates to chronically ill patients, including Hidradenitis suppurativa patients.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Business Services Authority and the National Health Service promote the NHS Low Income Scheme and prescription pre-payment certificates (PPCs) to professionals and patients. It does this through social media, online resources, media releases and healthcare bulletins.
Our extensive arrangements to help people afford NHS prescription charges, means that almost 89% of prescription items in England are already provided free of charge. For those not exempt from charges, PPCs can be used to cap costs at approximately £2 a week for regular prescriptions.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to including Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) to the list of specified medical conditions qualifying for free prescriptions, given the high out-of-pocket costs for HS patients.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
While we are not considering adding this or other conditions to the list of exemptions for free prescriptions, there are extensive arrangements currently in place to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for patients with hidradentis suppurativa.
Around 89% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge and extensive arrangements are already in place to help those with the greatest need. Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of children likely to be separated from a British parent as a result of the increase to the salary threshold to £38,700 for those applying for spousal or partner visas.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The family Immigration Rules contain an existing provision for exceptional circumstances where there would be unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant, their partner, a relevant child, or another family member, if their application were to be refused. This will continue to be the case when the minimum income requirement is increased in spring 2024.