Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the needs of men who are incontinent, but not classified as disabled as defined under the Equality Act 2010, are recognised and provided for with appropriate facilities to dispose of sanitary pads under the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, and the Approved Code of Practice; and when they plan to next review the Approved Code of Practice.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are reviewing the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and guidance of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 regarding provision of disposal facilities in workplace toilets only, to ensure they meet the needs of both men and women. There will be a public consultation on any changes in summer 2024 and the updated ACOP and guidance will be published in spring 2025.
HSE is the workplace regulator, therefore the legislation and guidance will only apply to toilets for use by workers in workplaces, made available to them as a place of work.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the UK National Screening Committee will publish (1) plans, and (2) timelines, for its in-service evaluation of newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Stakeholders will be kept updated on the progress of the in-service evaluation (ISE) for newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) via the UK National Screening Committee’s blog, which is available in an online only format. The most recent update was published on 24 January 2024, and detailed the progress of the SMA ISE, which is available in an online only format.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many babies born in England between January 2012 and December 2022 had neural tube defects; and how many pregnancies were terminated in that period because of neural tube defects.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the period January 2012 to December 2021, there were 8,052 mentions of congenital malformations of the nervous system under Ground E abortions for residents of England and Wales within both nations. Information on neural tube defects is published by number of mentions rather than number of pregnancies terminated, and it is possible for a pregnancy to have more than one neural tube defect. Data for January to December 2022 is not yet available and is due to be published in January 2024.
Data from the National Congenital Anomaly and Rare Disease Registration Service shows that between 2015 and 2021, there were 3,124 babies born in England who had neural tube defects.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of applications to undertake clinical trials that require MHRA approval are completed within 30 days; and how many such applications were received in the last 12 months.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A total of 587 valid clinical trial authorisation applications were received and assessed during the period of July 2022 to June 2023. Out of the 587, 100 applications were assessed within 30 days (17.04%).
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect public policy being influenced by the commercial interests of the tobacco industry.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government takes obligations to protect public policy from the commercial interests of the tobacco industry under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control very seriously. The ‘Guidance for government engagement with the tobacco industry’ was published on 19 June 2023 to support Government Departments and public bodies to adhere to Article 5.3 and remind them of their commitments. This document builds on established measures that the Department has put in place internally to limit interactions with the tobacco industry and ensure the transparency of the interactions that do occur. A copy is attached.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take together with NHS England to ensure that children currently in receipt of the NHS Special Schools Eye Care Service who attend day special schools will continue to access the service to meet their needs.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Plan made a commitment to ensure that children and young people with a learning disability and/or autism in special residential schools have access to sight checks in school. To fulfil that commitment, NHS England commenced a proof-of-concept programme in 2021, piloting sight testing and the dispensing of glasses in special schools.
NHS England are currently considering the evaluation of this special school programme, to determine how services to meet the eye care needs of children with learning disabilities in school settings should be commissioned and will set out next steps shortly.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the independent evaluation of the NHS Special Schools Eye Care Service will be made publicly available
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Plan made a commitment to ensure that children and young people with a learning disability and/or autism in special residential schools have access to sight checks in school. To fulfil that commitment, NHS England commenced a proof-of-concept programme in 2021, piloting sight testing and the dispensing of glasses in special schools.
NHS England are currently considering the evaluation of this special school programme, to determine how services to meet the eye care needs of children with learning disabilities in school settings should be commissioned and will set out next steps shortly.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of hospice beds that have been lost due to shortfalls in the funding through integrated care boards and where no alternative provision has been made by local NHS providers.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made. Palliative and end of life care is commissioned at a local level by integrated care boards (ICBs) in response to the needs of their local population. NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications to support ICBs in commissioning a range of palliative and end of life services, including inpatient beds, that meet local needs and preferences.
In addition, NHS England has funded the establishment of a palliative and end of life care Strategic Clinical Network in every NHS England region to work closely with local commissioners on the development of accessible, high quality and sustainable services.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that integrated care boards fulfil their obligations under the Health and Care Act 2022 to provide palliative care services to meet the needs of their population.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has actively increased its support to local commissioners to improve the accessibility, quality and sustainability of palliative and end of life care for all. This has included the publication of statutory guidance and service specifications, with further resources available on the FutureNHS Collaboration Platform. Copies of these documents are attached.
In addition, NHS England has funded the establishment of a palliative and end of life care Strategic Clinical Network in every NHS England region, which work closely with local commissioners regarding the development of accessible, high quality and sustainable services.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Maldives will be granted the same trade agreement as other Commonwealth Small Island States and no longer be charged 20 per cent tax on fish exports to the UK from their sustainable tuna line fishing; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK currently applies the UK Global Tariff of 20% to imports of tuna from the Maldives. This rate is also applied to imports from all other trading partners where preferential arrangements are not in place.
The Government continues to explore pragmatic opportunities to enhance bilateral trade relations with the Maldives in areas of mutual interest, including fishing.