Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of advice from NHS Sussex Trust that male lactation fluid is (1) safe and (2) beneficial for infants.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The welfare of the baby is always the primary concern, and the evidence is clear that a mother’s breastmilk has significant advantages in reducing risks of infections and should be the main drink throughout an infant’s first year of life. Induced lactation is an area where further scientific and fact-based evaluation is needed.
We have been clear that biological sex matters and it is important that health services recognise and support the different health and biological needs of men and women.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of HMP Dovegate’s scheme to train prisoners to become fully qualified dog trainers; and whether they will implement similar schemes in all prisons across England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Restart Dogs Programme at HMP Dovegate is currently funded through the local prisoners’ Amenities Fund, and its continuation will be reviewed in line with routine assurance checks to ensure continuing value for money and defined outcomes. There are no plans to implement the project across prisons in England and Wales, but it is available to Governors under the Dynamic Purchasing System, using their Learning and Skills budgets, if they determine that there is a local need.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the most recent statistics available on self-harm during the first 90 days in custody in the closed prison estate.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We do not currently publish a breakdown of self-harm incidents by total time in custody or by prison. Changes to our self-harm tables are considered as part of our regular review of how our statistical publications can best meet the needs of their users and stakeholders. Statistics on self-harm incidents by time in custody, like all identified information gaps, will be considered ahead of our more detailed annual statistics on self-harm in custody, due to be published in April 2023.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of HMP Peterborough’s scheme to reduce self-harm incidents in their female prison; and whether such a scheme could be implemented across England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We welcome the work HMP Peterborough is doing to reduce self-harm amongst female prisoners. We continue to do everything we can to address self-harm across the estate. In 2020, we established a multi-disciplinary Women’s Self-Harm Taskforce to address the high levels of self-harm. The aim of the taskforce is to focus on work, research and interventions that improve prisoner outcomes. The taskforce is trialling and formally evaluating a range of initiatives for women in prison and will use the formal evaluations of the work at Peterborough, and the similar work across the women’s prison estate, to inform our approaches to reducing self-harm amongst female prisoners going forward.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the UK’s financial settlement with the EU is paid into the same budget as member state contributions; and whether the financial settlement is ringfenced for specific EU spending projects.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
Payments made by the UK to the EU for the financial settlement are specifically related to the Financial Provisions section of the Withdrawal Agreement. The amounts provided are in relation to outstanding financial commitments between the UK and the EU which arose out of the UK’s participation in the EU budget as a Member State, broader aspects of its EU membership, and under the Transition Agreement.
Payments provided to the EU by the UK under Article 148 of the Withdrawal Agreement, the article summarising the yearly amount payable under Financial Settlement, are entered into the EU General Budget by the European Commission as ‘Special Contributions and Refunds’, under Chapter 6 6 of the Revenue of the EU Budget. Payments assigned to the General Budget are not specified for ringfenced expenditure.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many universities are continuing to use predominantly remote learning; what assessment they have made of reports of complaints by students that they are being discouraged from returning to campus; and what plans they have to reinforce the guidance that graduate and post-graduate students are entitled to face-to-face teaching.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
From the start of the pandemic, the higher education (HE) sector has put in significant resources and worked hard to provide learning materials and minimise the disruption to students. There have been some innovative and resourceful approaches to deliver high-quality learning online, and we welcome the huge amount of time and resources universities and other HE providers have devoted to ensuring that online teaching is of the high quality expected by students, Her Majesty's Government, and the Office for Students (OfS). Since early January, we estimate that 19% of students were on courses in scope for a return to face-to-face learning, and from 8 March 2021 this proportion increased to 49%. From 17 May 2021, all students have been able to return to in-person learning.
As autonomous institutions with a range of specific circumstances, we expect HE providers to make their own judgments to facilitate the return of students for face-to-face teaching, whilst following the latest public health guidance. We expect providers to continue work alongside local authorities and other agencies to put appropriate plans in place to control and manage any local outbreaks and to minimise transmission of COVID-19.
If students have concerns about their tuition, including the return to in-person teaching, there is a process in place. They should first raise their concerns with their university. If their concerns remain unresolved, students at providers in England or Wales can ask the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education to consider their complaint. We expect providers to ensure that continuing and prospective students receive the clear, accurate, and timely information they need to make informed decisions. Whilst the OfS does not get involved in student complaints, students can notify it of issues which may be of regulatory interest to it. The OfS uses this information as part of its regulatory monitoring activity and keeps HE providers under review to ensure that they comply with the ongoing conditions of registration. The OfS has produced a guide for students to support them in this process. This is available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-students/ofs-and-students/notifications/.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to introduce legislation to facilitate face-to-face visits between people in residential care homes and persons significant to them, in line with the recommendations made by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in their letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on 3 February.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We expect care homes to enable visiting unless they have a current outbreak, in which case visiting is more limited. We are currently pursuing non-legislative routes to make sure this is followed, involving our regional assistance team, local authorities and the Care Quality Commission. This approach allows us to move more swiftly in changing circumstances and to accommodate all care homes.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which local authorities the Prime Minister’s Special Adviser on Transport and Infrastructure has had direct communication with since March about the installation of bicycle lanes; and whether he indicated to any councils that any local authority that failed to install bicycle lanes could have its powers as a local highways' authority removed.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Transport understands that the Prime Minister’s Special Adviser on Transport and Infrastructure has had discussions with a number of local authorities since March on cycle lanes and other matters; but that he has not given such an indication to any authority.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how the average journey time for cars and other vehicles has been affected as a result of road closures in London during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Active Travel Fund was announced on 9 May and provided £225 million of funding for local authorities to enable them to reallocate road space and make changes to road layouts in response to COVID-19.
Alongside the funding, the Department published statutory guidance to local authorities under the Traffic Management Act 2004. This provides advice on the changes that Government expects them to make to their road layouts to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians. It is for local authorities to decide what specific measures are appropriate on their roads to achieve this.
The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 gives local authorities powers to close roads using Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs). No new road closure powers have been granted. The emergency legislation which came into force on 22 May made some changes to the procedure for making TROs, but did not alter the pre-existing notice periods. Local authorities are still required to give 7 days’ notice of proposed temporary or experimental changes, to allow time for local residents or businesses to send in any comments or objections.
The monitoring and evaluation of schemes, including impact on traffic flows, is a matter for local authorities.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government under what conditions councils in London have been given statutory authority to close roads during the COVID-19 pandemic; and how long any such temporary closures will be in place.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Active Travel Fund was announced on 9 May and provided £225 million of funding for local authorities to enable them to reallocate road space and make changes to road layouts in response to COVID-19.
Alongside the funding, the Department published statutory guidance to local authorities under the Traffic Management Act 2004. This provides advice on the changes that Government expects them to make to their road layouts to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians. It is for local authorities to decide what specific measures are appropriate on their roads to achieve this.
The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 gives local authorities powers to close roads using Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs). No new road closure powers have been granted. The emergency legislation which came into force on 22 May made some changes to the procedure for making TROs, but did not alter the pre-existing notice periods. Local authorities are still required to give 7 days’ notice of proposed temporary or experimental changes, to allow time for local residents or businesses to send in any comments or objections.
The monitoring and evaluation of schemes, including impact on traffic flows, is a matter for local authorities.