Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what contributions their delegation made to promoting the rights of older women at the 70th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Equalities Minister Baroness Jacqui Smith led the UK delegation at the 70th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), alongside UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls Harriet Harman, HRH the Duchess of Edinburgh and Ministry of Justice Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones.
We were pleased to host an event during CSW in partnership with Age International, which highlighted the voices, experiences and specific needs of older women in relation to violence against women and girls. We were regrettably unable to be represented at the Ministerial Roundtable on Older Women due to other commitments during CSW, but we look forward to the chair's summary and will carefully consider any agreed findings and actions in our domestic and international work.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the UK was represented at the ministerial round table of the 70th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women; and if not, why not.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Equalities Minister Baroness Jacqui Smith led the UK delegation at the 70th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), alongside UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls Harriet Harman, HRH the Duchess of Edinburgh and Ministry of Justice Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones.
We were pleased to host an event during CSW in partnership with Age International, which highlighted the voices, experiences and specific needs of older women in relation to violence against women and girls. We were regrettably unable to be represented at the Ministerial Roundtable on Older Women due to other commitments during CSW, but we look forward to the chair's summary and will carefully consider any agreed findings and actions in our domestic and international work.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the outcomes of the ministerial round table on achieving gender equality and the empowerment of older women at the 70th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Equalities Minister Baroness Jacqui Smith led the UK delegation at the 70th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), alongside UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls Harriet Harman, HRH the Duchess of Edinburgh and Ministry of Justice Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones.
We were pleased to host an event during CSW in partnership with Age International, which highlighted the voices, experiences and specific needs of older women in relation to violence against women and girls. We were regrettably unable to be represented at the Ministerial Roundtable on Older Women due to other commitments during CSW, but we look forward to the chair's summary and will carefully consider any agreed findings and actions in our domestic and international work.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they will take to support women and girls in the use of overseas development aid, in particular in terms of the amount of aid allocated, specific projects and diplomacy.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Baroness to the statements made by the Foreign Secretary and myself on 19 March when announcing the Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations for the period up to 2028-29, and the accompanying documents setting out the detail of those allocations. This included setting an increased target for at least 90 percent of the UK's bilateral ODA programmes to have a focus on women and girls by 2030.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many animals, and in particular how many (1) beagles and (2) non-human primates, they approved for use in scientific procedures in licences granted in 2025; and how this aligns with their commitment to phase out animal testing through their ‘Replacing animals in science’ strategy.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Statistics about the use of animals in scientific procedures in 2025, including beagles and non-human primates, will be published later this year as Accredited Official Statistics.
The Home Office publishes annual statistics on the use of animals in science which contain information on the number of procedures conducted, including breakdowns by species of animals (including beagles). The statistics report both the total number of procedures conducted and the number of animals used for the first time in a given year. Data are collected and published on an annual basis and are not disaggregated by licence approvals at the point of authorisation.
In addition, the Home Office publishes non-technical summaries for every project licence granted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. These are published quarterly and include information on the species and the number of animals expected to be used over the lifetime of the project licence.
This Government remains firmly committed to working towards the phasing out of animals in science. The strategy, ‘Replacing animals in science’, sets specific targets to reduce the use of dogs and non-human primates by 2030, while ensuring the UK continues to support safe and effective scientific and medical research.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consultations they are carrying out to update approach of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative beyond 2026; and when they will publish that update.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Work to refresh the UK's approach to preventing sexual violence in conflict is underway. External consultation to inform that process has been conducted with the preventing sexual violence Initiative's (PSVI) Survivor Advisory Group, key civil society and academic partners, and former PSVI Special Representatives, and there will be further such consultation - including with parliamentary stakeholders - before the refreshed approach is finalised.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (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 costs and benefits of introducing compulsory screening for the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, in particular for (1) pregnant women, (2) children, and (3) other adults.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Each year, our National Health Service screening programmes invite over 15 million people for screening, with over 10 million taking up the invitation. In total, this saves approximately 10,000 lives every year and enables many others to make better informed decisions around their health.
The Government is advised on all screening matters by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent scientific advisory committee which is made up of leading medical and screening experts. Where the committee is confident that there is robust evidence that to offer screening provides more good than harm, they recommend a screening programme.
In 2016, the committee reviewed the evidence for screening pregnant women for toxoplasmosis and did not recommend screening because:
- the screening test would incorrectly show that toxoplasmosis is present in many women;
- it is not known if the current treatment, antibiotics, would stop the infection being passed to the baby or reduce the severity of the infection; and
- there is not enough information about how many people might get the infection in the United Kingdom.
The UK NSC will review the evidence again within their usual work cycle.
Regarding screening children and other adults for toxoplasmosis, the UK NSC has never been asked to consider screening for these groups of people.
Any person or organisation can submit a proposal for a new screening topic during the UK NSC’s three-month open call process which will next run from 1 July 2026 to 30 September 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (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 percentage people (1) 0–16 years old, (2) 17–30 years old, (3) 31–40 years old, (4) 41–50 years old, and (5) more than 51 years old, are affected by (a) toxoplasmosis, and (b) ocular toxoplasmosis.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Toxoplasmosis is not a notifiable disease in England. However, since April 2025, laboratories are required to notify the detection of toxoplasma associated with congenital toxoplasmosis under amendments to the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations. Current national toxoplasmosis surveillance is limited to samples referred to the Toxoplasma Reference Unit (TRU). Toxoplasmosis surveillance data is published annually by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). Data for ocular toxoplasmosis is not routinely collected by UKHSA.
Data is not held in the format requested as it is reported by broader age groups, and this is shown below, and can also be found in the annual report available online. The data below will be an underestimate of national figures due to toxoplasmosis not being a notifiable disease, and the use of TRU reported cases only.
The following table shows the number of laboratory confirmed cases of toxoplasmosis in England by age group and sex, for 2024:
Age group in years | Male | Female | Unknown | Total |
Under 14 | 8 (4.0%) | 6 (3.0%) | 1 (0.5%) | 15 (7.6%) |
15 to 24 | 8 (4.0%) | 13 (6.6%) | 2 (1.0%) | 23 (11.6%) |
25 to 34 | 17 (8.6%) | 45 (22.7%) | 0 (0%) | 62 (31.3%) |
35 to 44 | 15 (7.6%) | 23 (11.6%) | 0 (0%) | 38 (19.2%) |
45 to 54 | 10 (5.1%) | 13 (6.6%) | 0 (0%) | 23 (11.6%) |
55 to 64 | 6 (3.0%) | 9 (4.5%) | 1 (0.5%) | 16 (8.1%) |
65 to 74 | 6 (3.0%) | 4 (2.0%) | 0 (0%) | 10 (5.1%) |
Over 75 | 4 (2.0%) | 3 (1.5%) | 0 (0%) | 7 (3.5%) |
Unknown | 0 (0%) | 2 (1.0%) | 2 (1.0%) | 4 (2.0%) |
Total | 74 (37.4%) | 118 (59.6%) | 6 (3.0%) | 198 (100% |
Work is currently ongoing within UKHSA to review and update toxoplasmosis surveillance processes in England.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the objectives set out in the Animal welfare strategy for England, published on 22 December 2025, will be applied to religious slaughter practices.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The strategy sets out the Government's ambitious reforms on animal welfare which will improve the lives of millions of animals across the UK. There are no commitments in the strategy that address religious slaughter practices specifically.
The Government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter. All animals must be stunned before slaughter to make them unconscious and insensible to pain. The only exception to this is when animals are slaughtered in accordance with religious rites, for the food of Muslims and Jews. The Government would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter but respects the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide additional funding to women-led organisations in Sudan who deliver life-saving assistance, including medical care, food and water, and support local-level governance.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Baroness to the speech made by the Foreign Secretary to the UN Security Council on 19 February, a copy of which has been placed in the House of Lords library, in which she detailed £20 million of funding for a new multi-year programme, which includes assistance to women and girls affected by sexual violence in Sudan.
I also refer the Noble Baroness to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 2 March 2026 in response to Question 114073, which - for ease of reference - is reproduced below:
UK support to channels which provide direct funding to local responders (including through international organisations) totals £55 million from our total £146 million in aid funding for Sudan this financial year. This includes £28 million to the OCHA-led Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) - to which the UK is the second largest donor - and over £21 million to the Mercy Corps-led Cash Consortium who provide significant support to local actors. The SHF channels 30 per cent of its funding to local actors. We have also recently launched two new partnerships totalling £6 million, through Proximity to Humanity and the First Response Fund, through which we can channel funding more directly to local responders. Under our new programme, HELP-S, we will continue increasing our support to local actors, with the aim that at least 30 per cent of programme spend goes to local actors by the end of the programme in 2029.