Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they will ensure guidance for the Down Syndrome Act 2022 is compliant with the Equality Act 2010 in respect of other genetic conditions similarly profound in their impact, such as 22q deletion and duplication syndromes.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Down Syndrome Act does not remove the duties under the Equality Act 2010 for services to assess all the needs of people they provide support to, including those with genetic conditions such as 22q deletion and duplication syndromes. We are clear that prioritising funding or resources for people with Down syndrome above other groups without proper assessment of people’s needs would be unlawful.
We recognise that there are overlaps between the services that support people with Down syndrome and those that support people with other genetic conditions and/or a learning disability. The Down Syndrome Act guidance will focus on the unique support needs of people with Down syndrome. We will, however, highlight where best practice in service delivery would also be applicable to those with another genetic condition and/or a learning disability, including DiGeorge syndrome (22q11.2 deletion syndrome) and duplication syndromes.
An Equality Impact Assessment will be carried out on the draft guidance once produced to ensure it does not disadvantage certain groups relative to others. There will be a full public consultation on the draft guidance. The guidance will make clear the requirements on relevant authorities in respect of the Equality Act.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how the implementation of the Down Syndrome Act 2022 fits with their wider strategy for supporting people affected by disabilities.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made. Under the Down Syndrome Act 2022 we will be developing guidance for relevant authorities focused on how to meet the unique support needs of people with Down syndrome but which highlights where best practice in service delivery would also be applicable to those with another genetic condition and/or a learning disability. There will be a full public consultation once a draft of the guidance has been produced.
The Act will help achieve the Government’s wider commitment to improving outcomes for disabled people. In December 2022, Minister Pursglove, Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, announced a new Disability Action Plan (DAP) which will be consulted on and published this year. The Government will consider all responses to the consultation carefully before publishing the final DAP.
This Plan will set out the practical action planned across government over the next two years to improve disabled people’s lives. The Plan will lay out joint action government departments can take to make a tangible difference to disabled people’s lives in the immediate term, as well as where we can make meaningful progress towards a longer-term goal, for example improved disability data and evidence.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 9 June 2022 (HL Deb col 1240) that re-categorising crime types and publishing a “violence against men and boys” strategy could lead to complaints from women and domestic abuse organisations, what steps they have taken to confirm this concern is justified.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Our Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, and the commitments they make, address all victims of these crimes, regardless of gender.
These documents were informed by the Violence Against Women and Girls Call for Evidence. It received over 180,000 responses, including over 500 written submissions from experts, academics, and stakeholders, with a broad spectrum of representation across domestic abuse charities and organisations. We also ran several focus groups on specialist areas, including male victims, migrant victims/survivors and perpetrator management.
We analysed responses and found a set of key themes. They included a call for a joined-up response to supporting victims and survivors and for a more co-ordinated approach across government and society to tackling these crimes.
It is our assessment that the introduction of a separate strategy for ‘violence against men and boys’ could be perceived to directly contradict this feedback.
We do understand that there are specific challenges that male victims of these crimes do face. This is why we published the refreshed Supporting Male Victims policy document in 2022, which strengthens the government’s response to male victims.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to take a more holistic approach to men’s health, given that there are common underlying factors such as alcohol and drug abuse, and suicide, which are identifiable and frequently preventable.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is taking action to address conditions that affect men, including suicide, alcohol and drug abuse. As with other major conditions and drivers of ill health, we consider the impact that each issue has at a population level and the most effective ways to address them, including for the groups most impacted.
On Tuesday 24 January, in the Written Statement on Major Conditions and Diseases, we announced that we will publish a refreshed suicide prevention strategy. This will reflect the most up to date evidence and address current challenges, risks, and opportunities to prevent suicide. The strategy will set out key areas for action, including those the government will take, to prevent suicide. We will continue working with our expert advisory network to inform this, including the National Advisory Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group chaired by Professor Sir Louis Appleby.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the guidance 'How to be a white ally', published by Imperial College London; and whether they intend to take steps in response to review that institution’s funding.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Universities are autonomous institutions and as such have control over what they publish on their own websites.
Decisions about funding for individual higher education providers are made by the Office for Students, rather than the department.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help farmers maximise cereal production for export to offset global supply shortages due to the war in Ukraine.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
To support our farmers we are bringing forward half of this year's BPS payment as an advance injection of cash to farm businesses and have delayed changes to the use of urea fertiliser until at least spring 2023. Farmers will be further supported through new slurry storage grants as of this year, helping meet the Farming Rules for Water and reducing dependence on artificial fertilisers by improving storage of organic nutrients.
UK cereals are mainly produced for the domestic market, and whilst the UK is 88% self-sufficient in domestically produced cereals, we do also export. It is not for the Government to dictate to famers, who are free to react to market signals, what crops to plant, or where that produce should be sold or exported.
We continue to keep the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade and recent developments. We have also increased our engagement with industry to supplement our analysis with real-time intelligence and to identify where mitigations are available.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made on the development of a Men’s Health Strategy.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Although the Department does not have any current plans to develop a men’s health strategy, we have measures in place to address specific health issues which disproportionately affect men. This includes commitments in the NHS Long Term Plan to reduce stroke and heart attacks and the forthcoming new Tobacco Control Plan and significant investment in suicide prevention.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 23 March (HL Deb col 955), whether the remit of the Children’s Commissioner’s Family Review includes action to prevent family breakdown.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Children's Commissioner for England's independent review on family life explores how to improve the way public services understand the needs of children and families, so every child has the best start in life and the opportunity to reach their full potential.
The review involves extensive engagement with children and families from different backgrounds and locations across England, to understand their lives and what they value in family life. It will look at families' experiences, how they seek and gain support and look to better understand the prevalence of familial breakdown and how best to support children and families going through this. The review will also engage with local services, communities and other key stakeholders.
The Office of the Children's Commissioner aims to publish a report on the review by Spring 2023.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to publicise findings from the SIREN study, and data from this and other studies about the protective effects against reinfection and serious illness of infection-acquired immunity (unboosted by vaccination).
Answered by Lord Kamall
Scientific papers and reports from the SIREN study are being publicised online through the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and in scientific journals. In addition, the study’s participant retention programme includes regular webinars, newsletters and videos to share its results and findings.
On 22 July 2022, the UKHSA published SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and variants under investigation in England Technical briefing 44 with data on trends in primary infections and reinfections. A copy of the technical briefing is attached.
The Office for National Statistics’ COVID-19 Infection Survey publishes analysis on re-infections and the associated risk factors and symptoms. An updated assessment, Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey, characteristics of people testing positive for COVID-19, UK: 20 July 2022. Characteristics of people testing positive for COVID-19 from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey, was published on 20 July 2022. A copy of the assessment is attached.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Minister for Women's Health on 20 July, what evidence they have to support the claim that that there is a “gender health gap” adversely affecting women and the Government needs to “ensure women receive the same standards of care as men”, given that men die younger than women and are more likely to die from heart disease, suicide, COVID and diabetes.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Women’s Health Strategy for England found that although on average women in the United Kingdom live longer than men, women spend a quarter of their lives in ill-health and disability compared to approximately one fifth of men. Disability-free life expectancy has reduced at almost twice the rate for women in England compared to men. A copy of the Women’s Health Strategy for England is attached.
The call for evidence which informed the Women’s Health Strategy received approximately 100,000 responses from individuals and over 400 written responses from organisations with expertise in women’s health. The Results of the ‘Women’s Health – Let's talk about it’ survey found that women have been under-represented in research studies, including clinical trials, therefore there is less understanding of how general health conditions and disabilities such as cardiovascular disease and mental health conditions can affect women and men differently. Respondents also reported that there is insufficient understanding of conditions which solely impact women, such as endometriosis or the menopause. A copy of the Results of the ‘women’s health – let's talk about it survey is attached.
The responses received to the call for evidence from organisations and experts in women’s healthcare also highlighted the need for improved education and training in women’s health conditions for healthcare professionals. Respondents also reported a lack of awareness of women’s health issues among some healthcare professionals, including the causes of infertility and treatment for gynaecological conditions. A copy of the Results of the of the written evidence submitted by organisations and experts is attached.