Asked by: Lord Low of Dalston (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the announcement on marriage reform by the Northern Ireland Department of Finance on 1 July affects legal recognition for humanist marriages in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Since marriage is a devolved matter, any decisions regarding humanist marriages in Northern Ireland will not impact marriage laws in England and Wales.
Asked by: Lord Low of Dalston (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Law Commission review Celebrating Marriage: A New Weddings Law, published on 19 July, which has called for legal recognition for humanist marriages.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Law Commission report published on 19 July 2022 did not consider the question of whether non-religious belief organisations, including Humanists, should be able to conduct legally binding weddings. The report contains 57 recommendations for legislative reform .
We must now take the time to consider the Law Commission’s recommendations fully. As has been set out in Parliament, marriage will always be one of our most important institutions, and we have a duty to consider the implications of any changes to the law in this area very carefully, including balancing the needs and interests of all groups. We will publish a response to the report in due course
Asked by: Lord Low of Dalston (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to raise awareness of common eye conditions that affect elderly people, such as geographic atrophy, among clinicians and patients.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Regulated healthcare professionals are required to maintain their clinical knowledge through continued professional learning as part of their registration to practice.
In 2022, NHS England has developed 28 eye care related videos for patients, which include information on age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and cataracts. These videos are shared by clinicians with patients, including the elderly and some have been promoted on social media.
NHS England provides online resources for clinicians and commissioners of eye care services through the Future NHS Eye Care Hub. The National Health Service also provides online information on a range of eye care conditions for patients and their carers, including age-related macular degeneration. The Department also participates in National Eye Health Week, to promote the importance of good eye health, the need for regular sight tests and the availability of free NHS sight tests for eligible groups, including those aged 60 years old and over
Asked by: Lord Low of Dalston (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase NHS capacity to deliver intravitreal injections to accommodate the prospective, novel treatment of geographic atrophy.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is currently supporting clinical trials for a number of medicines relating to geographic atrophy, including intravitreal injections. It will review the quality, safety and efficacy of these products should the manufacturers apply for licenses.
All new licensed medicines are subsequently appraised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and guidance issued to the National Health Service. In the absence of NICE’s guidance, local commissioners should consider the available evidence when determining funding for new treatments and the capacity of the local NHS to deliver the service.
Asked by: Lord Low of Dalston (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of non-religious pastoral care in the armed forces of the Kingdoms of Norway, Belgium, and the Netherlands; and whether they will consider introducing a similar model in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has a diverse population, including personnel with a range of beliefs and faith, and those who have no religion. Military Chaplains are selected and trained primarily because of their ability to show empathy to all Service personnel. They are professionally qualified to provide pastoral care to everyone, regardless of faith, world philosophy or status and will provide or facilitate spiritual support to personnel and their families as requested. Service personnel who do not wish to talk to a Chaplain for faith/belief/philosophical reasons are encouraged to seek spiritual support from a variety of alternative sources, which can be facilitated by the Chaplain. This includes their Chain of Command, through the Services' professional social workers, medical staff, welfare staff. Mutual support is also available via the various staff networks, including the Humanist and Non Religious in Defence (HAND) Network.
The MOD is aware that the Armed Forces of Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands employ humanist pastoral carers (or similar). We are working to create and sustain an environment where everyone feels respected and able to achieve their full potential. We have recently concluded a review of the provision of non-religious pastoral support for our Armed Forces and are currently considering the recommendations of that review and how best we can support all our people.
Asked by: Lord Low of Dalston (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they consider religious chaplains qualified to offer pastoral support to non-religious armed forces personnel; and if so, why.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has a diverse population, including personnel with a range of beliefs and faith, and those who have no religion. Military Chaplains are selected and trained primarily because of their ability to show empathy to all Service personnel. They are professionally qualified to provide pastoral care to everyone, regardless of faith, world philosophy or status and will provide or facilitate spiritual support to personnel and their families as requested. Service personnel who do not wish to talk to a Chaplain for faith/belief/philosophical reasons are encouraged to seek spiritual support from a variety of alternative sources, which can be facilitated by the Chaplain. This includes their Chain of Command, through the Services' professional social workers, medical staff, welfare staff. Mutual support is also available via the various staff networks, including the Humanist and Non Religious in Defence (HAND) Network.
The MOD is aware that the Armed Forces of Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands employ humanist pastoral carers (or similar). We are working to create and sustain an environment where everyone feels respected and able to achieve their full potential. We have recently concluded a review of the provision of non-religious pastoral support for our Armed Forces and are currently considering the recommendations of that review and how best we can support all our people.
Asked by: Lord Low of Dalston (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support consistency in the uptake of the immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery to tackle the backlog in cataract surgery.
Answered by Lord Bethell
No such assessment has been made.
Immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS) is supported by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, who advise that ISBCS can help reduce patient visits to hospital whilst providing an optimum visual outcome, in appropriately selected and assessed patients.
Clinical commissioning groups are required to consider the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines, which state that bilateral cataract surgery should be considered for routine cases for those who are suitable, in making commissioning decisions.
Asked by: Lord Low of Dalston (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the efficacy of immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery in treating patients at risk of sight loss.
Answered by Lord Bethell
No such assessment has been made.
Immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS) is supported by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, who advise that ISBCS can help reduce patient visits to hospital whilst providing an optimum visual outcome, in appropriately selected and assessed patients.
Clinical commissioning groups are required to consider the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines, which state that bilateral cataract surgery should be considered for routine cases for those who are suitable, in making commissioning decisions.
Asked by: Lord Low of Dalston (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) work with NHS Digital, commissioners and providers to encourage an appropriate reimbursement for the treatment of bilateral cataracts, and (2) ensure that the payment reflects the number of eyes treated, rather than the number of procedures performed.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Following the National Outpatient Transformation Programme for ophthalmology, NHS England and NHS Improvement conducted a survey into local pricing of bilateral cataracts in late 2020. NHS England and NHS Improvement will utilise the results of this survey to publish local pricing guidance to be used alongside the 2021-22 National Tariff Payment System.
Asked by: Lord Low of Dalston (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take further to the High Court’s judgment in Harrison v Secretary of State for Justice & others, published on 31 July 2020; and what consideration they have given to introducing legislation to recognise humanist marriages in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
The Government announced in June 2019 that the Law Commission will conduct a fundamental review of the law on how and where people can legally marry in England and Wales. As part of that review, the Government invited the Law Commission to make recommendations about how marriage by humanist and other non-religious belief organisations could be incorporated into a revised or new scheme for all marriages that is simple, fair and consistent.
The Commission launched its consultation on 3 September 2020 and it closed on 4 January 2021. The law on wedding ceremonies is a complex and important area of the law. The Commission considered it essential to conduct an extensive consultation with the wide range of interested groups and individuals who would be affected by reform.
The Commission expects to report to Government with its recommendations in the second half of this year. The Government will decide on provision for non-religious belief marriage in light of the Law Commission's recommendations.