Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what methods they use to measure how many unsafe abortions have been averted through the programmes that they fund internationally.
Answered by Lord Bates
DFID uses modelling to estimate the number of unsafe abortions prevented by some programming. It is possible to model, for illustrative purposes, the number of abortions prevented by improved access to family planning specifically. Between April 2017 and March 2018, we estimate UK aid reached at least 14 million women and girls with family planning services, preventing an estimated 1.2 million unsafe abortions.
Our methodology is explained in the first footnote to the Family Planning page at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfid-results-sector-pages-2017-to-2018-single-department-plan
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Duncan of Springbank on 18 July (HL Deb, Col 1259), when they intend to provide a written reply about abortion and abortion services in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
I have recently written to the Noble Lord on these matters.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many single-earner married couples there are in each local authority area in the UK, broken down as a percentage of the total number of married couples for each area.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply and I will place a copy of their letter in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many single earner married couples there are in (1) England, (2) Wales, (3) Scotland, and (4) Northern Ireland, broken down as a percentage of the total number of married couples in each nation.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply and I will place a copy of their letter in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 23 October (HLWS190) announcing further support for women from Northern Ireland seeking an abortion in England, what is their estimate of the number of women who will travel from Northern Ireland to England to seek an abortion in the current and each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
723 women from Northern Ireland accessed abortions in England in 2016. Our planning has considered estimates that range from 1,000 to 2,000 women seeking access to services in England in each of the next three years.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 23 October (HLWS190) announcing further support for women from Northern Ireland seeking an abortion in England, what assessment they have made of the finding in the report by the Care Quality Commission, published in January, that the Merseyside Clinic operated by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service was in breach of a number of safety guidelines; and what steps they will take to ensure that women attending that clinic receive safe abortions.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Following the inspection, a joint action plan between the Care Quality Commission (CQC), BPAS Merseyside, and Halton Clinical Commissioning Group was formulated to ensure all issues raised during the inspection were fully addressed. The CQC is monitoring the action plan through ongoing engagement with BPAS Merseyside. Overall, the CQC has found that improvements continue to be made at BPAS Merseyside both from a clinical and a governance perspective.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 23 October (HLWS190) announcing further support for women from Northern Ireland seeking an abortion in England, whether women receiving such support will be required to attend an abortion clinic achieving a particular rating by the Care Quality Commission; and if so, what that rating will be.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
To participate in the scheme providers must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and, in the case of independent sector providers, be approved by the Secretary of State to perform abortions. There are no requirements in place based on CQC ratings.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 23 October (HLWS190) announcing further support for women from Northern Ireland seeking an abortion in England, including support with travel costs for those meeting financial hardship criteria, what those criteria will be.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
We have developed criteria similar to that used in the National Health Service low income scheme. To receive support for travel costs women must be in receipt of benefit, such as universal credit, jobseeker’s allowance or income support or have an income of £15,276 a year or less.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 23 October (HLWS190) announcing further support for women from Northern Ireland seeking an abortion in England, including support with travel costs for those meeting financial hardship criteria, whether that support will include the costs of accommodation.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
If an overnight stay is deemed to be clinically necessary, those who meet the financial hardship criteria will have suitable accommodation booked for them.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 23 October (HLWS190) announcing further support for women from Northern Ireland seeking an abortion in England, what assessment they have made of the finding in the report by the Care Quality Commission, published in December 2016, that several clinics operated by Marie Stopes International were in serious breach of safety guidelines; and what steps they will take to ensure that women attending those clinics receive safe abortions.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Marie Stopes International (MSI) are continuing to take a range of actions to address the issues identified in the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) reports. The CQC re-inspected MSI earlier this year and have made clear that they will not hesitate to take further action, if necessary, in order to guarantee MSI meets the standard of care they expect and that its patients deserve.
The Department continues to monitor the situation with particular regard being had to the statutory approval responsibilities of the Secretary of State.