Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the number of chaplains from all faith groups active in NHS hospitals since March 2020.
Answered by Lord Bethell
This information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current arrangements for chaplains of all faith groups to visit residents in care homes.
Answered by Lord Bethell
In the face of a new variant of the virus we have acted to protect those most at risk in care homes and ensure visits can go ahead safely in some form. Visits to care homes can continue to take place with arrangements such as outdoor visiting, substantial screens, visiting pods or behind windows. Close-contact indoor visits are not currently allowed. However, visits in exceptional circumstances, including end of life, should always be supported and enabled.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what, under the current regulations, is the maximum distance that a person in England may travel (1) to shop and (2) to exercise.
Answered by Lord Bethell
There is no specific distance applicable to all circumstances. However, the advice is that to meet the legal requirement not to leave home to travel unless for work or other legally permitted reasons and to reduce the risk of transmission, individuals should stay local and avoid travelling outside of the village, town or the part of a city where they live and look to reduce the number of journeys they make overall.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of current levels of emergency hospital admissions related to self-harm in Somerset; and whether such levels are higher or lower than those for (1) South West England, and (2) England as a whole.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford on 29 January (HL525), what consideration they are giving to reducing the correlated colour temperature of LED lights in order to avoid any adverse affects on melatonin production in the evening.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Public Health England reviews the scientific literature and maintains regular contact with research groups studying the impact of light exposure on melatonin production. People who received normal levels of light exposure during the day, especially from daylight, appear to be less susceptible to delayed onset of melatonin production in the evening from artificial lighting. The scope to address various performance parameters of lighting sits with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of references to the replacement by some local authorities of sodium and mercury street lighting with LEDs contained in the Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer 2017, published on 2 March 2018.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Public Health England has not carried out an assessment of the replacement by some local authorities of sodium and mercury street lighting with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) since the publication of the Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer 2017, on 2 March 2018.
Public Health England carried out a study in 2016 for Human responses to lighting based on LED lighting solutions: Commissioned by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers and the Society of Light and Lighting. A copy of the report is attached. This study included an assessment of LED streetlights.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether human embryos have any rights or protections enshrined in United Kingdom or international law; and if so, what is the extent of those rights or protections.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended, places a number of prohibitions on the use of human embryos in assisted reproduction and research.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 25 February (HL4988), why they have not signed or ratified the Council of Europe's Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine; and whether they intend to do so.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine covers a very wide range of complex ethical and legal issues. These issues involve a large number of different policy areas which are covered by a mixture of United Kingdom legislation and common law and some of the relevant policy areas are within the competence of the devolved administrations.
In common with a number of other European Union states, the UK has not signed or ratified the Convention.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which European Union legislation they have considered in framing the proposed draft Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015; what view they have taken on the applicability of the European Union legislation; and what is the basis for their view.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
As I said in the debate on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 on 24 February 2015 (columns 1570 and 1617-8) the Government is satisfied that the Regulations do not contravene any aspect of European Union law. It has carefully considered recent arguments relating to the Clinical Trials Directive (Directive 2001/20/EC) but is satisfied that the Directive is not relevant in this context as it relates to clinical trials of medicines.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that the principles and prohibitions regarding eugenic practices in the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine form part of the constitutional traditions common to member states of the European Union.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The United Kingdom has not signed or ratified the Council of Europe’s Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine.