Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reported sale of equipment imported by UNRWA to (1) Hamas, and (2) Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK takes allegations of neutrality violations extremely seriously including reports of diversion of equipment. This is something we monitor closely in our annual assessment of UNRWA. UNRWA has a number of measures in place to prevent aid diversion.
We are closely following the independent investigation into UNRWA neutrality policies and systems, led by Catherine Colonna, which will look at all aspects of UNRWA's work.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent reports that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was an UNRWA teacher.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK takes allegations of neutrality violations seriously including any allegations related to Hamas' involvement in UNWRA's education provision. This is something we monitor closely in our annual assessment of UNRWA. When violations have been identified in the past, UNRWA has taken action including raising the issue with relevant parties.
We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and Catherine Colonna have now provided their interim reports to the UN Secretary-General. Their independent investigations include assessment of the policies and systems UNRWA has in place to ensure neutrality.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the ethnicity pay gap for (1) people of Bangladeshi heritage, (2) people of Pakistani heritage, and (3) people of African Caribbean heritage, for each of the past five years.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The most recent data available on UK ethnicity pay gaps is for 2022. The adjusted pay gaps for the most recent 5 years (2018 to 2022) for the Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Caribbean ethnic groups are provided below. A positive percentage value for the ethnicity pay gap means that the relevant ethnic group earns less than the white reference group.
Adjusted Ethnicity Pay Gaps | Bangladeshi | Pakistani | Caribbean |
2022 | UK born 8.3% Non UK born 17.4% | UK born estimate considered unreliable (-2.0%) Non UK born 14.1% | UK born 3.3% Non UK born 4.7% |
2021 | UK born 18.3% Non UK born 20.4% | UK born 9.5% Non UK born 11.9% | UK born 8.0% Non UK born 10.5% |
2020 | UK born 3.5% Non UK born 22.6% | UK born 12.1% Non UK born 20.8% | UK born 4.2% Non UK born estimate considered unreliable (3.7%) |
2019 | UK born 7.0% Non UK born 20.6% | UK born 3.2% Non UK born 16.0% | UK born 6.3% Non UK born 11.9% |
2018 | UK born 9.7% Non UK born 28.7% | UK born 6.1% Non UK born 14.7% | UK born 7.5% Non UK born 9.4% |
Adjusted pay gaps account for a variety of pay determining characteristics such as occupation, age, sex and geographical region. These figures are split into UK and non-UK born as we do not have the overall adjusted pay gap available for these specific ethnic groups. Further data on ethnicity pay gaps is available from the ONS website at https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/ethnicitypaygapsingreatbritain/2012to2022/relateddata.
Closing ethnicity pay gaps requires much wider shifts in society. Our ambitious Inclusive Britain strategy, published in March 2022, set out 74 bold actions to tackle entrenched ethnic disparities in employment, education, health and criminal justice. This includes our comprehensive guidance for employers on ethnicity pay reporting, published last April, which set out best practice on measuring, analysing and reporting ethnicity pay gaps. We also launched an Inclusion at Work Panel last year aimed at helping employers achieve fairness and inclusion in the workplace.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of overall pregnancy terminations have been carried out in accordance with paragraph (d) of section 1(1) of the Abortion Act 1967 in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are unable to provide the data requested for 2022 and 2023 as these statistics have not yet been published. Abortion statistics for 2022 are provisionally scheduled to be published in May 2024. The date of publication of abortion statistics for 2023 will be announced in due course.
The following table shows information on the proportion of overall pregnancy terminations carried out in accordance with paragraph (d) of section 1(1) of the Abortion Act 1967 between 2019 and 2021:
Year | Proportion (%) |
2019 | 2.0 |
2020 | 1.5 |
2021 | 1.6 |
Source: NHS England
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many pregnancy terminations have been carried out on grounds of a diagnosis of (1) Downs Syndrome, or (2) Brittle Bones, in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are unable to provide the data requested for 2022 and 2023 as these statistics have not yet been published. Abortion statistics for 2022 are provisionally scheduled to be published in May 2024. The date of publication of abortion statistics for 2023 will be announced in due course.
The following table shows information on the number of pregnancy terminations carried out on grounds of a diagnosis of Downs Syndrome or congenital malformations of the musculoskeletal system between 2019 and 2021:
Year | ICD-10 code | Condition | Number of mentions |
2019 | Q90 | Down's syndrome | 656 |
2020 | Q90 | Down's syndrome | 693 |
2021 | Q90 | Down's syndrome | 859 |
2019 | Q65 to Q79 | Congenital malformations of the musculoskeletal system | 357 |
2020 | Q65 to Q79 | Congenital malformations of the musculoskeletal system | 443 |
2021 | Q65 to Q79 | Congenital malformations of the musculoskeletal system | 486 |
Source: NHS England
Notes:
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The United Kingdom condemns in the strongest terms attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea by Houthi militants. These actions gravely threaten the safety and welfare of seafarers, and the security of international trade and freedom of navigation. The UK has joined with key international allies in Operation PROSPERITY GUARDIAN. HMS DIAMOND has deployed to the area and has already shot down a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as part of this endeavour.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Gulf states on revitalising security and diplomatic arrangements with Israel after the Israel-Hamas War.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a supporter of Israel's normalisation ambitions; and of the Abraham Accords, an historic milestone that bring us closer to the goal of shared prosperity and peace throughout the region. We continue to encourage close regional cooperation, and the need to work towards ending the war between Israel and Hamas, and to secure sustainable peace and justice for Israelis and Palestinians through he delivery of the Two State Solution. We are continuing intensive engagement with Gulf states, bilaterally and in November, the former Foreign Secretary met seven Arab League Foreign Ministers in Saudi Arabia. The Foreign Secretary and I hosted Foreign Ministers from the OIC in London including 5 Arab states.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) the government of Israel, (2) the International Red Cross, and (3) the Gulf states, about the conditions in which the hostages of Hamas are being held, and their health and wellbeing.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The safety of British Nationals is our utmost priority, and we are working around the clock to get them home. Urgent work is continuing at all levels with regional leaders and others to ensure all remaining hostages are safely freed. We are not going to give a running commentary on hostage negotiations, which are highly sensitive and ongoing, but we're involved in intensive diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages and working with Israel, the US and other diplomatic partners.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman correspondence to the Chief Executive of Sciensus on 16 October 2023 asking him to review the Sciensus complaints process.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) reports to Parliament directly and is held to account through the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.
As the PHSO's jurisdiction includes independent healthcare providers that deliver services on behalf of the National Health Service in England, it is right that the Ombudsman wrote to the Chief Executive of Sciensus, a company providing home care medicines service to NHS patients, about its complaints process. We understand that Sciensus has agreed to continue to improve their complaints handling process in line with the principles set out in the NHS Complaint Standards.
The NHS Complaint Standards were co-created by the PHSO and organisations across the NHS and Government. The Standards, along with the model complaint handling procedure and guidance, set out how organisations providing NHS services should approach complaint handling. They apply to NHS organisations in England and independent healthcare providers who deliver NHS-funded care.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have assessed the difference between a missed delivery and a missed dose of medicine in terms of their policy implications as part of the National Homecare Medicines Committee’s review of national homecare medicines services.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is committed to improving patient safety and understanding the important role data can play in driving quality improvement.
There are currently national key performance metric definitions available as part of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Homecare Services Professionals Standards which include definitions criteria on the number of failed deliveries, missed doses and patient safety incidents. Patients routinely hold approximately two weeks’ worth of supply of medicines to minimise the risk of a missed or delayed delivery becoming a missed dose.
NHS England has been carrying out an internal review on homecare medicines services. Extensive stakeholder engagement has been undertaken on revising the national key performance indicators (KPIs) and a transition to new KPIs will begin in spring 2024, with full reporting expected by autumn 2024.