Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the reintroduction of national service on national security.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Government has no current plans to reintroduce National Service. Since 1963, when the last national servicemen were discharged, it has been the policy of successive Governments that the best way of providing for the defence of our country is by maintaining professional Armed Forces staffed by volunteers. The demanding, increasingly technical, nature of defence today is such that we require highly trained, professional men and women in our Regular and Reserve Armed Forces, fully committed to giving their best in defending our country and its allies.
If potentially unwilling National Service recruits were to be obliged to serve alongside the professional men and women of our Armed Forces, it could damage morale, recruitment and retention and would consume professional military and naval resources. If, on the other hand, National Service recruits were kept in separate units, it would be difficult to find a proper and meaningful role for them, potentially harming motivation and discipline. For all these reasons, there are no current plans for the restoration of any form of National Service.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's report into women’s State Pension age changes, published on 21 March 2024, if he will hold discussions with the Leader of the House on enabling Members to vote on the Government's financial redress proposals before 23 July 2024.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In laying the report before Parliament at the end of March, the Ombudsman has brought matters to the attention of this House, making it clear that Parliament has a role in responding to the report. The Government intends to engage fully and constructively with Parliament. The Secretary of State has also committed to provide a further update to the House once the report's findings have been fully considered.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's report on changes to women’s State Pension age, published on 21 March 2024, what correspondence his Department has received from Women Against State Pension Inequality representatives on that matter since publication of that report.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
A search had been conducted within the Ministerial Correspondence Team and one letter has been received. However, as the Department does not have a centrally collated database a further search would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's report report on changes to women’s State Pension age, published on 21 March 2024, if he will meet with Women Against State Pension Inequality representatives.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In laying the report before Parliament at the end of March, the Ombudsman has brought matters to the attention of the House, and a further update to the House will be provided once the report's findings have been fully considered.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's report entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, HC 638, published on 21 March 2024, what correspondence his Department has received from representatives of Women Against State Pension Inequality since the publication of that report.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
A search had been conducted within the Ministerial Correspondence Team and one letter has been received. However, as the Department does not have a centrally collated database a further search would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing targeted support for (a) infant and (b) parental mental health while a family is experiencing homelessness.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
As part of NHS England’s Maternity and Neonatal Three-Year Delivery Plan, NHS England is working to rollout Maternal Mental Health Services for women experiencing mental health difficulties related to loss or trauma in the maternity or neonatal context. This may include those who experience post-traumatic stress disorder following birth trauma, perinatal loss, or severe fear of childbirth, known as tokophobia.
As of February 2024, 39 Maternal Mental Health Services have been established, which provide psychological therapy for women experiencing mental health difficulties related to their maternity experience. Every integrated care system area will soon have these services in place.
In December 2023, NHS England published new guidance for general practice (GPs) on the postnatal appointment women should be offered six to eight weeks after giving birth. This provides an important opportunity for GPs to listen to women in a discrete, supportive environment.
We also continue to engage with a number of other departments and representative groups to discuss what can be done to mitigate the effect of housing insecurity and homelessness on mental health and wellbeing.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to promote parental mental health (a) during pregnancy and (b) in the first two years of infancy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
As part of NHS England’s Maternity and Neonatal Three-Year Delivery Plan, NHS England is working to roll out Maternal Mental Health Services for women experiencing mental health difficulties, related to loss or trauma in the maternity or neonatal context. This may include those who experience post-traumatic stress disorder following birth trauma, perinatal loss, or severe fear of childbirth, also known as tokophobia.
As of February 2024, 39 Maternal Mental Health Services have been established, which provide psychological therapy for women experiencing mental health difficulties related to their maternity experience. Every integrated care system area will soon have these services in place.
In December 2023, NHS England published new guidance for general practices (GPs) on the postnatal appointment women should be offered six to eight weeks after giving birth. This provides an important opportunity for GPs to listen to women in a discrete, supportive environment.
The guidance asks family doctors to provide personalised postnatal care for the mother’s physical and mental health, and to support them with family planning. This will include information and resources on assessing and addressing mental health needs and importantly sets out practical initiatives to improve access, experience, and outcomes.
Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, £100 million is being invested in bespoke perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship support for the 1,001 critical days from pregnancy to a baby’s second birthday, in 75 local authority areas in England.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 15 May (HL4224), how they reconcile the answer with that given by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on 23 November 2023 (HC527), which precluded the ability of a medical practitioner to form a "good faith" opinion through a telemedicine consultation alone that the patient's gestation was below 10 weeks, and therefore to dispense early medical abortion pills for use by the patient at home.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The response of 23 November 2023 does not preclude the ability of a medical practitioner to form a good faith opinion, through a telemedicine consultation alone, that the patient's gestation was below 10 weeks. This opinion can be formed either during a teleconsultation, or an in-person appointment.
Pregnancy duration can be assessed from the first day of the last menstrual period (LMP). Advice from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is clear that most women can determine the duration of their pregnancy with reasonable accuracy by LMP alone.
However, if there is any uncertainty about the gestation of the pregnancy, the medical practitioner would ask the woman to attend an in-person appointment to enable them to form an opinion that the pregnancy will not have exceeded 10 weeks at the time the first abortion pill is taken. If she does not attend in-person when requested, the terminating practitioner would not be able to form an opinion in good faith that the pregnancy is below 10 weeks gestation, and therefore would not be able to prescribe abortion pills for home use.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will bring back the six-week post-delivery check for all mothers with their GPs, including questions on the mother’s physical and mental health as well as on the baby.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In December 2023, NHS England published new guidance on the six-to-eight-week postnatal check-up for all women who have given birth. As a result of this guidance, all new mothers in England will receive a more comprehensive mental and physical check-up from their general practitioner (GP) in the weeks after they give birth. The check-up will cover a range of topics such as mental health, physical recovery, breastfeeding, and support with family planning.
The routine check-up provides an important opportunity for GPs to listen to women in a discrete, supportive environment, and to assess and support women not just in their physical recovery post-birth but also their mental health, making sure any woman needing extra mental health support can be referred, if appropriate, to a specialist straight away.
The six-to-eight-week postnatal check-ups should be offered by GP surgeries, but mothers can also request an appointment for a check themselves, especially if they have any concerns.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will bring forward an overarching national maternity strategy to aid the improvement of maternity services and prevent birth trauma.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and NHS England Chief Executive Officer Amanda Pritchard both support the overarching recommendation from the Birth Trauma All-party Parliamentary Group inquiry report, for a comprehensive national strategy to improve maternity services. We will update on next steps in due course.
We are already making good progress on many of the individual recommendations set out in the inquiry report. This includes new guidance for general practitioners on the postnatal check-up that women should be offered six to eight weeks after giving birth, which is solely focused on the mother. We are also rolling out new physical and mental health services for new mums and mums-to-be so that they are available in all areas of England.