Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure media literacy programmes are part of local and regional strategies in schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
Media literacy is currently taught through the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4. Citizenship teaching should equip pupils with the skills and knowledge to explore political and social issues critically, to weigh evidence, debate and make reasoned arguments.
Citizenship teaches about distinguishing fact from opinion as well as exploring freedom of speech and the role and responsibility of the media in informing and shaping public opinion. Complementary aspects of media literacy are also taught through relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) and computing which together equip pupils to evaluate and apply information technology, and to be a discerning consumer of information online.
Support for teaching is available through a number of sources, including optional, free and adaptable resources from Oak National Academy at: https://www.thenational.academy/.
The department also funds the National Centre for Computing Education, to support the teaching of computing. This includes units on messaging in digital media, the credibility of sources, and identifying ‘fake’ news and edited images.
The government endorses Ofcom’s three-year Media Literacy Strategy, which commits to working with regional partners to share learnings and effective educational practices with teachers, senior leaders and relevant education authorities. The strategy also includes working with Multi-Academy Trusts in England to help schools support parents on online safety with the aim to develop this into a national approach.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the link between poor media literacy and the impact of health misinformation on public health decision-making.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a specific assessment of the impact of health misinformation on public health decision making, but recognises the importance of accurate health information being available to the public and of preventing misinformation.
The Department regularly rebuts factual inaccuracies when they appear in traditional media and undertakes extensive planning, engagement, and strategic work to ensure accurate public health information is available on social media channels, to mitigate misinformation. In addition, the Department strives to ensure that all of the information it publishes is accurate, clear, and accessible to a variety of audiences, including using easy read versions.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government who is responsible for ensuring that pharmacies in women's prisons are stocked correctly and take into account prisoners' illnesses; and how many qualified clinicians are on duty each day.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England contracts prison healthcare and pharmacy services directly via its Health and Justice regional commissioning teams, which also assure the contracts.
Contracted providers are expected to enable access to a prescription dispensing pharmacy service, which can be on-site or via an externally contracted pharmacy, that meets the same standards as those provided by community pharmacies.
The provider is responsible for ensuring the service meets the standards set out in the National Health Service’s health and justice national prison primary care service specification. These include the expectation that dispensed medicines are provided for supply to the patient within specific timeframes, with the pharmacy deciding which medicines to keep in stock based on the usual items prescribed.
The contracted provider will decide how many qualified clinicians need to be on duty each day based on the health needs and size of the prison population, and the admission, release, and transfer rates at the prison. The provider provides the regional commissioning team with information about the workforce and service delivery arrangements as part of the contract monitoring information and service assurance.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the Angiolini Inquiry Part 2 Report will be published.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Angiolini Inquiry is an independent public inquiry, and the Chair is responsible for delivery of its Terms of Reference. The Terms of Reference for Part 2 anticipated that the Inquiry would report to the Home Secretary within 24 months of Part 2 commencing in May 2023. The Department is in regular contact with the inquiries it sponsors about their delivery plans.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to convene a cross-department unit on business and human rights that consults with civil society and those with lived experience of business harms on a frequent basis.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Department for Business and Trade works closely with departments across government to prevent corporate human and labour rights abuses, and engages regularly with civil society on these matters. DBT operates the UK National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct (RBC), which is governed by a Steering Board attended by representatives from FCDO, CMA, DESNZ, DWP, and external representatives from business, civil society and trade unions. In addition, DBT is working closely with the FCDO on a National Baseline Assessment on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This will contribute to the evidence base to inform the UK’s approach to tackling business-related human rights abuses.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to open a public consultation on introducing requirements on businesses and financial institutions to incentivise them to respect human rights, including those of indigenous peoples and human rights defenders.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to tackling environmental harms, modern slavery and human and labour rights abuses in both private and public sector supply chains and will take an evidence-based approach as we assess the best ways to achieve this. The Department for Business and Trade regularly engages with stakeholders in business, financial institutions and civil society on these issues, as do other Government departments, and we will consult thoroughly with interested stakeholders as we consider any further action.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce mandatory obligations on businesses and financial institutions to respect human rights and the environment in a similar way to the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government keeps under review best ways to prevent environmental harms, modern slavery and human and labour rights abuses in both private and public sector supply chains including effective due diligence rules.
Noting the EU’s adoption of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, the Government is committed to working with international partners and businesses, and has been in regular contact with the European Commission on this issue through the Trade Specialised Committee on Level Playing Field for Open and Fair Competition and Sustainable Development.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to join Australia, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands in their case against Afghanistan before the International Court of Justice for violations of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government supports the initiative to refer the Taliban to the International Court of Justice for violations of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. We have repeatedly condemned Taliban restrictions on women and girls' rights, including through UN Security Council and Human Rights Council resolutions. As the Foreign Secretary said on 24 August, the exclusion of women from all aspects of public life is another tragic setback for Afghanistan. We are discussing with international partners ways to hold them accountable. More broadly, officials regularly press the Taliban to reverse their inhuman restrictions, both bilaterally and with international partners.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will take steps to protect working parents eligible for free early education and childcare from charging for consumables by some nurseries.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department is taking steps to protect parents from unfair charging practices by some nurseries, as we announced last month, as part of our wider effort to ensure that parents can access and afford the hours they are entitled to. More information about the announcement can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/school-based-nurseries-plan-kicks-off-with-15-million-funding.
The department is currently looking at updating the early years statutory guidance as part of its regular review, in order to ensure that the guidance around charging is both clear and fair for local authorities, early years providers and parents and that the hours are accessible and affordable for all families that need them.
The department will be seeking to engage with providers, local authorities and other relevant stakeholder groups, including those representing parents, to discuss its proposed updates to the statutory guidance for local authorities and to seek feedback on how the guidance can be improved.
If parents believe they are experiencing unfair consumable charges, they should raise this with their local authority, who will be able to offer the appropriate support and next steps on clarifying appropriate charging with providers.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce demand for trafficking for sexual exploitation.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. This Government has set out an unprecedented mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and we will use all the levers available to us to deliver this.
We continue to work closely with law enforcement to ensure there is a relentless pursuit of prolific perpetrators, including through operational intensification initiatives.
We are also clear that online platforms are a significant enabler of sexual exploitation and must be responsible and accountable for content on their sites, including taking proactive steps to prevent their sites being used by criminals. The Online Safety Act 2023 sets out priority offences, including sexual exploitation and human trafficking offences, and companies will need to adopt measures and put in place systems and processes to identify, assess and address these offences based on a risk assessment, or face significant penalties.
Home Office Ministers regularly meet with stakeholders, including NGOs and law enforcement partners, to promote the better identification and prosecution of perpetrators, and to enhance support for victims who are trapped within commercial sexual exploitation.