Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Southern Rail has made, or is considering, any proposal to provide compensation for regular passengers who do not hold a season ticket.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Holders of day tickets are able to claim compensation through the Delay Repay scheme. On 11 December we introduced Delay Repay 15 which applies to passengers with day single and return tickets as well as to season ticket holders. All passengers are able to claim 25% of the cost of the single fare for delays between 15 and 29 minutes. The existing compensation thresholds will apply for delays from 30 minutes with passengers able to apply for compensation through the train operating company. Delay Repay from 30 minutes is already one of the most generous compensation schemes in Europe.
Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Southern Rail to ensure that there are adequate support services for the elderly and disabled, particularly at times of reduced service.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Officials meet regularly with franchisees, and at these meetings assistance for passengers at such times may be one of the discussion topics. Each operator is required to participate in the Passenger Assist system which allows passengers to book staff assistance when they require it, and we expect Southern to ensure that passengers receive that assistance when required at all times.
Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to implement the proposal to limit child tax credits to the first two children in a household.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
In future, all families - those in receipt of benefits and those supporting themselves solely through work - will be faced with the same sorts of financial considerations when making decisions about having more children. At Summer Budget 2015 the Government announced that families will no longer be able to claim additional support through Child Tax Credit (CTC) for third or subsequent children in a family where the child is born after April 2017. This policy was legislated for in the Welfare Reform and Work Act which received royal assent in March and will come into effect from April 2017.
Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to introduce compulsory sex and relationship education in schools; and if not, why not.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We want schools to provide all young people with a curriculum that equips them for success in adult life.
High quality PSHE teaching has an important role to play in this, helping young people understand the world around them, building resilience and helping them to make positive choices and stay safe. We have made it clear in the introduction to the national curriculum that all schools should make provision for PSHE, drawing on examples of good practice. Academies and free schools are encouraged to teach PSHE as part of a broad and balanced curriculum.
Sex education is already compulsory in secondary maintained schools, and the Government is clear that all schools should make provision for high quality, age-appropriate sex and relationship education (SRE) which is a vital part of preparing young people for life in modern Britain.
The Secretary of State agrees that we need to look again at the case for further action on PSHE and SRE provision, with particular consideration to improving quality and accessibility. We are actively considering what steps we could take, including whether to update the existing SRE guidance and will give a view soon.
Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress is being made to introduce personal, health and social education in all (1) state schools, (2) academies, and (3) free schools.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We want schools to provide all young people with a curriculum that equips them for success in adult life.
High quality PSHE teaching has an important role to play in this, helping young people understand the world around them, building resilience and helping them to make positive choices and stay safe. We have made it clear in the introduction to the national curriculum that all schools should make provision for PSHE, drawing on examples of good practice. Academies and free schools are encouraged to teach PSHE as part of a broad and balanced curriculum.
Sex education is already compulsory in secondary maintained schools, and the Government is clear that all schools should make provision for high quality, age-appropriate sex and relationship education (SRE) which is a vital part of preparing young people for life in modern Britain.
The Secretary of State agrees that we need to look again at the case for further action on PSHE and SRE provision, with particular consideration to improving quality and accessibility. We are actively considering what steps we could take, including whether to update the existing SRE guidance and will give a view soon.
Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of reducing public health funding for contraception on the proposal to limit child tax credits to the first two children in a household.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
No assessment has been made. Local areas decide how to spend public health funding. Contraception is widely available from general practices, and sexual and reproductive health services and is free to all.
Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of local authorities that have not developed cross-charging arrangements for the provision of sexual health services, as recommended in the report <i>Sexual Health Services: Key Principles for Cross Charging</i>, published in August 2013.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
There is no requirement on local authorities to have cross-charging arrangements in place; this is a matter for local determination.
No estimate has been made of the number of local authorities that do not have cross-charging arrangements. Public Health England recently conducted a survey into the commissioning arrangements for sexual and reproductive health and HIV, including assessment of cross-charging arrangements.
Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of local authority cross-charging arrangements for sexual health services.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
There is no requirement on local authorities to have cross-charging arrangements in place; this is a matter for local determination.
No estimate has been made of the number of local authorities that do not have cross-charging arrangements. Public Health England recently conducted a survey into the commissioning arrangements for sexual and reproductive health and HIV, including assessment of cross-charging arrangements.
Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many patients resident in the devolved administrations accessed sexual health services in England in the last three years for which figures are available; and what was the estimated cost to NHS England of the provision of those services in each of those years.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Data have been provided on the number of contacts with Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in England, from residents of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the last two years (2014-15 and 2015-16). Data are not available prior to this, as location of patient residence was not submitted by all providers.
NHS England does not hold data on the costs associated with these contacts. Attendances at genito-urinary medicine (GUM) services is collected separately through the GUMCAD data set. Data are not published in the format requested.
Contacts with Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in England, from residents of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.1
2014-2015 and 2015-2016
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1. The quality of this data is dependent on the location of residence submitted by providers.
Source: Sexual and Reproductive Health Activity Dataset, NHS Digital.
Asked by: Baroness Gould of Potternewton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have given consideration to the establishment of a holistic strategy for sexual health and HIV specifically for ethnic minority communities.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department’s A Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England (2013) sets out our ambitions to improve the sexual health of the whole population including ethnic minority communities. A copy of the Framework is attached.
In addition, Public Health England’s Health promotion for sexual and reproductive health and HIV: Strategic action plan, 2016 to 2019 highlights the sexual health inequalities within black African and black Caribbean communities that are disproportionately affected by HIV and sexually transmitted infections in different ways. The document highlights that activities that promote condom use and address stigma and discrimination should be supported in both communities, but the primary focus of health promotion activities should differ. The priority should be to increase HIV testing among black African communities, and to promote condom use and reduce sexual risk behaviours among black Caribbean communities. A copy of the Strategic action plan is attached.