Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to develop an easy-read version of the Down Syndrome Act 2022.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Down Syndrome Act 2022 was published with explanatory notes to assist the reader in understanding the act. Under the Down Syndrome Act, My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is required to give guidance to the relevant authorities in health, social care, education, and housing services on what they should be doing to meet the needs of people with Down syndrome.
A call for evidence on the guidance under the Down Syndrome Act was launched on 19 July 2022 and ran for 16 weeks. An easy read version of the call for evidence was published which included an overview of the Down Syndrome Act, and which is available on the GOV.UK website. The Department has engaged with stakeholders on the call for evidence, including sharing an easy read version of a draft summary of the results.
We intend to issue the draft guidance for public consultation by the summer, including easy read versions.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are considering taking to improve healthcare provision and accessibility for individuals with Down Syndrome.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving outcomes for people with Down syndrome.
Through implementation of the Down Syndrome Act 2022, we will improve the lives of people with Down syndrome by improving their access to services, including health and care services. NHS England has published statutory guidance requiring every integrated care board (ICB) to identify a member of its board to lead on supporting the ICB to perform its functions effectively in the interest of people with Down syndrome.
Under the Down Syndrome Act, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is required to give guidance to the relevant authorities in health, social care, education, and housing services on what they should be doing to meet the needs of people with Down syndrome.
The guidance will raise awareness of the specific needs of people with Down syndrome and bring together in one place everything that the relevant authorities should already be doing to support people with Down syndrome. A working draft of the Down syndrome statutory guidance was shared with sector partners in December 2024. Officials have been working through the feedback received and have engaged all relevant Government departments to produce a second draft of the guidance. The Minister of State for Care wrote to sector partners with an update in March 2025. We intend to publish the draft guidance for consultation by the summer, including easy read versions.
Beyond the Down syndrome guidance, under the Equality Act 2010 health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard, which details the recommended approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of patients and carers with a disability.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support research into evidence-based interventions for women prisoners who self-harm; and why the Women Offenders Repeat Self-Harm Intervention Pilot III has not re-started.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
A range of evidence-based interventions and services are provided for women in prison. Referrals for all services are encouraged from across the female estate, to support women to access the services they need. These services include the Women’s Offender Personality Disorder Pathway, as well as the Women’s Estate Psychology Service team, which provides forensic psychologists within all 12 women’s prisons to deliver therapeutic services.
HMPPS is piloting an enhanced approach to supporting women in their first weeks in custody, which is often the time when they are most vulnerable. This pilot is fully operational at five women’s prisons. It includes one-to-one psychological support and psychology-based group work.
The Women Offenders Repeat Self-Harm Intervention Pragmatic Trial piloted the delivery of face-to-face therapy. The provider subsequently proposed to move to a digital model. HMPPS was concerned that this could carry significant risks, given the vulnerability of the women. It was not clear how the wellbeing of the women would be safeguarded.
HMPPS would be glad to consider a new proposal to deliver the programme in women’s prisons, on condition that delivery was on a face-to-face basis to support the vulnerability of the women engaging in the therapy, and with provision of after-care.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure access to evidence-based psychological therapies for women in prison, including through digital delivery.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
A range of evidence-based interventions and services are provided for women in prison. Referrals for all services are encouraged from across the female estate, to support women to access the services they need. These services include the Women’s Offender Personality Disorder Pathway, as well as the Women’s Estate Psychology Service team, which provides forensic psychologists within all 12 women’s prisons to deliver therapeutic services.
HMPPS is piloting an enhanced approach to supporting women in their first weeks in custody, which is often the time when they are most vulnerable. This pilot is fully operational at five women’s prisons. It includes one-to-one psychological support and psychology-based group work.
The Women Offenders Repeat Self-Harm Intervention Pragmatic Trial piloted the delivery of face-to-face therapy. The provider subsequently proposed to move to a digital model. HMPPS was concerned that this could carry significant risks, given the vulnerability of the women. It was not clear how the wellbeing of the women would be safeguarded.
HMPPS would be glad to consider a new proposal to deliver the programme in women’s prisons, on condition that delivery was on a face-to-face basis to support the vulnerability of the women engaging in the therapy, and with provision of after-care.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve the mental health and wellbeing of babies and very young children, especially given the evidence surrounding the cumulative impact of poor mental health outcomes that begin early in life.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
In March 2021, the Government published The best start for life: a vision for the 1,001 critical days, a copy of which is attached. This vision sets out six action areas for improving support for families during the 1,001 critical days to ensure every baby in England is given the best possible start in life, regardless of background.
The Government is investing approximately £300 million to improve support for families through the joint Department of Health and Social Care and Department for Education Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme. The programme is implementing many elements of the Best Start for Life Vision and is delivering a step change in outcomes for babies, children and their parents and carers in 75 local authorities in England, including those with high levels of deprivation. This investment includes £100 million for bespoke perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship support. Many local authorities without funding have also chosen to implement elements of the vision.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made, if any, in reaching a settlement in cases of individuals who have developed (1) blood clots, and (2) life-changing conditions, such as transverse myelitis, after receiving the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine; and what assessment they have made of the level of payment being awarded under the Vaccine Damage Payment scheme.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government knows there are some extremely rare cases where individuals have sadly experienced harm following vaccination against COVID-19, and recognises how difficult this is for those individuals and their families. It would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases, including where there may be ongoing litigation that may involve the Government.
As part of business-as-usual work, the Government reviews the payment amount of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), alongside all routine policy on a regular basis. There are no plans at this time to change the level of payment awarded under the VDPS.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there was a different COVID-19 testing strategy for care homes for (1) the elderly, and (2) working age adults with learning disabilities; and if so, why.
Answered by Lord Bethell
To provide a more comprehensive response to a number of outstanding Written Questions, this has been answered by an information factsheet Testing – note for House of Lords which is attached, due to the size of the data. A copy has also been placed in the Library
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many deaths have been reported within learning disability services since 5 March, broken down by (1) race, (2) age, and (3) gender, compared with the equivalent period last year. [T]
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS England can confirm that five people with a learning disability, autism or both have died within a specialist inpatient setting between 5 March and 30 April 2020, the latest data available. This includes people who were transferred from a specialist inpatient setting to an acute setting and subsequently died. In the same period last year less than five people died within a specialist inpatient setting. NHS England hold demographic data on gender, age and ethnicity of these patients, but cannot provide them due to the low patient numbers leading to a high chance of patient identification.
Public Health England are undertaking a thorough analysis of data on the deaths of people with learning disabilities, including looking at age, gender and ethnicity of people who have died. This will draw on data published by NHS England and the Care Quality Commission to understand the impact of COVID-19 on this group of people and the specific risks that they may face from the virus.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they estimate they will be able to quantify the number of COVID-19 deaths, in particular the number of deaths of those from at risk groups, including people with learning disabilities, regardless of whether confirmation by diagnostic tests was possible.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The number of deaths of various at-risk groups has been published by the Office for National Statistics. This include a breakdown of deaths by the most common underlying conditions, ethnicity, age and occupation.
NHS England publishes data on deaths of patients with a learning disability in England (LeDeR programme) who have either tested positive for COVID-19 or are considered to have had COVID-19.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the guidance that allows people in hospital who have (1) dementia, (2) a learning disability, or (3) autism, to be allowed to have a visitor during any hospital admission also applies in care homes.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Specific guidance has been produced for visiting care homes. This can be found in the Admission and Care of Residents during COVID-19 Incident in a Care Home guidance which is attached.