Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Vallance of Balham on 22 October (HL1416), what involvement (1) officials, and (2) Ministers have had in the drafting and content of the review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender, commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, since the general election; and whether they will list the additional stakeholders who have been consulted since the general election.

Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

This is an independent review, and Professor Sullivan is fully responsible for the report’s contents and for engaging with relevant stakeholders. Where stakeholders have been engaged since the general election, the decision was made by Professor Sullivan.

As per the Terms of Reference, a draft version of the report was submitted to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and to the Cabinet Office ahead of the final version of the report. Ministers have not been involved in the drafting of the report. As per usual practice, officials have provided light-touch, optional feedback on matters of drafting.

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 7 November (HL2061), what guidance they are giving to public bodies on whether Gender Recognition Panels should grant a UK Gender Recognition Certificate to a German applicant in the absence of a medical report.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

As I stated in the answer to HL2061, at the time of the commencement of The Gender Recognition (Approved Countries and Territories and Saving Provision) Order 2023, the international systems that were on the list were comparable to the UK’s standard route to legal gender recognition.

We continue to work with our counterparts in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to ensure that any changes internationally are monitored and noted for future updates. The list was last updated in April 2024, and the previous update was 2011. We are committed to more regularly updating the list of approved countries and territories when applying for gender recognition in the UK.

Regarding the Gender Recognition Panel, they have appropriate guidance and training in order to carry out the gender recognition process in alignment with the current law.

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 7 November (HL2061), whether they will take steps to assess the appropriateness of Germany remaining an approved country, given Germany’s adoption of a policy of self-identification.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

As I stated in the answer to HL2061, at the time of the commencement of The Gender Recognition (Approved Countries and Territories and Saving Provision) Order 2023, the international systems that were on the list were comparable to the UK’s standard route to legal gender recognition.

We continue to work with our counterparts in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to ensure that any changes internationally are monitored and noted for future updates. The list was last updated in April 2024, and the previous update was 2011. We are committed to more regularly updating the list of approved countries and territories when applying for gender recognition in the UK.

Regarding the Gender Recognition Panel, they have appropriate guidance and training in order to carry out the gender recognition process in alignment with the current law.

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 7 November (HL2061), what is the timetable for the Office for Equality and Opportunity’s review of the countries currently listed in the Gender Recognition (Approved Countries and Territories and Saving Provision) Order 2023.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

As I stated in the answer to HL2061, at the time of the commencement of The Gender Recognition (Approved Countries and Territories and Saving Provision) Order 2023, the international systems that were on the list were comparable to the UK’s standard route to legal gender recognition.

We continue to work with our counterparts in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to ensure that any changes internationally are monitored and noted for future updates. The list was last updated in April 2024, and the previous update was 2011. We are committed to more regularly updating the list of approved countries and territories when applying for gender recognition in the UK.

Regarding the Gender Recognition Panel, they have appropriate guidance and training in order to carry out the gender recognition process in alignment with the current law.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the Department for Health and Social Care’s publication of the updated Notification of Child Death Form, whether they have adopted self-identification for under-18s; and if so, how this aligns with their response to the Cass Review.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Notification of Child Death Form, part of the National Child Mortality Database, continues to capture the sex of the child for anyone under 18 years old, in line with sex being a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

Although questions relating to gender identity already existed within one part of the National Child Mortality Database collection, specifically for suicide and self-harm, the change in October expanded these questions to all deaths. This was to capture the language used by young people and their families to improve system learning and to support the prevention of future deaths.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government who is conducting their study on the effects of smartphone and social media use on children, announced on 20 November, and what are its terms of reference.

Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The study is being conducted by the University of Cambridge but includes a wider consortium of experts from a range of universities. The project team will be led by Dr Amy Orben, a Programme Leader at the University of Cambridge.

The study’s objectives are to review existing research on the impact of social media and smartphones on children’s developmental outcomes, evaluate methodologies to develop causal evidence on the topic and to recommend an approach to produce causal evidence in the next 2-3 years.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to avoid any conflicts of interest arising for individuals or organisations involved in their study on the effects of smartphone and social media use on children, announced on 20 November.

Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The procurement was run through a fair and open competition with pre-agreed terms and conditions. Suppliers were required to declare any conflict of interest during the procurement and give a full account how they would avoid any future conflict of interest. All supplier responses were thoroughly reviewed by the evaluation panel, with no concerns raised.