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Written Question
Surrogacy: Parental Orders
Friday 15th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government why they do not centrally hold data on the number of Parental Orders awarded each year through the Family Court for England and Wales in cases of surrogacy (1) where the child was born abroad through a commercial surrogacy arrangement, and (2) where the child was born in the United Kingdom through a surrogacy arrangement in which the mother uses her own egg.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The number of these orders is not recorded centrally. The current recording system only collates data on the total number of parental orders made and there is no capability to break the data into further sub-sets of the different types of surrogacy arrangements. Such information can only be obtained through individual analysis of court files at disproportionate cost since they would require a manual search of court records. The Government has no plans to record this information centrally, doing so would require fundamental changes to existing IT systems.

You will be aware that in March 2023 the Law Commission of England and Wales published a joint report with the Scottish Law Commission; “Building families through surrogacy: a new law". The report puts forward recommendations for a robust new system to govern surrogacy in the UK, including recommendations specifically for the family court system.

The Government is currently considering all of the recommendations within the report and will publish a full response in due course. If and when further action is taken in response to the report, we will consider the collection of data in this area rather than risk making piecemeal changes.


Written Question
Surrogacy: Parental Orders
Friday 15th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to collect and publish data on the number of Parental Orders awarded each year through the Family Court for England and Wales in cases of surrogacy (1) where  the child was born through a commercial surrogacy arrangement abroad (2) where the child was born in the United Kingdom through a surrogacy arrangement in which the surrogate mother uses her own egg, and (3) where a child was born through surrogacy in this country using the egg of a third party egg donor, and not the egg of the commissioning female parent.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The number of these orders is not recorded centrally. The current recording system only collates data on the total number of parental orders made and there is no capability to break the data into further sub-sets of the different types of surrogacy arrangements. Such information can only be obtained through individual analysis of court files at disproportionate cost since they would require a manual search of court records. The Government has no plans to record this information centrally, doing so would require fundamental changes to existing IT systems.

You will be aware that in March 2023 the Law Commission of England and Wales published a joint report with the Scottish Law Commission; “Building families through surrogacy: a new law". The report puts forward recommendations for a robust new system to govern surrogacy in the UK, including recommendations specifically for the family court system.

The Government is currently considering all of the recommendations within the report and will publish a full response in due course. If and when further action is taken in response to the report, we will consider the collection of data in this area rather than risk making piecemeal changes.


Written Question
Parental Orders
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total number of Parental Orders granted for surrogacy arrangements in England and Wales in (1) 2017, (2) 2018, (3) 2019, (4) 2020, (5) 2021, and (6) 2022.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The number of Parental Orders granted where children were conceived through surrogacy using the surrogate mother’s own egg is not recorded centrally.

The number of Parental Orders granted to couples bringing a child in to England and Wales where the child was conceived and carried through a commercial surrogacy arrangement abroad is not recorded centrally.

Such information could only be obtained through individual analysis of court files, at disproportionate cost.

The total number of Parental Orders granted for surrogacy arrangements in England and Wales between 2017 and 2022 can be found in the table below.

Table 1: Number of total Parental Orders made in Public and Private Law (Children Act) in the Family Courts, England and Wales

Year

Total

2017

332

2018

375

2019

445

2020

425

2021

437

2022

449

Source: Family Court Statistics Quarterly

Notes:

1) These orders relate to surrogacy and are made under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act.

2) Please note the 2022 figure only includes Private Law as figures for Public Law are currently unavailable whilst Family Public Law undergoes reform.


Written Question
Parental Orders
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many Parental Orders were granted to couples in England and Wales bringing a child in to this country conceived and carried through a commercial surrogacy arrangement abroad in (1) 2017, (2) 2018, (3) 2019, (4) 2020, (5) 2021, and (6) 2022.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The number of Parental Orders granted where children were conceived through surrogacy using the surrogate mother’s own egg is not recorded centrally.

The number of Parental Orders granted to couples bringing a child in to England and Wales where the child was conceived and carried through a commercial surrogacy arrangement abroad is not recorded centrally.

Such information could only be obtained through individual analysis of court files, at disproportionate cost.

The total number of Parental Orders granted for surrogacy arrangements in England and Wales between 2017 and 2022 can be found in the table below.

Table 1: Number of total Parental Orders made in Public and Private Law (Children Act) in the Family Courts, England and Wales

Year

Total

2017

332

2018

375

2019

445

2020

425

2021

437

2022

449

Source: Family Court Statistics Quarterly

Notes:

1) These orders relate to surrogacy and are made under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act.

2) Please note the 2022 figure only includes Private Law as figures for Public Law are currently unavailable whilst Family Public Law undergoes reform.


Written Question
Parenting Orders
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many Parental Orders were granted through the Family Courts in England and Wales about the number of children conceived through surrogacy using the surrogate mother's own egg in (1) 2017, (2) 2018, (3) 2019, (4) 2020, (5) 2021, and (6) 2022.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The number of Parental Orders granted where children were conceived through surrogacy using the surrogate mother’s own egg is not recorded centrally.

The number of Parental Orders granted to couples bringing a child in to England and Wales where the child was conceived and carried through a commercial surrogacy arrangement abroad is not recorded centrally.

Such information could only be obtained through individual analysis of court files, at disproportionate cost.

The total number of Parental Orders granted for surrogacy arrangements in England and Wales between 2017 and 2022 can be found in the table below.

Table 1: Number of total Parental Orders made in Public and Private Law (Children Act) in the Family Courts, England and Wales

Year

Total

2017

332

2018

375

2019

445

2020

425

2021

437

2022

449

Source: Family Court Statistics Quarterly

Notes:

1) These orders relate to surrogacy and are made under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act.

2) Please note the 2022 figure only includes Private Law as figures for Public Law are currently unavailable whilst Family Public Law undergoes reform.


Written Question
Development Aid
Monday 27th November 2023

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 31 July (HL9405) and 8 November (HL10550), what were (1) the core, (2) the non-core, (3) any other, and (4) total, financial contributions to (a) the United Nations Population Fund, (b) the International Planned Parenthood Federation, (c) the World Health Organization, (d) UNICEF, (e) UNAIDS, (f) the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and (g) UN Women, in each financial year from 2014 to 2022.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Based on FCDO "Statistics on International Development: final UK aid spend 2022", the total amount of UK ODA financial contributions was:

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

1.a United Nations Population Fund – Core

20,000,000

20,000,000

20,000,000

20,000,000

20,000,000

20,000,000

20,000,000

8,000,000

8,000,000

2.a United Nations Population Fund – Non-core

203,290,000

94,690,000

87,470,000

120,470,000

148,880,000

189,930,000

69,660,000

57,320,000

97,510,000

4.a United Nations Population Fund – Total

223,290,000

114,690,000

107,470,000

140,470,000

168,880,000

209,930,000

89,660,000

65,320,000

105,510,000

2.b International Planned Parenthood Federation – Non-core

9,600,000

9,040,000

6,430,000

0

5,480,000

34,940,000

49,170,000

42,530,000

22,230,000

4.b International Planned Parenthood Federation - Total

9,600,000

9,040,000

6,430,000

0

5,480,000

34,940,000

49,170,000

42,530,000

22,230,000

1.c World Health Organization – Core

14,500,000

14,500,000

14,500,000

19,500,000

29,500,000

34,500,000

5,000,000

97,600,000

97,750,000

2.c World Health Organization – Non-core

84,510,000

102,150,000

88,670,000

111,400,000

142,640,000

150,180,000

215,900,000

35,530,000

43,650,000

3.c World Health Organization – Assessed contribution (DHSC)

11,500,000

11,830,000

12,000,000

12,190,000

12,790,000

13,000,000

13,260,000

12,490,000

13,400,000

4.c World Health Organization - Total

110,510,000

128,480,000

115,170,000

143,090,000

184,930,000

197,680,000

234,160,000

145,610,000

154,800,000

1.d UNICEF – Core

48,000,000

48,000,000

48,000,000

48,000,000

48,000,000

48,000,000

48,000,000

24,000,000

8,000,000

2.d UNICEF – Non-core

275,130,000

287,590,000

353,970,000

400,070,000

401,460,000

429,220,000

412,740,000

201,540,000

202,170,000

4.d UNICEF - Total

323,130,000

335,590,000

401,970,000

448,070,000

449,460,000

477,220,000

460,740,000

225,540,000

210,170,000

1.e UNAIDS – Core

15,000,000

15,000,000

15,000,000

15,000,000

15,000,000

15,000,000

15,000,000

2,500,000

8,000,000

4.e UNAIDS – Total

15,000,000

15,000,000

15,000,000

15,000,000

15,000,000

15,000,000

15,000,000

2,500,000

8,000,000

1.f Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – Core

285,000,000

100,000,000

152,940,000

317,060,000

360,000,000

370,000,000

476,000,000

380,000,000

434,000,000

4.f Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria - Total

285,000,000

100,000,000

152,940,000

317,060,000

360,000,000

370,000,000

476,000,000

380,000,000

434,000,000

1.g UN Women – Core

12,500,000

12,500,000

12,500,000

12,500,000

12,500,000

12,500,000

12,500,000

5,750,000

0

2.g UN Women – Non-core

490,000

4,190,000

8,310,000

6,850,000

4,900,000

13,400,000

6,910,000

3,430,000

4,700,000

4.g UN Women - Total

12,990,000

16,690,000

20,810,000

19,350,000

17,400,000

25,900,000

19,410,000

9,180,000

4,700,000

Figures have been rounded to the nearest ten thousand.


Written Question
Domestic Abuse: Transgender People
Tuesday 21st November 2023

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the recent statement by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Stephen Parkinson, that the Crown Prosecution Service will be reviewing its domestic abuse guidance following the publication of the Policy Exchange report The Crown Prosecution Service’s approach to transgenderism, published on 5 November, what are the timescales for this review; and how will it be reporting.

Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland

It is important that the public are clear on how the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will apply the law around domestic abuse so that they can be confident in its approach. As set out by the Director of Public Prosecutions, the CPS has therefore conducted a review of Annex D with a view to recontextualise its purpose and improve clarity.

The revised guidance will be published by the end of this year on the CPS website.


Written Question
Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bellamy on 21 September (HL10037), how many female genital mutilation protection orders have been breached since 2018; and what steps they have taken in response to those breaches.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.


Written Question
Forced Marriage: Children
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many child marriage convictions there were in the UK each year between 2018 and 2022 inclusive.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.


Written Question
Development Aid
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 31 July (HL9405), what was the total amount of (1) core, and (2) non-core, financial contributions to (a) the United Nations Population Fund, (b) the International Planned Parenthood Federation, (c) the World Health Organization, (d) UNICEF, (e) UNAIDS, (f) the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and (g) UN Women, in each financial year from 2014 to 2019 inclusive.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.