Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they will ensure equitable postpartum and post-abortion contraception provisions.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to ensuring that the public receives equitable access to the best possible contraceptive services. Contraception advice is delivered in sexual health services, general practice, some pharmacies, abortion and maternity services, and online. NHS England strives to ensure that this is integrated into a range of different health encounters that women are likely to have. For example, contraception advice is provided during both antenatal consultations and at the time of postnatal discharge. Many maternity services also provide both user-based and longer acting methods of contraception at this opportunity.
NHS England has published guidance to support general practitioners to provide all women with comprehensive mental and physical postnatal check-ups six to eight weeks after they give birth. The guidance, which was written in collaboration with the Royal College of General Practitioners, provides clear advice to address unwarranted variation for the delivery of safer, more equitable, more personalised care. This includes flexible appointment times tailored to a women’s needs.
The postnatal consultation provides an important opportunity for contraceptive health needs to be assessed. During this, women should be asked about contraception and supported to make planned choices about future pregnancies.
Contraception is commonly offered and provided by abortion services, in line with National Institute for Care and Excellence guidelines on abortion care, that were published in September 2019. The guidelines set out that commissioners and providers should ensure that a full range of contraceptive options is available for women on the same day as their surgical or medical abortion. Providers should also ensure that healthcare professionals have the knowledge and skills to provide all contraceptive options, including the contraceptive implant, injections, and intrauterine methods of contraception.
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government whether a person who changes their legal sex status in Germany after the commencement of that country’s Self-Determination Act will be able to apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate in the UK without needing to provide medical reports.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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. Gender recognition systems across the world constantly change and we are working with our counterparts in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to ensure that any changes are monitored and noted for future updates. The Government will update the list annually, considering developments in other countries’ systems.
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to remove Germany from the list of approved countries for the overseas route of gender recognition after the German Self-Determination Act comes into force on 1 November.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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. Gender recognition systems across the world constantly change and we are working with our counterparts in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to ensure that any changes are monitored and noted for future updates. The Government will update the list annually, considering developments in other countries’ systems.
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
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, which Minister, if any, approved the new questions on gender identity.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The current process for updating the child death review data collection forms does not require ministerial approval.
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 16 September (HL693), on what grounds responses to the call for input have been considered "invalid".
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Responses to the call for input were deemed invalid where they did not meet the criteria set out on the call for input Gov.uk page under ‘how to respond’.
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they gave to the Global Financing Facility in each year since 2015.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office publishes all programmatic spend data on the Devtracker website https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/. The programme code for the first phase of UK support to the Global Financing Facility (GFF) for Women, Children and Adolescents is '300486,' for the second phase it is '300888,' and for the upcoming third phase of support (from April 2025), the code will be '400074.'
The spend data requested is as follows:
2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Total |
£18m | £8m | £3m | £6m | £20m | £15m | £25m | £95m |
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
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 the new questions on gender identity are voluntary for (1) NHS staff to ask, and (2) parents to answer.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following the death of a child, it may not always be a healthcare professional making the notification and therefore these questions may be answered by a range of different professionals, for instance those in healthcare, police, or social care. The questions will be answered based on what the professional knows at the time when they are making the notification of death. Therefore, if they do not hold any information on the gender identity of the child, this question will not be answered.
Parents would not be completing these forms. The purpose of the notification form is to give the basic information on what is known about the child by the professional at the time of death.
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the imprisonment of a UK resident for conspiring to commit female genital mutilation against a young girl after the first conviction of its kind in England and Wales, what assessment they have made of their approach to investigating and prosecuting such cases.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an abhorrent crime, and tackling FGM is an important part of this Government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. We are focused on preventing these crimes from happening, supporting and protecting survivors and those at risk, and bringing perpetrators to justice.
A range of criminal offences and preventative tools are available in this space.
To support the police in investigating this crime, the College of Policing has published Authorised Professional Practice. This sets out the action the police should take, including: working with local organisations to raise awareness of FGM, taking immediate steps to safeguard individuals at risk, (including through FGM Protection Orders), and securing evidence.
We know that the familial and hidden nature of FGM, and the fact victims are often relatively young, can present challenges in bringing a prosecution. That is why the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have put in place a Joint Protocol on the Investigation and Prosecution of FGM. That encourages the police to refer every FGM case to the CPS at the earliest stage and sets out that the CPS will provide early investigative advice in all cases. In addition, every CPS area has a dedicated FGM Lead, and they have introduced guidance for prosecutors, which addresses common areas of challenge, including the need for expert evidence.
More broadly, the Government’s statutory guidance on FGM sets out the responsibilities of police and other statutory agencies in supporting and safeguarding women and girls affected by FGM, and the Home Office has made available free e-learning on FGM for frontline professionals which was completed by over 54,300 professionals in 2023.
Of course, we will look at the success of this case and ensure what worked is reflected in any review of the guidance.
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they gave to Family Planning 2030 in each year since 2021.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office publishes all programmatic spend data on the Devtracker website https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/. The Programme code for support to the FP2030 Family Planning Partnership is '301361.'
The data requested is as follows:
2021/2 | 2022/3 | 2023/4 | 2024/5 | Total |
Nil | £2.4m | £1.2m | £2.4m | £6m |
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 18 September (HL1037), whether the attire described in the Daily Telegraph article “Transgender civil servant wearing ‘fetish gear’ sparks Whitehall row”, published on 4 August, accords with the Department for Work and Pensions’ interpretation of professional and business-like clothing.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the noble Baroness to the answer I gave to question HL1037 on 18 September.
The DWP’s standards of behaviour statement requires employees to dress in a professional and business-like way. Professional and business-like has a normal, everyday meaning.