Carer’s Leave: Government Departments

Baroness Jolly Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord True (Con)]

My Lords, we remain committed to legislation to deliver on our commitments on employment, including on carer’s leave, as parliamentary time allows. We are aware in this context of the Private Member’s Bill on carer’s leave in another place; we will look closely at whether we can support it in this Session.

[Baroness Jolly (LD)]

My Lords, every day, many of us walk past a poster asking if we are a carer on our way into the House. ParliCare offers support to those staff who work in both Houses. Can the Minister tell the House how many carers are supported on this scheme and what form that support takes?

[Lord True (Con)]

My Lords, if the question is about arrangements in Parliament, I remind the noble Baroness that I am answering for the Executive here. As I have told the House, there are supportive arrangements in the Civil Service, but I am afraid I cannot answer specifically on the numbers in the parliamentary system.

People with Disabilities Standing for Elected Office

Baroness Jolly Excerpts

Monday 22nd March 2021 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Baroness Jolly]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they intend to provide to assist people with disabilities with the additional financial costs associated with standing for elected office.

[The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Lord True) (Con)]

My Lords, it is the Government’s ambition to see more disabled people in public office. The Government have been clear that the responsibility for supporting disabled candidates sits with political parties and that the EnAble Fund was an interim measure to give parties time to put their own support in place. Ministers wrote to the main parties twice in 2019 to ask them how they intend to support their candidates on a long-term basis.

[Baroness Jolly (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for his response. I am sure he would agree that it is important that people with a disability are represented in Parliament. Can he tell the House how many MP’s have a disability, and, in the last election where financial support was given to candidates with a disability, how many candidates were supported?

[Lord True (Con)]

My Lords, I do not have all those specific figures. In relation to the EnAble Fund, 41 applicants were awarded funding and 19 were elected. Some 33 disabled candidates for the 2019 local elections received financial support through the fund, and of these 15 were elected. I will write to the noble Baroness on her other question.

European Union (Future Relationship) Bill

Baroness Jolly Excerpts

3rd reading & 2nd reading & Committee negatived & 2nd reading (Hansard) & 2nd reading (Hansard): House of Lords & 3rd reading (Hansard) & 3rd reading (Hansard): House of Lords & Committee negatived (Hansard) & Committee negatived (Hansard): House of Lords
Wednesday 30th December 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jolly (LD) [V]]

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Judd.

The two health-related issues that I shall raise relate to our reliance on radioactive isotopes produced in the EU, to which Clauses 27 and 28 relate, and the employment of health and care workers from EU states, on which the Bill is silent.

Approximately 1 million UK patients each year rely on radioisotope procedures to diagnose or treat many conditions. These include cardiovascular imaging and cancer treatment. In addition to the TCA, the UK and the EU signed a nuclear co-operation agreement which is to define the future of the UK’s relationship with the European Atomic Energy Community, or Euratom. This is a good deal for clinicians, for researchers and, of course, for patients.

We import around 80% of the medical radioisotopes we use, most coming from the Netherlands, Belgium and France, and it will be critical that their transit is smooth and without delays, or we will not get what we pay for. These cannot be stockpiled, and as soon as they are produced they begin to decay. The longer the delay in transit, the smaller the dose of useful isotope that remains. These amendments are good for our health.

Less positively, I regret that in the Bill there is no mention of mutual professional recognition of qualifications. Will the Minister outline how this will now function, or is the idea now defunct? The EU’s policy of freedom of movement and mutual recognition of professional qualifications within the EU meant that British health workers could work across the EU, and many health and social care professionals currently working in the UK come from other EU countries. This includes 55,000 of the NHS’s 1.3 million workforce and 80,000 of the 1.3 million workers in the adult social care sector. These will not be easy to replace. A recent rough estimate of the current shortfall of nurses across all disciplines in England is 43,000. Now, EU nurses are feeling unwelcome and the number leaving the NHS to return home has grown. Are EU nationals working in our health and care sector still welcome? The Home Secretary is on record saying that we should be reliant on British staff.

Finally, I return to scrutiny. The noble Baroness, Lady Taylor of Bolton, made some powerful remarks, and her Constitution Committee’s response to the Bill makes for interesting reading. It notes the Bill’s omission of sunset provisions and disagrees with the Government on post-legislative scrutiny of the Bill, recommending that the House should decide how best to scrutinise the trade and co-operation agreement. I get the impression that today’s debate is not the end of scrutiny, only the beginning.

Covid-19: Public Health Information

Baroness Jolly Excerpts

Tuesday 8th December 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord True (Con)]

My Lords, it is, of course, highly desirable to contain any pandemic or any threat to the welfare of our citizens. We have to deal with the situation that arises; I believe that the Government have sought to deal with it energetically. We certainly have said that we will consider the lessons learned from this pandemic.

[Baroness Jolly (LD) [V]]

My Lords, this morning I looked at the English NHS website and could not find Covid-19 information in languages other than English. I then looked at the NHS Scotland site, which had information in 12 languages, including British Sign Language. Given that this information can save lives, when do the Government anticipate making Covid-19 online information available to those living and working in England and are more comfortable reading information in their own language?

[Lord True (Con)]

My Lords, I will refer the noble Baroness’s comments about what is available on the NHS website to those responsible. The Government have enabled at least 22 languages to be accessible for Covid publicity.

Covid-19: Wedding Venues

Baroness Jolly Excerpts

Wednesday 24th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord True]

My Lords, again, I understand the point. I do not want to add to my reputation for eccentricity by admitting that my wife and I delayed our marriage because the late Lord Callaghan unexpectedly delayed the anticipated election in 1978. I fully understand the frustration that many young couples face. On the noble Baroness’s wider point, wedding venues are governed in legislation, and altering it is not currently on the Government’s agenda.

[Baroness Jolly (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I understand the reasoning for yesterday’s change in advice, but clearly some of the Government’s advisers were not happy with it. In making the decision, did the Government carry out a risk analysis, and is it freely available? What will be the loss to the local economies as a result of a season of cancelled weddings? What impact will it have on the already beleaguered hospitality sector?

[Lord True]

My Lords, the announcement the Prime Minister made is fully guided by scientific advice, and I do not accept what the noble Baroness said. I remind her that this was an announcement to open up proceedings to permit weddings, so it should not provoke more cancellations—indeed, it should enable more weddings.

Covid-19: Restrictions

Baroness Jolly Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord True]

My Lords, I do not accept the premise of the noble Lord’s question. The advice to the shielding group is clear and is based on scientific advice that it is wise for them to avoid face-to-face contact and follow the shielding guidance. That advice is still in place and will remain so until the guidance is revised. I have told the House that the guidance is under review and that we hope that we will be able to say more during June.

[Baroness Jolly (LD)]

My Lords, a society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable. The real policy and practice experts are the NGOs and major specialist charities. Will the Minister tell the House which of those organisations have been consulted on the impact of the restrictions on vulnerable adults and what guidance is in place to help them see family and loved ones?

[Lord True]

My Lords, I profoundly agree with the noble Baroness’s opening remark about the approach and the importance of staying in touch with all sources of expertise and advice. At present, and in the time available, I cannot give her a list of organisations of the type that she describes, but I will ensure that a letter is written to her on the matter.