Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 8 August (HL9823), what work NHS England or the Department of Health and Social Care has undertaken with the Professional Records Standards Body on (1) the Core Information Standard, (2) clinical information that is needed for direct care related to person characteristics and definitions for the NHS data model, and (3) the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service has many longstanding Information Standards and IT systems which already include patient stated gender and gender identity data items, alongside phenotypic sex classification where required. These include the Personal Demographic Service and data sets such as the Mental Health Minimum Data Set and Commissioning Data Sets.
The Professional Records Standards Body (PRSB) has adopted the existing approved NHS Information Standards, rather than the NHS adopting the PRSB standards. Work is currently underway in response to the Sullivan Report and other clinical safety risks, to better define and separate sex and gender data items within the NHS Information Standards and systems area. The PRSB is engaged on this work and will align with such changes to Information Standards.
NHS England previously commissioned the PRSB to support the development of data standards that enable consistent and safe sharing of clinical and demographic information.
On the Core Information Standard, NHS England worked with the PRSB to define a minimum dataset for the exchange of key information between care settings. This standard was published and is available on the PRSB website, although it is not in itself a formal information standard.
On clinical information needed for direct care related to person characteristics and definitions for the NHS data model, the PRSB was commissioned to conduct discovery work with a wide range of clinicians from all specialties. These included Royal Colleges, patient-representative groups, and third sector bodies, which were engaged on the data items required for clinical care which relate to Sex and Gender Reassignment, as well as other provisions within the Equality Act such as ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and philosophical belief, age, and disability.
NHS England has not engaged with the PRSB on the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics (UISPC). This relates specifically to recording of data related to Protected Characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, to enable the NHS to monitor compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty and address known health inequalities.
Once the UISPC report recommendations are made to the Department, Ministers will review and consider next steps, including how best to consult more widely.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 8 August (HL9823), whether the NHS uses the definitions of the Professional Records Standards Body for gender and gender identity.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service has many longstanding Information Standards and IT systems which already include patient stated gender and gender identity data items, alongside phenotypic sex classification where required. These include the Personal Demographic Service and data sets such as the Mental Health Minimum Data Set and Commissioning Data Sets.
The Professional Records Standards Body (PRSB) has adopted the existing approved NHS Information Standards, rather than the NHS adopting the PRSB standards. Work is currently underway in response to the Sullivan Report and other clinical safety risks, to better define and separate sex and gender data items within the NHS Information Standards and systems area. The PRSB is engaged on this work and will align with such changes to Information Standards.
NHS England previously commissioned the PRSB to support the development of data standards that enable consistent and safe sharing of clinical and demographic information.
On the Core Information Standard, NHS England worked with the PRSB to define a minimum dataset for the exchange of key information between care settings. This standard was published and is available on the PRSB website, although it is not in itself a formal information standard.
On clinical information needed for direct care related to person characteristics and definitions for the NHS data model, the PRSB was commissioned to conduct discovery work with a wide range of clinicians from all specialties. These included Royal Colleges, patient-representative groups, and third sector bodies, which were engaged on the data items required for clinical care which relate to Sex and Gender Reassignment, as well as other provisions within the Equality Act such as ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and philosophical belief, age, and disability.
NHS England has not engaged with the PRSB on the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics (UISPC). This relates specifically to recording of data related to Protected Characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, to enable the NHS to monitor compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty and address known health inequalities.
Once the UISPC report recommendations are made to the Department, Ministers will review and consider next steps, including how best to consult more widely.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their timetable for the publication of the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics, and whether it will be subject to public consultation.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service has many longstanding Information Standards and IT systems which already include patient stated gender and gender identity data items, alongside phenotypic sex classification where required. These include the Personal Demographic Service and data sets such as the Mental Health Minimum Data Set and Commissioning Data Sets.
The Professional Records Standards Body (PRSB) has adopted the existing approved NHS Information Standards, rather than the NHS adopting the PRSB standards. Work is currently underway in response to the Sullivan Report and other clinical safety risks, to better define and separate sex and gender data items within the NHS Information Standards and systems area. The PRSB is engaged on this work and will align with such changes to Information Standards.
NHS England previously commissioned the PRSB to support the development of data standards that enable consistent and safe sharing of clinical and demographic information.
On the Core Information Standard, NHS England worked with the PRSB to define a minimum dataset for the exchange of key information between care settings. This standard was published and is available on the PRSB website, although it is not in itself a formal information standard.
On clinical information needed for direct care related to person characteristics and definitions for the NHS data model, the PRSB was commissioned to conduct discovery work with a wide range of clinicians from all specialties. These included Royal Colleges, patient-representative groups, and third sector bodies, which were engaged on the data items required for clinical care which relate to Sex and Gender Reassignment, as well as other provisions within the Equality Act such as ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and philosophical belief, age, and disability.
NHS England has not engaged with the PRSB on the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics (UISPC). This relates specifically to recording of data related to Protected Characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, to enable the NHS to monitor compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty and address known health inequalities.
Once the UISPC report recommendations are made to the Department, Ministers will review and consider next steps, including how best to consult more widely.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 4 December 2024 (HL1918), what steps they are taking ensure the appropriate use of sex-specific language in the NHS, as set out in the Women's Health Strategy for England, published on 30 August 2022 (CP 736).
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government and the National Health Service know the importance of using accurate and factual language in relation to biological sex as part of health communications. The Department’s longstanding position is that health information should be as clear as possible, and that language should be used that appropriately reflects sex as defined as a protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they have given to (1) NHS trusts, and (2) NHS England, regarding (a) recruiting additional, or (b) terminating existing, equality, diversity and inclusion roles.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service trusts should be working to address inequalities to ensure the best possible outcomes for all patients, as well as tackling the abuse and discrimination that some NHS staff face in the workplace. Local NHS leaders are best placed to take an evidence-based approach to how they approach this challenge and resource this work.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many passports and driving licences have been removed from paying parents as a result of them not paying their child maintenance.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions uses sanctions such as sending Paying Parents to prison, disqualifying them from holding, or obtaining a passport or driving licence as a last resort and only used when every other method of recovering unpaid child maintenance has been tried. The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) on behalf of the Department only pursues these sanctions when they believe the Paying Parent can pay but is refusing to do so. In these circumstances enforcement powers will have a deterrent effect on Paying Parents.
From the latest Child Maintenance Service official statistics, table 6.2, in the National tables, provides the outcome information where the CMS applied to courts to sanction Paying Parents for non-compliance. The latest statistics show there were three immediate passport confiscations and seven immediate driving disqualifications in Great Britain between July 2019 and March 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of increased employer National Insurance contributions on employment opportunities for young people in the hospitality sector, and of the consequences for the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
A detailed assessment of the policy has been published by HMRC in their Tax Information and Impact Note. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) also published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances. With all policies considered, the OBR's March 2025 EFO forecasts the employment level to increase from 33.6 million in 2024 to 34.8 million in 2029.
This Government is committed to providing young people with the best start to their working lives. The Government will deliver a Youth Guarantee so that all 18 to 21-year-olds in England have access to education, training or help to find a job or an apprenticeship. To support this, we are funding eight trailblazers across England to test how different elements of the Guarantee can be brought together into a coherent offer for young people. The Government is also expanding Sector-based Work Academy Programmes to provide 100,000 places in 2025/26, providing a work placement, training and a guaranteed interview that can kickstart a new career and support young people into work.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of rising labour costs on businesses operating in the hospitality and retail sectors, and what steps they are taking to ensure employment remains viable in those sectors.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts. A full Impact Assessment on NMW was published and received a Green ‘fit for purpose’ from the Regulatory Policy Committee on Tuesday 4 February 2025.
The Government will protect the smallest businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, more than half of employers see no change or gain overall from this package and employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.
The Hospitality Sector Council and the Retail Sector Council continue to consider key issues and opportunities, including employment and how to encourage growth across both sectors.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people who have entered the Universal Credit system as a consequence of increased employer labour costs, including higher employer National Insurance contributions, particularly in low-margin sectors.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No such assessment has been made.
Data on the Universal Credit caseload, including up-to-date trends information, is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance for users is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement welfare strategies specifically for those areas excluded from highly clustered, high-productivity economic sectors.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Get Britain Working White Paper set out our cross-Government plan to get people into work and on in work.
As part of that, we are planning to offer greater employment support in every part of the country to those who need it to get into work and fulfil their potential.
This Government is also taking action to deliver strong, secure, and sustainable economic growth to boost living standards for working people in every part of the UK. Central to this will be the Industrial Strategy, which will help us seize the most significant opportunities and create the most favourable conditions for growth and investment in key UK sectors – spread throughout the country. Through our 643 Jobcentres and unique high street presence, DWP will help growth driving sectors recruit the people they need to thrive.
Government has held several skills summits with industry, including on construction, clean energy and water, and has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with DEFRA to improve JCP customer access to a wider pool of vacancies, with others to follow with relevant sectors.