Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) Regulations 2019

Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, I am extremely grateful to the Minister for her extensive explanation of the regulations before the House today. I know that she has taken a particular interest in the civil partnerships Bill and I am most grateful to her for her care and attention to it. As my noble friend has already said, I had the honour to sponsor the Private Member’s Bill in your Lordships’ House and I therefore welcome these regulations. I pay tribute to the honourable Member for East Worthing and Shoreham, Tim Loughton, who took the Bill through the other place.

As the House has already heard, these regulations are part of the commitment made during the passage of the Bill and we should not forget that they are of enormous importance to many people. There are over 3 million opposite-sex couples who cohabit and choose not to marry, and they support a million children, yet they do not have the legal protection that married couples or civil partners have. When taking this Bill through your Lordships’ House, I was surprised to receive such an enormous postbag on this subject and it was clear to me that many opposite-sex couples would like to formalise their relationship and enjoy legal security but not be married; they have waited a long time for this legislation to be introduced. However, these regulations extend only to England and Wales. Where have we got to in Scotland and Northern Ireland? I understand that there has been a Bill in the Scottish Parliament and I would be grateful if the Minister could update me on its progress.

I am grateful that the Government have given time to getting the Bill on to the statute book and that these regulations are before the House today. It was important that opposite-sex couples should be able to have a civil partnership before the end of this year, so I very much hope that, in spite of the impending general election, the regulations will still be able to come into force by 2 December and thus the first civil partnerships will be able to be registered 28 days later on 31 December this year.

This is, of course, just one part of the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Act. Will my noble friend update the House about progress on the other parts of the Bill—notably that mothers will be able to sign their child’s marriage certificates—and also on the two reports on registration of pregnancy loss before 24 weeks, and whether coroners will be able to investigate when a baby dies after 38 weeks’ gestation without having had independent life?

However, as I have already said, I enormously welcome these regulations. I am incredibly grateful to all noble Lords who have taken part in the passage of the Bill and are speaking to encourage these regulations to go through. They are a milestone in getting nearer to opposite-sex couples being able to have a civil partnership.

[Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)]

My Lords, as a member of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, I have had the opportunity of carefully considering these regulations. There are, without doubt, still imperfections with regard to the conversion of opposite-sex civil partnerships to marriage, as the noble Lord, Lord Collins, outlined so well. However, we need to proceed so that people who wish to have a civil partnership but are of the opposite sex are not disadvantaged. The noble Lord, Lord Collins, gave me some time at lunchtime to discuss this, because I feared that he might want to hold it up. His remarks, and those of the noble Lord, Lord Cashman, this afternoon brought home to me how very fortunate I was 38 years ago to be able to marry the person I love, and that other people were unable to form similar relationships because they were of the same sex. I thank those noble Lords for their generosity and support in enabling people of opposite sexes to have a civil partnership if they wish to, often for very personal reasons. I know of one person who was married but in a very abusive relationship who feels she could never marry again but would like a civil partnership.

I greatly appreciate that your Lordships do not want to hold this up, despite the fact that there remain some inequalities, which it is essential that the next Parliament resolves. I ask the Minister to ensure that opposite-sex couples will be able to form civil partnerships by the end of this year.

Nursing

Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts

Monday 14th May 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)]

My Lords, it is a real pleasure to follow my noble friend Lady Hollins. I draw attention to my interests as outlined in the register, and in particular as president of the Florence Nightingale Foundation.

I thank my noble friend Lord Crisp for securing this timely debate, because 12 May was International Nurses’ Day, which I spent at the RCN Congress with 4,000 other nurses in Belfast. Many of them came from countries outside the UK, including nurses who trained in the EU, the Commonwealth and from other parts of the globe, yet currently work in our four countries. This collective of nurses demonstrated that we need to think about the nursing workforce as a global resource, as opposed to manpower planning being thought of in a vacuum country by country. There is evidence that, it we think and plan strategically, nurses can be key to the achievement of the universal health coverage strategic development goal.

In the excellent Library briefing for this debate, we are reminded that there are an estimated 43.5 million health workers around the world and that just under half, 20.7 million, are nurses and midwives, yet Global Health Observatory data suggests that half the World Health Organization member states have fewer than three nurses and midwives per 100,000 head of population, and a quarter fewer than one. WHO estimates that a further 2.8 million nurses and midwives will be needed in Africa and 1.9 million in south-east Asia by 2030. Will the Minister indicate in his reply how the UK will contribute to increasing the global healthcare workforce over the next decade through targeted investment?

Investing in nursing makes economic sense. As the UN High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth argues, there are three impacts from investing in and developing the healthcare workforce: improved health outcomes for populations; global health security, particularly through the reduction of transmittable diseases; and economic growth through job creation. The report further suggests that there should be a focus on reforming aid and accountability for health system strengthening, with a focus on skilled health workers, which, it suggests, could initiate a new era of international co-operation and action for economic and human security.

My noble friend Lord Crisp has already reminded us that investment in nursing will enhance women’s equal participation in the economy, which the UK mission to the UN has already emphasised is vital to the eventual gender equality of women globally. That is not to say that we should not increase the male population in nursing too. In turn, one would anticipate a reduction in violence towards women if they are in a position to be financially self-supporting through working as nurses or other healthcare workers, thus enabling them to leave abusive relationships where they were previously held in economic handcuffs, and to work with other women in their communities to prevent cycles of abuse. How can the Government promote partnership and mutual learning between the UK and other countries to bring shared benefits?

The UN high-level commission makes a number of recommendations for reform, including at least four enabling actions: mobilising leadership, enhancing investment, aligning accreditation across the globe— as the noble Lord, Lord Willis, has implied—and strengthening global learning. I would welcome the Minister’s opinion on how we will monitor our successes and challenges in relation to the enabling actions suggested within the five-year timeframe of 2016-21. Is now an appropriate time to take stock and set some clear, measurable goals for the UK’s investment in associated issues?

This must of course include developing our own workforce, as outlined by many other speakers in the debate, rather than continuing to rely on healthcare workers from overseas to staff our NHS and social services; depleting countries where there are already severe shortages in order to assist us is, to say the least, ethically questionable. However, overseas nurses are welcome here and opportunities for exchanges, strategic partnerships and alliances should always be promoted.

We know that nurses play a powerful and effective role in a range of healthcare settings and that many work in communities where they have lived for long periods. This makes them culturally sensitive and acceptable to the people they serve. The work that nurses have undertaken in Africa to reduce communicable diseases illustrates the effectiveness of their interventions. They continue to work to reduce the level of HIV and AIDS through health promotion. Similarly, nurses work with children and adults who have experienced extreme violence due to conflict and war, assisting them with mental health interventions as well as treating physical wounds.

Nursing Now, the global campaign to raise the status of the profession worldwide, involves more than 40 countries with the backing of their respective Governments. The campaign was instrumental in influencing the World Health Organization to appoint a chief nurse to its new leadership team. How long will it be before England has a chief nurse at the Department of Health and Social Care, part of whose remit should include an international dimension? Can the Minister tell us how the Government have invested to promote nursing globally to date, and whether they will increase that investment with associated clear objectives to ensure that the triple impact of such investment on improving health, gender equality and strengthening economies may be measured? One method has been clearly identified in the interim report by the noble Lord, Lord Darzi, reviewing healthcare in this country. It states:

“Governments must stop approaching the NHS and social care as a liability to be managed and instead look at it as an investment that delivers a return. Good health is an asset”.


How can we ensure that health is really perceived as a human right through investing in healthcare workers globally? Does the Minister agree that at least in part, we must do this by further investment in our own workforce in the UK and making the nursing profession a desirable choice for young people here at home in the future? In this way, we will also become less dependent on recruiting excellent nurses from overseas and enable middle and lower-income countries to train and retain nurses in their own communities.

Health: Alma-Ata Declaration

Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts

Monday 22nd January 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Crisp]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Alma-Ata Declaration on primary health care.

[Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)]

My Lords, on behalf of the noble Lord, Lord Crisp, and at his request I beg leave to ask the Question standing in his name on the Order Paper.

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Lord Bates) (Con)]

My Lords, achieving universal health coverage, including access to primary healthcare, is a priority for the Government. Our work to deliver the global goal of universal health coverage continues and we welcome the increased international attention on primary healthcare that the Alma-Ata Declaration’s 40th anniversary will bring.

[Baroness Watkins of Tavistock]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his Answer but to what extent do the Government believe that, in our own four countries, sections IV and VI of the declaration are being achieved—namely, that communities have the right to be involved in planning their services and that primary care should be a central function of the overall social and economic development of the community?

[Lord Bates]

The assessment of the level to which that is the case is a reflection of the priority which we give to primary care, as 90% of healthcare interventions are through primary care. It is absolutely right that we should have community-based solutions. I recently attended an event for the one-billionth treatment of neglected tropical diseases by Sight Savers. It was interesting to learn there that it had community dispensing people who went round in each community with a small measuring stick, which measured the dosage based on the height of the recipient. Two things were found: first, that it was very quick and efficient but, secondly, that there was greater acceptance and take-up because the people were from within the community and there was therefore greater trust. That is a model of how things ought to continue.