Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they are taking to prevent a recurrence of the riots in Ballymena in which members of the Roma community were targeted.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The disorder in Ballymena last year was shocking and unacceptable. There is no place for racism or violence of any kind in Northern Ireland. One of the characteristics of this country is that we treat people with equality, respect and dignity, regardless of where they come from.
Following the disorder in Ballymena, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland spoke with community organisations supporting the Roma community and the Romanian Ambassador to the UK to ensure those impacted were receiving appropriate support. Following the disorder in June of this year, he has also spoken directly with Northern Ireland Party Leaders, and Northern Ireland Office officials engaged with the Consulate General of Romania. I have also visited Ballymena since the riots and met with community groups.
Northern Ireland Office officials remain active in cross-Government forums to prevent the recurrence of unrest. The UK Government is committed to supporting the Northern Ireland Executive to develop strategies to strengthen community cohesion and prevent disorder in future.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 22 June (HL765), what engagement they have had with Gypsy and Traveller communities in respect of insurance for people who live permanently on caravan sites.
Answered by Lord Livermore
The Government understands the importance of insurance in building the financial resilience of consumers and protecting them when things go wrong. The Government engages with a wide range of interest groups as part of its work to ensure insurance markets work well for consumers. The Government exchanged correspondence with Friends, Families and Travellers on the issue of access to insurance in late 2025.
While insurers make commercial decisions on whether to offer cover, and at what price, they must comply with relevant legislation and regulatory rules. The Equality Act 2010 prohibits discrimination based on protected characteristics, such as race. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also requires firms to treat customers fairly under its rules and, where necessary, has robust powers to take action against firms that do not comply with its rules.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether NHS England's Specialised Neurology Services (Adults) Specification will be implemented by all specialised neurology centres in England; and what steps they are taking to monitor compliance with those requirements for patients with Primary Progressive Aphasia.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The adult neurology service specification, published by NHS England, sets out the standards expected of specialised neurology services commissioned across England, including multidisciplinary care, timely access to diagnostics, and coordinated pathways for people with complex neurological conditions such as primary progressive aphasia. Specialised neurology services are commissioned against these national specifications, and providers are expected to deliver care in line with these requirements.
NHS England requires all commissioned specialised neurology centres to have regard to the service specification and to embed its standards within clinical practice. Implementation is supported through contractual arrangements and service development discussions between NHS England and providers, recognising that local service configuration and patient need may shape the way in which requirements are delivered in practice.
Compliance with service specifications is monitored through a structured combination of contractual obligations, routine data reporting, and external regulatory oversight. In addition, national improvement programmes, such as Getting It Right First Time, support the reduction of unwarranted variation and promote adherence to best practice, including for people with rarer neurological conditions such as primary progressive aphasia.
Together, these arrangements help to ensure that patients receive high-quality, evidence-based care in line with nationally defined standards, while allowing services to be delivered in a way that reflects local clinical pathways and patient needs.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to embed speech and language therapists in neighbourhood health teams.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neighbourhood health underpins delivery of the 10-Year Health Plan. It will bring together integrated neighbourhood teams of professionals and partners closer to people’s home, to work together to support people and places to improve their health and wellbeing. We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan, which will put the National Health Service workforce on a sustainable footing so it can deliver the service model set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
We expect the design and delivery of neighbourhood health to be locally led, including for integrated neighbourhood teams (INTs). However, INTs can include allied health professionals like speech and language therapists if this reflects the specific needs of the local population.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce a statutory requirement for local authorities and Integrated Care Boards to jointly commission services across all layers of SEND support.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Under section 26 of the Children and Families Act 2014, local authorities and Integrated Care Boards have an existing duty to jointly commission the arrangements for the education, health and care of children and young people with Special educational needs and disability (SEND) in the local area.
In the SEND consultation, the government asked how to ensure the most effective use of SEND local partnerships through the SEND reforms. Partnership working includes the existing joint commissioning arrangements between local authorities and Integrated Care Boards.
The consultation has now closed. The department is carefully reviewing and taking into account all responses submitted to the consultation alongside feedback from over 200 engagement events we held over 12 weeks and will set out our response in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Friends, Families and Travellers They just refuse: Insurance companies failing to provide cover for Gypsy and Traveller site residents published on 26 May; and what steps are they taking to (1) address insurance access gaps for residents in Gypsy and Traveller sites through the Financial Inclusion Strategy, and (2) engage with Gypsy and traveller communities to resolve issues relating to access to insurance.
Answered by Lord Livermore
The Government recognises the important role of insurance products in building financial resilience of consumers and giving households the ability to weather financial shocks.
This is why promoting financial resilience through insurance is a key focus in the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy. The Strategy was published last year and sets out a range of ambitious measures for industry and the Government to improve financial inclusion and resilience for underserved groups across the UK. This includes interventions to support the uptake of contents insurance among social renters, and better support individuals to find the right cover through signposting initiatives.
The Government engaged with a range of consumer representatives, including people with lived experience, throughout the development of the Strategy to ensure it is informed by a wide range of experience and perspectives. The Government is committed to continuing to engage closely with a range of organisations to ensure the Strategy represents a diverse range of consumer needs.
Individual insurers may take a different view of the relevant factors in determining whether they will offer insurance and at what price. Consumers may wish to contact the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA), who can offer guidance on how to look across the insurance market for the best deals and may be able to provide names of specialist brokers.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that people with primary progressive aphasia can access speech and language therapy through specialised cognitive neurology services in all specialised neurology centres.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
The Government is committed to improving care for everyone with dementia, including those with Primary Progressive Aphasia, which is why we have funded the work of the Dementia 100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool. This will help simplify best practice for busy system leaders and help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia.
A number of experts, including those with expertise in speech and language therapy and dementia care, provided independent, desktop analysis of the tool and this invaluable feedback was integrated into the tool. The D100: Pathway Assessment Tool can be found on the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ website.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that people with Primary Progressive Aphasia can access speech and language therapy through Specialised Cognitive Neurology Services in all specialised neurology centres.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). NHS England would expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
The Government is committed to improving care for everyone with dementia, including those with Primary Progressive Aphasia, which is why we have funded the work of the Dementia 100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool. This will help simplify best practice for busy system leaders and help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia.
A number of experts, including those with expertise in speech and language therapy and dementia care, provided independent, desktop analysis of the tool and this invaluable feedback was integrated into the tool. The D100: Pathway Assessment Tool is available on the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ website.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - 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 12 March (HL13897), what are the health disparities of Gypsy, Traveller and Roma ethnic groups in the areas in that Answer, in particular (1) maternal mortality outcomes, (2) mental health provision, (3) cancer outcomes, and (4) cardiovascular disease; and what action they are taking to reduce those disparities.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is a priority for the Government to increase the amount of time people spend in good health and prevent premature deaths. Our 10-Year Health Plan for England sets out a reimagined service designed to tackle inequalities in both access and outcomes, including our ambitious commitment to halve the healthy life expectancy gap between the richest and poorest regions.
NHS England has launched a Maternity and Neonatal Equalities dashboard that brings together key information to address health inequalities in maternity and neonatal care services from a range of data sources, with breakdowns by ethnicity and deprivation to make health inequalities visible, measurable, and actionable in maternity and neonatal services.
NHS England is implementing a new anti-discrimination programme, which aims to ensure all service users and their families will receive care free from discrimination and racism, and all staff will experience a work environment free from discrimination and racism. All trusts are expected to have completed the programme by 2027.
We have legislated to modernise the Mental Health Act to strengthen choice, autonomy and rights, and ensure people are treated with dignity and respect. The Government is also committed to delivering the cross-sector Suicide Prevention Strategy for England (2023 to 2028), including its ambition to improve evidence and better understand national trends and suicide rates in particular groups, including people who are Gypsy, Roma or Travellers.
The Government and NHS England have announced a three-year Neighbourhood Early Diagnosis Fund as part of £200 million investment for Cancer Alliances to tackle inequalities in screening and early diagnosis in deprived and underserved areas. Core20PLUS5 also includes early cancer diagnosis as a priority area for accelerated improvement.
The Department recognises inequalities exist across the cardiovascular disease (CVD) pathway. The Department and NHS England are working together to develop a CVD Modern Service Framework which will support, evidence-led consistent, high quality and equitable care.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the research published by PSE Healthy Energy and Stanford University in Environmental Research Letters on 25 March on the harmfully high levels of benzene measured in UK homes emitted by gas cooktops.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has noted the published research but has not made a full assessment of the study, which is based on a small number of stoves. Currently, there are limited studies that have investigated benzene concentrations in United Kingdom homes. Further research is needed to better understand exposure to indoor air pollutants and the effects on health.
Reducing emissions of pollutants and ensuring adequate ventilation within indoor environments are important. The UKHSA continues to consider and evaluate the evidence of exposure to indoor air pollutants and the potential health effects.