(5 years, 2 months ago)
Lords ChamberMy Lords, members of the Hong Kong forces who were recruited from Hong Kong and, in most cases, completed their service in Hong Kong are in that respect different from other members of the UK forces who may have served in the UK. Those serving in Hong Kong before 1997 would not have qualified for British citizenship on the basis of their service. There are a number of existing provisions within British nationality law under which former Hong Kong personnel may apply for citizenship, subject to meeting the relevant criteria.
As the Minister will know, there are other human rights concerns besides Hong Kong, notably the situation of the Uighurs. Can he confirm that there used to be a regular human rights dialogue, and whether that has now been abandoned?
My Lords, we lose no opportunity to express our views to the Chinese authorities on matters relating to human rights. Of course, those human rights are embedded in the Joint Declaration. However, I will have to write to the noble Earl about the extent to which regular talks on this subject occur.
(6 years, 5 months ago)
Lords ChamberI am grateful to the noble Viscount for his pertinent insights. As he will know, the whole issue of the poppy harvest has been near intractable since we became involved in Afghanistan. I am not in a position to offer ready solutions, but I can tell him, from a political point of view, that the need to resolve the endemic problems arising from the poppy harvest and the opium trade in Afghanistan is high on the list of political imperatives. It is undoubtedly the source of great corruption in Afghanistan and a source from which the Taliban derives funding. We therefore need to hit the supply side, not least by means of a peace settlement. If we can achieve that, there will be far less incentive for the proceeds of the poppy harvest to be used for nefarious ends.
My Lords, I am bound to say that my nephew was one of those junior officers who set up the new academy. I am delighted to hear that so many officers have now been trained.
We are used to hearing tributes being paid, quite rightly, to the soldiers who fought and lost their lives. Can the Minister mention also the many hundreds of aid workers who have been in Afghanistan, among them many who have lost their lives as well? They do not receive sufficient tribute. Are aid workers among those who have been offered close protection from our soldiers?
I am grateful to the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, for that point, which is well made. My noble friend Lord Bates, who sits beside me here, will be all too aware of the role played by aid workers, many of them from this country, in Afghanistan and of the risks and dangers that they face there. The noble Earl is right that some have paid the ultimate price for their selflessness.
Protecting those aid workers is of course an important part of the work done by the Afghan national defence force when required. It is its responsibility, as I have explained, to maintain the security of the country, but I am not aware that it has been lacking in either commitment or effectiveness in that way. If I can find out more about the topic, I will be happy to write to the noble Earl.
(8 years, 7 months ago)
Lords ChamberMy noble friend Lord Green said that the Government have moved a very long way but I cannot agree with him. The Government have moved a short way. We heard previously, at earlier stages of the Bill, about the national referral mechanism being the fulcrum of the Government’s argument. I acknowledge that they have moved, but anyone who has sat and listened to 50 domestic workers, as I did with my noble friend Lord Hylton, will know that there is an atmosphere of fear, which is very hard to convey, but the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, has already pointed that out. Even applying to the national referral mechanism, reporting very dangerous circumstances and forms of abuse, carries its risks for these people. Therefore, I urge noble Lords to think very hard about this amendment and I support my noble friend.
My Lords, I have listened carefully to the questions and comments that noble Lords have made. I re-emphasise that we share a common objective here—that is, to ensure that there are effective arrangements for overseas domestic workers to escape abuse, and that must be at the centre of our thinking.
Perhaps initially I may respond to the questions put by the noble Lord, Lord Hylton. I am grateful to him for giving me advance notice of them. I confirm that the protection measures which the Government are extending to overseas domestic workers will apply in cases where the abuse or exploitation starts only after arrival in the UK. This includes the ability of overseas domestic workers who were referred to the national referral mechanism to continue working while their case is considered. We will ensure that this possibility is publicised via the planned information meetings and that statutory and voluntary personnel who work with overseas domestic workers are also made aware of it.
If the outcome of the referral is that the person is found not to be a victim of slavery and trafficking and therefore needs to return home, I also confirm that it will be for the individual to choose whether they return to their country of origin or to their country of previous residence. The Government’s information leaflet for victims of trafficking already makes it clear that they will be assisted to return to their home country if it is safe to do so. I hope that that reassures the noble Lord.
I am sorry that the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, is not convinced by the measures that we have taken to address the concerns raised at previous stages. I am genuinely sorry as we have tried our best. Perhaps I may address one point that she made. She indicated that James Ewins had been asked to produce a further report on overseas domestic workers. In fact, he has not been asked to complete a report, although I need hardly say that the Government will keep the situation under close review. The noble Baroness may be thinking of a different issue. We have asked Stephen Shaw to review the system of detention, and my noble and learned friend Lord Keen will come to that issue later.
(11 years ago)
Lords ChamberDoes the noble Earl share my concern about the overprescription of psychiatric drugs? Can he think of anything to do about this apart from encouraging CBT and talking therapies?
My Lords, the noble Earl is right. I share his concern, and I think it has been a widespread concern across the mental health community. Nowadays, the guidance given to doctors is much broader than the guidance that was given some years ago. It embraces the talking therapies in particular and it seeks to avoid the overprescription of sometimes very strong pharmaceutical products.
(11 years, 5 months ago)
Lords Chamber
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what changes have been made in the training of junior doctors and nurses in the long-term effects of prescription drugs and in the availability of services to those suffering from addiction to and withdrawal from such drugs.
My Lords, recent changes to key documents governing the training of doctors have strengthened the requirements for their training in the long-term effects of prescribed drugs. The training of student nurses, due to the introduction of new educational standards, has been strengthened. Services to treat dependants, including for addiction to medicines, are commissioned locally. Information on changes to the availability of services locally to those suffering from addiction to and withdrawal from prescribed medicines is not collected centrally.
My Lords, prescribed medicines can be every bit as dangerous as hard drugs, and the length of withdrawal can be much longer—up to three or four years, as I know from personal experience. Their victims lead a half-life and are out of the range of the NHS, with only the voluntary services to help them. Despite what the Minister has just said, which is encouraging, does he agree that the training being given to the younger generation of doctors and psychiatrists, and even the older ones, is still inappropriate and inadequate? What can the Government do to strengthen this training and to reinforce what the voluntary sector is already doing?
(12 years, 2 months ago)
Lords ChamberThe Minister knows that there are patients who are suffering acute symptoms from prescribed-drug addiction and withdrawal, as well as from taking illegal drugs. Some of those people are in great distress. Where should they go now in the NHS if they suffer these acute symptoms?
(12 years, 5 months ago)
Lords Chamber
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to develop separate treatment programmes for those suffering from acute symptoms of addiction to and withdrawal from legally prescribed drugs, distinct from programmes for illegal drug addiction.
My Lords, treatment should be based on individual need, not the legal status of a drug. The Health and Social Care Act places responsibility for commissioning services to treat dependence at the local level. My honourable friend Anne Milton is leading work to improve the prevention and treatment of addiction to medicines, and has visited local areas where support for dependence on prescription drugs is an integral part of the local treatment system.
My Lords, I thank the Minister and I know that he and his fellow Minister are fully aware of the problem. However, there are only a handful of voluntary organisations and one or two primary care trusts dealing with this. The basic question is surely the control of prescription drugs. Does the Minister recognise that the British National Formulary guidelines are being routinely breached? Is there nothing that the Government can do effectively to control and monitor these prescription drugs, separately from illegal drugs?
My Lords, the report commissioned by the Department of Health from the National Addiction Centre brought together published evidence on the scale of the problem. That report suggested that while some GPs prescribed for longer than the recommended period, most prescribing in fact falls within current guidelines. I say to the noble Earl that what matters most in these circumstances is that patients should be treated according to the level of their need, regardless of what the dependence is and where it has come from.
(12 years, 9 months ago)
Lords ChamberMy Lords, as the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, implied, we are moving to the fast-track of this Bill, and I do not want to hang around for too long. I thank my noble friend Lady Masham for bringing to our attention the issue of early death, and my noble friend Lord Williamson, who has a lot of experience, for his support. My noble friend Lady Finlay made the important point that the responsibility falls within primary care, and I am encouraged by what she said about guidance. However, the Minister did not even pick that up. One might have thought that he could have just said, “Yes, we are going to do something in the guidance”, but I do not know whether he actually heard the point.
I am happy to pick that up, because it was a point that arose in connection with an intervention from the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, in the previous group of amendments. Of course, we will be relying on the NHS Commissioning Board to issue guidance in a number of clinical areas. Again, when the noble Earl and I meet, I will update him to the extent that I am able to on the thinking in that regard. The point of such guidance—which will relate to numerous areas of care and services—is that it should inform joined-up commissioning in local services, so that we really do get a step change in the quality of commissioning in local areas.
It is quite true that the CCGs are going to be overwhelmed with guidance from all directions, but I maintain that this is an important aspect.
I thank my noble friend Lady Hollins for the very important point that she made. I did not even talk about prescribing today but I hope to come back and talk about it later—the whole question of training and what young doctors are being told. “Rational prescribing” is a phrase that I will now be able to repeat.
I know that the Minister accepts the arguments, and of course there are many things that we have in common—good practice and the use of the voluntary sector. I take the point about the duty that falls on local authorities, but I still maintain that we have to separate this out from the mainstream of drug addiction and alcohol treatment. It is the kind of treatment that only the very careful, experienced volunteers can describe. I do not think that I can begin to describe the actual treatment. However, the NHS will soon get to grips with what is happening. I welcome the chance of having a meeting. I will of course come to talk, and I hear that there is to be a range of experts. I feel that the Minister has given a little bit of a Civil Service answer, because there are only but one or two people who follow this subject in the department. I do not mind talking only to two people—it will be a very good opportunity to take this further. Meanwhile, I beg leave perhaps to consider this again at a later stage of the Bill, and to withdraw the amendment.
(13 years, 6 months ago)
Lords Chamber
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they propose following the latest two reports from the National Addiction Centre and National Treatment Agency on prescribed drug addiction and withdrawal.
My Lords, my honourable friend the Minister for Public Health, Anne Milton, has discussed the findings of the reports with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Drug Misuse and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Involuntary Tranquiliser Addiction at a meeting chaired by my noble friend Lord Mancroft on 14 June. She wrote to my noble friend yesterday setting out the collaborative action that she will be taking in the light of that helpful discussion. She will be convening a round table meeting to discuss the key issues.
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that information. Does he accept that this is an emergency for the victims of withdrawal from prescribed drugs and their families? Cannot the Government recognise the good practice that is already out there, set up withdrawal clinics and spread the word that no longer are these prescribed drugs but that they are turning into dangerous substances which can cost lives? These people cannot wait for further reports and consultation.