Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government (1) which prisons in England and Wales have commissioned speech and language therapy services, and (2) how many speech and language therapists are employed in each prison.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The information requested is not held centrally by NHS England, regarding prisons in England. Prison healthcare in Wales is devolved to the Welsh administration.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the role of intermediaries in the criminal justice system.

Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Ministry of Justice completed a review of intermediary provision in 2023 which was summarised in the 2023 Witness Intermediary Scheme (WIS) Annual Report.

The review recommended actions to enhance the role, accessibility, and quality of intermediary services, including:

• Revising the definition of registered intermediaries and devising a communication plan to build better understanding of the intermediary role.

• Seeking improved data collection and analysis around intermediary usage; and

• Building relationships with stakeholders to ensure consistent quality of intermediary services across criminal, family and civil jurisdictions as well as continuing to increase understanding of vulnerable users’ needs.

We have no plans to conduct a further review at this stage, as we are progressing the above actions.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many speech and language therapists are employed in each integrated care board area in England, and how many of these work in criminal justice settings.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold information on the total number of speech and language therapists employed in each integrated care board area in England. Therapists will be employed by National Health Service trusts, where data is held, but will also be directly employed by other providers, including schools, local authorities, and third sector or charitable organisations, for which data is not held centrally. The following table shows the number of full time equivalent (FTE) speech and language therapists employed by NHS trusts and integrated care boards in England, as of January 2025, by integrated care board area:

These staff will provide services in a range of settings, but the Department does not hold information on how many may work in criminal justice settings.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 6 May (HL6997), which organisation holds the information requested regarding speech and language services in prisons in England.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

This information would be held at a local level by the prison healthcare providers.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede on 9 May (HL6996), what progress they have made on each of the actions identified in that answer regarding the role, accessibility and quality of intermediary services.

Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Ministry of Justice completed a review of registered intermediary (RI) provision in 2023 which was summarised in the 2023 Witness Intermediary Scheme (WIS) Annual Report (also attached).

We have made good progress on the recommended actions, revising the definition of the RI role in guidance and working with criminal justice organisations and professional bodies such as the Bar Council to improve understanding of how to work with RIs.

We have also streamlined the Witness Intermediary Scheme’s governance and quality assurance arrangements through the creation of a Governance and Standards Board, responsible for both the strategic direction of the Scheme and overseeing the quality of registered intermediary practise.

Demand is growing for registered intermediaries, who play an important part in enabling thousands of vulnerable victims and witnesses to give their best evidence in criminal proceedings. We remain committed to considering how intermediary services are delivered across the justice sector and exploring options for how these might be delivered in future to help inform a better understanding of current usage and future demand for intermediaries across all justice settings.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government on how many occasions pelargonic acid vanillylamide incapacitant spray was (1) drawn, and (2) drawn and deployed, in prisons in (a) 2022, and (b) 2023, on individuals classified with the W3 Gypsy or Irish Traveller ethnicity code.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The requested information is shown in the table below.

Pelargonic acid vanillylamide incapacitant (PAVA) spray is made available to protect staff and prisoners in the adult estate in the event of serious violence, or where there is an imminent risk of serious violence. Clear guidance has been issued to staff, to ensure it is used only where appropriate. Our hardworking prison officers are brave public servants doing exceptionally difficult jobs, this Government will do everything we can to keep them safe.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the annual cost of providing free prescriptions for the population of England.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The most recent estimate of the cost of free prescriptions for the population of England is £10 billion for 2023/24. This is based on the difference between there being no prescription charge for all and requiring all patients to pay the then single charge of £9.65 per item.

These figures do not correspond to the revenue that would be raised if any exemptions were removed, because some people would buy a pre-payment certificate, and some might not follow up to get the medication.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the English Devolution White Paper published on 16 December 2024 (CP1218), what guidance they have issued to NHS Trusts about the election of governors to hospital trusts.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government has not published any guidance following the English Devolution White Paper on the election of governors to National Health Service foundation trusts.

The Model Election Rules set out the process by which governors are elected and are included in every NHS foundation trust's constitution. The NHS Foundation Trust Model Core Constitution, a copy of which is attached, published in 2013 by Monitor, now NHS England, requires NHS foundation trusts to comply with these rules.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of carers in receipt of Carer's Allowance do not receive any additional income from paid employment.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Data from the Family Resource Survey (FRS) 2023/2024, shows that around 61% of families in receipt of Carer’s Allowance in England and Wales did not also have someone in paid employment. This includes self-employment and part-time employment.

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