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Written Question
Carer's Allowance
Monday 2nd June 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

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.


Written Question
NHS Trusts: Governing Bodies
Friday 30th May 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

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.


Written Question
Prescriptions: Fees and Charges
Friday 23rd May 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

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.


Written Question
Vulnerable Adults: Advocacy
Wednesday 21st May 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

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.


Written Question
Prisons: Pepper Spray
Wednesday 21st May 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

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.

2022

2023

Ethnic Group

Drawn and used

Drawn not used

Total

Drawn and used

Drawn not used

Total

White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller (W3)

6

6

12

10

9

19

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.


Written Question
Speech and Language Therapy
Tuesday 13th May 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

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:

Integrated care board area

FTE speech and language therapists

Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire

44

Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes

11

Birmingham and Solihull

288

Black Country

126

Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire

70

Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West

155

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

225

Cheshire and Merseyside

436

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

79

Coventry and Warwickshire

157

Derby and Derbyshire

134

Devon

135

Dorset

113

Frimley

93

Gloucestershire

62

Greater Manchester

548

Hampshire and Isle of Wight

160

Herefordshire and Worcestershire

100

Hertfordshire and West Essex

134

Humber and North Yorkshire

174

Kent and Medway

220

Lancashire and South Cumbria

201

Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland

123

Lincolnshire

57

Mid and South Essex

65

Norfolk and Waveney

69

North Central London

548

North East and North Cumbria

516

North East London

438

North West London

304

Northamptonshire

47

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire

164

Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin

46

Somerset

70

South East London

394

South West London

194

South Yorkshire

224

Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent

104

Suffolk and North East Essex

126

Surrey Heartlands

53

Sussex

205

West Yorkshire

328

England total

7,739

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.


Written Question
Prisons: Speech and Language Therapy
Tuesday 13th May 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (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 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.


Written Question
Vulnerable Adults: Advocacy
Friday 9th May 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

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.


Written Question
Prisons: Speech and Language Therapy
Tuesday 6th May 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

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.


Written Question
Education: Vetting
Tuesday 1st April 2025

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what restrictions are placed on people convicted of a criminal offence who seek employment in education.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

The government has a robust safeguarding framework in place in the form of the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE) statutory guidance, which all schools and colleges must have regard to when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The KCSIE guidance can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2.

This guidance clearly sets out the requirements regarding safer recruitment checks, including Disclosure and Barring Service checks, that schools and colleges should undertake for all staff, including external staff, and visitors, to ensure appropriate safeguarding measures are in place.

Employers must assess whether a conviction deems an individual to be suitable for a role, taking into account the nature of the offence, its relevance to the role and any safeguarding risks.

However, KCSIE stresses the importance of creating a culture of safer recruitment, ensuring that schools and colleges have robust processes and policies in place to ensure people who might pose a risk to children are not employed in education.