Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to publish in full the evidence behind their decision of 11 December 2024 to ban puberty blockers for patients over the age of 18 for the treatment of gender incongruence or gender dysphoria under the care of private or non-United Kingdom prescribers.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 1 January 2025, indefinite restrictions preventing new patients aged under 18 years old from being supplied with puberty blockers for the purposes of gender incongruence and/or gender dysphoria, under the care of private or non-United Kingdom prescribers, took effect.
The Government is committed to transparency and accountability in its decision-making and understands people will wish to understand how this decision was reached. Further to my response on 7 January 2025 to the Noble Lord’s question, HL3426 tabled on 12 December 2024, I can confirm that the Government will publish shortly the full independent report by the Commission on Human Medicines on the indefinite banning order of puberty blockers for gender dysphoria and/or incongruence. I will gladly write to the Noble Lord when this it is published.
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the evidence behind their decision to ban puberty blocker medication from all providers; and what meetings the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has had with the parents of trans children or teenagers, their representatives or organisations representing their concerns.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 11 December 2024, the Government published its response to the consultation on whether to introduce indefinite restrictions to prevent new patients aged under 18 years old from being supplied with puberty blockers for the purposes of gender incongruence and/or gender dysphoria, under the care of private or non-United Kingdom prescribers. This response included recommendations from a report by an expert clinical committee, the Commission on Human Medicines. This decision has been further informed by the evidence gathered by Baroness Cass as part of her independent review of gender identity services for children and young people, The Cass Review, which is publicly available.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has held constructive, open, and honest roundtable discussions, including with children and young people, and their parents, with lived experience of gender dysphoria and incongruence. The Government remains committed to listening to the LGBT+ community.
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care plans to meet with parents of trans children, as requested in correspondence from Lord Cashman to his office since July.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has held constructive roundtable discussions with a group of children and young people, and their parents, with lived experience of gender dysphoria and incongruence.
The Government remains committed to listening to the LGBT+ community. Department officials will write to you on how best to take forward your request.
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Leader of the House what is the maximum period within which members of the House of Lords can expect to receive answers to correspondence sent to the office of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The guidance states that members of the House of Lords should expect answers to correspondence from Government Ministers and the Prime Minister within 20 working days. Where correspondence has to be transferred to another department for answer or advice it may take longer.
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Leader of the House what is the maximum period within which members of the House of Lords can expect to receive answers to correspondence sent to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The guidance states that members of the House of Lords should expect answers to correspondence from Government Ministers and the Prime Minister within 20 working days. Where correspondence has to be transferred to another department for answer or advice it may take longer.
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in view of the advancing mpox epidemic, especially clade Ib, and given that a recent study has found that the effect of Imvanex wanes to undetectable levels after one year, to what extent His Majesty's Government hold a mixed stockpile of the three globally approved vaccines.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Of the three vaccines, Imvanex is the only one licensed in the United Kingdom by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and in the European Union by the European Medicines Agency, for active immunisation against smallpox, Mpox, and other diseases caused by the vaccinia virus in adults.
Imvanex is the only currently available vaccine with real world evidence of protection against Mpox. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has agreed that the evidence it has reviewed is consistent with protection from Imvanex being maintained for approximately 10 years.
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, since the PALM007 study has shown the antiviral ingredient tecovirimat does not always reduce the duration of mpox lesions, a mixed stockpile of antiviral agents for mpox is being considered.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In addition to the ongoing efforts to control Mpox clade IIb in the United Kingdom, there is widespread planning underway across the Government, including work by the Department, the UK Health Security Agency, and the National Health Service, to prepare for any potential cases of the high consequence infectious disease clades Ia or Ib of Mpox in the UK, and to help prevent onward transmission should any cases be imported.
An established clinical countermeasures programme is a core component of our pandemic preparedness and response capability. These clinical countermeasures include personal protective equipment and hygiene consumables, vaccines, and therapeutics, such as antivirals. The programme, including the balance of antivirals stockpiled, is informed by scientific and clinical assessment of the evidence base and is kept under review, building on lessons learned from previous outbreaks and emerging evidence on efficacy from ongoing clinical trials in epidemic hotspots.
The Department has noted the recent PALM007 study. The NHS in England has a duty to make available to patients in England any treatment or product recommended as clinically and cost effective by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment has been made of the impact of extended waiting times to access NHS-commissioned mental health and paediatric services on the ability for young people to access support at the specialist gender services.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In August, NHS England published a service specification for the National Referral Support Service for Specialist Services for Children and Young People with Gender Incongruence. Now referrals can only be made by a National Health Service-commissioned, secondary care-level paediatric service, or a Children and Young Person mental health service. This will ensure that healthcare professionals with the relevant expertise conduct the assessment and help determine any co-existing mental health or other health needs of these children and their onward care, ultimately ensuring a holistic approach to care for these children and young people.
The impacts of the new arrangements for referral into the NHS Children and Young People's Gender Services were considered in detail by NHS England through a process of public consultation, which included publication of an impact assessment. The impact assessment concluded that the new access arrangements are unlikely to increase the waiting time into the NHS Children and Young People's Gender Services for the majority of individuals, as the referral date from primary care to the secondary care service will be honoured for determining an individual’s place on the waiting list for the NHS Children and Young People's Gender Service, and waiting times for local mental health services and paediatric services are likely to be lower for the majority of individuals than the current waiting time for the first appointment with the NHS Children and Young People's Gender Service. NHS England expects waiting times into the NHS Children and Young People's Service to fall as clinical capacity is increased through the establishment of new regional providers, in line with the recommendations of the Cass Review. The consultation materials and the impact assessment are available at the following link:
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to all members of the House of Lords on 8 August, who will be conducting the observational research study; who will be included within this study; how long will the study run for; and when they expect results from the study to be published.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A study into the potential benefits and harms of puberty suppressing hormones being used as one of the treatment options for children and young people with gender incongruence is being developed through a joint programme between NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care (NIHR), the research arm of the Department. The research will be co-sponsored by King’s College London and the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. It is planned that recruitment into the study will be through specialist National Health Service gender services, ensuring that individuals accessing hormone suppression through the study do so following a holistic multidisciplinary assessment within the services above. The study team has submitted their research application, which is currently undergoing scientific review.
Subject to the study achieving the necessary approvals, including ethics approval, the NIHR will publish details of the award, including the planned trial duration and study completion date, on its website. The study forms part of a wider joint programme of research and evaluation underpinning the delivery of new services for children and young people with gender incongruence. Further research will be needed to continue to build the evidence base, and our understanding of best practice in this important clinical area, including for psychosocial interventions. Work will continue with a broad range of stakeholders, to inform further study priorities.
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government to which department the Port of London Authority is accountable, and whether its annual accounts are publicly available.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Port of London Authority (PLA) is a Trust Port. Trust Ports are independent organisations that are both strategically and financially independent of Government. They are accountable to stakeholders including port users, local communities and Government and are led by an independent board.
The Secretary of State for Transport is required under the PLA’s enabling legislation to appoint the Chair of the PLA and one to three Non-Executive Directors. The appointees’ duty is to pursue the interests of the port. The Department for Transport (DfT) has no powers to direct the Board members.
All harbour authorities in the UK, regardless of their ownership model, act independently of central government and have their own legal responsibilities established through local Acts of Parliament. In relation to the PLA under the PLA Act 1968, there are certain rights of appeal to the Secretary of State, for example in relation to the setting of statutory charges and licensing decisions.
The DfT is responsible for overseeing the legislative framework for ports and harbours and the governance of ports. We expect all ports to adhere to the Ports Good Governance Guidance, published in 2018.
PLA is the only Trust Port that is obliged under their statutory legislation to submit their annual report and accounts on a yearly basis to Parliament. The accounts are laid as an Act Paper in both the House of Commons and House of Lords and can be found in the Parliamentary Library. They are also published on the PLA’s website and the 2022 report can be found here: https://www.pla.co.uk/Media-Centre/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2022