Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their announcement on 18 September that protection zones around abortion clinics will be in force from 31 October, when they intend to respond to the Abortion clinic safe access zones: non-statutory guidance consultation, which ran from 1 December 2023 to 22 January 2024.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government’s priority has been to commence Safe Access Zones as quickly as possible. The College of Policing and the Crown Prosecution Service will produce guidance for the police and prosecutors. We have engaged with our partners extensively on this issue and we do not believe it is necessary to issue government guidance as well, so this Government will not be following up the previous Government’s consultation on non-statutory guidance for Safe Access Zones.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government why the Genomics England and NHS England ‘Generation Study’, offering 100,000 newborns whole genome sequencing after birth to diagnose and support a number of genetic conditions, does not include 22q11.2 deletion syndrome which meets the four requisite principles for inclusion.

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

The Generation Study screens for over 200 conditions which were selected on a set of four principles. The expression, or penetrance, of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome is incomplete, meaning that some people with the syndrome may have no features of the condition. For this and many other conditions, including other microdeletion and microduplication syndromes, Genomics England has taken a conservative approach when applying the four principles, selecting only those conditions where penetrance is high and where treatment must be initiated very early in essentially all cases. Genomics England will review and add conditions during the course of the programme, and will publicise information about any review.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to secure the release of the British hostage, Emily Damari, held in captivity in Gaza since the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel, and hostages directly related to British citizens such as Eli Sharabi, Avinatan Or and Oded Lifschitz.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

We condemn Hamas' continued holding of hostages in Gaza, including Emily Damari and all those connected to British citizens. Hamas must release all the hostages now, and a ceasefire deal must be agreed urgently to end the suffering. Since our first day in government we have been working alongside our allies and partners in the region in support of ongoing negotiations. We appreciate the tireless efforts of our partners in Qatar, Egypt and the United States, and continue to use all diplomatic avenues to further our aims. The Foreign Secretary reaffirmed to Israeli Foreign Minister Katz in Israel the UK's support in working together to deliver the return of all the hostages. The Foreign Secretary and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan have also met the families of hostages with links to the UK, whose loved ones have been murdered or taken by Hamas, to express our deepest sympathies and to highlight the diplomatic efforts underway.

Found: This proposal is supported by Lord Bradley, Lord Carter of Haslemere and Lord Farmer. + RACHEL GLOUCESTER