Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with their Indian counterparts concerning recent reports of increasing arrests of Muslims in BJP-controlled states; and what diplomatic steps they are taking to protect that community.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

The UK Government is committed to freedom of religion and faith for all, and to the protection of religious minorities. We condemn all forms of intimidation or persecution against individuals based on their religion or belief. Our High Commission in New Delhi and Deputy High Commissions across India track developments in this space and engage with civil society organisations and religious representatives to promote tolerance and respect between communities.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve transparency and scrutiny in government appointments following breaches of the Governance Code on Public Appointments by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in her appointment of the new independent Football Regulator.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Commissioner for Public Appointments routinely provides independent assurance that public appointments are made in accordance with the Principles of Public Appointments and the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Following the Commissioner’s investigation into the appointment of the Chair of the Independent Football Regulator, the Government welcomes his findings against which we are reviewing the robustness of the current guidance with a view to learning the lessons from the report.

The Government published a revised Governance Code on 30 October. In addition, the Cabinet Office will be required to publish departmental performance information for the first time, to enable effective scrutiny of performance on public appointments.

That approach is a strengthening of the public appointment process, which was not in place under the previous Government.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the government of Iran about the resentencing of Anisa Fanaian, and what steps they are taking to ensure her release.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

Further to the answer provided on 7 March to Question HL5221, we are concerned by Anisa Fanaian's case and we continue to monitor the situation for Baha'is in Iran.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Niger concerning the recent abduction of American missionary Kevin Rideout; and what diplomatic steps are they taking to secure his release.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

Kevin Rideout is a US national so the response to his abduction is being led by the US. We have updated our Niger Travel Advice page to highlight the risk of kidnapping throughout Niger, including Niamey.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Merron on 12 November (HL Deb col 252), what specific reasons she has for saying that "the evidence base for telemedical medicine is sound".

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

Abortions are generally very safe, and most women will not experience any complications. The evidence-base for home use of early medical abortion pills has been assessed by leading statutory and professional organisations and it is recognised to be a safe procedure in evidence-based guidance, including the World Health Organisation’s abortion care guideline, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 2022 report on best practice in abortion care, and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s clinical guidelines on abortion care.

The Abortion Notification System (ANS) collects information on complications that occur up until the time of discharge for all abortions, and where the medicine was administered for medical abortions. Since 2015, there has been a marginal downward trend in complication rates reported in the ANS. In 2022, complications were reported in only 0.12% of abortions.

The Department continues to work with NHS England, the Care Quality Commission, and abortion providers to ensure that women have safe and timely access to abortion services as decided by Parliament.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish an updated version of the Department for Health and Social Care guidance on completing the EMA1 abortion form or similar certificate to reflect any potential uncertainty in the opinion of the medical practitioner as to the patients’ gestation period where an in-person consultation has not taken place.

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

The Department keeps guidance on completing the EMA1 abortion form under review. There are currently no plans to update the guidance.

The medical practitioner terminating the pregnancy is required to form an opinion in good faith that the gestation of the pregnancy will be below 10 weeks at the time the first pill is taken. This opinion can be formed either during a teleconsultation, or an in-person appointment.

Pregnancy duration can be assessed from the first day of the last menstrual period (LMP). Advice from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is clear that most women can determine the duration of their pregnancy with reasonable accuracy by LMP alone.

However, if there is any uncertainty about the gestation of the pregnancy, the medical practitioner would ask the woman to attend an in-person appointment to enable them to form an opinion that the pregnancy will not have exceeded 10 weeks at the time the first abortion pill is taken. If she does not attend in-person when requested, the terminating practitioner would not be able to form an opinion in good faith that the pregnancy is below 10 weeks gestation, and therefore would not be able to prescribe abortion pills for home use.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Merron on 12 November (HL Deb col 254), what was the specific evidence base for saying that "The data available does not point to concerns about the provision of telemedicine".

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

Abortions are generally very safe, and most women will not experience any complications. The evidence-base for home use of early medical abortion pills has been assessed by leading statutory and professional organisations and it is recognised to be a safe procedure in evidence-based guidance, including the World Health Organisation’s abortion care guideline, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 2022 report on best practice in abortion care, and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s clinical guidelines on abortion care.

The Abortion Notification System (ANS) collects information on complications that occur up until the time of discharge for all abortions, and where the medicine was administered for medical abortions. Since 2015, there has been a marginal downward trend in complication rates reported in the ANS. In 2022, complications were reported in only 0.12% of abortions.

The Department continues to work with NHS England, the Care Quality Commission, and abortion providers to ensure that women have safe and timely access to abortion services as decided by Parliament.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how not collecting data, through the Abortion Notification System and hospital episode statistics, on complications arising from at-home medical abortions after the patient’s discharge from the care of the abortion service accords with the commitment to collect empirical data to improve women’s health outcomes outlined in the Women’s Health Strategy for England.

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

The Women’s Health Strategy sets out our ambitions to make better use of data already collected, and to address gaps in women’s health data to improve women’s health outcomes.

The Department routinely publishes data on abortion complications reported via the Abortion Notification System (ANS). The ANS collects information on complications that occur up until the time of discharge for all abortions, and where the medicine was administered for medical abortions.

The Department has published a one-time analysis exploring whether Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) can be used as a supplementary source for data on abortion complications. The HES data in the publication includes abortion complications arising from any abortion which resulted in an inpatient admission. The publication found that abortion complications are recorded differently in HES compared to the ANS and there are different strengths and limitations associated with using either data source. The Department has no plans to publish a separate annual report on abortion complications.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish abortion statistics in England and Wales for (1) 2023, and (2) 2024; if so, when; and, if not, why not.

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

The Department does intend to publish abortion statistics in England and Wales for 2023 and 2024. The publication dates for these statistics have not yet been announced.

Publication of the 2023 statistics is provisionally planned for winter 2025/26. We will announce the exact dates for publication of the 2023 and, later, 2024 data in due course.

The statistics have been delayed due to several operational issues. These include issues associated with moving to a new data processing system and an increase in the number of paper abortion notification forms to process.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what methodology they are using to measure the efficacy and impact on women’s health of the 2022 changes to the Abortion Act 1967 permitting early medical termination of pregnancy taking place in the patient's home.

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

Abortion continues to be a very safe procedure for which major complications are rare at all gestations. The Department works closely with NHS England, the Care Quality Commission, and abortion providers to ensure that abortions are provided safely, in accordance with the legal framework set by the Abortion Act 1967.

It is a legal requirement under the 1967 Abortion Act that the Chief Medical Officer must be notified of all abortions within 14 days of the procedure. The Department provides the HSA4 abortion notification form for this purpose. HSA4 forms collect information on the practitioner terminating the pregnancy, details of the patient and their treatment, including abortion method, gestation of the pregnancy, and the certified grounds for terminating the pregnancy. It also records known complications, up until the time of the patient’s discharge from the abortion service. The Department routinely monitors and publishes data reported via abortion notifications.

To consider the completeness of abortion complications data submitted via abortion notifications, the Department committed to publishing a one-time analysis comparing data from the Department’s Abortion Notification System and the Hospital Episode Statistics. This was published in November 2023.

Found: Letter dated 12/11/2025 from Lord Katz to Lord Jackson of Peterborough regarding an update on the Government's