Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 21 February (HL2391), when they expect to publish a definitive analysis of data collected in respect of complications from abortions in England; how such information will be used to inform policy; and why they do not intend to publish it externally.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The report comparing abortion complications data from the Department’s Abortion Notification System and the Hospital Episode Statistics comprised of official statistics in development, and was published externally.
Following the publication, the Department is inviting views from third parties on abortion statistics for England and Wales, including the future publication of abortion complications data via an online user engagement survey, and via email. In regard to the feedback received, it will be reviewed and analysed on an ongoing basis to provide a robust picture of the opinions of those using our statistics, and will inform our decision regarding potential further external publications regarding abortion complications data.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many foreign national offenders they have removed from the United Kingdom at the conclusion of their custodial sentences in each of the past ten years.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Our priority will always be to keep the British public safe. That is why foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them.
The table below provides information on the returns of foreign national offenders (FNOs) and those returned under Early Removal Scheme (ERS).
Date of return | Total FNO Returns | FNOs returned under ERS |
2014 | 5,395 | 1,717 |
2015 | 6,024 | 2,034 |
2016 | 6,437 | 2,161 |
2017 | 6,292 | 2,106 |
2018 | 5,518 | 2,118 |
2019 | 5,128 | 2,101 |
2020 | 2,944 | 1,364 |
2021 | 2,706 | 1,196 |
2022 | 3,097 | 601 |
Jan 2023 - Sep 2023 | 2,801 | - |
TOTAL | 46,342 | 15,398 |
Footnote | ||
1: The total returns dataset is from 01 January 2014 to 01 September 2023, in line with published data. | ||
2: Available published statistics for ERS are only available up to and including June 2022. | ||
The Nationality and Borders Act introduced in April 2022 made it easier and quicker to remove FNOs and those with no right to be in the UK. The Act extended the period an FNO can be removed from prison under the ERS from a maximum of 9 months to 12 months before their custodial sentence would otherwise have ended. New changes, which came into force in January 2024, extended the removal period even further. Removal of FNOs can now take place up to 18 months before the end of the custodial element of their sentence, providing they have served the requisite period before removal can take place.
The ERS remains the most effective mechanism for removing eligible FNOs as quickly as possible, freeing up prison beds and saving money.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of support for children and young people with Tourette’s Syndrome as outlined in the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Alternative Provision Green Paper published in 2022, and how is that measured.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Through delivery of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, which was published in March 2023, the department is establishing a single national system that delivers for every child and young person with SEND, so that they enjoy their childhood, achieve good outcomes, and are well prepared for adulthood and employment.
Pupils at school with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they have full access to education. In 2014, the government introduced a new duty on schools to support pupils with all medical conditions and has published statutory guidance intended to help governing bodies meet their legal responsibilities. This guidance sets out the arrangements they will be expected to make based on good practice. Schools should ensure they are aware of any pupils with medical conditions and should have policies and processes in place to ensure these can be well managed.
Tourette's is a complex neurological condition and children and young people with it may also have other learning difficulties. As a result, schools must use their best endeavours to make sure a child or young person gets the special educational provision they need, which includes monitoring the progress of pupils regularly and putting support in place where needed, such as arranging diagnostic tests where appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the merits of an environmental duty on all relevant regulators, including the Planning Inspectorate, to ensure regulation that is proportionate to the need for more low carbon energy to improve the UK's energy security.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under the Planning Act 2008, the Planning Inspectorate deploys an Examining Authority which examines and makes recommendations to the Secretary of State on whether to consent to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, giving regard to relevant environmental matters in accordance with accompanying regulations and guidance. The updated National Policy Statements (NPSs) define low carbon infrastructure as a “Critical National Priority”. This means that when due account has been taken of relevant environmental legislation, remaining residual impacts are unlikely to outweigh the urgent need for this infrastructure. Strengthening our NPSs is one of several measures we are taking forward to improve the planning system.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the financial and other benefits of new nuclear energy capacity in contrast with new wind capacity.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department’s analysis published in 2020 showed that most of the UK’s future electricity needs should be met from renewables and flexible technologies, including energy storage and demand side response. But it also demonstrated that to achieve a stable, low-cost electricity system and meet Net Zero, we need more low-carbon, firm power such as nuclear to complement the intermittency of technologies like wind and solar and the uncertainties of storage technologies.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/modelling-2050-electricity-system-analysis
The Government’s Carbon Budget 6 (CB6) trajectory also suggests that we will need to build all low carbon technologies at, or close to, their maximum technical limit, to meet the twin challenge of accelerating decarbonisation and servicing increased demand – that is why we have set out bold plans to deploy up to 24GW of nuclear by 2050, alongside our ambitions for 50GW offshore wind by 2030, the development of onshore wind where it enjoys the backing of local communities, and 70GW solar by 2035.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the economic and other benefits of pursuing a large-scale nuclear project at Wylfa, Ynys Mon.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the Civil Nuclear Roadmap, the Government committed to exploring a further Gigawatt-scale project after SZC. Wylfa is a possible site for such a project, but the Government has not yet made a decision on where such a project would be located and so has not carried out an assessment of the economic impact it would have at that location. However, by comparison, Hinkley Point C supports 10,000 jobs during construction and will support 900 permanent jobs during its 60 years of operation.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 9 February (HL1962), why they do not track and disaggregate discrete spend for abortion services, as part of the wider package of women's healthcare, in respect of development monies disbursed in Africa.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has a strong portfolio of Comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) programming globally, which includes abortion services. We report our spend, according to the OECD Development and Assistance Committee (DAC) sector codes, in our annual Statistics on International Development publications [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development].
Comprehensive SRHR spend spans across various OECD DAC codes and we do not record data for SRHR services separately. Some civil society partners have developed methodologies to provide an estimate of the UK's SRHR spend.
Individual FCDO programmes record deliverables and results on SRHR. This data along with individual programme finances can be found on the Devtracker website: [https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/.] SRHR results are likely to be reported as a comprehensive service against sector approved indicators and metrics, rather than for individual services such as abortion.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 9 February (HL2132) where they stated that they are "inviting views from third parties on abortion statistics for England and Wales, including the future publication of abortion complications data", how they intend to (1) collect, (2) collate, (3) analyse, and (4) respond, to that data; and how they intend to share that information more widely to allow parliamentarians to scrutinise and measure the efficacy of current policy on telemedicine.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The statistics used in the publication Complications from abortions in England are official statistics in development. In accordance with the Office for Statistics Regulation’s guidance, we have ensured that users are involved and can contribute to the future of this publication. We are currently collecting feedback via two methods: an anonymous online form; and our abortion statistics mailbox. Both are publicly advertised online, and anyone is welcome to respond.
We will collate and analyse feedback on an ongoing basis to ensure that we take account of the opinions of those using our statistics, as we develop them. Collation and analysis will be undertaken in line with the Government’s statistical standards.
Finally, the Office for Statistics Regulation advises a proportionate approach to feedback that is targeted on gathering the required information, which is why we have implemented the mentioned collection methods. The aim of these collection methods is to inform and update our abortion publications, and we do not plan on sharing this feedback externally.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of public monies paid to Marie Stopes International to subsidise abortions carried out in (1) Kenya, and (2) each of the other African nations, over the past ten years; from what budget this was allocated; which Ministers authorised it; and what proportion of the total of UK aid delivered for these procedures in each of these countries such expenditure through Marie Stopes represented.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We report spend in line with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development and Assistance Committee sector codes which do not track spend specifically for abortion services which are part of a wider package of women's healthcare. FCDO support to safe abortion services is within what is permitted by national laws, as well as providing life-saving treatment for women who have had unsafe abortions.
MSI Reproductive choices is an important partner for the FCDO's comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) work, including on our Women's Integrated Sexual Health Programme in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The FCDO annually reports on Official Development Assistance (ODA) expenditure via the Statistics on International Development publications [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development]. All of our programmatic spend data can be found on the Devtracker website [https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/]
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 30 January (HL1523), what assessment they have made of the impact of the fact that analysis of abortion complications data published by the Department comparing (1) Abortion Notification System data on complications arising from at home medical abortions, and (2) Hospital Episode Statistics inpatient admissions data on abortion complications does not include treatment in both inpatient and outpatient settings following discharge from the abortion service.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made, as high-quality data on outpatient treatment for abortion complications is not available. The analysis reviewed Abortion Notification System and Hospital Episode Statistics data on complications for all abortions. It did not specifically analyse data for complications following at home early medical abortions as Hospital Episode Statistics data on abortion complications does not record where the abortion was performed. Data completion on treatment of women as outpatients following a termination is considerably lower than the data for inpatient treatment. Including the incomplete outpatient data available in our analysis would have produced inaccurate results for this population.