Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they intend to take in response to the estimate published by the BBC that during the last five years the adoption arrangements of more than 1,000 children have resulted in those children being returned to local authority care.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Providing support for families at an earlier stage, before needs escalate to crisis point, is critical and we are working with Adoption England to achieve this.

Adoption England are working with their local authority partner safeguarding teams to improve the support adopted families receive when they are in crisis. This includes developing a national protocol which can be used for all adoption support services teams in regional adoption agencies and local authority front door safeguarding services.

We have provided funding of £8.8 million to Adoption England to improve adoption services, including support to adoptive families This includes implementing a new framework for an early support core offer which covers the first 12 to 18 months after placement.

This financial year the department has also invested £50 million into the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund to ensure that adopted children can access therapeutic services which help stabilise placements and address complex needs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost to the NHS of identifying, sourcing and distributing medications for emergency prescriptions.

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

The Department has made no assessment of the cost to the National Health Service of identifying, sourcing, and distributing medications for emergency prescriptions.

Prescriptions issued on an emergency basis to patients are not treated any differently to regular prescriptions.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what definition they use to define a medicine shortage.

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

For the purposes of reporting to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the DHSC Reporting Requirements for Medicines Shortages and Discontinuations guidance document states that a supply shortage of a presentation of health service medicine occurs when supply does not meet patient demand at a national level, irrespective of whether it applies to the entire United Kingdom, or only to one or more of England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland as individual UK nations. However, we have a variety of escalation routes, and we will investigate issues on a case-by-case basis regardless of whether they fit this definition.

Found: The role was created following a recommendation made by my colleague Lord Laming in the Victoria Climbié

Found: Prison Reform Trust (2016) In care out of trouble: An independent review chaired by Lord Laming, London

Found: Members present: Lord Carter of Coles (The Chair); Lord Blencathra; Baroness Cass; Baroness Coffey; Lord Laming

Found: Members present: Lord Carter of Coles (The Chair); Lord Blencathra; Baroness Cass; Baroness Coffey; Lord Laming

Found: Resilience (Proposal 20) • 10.55am Baroness Bull – Numeracy for life (Proposal 21) • 11.05am Lord Laming

Found: Q33 The Chair: Good morning, Lord Laming.

Found: to later life – Baroness Bull and Lord Tarassenko (Proposal 21) • Domestic Abuse Act 2021 – Lord Laming

Found: Proposal 20) • At about 10.55am Baroness Bull – Numeracy for life (Proposal 21) • At about 11.05am Lord Laming

Found: The raised awareness of safeguarding due to these publications and several others (from DCSF, Lord Laming