Question

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their plans to lower the voting age to 16, whether they also intend to lower the legal age for (1) applying, or (2) qualifying, for a Gender Recognition Certificate to 16.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government has no plans to lower the minimum age of application for a Gender Recognition Certificate.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many responses they received to their consultation Review of the Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education statutory guidance, which launched on 16 May and closed on 11 July; and when they intend to publish their response to the consultation and summary of responses.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

The public consultation on the Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education statutory guidance was open for eight weeks and received over 14,300 responses.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has been clear that children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of this guidance for schools and as such the government will look carefully at the consultation responses and consider the relevant evidence, including through stakeholder conversations, before setting out the next steps to make sure the guidance draws from the best available evidence. This will include plans for responding to the consultation.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 12 August (HL426), whether the Ministry of Justice has received such representations from the Public and Commercial Services Union; and what was their response.

Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Public and Commercial Services Union has not made any representations to the Ministry of Justice regarding this motion and therefore no response was given.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Department for Work and Pensions (1) currently has, or (2) has previously had, a National Diversity Ambassador on Trans Issues; and if so, (a) who they were, and (b) during what time period(s) they served.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP does not have a National Diversity Ambassador on Trans Issues.

Since 2018, under the current Permanent Secretary, there has been no formally recognised role of this description. Before this, the term Ambassador may have been used colloquially within the Department to raise awareness of Trans and wider Equity, Diversity and Inclusion matters. However, this role was not confirmed in any official capacity.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 7 August (HL345), how many staffing hours are allocated to the Civil Service LGBT+ Network, and across how many staff members.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Allocation of working time spent on cross-government staff networks is an agreement between the staff network volunteers and their departments as employers.

The majority of staff time spent on the Civil Service LGBT+ Network is voluntary and unpaid. There are no central records on how many staff members participate in the network.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 12 August (HL517), what applications for an equality, diversity and inclusion spending control exemption have been (1) applied for, (2) accepted, and (3) rejected, since the general election.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Applications and decisions about applications for external Equality Diversity and Inclusion expenditure lie with individual departments. No exemptions have been centrally reported since the General Election.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 7 August (HL344), whether any of the civil servants claiming diversity network time are also claiming trade union facility time, and at what hourly amounts; and what is their policy on the double dipping of network time and facility time.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

There are fewer than 5 individuals in DWP in September 2024 who are claiming Trade Union (TU) Facility time and Diversity Network time.

In line with standard departmental practice in statistics, we do not publish details of numbers below 5, or where individuals might otherwise be identified in the data, as this would breach our data protection obligations.

DWP does not have a policy on colleagues claiming both Diversity Network Time and Facility Time at the same time.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Centre for Perioperative Care's CPOC Manifesto: A Blueprint for NHS Efficiency, published on 12 April, in the light of the review of the NHS by Lord Darzi of Denham.

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

In light of the review of the National Health Service by Professor Lord Darzi, which highlights the importance of driving productivity in hospitals, the Government welcomes the manifesto of the Centre for Perioperative Care (CPOC) and will consider its recommendations. The Government is already working with NHS England to improve perioperative care, which can reduce length of stay, improve patient outcomes, and increase productivity. In May 2023, NHS England published guidance setting out five core perioperative care requirements relating to the care of adult patients awaiting planned inpatient surgery. These measures address the key objective of identifying health needs as early as possible in perioperative pathways, and then using time on the waiting list to optimise health, through optimisation of both existing health conditions and of health-related behaviour. NHS England is working to oversee and support implementation, and will continue to do so throughout 2024/25. In addition, NHS England is also undertaking work on other areas addressed in the CPOC manifesto such as drinking, eating, and mobilising after surgery.

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A one-off session to explore the work of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA).