Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of police vehicles are currently equipped with defibrillators.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect data on the number of emergency police vehicles fitted with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
Police forces are operationally independent from Government, and therefore decisions on the use of AEDs would be an operational matter for them.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many emergency police vehicles are not currently fitted with a defibrillator.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect data on the number of emergency police vehicles fitted with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
Police forces are operationally independent from Government, and therefore decisions on the use of AEDs would be an operational matter for them.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is a national standard or equivalent for defibrillator provision in emergency vehicles; and if so, whether they will publish that standard.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no national standard for defibrillator provision in all emergency vehicles, and the Government has not considered centralised procurement arrangements. There are no current plans to make legislative changes to mandate the provision of defibrillators in all emergency vehicles. For National Health Service ambulance services, all NHS ambulances carry defibrillators.
The Home Office has advised that Fire Services and police forces are operationally independent from the Government, and therefore decisions on the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) would be an operational matter for them.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed there are already local models of joint working between emergency services, for example where firefighters are trained to respond alongside ambulance services, including basic life support and AED use. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government supports effective collaboration that strengthens public safety.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendation by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Defibrillators that all emergency service vehicles, including newly acquired emergency vehicles, be legally required to carry defibrillators.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no national standard for defibrillator provision in all emergency vehicles, and the Government has not considered centralised procurement arrangements. There are no current plans to make legislative changes to mandate the provision of defibrillators in all emergency vehicles. For National Health Service ambulance services, all NHS ambulances carry defibrillators.
The Home Office has advised that Fire Services and police forces are operationally independent from the Government, and therefore decisions on the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) would be an operational matter for them.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed there are already local models of joint working between emergency services, for example where firefighters are trained to respond alongside ambulance services, including basic life support and AED use. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government supports effective collaboration that strengthens public safety.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given, if any, to centralised procurement arrangements to equip emergency vehicle fleets with defibrillators at scale.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no national standard for defibrillator provision in all emergency vehicles, and the Government has not considered centralised procurement arrangements. There are no current plans to make legislative changes to mandate the provision of defibrillators in all emergency vehicles. For National Health Service ambulance services, all NHS ambulances carry defibrillators.
The Home Office has advised that Fire Services and police forces are operationally independent from the Government, and therefore decisions on the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) would be an operational matter for them.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed there are already local models of joint working between emergency services, for example where firefighters are trained to respond alongside ambulance services, including basic life support and AED use. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government supports effective collaboration that strengthens public safety.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase defibrillator coverage in non-ambulance emergency vehicles.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Many non-emergency patient transport service (NEPTS) ambulances operated by National Health Service trusts already carry a defibrillator.
The contractual requirements for the provision of NEPTS services, including carrying defibrillators, are determined by each integrated care board, based on their assessment of the needs of the local population.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the consultation on the proposed revisions to Keeping children safe in education, published on 12 February, why paragraph 97 of the draft guidance makes provision for pupils to participate in sports teams of the opposite sex.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The recently published consultation draft of ‘Keeping children safe in education’ does not say that schools should accept requests for pupils to join sports teams for the opposite sex. The guidance is absolutely clear that some sports may need to be played in single sex sports to ensure children’s safety, and that where this is the case there should be no exceptions.
Where there are other reasons for providing single sex sports, the guidance sets out that schools should take into account all the relevant factors, including the best interests of the child, as well as considering the impact on other children.
Schools should be informed by advice from national governing bodies on what is appropriate for individual sports.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for protections for teachers and staff at schools, colleges and universities who do not use pronouns of one gender for students of the opposite biological sex.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Schools, further education colleges and higher education institutions are responsible for their own decisions on employment issues. The department expects schools, colleges and universities, like all employers, to follow all relevant employment law, statutory guidance and abide by their obligations under the Equality Act.
Guidance for schools and colleges on gender-questioning children can be found in ‘Keeping children safe in education’. The guidance is clear that a school or college must also be conscious of the rights of pupils and staff in relation to their religion or belief as protected characteristics. Alongside this, the guidance also states that schools or colleges will appropriately sanction any cases of bullying or harassment and take a strong stand against bullying.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to promote the National Year of Reading in (1) early years settings, (2) primary schools, (3) secondary schools, (4) further education, and (5) higher education.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign to address long-term declines in reading enjoyment.
It includes a major physical and online marketing campaign, as well as exciting events, webinars, resources, and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings throughout the year. Reading together is one of the most powerful ways to build a child’s language and communication skills, strengthen early bonds, and spark a lifelong love of reading, which is why early years is one of the priority groups for the National Year of Reading.
We are raising awareness of the National Year of Reading through a range of methods, such as via departmental communication channels, the National Year of Reading mailing list and social media, communications from the National Literacy Trust, and promotion via the English Hubs network.
All interested parties are encouraged to sign up to the National Year of Reading website for more information: https://goallin.org.uk/.
To further support reading for pleasure, this government has committed over £10 million of dormant assets funding to guarantee a library for every primary school by the end of this parliament, and a further £5 million for secondary schools to purchase books to encourage reading enjoyment amongst their pupils.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking across Government to promote equality and inclusion as part of the National Year of Reading.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign designed to tackle the steep decline in reading for enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults, and to engage new audiences with reading. It aims to achieve a lasting change to the nation’s reading habits and is a campaign made available for all ages and communities. The campaign reflects that the decline in reading for enjoyment affects all sectors of society, however there will be a targeted focus on certain priority groups, including boys aged 10 to 16, parents from disadvantaged communities, and early years children.
‘Go All In’ is a fully inclusive campaign, encouraging people to read about whatever interests them, via any genre and all mediums of reading, from physical books, to comics, to e-books. The campaign includes support from a diverse range of authors, celebrities and content creators representing a range of different ages, backgrounds and cultures from communities across the UK. The campaign will reach communities across the UK through schools, libraries, businesses and local partners. Libraries, as free to access community hubs, will play a central role in supporting participation and helping people of all ages and from all sectors of society to develop a lasting love of reading.