Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what requirements to differentiate between male and female physiology car manufacturers must fulfil in safety testing.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

For the majority of vehicle safety testing, it is not necessary to differentiate between male and female physiology to deliver the desired outcome. For example, where a force is required on a brake control or to release a seat belt buckle, that force will be set well within the physical capabilities of most males and females.

However, there are some contexts in which differing injury thresholds between the sexes is important. For this reason, the latest international vehicle regulation covering frontal impact protection uses crash test dummies representative of both male and female occupants. The Government is currently considering mandating this regulation as part of an extensive package of vehicle safety measures.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what testing requirements are in place in the approval process to identify the different impacts of medicines on men and women.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

As part of the approval process for new drugs, the impact of sex, on men versus women, is assessed on pharmacokinetics, or exposure, pharmacodynamics, and overall efficacy and safety. The data is assessed in terms of whether any dose adjustments are warranted. Data in pregnant and breast-feeding women is also required where relevant.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medicinal approvals used female physiology as a baseline for testing in each of the last five years.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency does not capture this information in a searchable format, however this information would be available in Public Assessment Reports and summaries of product characteristics, where relevant. These documents are available at the following link:

https://products.mhra.gov.uk/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of differences in approved medicines on (a) men and (b) women.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is responsible for approving medicines in the United Kingdom before they are made available to the wider public. This involves a rigorous assessment using data from clinical trials to assess safety and efficacy.

If data suggests that a medicine may have a different effect on men and women, this is considered within the assessment process. Every medicine is assessed on a case-by-case basis, as several factors may impact the performance of a specific product.

Post authorisation, where there is identified or potential differences between men and women in safety or effectiveness, this can be monitored in the risk management plan. The agency keeps the safety and effectiveness of all medicines under continual monitoring in all populations. Should any differences in outcomes between men and women be identified, the agency will take appropriate regulatory action.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2024 to Question 21874 on Motor Vehicles: Lighting, when the independent research started; which organisation is undertaking the work; and if she will publish the terms of reference for the research.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The research started in October last year and is being carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). There are no plans to publish the Terms of Reference for the research, but further details can be found on the TRL website.

https://www.trl.co.uk/news/trl-works-with-dft-to-understand-more-about-the-causes-of-glare

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding the Government has provided for endometriosis research in each of the last five years; and what proportion of Government-funded medicinal research that accounts for.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The following table shows how much funding the NIHR has awarded for endometriosis research, as well as that spend as a percentage of total urogynaecology research spend, for each year from 2019/20 to 2023/24:

This information reflects in-year payments to 10 research awards that were active during this time period. It does not reflect the total award value. The total award value for these awards, across their full duration, is £7,714,953.

In addition, between 2019/20 and 2023/24, there were 18 awards with relevance to endometriosis active on UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) portfolio. These awards had a total value of £8.43 million. The following table shows the in-year expenditure for this research, for each year from 2019/20 to 2023/24:

The remaining spend is slated for future financial years.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what training is provided to NHS staff to highlight the differences in symptoms of a heart attack between men and women.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Guidance for National Health Service staff is available through the British Heart Foundation, and specific learning sessions are available to support training, with further information on both available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/conditions/heart-attack/signs-and-symptoms-of-heart-attacks-in-women

https://www.chsselearning.org.uk/hearte/15-womens-health/

NHS England has been cognisant of gender differences when running public campaigns, and as such has ensured clear messaging on atypical symptoms in women. This has been represented through sharing patient stories within campaign material, highlighting the differences in gender symptoms. Further information on NHS England’s public campaign is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/2023/08/nhs-launches-lifesaving-campaign-to-help-people-spot-a-heart-attack/

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department provided evidence to the Strategic Defence Review.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

On 30 July 2024, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) was invited, alongside other Government Departments, to provide written evidence to the Strategic Defence Review (SDR).

DBT responded to that call for evidence on 23 September 2024. The findings of the SDR are due to be published in 2025.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to its employees that are kinship carers.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The potential support the Department for Work and Pensions provides to its employees that are kinship carers are, according to each person’s needs, a combination of flexi hours, flexible working patterns, special leave, adjusted duties and a carers’ passport to ensure that effective support can be transported when employees change jobs within DWP. Our employee assistance programme also offers wider support, which includes employee counselling, critical incident and bereavement support and legal/finance advice and signposting.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department last reviewed its policy on supporting its employees that are kinship carers.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP reviews the support it gives to carers in its workforce, including kinship carers, on an ongoing basis across a range of relevant HR policies. DWP last reviewed its policy on supporting its employees that are kinship carers, specifically in respect of time off work, in March 2024.

When a division is called in the House of Commons, Members present on the Estate who wish to cast a vote must then proceed to the division lobbies located adjacent to the Chamber to do so.  During the Covid-19 pandemic, due to social distancing requirements, Members were able to vote electronically in some divisions in the House (then known as ‘remote voting’),  but these arrangements lapsed in mid-2021 alongside other pandemic-era procedures. Several other legislatures around the world – including the House of Lords – currently operate some form of electronic voting arrangements, therefore providing different models that could be compared to those in the House of Commons which require a physical presence in a certain location for a valid vote to be cast.