Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton 21 November (HL3063) indicating that no equality impact assessment was conducted prior to the decision to introduce non-invasive prenatal testing on the NHS, what is the basis for the statement that they are satisfied that the screening programme is compliant with the Department’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and that the programme is compliant with any obligations under the Equality Act 2010.

Non-invasive prenatal testing for Down’s, Edwards’ and Patau’s syndromes is an additional test to be offered as part of the current NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme, and as it does not fundamentally alter the choices already available to women, we consider that there will be no impact on race, age, disability, gender reassignment sex or sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership or pregnancy and maternity for the purposes of the Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010. The Department also considers that the programme is compliant with the Equality Act because it is not discriminatory and, with regard to the three elements of the Public Sector Equality Duty in s.149 of that Act, it has a neutral impact.

The Department considers that adding this optional alternative procedure to the current screening programme is compliant with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as the test is intended to allow pregnant women to identify possible abnormalities in a foetus with more accuracy and in a less intrusive way than is possible through other screening procedures. Pregnant women will then be able to make a better informed choice in the light of the screening results.

All relevant equality duties will be further considered by Public Health England during the evaluative roll-out.