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Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to provide support for human rights to (a) people in, (b) aid agencies and (c) human rights organisations working in Eswatini.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK works to promote respect for human rights around the world, including in Eswatini. The British Government supports the Swazi people indirectly through programmes delivered by UN agencies (including UNICEF, UNFPA and WFP), their implementing partners and the Global Fund, as well as through advocacy and engagement with local Human Rights Defenders and state authorities. The British High Commission also provides project support to local NGOs and CSOs working on key human rights issues such as gender-based violence, freedom of expression and the rights of women and girls.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2024 to Question 19417 on Mental Health Services: Parents, what steps her Department is taking to provide community mental health services to bereaved (a) fathers and (b) partners following pregnancy or baby loss.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we are committed to expanding and transforming mental health services in England so that more people, including bereaved fathers and partners following pregnancy or baby loss, can get the help and support that they need.

As part of this, we are expanding access to psychological and talking therapies within specialist perinatal mental health services. Specialist community perinatal mental health services have now been rolled out in every part of England, and should work closely with maternal mental health services, which are also being rolled out, with 39 maternal mental health services currently available across England. Fathers and other partners of women accessing specialist community care should be able to access an evidence-based assessment for their mental health and signposting to support as required. Individuals can also access psychological support by referring themselves to NHS Talking Therapies. Details of local services are available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/nhs-talking-therapies/

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has made representations to his Gambian counterpart on (a) that country's obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and (b) ensuring a continuing ban on female genital mutilation.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

Female genital mutlilation (FGM) should be illegal. I [Minister Mitchell] spoke to The Gambia's Foreign Minister on 9 April to relay the UK's deep concern about the progress in The Gambia's National Assembly of the bill that would legalise FGM. I highlighted the serious implications if the bill were to become law, including for The Gambia's international reputation. The UK continues to engage broadly through regular contact with senior Gambian Government officials and other stakeholders. We are working with international partners to coordinate and complement messaging and activity.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent steps his Department has taken to support the recovery efforts in Tanzania after the recent floods.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

On 14 April the Government of Tanzania confirmed that 58 people had died as a result of heavy rains and floods, with over 126,000 people, many of them from the most vulnerable communities, also affected. While the UK has not been asked to provide support, we will aid relief efforts through our contribution to the multi-donor pooled Start Network. Initial indications from discussions with partners in Tanzania suggest that humanitarian efforts will focus on economic recovery through livelihood support, food aid and hygiene assistance for women.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how many Ministerial visits have taken place to Southern African Development Community nations in each of the last ten years.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK recognises the important role the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has in relation to regional issues. I [Minister Mitchell] regularly discuss a range of issues, including peace and security and UK-SADC collaboration, with regional partners. In the past 12 months I have travelled to Tanzania, South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, DRC with plans to visit a further two SADC countries in the next 3 months and have also met with the region at World Bank Spring Meetings, AfDB annual meetings and the UN General Assembly.

The information requested on the previous 10 years is not held centrally by the Department and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the Department.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the report entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues published by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on 21 March 2024, HC 638.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

In laying the report before Parliament at the end of March, the Ombudsman has brought matters to the attention of this House, and a further update to the House will be provided once the report's findings have been fully considered.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to promote businesses owned by women.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government promotes women-led businesses through partnerships with the private sector. With the Council for Investing in Female Entrepreneurs we have created the Invest in Women Hub (iiwhub.com) which provides information and free access to expert mentors.

We are working with the Invest in Women Taskforce towards their goal of making the UK the best place in the world to be a female entrepreneur, including by raising private sector capital to invest in women-led businesses.

The Women’s International Networking Programme aims to increase the participation of women-led businesses in international trade through access to networks, role models and DBT intelligence.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many enquiries the Equality Advisory and Support Service has responded to in each of the last five years.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

We do not routinely collect this information. The member may wish to ask EASS for it directly. However, it may be of interest for the Member to note that the EASS receives around 3,000 calls per month and has a stringent Key Performance Indicator that requires operators to answer 85% of all calls within 30 seconds. That target is routinely met. In a recent customer satisfaction survey nearly 90% of respondents were ‘Satisfied’ or higher with the service that they received.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many staff left the Equality and Human Rights Commission in each year since 2015.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

As an executive non-departmental public body that is operationally independent, this is for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to respond. I have attached the response from the Interim Chief Executive below.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of uptake for breast cancer screenings amongst ethnic minority women.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The national breast screening programme does not currently have the capability to routinely cross reference patient’s ethnicity data with uptake data. NHS England has started work to improve its data collection capabilities as part of the development of the new screening IT system, through the Digital Transformation of Screening programme. This will support the collection of population-level data on protected characteristics such as ethnicity, to support services in improving uptake.

More widely, NHS England has developed a national plan to improve uptake, including interventions to address inequalities and screening barriers. This includes ensuring appointments are as convenient as possible, and efforts are focused on areas and groups with low uptake.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he (a) is taking and (b) plans to take steps to assess the efficacy of restraining orders in preventing repeat incidents of domestic violence (i) in minority ethnic communities and (ii) generally.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Restraining orders play an important role in ensuring that victims are appropriately protected, and feel safer, particularly within the context of repeated and/or escalating behaviour that disproportionately impacts women and girls, such as domestic abuse.

They are one of several existing protective orders that can be used in cases of domestic abuse to protect a victim, such as Non-Molestation Orders, Stalking Protection Orders, and Domestic Violence Protection Orders.

Abusers who breach restraining orders face tough penalties including jail time. Where a restraining order is breached, CPS guidance encourages prosecutors to consider whether a new course of conduct is present and, if so, to ensure that it is prosecuted in addition to the breach in question.

Safeguarding victims of all crimes, and particularly from those such as domestic abuse is a priority for this Government. That is why we are going further to protect victims of domestic abuse by piloting a new Domestic Abuse Protection Order from Spring 2024 which will give courts the power to impose exclusion zones, curfews, and electronic monitoring tags on abusers. The order will be independently evaluated to understand its effectiveness in protecting all victims.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help support women in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency to return to work after a career break.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Local Jobcentre teams are supporting residents into work and helping those in work to progress to higher paid jobs. We are working with local and national employers to help fill vacancies quickly, delivering Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), recruitment days, Job Fairs, and work trials, all of which can help support women to return to work after a career break.

In addition, one to one support from a Work Coach and Contracted Employment Programmes, the department also offers help with CVs and employability skills, mentoring circles for people aged 50 plus and support with childcare costs. Where a Work Coach identifies a barrier to securing or progressing in employment, they can use the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) to procure clothing, tools, digital devices, and to help with travel to work costs.

In Haringey, we are working with the Construction Youth Trust to support more women into construction roles, with referrals made by Jobcentres across the borough, and funding available to support women who want to work in this sector.

To help facilitate signposting discussions with claimants, staff have access to a database of national and local support information, the District Provision Tool as well as the new Managed Jobs and Opportunities which ensures that claimants can access tailored support where required. This includes provision aimed at women across London such as Dress for Success, a service that supports women to improve their confidence when attending interviews and Smart Works, a UK charity that provides high quality interview clothes and interview training to unemployed women.

We are also working with Transport for London and the College of North East London on their Women into Transportation and Engineering provision. This provides two weeks of pre-employment training, covering CV writing, and workplace skills, plus a Smart Works coaching and styling appointment designed to give participants the confidence to apply for the roles offered within the programme

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled A comparison of the care of Asian and White women who have experienced a stillbirth or neonatal death, published by the MBRRACE-UK Perinatal Confidential Enquiry on 14 December 2023, what recent discussions her Department has had with NHS England on ensuring that women (a) from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and (b) at risk of premature birth are offered the (i) tests and (ii) medication that are recommended by NHS guidelines.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Departmental and NHS England colleagues meet regularly to discuss initiatives to reduce disparities in maternity and neonatal outcomes, and pre-term births. NHS England has invested £6.8 million into their Equity and Equality guidance, which focuses on actions to reduce disparities for women and babies, including for those living in the most deprived areas. It sets out actions and expectations on Local Maternity and Neonatal Systems to consider complex social factors and adhere to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines regarding maternity care.

All National Health Service trusts are now implementing the Saving Babies’ Lives Care Bundle (SBLCB), which provides up-to-date, evidence-based best practice regarding reducing perinatal mortality, including guidance around reducing preterm birth. The SBLCB recommends a universal risk assessment of all women for preterm birth at their antenatal booking appointment, with those at higher and intermediate risk being offered a care pathway designed to reduce the chances of preterm birth.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure that (a) young and (b) vulnerable people have access to free contraception.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Local authorities across England are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, openly accessible sexual and reproductive health services, which includes the provision of free contraception to meet local demand. Local authorities decide on commissioning arrangements based on an assessment of local need, including the needs of young and vulnerable people. Contraception is also widely available free of charge through general practices (GPs).

The Government is committed to improving access to contraception, and reducing reproductive health inequalities. The Women’s Health Strategy sets out our 10-year ambition and the actions we are taking to improve disparities in access to services, experiences of services, and outcomes for all women and girls.

As part of our work to deliver the Women’s Health Strategy we have launched a dedicated women’s health area on the National Health Service website as a first port of call for women’s health information, including contraception. We have also worked closely with NHS Digital to create a new YouTube series on contraception, which has been designed to help answer common questions often found in search engines, as well as more detailed information on the range of contraceptive methods available.

In 2023 we also introduced the NHS Pharmacy Contraception Service. This service offers greater choice in how people can access contraception services. It will also create additional capacity in GPs and sexual health clinics, to support meeting the demand for more complex assessments.

We are working with the Women’s Health Ambassador and others to provide health information to diverse groups of women, across their life course. We know that young people who receive effective relationships and sex education are more likely to use contraception and condoms, and less likely to have an unplanned pregnancy as a teenager, and in later life.

The 2020 roll-out of statutory relationships and sex education in all schools means that more young people receive support to prevent early unplanned pregnancy through learning about the full range of contraceptive choices and sexual health services available. The statutory guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education

As set out in the Women's Health Strategy, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education are working to understand women’s health topics that teachers feel less confident in teaching, and we will work to improve provision of high-quality teaching resources.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help increase access to grassroots football in deprived areas.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to delivering top class sports facilities across the country, so that everyone can take part in sport and physical activity. As part of this commitment, the Government is delivering an historic level of direct investment to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots sport facilities across the UK.

Between 2021 and 2025, the UK Government is delivering investment of over £400 million to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots facilities across the UK. The largest component of this funding is the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which is investing over £320 million between 2021 and 2025 into football and multi-sport pitches, changing rooms and other ancillary facilities. Through this programme over £56,000 has been awarded to Northumberland County Council to improve grass pitches on Morpeth Common.

Central to this investment is a clear objective to level up access for under-represented groups through investment in deprived areas and an emphasis on equal access. 50% of funding will go to the 40% most deprived local authority areas, based on a combined inactivity and deprivation ranking.

All projects are assessed against their ability to deliver increased participation by under-represented groups - including women and girls, ethnic minority communities and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. All projects can be viewed here on gov.uk.

In addition to facilities funding, in November 2023 Sport England announced £250 million of funding that will provide a major expansion of their investment into local communities across England to ensure those in greatest need are able to be physically active.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to breast screening for people with physical disabilities that prevent them from holding the required position for sufficient time to complete the screening.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England is committed to improving the accessibility of the screening programmes it commissions under the Public Health Services (S7a) agreement, particularly for under-served groups in society. Contractually, providers of National Health Service screening services are required to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that their services are accessible for people with disabilities. For example, the NHS breast screening service offers longer appointments at accessible sites to support women with physical disabilities.

Services make reasonable adjustments within the constraints of mammography equipment, to ensure that people with disabilities are offered the opportunity to have screening. However, there may be situations where this is not possible. Providers will deal with these on a case by case basis, and offer an alternative approach as necessary. For example, for women who are unable to have a mammogram, they may be offered a referral to a symptomatic breast clinic for a physical check.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that patients at high risk of developing breast cancer are recalled for MRI screening.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Women at very high risk (VHR) of breast cancer are eligible to be screened from the age of 25 years old upwards, and should be invited every year. The screening includes mammography or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), depending on age and risk criteria.

In March, NHS England wrote to a small number of VHR women who had not been referred for annual MRI surveillance, and the National Health Service has been working hard to ensure these women are checked as a matter of urgency, as described in their individual letters. To support screening of VHR women, a new central database is planned to ensure all referrals reach NHS breast screening services.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will (a) make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of crime levels in (i) Preston and (ii) Lancashire and (b) take steps to develop a plan to reduce bicycle theft in those areas.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government recognises the impact acquisitive crime can have on individuals and communities. The 2021 Beating Crime Plan, sets out the Government’s strategy for cutting crime, protecting the law-abiding majority and making neighbourhoods safe. The plan can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1015382/Crime-plan-v10.pdf.

Since 2010, overall crime excluding fraud and computer misuse is down by 55%, and we welcome the latest Crime Survey for England and Wales data, which shows that bicycle theft is also down 55% when comparing findings from the year ending September 2023 with the year ending March 2010.

A key part of making acquisitive crime less attractive to criminals is making stolen goods harder to sell on. That is why we are working closely with policing and academic leads to examine what more can be done to tackle the disposal markets for stolen goods and reduce the profit from acquisitive crime.

This Government also established the Safer Streets Fund. Since its inception in 2020, we have invested over £150 million to deliver interventions across England and Wales helping to tackle and prevent violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime. This includes investing just over £3.4 million in Lancashire, funding a range of initiatives such as CCTV and street lighting, improvements to home security measures and youth engagement and educational programmes.

The Home Office is working closely with the British Transport Police (BTP), the national lead for cycle theft, to tackle the theft of bicycles. The BTP has launched the ‘double lock it’ campaign with police forces and organisations, providing advice to owners on how to protect their bicycles: https://www.btp.police.uk/police-forces/british-transport-police/areas/campaigns/double-lock-it/.

The Department for Transport’s (DfT) Cycling and Walking Plan for England, also sets out initiatives to combat cycle theft, including encouraging retailers to number the bicycles they sell and offer customers the opportunity to register their bicycle on a database at the point of sale. The Plan is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycling-and-walking-plan-for-england.

The BTP-led National Cycle Crime Group, working with DfT, have set up Cycle Crime Reduction Partnerships across the country to coordinate regional enforcement activity to disrupt organised cycle theft.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide additional funding for charities that support women who are victims of domestic violence.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Through the Safer Streets and Safety of Women at Night Funds, the Home Office has invested over £150 million to deliver interventions to tackle violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime.

In 2023/24, the Ministry of Justice provided £21 million for community-based serious violence and domestic abuse services, and £38 million for Independent Sexual Violence Advisors and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors posts. In all, the Ministry of Justice is quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41 million in 2009/10.

And at Autumn Statement 2023, the government announced £10 million of additional funding available in 2024/25 for projects that aim to understand the impacts of domestic abuse on the labour market, support victims of domestic abuse in the workplace or prevent victims experiencing further abuse.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of reports of the murder of José Alirio Chochué Molanoin in Colombia on 19 January 2024.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The British Government remains concerned at the worrying rate of murders of, and threats against, peace signatories, including that of José Alirio Chochué. We will continue to support the Colombian Government in its commitment to implement the 2016 Peace Agreement and ensure the protection and safety of peace activists and women's rights campaigners. During my visit to Colombia in March, I raised the human rights situation with Vice Foreign Minister Coy. At the UN Security Council meeting on Colombia earlier this month, we set out our concern over attacks on human rights defenders, communities, women and social leaders, and reiterated our commitment to supporting efforts to tackle the root causes of violence in Colombia.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure the Major Conditions Strategy improves breast cancer outcomes for ethnic minority women.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Reducing inequalities and improving breast cancer outcomes for ethnic minority women, including black women, is a priority for the Government. To support this work, NHS England has commissioned six new cancer clinical audits, which will provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatments and outcomes for patients, including metastatic breast cancer. The Royal College of Surgeons began work on this audit in October 2022, and the first outcomes are expected in September 2024.

NHS England is also leading a programme of work to tackle healthcare inequalities centred around five clear priorities, which are set out in operational planning guidance for the health system. The Core20PLUS5 approach for adults has been rolled out as an NHS England framework to focus action on reducing inequalities on issues within the National Health Services’ direct influence, which are major contributors to inequalities in life expectancy through major conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and others, or Long-Term Plan priorities where stark inequalities are evident, such as maternity or severe mental illness.

The key actions for systems as highlighted in NHS England’s planning guidance for 2024/25 is to continue to deliver against the five strategic priorities for tackling health inequalities. Additionally, by the end of June 2024, NHS England aims to publish joined-up action plans to address health inequalities, and implement the Core20PLUS5 approach.

Improving earlier diagnosis of cancers, including breast cancer, is also a priority for the Government. The NHS has an ambition to diagnose 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2 by 2028, which will help tens of thousands of people live for longer. Additionally, the new cancer standards developed and supported by cancer doctors and implemented in October 2023, will ensure patients are diagnosed faster, and that treatment starts earlier. In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced that it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances in each of the next two years, to support the delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer, which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity.

Whilst the Major Conditions Strategy does not seek to describe everything that is being done, or could be done, to meet the challenges of individual conditions in silo, it instead focuses on the changes likely to make the most difference across the six groups of major conditions, including cancer.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve breast cancer outcomes amongst Black women.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Reducing inequalities and improving breast cancer outcomes for ethnic minority women, including black women, is a priority for the Government. To support this work, NHS England has commissioned six new cancer clinical audits, which will provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatments and outcomes for patients, including metastatic breast cancer. The Royal College of Surgeons began work on this audit in October 2022, and the first outcomes are expected in September 2024.

NHS England is also leading a programme of work to tackle healthcare inequalities centred around five clear priorities, which are set out in operational planning guidance for the health system. The Core20PLUS5 approach for adults has been rolled out as an NHS England framework to focus action on reducing inequalities on issues within the National Health Services’ direct influence, which are major contributors to inequalities in life expectancy through major conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and others, or Long-Term Plan priorities where stark inequalities are evident, such as maternity or severe mental illness.

The key actions for systems as highlighted in NHS England’s planning guidance for 2024/25 is to continue to deliver against the five strategic priorities for tackling health inequalities. Additionally, by the end of June 2024, NHS England aims to publish joined-up action plans to address health inequalities, and implement the Core20PLUS5 approach.

Improving earlier diagnosis of cancers, including breast cancer, is also a priority for the Government. The NHS has an ambition to diagnose 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2 by 2028, which will help tens of thousands of people live for longer. Additionally, the new cancer standards developed and supported by cancer doctors and implemented in October 2023, will ensure patients are diagnosed faster, and that treatment starts earlier. In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced that it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances in each of the next two years, to support the delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer, which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity.

Whilst the Major Conditions Strategy does not seek to describe everything that is being done, or could be done, to meet the challenges of individual conditions in silo, it instead focuses on the changes likely to make the most difference across the six groups of major conditions, including cancer.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government supports local authorities in their provision of (a) lollipop men and women and (b) other road safety measures for children.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The provision of the school crossing patrol service is a matter for the local authority. Legislation gives local authorities the power to make arrangements for the patrolling of places where children cross roads, on their way to or from school, but does not impose a duty on them to do so.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) male prisoners, (b) women prisoners and (c) young offenders were transferred to hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983 in each year since 2010.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Under sections 47/49 and 48/49 of the Mental Health Act 1983, the Secretary of State may authorise by warrant the transfer of prisoners to a secure hospital, where he is satisfied that the criteria for detention are met by the aforementioned Act.

The requested data are set out in the tables below for the years 2013 to 2022 and are taken from an electronic casework system. Providing data for the years from 2010 to 2013 would require substantial manual checks of paper files which could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost. The data for 2023 are due to be published on 26 April.

Notes

1. We have interpreted young offender to mean those aged under 18 at time of transfer
2. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording systems are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing
3. Where patients are admitted more than once, each admission is counted separately

Data Source: Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD)

We are committed to delivering improvements to mental health care and treatment for vulnerable offenders through non-legislative means. This includes improving oversight of the 28-day time limit for transfers to hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983 and increasing judicial awareness of alternatives to custody through the expansion of the Bail Information Service.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 16 May 2023 to question 183900 on Sanitary Products: VAT, what steps he has taken to review whether the zero-rating for VAT on period products is being passed on by retailers to women in the last 12 months.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government monitors publicly available data to assess the extent to which reliefs are passed through after their introduction, and is keen to ensure that the savings achieved through tax reliefs reach the intended recipients. We have engaged with stakeholders over the last 12 months to ensure they commit to passing on the savings realised from the zero-rating of period products, including following the expansion of the relief to period underwear in January 2024.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to tackle violence and sexual offences in Preston.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

As part of steps taken through our Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, we are tackling perpetrators and supporting victims.

We have provided funding to the Lancashire PCC to roll out the Drive Project, which focuses on the most serious domestic abuse offenders to prevent them from abusing again, and funded Preston based Saraha to provide bilingual, comprehensive, face-to-face support service for women from black and minority ethnic backgrounds who are victims of domestic abuse.

Nationally, we have invested £9.4 million to develop a New Operation Model for the investigation of rape through Operation Soteria. This ensures investigations are suspect based. All police forces in England and Wales are now implementing this new approach to rape investigations and we have provided £8.5m in 2023/24 to continue to support policing to improve their response to rape.

Through the Safer Streets and Safety of Women at Night Funds, we have invested over £150 million to deliver interventions to tackle violence against women, anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime.

This includes just over £3.4m for Lancashire, of which £146,568 has been awarded to Preston City Council to fund interventions such as the installation of CCTV, the deployment of taxi stewards and night-time economy sector training, along with improvements to accommodation for services assisting women at risk and recovery services for victims of sexual violence.

Since 2019, the Home Office has provided over £8m for a Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) in Lancashire. VRUs bring together local partners to understand and tackle the drivers of serious violence in their area, including sexual abuse and domestic abuse.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will have discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential impact of the increased Minimum Income Requirement on (a) women and (b) people belonging to specific ethnicities.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The Minister for Women and Equalities wrote to all Government departments in December last year reminding them of their statutory duty to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty when shaping policy and delivering services. The duty requires public authorities to ensure that equality issues are actively considered in order to remove or minimise disadvantage. As part of the Equality Act 2010, the Public Sector Equality Duty includes the protected characteristics of sex and race.

To assist departments' compliance with the duty, the Minister for Women and Equalities provided updated Public Sector Equality Duty guidance.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure swift justice for victims of violence against women and girls.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

The Government is taking concerted action to ensure swift justice for victims of VAWG.

This includes delivering the end-to-end Rape Review Action Plan to improve the justice system’s response to adult rape, which has seen Crown Court receipts more than double since 2019.

The Department has also been increasing capacity in the Crown Court, including delivering over 107,000 additional sitting days in Crown Courts; opening two permanent ‘super courtrooms’ in Manchester and Loughborough; increasing criminal legal aid spending by £141 million per year; investing over £220 million for essential modernisation and repair work of court buildings; and investing further in judicial recruitment and retention.

Further to this, we are doing more than ever to ensure victims receive the support they need, including quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41 million in 2009/10.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports by UN experts on 19 February of “credible allegations of egregious human rights violations” against Palestinian women and girls in Gaza and the West Bank by Israel Defence Forces; and whether they have offered practical support for investigating these alleged crimes, and for caring for survivors and witnesses.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK condemns human rights abuses and sexual violence unequivocally and without exception. As I [Lord Ahmad] said to the UN Security Council during the 11 March debate following the release of Special Representative Pramila Patten's report, it is vital that all reports of sexual violence are fully investigated to ensure justice for all victims and survivors and perpetrators are held to account.

The FCDO continues to closely monitor the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and stands ready to further utilise our Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) expertise and tools to ensure victims and survivors of CRSV, both Israeli and Palestinian, receive the holistic and survivor-centred support they need.

Through our PSVI programmes and dedicated funding totalling £60 million since 2012, we are leading work internationally to prevent conflict-related sexual violence and strengthen justice and support for all survivors.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with sports governing bodies on banning transgender athletes participating in women’s sporting competitions.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport recently hosted a roundtable with a group of national governing bodies to stress the Government’s position that competitive fairness and safety for women and girls cannot come at the expense of the inclusion of transgender athletes, and to understand how various governing bodies have developed their policies on this issue.

We will continue to engage with sports on this issue to understand what work national governing bodies are doing to protect women’s sport.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they will respond to the report from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues laid before Parliament on 21 March.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

In laying the report before Parliament at the end of March, the Ombudsman has brought matters to the attention of this House, and a further update to the House will be provided once the report's findings have been fully considered.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on their target for women to account for 30% of personnel recruited by 2030.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 11 December 2023 to Question 4844.

In the 12 months to 30 September 2023, the proportion of female intake was 12.3% and we hope to continue to work towards the target year on year.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when she plans to reply to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare of (a) 11 January 2024 and (b) 20 February 2024 on behalf of a constituent on self-identifying gender.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

We thank the honourable Member for Weston-super-Mare for highlighting these two letters
and apologise for the delay in responding. A response has been issued and should be with
the honourable Member now as of 26/03/2024.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2024 to Question 20383 on State Retirement Pensions: Women, whether his Department received the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's provisional views on injustice and remedy experienced due to maladministration in communication about the 1995 Pensions Act in November 2023.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP received the PHSO’s provisional views for comment in November 2023.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 4.2 of the report entitled A comparison of the care of Asian and White women who have experienced a stillbirth or neonatal death, published by the MBRRACE-UK Perinatal Confidential Enquiry on 14 December 2023, whether her Department has had discussions with NHS England on taking steps to improve how ethnicity data is recorded.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The Department has regular and ongoing discussions with NHS England, and other relevant bodies, on improving neonatal and maternity data quality. This includes discussions on how to improve the recording of ethnicity data. NHS Equity and Equality Guidance, produced as part of NHS England’s three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, includes ethnic coding data completeness to better understand local populations and their health outcomes. Ethnic coding data completeness has improved year on year, from 85% in 2019 to 93% in 2022.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the statement entitled Domestic Abuse Commissioner responds to Criminal Justice reforms in the King’s Speech, published on 7 November 2023, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure perpetrators of domestic abuse can be removed from the police force and police staff as well as changes to police regulations to remove warrant cards from police officers under investigation for violence against women and girls offences.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

Existing Regulations provide Chief Constables with a power to suspend officers under investigation, including where it is in the public interest to do so.

In February, Government announced that it will legislate for automatic suspension in cases where an officer is charged with an indictable only offence, and a presumption of suspension where an officer is charged with an either way offence. When suspended, an officer is suspended from the Office of Constable and its associated powers. Forces should remove officers’ warrant cards from them where this happens.

The Government is further introducing measures to strengthen the system for removing officers who are not fit to serve. These include a presumption of dismissal where officers are found to have committed gross misconduct and a clarified route to remove officers who fail to hold and maintain vetting.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to help support women and girls in Gaza.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

We trebled our aid commitment during Financial Year 23-24 to support partners including the British Red Cross, UNICEF, the UN World Food Programme and the Egyptian Red Crescent. This includes £4.25 million to the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, to provide life-saving support to vulnerable women and girls in Gaza. This support is expected to reach about 111,500 women, around 1 in 5 of the adult women in Gaza. It will support up to 100 community midwives, the distribution of around 20,000 menstrual hygiene management kits and 45,000 clean delivery kits.

We have also provided targeted support for children through a £5.75 million contribution. This is supporting work to assist over 5,800 children with severe malnourishment and 853,000 children, adolescents and caregivers affected by the conflict, to receive emergency and child protection services, including mental health and psychosocial support.

Through our Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict programmes and dedicated funding totalling £60 million since 2012, we are leading work internationally to prevent conflict-related sexual violence and strengthen justice and support for all survivors. We stand ready to use our PSVI expertise and tools to ensure victims and survivors of CRSV, both Israeli and Palestinian, receive the holistic and survivor-centred support they need.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to eliminate (a) cervical and (b) other cancer caused by human papillomavirus.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, alongside routine screening, is key to protecting people against strains of HPV that can cause some cancers including cervical, anal, head and neck cancer.

The NHS Cervical Screening Programme (CSP) provides all women and people with a cervix between the ages of 25 and 64 years old with the opportunity to be screened routinely, to detect certain types of HPV infection which cause 99.7% of cervical cancer. An in-service evaluation is being commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Care Research to determine whether HPV self-sampling could be used to improve the NHS CSP.

The HPV vaccination is offered to all adolescents in Year 8 of school, and catch-up vaccinations are available to those up to 25 years old, those born on or after 1 September 2006, for both females and males who may have missed vaccination under the schools’ programme, providing an additional failsafe. The HPV vaccination is also recommended to gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, up to and including those aged 45 years old.

NHS England’s vaccination strategy sets out a range of ambitions to improve uptake across the National Health Service’s vaccination programmes. This includes building on existing work and delivery to develop implementation plans for how HPV vaccinations, alongside cervical screening and pre-cancer treatment, can help achieve the NHS ambition to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040.

Found: and its continuing non-compliance with Security Council Resolutions, pose a threat to international peace

Found: The Horn of Africa and the Red Sea 21 Commons Library Research Briefing, 18 April 2024 The AU Peace

Drug and alcohol treatment services for women

Glenrothes Strollers Women celebrate historic League Cup final win

Lesbian Visibility Week

Found: To move the following Clause— “Removal of women from the criminal law related to abortion For

Found: To move the following Clause— “Removal of women from the criminal law related to abortion For

Found: BILL TO Require the Secretary of State to publish proposals for a compensation scheme for women

Found: training which is adequate (as regards its content and frequency) in relation to violence against women

Found: To move the following Clause— “Removal of women from the criminal law related to abortion For

Found: training which is adequate (as regards its content and frequency) in relation to violence against women

Found: £150 million per year for thousands of small businesses, as well as the launch of the Investing in Women

Found: Women should be at the centre of these efforts.

Found: Andrea Simon, Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said: This is a significant

Found: Unlawful ballistic missile launches continue to destabilise the peace and security of the Korean Peninsula

Found: Think Fraud’ campaign, the launch of a new initiative to support women take positive action to improve

Found: In recognition of the impact of public sexual harassment on victims, especially women, the government

Found: This crime disproportionately affect s women and girls; however, it is important to recognise that

Found: together to address the threat posed by the Iran-backed Houthis in the Red Sea and make progress towards peace

Found: Civilians are being murdered, women and girls are being raped.

Found: vital that we strengthen the OSCE and enhance this Council’s cooperation with it, to deliver long-term peace

Found: and security.

Found: highlight the importance of gender-responsive recovery and the need to address the different needs of women

Found: We reiterate our deep concern over Iran’s human rights violations and abuses, especially against women

Found: and destabilizing actions by Iran and its militant partners that pose a grave threat to international peace

Found: As part of her role as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Women Maria Caulfield

Found: packages, including frontline air, shelter and clothing £8m to support the most vulnerable, including women

Found: disarmament and non-proliferation architecture and to strengthening efforts to promote international peace

Found: Despite these challenges, the G7 remains steadfast in its commitment maintaining peace and security by

Found: This includes ensuring tha t women subject to Unpaid Work are offered the choice not to be placed in

Found: It illustrates the predominance of women in all categories and the significant numbers of active members

Found: deaths broadly match the 2016 assumptions, with average ages of death of around 52 for men and 51 for women

Found: At age ages above 50, the majority of membership are men, but the ratio of men to women is more even

Found: This is not expected to be material to the Judicial Pension Scheme because in 1992 women members were

Found: of deaths before retirement under the 2020 assumptions 9,227 68 0.2%Age 60: 0.25% (Men) 0.15% (Women

Found: broadly match the 2016 assumptions, with average ages of death of around 52 -53 for men and 50 for women

Found: In all scheme sections, 50% of men and 50% of women are assumed to qualify for upper tier ill - health

Found: )Age 50: 0.41% (Men) 0.37% (Women) CS GB c.499k 2,714 c. 0.15% p.a.Age 50: 0.20% (Men) 0.19% (Women

Found: deaths broadly match the 2016 assumptions, with average ages of death of around 52 for men and 51 for women

Found: that 80% of men and 75% of women would be married or partnered at age 60.

Found: 35 5 6 40 3 4 45 3 4 50 2 3 55 2 3 60 1 2 65 1 2 Promotional pay increases Age Men and Women

Found: It also presents in depth analyses of the key measures of the service including pregnant women, breakdowns

Found: speaks to Britain’s global role that, with an improving economy, we are able to make this commitment to peace

Found: Those pilots, like you, and like every generation of British service men and women before you… …were

Found: first scan i.e. when she was just over 3 months pregnant which is the normal point at which pregnant women

Found: . • Diversity: The gender balance in FinTech in the UK is particularly low, with women making up just

Found: before the final hearing; (iv) t he redundancy was a sham ; and (v) the claimant was one of few black women

Found: gender pay ga p in hourly pay, • Mean and median bonus gender pay gap, • Proportion of men and women

Found: and median gender pay gap in hourly pay, Mean and median bonus gender pay gap, Proportion of men and women

Found: • Women in GIAA (WIG) Each network has a dedicated intranet page that is accessible to all colleagues

Found: This includes ensuring tha t women subject to Unpaid Work are offered the choice not to be placed in

Found: Data also shows women are around twice as likely to have experienced domestic abuse as men.

Found: The P ension Credit qualifying age is linked to women’s State Pension age, so both men and women can

Found: is a UK -wide government public health scheme that provides a nutritional safety net for pregnant women

Found: Association • Hornsey Housing Trust • Horton Housing Support Ltd • Housing Executive • Housing for Women

Found: accommodation Armed Forces accommodation The Ministry of Defence (MOD) provides s ervicemen and women

Found: Gender, let me also welcome Hong Kong, China’s initiatives to promote women’s empowerment, such as the Women

Found: Lord True CBE Secretary of State for Business and Trade, President of the Board of Trade, Minister for Women

Found: but went on to argue that some women find their actions and behaviours "distressing and alarming4".

Found: These Members believe that women rape victims are failed by the justice system in rape cases, with

Found: Bill will deliver a significant step -change for the protection of the rights of disabled people, women

Found: opportunities to participate in and attend cultural and creative activities • Reflects the priorities of women

Found: The employment rate for women in Scotland ha d typically been above the employment rate for women in

Found: As physical and structural changes take place, adolescence is a time when many young men and women

Found: most common chromosomal abnormalities is currently offered as a second-line screening test to those women

Found: since CoHI has existed that this is the first time that both the DFM and the host leader have been women

Found: Sex Data from the Papworth Trust found that women are slightly more likely than men to be disabled

Found: have experience of benefit take-up in specific communities, such as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic women

Found: Poverty in Perspective: a typology of poverty in Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) 6 On average, women

Found: Labour market estimates for women and men ................................ ............... 18 9.

Found: Has the inclusion of the CA125 blood test as a regular check for women been considered?2.

Found: Ms Roddick asked about the experience of women in politics.

Found: Whether you are Palestinian or Israeli, it is working men and women who pay the price of war – and that

Found: estimates of 1 -year age -standardised net survival for brain cancer were 35.6% for men and 32.1% for women

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of childcare voucher schemes on any policies that it has in place to support parents and carers to return to work.

Answered by Don, Natalie - Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise

Childcare voucher schemes were part of UK-wide tax legislation on employer supported childcare. They were closed to new entrants in 2018 and as such, parents and carers who are taking up new employment are not able to access them. While some Scottish families may still be using them, they have largely been replaced by Tax Free Childcare. As the Scottish Government is not involved in the administration or regulation of childcare voucher schemes, we have not conducted an assessment of them.

We are aware of the wealth of evidence that shows that access to affordable and flexible childcare can improve standards of living and address child poverty through reducing pressures on family income and enabling parents and carers, particularly women, to participate in work, education or training. There is more information on this evidence base in ‘Best Start - strategic early learning and school age childcare plan 2022 to 2026: https://www.gov.scot/publications/best-start-strategic-early-learning-school-age-childcare-plan-scotland-2022-26/pages/10/

In the Plan, we have also set out our commitment to continue to engage with and seek to influence the UK Government to deliver better outcomes for children and families through childcare policy.

Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation in the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee's 1st Report, 2022 (Session 6), Inquiry into perinatal mental health, which was published on 8 February 2022, whether it has established a comprehensive strategy to improve communication, collaboration, co-operation and exchanges of best practice between third sector and statutory perinatal mental health support to make sure that women and families are appropriately and adequately supported.

Answered by Todd, Maree - Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport

The Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Managed Clinical Network Scotland (PIMHNS) has developed a workstream ‘Parents as Patients’ to develop guidance around joined-up working (i) between perinatal/infant mental health services and other mental health services (e.g. general adult mental health, unscheduled care, liaison mental health), and (ii) between perinatal/infant mental health services and other relevant medical care services (particularly primary care and acute hospital care). The important role of the third sector will feature in both. Initial meetings of two Short Life Working Groups (SLWG) have taken place to progress these workstreams, along with amending the existing care pathways which were published in 2021 ( https://www.nn.nhs.scot/pmhn/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2021/06/Care-Pathways-full.pdf ) .

Both SLWGs will focus on the themes of:

• Interfaces – to cover both care between specialist and general or universal services. This would also include principles of joint working and good practice.
• Education and training – to address knowledge of parent infant relationships and infant mental health needs as well as child protection issues and risks in relation to childbearing.

The final guidance and updated care pathways are due to be published in the final quarter of the financial year.

Found: Retrieved from https://www .parliament.uk/ globalassets/documents/commons-committees/women-and-equalities