Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
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 socioeconomic inequality on (a) stillbirth and (b) neonatal mortality rates; and what cross-government action is being taken to address this.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises that there are stark inequalities for women and babies, and that they should receive the high-quality care they deserve, regardless of their background, location, or ethnicity. Stillbirth and neonatal mortality rates remain higher for mothers in more deprived areas.
A number of interventions specifically aimed at addressing maternal and neonatal inequalities are underway. These include the Perinatal Equity and Anti-Discrimination Programme, delivery of an inequalities dashboard, and projects on removing racial bias from clinical education and embedding genetic risk equity. Additionally, all local areas have published Equity and Equality action plans to tackle inequalities for women and babies from ethnic minorities and those living in the most deprived areas.
We are putting in place immediate actions to improve safety across maternity and neonatal care, which includes the implementation of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle. This bundle is a package of evidence-based interventions to support staff to reduce stillbirth, neonatal brain injury, neonatal death, and pre-term births. It includes guidance on managing multiple pregnancies to ensure optimal care for the woman and baby.
NHS England is also introducing a Maternal Mortality Care Bundle to set clear standards across all services and address the leading causes of maternal mortality. Women from black and Asian backgrounds are more at risk of specific clinical conditions that are the leading causes of death. This bundle will target these conditions, and we expect a decline in deaths and harm.
To further target disparities in maternal care, Baroness Amos is chairing the National Independent Maternity and Neonatal Investigation. The investigation aims to identify the drivers and impact of inequalities faced by women, babies, and families from black and Asian backgrounds, those from deprived groups, and those from other marginalised groups when receiving maternity and neonatal care.
The Government is also setting up a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to address inequalities in maternal and neonatal care and to promote health equity in the delivery of those services.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce disparities in maternal mortality rates between women from different ethnic backgrounds.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises that there are stark inequalities for women and babies, and that they should receive the high-quality care they deserve, regardless of their background, location, or ethnicity. Stillbirth and neonatal mortality rates remain higher for mothers in more deprived areas.
A number of interventions specifically aimed at addressing maternal and neonatal inequalities are underway. These include the Perinatal Equity and Anti-Discrimination Programme, delivery of an inequalities dashboard, and projects on removing racial bias from clinical education and embedding genetic risk equity. Additionally, all local areas have published Equity and Equality action plans to tackle inequalities for women and babies from ethnic minorities and those living in the most deprived areas.
We are putting in place immediate actions to improve safety across maternity and neonatal care, which includes the implementation of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle. This bundle is a package of evidence-based interventions to support staff to reduce stillbirth, neonatal brain injury, neonatal death, and pre-term births. It includes guidance on managing multiple pregnancies to ensure optimal care for the woman and baby.
NHS England is also introducing a Maternal Mortality Care Bundle to set clear standards across all services and address the leading causes of maternal mortality. Women from black and Asian backgrounds are more at risk of specific clinical conditions that are the leading causes of death. This bundle will target these conditions, and we expect a decline in deaths and harm.
To further target disparities in maternal care, Baroness Amos is chairing the National Independent Maternity and Neonatal Investigation. The investigation aims to identify the drivers and impact of inequalities faced by women, babies, and families from black and Asian backgrounds, those from deprived groups, and those from other marginalised groups when receiving maternity and neonatal care.
The Government is also setting up a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to address inequalities in maternal and neonatal care and to promote health equity in the delivery of those services.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve public confidence in performing CPR on women experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England runs training sessions on first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and the use of defibrillators both in the community and in schools, under the Restart a Heart programme. This training should help to increase confidence in performing CPR on women. NHS England has trained over 35,800 adults and children in CPR and defibrillation in the last 13 years, and 2,134 this year so far. NHS England delivers the sessions via their resuscitation team and via their community first responders.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding his Department has committed to providing specialist support services for survivors of technology-facilitated abuse and online violence against women and girls.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
My Department is committed to the Government’s pledge to halve Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in a decade.
The Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date.
I have committed two years of grant funding to the 42 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales. They commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types, including victims of technology-facilitated abuse and online violence against women and girls. The funding from the Ministry of Justice includes ‘core’ funding, which is for PCCs to allocate at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need, as well as funding that is ring-fenced for sexual violence and domestic abuse services.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve public and primary care awareness of ovarian cancer symptoms, in the context of data from the National Ovarian Cancer Audit showing that four in 10 women are admitted as an emergency 28 days prior to diagnosis, often leading to poorer outcomes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Reducing the number of lives lost to cancer in England, including ovarian cancer, is a key aim of the National Cancer Plan which will be published in the new year. The plan will set out in further detail how the Government will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including ovarian cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately driving up this country’s cancer survival rates.
The Government knows that many ovarian cancer patients are still left waiting too long for a diagnosis and treatment and so will push to get the National Health Service diagnosing and treating it faster, so that more patients survive the disease and have an improved experience across the system. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the productivity and modernisation efforts needed to return to the 18-week constitutional standard by the end of this Parliament. The plan commits to transforming and expanding diagnostic services and speeding up waiting times for tests, a crucial part of reducing overall waiting times and returning to the referral to treatment 18-week standard. This includes expanding existing community diagnostic centres (CDCs), as well as building up to five new ones in 2025/26, to support the NHS to return to meeting the elective waiting time constitutional standard. The plan also commits to CDCs opening 12 hours per day, seven days a week, delivering more same-day tests and consultations and an expanded range of tests, many of which can support the diagnosis of gynaecological cancers, including ovarian cancer.
To support early diagnosis, NHS England is taking a wide range of activity to increase awareness of ovarian cancer. NHS England relaunched the Help Us Help You cancer campaign on the 8 January 2024, to encourage people to get in touch with their general practitioner if they notice, or are worried about, symptoms that could be cancer. Previous phases of the campaign have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of ovarian cancer. NHS England and other NHS organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. This information can be found at sources including the NHS website, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
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 the lack of female-form CPR mannequins on survival rates for women experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is continuing to take action to increase cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) awareness and training, including NHS England leading sessions on first aid, CPR, and the use of defibrillators both in the community and in schools, under the Restart a Heart programme. This training should help to increase confidence in performing CPR on women.
NHS England has trained over 35,800 adults and children in CPR and defibrillation in the last 13 years, and 2,134 this year so far. NHS England delivers the sessions via their resuscitation team and via their community first responders.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 adequacy of care for patients with endometriosis.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the challenges faced by women with endometriosis and the impact it has on their lives, their relationships, and their participation in education and the workforce.
In November 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) updated their guideline on endometriosis to makes firmer recommendations for healthcare professionals on referral and investigations for women with a suspected diagnosis and will help the estimated one in ten women with endometriosis to receive a diagnosis faster. Over the next year, NICE will be working with National Health Service systems to ensure adoption of this best practice endometriosis care, including access to approved medicines.
Through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), we have commissioned a number of studies focused on endometriosis diagnosis, treatment, and patient experience. At present, the NIHR is funding six research awards totalling an investment of approximately £5.8 million.
Alongside the updated guidelines and research investment, two new treatments have been approved, and we are taking action to cut gynaecology waiting lists through our Elective Reform Plan.
But we know there is more to do. That is why we are renewing the Women’s Health Strategy, to update on delivery and set out how the Government is taking further steps to improve women’s health as we deliver the 10-Year Health Plan. It will also address gaps from the 2022 strategy and drive further changes on enduring challenges such as creating a system that listens to women, and tackling health inequalities.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has raised the detention of Bita Shafiei on 13 November 2025 with her Iranian counterparts.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of Bita Shafiei's case and continue to raise the rights of women and girls and human rights defenders with the Iranian Government in multilateral fora. The UK co-sponsored an Iran Human Rights Resolution, adopted by the UN Third Committee on 19 November, which condemned the targeted repression of women and girls and called on Iran to release women human rights defenders imprisoned for exercising their rights. We delivered a statement at the Committee, which highlighted Iran's bolstering of surveillance capabilities to monitor and target women and girls, and we will continue to work with international partners to hold Iran to account.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to make sports partnerships part of the UK's diplomatic efforts in Small Island States in the Caribbean.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS) recognises that sport can be an enabler of sustainable development, including through the promotion of tolerance and respect and through the positive contribution it makes to empowerment of women and girls, health, education and social inclusion. The UK has been one of the key supporters of the ABAS agenda in discussions with the SIDS group and at the United Nations.
Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many transgender prisoners with convictions for (a) sexual and (b) violent offences are housed within the general female prison estate; and how many of those prisoners have been granted a Ministerial exemption to remain there in the last 12 months.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
As of 1 December, there were no transgender women, including individuals with Gender Recognition Certificates, in the general women's prison estate with any convictions for sexual offences and five or fewer transgender women with convictions for violent offences. (Where statistics include a total of five or fewer, the exact figure is not given, for data protection reasons.)
The individuals with convictions for violent offences received Ministerial exemptions to be held in the general women's estate under the previous Government. No exemptions have been provided by this Government since it came into power.