Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies on preventing maternal deaths of MBRRACE-UK's report entitled Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care, published in October 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department is committed to reducing maternal mortality and improving outcomes for mothers and is working to fully understand why a recent increase in the maternal death rate has been reported, including considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several initiatives have already been introduced across the National Health Service to improve maternity safety as part of NHS England’s Three Year Delivery Plan for maternity and neonatal services, which is backed by £186 million a year from April.
Initiatives include the establishment of 14 maternal medicine networks which provide pregnant women who have medical conditions with specialist advice and support, and the publishing of local Equity and Equality Action Plans, which are tailored to meet the needs of that area. The Department also expects all 42 integrated care systems to have a Maternal Mental Health Service operational by the end of March 2024, which provide psychological therapy for women experiencing mental health difficulties related to their maternity experience.
On top of this, as announced at Spring Budget, the Government and NHS England are investing almost £35 million from 2024/25 to 2026/27 to further improve maternity safety across England, with specialist training for staff, additional numbers of midwives and support to ensure maternity services listen to and act on women’s experiences to improve care.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure infected blood interim compensation payments are made to bereaved parents and children through the England Infected Blood Support Scheme.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In October 2022, we made interim payments of £100,000 available to those infected and bereaved partners registered with existing support schemes. I recognise the importance the infected blood community places on interim payments relating to those deaths not yet recognised, and the Government is working through the technical implications of recommendation 12.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the joint letter to him from Scottish and Welsh Ministers in relation to Infected Blood Compensation and Interim Payments, dated 22 January 2024, when he plans to make interim compensation payments to bereaved parents and children.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In October 2022, we made interim payments of £100,000 to chronic infected beneficiaries and bereaved partners registered with existing support schemes. I recognise the importance the infected blood community places on interim payments relating to those deaths not yet recognised, and the Government is working through the technical implications of recommendation 12.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the deaths of people in Gaza waiting for an aid convoy on 29 February, and the public statement on 1 March by the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs calling for "an urgent investigation and accountability", how many Gazans (1) died, or (2) were injured; and whether such an investigation is under way.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Foreign Secretary has said, the deaths of people in Gaza waiting for an aid convoy on 29 February were horrific. We have been clear that an urgent investigation and accountability are needed, and that this must not happen again.
We continue to call for International Humanitarian Law to be respected and civilians to be protected. A shocking number of civilians have been killed. The Foreign Secretary raised the above issues with Israeli Minister Benny Gantz on 6 March.
We are calling on Israel to increase access for aid through land routes and fully open Ashdod Port, scale up the Jordan corridor with a streamlined screening and delivery process, open a crossing in northern Gaza (Karni, Erez or a new crossing point), fully open Ashdod Port for aid delivery and increase screening capacity at Kerem Shalom and Nitzana to seven days a week and extended hours.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department is providing support to (a) the HIV Justice Network and (b) other organisations working to repeal HIV-specific laws globally.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Addressing stigma, discrimination and criminalisation is critical to ensuring equality of access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment services and to achieving progress in the global HIV response.
The UK is a champion of human rights around the world and we are committed to the principle of non-discrimination on any grounds, including on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The UK's network of over 280 Diplomatic Missions monitor human rights in host countries.
At the UN High Level Meeting on HIV in June 2021, the UK worked hard to secure the highest level of commitment from our global partners and garner support for the ambitious, rights-based Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026, so the world has the best chance of meeting the 2030 goal to end AIDS. We also endorse the Global Fund's 2023-2028 Strategy, with a focus on addressing inequities and structural drivers of HIV infection and AIDS-related deaths including barriers to services due to stigma, discrimination and criminalisation.
Our funding to the Robert Carr Fund and to UNAIDS helps to support legal and policy reform to combat stigma, discrimination and criminalisation, and to improve access to HIV services for those most at risk, as well as supporting civil society and grassroots organisations to challenge harmful policies and attitudes that exclude minorities and put them at greater risk of HIV infection and increase access to services for these groups.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
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 encourage the repeal of HIV specific laws in the 20 jurisdictions in the Commonwealth that still have them.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Addressing stigma, discrimination and criminalisation is critical to ensuring equality of access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment services and to achieving progress in the global HIV response.
The UK is a champion of human rights around the world and we are committed to the principle of non-discrimination on any grounds, including on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The UK's network of over 280 Diplomatic Missions monitor human rights in host countries.
At the UN High Level Meeting on HIV in June 2021, the UK worked hard to secure the highest level of commitment from our global partners and garner support for the ambitious, rights-based Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026, so the world has the best chance of meeting the 2030 goal to end AIDS. We also endorse the Global Fund's 2023-2028 Strategy, with a focus on addressing inequities and structural drivers of HIV infection and AIDS-related deaths including barriers to services due to stigma, discrimination and criminalisation.
Our funding to the Robert Carr Fund and to UNAIDS helps to support legal and policy reform to combat stigma, discrimination and criminalisation, and to improve access to HIV services for those most at risk, as well as supporting civil society and grassroots organisations to challenge harmful policies and attitudes that exclude minorities and put them at greater risk of HIV infection and increase access to services for these groups.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were released within two months of the scheduled end of their sentence in the last 12 months.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) began in October 2023, and an analysis of its use will be based on one year’s worth of data and published on an annual basis in line with other statistics, such as deaths of offenders in the community.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Coroner’s report entitled Oli Hoque: Prevention of future deaths report, published on 13 October 2022, what steps NHS England is taking to allow the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority to compel the timely production of clinical data when conducting investigations into harms arising from regulated medicines.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The NHS England National Patient Safety Team and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) routinely work closely on both system development, and a number of safety issues. The NHS England National Patient Safety Team have a data sharing agreement with the MHRA, and provide regular sharing of patient safety incidents reported to NHS England, that are classified as medication incidents or medical device incidents. In addition, the MHRA are able to request focussed searches of reported incidents if they are working on a specific issue.
However, the MHRA does not have the legal powers to compel healthcare professionals to provide additional information after an initial report of a suspected adverse reaction. The MHRA has been working with the National Health Service to explore approaches to facilitate digital linkage of Yellow Card information to clinical records, and potentially to enable faster access to information, where considered necessary for an assessment. This work remains ongoing.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their funding announced on 5 February to end preventable deaths in Ethiopia, what consideration they have given to increasing investments to prevent malnutrition in Ethiopia and its long-term health and development impacts on women and children.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Further to the £100 million Ending Preventable Deaths funding announced in February, the UK will provide £74 million of bilateral humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia up from £44.9 million in 2022/23. We focus where needs are greatest, particularly women and children, by providing support for their health, nutrition, water & sanitation, protection, emergency education and humanitarian and social cash transfers. This financial year alone we have reached 950,000 with critical medical supplies, provided treatment for 80,000 malnourished children and pregnant and lactating women, supported over 200,000 people with cash assistance and supported education for 10,000 boys and girls. This work supports the effective delivery of basic services, reduces long term demand on the humanitarian system and ultimately saves lives.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on Government support for the health of gay, lesbian and bisexual young people.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This Government is committed to improving the health and well-being of young people. We recognise that gay, lesbian and bisexual young people often face specific challenges.
We have ended the ban on blood donations from sexually active gay men, and are eliminating barriers for same sex couples to access IVF.
Spend for children and young people’s mental health services has increased from £841 million in 2019/20 to just over £1 billion in 2022/23.
And in 2021, we published our HIV Action Plan which sets our commitment to ending all new HIV transmissions, AIDS and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030.