Tag: Baroness Gould of Potternewton

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2015-12-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment has been undertaken to ensure that reductions in the public health budget do not negatively affect those who share protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government reached its decisions on implementing reductions in the 2015/16 local authority public health grant after giving full consideration to its duty under the Equality Act 2010 (the public sector equality duty, or PSED). The Government’s response to a public consultation exercise, published on 4 November 2015, contains an equality analysis of the options for making the saving. A copy is attached.

Final decisions on the distribution of the grant in 2016/17 have not yet been taken, but again will be made in the light of the PSED. Government decisions on the quantum of the grant have taken account of the PSED. Local authorities are responsible for identifying local needs and priorities for public health interventions, and for making decisions on local spending. Local authorities are themselves subject to the PSED.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-04-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why NHS England does not intend to reimburse some sexual health clinics for the provision of post-exposure prophylaxis.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England has advised that it is not changing its commissioning policy in relation to post exposure prophylaxis after sexual exposure to HIV (PEPSE). However, NHS England is aiming to produce guidance to clarify how contractual arrangement for PEPSE can work in sexual health services that are no longer provided by the National Health Service and or have no experience of prescribing of antiretroviral drugs to enable appropriate levels of monitoring for quality and safety. NHS England remains committed to reimbursement for the appropriate use of PEPSE.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2015-12-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether an assessment has been undertaken of the effect on contraceptive services of reductions in the public health budget.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Decisions on local public health spending are a matter for local authorities. Local authorities are mandated to commission open access contraceptive services that provide advice on, and reasonable access to, a broad range of contraceptive substances and appliances.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-04-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage health trusts to include (1) advice on and (2) access to postpartum contraception in maternity care contracts.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government’s Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England sets out the need to increase access to all methods of contraception including long acting (LARC) methods and that better support is needed to access contraception after childbirth. Local authorities are mandated to provide access to the full range of contraception services and should work with clinical commissioning groups to ensure that contraception is discussed and all methods of contraception, including LARC, are accessible as part of the post-natal maternity pathway. Further guidance will be available in Public Health England’s Missed Opportunities in Pregnancy report. This addresses the missed opportunities for the provision of contraception along the maternity, abortion and early pregnancy loss pathways, and is now in the final stage of revisions and is expected to be published later in 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2015-12-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the suffragettes and the feminist movement will remain part of the new Politics A-level syllabus.

Lord Nash

A public consultation on reformed content for politics AS and A level closed on 15 December. The proposed new content for politics A level will require all students to study core political theories. This is an improvement on the current system which does not require students to study any political ideologies, including feminism.

We are analysing the responses to the consultation and have started work with the exam boards to develop the content in light of the views expressed. We will listen carefully to the views of the sector and the wider public as part of this full consultation process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-04-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to increasing access to long-acting reversible contraception post-pregnancy as recommended in the 2014 Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer, The Health of the 51%: Women, and in NICE guidelines on postnatal care.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government’s Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England sets out the need to increase access to all methods of contraception including long acting (LARC) methods and that better support is needed to access contraception after childbirth. Local authorities are mandated to provide access to the full range of contraception services and should work with clinical commissioning groups to ensure that contraception is discussed and all methods of contraception, including LARC, are accessible as part of the post-natal maternity pathway. Further guidance will be available in Public Health England’s Missed Opportunities in Pregnancy report. This addresses the missed opportunities for the provision of contraception along the maternity, abortion and early pregnancy loss pathways, and is now in the final stage of revisions and is expected to be published later in 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-01-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what commitment they have made to supporting HIV support services to enable people with HIV to cope with their new diagnosis and prevent onward transmission.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Care Act 2014 sets out the legal framework for social care in England, and this applies to all adults with support needs including those whose living with HIV. Our Framework for Sexual Health Improvement (2013) a copy of which is attached, highlights the importance of early testing and diagnosis of HIV so that people can receive effective HIV treatment and help prevent new transmissions. In 2014 Public Health England published Making it work, a copy of which attached, setting out guidance to support collaborative local commissioning across all sexual health services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-04-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the status of Public Health England’s Missed Opportunity Programme referenced in the 2014 Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer, and whether they will place in the Library of the House any research findings related to that programme.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government’s Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England sets out the need to increase access to all methods of contraception including long acting (LARC) methods and that better support is needed to access contraception after childbirth. Local authorities are mandated to provide access to the full range of contraception services and should work with clinical commissioning groups to ensure that contraception is discussed and all methods of contraception, including LARC, are accessible as part of the post-natal maternity pathway. Further guidance will be available in Public Health England’s Missed Opportunities in Pregnancy report. This addresses the missed opportunities for the provision of contraception along the maternity, abortion and early pregnancy loss pathways, and is now in the final stage of revisions and is expected to be published later in 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-01-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there has been an increase in the rate of abortions among women over the age of 24 since 2010, and if so, what assessment they have made of the cause.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We have made no such assessment.

Rates of abortions for women aged 25 and over, England, 2010-2014

Year	Rate per thousand women
2014	13.72
2013	13.43
2012	12.97
2011	13.30
2010	12.82

Source: Office for National Statistics

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-04-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to prevent the spread of gonorrhoea in England.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Public Health England (PHE) undertakes a number of actions to limit the spread of gonorrhoea and other sexually transmitted infections in populations most at risk of infection in England, which are outlined in PHE’s Strategic Action Plan for Health promotion for sexual and reproductive health and HIV. These activities are focused on (i) developing and providing high quality surveillance data to monitor rates of gonorrhoea and related antimicrobial resistance, (ii) producing national guidance and a service specification template to optimise infection detection, (iii) maintaining effective treatment by advising on national treatment guidelines, promoting good prescribing practice and updating national guidance on the management of gonorrhoea in primary care, (iv) leading the public health response to local and national outbreaks to control wider dissemination in the population (v) supporting high quality case and partner management by providing expert advice, (vi) improving prevention by raising awareness in professionals and affected communities through local and national campaigns, and (vii) co-leading research to improve the evidence base. A copy of the Strategic Action Plan is attached.