Tag: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2016-05-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to support the establishment of independent international monitoring mechanisms in Yemen to investigate human rights violations on all sides of the conflict.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK supported a UN Human Rights Council resolution in October 2015, which called on the UN to provide technical assistance to the Government of Yemen, assist the Yemeni National Independent Commission of Inquiry, and report back to the next session of the Human Rights Council. The UK welcomes Yemen’s commitment to cooperate with the UN on protection of human rights. It is important to continue to support this process until the Commission has reported back to the Human Rights Council in September 2016 where the discussions about the need for any alternative measures can be properly informed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) children under 9 years of age, (2) children aged between 9 and 16 inclusive, and (3) adults over 18, have been diagnosed with autism in each of the last five years.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The number of children, young people and adults diagnosed with autism by the National Health Service is not collected centrally. Latest figures from the School Census (2015) state that there were 90,775 pupils with an autistic spectrum disorder at state funded schools and non-maintained special schools in England. This has increased from a total of 56,250 in 2010 who were recorded as having a primary need of autism, but it is not directly comparable to the 2015 figures because of a change in collection methodology. Local authority areas provide information for Public Health England’s annual self-assessment exercise on implementing the Autism Strategy. This includes the number of adults receiving an autism diagnosis but because information is submitted on a voluntary basis a complete total for England is not available.

The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis and support in a timely manner. NHS England has commenced a programme to visit clinical commissioning groups to identify and share good practice in accessing autism diagnosis, and look at possible barriers. The Department is funding the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services to support this work. NHS England will complete a report on this by the end of April 2016.

The Department is also encouraging the autism third sector to work together and the four charity representatives on the Cross Government Autism Programme Board, which oversees the implementation of the Autism Strategy, gave presentations at the meeting on 18 February on work they are doing to increase public awareness. The charities are the National Autistic Society, the Autism Alliance UK, Autism Plus and Ambitious about Autism. The Autism Alliance UK is also being funded by the Department to undertake work with national and local organisations, to make reasonable adjustments to services and to train staff to be aware of what autism can mean to individuals who have the condition and their families.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre’s publication Estimating the Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Conditions in Adults – Extending the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) gave the overall prevalence of autism in England as 1.1% (95% confidence interval 0.3% to 1.9%). Among adults with learning disabilities living in private households whose learning disability was sufficiently severe that they could not have taken part in the 2007 APMS, the prevalence of autism was 35.4% (95% confidence interval 24.7% to 46.2%). Among adults with mild or severe learning disabilities living in communal care establishments, the prevalence of autism was 31% (95% confidence interval 23.9% to 38%). Detailed supporting information regarding the underlying data and how figures have been derived is found within the detail of the report, a copy of which is attached.

The APMS was repeated in 2014 and findings are scheduled to be published in September 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2016-05-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are providing support to the central bank of Yemen to avert financial collapse.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) is a key Yemeni institution. We have made sure that the economy and the state of the CBY are not ignored during the peace talks in Kuwait. We continue to lobby the Government of Yemen and the Houthis and Pro-Saleh General People’s Congress at the highest levels to emphasise the seriousness of the economic situation, including pressing for all Yemeni parties to cooperate, take ownership of the issues, and ensure key institutions such as the CBY are protected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of long-term trends in the prevalence of autism in the UK.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The number of children, young people and adults diagnosed with autism by the National Health Service is not collected centrally. Latest figures from the School Census (2015) state that there were 90,775 pupils with an autistic spectrum disorder at state funded schools and non-maintained special schools in England. This has increased from a total of 56,250 in 2010 who were recorded as having a primary need of autism, but it is not directly comparable to the 2015 figures because of a change in collection methodology. Local authority areas provide information for Public Health England’s annual self-assessment exercise on implementing the Autism Strategy. This includes the number of adults receiving an autism diagnosis but because information is submitted on a voluntary basis a complete total for England is not available.

The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis and support in a timely manner. NHS England has commenced a programme to visit clinical commissioning groups to identify and share good practice in accessing autism diagnosis, and look at possible barriers. The Department is funding the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services to support this work. NHS England will complete a report on this by the end of April 2016.

The Department is also encouraging the autism third sector to work together and the four charity representatives on the Cross Government Autism Programme Board, which oversees the implementation of the Autism Strategy, gave presentations at the meeting on 18 February on work they are doing to increase public awareness. The charities are the National Autistic Society, the Autism Alliance UK, Autism Plus and Ambitious about Autism. The Autism Alliance UK is also being funded by the Department to undertake work with national and local organisations, to make reasonable adjustments to services and to train staff to be aware of what autism can mean to individuals who have the condition and their families.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre’s publication Estimating the Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Conditions in Adults – Extending the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) gave the overall prevalence of autism in England as 1.1% (95% confidence interval 0.3% to 1.9%). Among adults with learning disabilities living in private households whose learning disability was sufficiently severe that they could not have taken part in the 2007 APMS, the prevalence of autism was 35.4% (95% confidence interval 24.7% to 46.2%). Among adults with mild or severe learning disabilities living in communal care establishments, the prevalence of autism was 31% (95% confidence interval 23.9% to 38%). Detailed supporting information regarding the underlying data and how figures have been derived is found within the detail of the report, a copy of which is attached.

The APMS was repeated in 2014 and findings are scheduled to be published in September 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2016-05-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports of increased malnutrition and starvation in Yemen.

Baroness Verma

The United Nations report that 14.4 million people in Yemen are facing food insecurity, of which 7.6 million are facing severe food shortages, as cited in the UN’s 2016 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan. The UK government uses this UN report as one if its primary data sources. A number of humanitarian organisations have recently highlighted the acute food security and livelihood needs in Yemen, and the fact that food insecurity is likely to continue at a critical level in the coming months.

The security situation in Yemen is impacting the ability of humanitarian organisations to access populations to deliver assistance, and to make assessments of their needs. The UK continues to remind all parties to the conflict to take all reasonable steps to facilitate rapid and safe access for humanitarian agencies to all people in need in Yemen. This is essential to ensure that the international community has an accurate understanding of the levels of need in the country, including food insecurity.

The UK is the 4^th largest donor to the crisis in Yemen and has more than doubled its humanitarian support over the last year to £85 million for 2015/16. We work through UN agencies and NGOs, including the World Food Programme who provide emergency food support to over 570,000 people, through direct delivery of food or the provision of cash or food vouchers. We have also provided £21.7 million in 2015/16 to UNICEF for the provision of health and nutrition services through hospitals and mobile clinics. We are also funding the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism to improve the supply of essential commercial goods, including food, into Yemen.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2015-09-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether NHS England’s Maternity Safety Thermometer will be updated to include a function to allow units to compare their data by (1) singleton, and (2) multiple, pregnancies; and if so, how they plan to use this information to drive improvements in care.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Maternity Safety Thermometer includes a function to allow staff to record whether the pregnancy in question was a singleton or multiple pregnancy. National Health Service providers who use the Maternity Safety Thermometer are therefore able to collect and use this information to drive improvements in care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2015-09-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Care Quality Commission’s final report outlining the findings of their national maternity survey will include a specific summary setting out the experience of multiple birth mothers.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. The CQC has advised that the responses to the national survey of National Health Service maternity services are currently being collated and analysed. Until all of this data has been analysed it is not possible for the CQC to comment on what will be included in the final report.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2015-09-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of multiple pregnancies result in one or more babies with (1) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, (2) Attention Deficit Disorder, (3) cerebral palsy, and (4) speech and language delays; and what estimate they have made of the additional costs to families and public services in addressing each of those needs.

Lord Prior of Brampton

This information is not collected centrally.

The majority of the conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder, cerebral palsy and speech and language delays identified in the question would only become apparent later in life. The Hospital Episode Statistics, which are collected by Health and Social Care Information Centre does not hold this data.

There has been no assessment made of the cost to families or public services of the implications of these conditions in multiple pregnancies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2015-09-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the National Health Service Litigation Authority’s Sign Up to Safety maternity-related projects include measures to improve the care of multiple pregnancies; and if so, when they expect to report the findings on those projects.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Under the Sign up to Safety Scheme £8 Million has been awarded to 25 maternity units who submitted a successful bid to the National Health Service Litigation Authority incentivisation scheme. Most of the successful bids related to improvements in foetal monitoring (equipment and training) supervision, human factors and team working or a combination of these themes.

All 51 bids (successful and unsuccessful) had to demonstrate a link to their claims. As such none of the bids made a specific reference to multiple births, the focus was on the causes within maternity that resulted in a particular injury outcome, for example resulting in brain damage

A full evaluation of the impact of this scheme will be available next year.