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🗣️ Speeches and Debates
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Modern Service Framework for Dementia and Frailty will improve dementia diagnosis, ensure robust and acceptable clinical data and performance metrics and enable access to innovative treatments – Lord Weir of Ballyholme. Short debate
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My Lords, I refer to my registered interests in the FE sector. Although there is an excellent job being done by schools and FE bodies in support of young people aged 16-19, we sometimes concentrate on the institutions rather than the individual students. There is a concern that some young people with additional needs do not necessarily fit into the funding categories. What additional steps...
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My Lords, I welcome the remarks made so far by the Minister. We are aware of the drivers and that hypertension can lead to strokes and heart attacks. In particular, about 5% to 10% of those with hypertension have resistant hypertension. I ask the Minister specifically: when the cardiovascular disease modern service framework is published, will the Government consider explicitly defining...
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My Lords, it is welcome that the Government seem to be setting national targets for dementia diagnosis. But targets are valuable only if they are accompanied by timeframes, not simply for diagnosis but for a treatment plan. Will the Government consider proposals such as from Alzheimer’s Research UK, which talks about an 18-week target for diagnosis and the development of a treatment plan...
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My Lords, the Best Start Family Hubs offer an opportunity for positive progress. However, if we are to provide the most assistance to families, particularly those with SEND children, it will require an integrated and holistic approach from the Government. Can the Minister outline how family hubs will integrate with the Government’s proposed reforms to SEND and their response to the Milburn...
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My Lords, early intervention can clearly be critical, but one of the barriers to early access, particularly to new drugs, is the current modelling of NICE. I think there is a level of criticism of its cost-benefit analysis in that sometimes it does not take sufficient cognisance of the health and economic impact, not simply on the person suffering from dementia but on the family and the...
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I thank the noble Lord for giving way. As he indicated, over 300 disability groups have expressed concerns about this. I do not think that a single disability group has come out in favour of it. That has led, in part, to the problems that we have faced. There has been a wide range of amendments, particularly those put down by the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, as well as those put down...
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It is Amendment 553B. As part of that, the commissioner should offer a reasonable opportunity for the person to consult the advocate before a decision is made. Flowing from that, there would then be recorded written reasons for whether that meeting has taken place, whether the offer has been taken up and, arising from that, whether any concerns have arisen from that contact. The point is that...
More of Lord Weir of Ballyholme's speeches and debates
✍️ Written Questions and Answers
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To ask His Majesty's Government when the duty-free allowance for cigarettes when travelling from an EU airport to the UK was introduced; how and when it has changed over the last ten years; and what the rationale for any change was.
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To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for the 9 per cent increase in scientific procedures using dogs in 2025, set out in the annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2025.
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To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure the Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia establishes care co-ordination as a minimum national expectation for the care of those living with dementia; and whether the Modern Service Framework will include associated outcome measures.
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To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the government of Ireland in relation to cooperation with the work and investigations of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery.
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To ask His Majesty's Government how many people were recruited into the National Institute for Health and Care Research supported phase 3 trials for (1) dementia, (2) cancer, (3) stroke, and (4) coronary heart disease, in 2025–26.
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To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to project 4 in the non-technical summaries of project licences granted January-March 2026 that require a retrospective assessment under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, what assessment they have made of the scientific validity of implanting devices into the skulls of non-human primates while they play video games.
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To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to project 4 in the non-technical summaries of project licences granted January-March 2026 that require a retrospective assessment under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, what assessment they have made of the ethical implications of withholding food and fluid from non-human primates to induce them to perform behavioural tasks.
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To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to combat people smuggling gangs using the Republic of Ireland as a route to gain entry to the United Kingdom for illegal migrants.
More of Lord Weir of Ballyholme's written questions
