Baroness Gale: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to mark White Ribbon Day on 25 November.
Baroness Gale: To ask His Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 1 December 2022 (HL Deb col 1869), what progress they have made in evaluating the pilot of the Support for Migrant Victims scheme; and when, if at all, they intend to rescind their reservation on Article 59 of the European Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence...
Baroness Gale: While I thank the Minister for his reply, it is practically identical to the one that he gave me on 1 December last year. How long does it take to evaluate a pilot scheme? This has been going on now for more than two years. How much longer is it going to take and, when it is accepted, will he report back to the House so that the Government can then consider removing the reservation on Article 59?
Baroness Gale: I thank my noble friend Lady Warwick for taking this debate on behalf of my noble friend Lady Drake, who I trust will be back in good health very soon. How many times has this House debated this topic? It has been many, many times. Have things improved? It does not seem like they have. The statistics on violence against women and girls show that this is still a very big problem. There are now...
Baroness Gale: My Lords, does the Minister agree that access to abortion advice and lawful treatment should be a right given to women and girls so that they understand that they are entitled to help, advice and support and can confidently seek that help promptly? More information should be available so that situations that happened during Covid lockdown, when women and girls did not have access to...
Baroness Gale: To ask His Majesty's Government what measures the NHS workforce plan will include to support a sustainable NHS mental health workforce in England.
Baroness Gale: To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect a report from the Office for National Statistics on the number of victims of domestic abuse of those over the age of 74.
Baroness Gale: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 27 April 2022 (HL7869), when they expect to receive the Animal Welfare Committee’s updated opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing.
Baroness Gale: To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to remove the reservation on Article 59 of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, now that they have ratified the convention.
Baroness Gale: I have to say that I expected that Answer from the Minister but I thank him anyway. Is he aware that Southall Black Sisters, which was running the pilot scheme, has said that the scheme has a different focus on Article 59 and therefore should not be used to justify the reservation? Will he agree to meet representatives from SBS so that they can explain why they do not believe there is a need...
Baroness Gale: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that NHS staff providing care to people with Parkinson's are given training on the importance of time-critical medication.
Baroness Gale: Is the Minister aware that the commissioner for older people in Wales was first appointed in 2008, as the first such commissioner in the world? If the Minister looks on the website of Heléna Herklots, our commissioner for older people, she will see the valuable work that is done. The commissioner is a direct voice for older people to the Welsh Labour Government. I will read out her aims:...
Baroness Gale: My Lords, what consideration has been given to allow women who need treatment for the menopause to have free prescriptions, as they do in Wales, for example, where no one has to pay for any prescriptions, and in Scotland and Northern Ireland? Only in England are there prescription fees. Free prescriptions would be a great help to women and would remove a financial barrier to accessing treatment.
Baroness Gale: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the commitment in their policy paper Gender equality at every stage: a roadmap for change, published in July 2019, to provide an annual progress report to Parliament, where the reports they have already made can be found; and when they plan to publish their next report.
Baroness Gale: I thank the Minister very much for her response to the debate. We met only yesterday; she is always willing to meet and have discussions, and I thank her for that. I thank all noble Baronesses and noble Lords for their contributions today. There is no doubt that we can say that this has been a wide-ranging debate. Today we have covered a whole range of political life: women on boards; women...
Baroness Gale: My Lords, today, as we look at the status of women since 2010, we see a cost of living crisis that affects most people but especially mothers bringing up their children on their own. We see many women fearing that they will be attacked as they walk the streets at night on their own. There have been a number of tragic cases where women have been murdered when all they were doing was walking...
Baroness Gale: My Lords, 10 years ago today the Government signed the Istanbul convention and they recently issued a Written Statement saying that they will ratify it with reservations on Articles 44 and 59. Why are there such reservations, particularly on Article 59, which deals with migrant women and requires a Government to grant residence to victims whose immigration status depends on their partners or...
