Baroness Barker: My Lords, this issue has been a football between health and social care for many decades. We have never sorted out whose responsibility it is to do assessments and to make sure that those who are assessed know about the local services to which they can apply. How will the Government sort out that fundamental part of the problem?
Baroness Barker: My Lords, the Statement says that this is about teaching children facts, not pushing the agendas of campaign groups. With that in mind, will the Minister provide details of the groups which lobbied for this change? The Government will of course have done due diligence, so she can give us details of their ideology and funding? Can she say what meetings Ministers and their advisers had with the...
Baroness Barker: My Lords, I too pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley. She and I have sat on a number of Select Committees in recent days, and I have to say that she was excellent as the chair of this committee. She steered us through the depression of weeks on end of people coming to tell us how the IT problems in the NHS were really difficult—and somebody else’s fault. She also took us...
Baroness Barker: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions the Minister for Women and Equalities, or her officials or advisers, have had with Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) about the EHRC's investigation of Baroness Falkner of Margravine; and what assessment they have made of the conduct of that investigation, including the EHRC's decisions to suspend and later to terminate it.
Baroness Barker: To ask His Majesty's Government on which dates since 24 July 2018 the Minister for Women and Equalities contacted officers or board members of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and discussed the Commission’s operational matters; in each case, what operational matters were discussed, and what were the outcomes of those discussions.
Baroness Barker: My Lords, I wish to put on record that although my noble friend and I have very different views, as a matter of principle I defend her right to make her views known, and I hope she will understand why I respectfully disagree with her. I absolutely agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy of The Shaws: she is spot on. This Bill is part of a far wider anti-gender, anti-LGBT attack on human...
Baroness Barker: It is not uncommon for health professionals to have different views and for their views to develop over time. However, I would much rather listen to either of those than to a hand-picked political committee making political decisions on what should really be a health matter. This is a Trojan horse, and I really hope we will see through it. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Moylan, for unveiling,...
Baroness Barker: To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current level of provision for sexual and reproductive healthcare in England and the case for a workforce plan in this sector.
Baroness Barker: My Lords, I thank all noble Lords and the Minister. Their participation at this late stage is very much appreciated. I also thank the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, the British HIV Association, the Terrence Higgins Trust and the National AIDS Trust for their briefings for this debate. I draw the House’s attention to my role as co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on...
Baroness Barker: My Lords, does the Minister agree with us on these Benches that there should be a statutory two-month period between diagnosis and access to appropriate treatment for any cancer patient? In order to achieve that, there needs to be further investment in radiography training and an equitable distribution of trainee radiographers and qualified radiographers across the country. How will the...
Baroness Barker: To ask His Majesty's Government what were the terms of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s standard non disclosure agreement prior to 1 December 2020.
Baroness Barker: To ask His Majesty's Government what are the terms of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s standard non-disclosure agreement that have been used since 1 December 2020.
Baroness Barker: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 6 February (HL1836), how many former Chief Executives of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) have signed a specific non-disclosure agreement with regard to their work at the EHRC which is separate from, or additional to, any standard confidentiality clauses as part of their contracts of employment.
Baroness Barker: To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals have left the leadership team of the Equality and Human Rights Commission since 1 December 2020; what roles those individuals had upon leaving; on what dates they left; for how long they had occupied the role; how long they had been employed by the Commission; and how many had signed a non-disclosure agreement as part of their departure.
Baroness Barker: My Lords, neurological conditions require diagnosis by a specialist. Thereafter, the individuals need the input of people from all the different disciplines of the NHS. At the moment, the expectation to manage that falls upon GPs, and they cannot manage it. The key people who can are specialist nurses, and we have a severe deficit of specialist nurses for several neurological conditions. Can...
Baroness Barker: My Lords, does the Minister agree that the purpose of such policies and posts is to ensure that everybody recruited to the services can excel in the job that they are appointed to do? That has often not been the case in past decades, particularly for the LGBT community. When will the forces, specifically the RAF, update the medical basis on which they make decisions about the fitness of...
Baroness Barker: To ask His Majesty's Government how many HIV testing kits were supplied between 1 and 7 February 2021, and of those, how many positive HIV tests were recorded.
Baroness Barker: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the demographic profile of requesting an HIV testing kit during National HIV Testing Week in each of the years 2020 to 2023 inclusive.
Baroness Barker: To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of those requesting an HIV testing kit during National HIV Testing Week tested positive in each of the years 2020 to 2023 inclusive.
