Baroness Finlay of Llandaff — Hansard

Lords Oral Questions 4 November 2025

The first thing is to ensure the application of the Online Safety Act, and we look to Ofcom in that regard. We will increase access to evidence-based digital interventions, to help patients access treatment in a variety of ways but also potentially to reduce unnecessary GP appointments and A&E a…

Lords Committee Stage 30 October 2025 2 contributions

Tobacco and Vapes Bill

My Lords, I too support the amendment, and I have a question for those who have tabled it, which relates to proposed new subsection (2)(b), saying the product is “not intended to be inhaled or chewed”. I am afraid that as someone who has been looking at tobacco control measures for many years now,…

I completely take that criticism; it is a fair comment. However, we know the damage to the brain microvasculature from smoking over the long term and that these substances are highly addictive. We also know that when we previously took through tobacco control measures, we never anticipated vapes or …

Lords Oral Questions 22 October 2025

Drink-Drive Limit

The noble Baroness is right. The primary audience of THINK!, the flagship road safety campaign, is young men aged 17 to 24. The campaign targets priority issues, such as drink-driving and speeding, as well as communicating key policy interventions. There is, of course, a form of restricting novice d…

Lords Debate 16 October 2025

Crime and Policing Bill

My Lords, I am deeply concerned about the process—or lack of it—around Clause 191, which was tacked to the end of an unrelated Bill via a Back-Bench amendment in the Commons, with just 46 minutes of Back-Bench debate. Many MPs wanting to speak were unable to; this is not a responsible way to make la…

Lords Debate 13 October 2025

Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [HL]

My Lords, I shall speak briefly on these amendments; first, about safety. I bring the House’s attention to the fact that, although we had a debate in Committee on the question of safety with regard to blind and disabled people, particularly at bus stops, to speak from memory, my noble friend the Min…

Lords Debate 19 September 2025

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

My Lords, it is a privilege to participate in this important debate and a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, and her excellent speech. I would like to add my words to those of many colleagues who have already spoken of their deep concerns about this assisted dying Bill, not out of a…

Lords Debate 18 September 2025

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

My Lords, I have a probing amendment in this group, which came about because it struck me that we need to be prepared to think of the unthinkable. Sadly, there have been some tragedies in different schools in different places. There have been bus crashes and knifings. We know that defibrillators on …

Lords Debate 16 September 2025

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

My Lords, the hour is late. I have my name on some of these amendments. I simply say that the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has highlighted that around 16% of children aged five to 16 now have a mental health disorder. CAMHS cannot cope with this. The amendment in the name of the nob…

Lords Oral Questions 4 September 2025

European Framework Programme 10

I have regular meetings with Ministers from the devolved Administrations. Most recently, they were around some of the issues to do with REF. Unfortunately, the meeting with the Welsh Minister was cancelled twice by them, but I will none the less persist.

Lords Proceedings 24 July 2025

Infected Blood Inquiry: Additional Report

My Lords, I thank the Minister for taking a personal interest in this appalling, sad history, which has gone on for so long, and for recognising that there is a need to really speed things up. The slower it is, the worse the agony. Wrong has happened and recognising that is crucial. I am also glad …

Lords Oral Questions 17 July 2025 2 contributions

Specialty Medical Training

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow my noble friend Lady Finlay and to thank the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, for the very thoughtful way in which he introduced this debate. In so doing, I remind noble Lords of my own registered interest as chairman of King’s Health Partners. As the noble Lord,…

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, for instigating this debate and the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, and noble Lords for their contributions. We have had a rich discussion. I will not be able to answer all the points raised, as I am sure noble Lords are aware, but this is extremely topic…

Lords Oral Questions 14 July 2025

Advertising Restrictions on Less Healthy Food

The different determinants of health are vital. We have laid out the commercial ones, which is why we are discussing today dealing with advertising, in particular, and other issues. On 12 December 2024, the Government published the revised National Planning Policy Framework. It is fundamental that l…

Lords Proceedings 9 July 2025

NHS 10-Year Plan

My Lords, from these Benches, we too send best wishes to the noble Baroness, Lady Merron. The stress on prevention in this plan is welcome, but it does not adequately address the commercial determinants of ill health. On every high street there is alcohol for sale which does not have minimum unit p…

Lords Oral Questions 7 July 2025

Prisons: Mothers and Babies

I am not familiar with the exact details on testing, but I know that we have mandatory drug testing in all prisons on a regular basis. I am also aware, from having foster children at home, that when we opened the fridge we used to be careful whether we got out the Calpol or the methadone. Too many d…

Lords Debate 18 June 2025

Employment Rights Bill

Does the noble Baroness wish to move her amendment?

Lords Committee Stage 17 June 2025 2 contributions

Human Medicines (Amendments Relating to Hub and Spoke Dispensing etc.) Regulations 2025

My Lords, I thank the Minister for outlining the purpose behind and need for these regulations. On these Liberal Democrat Benches, we are of course open to innovation and efficiency in our healthcare system. We recognise the potential for modernising practices to streamline operations, to reduce bu…

Perhaps it might be helpful to noble Lords if I refer to the Competition and Markets Authority in this regard because it noted that the proposed amendments that we are speaking of today are broadly competitive. It also acknowledged that there could be potential long-term competition risks if the mar…

Lords Oral Questions 17 June 2025

Learning Disabilities Nursing

The noble Baroness is quite right. One of the difficulties is that sometimes there is misdiagnosis, where it is incorrectly assumed, for the very reasons that the noble Baroness gives, that the presenting condition is the learning disability when actually it is a different condition. I agree about t…

Lords Debate 12 June 2025

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Meston, has highlighted the problem of large sibling groups. I want to draw attention to a very specific group, which is bereaved children. Sometimes there are several children in a single-parent family and, when that one parent dies, often the children left behind are…

Lords Debate 11 June 2025 3 contributions

Holocaust Memorial Bill

My Lords, I added my name to this amendment. I heed very closely the words of my noble friend Lord Carlile of Berriew; we have to look at the balance of risks. I will not go through the details of the substances that I looked at because I do not want to fuel any terrorist activity, but I worry that …

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Lords Debate 9 June 2025 3 contributions

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

My Lords, this is an extremely important amendment. I have a slight concern that the Minister in replying may say that the Crime and Policing Bill is the place for such an amendment, but the problem with the proposals in that Bill is that they are based on age, whereas this amendment is much more su…

My Lords, the long title of this Bill starts by stating that it is to: “Make provision about the safeguarding and welfare of children”. The Bill’s focus on well-being will be undermined if we allow intergenerational cycles of violence towards children to remain perpetuated. Amendment 67, along wit…

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Lords Oral Questions 9 June 2025

Social Care and Special Education Charities: Employer National Insurance Contributions

I do not think I can give a positive answer to the main thrust of the noble Baroness’s question. As she will know, and as I said already, the Government are making available £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025-26. We will set out future years’ allocations in the sp…

Lords Debate 5 June 2025

Employment Rights Bill

My Lords, I was unfortunately delayed in getting here for the start of the previous group of amendments. I had added my name to the amendments on education. However, I am delighted to be here. I would have added my name to the amendment in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, if I had realis…

Lords Debate 22 May 2025 6 contributions

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

My Lords, briefly, these clauses are going to be incredibly important to empower information sharing, but I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, for having raised so many of the practical concerns. The noble Lord, Lord Meston, has just asked for some objective criteria, but from my experience in g…

My Lords, I support the amendments in this group and strongly congratulate the Government on having picked up the concept of a unique child identifier. I was part of the group, with the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler, when we did not get there on previous legislation, and we were told that one reason wa…

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Lords Debate 20 May 2025

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

My Lords, in responding I hope the Minister will be able to point out that the purpose of the Bill has a golden spine running through it, and that is the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The different clauses should be able to read across to the convention, and wherever the child is and wha…

Lords Proceedings 20 May 2025

NHS and Care Volunteer Responders Service

My Lords, I declare an interest as president of Attend. Can the Minister explain how, in the new system, the Government will work with an organisation such as Attend, which provides insurance, legal advice, financial services and networking to a whole series of agencies that provide volunteers acros…