§ Jackie BallardTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the women's organisations which have been consulted over proposed legislation by his Department during this session; and if their responses have been published. [87189]
§ Ms JowellThe Government are committed to making sure that policies are inclusive and take full account of the needs and experience of all those affected by them. Guidelines on Policy Appraisals for Equal Treatment published in November 1998 commit policy makers to assessing how proposals affect different groups of people.
Application of the guidance is the responsibility of individual Departments. The Department is in regular contact with a wide variety of voluntary organisations within the health and personal social services field, seeking views on such matters as relevant aspects of proposed legislative change and the development of general policy, including those organisations receiving funding from the Department. Although some of these organisations seek to focus exclusively upon women's issues, the large majority would reflect the more generic views of their members, including often a significant proportion of women. We are currently funding and are 566W in regular contact with the Women's Aid Federation of England on matters of mutual interest in relation to issues of domestic violence, while we would also expect to take the views of a wide range of organisations active in the field of young or elderly people, for example, with a substantial number of women among their membership.