§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what progress he has achieved in establishing a baseline for policy appraisal against which to measure progress on equal treatment; [48010]
(2) will list the subject of each gender impact assessment drawn up by his Department since June 1997, indicating in each case whether the outcome has been (a) put out to consultation and (b) published. [48012]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 10 April 2002]: The Department of Health is committed to providing equality of opportunity in all aspects of its work and gender is one aspect to be considered along with race, disability, age and sexual orientation. All policy development must support of the core principles in the NHS Plan, one of which states that the NHS of the 21st century must be responsive to the needs of different groups and individuals within society and challenge discrimination on the grounds of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability and sexuality. The Department has been working with the Women and Equality unit on the production of the health section of its forthcoming publication "Key Indicators of Women's Position in Britain".
1242WThe Department has also been working in collaboration with the Women and Equality Unit at the Cabinet Office on two case studies to test out the methodology developed by the Unit for assessing gender impact. These are the development of the National Service Framework for Diabetes and the implementation of the National Service Framework for Mental Health. These case studies are nearing completion.
The Diabetes National Service Framework was announced in April 1999 and the standard document to support the NSF was published in December 2001. The report of the use of the Gender Impact Assessment tool in the production of these standards is expected to be published via the Cabinet Office website in the near future. The Diabetes National Service Framework: Standards were developed with the help of an expert reference group with a wide range of representative interests, including service users. The Delivery Strategy will be published later this year and consultation on the contents is being undertaken through the department's website.
Gender impact assessment has been used in developing a strategy around women's mental health. The development of a strategy was announced in March 2001. A consultation document on the women's mental health strategy is to be published in the next few months. A three month formal consultation period will follow.