Answered 2 Feb 2015 – Written Question 222055, Homosexuality

Question, Diana Johnson MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which organisations (a) were invited to and (b) attended roundtable discussions with him regarding conversion therapy in early March or late April 2014.

Answer, Norman Lamb MP: The Department invited the following organisations to a round table event to discuss gay conversion therapy on 2 April 2014:

Association of Christian Counsellors

British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies

British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy

British Psychoanalytic Council

British Psychological Society

Department of Communities and Local Government

General Medical Council

Royal College of General Practitioners

Health and Care Professions Council

National Counselling Society

NHS England

PACE

Pink Therapy

Relate

Royal College of Psychiatrists

Stonewall

UK Council for Psychotherapy

The following organisations were also invited but were unable to attend.

Inter Faith Network

Professional Standards Authority

Answered 2 Feb 2015 – Written Question 222102, Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care

Question, Diana Johnson MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which voluntary registers have applied for accreditation as accredited voluntary registers with the Professional Standards Authority (PSA); and which such registers are (a) awaiting a decision and (b) have been rejected by the PSA.

Answer, Dan Poulter MP: Seventeen voluntary registers have been accredited by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) since it commenced the process in February 2013, as listed below

1. Academy for Healthcare Science

2. Alliance of Private Sector Practitioners

3. Association of Child Psychotherapists

4. British Acupuncture Council

5. British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy

6. British Association of Play Therapists

7. British Association of Sport Rehabilitators and Trainers

8. British Psychoanalytic Council

9. Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council

10. COSCA (Counselling & Psychotherapy in Scotland)

11. Federation of Holistic Therapists

12. National Counselling Society

13. National Hypnotherapy Society

14. Play Therapy UK

15. Society of Homeopaths

16. UK Council for Psychotherapy

17. UK Public Health Register

The accreditation is valid for one year and subject to review. No organisations have been rejected outright at initial application, although three have been approved with conditions. None to date have failed to be reaccredited at the annual review.

The PSA are currently considering three applications for accreditation.

Answered 14 Feb 2014 – Written Question 185912, Sexuality

Question, Diana Johnson MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received on conversion therapy.

Answer, Norman Lamb MP: The Department has recently received a number of representations on conversion therapy, including three parliamentary questions, 35 pieces of correspondence and an adjournment debate which took place in Westminster Hall on 20 November 2013.

We have also received a number of representations on the regulation of psychotherapists, some of which have been prompted by concerns around conversion therapy or the Private Member’s ‘Counsellors and Psychotherapists (Regulation) Bill 2013-14’ which contains a requirement for a code of practice which “must include a prohibition on gay to straight conversion therapy”.

The Department is working with the UK Council for Psychotherapy and NHS England to minimise the risk that lesbians, gay men and bisexual people who seek counselling about their sexuality will encounter therapists attempting to change their sexual orientation because the therapist considers that being gay is wrong.

Answered 4 Feb 2014 – Written Question 185916, Homelessness: Sexuality

Question, Diana Johnson MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what statistics the Government keeps on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender homelessness.

Answer, Kris Hopkins MP: The Government do not collect any statistics on the numbers of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people who are homeless. The Housing Act 1996 provides that a person has a priority need for accommodation if he or she is vulnerable for any “other special reason”. The legislation envisages that vulnerability can arise because of factors that are not expressly provided for in statute. This will include any lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered people who are vulnerable as a result of losing their home.

Answered 5 Dec 2013 – Written Question 177983, Health Professions: Registration

Question, Diana Johnson MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what governance arrangements professional bodies are required to meet before being approved on the accredited voluntary register by the Professional Standards Authority.

Answer, Dan Poulter MP: The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care has provided information about the standards in governance which an organisation must demonstrate it complies with in order to obtain accreditation by the PSA of the organisation’s voluntary register. This information is contained in the PSA’s document “Accredited Voluntary Registers: Standards for organisations holding a voluntary register for health and social care occupations”. Standards 2 and 7 of this document specifically refer to the governance standards which an organisation must demonstrate before the PSA will accredit the organisation’s voluntary register. A copy of this document has been placed in the Library.

Answered 5 Dec 2013 – Written Question 177985, Health Professions: Registration

Question, Diana Johnson MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has given clinical commissioning groups and other bodies responsible for the commissioning of NHS services the ability to ensure commissioned services are performed by practitioners registered either with the Health and Care Professions Council or the Accredited Voluntary Register where appropriate.

Answer, Jane Ellison MP: While there are no specific requirements in legislation for commissioners to ensure that practitioners are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council or the Accredited Voluntary Register, they do have the ability to make such checks.

In exercising their commissioning functions, clinical commissioning groups and NHS England are under duties to seek improvement in the quality of services they commission, including improvement in the outcomes achieved, and to exercise those functions effectively. These obligations are set out in the NHS Act and also reflected in regulations.

Answered 22 Nov 2013 – Written Questions  176158 & 176167, Psychiatry

Question, Diana Johnson MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what his policy is on the commissioning by the NHS of psychotherapists who are not part of professional associations; (2) what steps he is taking to ensure that psychotherapists in the UK comply with practitioner full disclosure.

Answer, Dan Poulter MP: The commissioning of psychotherapy services is a matter for clinical commissioning groups, supported by NHS England.

 Answered 21 Nov 2013 – Written Question 176166, Sexuality

Question, Diana Johnson MP: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what her policy is on advertisements of gay-to-straight conversion therapies; and if she will make a statement.

Answer, Helen Grant MP: Advertising in the UK is regulated by the independent Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) which is ultimately responsible for setting the standards in advertising. If advertisements mislead or cause harm or distress, the matter will be dealt with first by the ASA.

Answered 12 Feb 2013 – Written Questions 142816 & 142817, Conversion Therapy 

Question, Diana Johnson MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make it his policy to prohibit the commissioning of conversion therapy by (a) clinical commissioning groups, (b) GP commissioning and (c) the National Commissioning Board; (2) what recent representations he has received on conversion therapy.

Answer, Norman Lamb MP: The Department does not recommend the use of conversion therapy and it is not a National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommended treatment. I do not believe it would be appropriate to commission conversion therapy using public funds. It is for commissioners of NHS services to ensure that treatment and care, including therapy, is provided to every patient without any form of discrimination. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will in future commission the majority of health care services. As public sector organisations, they will be subject to the specific duties of the public sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010. Therefore CCGs must, in the exercise of their functions, have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited under the Act. We have had no other representations on this issue.

Answered 11 Feb 2013, Written Question 142315, NHS: Procurement

Question, Diana Johnson MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the NHS does not commission any services from groups who engage in or promote conversion therapy.

Answer, Norman Lamb MP: The Department does not recommend the use of conversion therapy and it is not a National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommended treatment. It is for commissioners of NHS services to ensure that treatment and care, including therapy, is provided to every patient without any form of discrimination. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will in future commission the majority of health care services. As public sector organisations, they will be subject to the specific duties of the public sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010. Therefore CCGs must, in the exercise of their functions, have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited under the Act.

Answered 13 Nov 2012, Written Question 128315, Psychiatry

Question, Diana Johnson MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the case for introducing a mandatory licensing scheme for psychotherapists.

Answer, Dan Poulter MP: The Government’s view is that any assessment of the case for mandatory statutory regulation of psychotherapists, will only take place in light of the experience of assured voluntary registration.

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 provides for the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence, which is to be renamed the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA), to quality assure voluntary registers of unregulated health care professionals and health care workers in the United Kingdom, social care workers in England, and certain students.

This will allow employers and people who use services to assure themselves that the practitioners they appoint or contract with meet appropriate standards of education, conduct and competence, and apply high ethical standards to their work, without placing an undue regulatory burden on practitioners or taxpayers. Only those registers, which meet the standards set by the PSA, will be able to be accredited.

A number of organisations including ones relevant to psychotherapy have already expressed their interest to the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence in becoming accredited voluntary registers.

Answered 8 Nov 2012, Written Question 127067, Homosexuality

Question, Diana Johnson MP: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what her policy is on conversion and reparative therapies offered to homosexual people by counsellors and psychotherapists.

Answer, Norman Lamb MP:

I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department of Health.

The Department of Health does not condone the concept of therapists offering ‘cures’ for homosexuality. There is no evidence that this sort of treatment is beneficial and indeed it may well cause significant harm, to some patients. It is incumbent on professionals working in the national health service to ensure that treatment and care, including therapy, is provided to every patient without any form of discrimination.

If someone is suffering a mental health problem, clinicians will try to help patients with whatever is causing them distress. This could involve helping someone come to terms with their sexuality, family arguments over their sexuality, or hostility from other people.

We know from research that the incidence of depression, anxiety and suicide within the gay community is significantly higher than within the heterosexual community and this is why “No health without mental health” identifies lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as a specific group for whom a tailored approach to their mental health is necessary.

Answered 7 Nov 2012, Written Question 127068, Psychiatry

Question, Diana Johnson MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government have to introduce a mandatory licensing scheme for psychotherapists; and if he will make a statement.

Answer, Dan Poulter MP: The Government have no plans to introduce statutory regulation for psychotherapists. However, the Health and Social Care Act 2012 provides for the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence, which is to be renamed the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA), to quality assure voluntary registers of unregulated health care professionals and health care workers in the United Kingdom, social care workers in England, and certain students.

The new accreditation scheme is due to be launched on 3 December 2012. A number of organisations, including ones relevant to psychotherapy, have already expressed their interest to the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence in becoming accredited voluntary registers.