The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has updated the patient information leaflets for all valproate-containing medicines to ensure women have access to the latest information on the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children born to women who took the medicine during pregnancy. A pictogram warning of the risks of use in pregnancy has been added to the outer packing of valproate medicines and a patient card is available to provide more detail on actions to take.

The documents that form the basis of the valproate Pregnancy Prevention Program, including a patient guide, have been made available electronically and disseminated as hard copies to doctors and pharmacists to support discussion of the risks with women. Healthcare professionals have been reminded of their responsibility to inform women taking valproate of the risks through letters from the United Kingdom’s Chief Medical Officers and Chief Pharmaceutical Officers and by articles in the MHRA’s electronic bulletin Drug Safety Update.

We are working with the Valproate Stakeholder Network to explore additional ways of improving the reach of regulatory communications through platforms in the healthcare and patient setting.

Data on the general practitioner (GP) to patient ratio for female patients between the ages of 15 to 45 years old with epilepsy is not available at national or regional levels. There is no recommendation for how many patients a GP should have as the demand each patient places on their GP is different and can be affected by various factors, including rurality and patient demographics. When considering the ratio of GPs to patients it is important to consider GPs as part of the wider multidisciplinary team. Getting the skills mix right in general practice is critical in addressing workload pressures as well as in delivering appropriate patient care.

It is too early to assess the long-term financial impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on individual groups, but the Government recognises the challenges that the current crisis is posing to all groups in society, including the most vulnerable.

The Government has delivered an unprecedented package of support, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, and increases to Universal Credit. This has helped protect incomes, jobs, and support those most in need.

The Government remains committed to supporting the lowest-paid workers and helping unemployed people go back into work, and the Government is continuing to review what can be done to support those most vulnerable to job loss and to aid the UK’s economic recovery.

The level of earnings at which workers are automatically enrolled (the earnings trigger) is subject to an annual statutory review. The review includes analysis of the equalities impact and an assessment of reducing the trigger to the National Insurance threshold.

Since 2014/15, the annual reviews have concluded that the earnings trigger be frozen at £10,000. People earning below the trigger have a right to opt in, and if they are earning above the lower earnings limit (£6,240 in 2020-21) they will receive an employer contribution.

Automatic enrolment has hugely increased women’s pension participation, participation across all ethnic groups, and among lower earners. Among eligible women in the private sector, participation has increased from 40% in 2012 to 86% in 2019, equal to men. Among eligible employees in the private sector earning between £10,000 and £20,000, 19% were participating into a workplace pension in 2012. As of 2019, this rate had increased to 79%, a 60 percentage point increase.

Helping people to save for their futures remains a key priority for this Government. We have put in place an unprecedented package of support to strengthen job and income security during the emergency to help workers, including those disproportionately affected, to better manage costs during the crisis, while supporting longer term financial resilience.

We are monitoring the impacts of covid-19 on workplace pension participation and saving levels and are working closely with the pensions industry and across government to understand the impact of the emergency. However, at this stage, it is not possible to draw robust conclusions on the impact of covid-19 including the impact on the self-employed, women and BAME.

Under the Pensions Act 2008, the Department is required to conduct an annual review of the automatic enrolment earnings trigger, as well as the upper and lower limits of the qualifying earnings band (the automatic enrolment thresholds). Section 14 of the Pensions Act 2008 sets out a list of non-exhaustive factors to which the Department may pay regard while conducting the Review, including National Insurance Thresholds. The Department will also have regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) contained in section 149 Equality Act 2010 and the impact on protected characteristics including sex (women) and race (black and ethnic minority groups).

The Departments decision on the review for 2020/21 was announced earlier today. The earnings trigger for 2020/21 will be set at £10,000, striking a necessary balance between bringing in those most likely to benefit from pension saving with affordability for employers.

The full analysis behind the Departments decision for 2020/21 automatic enrolment thresholds including the earnings trigger will be published in due course.