He stated that there were 5 main goals. Firstly, the reforms sought to end the system where there was a choice between claiming and working. Mr Purnell explained that there would be work programmes as a sanction for those abusing the system, and a requirement for all claimants to work when they were able; and a requirement for people with drug dependency to seek support, which he argued would increase their capacity to work.

He then explained that the second goal was that nobody would be written off. He stressed that the Government had created a Pathways to Work programme to support people coming off Incapacity Benefit. This benefit was to be fully replaced by the Employment Support Allowance (ESA) between 2010 and 2013 and all existing claimants would be reassessed. All people would be entitled to support, but would be obliged to take work where a doctor advised it, he added.

The third goal was to improve the conditions of the benefit. He explained that specialist services would ensure that anyone that could benefit from access to work could do and that individual budgets would put disabled people in control.

The fourth goal would be to end child benefit with parents on benefits keeping all of their maintenance payments.

Finally, there would be devolution to advisors, providers and communities. He stressed that this would allow greater flexibility and a service that was focused on local needs - Job Centre Plus would have greater opportunity and flexibility to determine how they dealt with their clients.

Mr Purnell confirmed that all the reforms in the Freud report would be fully implemented. These reforms would simplify the benefit system and would abolish income support and move people onto Job Seekers Allowance (JSA), he stated. He went on to say that the conditionality regime would be appropriate for both the JSA and the ESA, and would not change for carers or parents.

He insisted that in consulting further on these proposals the Government would engage with the public, providers and academics.

She said that NHS boards are responsible for organising maternity care at a local level in line with national guidelines. The Framework for Maternity Services in Scotland supports the principle that good health before and during early pregnancy benefits both mother and baby. Care is tailored to the needs of the individual woman, including careful monitoring of the mother and her babys development. Women are encouraged to eat as healthily as possible and the government is making available funding of 19 million between 2008-11 to improve nutrition of women of childbearing age, pregnant women and children under five in disadvantaged communities.

She noted that by the end of 2008 the government will publish guidance for NHS boards on locally delivered healthy weight strategies. This will highlight the needs of key groups such as pregnant women.

It recommends that midwives and doctors provide women with evidence-based information about a range of key issues such as why induction is being offered, the risks and benefits of induction and different pain relief options, so they can make decisions that are right for them and their baby. Key recommendations from the guideline include:

o Women should be informed that most women will go into labour spontaneously by 42 weeks.

o At the 38 week antenatal visit, all women should be offered information about the risks associated with pregnancies that last longer than 42 weeks, and their options.

o Healthcare professionals should explain the following points to women being offered induction:

- The reasons for induction being offered

- When, where and how induction should be carried out

- The arrangements for support and pain relief

- The alternative options if the woman chooses not to have induction of labour

- The risks and benefits of induction of labour in specific circumstances and the proposed induction methods

- That induction may not be successful and what the woman’s options will be.

o Women with uncomplicated pregnancies should usually be offered induction of labour between 41+0 and 42+0 weeks to avoid the risks of prolonged pregnancy

o If a woman has preterm rupture of the membranes after 34 weeks, the maternity team should discuss the following factors with her before a decision is made about whether to induce labour, using vaginal prostaglandin E2 (PGE2)

- Risks to the woman (e.g. sepsis, possible need for caesarean section)

- Risks to the baby (e.g. problems relating to pre-term birth)

- Local availability of neonatal intensive care facilities.

o If induction fails, the subsequent management options include:

- A further attempt to induce labour (timing should depend on the clinical situation and the woman’s wishes)

- Caesarean section.

Mason, a 51-year-old accountant and city councillor said the people of Glasgow had sent a "message that it is a time for change".  MSP Curran said she would continue to fight against inequality in the east end of Glasgow from her seat in the Scottish Parliament, which was a "Labour cause".

Scotland Office minister David Cairns said Gordon Brown's future would not depend on the result of a single by-election. He blamed the defeat on the difficult economic circumstances and Labour's failure to select a candidate early enough.

The debate was opened by Labour MP Kerry McCarthy who questioned the involvement of many Government departments on the child poverty agenda and said they should be focusing on what could be done locally to achieve the child poverty agenda.

Mr Timms noted that the Government was working to empower local government and to improve benefit provision to assist families in poverty. He went on to say that local authorities needed to consider how their policies impacted on whole families and that a number of local area agreements had been created with the Department for Communities and Local Government so that they could implement flexible policies based on local needs. He also highlighted how £125million of funding had been announced for local pilot schemes to combat child poverty.

Mr Timms also discussed the work being done to improve housing and investments in homelessness prevention. He confirmed that more was being done to make people on low incomes aware that they could be eligible for housing benefit and that the provision of benefits was being discussed with HMRC.

One in every seven babies born each year in Scotland requires some form of special care. Two of the main reasons for requiring this care are premature birth and low birth weight. Smoking and drinking alcohol during pregnancy both increase the risk of these. 25% of women in Scotland smoke during pregnancy, affecting 12,500 babies 55% of women in the UK report drinking alcohol during their pregnancy

Key recommendations in the paper include:

o Attendance at smoking cessation services may present barriers for certain groups – in particular those with young children and those on low incomes – so smoking cessation outreach programmes aimed at reaching such groups should be established.

o Breastfeeding should be promoted for the health of the mother and baby.

o The effects of smoking on breastfeeding should be highlighted.

o Government should issue clear and consistent advice on alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

o The BMA believes women who are pregnant, or who are planning a pregnancy, should be advised not to consume any alcohol.

o Media personalities and celebrities should be aware of their influence on young people, and should not promote or glamorise smoking and drinking.

o Promotion of tobacco and alcoholic drinks, especially through channels directed at young people, such as films, fashion, music and sport should be banned.

The regulator had carried out three separate investigations into deaths at maternity units during a two-year period. The investigations found recurring issues – such as inadequate staffing and poor teamwork – suggesting a systemic national problem. In addition, maternity services accounted for one in ten requests to the Commission to investigate particular trusts.

In compiling its report, the Commission has for the first time thrown a spotlight on services from the start of pregnancy, through labour and birth, to postnatal care. It has drawn together information from all NHS maternity units in England and conducted surveys of some 5,000 maternity staff and more than 26,000 mothers. The survey of mothers was the largest ever carried out, making the experience of women central to the assessment.

The report says most women have a generally favourable view of services with, for example, 89 per cent rating care during labour as good or better. But there were significant differences between trusts, with this figure being 96 per cent in one trust and 67 per cent in another.

The report identifies aspects of care that were less good, with concerns in antenatal and postnatal services, as well as in hospitals. It points to significant weaknesses nationally that correspond with earlier investigations, particularly in relation to staffing and teamwork.

Commenting on the report Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said:

“This unacceptable level of care must be addressed as a matter of priority. We cannot tolerate a situation where women are regularly being turned away from neonatal units, some with seriously ill or premature babies. Staff shortages are putting midwives under an increasing amount of pressure, and many women around the country are not receiving good enough care. The Government needs to stop burying its head in the sand and launch a national review of capacity in maternity services.”

The report will give patients more say through initiatives such as care plans for those with long term conditions, a guarantee that the most effective drugs will be available to all, and provide the right to choose care providers, including GPs. Personal budgets will be piloted for 5000 patients with complex conditions.

People will be helped to stay healthy through the investment of record amounts in wellbeing and prevention services. The new “Reduce Your Risk” campaign to raise awareness of free vascular checks for 40-74 year-olds.

Front line staff will be enabled to initiate and lead change that improves quality of care for patients. There will be no new targets from the centre, with service providers accountable to patients and the public. There will be a clinical voice at every level of the service, and investment in new programmes of clinical leadership.

A new workforce strategy will fully support NHS staff. The new independent body NHS Medical Education England will scrutinise workforce planning proposals for doctors and dentists. The investment in foundation periods for nurses will triple and a new tariff-based system for education funding will see funding follow the student, improving transparency and rewarding quality.

Public health minister Dawn Primarolo said: "Inequalities around the country are stark, but the NHS and local authorities can use these profiles to target local health hotspots with effective measures to make a real difference.” She also said that the Government had renewed their commitment to tackle these issues with the Health Inequalities: Progress and Next Steps report. The report found that obesity amongst reception year children averaged just under 10 per cent with lowest rate in Teesdale at five per cent and the highest in Hackney at 16 per cent.

These profiles are intended to give the NHS, local authorities and other partners an insight into the health of their residents, to enable resources and initiatives to be better targeted

That this House recognises the clear health benefits of breastfeeding; welcomes reports that legislative proposals on rights for women to breastfeed in public may be brought forward later in 2008; is concerned by reports that this right may only extend to the first six months of a child's life; and therefore calls on the Government to support calls by the Royal College of Midwives for it to bring forward proposals that give mothers the legal right to breastfeed in public, with no time limit on that right.

The proposed Bill is due later this year and will be adopted in England, Wales and Scotland. The plans would also bring together all previous discrimination law into a single piece of legislation which she said would cut red tape for business. It is expected that the bill will give women the right to breastfeed in public places.

Prior to the debate on the Bill, David Kidney MP requested more information on the bill to better inform the debate on issues such as outlawing age discrimination and enabling mothers to breastfeed their babies in public. Harriet Harman confirmed that the Government intended to make it clear in the Bill that it is not acceptable for women who are breastfeeding their babies to be shooed out of restaurants, public galleries or other public places. She also said that it was important that the Government encourage and support women who are breastfeeding their children, so the law should make it clear that it is not possible to exclude a woman on that basis.

Other measures included in the Bill include allowing firms to choose a woman over a man of equal ability or vice versa and forcing public sector employers to disclose the gender pay gap in their organisation.

Harman also raised concerns over homophobic bullying and ageism, and pointed out that men working full-time still earned 40 per cent more per hour than women working part-time.

She said that disabled people were 2.5 times more likely to be out of work, with black or Asian people earning below the level of their qualifications. Harman also said the government would extend permission for all women shortlists for parliamentary representation to 2030 to continue women's representation in the House.

The pilot measures form part of a wider Government drive to 'unleash a new wave of social mobility' and will build on already successful measures such as offering new services in children's centres and testing new approaches to improving family income. The new measures aim to put some of the poorest children on the path to success, delivering prosperity and fairness for hard-working families that play by the rules and breaking cycles of poverty once and for all.

Proposals include:

* Up to £10m will be invested in incentives to help parents in London, in particular mums, to overcome constraints to returning to work, for example by helping them to overcome the high childcare and transport costs which act as particular barriers in the capital;

* Funding will be made available to extend the London Childcare Affordability pilots and find new ways of making childcare more affordable for these families so that parents can enter work;

* £7.6m for 30 Children's Centres across 10 Local Authorities to offer enhanced work-focused services, helping parents with training and work experience to boost their confidence, skills and support them to enter and progress in work;

* The current In-Work Credit pilots will be expanded to provide financial incentives for both parents to move into work as well as providing tailored work-related support. Over £5m will be available for this pilot;

* Improved supported accommodation for teenage mothers by providing additional services to improve the health and development of their children, improve their parenting skills and support them with learning. Pilots are expected to begin in early 2009;

* At least £20m will be available through grants to local authorities to develop new and innovative approaches to tackle the causes and consequences of child poverty. The pilot areas will include remote rural areas, pockets of deprivation in otherwise affluent areas as well as deprived communities in inner cities. They will test out new approaches to support groups at particularly high risk of living in poverty including disabled children, Black and Minority ethnic and White working class families.

Depending on the success of the pilots in the first two years, there may be scope to extend or introduce additional pilots in year 3.

The figures show that whilst the vast majority of people are better off than they were ten years ago, with record numbers of people in work:

• The number of children in the UK experiencing low income and material deprivation – those who can’t afford basic things such as sending their kids on a school trip – fell by 100,000 between 2005/06 and 2006/07.
• The number of children in relative poverty rose by 100,000, both before and after housing costs are taken into account, to 2.9million (BHC) and 3.9million (AHC) respectively between 2005/06 and 2006/07. Between 1998/99 and 2006/07 the number of children in relative poverty has fallen by 600,000 (BHC) and 500,000 (AHC).

Jamie Hepburn MSP has tabled a motion on Unacceptable Levels of Poverty in Scotland. The motion states:

That the Parliament notes with concern the Office for National Statistics publication, Scottish Households Below Average Income 2006-07, which shows some 17% of households in Scotland and 21% of children are living in relative poverty, with 12% of children living in absolute poverty; believes that these figures are morally unacceptable and represent a failure of successive UK governments to take poverty in Scotland seriously, and further believes that the Parliament and Scottish Government need the normal powers of independence, including powers over the welfare and taxation system, in order to tackle poverty in Scotland.

Plaid Cymru MP, Hywel Williams, also responded to the publication by expressing his concern that UK child poverty targets will not be met without a fundamental change of policy by UK Government. Mr Williams stated that 'These figures are extremely disheartening, and clearly show that the issue of Child Poverty will not be solved in Wales unless there is a drastic change in UK Government policy. Indeed, the figures clearly show that Wales has the highest or amongst the highest levels of poverty throughout the UK. What is clear from today's report is that more needs to be done to help these families who are suffering the most.'

The shadow Home Secretary argued that the Commons, in accepting controversial proposals for 42-day detention, had failed the UK. The Government could use the Parliament Act to force the Bill through the Lords, Mr Davis warned, although he maintained that the legal basis for this was uncertain as the measure had not appeared in Labour's 2005 manifesto.

The Government had presided over the 'insidious, surreptitious and relentless erosion of our freedoms', Mr Davis claimed, highlighting the development of ID cards, a DNA database, and an assault on jury trials. He criticised the clamp down on peaceful protest and ‘hate laws’ and said that Britain was becoming a 'database state'.

Mr Davis is understood to have held talks with the Liberal Democrats on the possibility of that party not fielding a candidate in the by-election. In 2005, the Liberal Democrats were the second party in the constituency.

That this Assembly opposes the proposal by the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust to cut frontline maternity and medical services at the Lagan Valley Hospital; and calls on the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to ensure that the people of the Lagan Valley constituency continue to have access to in-hospital maternity, medical and accident and emergency services in their local Lagan Valley Hospital.

Lord Darzi stressed that prevention was a key method of tackling this issue and ensuring all women had sufficient access to maternity care so that they could have the right information and advice, as laid out in the Government's 'Maternity Matters' policy. In addition, the Lord stated that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) would be publishing a toolkit in 2009 to enable each individual woman to have their risks and needs identified during pregnancy. With regards to prevention he stated that NICE would be developing guidelines on nutrition during pregnancy and also spoke of the value of children's centres in providing advice on these issues.

Opening the debate, Baroness Rendell of Babergh discussed the threat obesity placed on expectant mothers and their children and the opportunity antenatal care provided in advising women on nutrition and similar.

Earl Howe, as Conservative Shadow Health Minister, highlighted the issues surrounding IVF treatment and obesity. He stated that there had been suggestions from the British Fertility Society and other organisations that a maximum BMI limit should be placed on those wanting IVF.

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Women and Equality, Baroness Thomas of Walliswood, also highlighted the increased costs to the NHS due to the long-term problems mothers and children would have that were linked to obesity. She agreed that preventative care was vital and stressed that the social aspects of the issue needed to be addressed as well as the medical. Baroness Tonge, Lib Dem Spokesperson, also said the Government needed to take a joined-up approach on children's health and repeated the idea that community clinics and similar were important.

The NMC will now become a fully appointed council, rather than partially elected and elections for this year have been cancelled. In addition, the NMC's annual report would include a description of its arrangements for ensuring equality and the NMC would be given greater prescribing rights in an emergency and the ability to strike of registrants barred from working with children of vulnerable adults. The Royal College of Nursing is supportive of the need to change.

Responding, Conservative Shadow Home Affairs Minister Baroness Hanham expressed concern that the NMC was being reorganised and questioned the expertise of the Appointments Commission in appointing members of the NMC. She also questioned who else would be involved in making decisions of prescribing in the case of emergencies. There was also some concern over the decision to make the council fully appointed and the need to have representation from general nurses, midwives and community nurses on the Council

In his response to a question put forward by Tobias Ellwood MP, he noted that employers have a duty to protect the health and safety at work of all employees, including new and expectant mothers and mothers who are breastfeeding. As part of this duty employers are required to carry out a specific risk assessment paying particular attention to risks that could affect the health and safety of the new or expectant mother or her child.

Employers are obliged to do what is reasonably practicable to control risks such as making changes to the working conditions; hours of work or offer alternative suitable work. If none of these steps adequately reduces the risk the employee must be suspended from work on full pay to protect her and her un-born child.

The Scottish Government has just published an action plan to "secure" the future of six hospitals in Scotland's remote and rural areas. In the Scottish Government press release that accompanied the report, the Health Secretary promised that everyone in Scotland should have "equal access to the NHS, no matter where they live". But, she went on to imply that the Scottish Government wants to see maternity services at 6 core rural hospitals being midwife-led. In his letter, Mr Stone notes that twice the consultant-led maternity service based in Caithness General Hospital in Wick has been considered for downgrading to a midwife led service and both times this has been strenuously opposed as a backward step by local people.

A decision to breastfeed, especially for the first six months of a baby's life, can have a huge impact on infant health and development. The DH recommends exclusive breastfeeding up to the age of six months, with continued breastfeeding alongside solid foods after six months. 'Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives' a cross-government strategy for obesity ( January 2008 ) aims to reverse the rise in childhood obesity and breastfeeding plays an integral role in this. Breastfeeding provides health benefits for mothers too. It can reduce the risk of against ovarian cancer, breast cancer and weak bones later in life.

The NBAW strapline, 'Breastfeeding: every day makes a difference to your baby', reflects the message that each day a women continues to breastfeed is another day the child receives important health benefits from its mother. The plans for NBAW are part of the DH’s campaign to address the inequalities that exist in infant feeding practices highlighted in the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) review of The Infant Feeding Survey (2005).

During NBAW, the DH launched the Breast Buddy initiative, targeted at young mums aged 16 to 25 years. The initiative is fronted by celebrity mum and Atomic Kitten member Jenny Frost. The initiative encourages young mums to get emotional and practical support while breastfeeding by nominating a buddy from within their circle of friends and family. Young mums who sign up will receive an information pack including the NHS leaflet

Breastfeeding: Off to the Best Start and a fridge magnet featuring breastfeeding helplines including the new National Breastfeeding Helpline (0844 20 909 20). Mother and buddy will also receive texts of encouragement for the first six months. Mums can text BUDDY to 60022 to sign up to the campaign.

The National Breastfeeding Awareness Week (NBAW) saw retailers such as ASDA, Woolworths and Mamas and Papas becoming 'breastfeeding friendly' places, providing comfortable seating, water and a positive attitude towards breastfeeding. Breastfeeding Friendly Places will show a window sticker to let customers know they are 'breastfeeding friendly' – this is part of a wider campaign to promote breastfeeding, particularly targeting young mums during NBAW 2008.

Breastmilk is the best source of nutrition for babies and the Department of Health recommends exclusive breastfeeding up to the age of six months, with continued breastfeeding alongside solid foods after six months. Studies have shown that breastfed babies are less likely to get infections or asthma, become obese or get diabetes in later childhood and that breastfeeding can prevent mums having health problems later in life.

Research shows the majority of mums would like to breastfeed their babies but often give up in the early stages, so it is important to let mums know there is support available to help them continue. Many mums-to-be are put off breastfeeding because they are concerned about breastfeeding in public, it is therefore important for organisations to make it clear that breastfeeding is welcome. Highlighting organisations that adopt a breastfeeding friendly policy is just one of the ways in which breastfeeding mums are being supported. Support is also available through their local breastfeeding groups, from their midwife or health visitor and through helplines such as the National Breastfeeding Helpline – 0844 20 909 20.