Parliamentary activity

• In June 2022 we organised a roundtable in Westminster where we presented a report laying out the barriers to diagnosis and the stark risks facing those still undiagnosed across the UK. This led to the re-establishment of the All Party Parliamentary Group on coeliac disease and its subsequent inquiry into diagnosis of the conditions. You can read its report here. 
• In recent years Coeliac UK has written to Ministers of Health in each of the four UK Nations highlighting the challenge of diagnosis and supporting the development of patient pathways to support improved diagnosis.
• We also work with champions across the four UK nations to raise parliamentary questions in the respective parliaments and supported a Motion to Parliament in Scotland and Statement of Opinion in the Senedd Cymru.
• We act as Secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group on coeliac disease in Westminster and Senedd Cymru Cross Party Group on coeliac disease in Cardiff 
• We launched a diagnosis call to action in the Scottish Parliament with the Minster for Public Health in March 2023. 

Cross Party & All Party Groups

We’re working to build relationships with parliamentarians across the UK to deliver change for the coeliac community.

Westminster

Coeliac UK supported the re-establishment of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on coeliac disease in Westminster. Made up of representatives from various parties, these groups come together to pursue a topic or shared interest and can provide a platform to drive policy change in parliament. The first meeting took place in October 2022 and in 2023 the APPG launched an inquiry looking at the barriers to diagnosis of coeliac disease, drawing on expert testimony from clinicians, researchers and patients from across the UK. The group published its report at an event in Westminster in September 2023. Coeliac UK and the group membership will be meeting with Parliamentarians and decision makers over the coming months to discuss implementation of its recommendations. To find out more about the group or to read the report, take a look at the APPG website. 

Senedd Cymru

The Welsh Parliament Cross Party Group on Coeliac Disease and DH is made up of Members of the Senedd (MS), healthcare professionals and Coeliac UK members. The group is chaired by Rhun Ap Iorwerth MS/AC and meets regularly to drive policy solutions to issues facing people with coeliac disease in Wales

The Scottish Parliament

In 2022 we wrote to MSPs inviting them to join a new Cross Party Group in Scotland. We are still working on recruitment. In March 2023 we hosted a parliamentary event on diagnosis, sponsored by Jackie Baillie MSP and attended by the then Minister for Public Health, Maree Todd MSP.

The Northern Ireland Assembly

We have written to MLAs inviting them to join All Party Group in Stormont and providing briefings on coeliac disease. We hope to be in a position to establish a group following re-establishment of the Stormont Assembly.