theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-23 conversation_11
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-23 conversation_11

Lord Framlingham:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to change the rules on the compulsory purchase of land for infrastructure projects such as HS2 so that farmers receive 100 per cent of the land value rather than 90 per cent. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The overriding principle of compulsory purchase compensation is ‘equivalence’, so that landowners are left neither better nor worse off (at least in monetary terms) as a result of their land being compulsorily acquired.

Compulsory purchase compensation is based on the open market value of the land acquired in the absence of the scheme, for example, regeneration project or railway line, underlying the compulsory purchase. This is known as the “no scheme principle”. Under the no-scheme principle, any increases or decreases in the value of the land attributable to the compulsory purchase scheme, or the prospect of the scheme, are disregarded when assessing compensation for the value of land acquired. The Government has no plans to change this principle.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Baroness Maclean of Redditch:To ask His Majesty's Government how many new homes are currently being prevented from being built in Greater Cambridge due to water scarcity, and how many of these homes will be built following the introduction of the water credits system. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: No new homes in Cambridge are currently blocked due to water scarcity issues. Our work with the Water Scarcity Group has unblocked over 9,000 homes and over 500,000sqm of commercial space, and in December 2024, the Environment Agency lifted its objections to remaining blocked development following improvements to Cambridge Water’s Water Resource Management Plan and progress made by the Water Scarcity Group.

The Government is continuing to progress work to deliver water savings and develop a water credits scheme, to ensure that development between now and 2032 (when new water resources are delivered) can proceed. Further details will be announced in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Baroness Maclean of Redditch:To ask His Majesty's Government what budget was allocated to the Office for Place during its existence, and what (1) budget, and (2) Civil Service headcount, they have allocated to the functions of oversight of design quality in new developments now that they have closed the Office for Place. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: We want exemplary development to be the norm and not the exception – this is the focus of teams across the Department. MHCLG’s design and placemaking policy team is comprised of 13 civil servants, including five staff who were redeployed from the Office for Place. The team is working across the Department to embed good design within housing and planning policy, and we will be publishing updated national design guidance later this year.

An additional five staff from the Office for Place were redeployed onto housing delivery to support efforts to improve the quality of new development. We can confirm that all staff who were working directly on Office for Place activities were transferred to MHCLG or their home departments. The Office for Place annual report and accounts are available on gov.uk here.

Office for Place (pdf, 492.4KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Baroness Maclean of Redditch:To ask His Majesty's Government what is their target for housing delivery in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: This government is committed to delivering 1.5 million homes over this Parliament as set out in our Plan for Change. These will be high-quality, well-designed homes, supported by the necessary infrastructure, where people can thrive. In January, the Chancellor confirmed that the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor is a key economic priority for the country and we are working with local authorities across the region to help them do their part in planning for ambitious housing delivery.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-23 conversation_15

Baroness Maclean of Redditch:To ask His Majesty's Government what is their target for the New Homes Accelerator for each year of the current Parliament. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The New Homes Accelerator (NHA) is a collaboration between the government, Homes England, the Greater London Authority (GLA), local authorities, developers, and other key stakeholders. It aims to unblock and accelerate the delivery of housing developments that have for various reasons become delayed, or which are not progressing as quickly as they could be. The NHA is helping to progress large development sites across the country by providing site-specific support and also addressing system-wide constraints.

Since July 2024, the NHA has announced 16 sites for site-specific support, with combined capacity for c. 48,600 homes, that will benefit from government support. To date, through our engagement with statutory consultees and arms-length bodies, we have unblocked nearly 100,000 homes.

The programme is constantly exploring new issues and blockers to address, which will determine the NHA’s level of impact. The NHA continues to work with Homes England, the GLA and other partner bodies to expand the programme’s capacity and impact over this current Parliament.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Patten:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the protection afforded to views of landscape or of historical note outside London. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should ensure that developments are sympathetic to local character and history, including the surrounding built environment and landscape setting. The Framework further sets out that planning policies and decisions should also contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by protecting and enhancing valued landscapes.

Great weight should be given to conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty in National Parks, the Broads and National Landscapes which have the highest status of protection in relation to these issues.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Baroness Scott of Bybrook:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are committed to the continuation and availability of interim contribution reviews for employers within the Local Government Pension Scheme. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: Employer contribution rates are set as part of the triennial valuation process which is undertaken by all administering authorities in the Local Government Pension Scheme. Regulation 64a of the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 sets out the process to be followed by an administering authority when an employer requests an interim review of its contribution rate.

This is intended to allow flexibility for administering authorities in managing employer contribution rates in response to changes in an employer’s ability to pay its contributions between valuations. In order to clarify when this flexibility should be used, the government intends to consult on changes to the regulations in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Baroness Maclean of Redditch:To ask His Majesty's Government how many homes they estimate London will contribute to their target of 1.5 million new builds in each year of the current Parliament. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The government has set an ambitious target of 88,000 new homes per year in London through the new standard method and remains committed to working in partnership with the London Mayor, boroughs, and wider stakeholders to achieve a step change in building in the capital.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Baroness Maclean of Redditch:To ask His Majesty's Government how many homes have been delivered in London over the past five years. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: Total housing supply in London amounted to 191,103 net additional dwellings (for the period 2019-20 to 2023-24).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Bailey of Paddington:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to approve the sale of allotment sites by councils in England. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: There are strict criteria in place to control the sale of statutory allotments – these are sites covered by the Allotment Act 1925. Councils have to seek approval from the MHCLG Secretary of State and a legal threshold must be met before approval. This includes: the allotment to be surplus to requirements, any waiting lists to be considered, public consultation to have occurred, and other local policies to have been considered.

We are content with the effectiveness of this clearly defined legal process and there is no current government plan to change policy regarding allotment site sales by councils. The eight approvals granted between July 2024 and July 2025 represented a slight decrease in allotment disposals compared to recent years. The National Allotment Society stated that it had not challenged any of those applications as they had all met the legal threshold with either low take-up of plots or alternative allotment space provided elsewhere.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Grocott:To ask His Majesty's Government how much has been spent to date by (1) the local authorities involved, and (2) His Majesty's Government, in preparing to reform local government in accordance with the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The Government does not centrally hold information about how much local authorities and the Government have spent on preparing for the reform of local government.

A full impact assessment has been conducted by the Government as part of the requirements for the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. It was given a green rating by the Regulatory Policy Committee, indicating it is fit for purpose. The IA has considered costs across the Bill’s policies which will reform local government, and it has been determined these will not be disproportionate and the relevant mitigations will be in place where required. The impact assessment has been published online and can be found here.

Impact Assessment (pdf, 177.5KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Baroness Warsi:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on community cohesion in England and Wales of foreign-backed Islamophobic online disinformation campaigns. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: Anti-Muslim hatred is abhorrent and has no place in our society, no one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their religion or belief. The Government has established an independent working group to advise government on a definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia, and how to best understand, quantify and define prejudice, discrimination, and hate crime targeted against Muslims or anyone who is perceived to be Muslim. The British Muslim Trust will also receive funding to provide a comprehensive service to monitor anti-Muslim hatred and support victims.

Furthermore, we are committed to bridging divisions between communities and challenging hatred and that is why we have launched the Plan for Neighbourhoods programme, providing £5bn over 10 years to support up to 250 places which will help build strong, resilient and integrated communities. We know that malign actors deliberately seek to amplify hateful and divisive narratives online to influence audiences, including in the UK. For this reason, The Foreign Interference Offence has been added as a priority offence in the Online Safety Act, meaning all in-scope companies must take systemic action against illegal state-sponsored disinformation and interference online.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Scriven:To ask His Majesty's Government what quality assurance and oversight is undertaken by NHS England on learning disabilities mortality review reports before publication, and which minister or official is responsible for approval of the final report before publication. \p Baroness Merron: NHS England works with an academic partner, Kings College London, to produce the Learning from lives and deaths – People with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR) annual report. NHS England provides oversight in relation to LeDeR policy, process and wider National Health Service policy, and commissions the annual report.

The report is independent and provides analysis of LeDeR review data. NHS England and the Department check findings are clearly and consistently presented to ensure transparency for the public.

The 2023 report was approved by NHS England’s Chief Executive.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Baroness Penn:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of research that demonstrates the positive impacts of screen time on children and young people with a causal effect. \p Lord Leong: The government recognises that children’s online activity can have benefits, from making new connections to learning new skills to gaining invaluable independence. This is why the right balance should be struck between offline activities and time spent online.   Existing research is uncertain about the causal relationships between screentime and child development. The government continues to explore how to improve the evidence base, including through further UKRI and NIHR-funded studies. This includes commissioning a feasibility study into research on the impact of social media and smartphone use on children. The report will be published in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on UK public policy and the protection of vulnerable people of the lawsuit by Matt and Maria Raine against OpenAI over the death of their teenage son. \p Lord Leong: The government is deeply concerned about every death by suicide, including those that occur following content viewed online. The government keeps all legislation under review and will act where needed to protect and support vulnerable people in society.

Under the Online Safety Act, in-scope services must protect all users from in-scope illegal content and children from in-scope harmful content, such as suicide content, including where it is AI generated.

The government is committed to keeping children safe online and will not hesitate to strengthen the law where required to further protect them.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce for minimum age restrictions for social media platforms to be enforced by Ofcom. \p Lord Leong: Keeping children safe online is a priority for the government.

The Online Safety Act’s child safety duties are now in force and in scope services must provide age-appropriate experiences for children, including using highly effective age assurance to stop children encountering the most harmful content. Ofcom, the regulator of the Act, has set out measures for services to take to comply with the child safety duties and will look to strengthen its codes in future iterations as online harms, technology and the evidence evolves.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Beamish:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of international regulations regarding low-Earth-orbit satellites on (1) the UK's strategic communications capabilities and (2) the resilience of UK critical national infrastructure. \p Lord Vallance of Balham: The Government recognises that Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications present major opportunities for the UK. International regulations governing LEO satellites directly impact our strategic communications capabilities and the resilience of critical national infrastructure.

Ofcom represents the UK at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and DSIT is working closely with departments and Ofcom to shape the UK’s position ahead of the 2027 ITU World Radio Conference, ensuring regulations reflect national policy objectives and strategic priorities.

As outlined in the Industrial Strategy, the Government aims to work with international partners to ensure evolving regulations continue to support UK strategic goals and the deployment of advanced connectivity technologies.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the new Defence Industrial Strategy on supply chains and local economic growth. \p Lord Coaker: The Defence Industrial Strategy will strengthen supply chains, drive innovation, and create high-skilled jobs through the launch of five Defence Growth Deals across the nations and regions of the United Kingdom, investing in measures to support supply chain resilience and the creation of the Defence Office of Small Business Growth. These measures will support national security while promoting local economic growth and resilience.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Wigley:To ask His Majesty's Government how many UK armed services personnel are currently stationed on a temporary or permanent basis in (1) Latvia, (2) Estonia and (3) Lithuania. \p Lord Coaker: The UK’s presence in the Baltics, primarily through the Forward Land Forces (FLF) in Estonia, comprise of around 1,000 Service personnel at any one time.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Sharpe of Epsom:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of immediate sick pay entitlement on small businesses. \p Baroness Sherlock: The government conducted a Regulatory Impact Assessment (which can be found in the attached document) on the changes to strengthen Statutory Sick Pay in the Employment Rights Bill, which was published on 21 October 2024. This includes the impacts on small businesses. Furthermore, the government intends to conduct a post-implementation review of the Employment Rights Bill within five years of implementation.

Impact Assessment (pdf, 483.8KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Touhig:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they accepted the recommendation in the Buckland Review of Autism Employment to set up a task group to review progress on expanding employment opportunities for people with autism. \p Baroness Sherlock: In the plan to Make Work Pay (October 2024), we committed to raising awareness of all forms of neurodiversity (including autism) in the workplace.

In January 2025, DWP launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and experiences of neurodiversity to advise us on boosting neurodiversity awareness and inclusion at work. This is building on the work of the Buckland Review, which was published under the previous Government, and focused more narrowly on autism employment. The evidence review concluded in late summer 2025 and the panel will be reporting their findings and recommendations shortly.

Although this Government has not made a formal response to the Buckland Review, the Ministers for Employment and Social Security and Disability met Sir Robert Buckland in October 2024 to talk about his findings and key drivers for change in the workplace. In addition, Professor Amanda Kirby, Chair of the Academic Panel, has subsequently met Sir Robert to discuss the panel's terms of reference, scope, and timelines, and in June they jointly gave evidence to this House’s Autism Act 2009 Committee.

The Government will decide next steps in the light of the panel’s recommendations, and other relevant reviews such as Sir Charlie Mayfield’s Keep Britain Working Review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Sharpe of Epsom:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of people leaving the labour market due to long-term sickness. \p Baroness Sherlock: Good work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched last November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate.

Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.

Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell.

It is also recognised that employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. To build on this, the DWP and DHSC Joint Work & Health Directorate (JWHD) is facilitating “Keep Britain Working”, an independent review of the role of UK employers in reducing health-related inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. The lead reviewer, Sir Charlie Mayfield, is expected to bring forward recommendations in Autumn 2025.

In our March Green Paper, we set out our Pathways to Work Guarantee, backed by £1 billion a year of new additional funding by 2030. We will build towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and those with health conditions on out of work benefits.

The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, stated our intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. The Plan sets out the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of health and care needs, including for disabled people. Furthermore, it outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Pack:To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in developing new registration fee arrangements for early years providers. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The department is reviewing our Early Years Register fees policy. As set out in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Childcare (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, which came into force on 9 June 2025, the department has extended the existing alternative annual fee arrangements until 1 September 2027 as a temporary measure to maintain the status quo while the fees policy is being reviewed and considered as a whole.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Baroness O'Loan:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to promote recognition of, and publicise information about, the need to care equally for all children subject to violence. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Keeping children safe is a top priority for this government. Nothing is more important that safeguarding children and promoting their welfare.

Alongside the Home Office, the department is tackling the problems that cause children to need help and protection and delivering better and safer outcomes through the government’s Opportunity and Safer Streets missions. As part of this, we will be publishing our government response to the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report on child victims of domestic abuse and our cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy this autumn.

Our Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, and reforms across education and children’s services, will further protect children at risk of violence and neglect, stopping vulnerable children falling through cracks in services.

Underpinning this, our multi-agency statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’ and ‘Keeping children safe in education’ set out duties to safeguard all children subject to violence, no matter what challenges they face.

The government’s approach to preventing violence spans family, education and community. We are working closely with the Youth Endowment Fund to promote recognition of and publicise best practice in violence prevention for children and young people.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Weir of Ballyholme:To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they are having with devolved governments and local councils to ensure cross-border and cross-jurisdictional travel can be undertaken with concessionary fare passes. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: Concessionary travel is a devolved policy area so the administrative arrangements in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ from those in England. Integrating these separate concessionary travel schemes would not be straightforward, due to the different benefits and restrictions for the concessionary bus pass which exist in each of the devolved nations. Travel Concession Authorities (TCA) in England that border Wales or Scotland can use their existing powers to offer travel across the border on a discretionary basis, but these would need to be agreed between the relevant TCAs in England and the relevant Welsh or Scottish authority. Whilst the Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007 does include a power to allow for mutual recognition of concessionary bus passes across the UK through regulations in the future, there are no plans at present to introduce such an arrangement on a national scale.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Moylan:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have had discussions with the government of Nigeria concerning recent attacks on Christian communities in Benue State, and what steps they are taking (1) to support the protection of communities, and (2) to promote religious freedom in Nigeria. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: Intercommunal violence has a devastating effect on communities. The root causes are complex and frequently relate to competition over resources, historical grievances, and criminality.  We are supporting Nigeria to tackle these root causes through our Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria (SPRiNG) programme and continue to engage in local and national peace-building efforts. British High Commission officials met with government representatives, traditional rulers and stakeholders across civil society in Benue State in July 2025.

The UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership (SDP) is building capacity in Nigeria's security forces to tackle violence against all civilian communities, including religious communities. The former Minister for Africa discussed intercommunal violence with Nigerian ministers and officials during his visit in May 2025. Our officials in Abuja continue to engage with the Nigerian government and religious leaders on freedom of religion and belief.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Dodds of Duncairn:To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the government of Eritrea about the 21-year imprisonment of seven Christian pastors, and what steps they are taking to increase efforts for the release of those pastors. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: We continue to raise the issue of human rights with the Eritrean government, including on religious freedoms, both through our Embassy in Asmara and through multilateral fora. We advocate for the end of all discriminatory detentions based on religion or belief, as we have stated at the UN Human Rights Council, and call for all those unjustly incarcerated to be released. The UK's Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea raised human rights during her most recent visit to Eritrea in April 2025 and the UK supports the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea, voting in favour of his mandate renewal in July 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Baroness Jenkin of Kennington:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 8 August (HL9893), what is the definition of a woman used by the European Commission and its institutions for the purposes of joint UK–EU programmes, and whether that definition includes the definition adopted by the European Institute for Gender Equality. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: This is a matter for the European Commission.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the report on the outcome of the Development Review. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The development review was one of three internal review processes, commissioned specifically to inform departmental strategy alongside other inputs. We have subsequently launched the FCDO2030 programme, as set out in the FCDO's recently published annual report, informed by those internal reviews.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Wigley:To ask His Majesty's Government in which UK embassies overseas staff are appointed at the request of (1) the Scottish government, (2) the Welsh government, and (3) the Northern Ireland Executive. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: Officials from the Devolved Governments are based in various locations. They are commonly - but not always - based within the UK mission.

There are officials from all three Devolved Governments in Washington, Brussels and Beijing.

Scottish Government officials are also based in Berlin, Copenhagen, Dubin, Paris and Ottawa. Welsh Government officials are in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Montreal, Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chonqing, Shanghai, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Dubai, Dublin, Doha, Paris and Tokyo.

Staff employed by devolved trade and investment promotion agencies - Invest Northern Ireland, and Scottish Development International - are located in over 20 and 30 locations respectively. Again, these are often based within the UK mission.

Officials are appointed by the sponsoring Devolved Government, or relevant agency.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Banner:To ask His Majesty's Government whether it is their policy that a deal to end the war in Ukraine should not result in the release of frozen Russian state assets held in the UK until Russia financially compensates Ukraine for the damage caused by the illegal invasion. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The Government is firmly committed to ensuring Russia pays for the damage it has caused and is causing. That is why, in 2023, the UK legislated to take powers to maintain Russian sanctions until Russia pays compensation to Ukraine. We are also contributing £2.26 billion to a G7 scheme totalling $50 billion in support to Ukraine, using the profits from sanctioned Russian assets.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

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Lord Mohammed of Tinsley:To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of expenditure on housing asylum seekers is drawn from the Official Development Assistance budget, and whether any unspent expenditure is returned to that budget. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The provisional Statistics on International Development show that in 2024, £2.8 billion was spent on support to refugees or asylum seekers in the UK, a £1.4 billion or one third reduction on the previous year. This reduces the share of Official Development Assistance (ODA) spent on asylum costs in the UK to 20 per cent, down from 28 per cent. There was no unspent expenditure.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-23 conversation_43

Lord Goodman of Wycombe:To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in Complainant v Secret Intelligence Service [2025] UKIPTrib 9, what is their policy on the authorisation of conduct which may risk criminal liability when undertaken on UK soil; and what assessment they have made of whether such conduct can be authorised by the Secretary of State under section 7 of the Intelligence Services Act 1994. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: It is the longstanding policy of successive governments that we do not comment on intelligence matters.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-23 conversation_44

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect graduate and entry-level jobs. \p Lord Leong: Economic growth is the central mission of this government and is vital to giving the next generation the opportunities to thrive.

The labour market is very strong by historical and international standards, and whilst there has been a downturn in graduate vacancies over the last 12 months, the employment rate for graduates in England has remained steady over the past 10 years at around 87% on average.

In June the Government published our modern Industrial Strategy, which will support good jobs and higher incomes across the country. This outlined interventions including £1.2 billion of additional investment in skills per year by 2028-29.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-22 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-22 conversation_1

Lord Frost:To ask His Majesty's Government, following the news story about the UK–EU reset agreement published on 19 May, how they calculated that the agreement would add nearly £9 billion to the UK economy by 2040, who did the calculation, and whether they will place a copy of the calculation and any related modelling in the Library of the House. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: Combined, the SPS (£5.1 billion) and Emissions Trading Systems linking (£3.8 billion) measures alone are set to add nearly £9 billion a year to the UK economy by 2040, in a significant boost for growth. These are government estimates, and methodology notes published following the Summit will be deposited to the Library of the House in due course.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-22 conversation_2
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-22 conversation_2

Baroness Pidgeon:To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria will be used in deciding whether to agree to the proposals for the expansion of Heathrow Airport, and whether they will publish those criteria. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The Government is currently assessing proposals for the delivery of a third runway at Heathrow Airport. On 30 June 2025, the Secretary of State for Transport published a letter online to potential promoters outlining the criteria against which any proposals would be considered, including stating how schemes must contribute to economic growth and be delivered in line with our legal, environmental and climate commitments.

The assessment of the proposals is being carried out to support the review of the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow Airport. It will be for scheme promoters to decide when to submit any Development Consent Order (DCO) application for a third runway scheme depending on the outcome of the ANPS review. The Secretary of State will decide whether to grant consent for the DCO, in accordance with the Planning Act 2008.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-22 conversation_3

Lord Jopling:To ask His Majesty's Government whether the contract to build eight new bridges on the M6 road in Cumbria was offered to contractors other than Kier Highways; if not, why; and whether the matter is being reviewed by the Parliamentary Ombudsman. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The contract for the works on the M6 bridges in Cumbria was not offered to any other contractor because the project was allocated to Kier Highways through the National Highways’ Regional Delivery Partnership Framework. To be an appointed supplier under this framework a competitive tendering process took place. I am not aware that this matter has been referred to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-22 conversation_4

Baroness Pidgeon:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they will make of the environmental impact of additional flights if Heathrow Airport is expanded, and whether they will publish that assessment. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The government supports expansion at Heathrow Airport and has received proposals for a third runway at Heathrow. Once proposals have been reviewed, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), which provides the basis for decision-making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow. This will include expectations on environmental impacts of an expanded Heathrow, including the likes of carbon, noise and air pollution.

The Planning Act 2008 requires that before amending the ANPS, the Secretary of State must carry out an Appraisal of Sustainability of the policy, which will be published alongside any amended ANPS.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-22 conversation_5

Lord Jopling:To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to night closures on the M6 in Cumbria for the construction of eight new bridges, how they intend to deal with the motorway users who enter service areas when the road is still open, but wish to leave after the 8pm closure. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: For the planned Northbound total closures on the M6, once the carriageway is closed to traffic no vehicles will be able to enter Tebay services. Any vehicles remaining in the service area will be able to leave via the normal way.

For the planned Southbound total closure on the M6, for Tebay Services any remaining vehicles will be escorted onto the southbound carriageway into the contraflow and past the works activities under the control of the Traffic Safety Control Officer (TSCO). For Killington Lake Services, once the carriageway is closed, traffic will be unable to access the services, any vehicles remaining will be able to leave via the normal way.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-22 conversation_6

Lord Berkeley:To ask His Majesty's Government what is the scope and timescale for their recently announced research on pavement parking. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the 2020 pavement parking consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them.

In accordance with Government procurement requirements, my officials are in discussion with suppliers to determine the terms of reference for the current work and expect to issue the formal specification shortly. Timelines will be finalised during the procurement process. Findings will be published as early as possible and no later than 12 weeks after the final outputs from the data collection stage are agreed in accordance with the Government Social Research Publication Protocol. The research will seek to measure the extent of pavement parking and its impacts and provide a baseline so that whichever policy we implement can be evaluated. It will not delay any policy announcement nor the publication of my Department’s formal response to the previous Government’s 2020 consultation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-22 conversation_7

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost to the economy of the tube strike in London. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: As transport in London is devolved to TfL, the Mayor of London is managing the impact of strike action on London’s transport network. Nevertheless, the Government understands this is disappointing for passengers and businesses and we continue to encourage all sides to work together to resolve this dispute as quickly as possible.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-22 conversation_8

Lord Jopling:To ask His Majesty's Government why the proposed construction of eight new bridges on the M6 road in Cumbria is not being done in the same way as the bridge construction on the A1 at Wentbridge where there have been no road closures, especially at night, during the period of work. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The two bridge repair projects on the M6 and A1 are not comparable. The Lune Gorge project on the M6 in Cumbria involves the entire replacement of several bridge decks, including the demolition of the current bridge decks. This means for periods of time, there will be gaps in the motorway with no bridges in place, making road closures essential.

The bridge repairs on the A1 at Wentbridge involves working on the top of the structure to carry out work to replace parapets, joints, and resurfacing. Therefore, National Highways have been able to keep the road open with a contraflow system for the majority of the works, requiring a few over-night full closures to carry out work which would have posed a safety risk should the running lanes remained open to live traffic.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-22 conversation_9

Lord Wigley:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to expand the number and capacity of hydroelectric pump storage facilities in (1) Wales, (2) England, and (3) Scotland; how many such facilities have been approved and are under construction; and how many are awaiting planning approval. \p Lord Wilson of Sedgefield: The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan sets an ambition of 4-6GW of long duration electricity storage (LDES) capacity, which includes pumped storage hydropower (PSH), by 2030. This is being enabled through an LDES cap and floor investment support scheme, which government announced in October 2024 and is being delivered by Ofgem. It is open to projects from all parts of Great Britain.

The British Hydro Association maintains a list of PSH projects under development in Great Britain at the following link: https://british-hydro.org/pumped-storage-hydropower/.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-22 conversation_10

Lord Wigley:To ask His Majesty's Government when they aim to eliminate the need for constraint payments to wind farm generators, and whether they have secured a contractual agreement with existing wind farm operators for that aim. \p Lord Wilson of Sedgefield: The National Energy System Operator (NESO) is responsible for operating Great Britain’s electricity system and managing constraints. Constraints are part of operating an efficient electricity system and constraint payments are used around the world. Government is working to reduce constraints by accelerating the building of new electricity network infrastructure to increase capacity on the system. The Reformed National Pricing package will also address constraints through improved strategic planning and market reforms. An update on these reforms will be published later this year.

Government has not entered into any contractual agreements with existing wind farm operators to eliminate constraint payments.