theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle:To ask His Majesty's Government, following the meeting of the NHS England's physician associate and anaesthesia associate prescribing working group on 3 July 2024, what action has been taken regarding the concern about the use of patient specific directives, particularly where a range of dosages and frequencies is given, when the drugs are to be administered under the oversight of anaesthetist associates. \p Baroness Merron: The exploratory work undertaken by NHS England’s Physician Associate (PA) and Anaesthesia Associate (AA) prescribing group has been paused in light of the Leng Review.

Following the July 2024 working group meeting, NHS England engaged with NHS Employers, who published updated guidance on the role of PAs and AAs in the National Health Service. The guidance sets out that under locally determined governance arrangements, an AA may administer medicines under a patient specific direction (PSD).

Whilst any suitably trained and competent person may follow a PSD for administration, some organisations may extend or limit those who are authorised to administer medicines under a PSD within their local medicines policies and governance arrangements.

The employer is responsible for ensuring that the healthcare professionals it employs are properly trained, and undertake only those responsibilities specified in the agreed job descriptions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Baroness Hodgson of Abinger:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to deliver the Women's Health Strategy for England published on 30 August 2022, in particular with regard to recognising biological women. \p Baroness Merron: The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health as we build a National Health Service fit for the future. We continue to implement the Women’s Health Strategy, for example providing support for pregnancy loss through a full rollout of baby loss certificates, menopause support in the workplace, and boosting women’s participation in research and clinical trials.

In the longer term, our priorities for delivering the strategy will be aligned with the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government's Missions. The 10-Year Health Plan will set out how we tackle the inequities that lead to poor health, including those for women.

The Government understands the need for health information to be as clear as possible and to use language that appropriately reflects sex, as defined as a protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010. We expect the NHS to deliver health services in accordance with the Equality Act 2010, having appropriate regard to protected characteristics as defined in the Act where relevant.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Lord Scriven:To ask His Majesty's Government what is the future of funding for the Medical Doctor Degree Apprenticeship programme in England. \p Baroness Merron: It is for individual National Health Service employers to decide on their approach to apprenticeships. The Department for Education is currently reviewing access to the Apprenticeship Levy for Level Seven apprenticeships, which Medical Doctor Degree Apprenticeships fall under. The Government is committed to widening participation in medicine and creating a medical workforce that is representative of the society around us.

We will work with partners including NHS England, the Department for Education, and the university sector to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to study medicine, regardless of their background. This summer we will also publish a refreshed workforce plan to provide the health service with much-needed stability and certainty.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle:To ask His Majesty's Government what advice they are giving to GP surgeries on the recruitment of new physician associates in the light of the recommendations of the Royal College of Physicians' guidance Physician Associates in general practice: Scope of practice (9 October 2024); and what estimate have they made of the number of physician associates recruited by GP surgeries since that advice was issued. \p Baroness Merron: NHS England does not hold data on the number of Physician Associates (PAs) recruited by general practices (GPs) since 9 October 2024.

On 20 November 2024, the Government announced it had commissioned an independent review of PAs and Anaesthesia Associates (AAs), led by Professor Gillian Leng CBE. The review will consider the safety of the roles and their contribution to multidisciplinary healthcare teams. The review will report in spring 2025.

While the review is ongoing, it is up to trusts, Primary Care Networks, and GPs to make recruitment decisions about PAs.

NHS England has issued guidance on the deployment of PAs and AAs in the National Health Service which describes the expectations of how organisations providing NHS care should deploy them so that they can contribute to the delivery of safe and effective healthcare in a supportive environment. This guidance remains in place whilst the review is ongoing, and is available at the NHS.UK website, in an online only format.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the “cliff edge” in incremental cost-effectiveness ratios on orphan medicines that narrowly miss the criteria to be appraised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's highly specialised technologies programme, and the resulting impact on access to treatments for people living with rare diseases. \p Baroness Merron: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) highly specialised technologies programme makes recommendations for the National Health Service on the use of medicines for the treatment of patients with very rare diseases with a high unmet need. The NICE's methods and processes for the evaluation of highly specialised technologies represents a deliberate departure from its standard technology appraisal methods, as it recognises the challenges of bringing treatment for very rare diseases to market.

Decisions on whether medicines are routed to the highly specialised technologies programme are taken on the basis of a set of criteria that have been carefully developed through public and stakeholder engagement, and which have recently been subject to a public consultation. The NICE is currently considering responses to the consultation and expects to implement the final updated criteria in April 2025. The NICE is able to recommend most orphan medicines evaluated through its standard technology appraisal programme for use in the NHS.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to adding chiropractors to the list of allied health professions. \p Baroness Merron: NHS England does not currently support or commission chiropractic care in the National Health Service. There are no plans in the Department or NHS England to review the health and care professions not currently aligned to a Chief Professional Officer.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Lord Kamall:To ask His Majesty's Government what metrics the Medicines and Healthcare products and Regulatory Agency use to monitor and improve their management of the safety of (1) medicine products, (2) medical devices, (3) blood and blood products; and how regularly are these metrics reviewed. \p Baroness Merron: Patient safety is the highest priority for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The MHRA uses a range of metrics to monitor and improve its management of safety.

Specific safety metrics include the total number of safety signals identified for further assessment, the percentage of adverse drug reaction reports processed within agreed timescales, the percentage of potential signals evaluated within five working days, the number of defective medicinal product recalls, and the number of interventions conducted by the Criminal Enforcement Unit that are assessed to have disrupted or degraded an identified criminal threat. Performance against these metrics is outlined in the MHRA’s Annual Report and Accounts. Further metrics are used internally within the MHRA to monitor performance for all types of medicinal products, including medical devices.

For blood components, the MHRA works with the Serious Hazards of Transfusion Steering Group, to measure safety outcomes associated with transfusion and make recommendations to the system to reduce safety incidents through an annual report.

In 2024, the MHRA updated their reporting processes and established a new set of eight key performance indicators. These were outlined in its 2024/25 Business Plan.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay:To ask His Majesty's Government on what date the new annual limit of £25,000 per institution on claims from the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme will commence; and whether it will apply to works begun before that date. \p Baroness Twycross: We will provide updated information on scheme applications and eligibility in due course, before April.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Baroness Anelay of St Johns:To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions the Minister for Africa held during his recent visit to Botswana regarding their policies on promoting gender equality, progress on LGBT+ rights and their priorities in formulating policies on sexual and reproductive rights. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: I met with a wide range of civil society groups on my visit to Botswana in January, including Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals of Botswana, Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations, and Feminist Alliance Botswana. Discussions included the challenges that LGBT+ groups and women face living in Botswana, as well as the political space they have to promote further equality. We also discussed the challenges of gender-based violence and women's representation in politics. I set out UK thinking on these issues, and where we feel we can support Botswana's policy goals to address them.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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The Lord Bishop of St Albans:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the M23 rebel group taking control of Goma; and whether they intend to call on Rwanda to withdraw support to the M23 rebels and withdraw from the Democratic Republic of Congo. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The UK condemns the occupation of Goma and other territories in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by M23 and Rwandan Defence Forces as an unacceptable breach of DRC's sovereignty and the UN Charter, which poses a fundamental risk to regional stability. The humanitarian situation is now critical, with hundreds of thousands of people re-displaced, acute food insecurity and an increased risk of violence against civilians, especially women and girls.

The Foreign Secretary has spoken with President Kagame and President Tshisekedi to call for immediate de-escalation and a return to diplomatic talks. The UK has been at the forefront of encouraging regionally-led peace efforts, including the Luanda and Nairobi Processes. The joint Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East Africa Community (EAC) Summit in Dar es Salaam 7-8 February committed to resuming dialogue and negotiations with all state and non-state parties and supporting this with AU-appointed facilitators, as well as calling for improved humanitarian access.

In the UK's statement on the situation in eastern DRC, we called for the immediate withdrawal of all Rwandan Defence Forces from Congolese territory. We have been clear with Rwanda that an attack on Goma would provoke a strong response from the international community.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Lord Swire:To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the new administration in the USA about recognising the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as a nuclear power. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The UK remains committed to the international non-proliferation regime and strongly encourages all UN Member States including our G7 partners to employ strict vigilance over potential proliferation efforts conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). We continue to encourage the DPRK to return to full compliance with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and to honour its international obligations in accordance with existing United Nations Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs). We regularly discuss a range of issues related to international peace and security with our close ally the United States of America.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Lord Dodds of Duncairn:To ask His Majesty's Government when they last made representations to the government of China on the arrest and disappearance of Yao Aichan; and what response they received. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The environment for freedom of religion or belief in China is restrictive, which includes the persecution of Christians. This Government stands firm on human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief. We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor all raised human rights recently with their counterparts (President Xi, Foreign Minister Wang and Vice Premier He respectively). More broadly, this Government champions freedom of religion or belief for all abroad. We work to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief through our position at the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora, and through bilateral engagement.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Lord Boateng:To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of internally displaced people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and what steps they have taken to support the provision of urgent humanitarian relief in that region. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: An estimated 2.7 million people were considered displaced in North Kivu in December 2024, though since then over 700,000 people have been re-displaced throughout M23 advances. The UK is deeply concerned by this critical humanitarian situation. At the UN Security Council, the UK called on all parties not to obstruct the vital services that humanitarians are providing, and to cease hostilities and uphold the protection of humanitarian workers, as outlined in international humanitarian law. We've urged all parties to ensure humanitarian corridors to restore essential services and enable the safe passage of civilians and aid. The UK remains committed to supporting those most in need, providing over £62 million this year in lifesaving humanitarian assistance.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Lord Boateng:To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to (1) the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and (2) the African Union, to promote an end to the conflict in eastern DRC. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The Foreign Secretary spoke with President Tshisekedi to express his deep concern about M23 and Rwandan Defence Forces' advances and urge a return to peaceful negotiations. I spoke to the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) Foreign Minister to emphasise the importance of engaging in African-led processes in good faith. The UK is engaging with the African Union and partners across Africa on how to promote immediate de-escalation in eastern DRC. I also spoke with the Angolan Foreign Minister to offer continued UK support for their efforts under the Luanda process throughout their upcoming chairing of the African Union.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, as part of their Security and Defence Partnership with Nigeria, to assist in protecting farming communities in central Nigeria from ongoing violent attacks by armed non-state actors. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The UK Government is committed to supporting Nigeria to address security challenges, including intercommunal violence, through the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership (SDP). The UK-Nigeria SDP works with Nigeria's security forces to tackle violence against civilian communities. Additionally, our Strengthening Peace and Resilience programme ('SPRiNG') is working to reduce rural violence in northwest and north-central Nigeria, including by supporting collaboration and productive livelihoods for both farmers and pastoralists, and strengthening conflict early warning, management and response.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the threat posed by emerging jihadist groups in Nigeria following the resurgence of the Lakurawa terrorist faction. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: Nigeria is witnessing rising conflict and insecurity, including violent extremism. This Government continues to monitor events in northern Nigeria closely and believes there remains a severe threat posed by terrorist groups including Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa who target all those who do not subscribe to their extremist views.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government when they last held discussions with the Nigerian authorities on the need to address the impunity surrounding blasphemy-related violence, including by ensuring justice in the cases of Deborah Emmanuel, Usman Buda and other victims. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: Dialogue on human rights, including Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), is a vital part of the UK's partnership with Nigeria. The UK Government was an active participant in Nigeria's Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in January 2024 and recommended that the Nigerian Government ensures that the human rights of those accused of blasphemy are protected and that those responsible for blasphemy related mob-killings are held accountable. The UK Government proactively raises cases where blasphemy legislation has been used to restrict human rights with the Nigerian authorities. More broadly, the UK Government funds the provision of legal and judicial expertise to make legislative changes to protect FoRB, including addressing blasphemy laws. The right of individuals to express their beliefs or non-belief is essential to a free and open society.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with Nigerian authorities about the continued captivity of Leah Sharibu and the remaining Chibok girls; and what assistance they are offering to secure their safe return. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The UK Government strongly condemns the abduction and continued captivity of children by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa (ISWA) in North East Nigeria, and has repeatedly called for their release. This includes the 2014 kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls, around 90 of whom are understood still to be missing, as well as Leah Sharibu, who has remained in Islamic State West Africa captivity since 2018. The UK Government has raised Leah's case with the Government of Nigeria, and I will continue to raise this important issue in my future engagements with them. More broadly, we continue to support the Government of Nigeria to tackle insecurity and prevent further kidnappings, which includes support to Nigeria's anti-kidnap cell, through the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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The Lord Bishop of Winchester:To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to ensure that aid distributed to displaced people in Nigeria reaches those displaced by violence in central states committed by armed non-state actors. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The UK funds civil society organisations to provide assistance to people displaced by conflict and violence across Nigeria, so they have access to food, healthcare and nutrition, and protection and water. The UK is a donor to the Start Fund which provides rapid financing in response to small to medium scale crises including helping people affected by conflict, flooding and cholera outbreaks in Nigeria. Additionally, the UK's Strengthening Peace and Resilience programme ('SPRiNG') is working to reduce rural violence in northwest and north-central Nigeria, including supporting collaboration and productive livelihoods for both farmers and pastoralists.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Baroness Coussins:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer on 31 July 2024 by Lord Collins of Highbury (HL27), what progress has been made towards a UN Security Council Resolution on the protection of civilian interpreters working with the Armed Forces in conflict zones who may not be classified as conducting humanitarian activities. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: We recognise the vital role that interpreters play in conflicts, and the threats they face. The most effective way to protect civilians and safeguard human rights, including those civilians working as interpreters, is by improving implementation of existing UN Security Council resolutions, compliance with International Humanitarian Law and seeking accountability for violations.

The UK takes seriously our duty of care responsibilities for civilian interpreters and other locally employed civilians working with our Armed Forces, as the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme demonstrates. The ARAP scheme, administered by the Ministry of Defence, provides safe resettlement routes for those formerly employed, directly or indirectly, by the UK Government.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Baroness Sugg:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Humanity and Inclusion report Beyond Access: Ensuring the Continuity of Education for Adolescent Girls with Disabilities, published on 24 January, what steps they are taking to promote continuity of education for adolescent girls with disabilities through development assistance. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The UK is working to tackle the barriers to accessing quality education that are faced by adolescent girls with disabilities, through our education policy and programmes.

In countries like Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, UK development assistance has supported the implementation of disability-inclusive pedagogy in classrooms, funded assistive devices, and provided technical assistance to ministries of education, to develop and implement inclusive education policies. We are growing our understanding of what works to support learners with disabilities through our Disability Inclusive Development Programme.

At the Global Disability Summit in April 2025, the UK will reinforce its commitment to galvanising international efforts on disability inclusion, including specific actions on inclusive education, and will launch the refresh of our Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Disability Inclusion and Rights strategy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Baroness Sugg:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement the FCDO disability inclusion and rights strategy 2022 to 2030, published on 16 February 2022, consistently across UK Official Development Assistance programmes. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The FCDO continues to take a 'twin track approach' including mainstreaming a disability inclusive and human rights perspective across all the department's work. For example, we will shortly launch new e-learning on how to use the disability inclusion and gender equality policy markers to make FCDO programmes more inclusive across the organisation. Our progress against the strategy is regularly reviewed by a board of independent experts from civil society and academia.

At the Global Disability Summit in April 2025, the FCDO will reinforce our commitment to galvanising international efforts on disability inclusion and launch the refresh of our FCDO Disability Inclusion and Rights strategy. Setting out new priorities, we will continue to provide targeted support to people with disabilities through high quality, targeted programmes to test new innovation and strengthen national systems that better reach people with disabilities. For example, this will include supporting inclusive approaches to education, health, and employment through our Disability Inclusive Development programme.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Baroness O'Loan:To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they are making to the government of Iran concerning ending executions in that country. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. We have repeatedly called on the Iranian government to establish a moratorium on executions, including at the UN Human Rights Council and UN Third Committee last year. We are committed to working with international partners to hold Iran accountable for its egregious use of the death penalty.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Baroness O'Loan:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to bring a case against Iran before the International Court of Justice for crimes against the people of Iran. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: We are not currently bringing a case against Iran at the International Court of Justice relating to its human rights record. We continue to engage international partners on the best approach for holding Iran accountable for its continued violations; we were instrumental in delivering the Iran resolution, adopted by the UN Third Committee in November 2024, which spotlighted and condemned Iran's repression of fundamental rights, including in relation to the death penalty, women and girls, and religious and ethnic minorities. We continue to support the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, which is essential for investigating alleged crimes by the Islamic Republic against protesters during nationwide protests in 2022-23, and we look forward to its next report in March 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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The Lord Bishop of St Albans:To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they intend to make to the government of Iran concerning the execution sentences of Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: We are aware of the reports relating to the death sentences of Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani. We have repeatedly called on Iran to establish a moratorium on executions, including at the UN Human Rights Council and UN Third Committee last year. We continue to raise human rights issues directly with the Iranian government, including through our Ambassador in Tehran, and are committed to working with international partners to expose Iran's application of the death penalty in multilateral fora.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Baroness O'Loan:To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they are making to the government of Iran to desist from human rights abuses in that country. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: We continue to take significant action in multilateral fora to urge the Islamic Republic to cease its human rights violations, including at the UN Human Rights Council and UN Third Committee. We were instrumental in delivering the Iran Resolution, adopted by the Third Committee in November 2024, which spotlighted and condemned Iran's continued violations, including in relation to the death penalty, women and girls, and religious and ethnic minorities. In January 2025, the Foreign Secretary raised human rights directly with his Iranian counterpart. We will continue to raise rights issues directly with the regime, including through our Ambassador in Tehran.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Baroness O'Loan:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to co-ordinate international efforts to secure the release of human rights defenders in prisons in Iran. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The UK was instrumental in delivering the Iran Human Rights Resolution, adopted by the UN Third Committee in November 2024, which called on Iran to immediately and unconditionally release persons arbitrarily detained for the exercise of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, including human rights defenders. In September 2024, we issued a joint statement alongside international partners, which underlined our commitment to human rights defenders in Iran fighting for fundamental freedoms. We will continue to work with international partners to hold Iran to account for its repression of human rights defenders.
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Baroness Sugg:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans Ministers have to attend the Global Disability Summit, due to be held in Berlin in April. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The 2025 Global Disability Summit is an important moment for the UK to reinforce our commitment to galvanising international efforts on disability inclusion and launch the refresh of our Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Disability Inclusion and Rights strategy (2022-30), setting out new priorities. The Cabinet Office and the FCDO are working closely together to draw up the UK's delegation and final decisions will be made soon.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Baroness Northover:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have been raising awareness of cervical cancer globally during Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, and if so, how; and whether they have been collaborating with Unitaid on this and on wider programmes to improve women’s health. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: Unitaid are a leading funder of innovative tools to find and treat cervical cancer in low- and middle-income countries. We highly value our Unitaid partnership and have contributed more than half a billion pounds in funding.

The UK remains a major donor and champion of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights to improve women's health. This includes continuing to support the Global Financing Facility (GFF), the Reproductive Health Supplies programme, UNFPA, and the Women's Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) and WISH Dividend programmes. The UK is one of the largest donors to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance who have immunised 16 million girls and averted 387,000 cervical cancer deaths over the last decade through HPV vaccination programmes.
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Baroness Stedman-Scott:To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made in the merger of Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service. \p Baroness Sherlock: We are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service across Great Britain that will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and support to help them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers. We will design, develop, and test options for the new service in partnership with key stakeholders as we move into policy design and delivery.

As a first step to better integrate employment support and careers advice in England, we will launch a pathfinder in early 2025 to test more enhanced collaboration between Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service. The department has also worked with the Department for Education to put in place a new agreement on data sharing between the National Careers Service and Jobcentre Plus in England. This will be used to encourage closer co-operation in the collective delivery of jobs and careers guidance for adults and promote a simpler and more streamlined process for our customers. Joining up the support a customer receives from both a work coach and national careers advisor can remove unnecessary repetition, link up advice and ensure holistic support for the customer to help improve outcomes.

We currently have two large scale trials in progress contributing towards our vision for the new jobs and careers service. The first, to test providing support for people by telephone and video as well as face to face appointments. The second, to test whether meeting unemployed people less frequently in a Jobcentre would have an impact on their work outcomes and whether this approach is more beneficial for particular groups.
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Baroness Stedman-Scott:To ask His Majesty's Government whether the review of devolution and local government will impact any plans to (1) publish the job entry and sustainability rates for Jobcentre Plus and its contractors, and (2) merge JobCentre Plus and the National Careers Service. \p Baroness Sherlock: DWP is always exploring ways to publish more information to enrich the public discourse.

DWP published new analysis of Universal Credit (UC) into-work rates and flows between conditionality groups - including what proportion did not flow out of the UC “Searching for work” labour market regime, over a six month period, as part of the recent Get Britain Working White Paper here.

Plans are being developed for regular and proportional update to this analysis.

Additionally, statistics and management information on contracted employment provisions such as Restart and the Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) interventions are published on Gov.UK (Restart Scheme statistics to October 2024 - GOV.UK, Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) Management Information, April 2021 to March 2024 - GOV.UK).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-12 conversation_35

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK is protected from severe cyberattacks. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: The cyber security of the UK is a key priority for the government, which is why we are taking robust action to improve the nation’s cyber defences. We have announced a Cyber Security and Resilience Bill to better protect our critical national infrastructure from cyber attacks. On 14 January the government published a consultation on proposals to further protect businesses and public services from ransomware attacks. We are also taking action within government by merging digital teams into one central Government Digital Service led by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-12 conversation_36

Lord Inglewood:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the current framework for Ofcom in promoting economic growth under (1) the general duties of Ofcom under section 3 of the Communications Act 2003, (2) its interpretation through the Government's statements of strategic priorities, and (3) the growth duty extended to Ofcom. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: Ofcom’s central duty is to further the interests of citizens and consumers, where appropriate by promoting competition, and having regard, amongst other things, to encouraging investment and innovation. Resultantly, Ofcom’s regulatory regime supports the drivers of economic growth in the markets they regulate, and the impact of this on these sectors can be seen, for example, in how the telecoms market has grown 25% in the last ten years.

The current statement of Strategic Priorities for Telecommunications, Spectrum Management and Postal Services was designated in 2019. The digital landscape and market conditions have changed significantly since then, and we are currently updating the Statement to respond to these changes and set out the Government’s key priorities for these sectors that support Government’s mission to kickstart economic growth.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-12 conversation_37

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of engaging with the Commonwealth to expand artificial intelligence development in the UK. \p Lord Vallance of Balham: The UK recognises the importance of international collaboration in order to drive safe, responsible AI innovation. We were pleased to discuss AI at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Apia, Samoa, October 2024, as well as supporting the Commonwealth AI Consortium.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-12 conversation_38

Lord Dodds of Duncairn:To ask His Majesty's Government how many times the East–West Council has met since its formation. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The East-West Council has met once since its formation on 26 March 2024. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland hopes to announce the next meeting shortly.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-12 conversation_39

Lord Dodds of Duncairn:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to showcase the opportunities for investment in Northern Ireland's defence and shipbuilding industries. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The Government recognises the vital and unique contribution made by Northern Ireland's defence and shipbuilding industries to UK national security. We are committed, as set out in Safeguarding the Union, to further including Northern Ireland companies in the UK defence network.

The Government recently announced a successful outcome in the negotiations over the future of Harland and Wolff. The commercial deal by Navantia is a significant investment in the UK's industrial base and will ensure delivery of the Ministry of Defence’s Fleet Solid Support programme.

We intend to showcase Northern Ireland’s thriving defence sector’s skills, industry, expertise and infrastructure through the ongoing Industrial Defence Strategy led by the Ministry of Defence. This will include sending signals that enhance the incentives for long-term investment in the UK in order to encourage private investment alongside public money.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-12 conversation_40

Lord Dodds of Duncairn:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to support the digitisation and exhibition of "media and historical archives that reflect the richness and diversity of traditions in Northern Ireland", as described in Annex B of Strengthening the Union (CP1021). \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The Government has made good progress towards supporting the digitisation and exhibition of media and historical archives that reflect the richness and diversity of traditions in Northern Ireland, as set out in Annex B of the Safeguarding the Union command paper, and intends to provide a further update on this work in the coming weeks.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-12 conversation_41

Lord Weir of Ballyholme:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made any representations to the government of the Republic of Ireland to hold a public inquiry into the Omagh bombing. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The Government was pleased that the Tanáiste reconfirmed the government of Ireland’s commitment to cooperate with the Omagh Bombing Inquiry, in his statement on 28 January 2025.

Nothing can bring back those that were lost that terrible day in August 1998, but the Government wants to ensure that the Omagh Bombing Inquiry has every chance of success. The Irish Government’s commitment to cooperate with the Inquiry is crucial to that endeavour, and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has made this point directly in engagement with his counterparts.

Whether the establishment of a separate inquiry in Ireland is required to ensure that the families obtain the information they require is a matter for the Irish Government.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-12 conversation_42

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford:To ask His Majesty's Government whether the ATLAS caseworking system will include functionality to track and report on the (1) number, and (2) demographics, of individuals granted leave to remain with a 'no recourse to public funds' condition; and if so, when this functionality will be fully operational. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Atlas system records, as part of a leave to remain decision, whether an individual has been given a 'no recourse to public funds' (NRPF) condition, and every individual who has an immigration application record on Atlas has their nationality, gender and date of birth recorded as standard. Management Information related to the NRPF condition is expected to be available by late summer 2025, following the transition of caseworking for a small number of remaining immigration routes onto Atlas.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-12 conversation_43

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford:To ask His Majesty's Government what is their timeline for the full implementation of the ATLAS caseworking system; and whether they expect it to be fully operational in 2025. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Atlas caseworking system is replacing the legacy CID (Case Information Database) system and we expect to decommission CID in the first half of 2025. Atlas is already fully operational in practice, with almost all in-country caseworking across Migration & Borders being processed on it since mid-2024. A small handful of exceptional immigration routes remain to transition over from CID to Atlas in the next few months.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-12 conversation_44

Lord Swire:To ask His Majesty's Government which bodies they consulted before increasing the fees for licensing firearms. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: On 15 January 2025, the Government laid a statutory instrument before Parliament that will increase fees charged by police forces to provide full-cost recovery for firearms licensing applications, in line with the Government's manifesto commitment on firearms fees. The fees were last increased in 2015 and they are now considerably below the cost of the service provided. It is essential for both public safety and police efficiency that increased fees are introduced so that service improvements can be made. The new fees will come into effect on 5 February.

The new fees are based on data produced by a review of firearms licensing costs in 31 police forces in January 2023. This data has since been updated to reflect increases in costs since then. The review was discussed at the Firearms Fees Working Group, chaired by the Home Office, which met in 2022 and 2023 with representation from:

· National Police Chiefs' Council

· Association of Police and Crime Commissioners

· Police Scotland

· Scottish Government

· Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

· British Shooting Sports Council

· British Association for Shooting and Conservation

· Gun Trade Association

· National Rifle Association

· Countryside Alliance

· National Gamekeepers Organisation

· Scottish Association for Country Sports.

We keep the framework of firearms licensing controls under constant review as it is important that we maintain strong controls on firearms to safeguard the public.