theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_42
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_42

Lord Caine:To ask His Majesty's Government which commitments arising from the Safeguarding the Union command paper (CP1021), published on 31 January 2024, (1) have been, or (2) are in the process of being, implemented; and which commitments remain outstanding. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The Government continues to make progress on delivering the commitments made in the Safeguarding the Union command paper. In the past month alone, that has included: taking forward legislation which allows the Government to introduce ‘not for EU’ labelling in Great Britain; hosting the first East-West Council meeting in Northern Ireland; and the completion of work to digitise the Belfast News Letter.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_43
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_43

Lord Rennard:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the current price elasticities used to make forecasts of the tobacco and vaping markets. \p Lord Livermore: I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave him on 4 June 2025 to question HL7693 reproduced below.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) publish details of their tobacco tax receipt forecast in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) publication and forecast methodology page [1]. The OBR will provide further information on their analysis on request.

[1] https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/tax-by-tax-spend-by-spend/tobacco-duties/
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_44
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_44

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to limit the rise in public borrowing while maintaining a balanced budget, particularly in regard to debt interest payments and public sector spending commitments. \p Lord Livermore: The Government’s approach to borrowing is set out in its fiscal rules: to move the current budget into balance, so day-to-day spending is met by revenues, meaning that the Government will only borrow for investment, and to reduce net financial debt as a share of the economy by the end of this parliament.

The Government has recently delivered a Spending Review which set multi-year spending plans, delivering this Government’s priorities whilst living within the envelopes set at Spring Statement 2025. While balancing the current budget, the Chancellor has increased day-to-day spending by £190 billion in real terms, and capital investment by over £120 billion over the Parliament compared to the plans set at Spring Budget 2024 by the previous government.

This Government has made difficult decisions on tax, spending and welfare to ensure we are living within our means. This is the responsible choice to reduce our levels of borrowing in the years ahead, so we can spend more on our public services, more on the priorities of working people and less on servicing debt. In its Spring forecast, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast borrowing to fall in every year - from 4.8% GDP this year to 2.1% in 2029-30.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_45
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_45

Lord Agnew of Oulton:To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to page 41 of their policy paper Spending Review 2025: Departmental Efficiency Plans, published on 11 June, what was the average cost per case in 2024–25 for (1) ministerial, and (2) public correspondence in the Treasury; and what is the projected average cost per case under the automated correspondence system. \p Lord Livermore: Due to correspondence being just one role officials have, the potential for multiple officials to be involved, and differing complexity per case, we do not currently attribute precise staff time spent per case. Therefore, we are unable to provide an average cost per case for ministerial or public correspondence in 2024–25.

However, as set out in the Departmental Efficiency Plans, the adoption of AI-driven automation is expected to both speed up casework and reduce overall costs. We anticipate efficiency gains relative to current arrangements. Further detail will be available once the automated tools are fully developed and deployed and the impact assessed in terms of central resource and time savings.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_46
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_46

Baroness Moyo:To ask His Majesty's Government, in light of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development growth forecast, what steps they are taking to balance tax and regulatory policies to promote investment while meeting fiscal responsibilities. \p Lord Livermore: Economic growth is the Government's number one mission and our strategy has consistently set out to grow the supply-side of our economy, including through reforms to skills, planning, and regulation, establishing the National Wealth Fund to unlock £70 billion of private investment, and signing new trade deals with the EU, US, and India to increase opportunities for exporters.

The IMF have said our fiscal strategy is striking “a good balance between supporting growth and safeguarding fiscal sustainability” and that our growth mission “focuses on the right areas to lift productivity”, while on spending they conclude our plans are “credible and growth-friendly” and are “expected to provide an economic boost over the medium term”.

At the Spring Statement, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility upgraded our growth forecast and confirmed we are on track to meet our fiscal rules two years ahead of target.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_47
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_47

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of non-domiciled individuals who have left the UK since the Autumn Budget 2024, and what estimate they have made of any reductions in tax revenue as a result. \p Lord Livermore: Official Statistics around non-domiciled taxpayers in the UK [1] will be published in July 2025, and this will include information about taxpayers who claim non-domiciled status in the UK for the tax year 2023-24.

A supplementary forecast information release around the costings of reforms to the non-domicile regime was published by the Office for Budget Responsibility in January 2025 [2]. This costing outlines the certified impact of ending the non-domiciled tax status on revenues to the Exchequer.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-non-domiciled-taxpayers-in-the-uk

[2] https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/Non-doms-supplementary-release-Jan-2025.pdf
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_48
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_48

Lord Bellingham:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the propriety of Fujitsu's bid for the Trader Support Service contract in the light of the fact that the company has not yet contributed to compensation for victims of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal. \p Lord Livermore: All of our contract opportunities are publicly available through Contracts Finder and/or Find A Tender Service and are available to any economic operator that is able to meet the requirements of the procurement in compliance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 or The Procurement Regulations 2024, as applicable.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_49
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_49

Lord Watts:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to ask the Civil Aviation Authority to review whether charges at airports and on flights, such as excess baggage fees, are fair. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The CAA is independently responsible for regulating airport charges within the overall legislative framework for economic regulation set out in the Civil Aviation Act 2012. Regulation is based on an assessment of an airport’s market power with the purpose of protecting the consumer. Currently two airports meet this market power test - Heathrow and Gatwick - with regulatory arrangements in place for both.

The CAA does not hold statutory competition functions in relation to airline markets: these are held by the Competition and Markets Authority.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_1

Baroness Eaton:To ask His Majesty's Government what voting system will be used to elect mayors to strategic authorities under their proposals in the English Devolution White Paper published on 16 December 2024 (CP 1218). \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The Government has no plans at this time to change the voting system for mayoral elections.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_2
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_2

Lord Mott:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to consider introducing a Canadian-style 'critical election incident public protocol' for the United Kingdom. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The Joint Election Security and Preparedness Unit (JESP) remains active and continues to convene regular cross-government meetings. These meetings are attended by representatives from government departments, relevant technical authorities, the UK intelligence community, devolved administrations, the police, and the Electoral Commission.

At present there are no plans to introduce a Canadian-style ’critical election incident protocol’ given the processes that are already in place. When an election is called, the JESP Unit stands up an Election Cell to monitor and respond to emerging issues, including information incidents. Protecting our democracy is a priority for this Government and following the 2024 general election the JESP Unit will continue to strengthen resilience ahead of future electoral events.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_3
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_3

Baroness Eaton:To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the English Devolution White Paper published on 16 December 2024 (CP 1218), whether the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has assessed the merits of writing off council debt for those local authorities who decide to pursue a unitary model under the local government re-organisation proposals. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The English Devolution White Paper published on 16 December announced that the Government will facilitate local government reorganisation for two-tier areas and for unitary councils where there is evidence of failure, or where their size or boundaries may be hindering their ability to deliver sustainable and high-quality public services.

Previous Secretaries of State used statutory powers to intervene in a small number of councils failing their Best Value Duty partly associated with high levels of unsustainable debt. We will work closely with local leaders to explore what support they might need to develop robust proposals and implement new structures, including where there has been failure. We will continue to work with Best Value Commissioners in these councils to support the councils’ financial recovery.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_4
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_4

Lord Scriven:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made on whether the Teesworks regeneration project has met value for money criteria based on the answers and assurances made by the Tees Valley Mayor in progress reports. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The Best Value Duty requires local authorities, including combined authorities, to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which their functions are exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. We are considering all the material and will respond in due course.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_5
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_5

Lord Young of Cookham:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to work with Homes England to encourage more small and medium-sized enterprises to build affordable homes. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: Homes England works with over 300 Partners to deliver the Affordable Homes Programme, including specialist delivery by local and community-based Social Housing Providers.

The Government has set Homes England a strategic objective that funding for the Affordable Homes Programme for 2021-26 should support use of small and medium-sized enterprise contractors. When Homes England assess a bid to the programme for funding, they will look at how the proposed development meets this strategic objective. Homes England will also include this objective in any grant agreement for the programme.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_6
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_6

Lord Bird:To ask His Majesty's Government what they steps they are taking to improve affordability of tenancies in the private rented sector. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: Boosting the supply of homes of all tenures must be at the heart of any strategy to improve housing affordability which is why the government’s Plan for Change includes a hugely ambitious milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament.

The Renters’ Rights Bill empowers private rented sector tenants to challenge unreasonable rent increases, with all rent increases taking place via an existing statutory process. Tenants who receive a rent increase that they feel is not representative of the market value will be able to challenge the increase at the First-tier Tribunal.

The Bill also takes practical steps to end the practices of rental bidding and landlords demanding large amounts of rent in advance. These unfair practices pit tenants against one another, encouraging them to either stretch their finances to the limit or prevent them from accessing the private rented sector altogether.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_7
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_7

Baroness Freeman of Steventon:To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to their research paper Adapting historic homes for energy efficiency: a review of the barriers published on 3 January, what targets they have for training, recruiting, and retaining specialist local authority conservation officers; and what plans they have for achieving any such targets. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The Government has no specific targets relating to specialist local authority conservation officers. I refer the noble lady to the answer given to PQ 16501 on 5 December 2024 set out details of the Government’s investment to support capacity and capability in local authorities more generally. This will be further underpinned by increases in planning fees that will help improve the resourcing of planning application services, so that local planning authorities can fund the skills they need, including conservation officers.

PQ 16501 (pdf, 83.0KB)
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_8
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_8

Lord Jackson of Peterborough:To ask His Majesty's Government whether the National Crime Agency’s International Corruption Unit is assisting the government of Bangladesh to identify assets allegedly stolen from its banks and institutions by officials. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The UK is committed to fighting corruption and illicit finance both domestically and internationally. The UK is fully committed to recovering and returning corruptly-obtained assets. This must be done in accordance with legal due process, which can take time, but ensures a fully fair and transparent process.

The National Crime Agency is part of the UK's effort to support Bangladesh in this area, as well as wider engagement on law enforcement issues. As a matter of policy, we do not routinely confirm or deny NCA investigations.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_9
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_9

Lord Pearson of Rannoch:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to initiate an inquiry into grooming gangs. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Government's priority is to support victims and survivors and take action on delivering against the recommendations of the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

The Government will continue to support further inquiries that are needed to expose failings and wrongdoings in local areas and institutions. It is right that these take place at a localised level so that those directly responsible for delivering services work to improve those services and ensure lessons are learnt.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_10
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_10

Lord Mawson:To ask His Majesty's Government what research they have undertaken on the (1) cost, and (2) effectiveness, of non-drug related approaches to treating depression. \p Baroness Merron: The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), funds a range of research to improve the health outcomes for people with depression. This includes research into the clinical and cost-effectiveness of non-drug related approaches to treatment of the condition.

For example, the NIHR has funded research that demonstrated that mindfulness cognitive therapy delivered by a practitioner is an effective alternative to, and more cost effective than, cognitive behavioural therapy for adults with mild to moderate depression, providing alternative treatment options.

In addition, the NIHR is currently funding a £1.5 million randomised controlled trial to test the clinical and cost effectiveness of artificial intelligence (AI) driven care for depression symptoms in comparison to current practice, stepped care, which starts with less intensive treatments, followed by more intensive treatments for patients for whom the initial treatment fails. AI driven stratified care, which involves targeting treatment towards groups of patients based on key characteristics, could improve the evidence on how to decide which non-drug related approaches, like psychological therapy, may be most effective for each individual, and help to plan and deliver more effective clinical services.

The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of mental health, including non-drug related approaches to treating depression. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_11
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_11

Lord Booth-Smith:To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the impact on the volume of transactions following the reduction of the first-time buyer threshold for stamp duty to £300,000 in April 2025. \p Lord Livermore: Following the reversion of the First Time Buyer’s Relief nil-rate band and purchase price limit on 1 April 2025 by the previous Government, HMRC analysis estimates that there will be 4,000-6,000 fewer first-time buyer transactions per year between 2025/26-2029/30.

However, at Budget 2024, the higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) for additional dwellings were increased by two percentage points from 3% to 5%. This measure will ensure that those looking to move home, or purchase their first property, have a greater advantage over second home buyers, landlords, and companies purchasing residential property. The OBR certified costing estimates that increasing the higher rates of SDLT by two percentage points is expected to result in 130,000 additional transactions over the next five years by first-time buyers and other people buying a primary residence.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_12
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_12

Baroness Finn:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 21 October 2024 (HL1279), whether the gift of clothes to a Minister from a political donor would necessitate a tax charge. \p Lord Livermore: Ministers are employees for the purposes of Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions.

The normal rules for employment-related benefits apply to employment-related gifts, as set out in HMRC’s guidance. [1]

HMRC’s Employment Income Manual, section EIM21715 details the exemption for small gifts costing a total of £250 or less per year to provide. [2]

[1] HMRC Internal Employment Income Manual, Updated 12 December 2024, https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim20020

[2] HMRC Internal Employment Income Manual, Updated 12 December 2024, https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim21715
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_13
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_13

Lord Kempsell:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to mitigate any impact of placing VAT on private schools on swimming lessons run by swim schools using private schools’ premises; and what plans they have to exempt swimming lessons from VAT. \p Lord Livermore: The Government has conducted careful and thorough analysis of the impacts of placing VAT on private schools, and the Government's costings have been scrutinised by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility. The Government published a detailed costing note and Tax Impact and Information Note (TIIN) on 30 October 2024.

To support access to swimming lessons, the Government already exempts them from VAT when they are supplied by an eligible non-profit-making body. This includes lessons provided by eligible bodies using premises owned by private schools.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_14
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_14

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the growth of the UK’s AI sector, particularly regarding (1) investment into the sector, and (2) retention of skilled workers. \p Lord Vallance of Balham: The IMF estimates the adoption of AI across the economy could boost productivity by up to 1.5 percentage points a year - more than doubling our growth rate since 2010.The AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out game-changing initiatives to make this a reality, including a twenty fold increase in compute power and the creation of AI growth zones.

The plan also aims to address the mismatch between supply and demand of UK AI talent. It sets out the essential role that equipping our workforce with the right skills and attracting top talent will play in growing the UK’s AI sector
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_15
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_15

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent the spread of misinformation online following social media companies removing fact-checking services from their platforms. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: Meta has stated that they are not rolling out changes to their US fact-checking policies in the UK at this stage. We are in contact with Meta to understand implications for UK users and will monitor changes as they are operationalised.

Regardless, the UK’s Online Safety Act will oblige all social media companies to remove illegal content and content harmful to children in the UK. Failure to comply could lead to significant fines and potentially legal action. We continue to engage social media companies on the implementation of the Act and urge them to counter the spread of mis/disinformation on their platforms.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_16
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_16

Lord Bradley:To ask His Majesty's Government what was the (1) mean, and (2) median, tariff length for prisoners receiving a life sentence aged (a) under 18, (b) 18 to 20, (c) 21 to 24, (d) 25 to 29, (e) 30 to 34 (f) 35 to 39, (g) 40 to 49, (h) 50 to 59, (i) 60 to 69, and (j) 70 and over, at the time of sentencing, in each year from 2002. \p Lord Timpson: The information requested in can be found in the attached table.

Data sources and quality

Note that the tariff length is the time between date of sentencing and tariff expiry date, and does not take into account any time spent on remand. The figures do not include whole-life orders. The numbers are subject to revision as more data become available; any changes in the numbers since the last publication of this information is as a result of more sentencing data becoming available.

The data have come from administrative IT systems which, as with some large-scale recording systems, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be amended as part of data cleansing or updates.

HL3871_table (xlsx, 17.9KB)
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_17
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_17

Baroness Hollins:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support research into evidence-based interventions for women prisoners who self-harm; and why the Women Offenders Repeat Self-Harm Intervention Pilot III has not re-started. \p Lord Timpson: A range of evidence-based interventions and services are provided for women in prison. Referrals for all services are encouraged from across the female estate, to support women to access the services they need. These services include the Women’s Offender Personality Disorder Pathway, as well as the Women’s Estate Psychology Service team, which provides forensic psychologists within all 12 women’s prisons to deliver therapeutic services.

HMPPS is piloting an enhanced approach to supporting women in their first weeks in custody, which is often the time when they are most vulnerable. This pilot is fully operational at five women’s prisons. It includes one-to-one psychological support and psychology-based group work.

The Women Offenders Repeat Self-Harm Intervention Pragmatic Trial piloted the delivery of face-to-face therapy. The provider subsequently proposed to move to a digital model. HMPPS was concerned that this could carry significant risks, given the vulnerability of the women. It was not clear how the wellbeing of the women would be safeguarded.

HMPPS would be glad to consider a new proposal to deliver the programme in women’s prisons, on condition that delivery was on a face-to-face basis to support the vulnerability of the women engaging in the therapy, and with provision of after-care.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_18
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_18

Lord Bradley:To ask His Majesty's Government on how many occasions pelargonic acid vanillylamide (PAVA) incapacitant spray has been (1) drawn, or (2) drawn and deployed, in prisons in 2022 and 2023; and what was the (a) ethnicity, (b) religion, and (c) disability status, of the prisoner involved. \p Lord Timpson: The requested information, by prisoner ethnicity and religious affiliation, is provided in the tables below:

PAVA incident reports by ethnic group (2022, 2023)

2022

2022 Total

2023

2023 Total

Ethnic Group

Drawn and used

Drawn not used

Drawn and used

Drawn not used

Asian

42

9

51

62

11

73

Black

245

67

312

349

132

481

Mixed

53

21

74

91

47

138

Other

15

*

20

19

15

34

White

167

61

228

319

212

531

Unknown

-

*

*

*

*

*

Grand Total

522

164

686

843

418

1,261

PAVA incident reports by religion group (2022, 2023)

2022

2022 Total

2023

2023 Total

Religion Group

Drawn and used

Drawn not used

Drawn and used

Drawn not used

Christian

259

66

325

341

161

502

Muslim

186

54

240

335

142

477

No Religion

62

31

93

141

92

233

Other

15

13

28

24

23

47

Unknown

-

-

-

*

-

*

Grand Total

522

164

686

843

418

1,261

The Use of Force Policy Framework sets out the context in which force is used lawfully by trained prison staff as well as setting out a professional standard for using force.

All prison officers trained in how to use PAVA undergo regular refreshers which cover the lawful use of force in the custodial setting.

HMPPS is closely monitoring the use of PAVA in all sites at senior levels.

These figures have been drawn from HMPPS Management information. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. We do not provide exact data when the figure is five or fewer, as this risks identification of individuals. In these cases, the figure has been replaced by the symbol *. This approach is in accordance with our standards on data disclosure.

Information relating to the use of PAVA spray on prisoners with disabilities is recorded in a number of formats. To be able to identify all such cases, it would be necessary to review all potentially relevant records, and this could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_19
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_19

The Lord Bishop of St Albans:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will take steps to inspect and take into custody uninsured tankers sailing through UK waters. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: As a signatory of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNLCOS), the UK cannot disrupt the transit of vessels through its territorial waters for lacking insurance, as this is not considered to fall within any of the exceptions to ‘innocent passage’.

Vessels which call into UK ports, however, are subject to the Port State Control Regime, which includes the inspection of the insurance documentation for the vessels and enforcement action if necessary.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_20
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_20

Lord Norton of Louth:To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of state secondary schools currently have teachers who have qualified as citizenship education teachers, and what plans they have to increase the number of schools with such teachers. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: ​​Delivering the government’s objective to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child relies on a highly skilled workforce in schools, with high quality teaching the in-school factor that makes the biggest difference to a child’s outcomes.

There are now 468,693 full time equivalent teachers in state-funded schools in England but numbers have not kept pace with demand. Of the 3,435 state-funded secondary schools in England, 71.2% employed a teacher with a relevant qualification in citizenship. This figure relates to schools that supplied teacher qualification data. In some cases, teachers with a qualification in another subject may also teach citizenship in the school.

We are focused on the need to boost teacher numbers in priority subjects across the country. This is why the government has set out the ambition to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers across our schools, both mainstream and specialist, and colleges over the course of this Parliament.

Measures will include getting more teachers into shortage subjects, tackling retention issues and supporting areas that face recruitment challenges. The government will continue to work alongside the sector as we develop our delivery plan and seek to re-establish teaching as an attractive profession.

​We have made good early progress towards this key pledge by ensuring teaching is once again an attractive and respected profession, key to which is ensuring teachers receive the pay they deserve. That is why this government has accepted in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation of a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools for 2024/25.

Alongside teacher pay, we have made £233 million available from 2025/26 recruitment cycle to support teacher trainees with tax-free bursaries of up to £29,000 and scholarships of up to £31,000 in shortage subjects. The department has also expanded its school teacher recruitment campaign, ‘Every Lesson Shapes a Life’, and the further education teacher recruitment campaign ‘Share your Skills’.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_21
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-22 conversation_21

Lord Beamish:To ask His Majesty's Government which Ministers have had meetings with Fujitsu since July 2024. \p Baroness Twycross: Details of ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Data for the period of July to September 2024 will be published in due course.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-08-14 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-08-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-08-14 conversation_1

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they consider self-identification of an individual as (1) greygender, (2) maverique, (3) two-spirit, (4) demiboy, (5) demigirl, (6) neutrois, (7) aporagender, (8) polygender, (9) intergender, (10) trigender, (11) omnigender, (12) multigender, (13) pangender, (14) bigender, (15) agender, (16) androgyne, (17) demigender, (18) genderfluid, (19) genderqueer, (20) genderflux, or (21) non-binary, to be a protected characteristic; and whether it is considered to be a protected characteristic by the Office for Equality and Opportunity. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The Equality Act 2010 provides protection against discrimination and harassment and related harassment due to any of the nine protected characteristics covered by the Act. It protects people from discrimination, in the workplace, when accessing services and in wider society.

The nine protected characteristics in the Act are:

The Government has no current plans to add to the list of protected characteristics.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-23 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-23 conversation_1

Lord Rooker:To ask His Majesty's Government how many ministers have been responsible for the Government contribution to the BBC World Service since July 2024; and when the current minister with that responsibility was appointed. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: A range of Ministers have answered questions and held meetings on the BBC World Service since July 2024 depending where, and at what level, those issues have been raised. The Minister for Multilateral and Human Rights is the current Minister responsible.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-23 conversation_2
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-23 conversation_2

Baroness Coffey:To ask His Majesty's Government which Minister within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is responsible for ocean policy and legislation. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The Minister for the Indo-Pacific and Minister for Equalities has overall responsibility for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) Legal Directorate, which includes Ocean Policy Unit, but some ocean policy issues have previously been covered by other Ministers. Ministerial leads on legislation are allocated on a case-by-case basis. The Minister for the Indo-Pacific and Minister for Equalities is responsible for the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Bill.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-23 conversation_3
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-23 conversation_3

Lord Dubs:To ask His Majesty's Government why a minister did not attend the plenary meeting of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly held on 12–14 October. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: UK Government Ministers remain strongly committed to supporting the work of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly and were keen to attend the Plenary session in Weybridge. Unfortunately, on this occasion urgent parliamentary business meant that a Minister was unable to attend. We look forward to future Plenaries and will aim to ensure that there is Ministerial representation from His Majesty’s Government.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-23 conversation_4
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-23 conversation_4

Lord Freyberg:To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the independent review of Arts Council England following the closure of the public consultation on 30 June. \p Baroness Twycross: Baroness Hodge will share her findings with the government in the Autumn of 2025, and the government will publish the conclusions of the review along with the government’s response in early 2026.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-23 conversation_5
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-23 conversation_5

Lord Curry of Kirkharle:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the freedom and human rights of minorities in India are included as a condition for ratifying the free trade deal with that country. \p Lord Stockwood: The UK is a leading advocate for human rights around the world. We remain committed to the promotion of universal human rights. Having secure and growing trading relationships can increase UK influence and help us to have open conversations with partners on a range of issues, including human rights.

Trade agreements are just one lever in our trade policy toolkit and are generally not the most effective mechanism for promoting human rights.

The British High Commission in New Delhi and our network across India track human rights across the country. We engage Indian stakeholders on a range of human rights matters, working with Union and State Governments, and with civil society.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-23 conversation_6
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-23 conversation_6

Baroness Stedman-Scott:To ask His Majesty's Government what is their timetable for the publication of the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics, and whether it will be subject to public consultation. \p Baroness Merron: The National Health Service has many longstanding Information Standards and IT systems which already include patient stated gender and gender identity data items, alongside phenotypic sex classification where required. These include the Personal Demographic Service and data sets such as the Mental Health Minimum Data Set and Commissioning Data Sets.

The Professional Records Standards Body (PRSB) has adopted the existing approved NHS Information Standards, rather than the NHS adopting the PRSB standards. Work is currently underway in response to the Sullivan Report and other clinical safety risks, to better define and separate sex and gender data items within the NHS Information Standards and systems area. The PRSB is engaged on this work and will align with such changes to Information Standards.

NHS England previously commissioned the PRSB to support the development of data standards that enable consistent and safe sharing of clinical and demographic information.

On the Core Information Standard, NHS England worked with the PRSB to define a minimum dataset for the exchange of key information between care settings. This standard was published and is available on the PRSB website, although it is not in itself a formal information standard.

On clinical information needed for direct care related to person characteristics and definitions for the NHS data model, the PRSB was commissioned to conduct discovery work with a wide range of clinicians from all specialties. These included Royal Colleges, patient-representative groups, and third sector bodies, which were engaged on the data items required for clinical care which relate to Sex and Gender Reassignment, as well as other provisions within the Equality Act such as ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and philosophical belief, age, and disability.

NHS England has not engaged with the PRSB on the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics (UISPC). This relates specifically to recording of data related to Protected Characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, to enable the NHS to monitor compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty and address known health inequalities.

Once the UISPC report recommendations are made to the Department, Ministers will review and consider next steps, including how best to consult more widely.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-23 conversation_7
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-23 conversation_7

Baroness Stedman-Scott:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 8 August (HL9823), what work NHS England or the Department of Health and Social Care has undertaken with the Professional Records Standards Body on (1) the Core Information Standard, (2) clinical information that is needed for direct care related to person characteristics and definitions for the NHS data model, and (3) the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics. \p Baroness Merron: The National Health Service has many longstanding Information Standards and IT systems which already include patient stated gender and gender identity data items, alongside phenotypic sex classification where required. These include the Personal Demographic Service and data sets such as the Mental Health Minimum Data Set and Commissioning Data Sets.

The Professional Records Standards Body (PRSB) has adopted the existing approved NHS Information Standards, rather than the NHS adopting the PRSB standards. Work is currently underway in response to the Sullivan Report and other clinical safety risks, to better define and separate sex and gender data items within the NHS Information Standards and systems area. The PRSB is engaged on this work and will align with such changes to Information Standards.

NHS England previously commissioned the PRSB to support the development of data standards that enable consistent and safe sharing of clinical and demographic information.

On the Core Information Standard, NHS England worked with the PRSB to define a minimum dataset for the exchange of key information between care settings. This standard was published and is available on the PRSB website, although it is not in itself a formal information standard.

On clinical information needed for direct care related to person characteristics and definitions for the NHS data model, the PRSB was commissioned to conduct discovery work with a wide range of clinicians from all specialties. These included Royal Colleges, patient-representative groups, and third sector bodies, which were engaged on the data items required for clinical care which relate to Sex and Gender Reassignment, as well as other provisions within the Equality Act such as ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and philosophical belief, age, and disability.

NHS England has not engaged with the PRSB on the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics (UISPC). This relates specifically to recording of data related to Protected Characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, to enable the NHS to monitor compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty and address known health inequalities.

Once the UISPC report recommendations are made to the Department, Ministers will review and consider next steps, including how best to consult more widely.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-25 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-25 conversation_1

Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links:To ask His Majesty's Government by how much the (1) British Army, (2) Royal Navy, and (3) Royal Air Force are underrecruited. \p Lord Coaker: I refer the Noble Baroness to the response given by the Minister for the Armed Forces last November (Question 11998).

Armed Forces: Recruitment (docx, 20.4KB)
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-25 conversation_2
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-25 conversation_2

Baroness Goldie:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure continued private investment in the defence industry in the light of news reports that pension funds are refusing to invest in defence firms. \p Lord Coaker: In December 2024 we published the Defence Industrial Strategy Statement of Intent, which identified the ‘crowding-in’ of private sector investment as critical to the Government’s imperatives of national security and a high growth economy. We want to mobilise the private sector to invest more and we will engage with a wide range of defence and financial services stakeholders to explore how to do so.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-25 conversation_3
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-25 conversation_3

Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links:To ask His Majesty's Government how many service personnel there are in the British Armed Forces, broken down by (1) service arm, and (2) gender. \p Lord Coaker: The current strength (as at 1 January 2025) of the UK Armed Forces is 180,779 which includes:

The strength of each of the Services, including Regular Forces, Volunteer Reserves and Other Personnel is:

The gender of Armed Forces personnel (as at 1 October 2024) is as follows:

Gender figures are for Regular and Future Reserve 2030 Forces only; data regarding other categories of SP is not available.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-25 conversation_4
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-25 conversation_4

Lord Freyberg:To ask His Majesty's Government how many meetings about artificial intelligence and copyright issues took place between Ministers and officials from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and representatives of the Tony Blair Institute between July 2024 and March 2025; and what were the dates and outcomes of those meetings. \p Lord Vallance of Balham: Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a range of stakeholders about AI and Copyright issues, including the Tony Blair Institute.

Ministerial meetings and engagements are published through quarterly transparency reports on gov.uk.