theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-15 conversation_35
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Hayward:To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to his letter placed in the Library of the House on 7 July concerning staffing the Peers’ Entrance, which operations he used as comparators in stating that “It is normal within an operation the size of the Parliamentary Security Department to be able to temporarily reassign resources”. \p Lord Gardiner of Kimble: My letter, dated 7 July 2025, reflected the information presented to me based on the professional judgement and experience of Parliament’s security advisors of the importance of maintaining a flexible security posture. This flexibility has allowed for the temporary reassignment of security staff to the Peers’ Entrance from our existing numbers, at no additional cost to the taxpayer.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to replacing stamp duty and council tax with a single property tax based on property value. \p Lord Livermore: The Government does not comment on speculation about tax changes. The Government keeps all tax policy under review and tax decisions will be made at the Budget, in the usual way.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Dodds of Duncairn:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on employment levels in the hospitality sector. \p Lord Livermore: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs). The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

The hospitality sector is predominately made up of smaller businesses. The Government protected the smallest businesses from these changes by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.

The Office for Budget Responsibility also published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances. With all policies considered, the OBR's March 2025 EFO forecasts the employment level to increase from 33.6 million in 2024 to 34.8 million in 2029.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Dodds of Duncairn:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish an impact assessment of the impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on low-income and middle-income workers in the hospitality industry. \p Lord Livermore: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs). The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

The hospitality sector is predominately made up of smaller businesses. The Government protected the smallest businesses from these changes by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee:To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the report by KPMG Illicit cigarette consumption in Europe, published on 11 June, what steps they are taking towards countering illicit cigarette consumption and the rise of counterfeit and non-duty-paid goods entering the UK market. \p Lord Livermore: The Government has dedicated significant resource to tackling illicit tobacco and has set out its approach to doing so in successive strategies dating back to 2000. These strategies have been highly effective in reducing the estimated duty gap for cigarettes from 16.9% in 2005 to 10.5% in 2023/24 and for hand-rolling tobacco from 65.2% to 22.9% over the same period.

HMRC publishes annual data on seizures, criminal investigations and civil penalties related to tobacco. Between April 2023 and March 2024, HMRC and Border Force seized 1.36bn cigarettes and 92,435kg of hand-rolling tobacco.

In January 2024, HMRC and Border Force published the latest illicit tobacco strategy, ‘Stubbing Out the Problem’, setting out a continued commitment to reduce the trade in illicit tobacco with a focus on reducing demand, and to tackle and disrupt the organised crime groups behind the illicit tobacco trade. [1] The strategy was supported by £100 million of new smokefree funding over 5 years to boost existing HMRC and Border Force enforcement capability.

[1] Stubbing out the problem: A new strategy to tackle illicit tobacco - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to update His Majesty's Revenue and Customs technology to avoid the miscalculation of capital gains tax in the future. \p Lord Livermore: Following the changes to the rates of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) announced at the Budget in 2024, customers and agents need to take additional steps to ensure the correct tax is accounted for, if they made disposals on or after 30 October 2024. HMRC have provided an online calculator and detailed guidance to support customers to work out the correct amount of CGT that is due, and this is clearly signposted when they complete their online tax return. For the 2025 to 2026 tax year these rate changes will be fully integrated in HMRC’s systems.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Weir of Ballyholme:To ask His Majesty's Government what is the timeframe constraint for the funding to redevelop Casement Park under the Financial Transactions Capital. \p Lord Livermore: The UK Government has committed £50m of Capital Financial Transactions funding to redevelop Casement Park. This funding is ring-fenced for the redevelopment project. The UK Government will continue to work with the Northern Ireland Executive, but it is up to the Executive to take decisions on the design, implementation, spending profile and management of the Financial Transaction.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Mott:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the current VAT threshold on small business growth. \p Lord Livermore: With a VAT registration threshold of £90,000, the UK’s threshold is higher than any EU country and the joint highest in the OECD. This means the majority of UK businesses are kept out of the VAT system.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Baroness Penn:To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost to early years education providers of the changes to employer National Insurance contributions announced in the Autumn Budget 2024 (HC 295). \p Lord Livermore: The Government has taken a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to repair the public finances, rebuild public services, and restore economic stability after the situation we inherited from the previous government.

The Government has protected the smallest businesses from the impact of the increase to employers’ National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no employer NICs at all next year.

Early years providers play a crucial role in driving economic growth and that is why we have committed to delivering the expansion of government-funded childcare and invested £370m at the Spending Review in opening 3,000 new school-based nurseries in this parliament.

At the Budget in October 2024, the Chancellor announced that total funding will rise to over £8 billion in 2025-26 on early years entitlements, followed by an announcement at the Spending review of an additional £1.6bn per year by 2028-29. On top of this, the Department for Education confirmed an additional £75 million of funding in 2025-26 to support the childcare sector to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, alongside a further £25 million to support childcare for disadvantaged children through the early years pupil premium.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Mott:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the introduction of a new property tax. \p Lord Livermore: The Government does not comment on speculation about tax changes. The Government keeps all tax policy under review and tax decisions will be made at the Budget, in the usual way.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increase in the cost of living over the past four years, and what steps they are taking to ensure those costs are manageable. \p Lord Livermore: CPI inflation, which measures how the cost of goods and services change each year, has fallen from a high of 11.1% in October 2022, to 3.8% in July 2025.

The Bank of England has the responsibility of controlling inflation, and the Government fully supports them as they take action to sustainably return inflation to the 2% target.

The Government understands that the cost of living remains a challenge which is why, at the Budget in October 2024, we took significant steps to support households. These steps include increasing the National Living Wage, extending the Household Support Fund, raising working-age benefits, reducing the cap on Universal Credit deductions, and raising the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Teverson:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of extending VAT relief to domestic heating batteries that satisfy the Microgeneration Certification Scheme's MCS 2025 Battery: Installation Standard published on 1 January. \p Lord Livermore: Installations of qualifying energy-saving materials (ESMs) in residential accommodation and buildings used solely for a charitable purpose benefit from a temporary VAT zero rate until March 2027, after which they will revert to the reduced rate of VAT at five per cent.

The Government assesses whether to add ESMs to this relief by evaluating them against the following principles: whether the primary purpose of the technology is to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions; and whether extending VAT relief would be cost effective and align with broader VAT principles.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Spellar:To ask His Majesty's Government how much money was raised by the energy profits levy for each of the last two quarters for which figures are available. \p Lord Livermore: Monthly Energy Profits Levy (EPL) cash receipts are published in ‘HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance Contributions for the UK’ and can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/689ecbc12e8cc8ec5b3572b2/NS_Table.ods

EPL is typically paid in July, October and January alongside companies’ corporation tax instalments. In January 2025 and July 2025, EPL cash receipts were £952m and £778m respectively reported in line with the timing of instalment payments.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Holmes of Richmond:To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to clauses 30 and 31 of the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill, what independent advice and consultation, including from people with lived experience, they have sought about the access needs of blind, partially sighted, deafblind and disabled passengers; and what organisations and individuals they consulted for that advice. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The Department has proactively engaged with a wide range of stakeholders throughout the development and passage of the Bus Services (No.2) Bill through Parliament. This includes the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC), statutory advisors to Government on the needs of disabled transport users.

Both the safety and accessibility of stopping places guidance, and the guidance on floating bus stops will be developed collaboratively with disabled people and other key stakeholders. They will also be subject to statutory consultation with DPTAC. This guidance will be important to improving the experience of disabled people when using bus services, and enabling them to travel safely, confidently and with dignity.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Baroness Young of Old Scone:To ask His Majesty's Government whether the proposed designs for East West Rail include any structures which are solely for the protection of bats. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The proposed designs for East West Rail do not include any structures which are solely for the protection of bats. The proposed structures along the line of route, including the tunnel at Chapel Hill, are designed to provide the best solution based on a range of factors, including engineering and cost as well as impacts to communities and the environment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Berkeley:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for the delays and reduced passenger services on the rail line from Exeter to Salisbury, and what action Network Rail is taking to remedy the situation and reinstate the original timetable. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: Delays and reduced passenger services have been caused by ‘soil moisture deficit’, shrinking the clay embankments the rail line from Salisbury to Exeter is built on. This requires speed restrictions, leading to extended journey times and the need for an amended timetable to accommodate. South Western Railway and Network Rail continue to monitor soil moisture levels, track conditions and train performance, and provide regular updates to the Department. We are assured by South Western Railway and Network Rail that usual services will be reinstated as soon as it is safe to do so.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Baroness Crawley:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that upcoming autonomous vehicle trials prioritise public safety and inclusive design practices, including engagement with disabled people and other underrepresented groups, and whether they have consulted with safety bodies such as the Royal Society of the Prevention of Accidents about those trials. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: Government announced in June fast-tracking the Automated Passenger Services Permitting Scheme to Spring 2026. This enables organisations to move beyond existing trialling and demonstrate the capability of their technology as passenger services.

Self-driving services provide an opportunity to enhance transport for older and disabled people. The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 requires that the Secretary of State considers to what extent the granting of a permit is likely to improve understanding of how these services should be designed for, and delivered to, older and disabled people. Permit holders are required to report on the steps taken to meet the needs and requirements of older and disabled people.

The Department is continuing to build an evidence base to better understand the opportunities that exist to enable innovative approaches in providing accessibility. A consultation on the proposed Automated Passenger Services permitting scheme is open until 28 September. We have also recently closed a call for evidence on our Statement of Safety Principles, through which the Department has gathered evidence, including from safety bodies, to support the setting of safety standards for autonomous vehicles.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Pack:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to make the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's digital services for drivers available 24 hours a day. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online services for driving licence transactions, vehicle licensing and vehicle excise duty enforcement penalty payments are already available 24 hours a day.

Availability of other vehicle related services is scheduled to be extended to 9PM within the next two months. While the DVLA intends to extend these services to 24 hour availability, this requires wider transformational changes to vehicle services which are currently in development.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Coaker on 4 August (HL 9670), when they intend to share the findings of the review of the over 43,000 files relating to nuclear test veterans and how they intend to share those findings. \p Lord Coaker: The review of records commissioned by my colleague, the Minister for Veterans and People, is ongoing. This work will enable us to better understand what information the Department holds regarding medical testing of Service personnel who took part in the UK nuclear weapons tests, ensuring that relevant information has been examined thoroughly. We will update Parliament at the earliest opportunity once this work is complete.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Coaker on 4 August (HL 9670) relating to nuclear test veterans, when they reset their relationship with test veterans and the organisations that support them; when and whether any announcement was made about this change in the relationship; and what precisely was announced. \p Lord Coaker: This Government is deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK nuclear testing programme. We recognise their Service and the huge contribution they have made to the UK’s security.

A priority for the Government when we entered office was to reset our relationship with Nuclear Test Veterans. This has been done through Ministerial and official-level meetings with organisations representing Nuclear Test Veterans and with Parliamentarians, and initiatives including the records review. No standalone announcement was made about this reset, but we have referred to it in public statements and in Parliament. The Secretary of State for Defence and the Minister for Veterans and People most recently met a Nuclear Test Veteran organisation and members of Parliament on 1 September 2018.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Baroness Lister of Burtersett:To ask His Majesty's Government how many complaints about inappropriate sexual behaviour at the Army Foundation College were made between 1 January 2018 and 30 June 2025; and of those complaints, how many were made against (1) staff, and (2) junior soldiers. \p Lord Coaker: There are 176 records on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system of sexual allegations reported between 1 January 2018 and 30 June 2025 where the unit of the accused was Army Foundation College Harrogate. 32 of those allegations were against Permanent Staff and 144 were against Junior Soldiers.

To note regarding the figures provided:

They may include more than one entry per allegation where, for example, a Court Martial has been followed by Major Administrative Action.

The term ‘inappropriate sexual behaviour’ is not a category on JPA, therefore the figures above include all sexual allegations (regardless of outcome).

Recorded cases may include incidents that occurred outside of the Military which are investigated by the civilian police.

These are single Service estimates based on data which is not gathered for statistical purposes or subject to the same level of scrutiny as official statistics produced by Defence Statistics.

The figures may be subject to data quality issues affecting their accuracy. As JPA is a live system the data can be subject to change due to retrospective reporting and data correction.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Coaker on 4 August (HL 9670), how many nuclear rest veterans have applied for no-fault compensation under the War Pension Scheme; how many have been granted compensation; and how many have died before their applications were considered. \p Lord Coaker: The War Pensions Computer System currently lacks the capability to uniquely identify individuals who participated in nuclear tests. While the claim file might contain a copy of the Nuclear Test Veterans Priority Claim Request or other relevant information indicating the claimant's involvement in nuclear testing, this information is not consistently available.

To accurately determine the number of Nuclear Test Veterans who applied for or received compensation, or those who passed away before their application was reviewed, would require a manual interrogation of all War Pension files and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Statistics on the War Pensions Scheme are published by the Ministry of Defence at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/collections/war-pension-recipients-index
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 20 May (HL7268), what engagement they have had with logistics businesses about the current system that is used to notify drivers of physical checks of their vehicle under the Border Target Operating Model without specifying which consignment is affected. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Border Target Operating model (BTOM) was developed following extensive engagement with businesses (including the logistics sector) across the UK, points of entry, enforcement agencies and with the Scottish and Welsh Governments.

Defra continues to have regular engagement with border stakeholders including the logistics sector, to discuss operational aspects of the BTOM implementation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government whether the planned Border Target Operating Model checks on imports to Great Britain from the Republic of Ireland via west coast ports will proceed following the proposed UK-EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreement. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: In light of the plans set out at the UK-EU summit on 19 May, the United Kingdom and devolved governments have decided to pause implementation of further import controls on imports of EU and EFTA live animals, and non-qualifying Northern Ireland goods arriving from Ireland and Northern Ireland. We will keep this pause under review as negotiations progress. We have been clear that compliance with existing Border Target Operating Model controls must continue until further notice because the UK’s biosecurity and public health must continue to be protected.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the costs incurred by private sector organisations in preparing for the cancelled EU fruit and vegetable import checks under the Border Target Operating Model. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Work to bring forward the end to fruit and vegetable easements (i.e. implementing BTOM checks on fruit and veg) paused earlier this year reflecting the decision not to implement the full BTOM check regime in the context of an SPS agreement with the EU. Accordingly, analysis of the business impacts of the BTOM checks on fruit and veg paused earlier this year and finalised cost impacts are not available.
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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government what support or mitigations they are providing to assist businesses in implementing phase three food labelling requirements under the Windsor Framework, in the light of the UK-EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreement. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Government has fully considered the impacts on business of phase three labelling requirements, including on costs. Those requirements are considered to be a proportionate and necessary way of enabling smooth movement of food and drink products between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We meet regularly with affected businesses and their representatives in the interests of supporting them in meeting the requirements of the Windsor Framework.

The Government is currently negotiating an UK-EU SPS Agreement, which would remove a broad set of requirements for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Under that agreement the need to label goods as ‘not for EU’ is expected to diminish significantly. Achieving these benefits relies on the UK continuing in the interim to meet its existing commitments under the Windsor Framework.
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Baroness Gale:To ask His Majesty's Government when the Animal Welfare Strategy will be published. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Prime Minister announced that we will be publishing an animal welfare strategy later this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

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Lord Weir of Ballyholme:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of supply chain divergence for pet food from Great Britain to Northern Ireland since the introduction of individual labelling requirements on 1 July. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Government is using a data-driven approach to monitoring the market, that confirms the vast majority of pet food has been compliant with the new labelling requirements introduced on 1 July, and we have seen no evidence that the availability of pet food in Northern Ireland has been impacted by Phase 3. Industry is adapting well to the requirements of the Windsor Framework, and we will continue to work closely with businesses to support them in doing so.

Furthermore, the Government has introduced contingent legislation to enable targeted ‘not for EU’ labelling across Great Britain if evidence demonstrates that the availability of certain goods to Northern Ireland may be seriously adversely affected by the labelling requirement.

The Government is committed to safeguarding the supply of retail goods into Northern Ireland and protecting the UK Internal Market.
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Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential welfare issues from facilities in which short-term care is offered to dogs; and how they plan to protect both dogs, and the communities in which such facilities are situated. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 were developed to help improve welfare standards across a range of activities including dog day care, home boarding for dogs and kennelling.

Defra undertook a post-implementation review of the Regulations, which was published in December 2024. The review can be found here and a copy is attached to this answer. The Government is considering the findings.

Post-implementation review (pdf, 326.0KB)
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Lord Evans of Rainow:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans ministers have to meet the newly appointed chief executive of the Canal and River Trust, Campbell Robb. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Government looks forward to working with the new Chief Executive once he has taken up the post in October.
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Lord Evans of Rainow:To ask His Majesty's Government what meetings they have had with the Canal and River Trust since April. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Senior Defra officials and the Canal and River Trust’s Executive management team hold three formal meetings a year, usually in April/May, August/September, and December. Additionally, working level meetings between Defra officials and the Trust are held as necessary.
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Lord Evans of Rainow:To ask His Majesty's Government what mechanisms exist to hold the Canal and River Trust accountable where the Trust fails to fulfil its statutory duties. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Canal and River Trust’s statutory duties arise from various Acts of Parliament. As an independent charity, the Trust has its own internal governance structures to ensure that its performance is managed and scrutinised appropriately.

The Trust provides support to the Government in responding to Parliamentary and intra-Governmental questions and requests for information relating to its statutory duties. Parliamentarians may write directly to the Chair of the Trust’s Board of Trustees, the Chief Executive, or other Directors about its activities. The Trust is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 relating to its statutory functions, and it also maintains an information regime that mirrors the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. The Trust also publishes information on its activities to ensure public and stakeholder accountability, under the terms of the Government grant funding agreement.

The Charity Commission has oversight of the Trust, and it is also open to anyone to bring a case where they consider there is evidence of failure to carry out statutory duties.
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Lord Evans of Rainow:To ask His Majesty's Government whether ministers undertake regular assessments of the Canal and River Trust's effectiveness in fulfilling their statutory duties. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Senior Defra officials meet the Canal and River Trust’s executive management team formally three times a year at which a range of issues are discussed, including operational matters relating to statutory duties as appropriate. The minutes of the meetings are published on the Trust’s website. Additionally, working level meetings between Defra officials and the Trust are held as necessary.
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Lord Evans of Rainow:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the harm to wildlife caused by litter on urban canal towpaths. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: This Government has not made an assessment of the harm to wildlife caused by litter on urban canal towpaths.
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UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-15 conversation_69

The Lord Bishop of Sheffield:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to mitigate the impact of the droughts declared by the Environment Agency, with particular reference to South Yorkshire. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Government is closely monitoring water levels and working with water companies and the Environment Agency (EA) to mitigate the impacts of drought across England, including in South Yorkshire.

Following the driest six-month period since 1929, the EA declared drought in Yorkshire on 12 June 2025. The EA is actively working with stakeholders in the region, monitoring the situation, mitigating environmental impacts, and balancing the needs of people and nature.

To support water supply resilience in South Yorkshire, the EA has granted Yorkshire Water seven Drought Permits for its reservoirs, conserving reservoir stocks and to secure public water supplies.

Water company drought plans set out how companies will maintain a secure water supply while minimising environmental impacts during dry weather and drought conditions. The Government expects all companies to take the necessary steps outlined in these plans to protect water supplies for their customers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-15 conversation_70

Baroness Maclean of Redditch:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support small housebuilders to build more homes, and according to what timetable. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: Small and medium sized housebuilders are essential to meeting the government's housing ambitions and supporting local economies.

The government is acting to support SME housebuilders by increasing their access to land, providing further financial assistance and easing the burden of regulation. Further details can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 2 June 2025 (HLWS670).

HLWS670 (pdf, 116.5KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-15 conversation_71

Lord Carter of Haslemere:To ask His Majesty's Government, in relation to paragraph 24 of Schedule 1 to the Renters' Rights Bill, whether the protection for tenants from enforcement of rent arrears in respect of delayed universal credit payments apply only in respect of the first universal credit payment; and if so, whether this is consistent with the wording of the Bill which does not state it is limited. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The Renters’ Rights Bill will introduce new protections for tenants who temporarily fall into rent arrears, supporting both parties by preventing tenancies which are otherwise viable from ending. We will protect tenants from eviction if their arrears are due to the timing of a relevant welfare payment. Tenants will not face mandatory eviction under Ground 8 if they breach the three months arrears threshold because they have not yet received a Universal Credit payment for housing costs which they have been assessed as entitled to.

As Universal Credit is assessed every month, the protection period will apply in any period between the end of an assessment period and the relevant Universal Credit payment, which can usually be up to five days.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-15 conversation_72

Baroness Maclean of Redditch:To ask His Majesty's Government what investment they are making in the planning system to ensure that planning departments have the resource they need to address planning application backlogs. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: Supporting local planning authorities to attract, retain and develop skilled planners is crucial to ensuring they provide a proactive, efficient planning service for local communities and that new developments are well designed and facilitate local growth.

The government appreciates that planning departments across the country are experiencing challenges with recruitment, retention, and skills gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative impact on service delivery.

At the Budget last year, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026.

Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into LPAs. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice.

On 27 February 2025, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement Minister Pennycook made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480).

On 25 February 2025, the draft Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 were agreed. These regulations increase planning fees for householder and other applications, with a view to providing much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed LPAs.

More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that LPAs have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software.

Lastly, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes provisions that will allow LPAs to set planning fees or charges at a level that reflects the individual costs to the LPA to carry out the function for which it is imposed and to ensure that the income from planning fees or charges is applied towards the delivery of the planning function.

HCWS480 (pdf, 122.4KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-15 conversation_73

Baroness Young of Old Scone:To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of Heritage Lottery Fund grants have been awarded for the natural environment in each of the last 15 years. \p Baroness Twycross: Since 1994, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded over £2 billion to more than 4,500 land, nature and biodiversity projects across the UK.

Protecting the environment is one of the National Lottery Heritage Fund's four investment principles and they are prioritising landscape and nature projects that support nature’s recovery, deliver nature-based solutions to address climate change, and reconnect people with landscapes, marine environments and nature. Recent targeted work in this area has included the launch of Nature Towns and Cities, a partnership initiative that brings together organisations from across the UK to improve the quality of and access to urban green spaces, and Landscape Connections, a £150million strategic initiative supporting world-class landscapes across the UK to become better for nature and people.

The following proportionates of National Lottery Heritage Grant funding awarded to the natural environment are; 2010 - 28%, 2011 - 23%, 2012 - 23%, 2013 - 17%, 2014 - 25%, 2015 - 23%, 2016 - 26%, 2017 - 25%, 2018 - 19%, 2020 - 26%, 2021 - 28%, 2022 - 21%, 2023 - 24%, 2024 - 15%.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-15 conversation_74

Baroness Young of Old Scone:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have discussed the transfer of responsibility for the Heritage Lottery Fund to Historic England with the Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic England or the devolved administrations. \p Baroness Twycross: Under the previously announced Cabinet Office Arm’s Length Bodies review, Government is considering how to ensure all its public bodies, including the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England, are as efficient and effective as possible and where we can bring certain functions under closer ministerial scrutiny to deliver better outcomes for communities and the places they live in. This initiative aligns with the Government's wider strategy to foster a more productive and agile public sector and has involved wide ranging discussions on a number of areas. If there are implications for the devolved nations on this, the department will reach out to them for discussions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-15 conversation_75

Baroness Young of Old Scone:To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of Heritage Lottery Fund grants have been awarded in each of the devolved nations in each of the last 15 years. \p Baroness Twycross: The National Lottery Heritage Fund awards funding to projects in all of the UK’s devolved nations.

The proportion of National Lottery Heritage Fund funding awarded in Northern Ireland over the last 15 years is; 2010 - 4%, 2011 - 2%, 2012 - 2%, 2013 - 8%, 2014 - 1%, 2015 - 2%, 2016 - 4%, 2017 - 5%, 2018 - 4%, 2019 - 2%, 2020 - 4%, 2021 - 1%, 2022 - 7%, 2023 - 3%, 2024 - 4%.

The proportion of National Lottery Heritage Fund funding awarded in Scotland over the last 15 years is; 2010 - 10%, 2011 - 10%, 2012 - 14%, 2013 - 9%, 2014 - 6%, 2017 - 11%, 2018 - 11%, 2019 - 7%, 2020 - 3%, 2021 - 5%, 2022 - 5%, 2023 - 9%, 2024 - 12%.

The proportion of National Lottery Heritage Fund funding awarded in Wales over the last 15 years is; 2010 - 10%, 2011 - 5%, 2012 - 3%, 2013 - 3%, 2014 - 6%, 2015 - 5%, 2016 - 6%, 2017 - 11%, 2018 - 11%, 2019 - 7%, 2020 - 3%, 2021 - 5%, 2022 - 5%, 2023 - 9%, 2024 - 12%.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-15 conversation_76

Baroness Smith of Llanfaes:To ask His Majesty's Government whether the devolved administrations will be represented on the Pensions Commission. \p Baroness Sherlock: The Pensions Commission has been revived to examine the pensions system as a whole and look at what is required to build a future-proof pensions system that is strong, fair and sustainable. The Turner Commission achieved success through its national approach, which this Commission aims to replicate by ensuring the regular and timely involvement of the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-15 conversation_77

Baroness Maclean of Redditch:To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to their policy paper Backing your business: Our plan for small and medium sized business (CP 1358), which regulations they will repeal to help cut the administrative cost of regulation to business by 25 per cent. \p Lord Leong: We are working across government and with regulators to meet our ambitious target to reduce the administrative burden of regulation to business by 25%. As a down payment on this work, we announced reforms as part of the Industrial Strategy that will contribute. This included harnessing the potential of new technology to make compliance with money laundering regulations simpler using digital identity verification checks and removing requirements and increasing the permissible size for air source heat pumps. We will continue to work with business and stakeholders to identify further administrative savings. We will set out more detail in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_1

Lord Jackson of Peterborough:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the smacking ban on police forces in Wales; what assessment they have made of the number of reports that police forces in Wales have received relating to the smacking of a child; and whether there has been an increase since the ban came into effect of parents or professionals who work with children or vulnerable adults being reported to the police. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act 2020 introduced a ban on physical punishment against children in Wales. Assessing the impact of legislation implemented by the devolved Welsh Government is a matter for the Welsh Parliament.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-26 conversation_2

Lord Pearson of Rannoch:To ask His Majesty's Government what disciplinary action, if any, they plan to take against investigators in the Home Office following the successful appeal of “Maria” in the Upper Tribunal, whose case was covered by GB News in May. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: Everyone working for the Home Office must go through the national security vetting process (NSV) to be granted security clearance. This includes permanent and temporary staff and contractors.

All Civil Servants must adhere to the Civil Service code and values when carrying out their responsibilities and duties, including any Staff Network activity. Any breaches of the Civil Service code are addressed through relevant HR policies and processes. Additionally, Civil Servants must follow the guidance on Diversity and Inclusion and Impartiality for Civil Servants.