theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-01 conversation_24
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-01 conversation_24

Baroness Barran:To ask His Majesty's Government how many policy reviews and consultations the Department for Education has launched since the General Election on 4 July 2024; what the subject of each review is; and what the anticipated timescales are for their completion. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: This government has outlined its ambitions through the Plan for Change, which sets out an ambitious set of milestones, across the Missions, for this Parliament. As the House would expect, the government continually reviews its work to ensure that it is delivering the best outcomes for the people of the United Kingdom, and that its policies continue to represent the best value for the taxpayer.

Public reviews will be available on GOV.UK as they are published.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Watson of Invergowrie:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on English students from under-represented backgrounds of the planned closure by Cardiff University of its School of Music. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: This government believes that access to higher education should be based on ability and attainment, not background.

As education is a devolved matter, impacts following the closure of provision at a Welsh university are a matter for the Welsh government.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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The Lord Bishop of St Albans:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to reduce the gender achievement gap in science and maths in secondary schools in England. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: All children and young people should have the opportunity to succeed, no matter who they are or where they are from, which is why our mission is to break down barriers to opportunity.

High and rising standards are at the heart of this mission, delivered through excellent teaching and leadership, a high-quality curriculum and a system which removes the barriers to learning.

The department remains committed to ensuring all children and young people have a strong foundation in mathematics to thrive in the modern economy, regardless of gender.

The department has a number of initiatives in place aimed at helping schools to improve their curricula and to drive up mathematics attainment, such as the Maths Hub programme. This department-funded, school-led network aims to improve the teaching of mathematics for all pupils in publicly-funded schools. The Maths Hubs programme focusses on reducing attainment gaps, which may be associated with disadvantage, gender or other factors, by providing school-to-school support focussed on mathematics subject knowledge and pedagogy training for teachers.

The government is supporting schools to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related subjects and careers through programmes such as STEM ambassadors. Volunteers who are registered for this initiative actively engage with children and young people to spark their interest in STEM subjects and raise their awareness of the pathways into STEM careers through their personal experiences. Of these volunteers, 48% are women and 17% are from an ethnic minority background.

The department is a partner signatory to the Tomorrow’s Engineers Code pledging to work with the engineering community to improve the quality, targeting, inclusivity and reach of engineering inspiration activities. The Code is a framework for organisations working to increase the number and diversity of young people pursuing engineering careers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Elliott of Mickle Fell:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to address falling school readiness, following the findings of the Kindred Squared School Readiness Survey, published on 30 January. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The government welcomes the focus from the Kindred Squared School Readiness Survey. Preparing children for school should be a partnership between parents, early years settings and schools.

That is why this government has set a milestone of a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn in the classroom. We will measure our progress through 75% of children at the end of reception reaching a good level of development in the early years foundation stage profile assessment by 2028.

This is an increase from 67.7% currently and would mean an additional 40,000 to 45,000 children a year hitting developmental goals.

To achieve this milestone, we will:

We will continue to work closely with parents and teachers as we deliver our ambitious reforms to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Knight of Weymouth:To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost to schools in England of replacing computers due to the requirements of new Windows 11 operating system. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The department is aware that Microsoft are ending support for Windows 10 in October and are working with Microsoft to manage the impact on schools, including with regard to cost. Devices that meet the specification requirements for Windows 11 will be able to be updated for free. Many schools may have devices which are not able to upgrade to Windows 11 and we are keen to support these schools.

We have validated with Microsoft a more affordable rate for schools for extended security updates on Windows 10 devices, so schools can continue to use these devices safely for the next three years and do not need to purchase new devices. Extended security updates for Windows 10 will be offered to education institutions at the cost of $1 per device in the first year, $2 the following year and $4 the third year. More details about the transition to Windows 11 can be found here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/blog/2024/04/windows-10-end-of-support-updates-for-education/.

Schools have the flexibility to choose how they spend their money in relation to technology to best suit their needs and there is no ring-fenced funding for technology. Some services offered through the department’s school resource management collection may also be helpful to schools in managing their budgets. For example, the ‘Get help buying for schools’ service includes the opportunity to get free help from procurement specialists to help those in schools responsible for buying goods and services to get the best value for money. It provides specific advice on buying specific goods and services for their school through a department approved framework. The service is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-help-buying-for-schools.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Aberdare:To ask His Majesty's Government what support they will give to the Office for Students (1) to allow more providers to complete the registration process ahead of the introduction of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, and (2) to support submissions from small specialist providers that currently receive educational oversight from Ofsted for their eligible level 5 and 6 provision. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: I refer the noble Lord to the answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 36617.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Blunkett:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to involve Service families and their children in the official celebrations announced for the 80th anniversary of VE Day. \p Baroness Twycross: The Government has announced an ambitious programme for the entire nation to commemorate the 80th anniversaries of VE and VJ Day. Communities across the country will come together to mark the commemorations - by participating in the official government programme and by organising their own events and activities. Everyone across the UK is invited to participate in events and activities designed to honour the contributions and experiences of the Second World War generation.

Service families and their children will be included in the official celebrations and at the centre of nationwide, locally led commemorations. Furthermore, the Imperial War Museums’ Letters to Loved Ones initiative encourages children to share wartime letters, fostering intergenerational connections and learning.

DCMS has launched an interactive website - ve-vjday80.gov.uk - which offers key information and resources, including ways to get involved in the commemorations. The site features downloadable digital materials and an interactive map of events.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Baroness Penn:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 25 March (HL5735), in what way they plan to broaden the National Wealth Fund's legislative remit beyond infrastructure. \p Lord Livermore: The Government will introduce legislation when Parliamentary time allows to broaden the National Wealth Fund’s (NWF) legislative mandate beyond infrastructure to enable it to better support the Government’s growth and clean energy missions.

At that point, and subject to Parliamentary consent, the NWF will focus on enabling investment in capital intensive projects, businesses, or assets. For example, the NWF will have the scope to invest in a broader range of supply chains and critical sectors, such as Artificial Intelligence and quantum, where access to finance gaps exist.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Baroness Hoey:To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the additional costs to Post Offices of person-to-person parcels going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and requiring documentation under the Windsor Framework. \p Lord Livermore: The Government has not made a specific estimate of any costs to the Post Office of adapting to the arrangements set out in the Windsor Framework.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Weir of Ballyholme:To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total cost of customs declarations from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in the past 12 months. \p Lord Livermore: The Government has not made an estimate of the total cost of declarations for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in the past 12 months.

The latest available information relating to declarations for goods moved on this route is for the calendar years 2022 and 2023. This information can be found on GOV.UK.

Businesses moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland can access free to use support from the Trader Support Service.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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The Earl of Clancarty:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to make fees under the Music and Dance Scheme exempt from VAT. \p Lord Livermore: Performing arts schools that offer full-time education to children of compulsory school age and/or 16-19 year olds for a charge will remain in scope of this policy, this includes the Music and Dance Scheme. This is to ensure fairness and consistency across all schools that provide education services and vocational training for a charge. The Government has no plans to exempt further schools from this policy.

However, the Department for Education has decided to adjust its Music and Dance Scheme bursary contribution for families with a relevant income below £45,000 to account for the VAT that will be applied on fees, ensuring that the total parental fee contributions for families with below average relevant incomes remain unchanged for the rest of the 2024/25 academic year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of autonomous maritime mine-hunting vessels; and what plans they have to use similar technology to patrol the English Channel. \p Lord Coaker: The Royal Navy has been using a range of unmanned underwater vehicles to detect sea mines since 2005 and is investing in several autonomous mine-hunting capabilities. The Royal Navy does not routinely comment on future operational plans due to operational security reasons.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Baroness Wolf of Dulwich:To ask His Majesty's Government how much the Ministry of Defence spent on research contracts and grants in (1) 2022–23, and (2) 2023–24; and what proportion of that spending went to UK universities. \p Lord Coaker: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) works to support a secure and prosperous United Kingdom (UK) through allies, industry and academia to ensure the UK has the right capabilities for defence and security. MOD records all contracts on its Contracting, Purchasing and Finance system. However, it is unable to distinguish which contracts cover research due to a lack of relevant metadata within this system.

In the time available, the following organisations within MOD have confirmed their spend (Extra-Mural Research) on research contracts and grants for the years 2022-2024:

Financial Year (FY)2022-23 Research Contracts

Organisation

Total Spend

Proportion with Universities

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl)

£387.6 million

4.7%

Navy Command*

£80.06 million

0.03%

FY2022-23 Research Grants

Organisation

Total Spend

Proportion with Universities

Dstl

£0.4 million

100%

FY2023-24 Research Contracts

Organisation

Total Spend

Proportion with Universities

Dstl

£461.1 million

4.8%

Navy Command

£130.85 million

1.3%

FY2023-24 Research Grants

Organisation

Total Spend

Proportion with Universities

Defence Science and Technology (DST)

£10 million

100%

FY2023-24 Research Grants

Organisation

Total Spend

Proportion with Universities

DNO (Rolls Royce)

£3.2 million

100%

* The figures provided include Navy Command spend delivered by Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), £32 million in FY2022-23 and £70.03 million in FY2023-24.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Spellar:To ask His Majesty's Government what evaluation they have made of the ongoing utility of the Anti-Personnel Landmines Convention following recent developments in Eastern and Northern Europe. \p Lord Coaker: The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (also known as the Ottawa Convention) continues to play an important role in protecting civilians from harm caused by anti-personnel landmines. As a State Party to the Ottawa Convention, the UK’s commitment to it remains unwavering. We continue to encourage countries to join the Ottawa Convention, subscribe to its provisions; and discourage States from using anti-personnel landmines.

His Majesty's Government has noted that Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have stated their intention to withdraw from the Ottawa Treaty. The UK acknowledges and shares concerns about the security environment in the region as a result of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. We also acknowledge that it is the sovereign right of those countries to make this decision. The UK will work to mitigate impacts on vital arms control and disarmament norms, while continuing to engage bilaterally on the actions States plan to take.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Spellar:To ask His Majesty's Government how many civil servants attended COP29 in Baku in November 2024. \p Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The full list of UK delegates who attended COP29 was 448 and was published by the UNFCCC, along with other country delegations. It can be found on the UNFCCC website. The number of UK delegates that attended COP28 was 674.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Mackinlay of Richborough:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 13 February (HL4762), what routes are available to owner-occupiers of listed buildings that are exempt from requiring an energy performance certificate to access the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. \p Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: A property must have a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) to be eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) as they support property owners to understand how energy efficient their building is, enabling them to make an informed choice on whether to proceed with an installation.

While completing an EPC is generally not a requirement for listed buildings, they can still be obtained from an accredited EPC assessor, to meet BUS eligibility requirements. The Government will continue to review scheme eligibility criteria, and consider changes to drive further demand, making low carbon heating accessible to a wider range of households.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for financing a 'just transition' for climate change. \p Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The net zero transition is not only the economic opportunity of the century, but it will also support the creation of hundreds of thousands of good jobs across the UK, protect our economy from future price shocks that reliance on fossil fuels create, while delivering a range of social and health benefits.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Wigley:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of storm and flood warning systems in the UK following Storm Bert and Storm Darragh. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Defra is the Lead Government Department in England for flooding and works with the Environment Agency (EA) and Met Office to maintain a flood warning system for England.

The responsibility for flood warning systems in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland rests with the equivalent organisations to Defra and the EA in the Devolved Governments. The responsibility for storm warning systems in the UK is held by the Met Office.

Between September and mid-January 2025 over 1,400 Flood Warnings were issued in England. Defra, the EA and the Met Office regularly assess the effectiveness of their flood warning systems in England including after major events like Storm Bert and Storm Darragh. These assessments take various forms, including working with Local Resilience Forums in post incident reviews as well as annual performance reports under the Flood & Water Management Act 2010.

Defra, the EA and the Met Office continuously work to improve flood warning services, including by developing the capability of world leading Flood Forecast Centre. Examples of this work include a trial of Rapid Flood Guidance which took place in 2024, and which is currently being evaluated.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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The Lord Bishop of St Albans:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the end of the Farming Resilience Fund on farmers' mental health. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: An evaluation of the Farming Resilience Fund is underway. This will be completed after the scheme concludes. The survey includes a question on impact of the scheme on farmers' mental health.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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The Earl of Caithness:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to resume the chemical control of bracken to protect human health, biodiversity and the historic environment. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Government recognises the challenge that bracken presents to land managers, particularly in upland regions. Mechanical control and chemical control using glyphosate can be useful tools in controlling bracken, though the government recognises their limitations. It is for individual land managers to decide how to control bracken within safe and legal means.

The Government encourages industry and other external partners to develop new tools that will help to address the challenge of managing bracken. Any herbicides not currently allowed for bracken control would require authorisation for that purpose by the Health and Safety Executive.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Elliott of Mickle Fell:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 11 March (HL5240), what is the turnover and gross value added for each of the 73 industries covered in their definition of energy-intensive industry. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: EII GVA Data (xlsx, 26.2KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Baroness Thomas of Winchester:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to assist employers whose premises are inaccessible to potential employees with disabilities. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) runs the Access to Work Scheme which provides grant funding to disabled people, as well as those with a health condition. The grant supports workplace adjustments that go beyond what would normally be expected from an employer through their duty to provide reasonable adjustments as outlined in the Equality Act 2010.   This can include grants to make appropriate changes to a place of work, to make them more accessible for the customer.

In addition, as set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper published on 18 March, DWP are consulting on the future of the Access to Work scheme.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Baroness Penn:To ask His Majesty's Government how many people they expect to move into employment as a result of the £1 billion employment package announced on 18 March. \p Baroness Sherlock: The DWP published an impact assessment which explained how employment interventions can have a significant and enduring impacts on peoples’ employment prospects and showed the substantial savings associated with supporting disabled people into work. For every 10,000 additional people in full time work, there would be fiscal savings of around £180m per year, with societal savings around £280m per year, (£80m and £150m respectively if in part-time work.

The Department has extensive evidence on what works, which includes the evaluation of Work Choice, a specialist employment programme for disabled people and those with health conditions, that showed people receiving tailored support were 40% more likely to be in work eight years later. We will be developing more detailed assessments of the potential impacts of the employment measures proposed in the Green Paper as these are developed in detail. The Office for Budget Responsibility has also stated that it intends to assess the labour supply impacts of the Green Paper measures in their Autumn forecast.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Shinkwin:To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Business Disability Forum has shared with Ministers or officials the research informing the Forum's decision to oppose the introduction of mandatory employment and pay gap reporting, and whether they will place a copy of any such research in the Library of the House. \p Baroness Sherlock: The Government welcomes views from disabled people, businesses and their representative organisations on our proposals for disability pay gap reporting to help make sure they work for everyone. Being open to a wide range of views, experiences and concerns will support a more successful implementation of disability pay gap reporting.

Research conducted by the Business Disability Forum with their members has been shared with policy officials, as has other relevant research such as the Institute of Directors’ report Progress through transparency: the case for mandatory disability employment and pay gap reporting.

Since both reports mentioned are publicly available and can be found online at their respective organisations’ websites, we do not plan to place them in the Library of the House.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Baroness Eaton:To ask His Majesty's Government whether, in implementing the Automated Vehicles Act 2024, they plan to give local authorities the right to withhold consent for an automated passenger services operator permit to be granted; and if so, which tier of local government will be responsible for providing consent. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 provides the right for specified local authorities to withhold their consent for an automated passenger services (APS) operator permit to be granted. This right protects local decision-making.

For services resembling taxies or private hire vehicles, section 85 outlines that an APS permit may not be granted without the consent of each licensing authority in whose areas the service may be provided under the permit. A “licensing authority” is where responsibility sits for the issuing of taxi or private hire licenses, and currently is typically a lower-tier authority, unitary authority or Transport for London.

For services resembling buses where a bus franchising scheme exists, section 86 outlines that an APS permit may not be granted without the consent of each relevant franchising body. Where an automated passenger service is proposed to operate under an APS permit in an area which sits outside of a bus franchising scheme, the legislation does not require consent from local authorities.

To withhold consent, the licensing or franchising authority must provide written reasons within six weeks of receiving a formal request, beginning with the day on which the request is made.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Baroness Eaton:To ask His Majesty's Government what body will hold responsibility for the issuing of permits for operators of automated passenger services under the Automated Vehicles Act 2024. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: Section 82 of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 gives the appropriate national authority the power to grant an Automated Passenger Services (APS) permit. The appropriate national authority is defined in section 90 (4) and (5) as the Secretary of State for the provision of any taxi and private hire-like service in England and for the provision of a service in a public service vehicle across Great Britain. In relation to a permit for the provision of a taxi and private hire-like service in Scotland, this is Scottish Ministers, and in Wales, this is Welsh Ministers. The Act further sets out that the appropriate national authority can provide for its functions to be exercisable by Traffic Commissioners instead of or in addition to the appropriate national authority. Consideration is still being given to whether these functions will be exercised by Traffic Commissioners.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the significance of data intermediaries for the digital economy, and of the potential for cyber attacks to disrupt their services. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: As the government outlined in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper, there is significant potential for data to support economic growth. Our evidence indicates that improved data access and use could contribute to UK productivity growth by 0.23% to 1.26% annually.

Achieving these productivity gains requires greater data maturity across the economy. Data intermediaries are likely to play an important role in enabling individuals to get more out of data they generate and stimulate growth through increasing access to data in trusted and secure ways.

The government is currently inviting evidence on the activities of Data Intermediaries to understand this potential and any risks.

Cyber security is a priority for the government, which is why we are taking a range of action to protect organisations and services against cyber attacks, including through the forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of racial abuse directed at Premier League footballers on social media and whether it is increasing or decreasing; and what steps they are taking to ensure repercussions for such behaviour. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: Although the government does not hold this specific information centrally, we remain extremely concerned by online racism and will continue working with the sports sector to tackle this.

The Online Safety Act offers better protections for public figures online. Public order offences including harassment are priority offences under the Act, requiring companies to proactively search for, remove and limit people’s exposure to such content and activity. The Act also introduced a threatening communications offence, capturing communications conveying a serious threat of harm or death, with a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment, a fine, or both.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Cameron of Lochiel:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the projected impact of new powers granted to Ofcom under the Online Safety Act 2023 on the level of online abuse against women and girls. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must proactively tackle illegal content, much of which disproportionately affects women and girls.

Services likely to be accessed by children must also protect children from harmful and age-inappropriate content including abuse.

Category 1 services will also need to remove legal misogynistic content, where their terms of service prohibit it.

As of 17 March Ofcom can take robust enforcement action against those failing to comply with their illegal safety duties. The effectiveness of the Act will be kept under review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

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Lord Agnew of Oulton:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the publication of the State of Digital Government Review on 21 January (CP 1251), what methodology they used to calculate the estimate that full potential digitisation could deliver over £45 billion in annual savings and productivity benefits; what the projected savings are by department and public body; what proportion of savings is expected to be cashable; and what level of investment is required to achieve these efficiencies. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: The Government’s £45 billion estimate is based on a detailed, bottom‐up analysis employing three levers: automating routine tasks (£36 billion), migrating services online (£4 billion) and reducing fraud via digital compliance (£6 billion). This work scaled bespoke analysis conducted on the Civil Service to the wider public sector, with overlaying case studies. A sizable proportion of these benefits is expected to be cashable, although exact figures vary by domain and profession. Achieving these efficiencies will require substantial, bespoke investment, and we are working to ascertain that in the largest opportunity areas. A more detailed methodology will be published online in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-01 conversation_54

Lord Agnew of Oulton:To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication on 11 December 2024 of the procurement notice Review on the State of Digital Government (2024/S 000-039897), why the evaluation criteria were weighted 85 per cent on quality and 15 per cent on price; and whether the Cabinet Office or Bloom Procurement Services was responsible for setting the evaluation criteria. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: The Cabinet Office set the evaluation criteria, with an 85 per cent weighting on quality and 15 per cent on price, to ensure that the contract was awarded based on expertise, capability, and the ability to deliver high-quality outcomes. Bloom Procurement Services acted as a neutral vendor facilitating the procurement process but was not responsible for determining the evaluation criteria.

This weighting aligns with standard industry practice for procuring highly complex and strategic services, where the ability to deliver effectively is more critical than cost alone. In such procurements, a high emphasis on quality ensures that suppliers are assessed on their technical expertise, delivery methodology, risk management, and ability to provide value beyond minimum requirements.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-01 conversation_55

Lord Agnew of Oulton:To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to procurement notice Review on the State of Digital Government (2024/S 000-039897) published on 11 December 2024, why this contract was awarded via Bloom Procurement Services rather than through a direct Cabinet Office procurement; and what assessment they made of the cost of conducting this procurement via the Central Digital and Data Office. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: The contract was awarded via Bloom Procurement Services as part of the government’s commitment to ensuring value for money and efficiency in procurement processes. Bloom operates as a neutral vendor, providing a pre-approved supplier network that enables access to specialist services through a streamlined and competitive procurement route. In this case it was assessed that using Bloom facilitated access to a broad pool of suppliers with relevant expertise, whilst reducing administrative overheads and ensuring competitive pricing. Conducting this procurement via the Central Digital and Data Office would have required additional time and resources, potentially delaying delivery. The use of Bloom allowed for a more agile procurement approach, balancing cost-effectiveness with the need for timely delivery.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-01 conversation_56

Lord Swire:To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of staff in HM Prison Service speak English as a second language. \p Lord Timpson: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-01 conversation_57

Lord Swire:To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of prison staff in England and Wales in each of the past three years were born outside the United Kingdom. \p Lord Timpson: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-01 conversation_58

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger:To ask His Majesty's Government how many inquests have been heard in the Isle of Wight in each year from 2022 to 2024. \p Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: In 2023 (the most recent year for which data is available), the average time to complete an inquest across all coroner areas in England and Wales was estimated to be 31.5 weeks. In the Isle of Wight coroner area, it was 66.8 weeks.

At 31 December 2023, the average of number of incomplete inquests across all coroner areas in England and Wales was 242. In the Isle of Wight coroner area, 311 inquests were incomplete on 31 December 2023.

In the Isle of Wight coroner area, 105 inquests were completed in 2022; and 158 were completed in 2023.

Coroners statistics for 2024 will be published on 8 May 2025.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-08-22 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-08-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-08-22 conversation_1

Lord Scriven:To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports that several NHS organisations have informed hospitals they will only finance procedures after a patient has waited more than three months, what guidance they have issued to NHS organisations regarding the use of minimum waiting times for treatment performed by hospitals. \p Baroness Merron: The NHS Standard Contract 2025/26 Technical Guidance states that commissioners may choose to include minimum waiting times in Activity Planning Assumptions to ensure the delivery of targets within agreed financial allocations. A copy of the NHS Standard Contract 2025/26 Technical Guidance is attached.

We will work closely with all systems to ensure they deliver the expected level of improvement in waiting times as set out in the 2025/26 Planning Guidance, which is the first step in delivering on our commitment that by March 2029, 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment.

HL9092 (pdf, 1885.3KB)
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-11 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-11 conversation_1

Baroness Eaton:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the decision to stop funding the Neighbourhood Planning Support Programme on the creation of new neighbourhood plans, and why that decision was taken. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: Following the Spending Review, my Department has announced that it is unable to commission new neighbourhood planning support services for 2025 onwards.

Technical support which has already been awarded will continue to be provided but must be completed before the end of March 2026.

The government remains of the view that neighbourhood plans can play an important role in the planning system. Communities can continue to prepare neighbourhood plans where they consider that doing so is in their best interests.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-11 conversation_2
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-11 conversation_2

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 9 April (HL6370), what progress they have made in considering whether to expand the shingles vaccination offer to older adult cohorts; what specific factors are currently under review; and when they expect a decision on the implementation timeline to be made. \p Baroness Merron: The Department continues to carefully consider the advice provided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on eligibility for the shingles vaccination programme for adults aged 80 years old and over. The Department will update in due course, as appropriate.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-11 conversation_3
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-11 conversation_3

Lord Bird:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have plans for the expansion of Marmot Places throughout the United Kingdom. \p Baroness Merron: The Government is committed to addressing the United Kingdom’s stark health inequalities by tackling the social determinants of health, which includes halving the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions in England.

We therefore welcome the ongoing initiative shown by local areas towards this end, including by those seeking designation as Marmot Places, with support from the Institute of Health Equity. However, this is a matter for local decision making and collaboration between the relevant partner agencies.

Arrangements in relation to support for Marmot Places in the rest of the UK are a matter for the respective devolved administrations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-11 conversation_4

Lord Scriven:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that NHS England has categorised £1.5 billion worth of local trust and commissioner financial plans as “high risk” and what estimate have they made, by NHS trust and integrated care board, of spending which is “high risk” when calculating this total figure. \p Baroness Merron: The Department is working closely with NHS England to manage financial risk in 2025/26, and to assure the delivery of agreed financial plans. We recognise the aggregate £1.5 billion of risk in plans, which is a top-down estimate. The Department has not made an estimate of that risk by individual trust and integrated care board. Work to manage and mitigate the risk includes derisking efficiency plans, and robust performance management, including a Financial Performance Improvement Programme. We are confident that overall financial balance of the National Health Service budget will be achieved.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-11 conversation_5

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure GPs are prepared to coordinate medicines management and understand the side effects of receiving weight loss medication as a result of the roll-out of tirzepatide (Mounjaro) in primary care services. \p Baroness Merron: From 23 June, tirzepatide, brand name Mounjaro, started to become available in primary care, in line with the agreed plans for a phased rollout, meaning it can be prescribed in general practices.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) produces evidence-based guidance for health and care practitioners on best practice. As well as official guidance on the management of overweight and obesity and the use of tirzepatide, NICE has developed a practical guide to support the use of medicines for managing overweight and obesity. This guide provides an outline of the steps needed to safely assess, prescribe, monitor, and stop medicines that can be prescribed in primary care for weight management.

As well as NICE guidance, general practitioners have access to a range of support from their integrated care boards, and NHS England has developed a suite of implementation materials, delivery guidance, and protocols, and has provided access to training resources to help prescribers and other healthcare professionals to understand key aspects such as side effect profiles, medication initiation requirements, and the essential behavioural support that must accompany prescribing under the NICE Technology Appraisal on tirzepatide for managing overweight and obesity, code TA1026.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-11 conversation_6

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of social media to promote vaccinations. \p Baroness Merron: The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) regularly assesses both the social media landscape and its own digital content, to ensure we are identifying the right opportunities to promote vaccine uptake and are responding to mis and disinformation where possible and appropriate.

The UKHSA regularly delivers vaccine communications through social media and other channels to support national immunisation programmes. In collaboration with NHS England and the Department, the UKHSA delivers vaccine campaigns that combine paid marketing, public relations, stakeholder engagement, and operational communications to patients and health care professionals. Social media activity has been instrumental in directing users to key resources, including the National Booking System for flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.

The UKHSA produces a range of static and video content for use during cultural events, seasonal holidays, and vaccination campaigns. These assets are shared with stakeholders for use on their own platforms, while the UKHSA’s blog provides regularly updated vaccine information.

Content is tailored to reach diverse audiences, including parents, pregnant women, and individuals with long-term health conditions. Social media channels are used to share the latest news, research, and statistics on United Kingdom vaccination efforts. They also play a vital role in disseminating public health advice during infectious disease outbreaks, with the UKHSA developing targeted vaccination content for both its own platforms and for the platforms of its partners.

As more people turn to social media for news, the UKHSA’s posts continue to generate significant engagement across platforms. Daily social listening enables the agency to identify misinformation and respond to public concerns, helping to shape accurate, timely, and audience-informed vaccine messaging.