theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-03)

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Lord Kempsell:To ask His Majesty's Government, what steps they are taking to ensure that all signs, notices and other displays of expired COVID-19 restrictions and guidance are removed from public places by the relevant authorities. \p Baroness Merron: There are no COVID-19 restrictions in the United Kingdom. Whilst the UK Health Security Agency supports local authorities through the provision of public health guidance, the placement and removal of signs in public places is a matter for individual local authorities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-03)

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Baroness Stedman-Scott:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 9 October 2024 (HL1031), how equality, diversity and inclusion principles are embedded in the duties of NHS staff; and whether they are included in staff contracts, and reflected in the assessment of bonuses, promotion, or performance. \p Baroness Merron: We expect National Health Service organisations to implement policies and procedures that are in line with employment law and good human resources practice, including the Equality Act 2010 and other relevant legislation.

NHS leaders are responsible for setting the tone and culture of their organisation, and that is why NHS England’s equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) improvement plan does require chairs, chief executives, and board members to have distinct objectives on improving inclusion in their organisation. There is no national directive to embed EDI duties in staff contracts or systems for pay and performance.

It is right that the NHS addresses prejudice and discrimination where it exists across the NHS workforce, and that staff feel more empowered to tackle health inequalities and deliver great care and patient experience.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-03)

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Baroness Penn:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 18 December 2024 (HL3350), what is the status of each of the recommendations made by the Chief Medical Officers in their commentary on Screen-based activities and children and young people’s mental health and psychosocial wellbeing: a systematic map of reviews, published on 7 February 2019. \p Baroness Merron: The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) is an independent advisor to the Government, and any CMO reports are produced independently. The recommendations are advisory, to inform policy development.

In June 2019, at the request of the then United Kingdom’s CMOs, the then Chief Scientific Advisor convened a workshop to bring together a range of academic experts and funding bodies to discuss future research possibilities around screen-based activities and children and young people’s mental health. The workshop aimed to identify avenues for undertaking future research and funding in this area, and recommended that a methodology panel was convened to improve research methods, and that children and young people’s user needs were scoped out, to determine research priorities.

These recommendations align with the UK Mental Health Research Goals for 2020 - 2030, which includes developing research to halve the number of children and young people experiencing persistent mental health problems. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) continues to commission research in this area to support and improve evidence-based practice. As part of this, the NIHR is currently funding research to explore the impact that school policies which restrict daytime use of smartphones and social media have on adolescent mental wellbeing.

The Department for Education is currently reviewing the statutory guidance on teaching relationships, health, and sex education, and as part of this, will consider whether additional or revised content should be included in the guidance, including content regarding online safety and harm.

Since 2022, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has provided £3 million in funding for media literacy projects that empower users to navigate the online world safely. In 2024, this included £500,000 to scale up two programmes to provide media literacy support to teachers, children aged 11 to 16 years old, and other professionals working with families, parents, and carers.

The Online Safety Act updated Ofcom’s statutory duty to promote media literacy and to raise the public’s awareness of the nature and impact of harmful content and online behaviour. Ofcom has published a three-year media literacy strategy which includes investigating specific impacts of platform design on user safety, such as the impact of persuasive design on children. The Government looks forward to working with them as they implement these strategies.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-03)

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Baroness Thornhill:To ask His Majesty's Government why the Collection of Client Level Adult Social Care Data (No 3) Directions 2023 state that adult care providers must collect data based on gender, which is defined as "the gender the individual considers themselves to be", and not based on sex, given that sex, not gender, is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act; and what assessment they have made of providers' ability to supply single-sex services if data on sex is not collected. \p Baroness Merron: Client Level Data is the first national collection of individual social care records, and this data is collected by the Department from local authorities, rather than care providers. The purpose of the 2023 Directions is to assist the Department in its functions, in particular by enabling key aspects of adult social care service provision to be analysed and reported on at a national level. Local authorities are required to collect information about gender, but that does not preclude them from collecting other information from service users such as on sex, including where this is necessary for them to discharge legal obligations.

The Department has not made an assessment of care providers’ ability to supply single-sex services. We expect Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated care providers to adhere to the CQC’s fundamental standards, set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, which require service users to be treated with dignity and respect. The CQC’s guidance on this legislative framework says that “When providing intimate or personal care, providers must make every reasonable effort to make sure that they respect people's preferences about who delivers their care and treatment”. This may include requesting staff of a specific sex.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Lord Leigh of Hurley:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 12 November, whether they will now answer the question put, namely, on how many occasions their representatives have met or had discussions with members or representatives of Hamas since 7 October 2023. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: We are clear that there can be no role for Hamas in the governance of Palestine. Hamas is a terrorist organisation whom we proscribe in its entirety. We have a long-standing policy of non-engagement with Hamas.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East’s (UNRWA) implementation of Recommendation 35 of the Colonna Review, which calls for the removal of hate speech, incitement to violence, and antisemitic references from educational materials in UNRWA schools; and what evidence they have that UK-funded support has contributed to progress on that reform. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The UK continues to support implementation of the Colonna Report by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to ensure they meet the highest standards on neutrality and integrity. 21 recommendations from the report have been completed, recommendation 35 is in progress. As per UNRWA's internal regulations, all references to hate speech, incitement to violence, and/or antisemitism are strictly banned from host-country textbooks, where locally produced supplements and materials are developed by UNRWA for use in its schools. The textbook review process in Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria has been finalised, with findings shared with host countries and further dialogue taking place to address outstanding issues in line with UN and UNESCO standards.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson:To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing with international partners to Ethiopia, following the Ministry for Health in Ethiopia confirming an outbreak of Marburg virus and three deaths. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: We are monitoring the Marburg virus outbreak in southern Ethiopia very closely. Close engagement is underway with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, and international partners to assess the situation and identify where partnership with Ethiopian authorities would be most effective.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Lord Bates:To ask His Majesty's Government how much they contributed to the World Food Programme in (1) 2023, (2) 2024, and (3) 2025, and how much they plan to contribute to that programme in 2026. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The UK is deeply concerned by rising levels of acute food insecurity and catastrophic hunger, and we are a key donor to the World Food Programme, with funding since 2023 as follows:

2023: 290,747,871 USD

2024: 610,111,395 USD

2025: 410,441,878 USD at last reporting date.

Funding for 2026 will be confirmed in due course. We are also working with partners to improve early warning systems, and invest in strengthening countries' resilience to food crises in the longer-term.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Baroness Hodgson of Abinger:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have appointed the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, and if so, when they will announce that appointment. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: I refer the Noble Baroness to the answer provided on 27 November to Question HL11898.
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Lord Carter of Haslemere:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 4 November (HL Deb 1808), whether the statement setting out the Official Development Assistance allocations for 2026–27 and 2028–29 will describe the steps that the Secretary of State has taken to ensure that the 0.7 per cent target will be met by the UK in the next calendar year, as required by section 2(4) of the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: I refer the Noble Lord to the response of 19 November 2025 to Question HL11642.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to review the contract with Clearsprings Ready Homes for the provision of accommodation services at Wethersfield asylum centre following recent concerns raised about rats on the site and food quality. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: There are currently no plans to review the providers delivering services at the Wethersfield site.

The Wethersfield site complies with safety, security, health and wellbeing standards. Procedures are in place to fix maintenance and safety issues quickly.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Lord Moraes:To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the government of Denmark, or past officials or ministers from the government of Denmark, about the operation of the Danish asylum system. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: Home Office officials engage regularly with international counterparts - including Denmark - to share best practice and inform development of asylum, returns and border security policy.

A delegation of senior officials from the Home Office were sent to Copenhagen earlier this year to learn about their interventions and draw lessons for the UK asylum and returns system.
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Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of legislating to provide that British National (Overseas) visa holders are not subject to immigration control; and what plans they have to grant holders of British National (Overseas) status a statutory right of abode in the United Kingdom. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Government remains steadfast in its support for members of the Hong Kong community in the UK and is fully committed to the British National (Overseas) (BN(O) route, which will continue to welcome Hong Kongers. We confirmed in the earned settlement consultation document A Fairer Pathway to Settlement (CP1448) that those on the BN(O) route will retain a five-year route to settlement. We have no plans to legislate to create a right of abode for BN(O)s, or to otherwise exempt them from immigration control.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Baroness Maclean of Redditch:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 5 November (HL11321), by what date they will publish the data on how many asylum claims have been granted on the basis of fear of persecution in their country of origin because of sexual orientation for 2024. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release on GOV.UK. Data on the number of grants where sexual orientation forms part of the claim is published in table SOC_00 of the ‘Asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation’ dataset. The latest data relates to 2023.Updated published data from 2023 onwards is currently unavailable due to ongoing work as immigration data transitions to a new case working system and it will be included in a future edition of the Immigration System Statistics Release. There is currently no confirmed date for the next release of this data,but we intend to resume publishing in 2026. Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics,as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics forfuture release.
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Baroness Maclean of Redditch:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to issue guidance to police forces in England and Wales that rapists and suspected rapists are recorded as male in crime statistics. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Government is considering the implications of the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of sex within the Equality Act. The Government Statistical Service Harmonisation team, based in the Office for National Statistics, are also in the process of reviewing standards and guidance for statistical data on sex and on gender identity. Once this has concluded the Government will review current guidance to agencies that collect crime statistics across the criminal justice system.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Baroness Maclean of Redditch:To ask His Majesty's Government by what date they plan to appoint a chair of the grooming gangs inquiry. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: We are working urgently to establish the Inquiry and Baroness Casey of Blackstock is supporting this process. Our immediate priority is appointing a Chair with the credibility and experience to lead the inquiry, ensuring a trauma-informed approach to engaging victims and survivors throughout - from its design to reporting. We aim to announce a Chair as soon as possible. Under the Inquiries Act, the Minister is responsible for defining the scope and structure of an inquiry. Once a Chair is appointed, in line with the requirements of the Inquiries Act 2005, the Chair will play a central role in shaping the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Lord Murray of Blidworth:To ask His Majesty's Government how many meetings the departmental board of the Home Office has had since 4 July 2024. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 24/25 includes information on how many times the Departmental Board met during that financial year. Information on the number of meetings held in the 25/26 financial year will be published in next year’s Annual Report and Accounts. Home Office Board met twice in the time mentioned.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Baroness Hoey:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential barriers to implementing the provisions of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in Northern Ireland in line with the Windsor Framework, following the opinions submitted by Greece, Romania and Slovakia to the European Commission expressing their view that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill would be incompatible with EU law. \p Baroness Merron: The Technical Regulatory Information System (TRIS) notification is a routine procedure required under the Windsor Framework. It is not an approval process.

Receiving detailed opinions are a part of the TRIS process. The Government’s position remains that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will apply in Northern Ireland and is consistent with both our domestic and international obligations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Baroness Barran:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 16 September (HL Deb col 2115), when they will announce the outcome of the review of 44 new free schools whose approval have been paused for over a year. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The review of mainstream free schools is necessary to ensure we provide sufficient high quality school places, whilst offering value for money and ensuring projects will not have a detrimental impact on local schools. An update will be provided as soon as possible.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Baroness Lister of Burtersett:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 17 November (HL11448), why the School Workforce Census does not report specialist teacher numbers for citizenship. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The school workforce census collects information on subject teachers in a large sample of state-funded secondary schools. Specialist teachers are identified by comparing the subject they teach with their qualifications.

For subjects such as citizenship, personal, social, health and economic education, careers and key skills, and general studies, qualifications are often broad and not specific to these subjects, making it difficult to determine whether a teacher is a specialist. As a result, the School workforce in England statistical release reports the total number of teachers and teaching hours for these subjects, rather than the number of teachers holding a relevant qualification. The report is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2024.

Figures for the number of citizenship teachers and hours taught are reported here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/eed2fc61-5d0f-48c8-eae3-08de29d3af56.
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Baroness Lister of Burtersett:To ask His Majesty's Government how many primary teachers they plan to train to teach citizenship as a statutory subject at Key Stages 1 and 2, and whether additional funded training routes are planned to meet that need. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Recruitment to citizenship initial teacher training courses is unrestricted, enabling providers to recruit to increased demand. All trainees on a tuition fee-funded course can apply for a tuition fee loan and maintenance loan to support their living costs. Additional funding is available depending on individual circumstances, such as the Childcare Grant.

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report was published on 5 November 2025. In line with the Review’s recommendation, the government will look for the earliest opportunity to make citizenship a new statutory requirement for key stages 1 and 2, and ensure that the programme of study is tightly focused on the essential content pupils should know at primary and secondary. The secondary curriculum will both mirror and follow from this core content, encompassing the vital threads of government, law and democracy, climate education, financial and media literacy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Baroness Lister of Burtersett:To ask His Majesty's Government how many teachers were funded and training as citizenship specialists in England in 2024–25, and whether they plan to increase that number. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The department is working with the sector to re-establish teaching as an attractive profession across all subjects, including citizenship, and as a first step this government has increased teacher pay by almost 10% over two years.

Our Plan for Change is committed to recruiting 6,500 new teachers across secondary and special schools, and our colleges, over the course of this parliament to ensure sufficient teachers across all subjects. We are making good progress, with the workforce growing by 2,346 full-time equivalent between 2023/24 and 2024/25 in secondary and special schools, where it is needed most.

Whilst we do not hold data on the number of trainees for citizenship, recruitment to citizenship initial teacher training courses is unrestricted, enabling providers to recruit to increased demand. All trainees on a tuition fee-funded course can apply for a tuition fee loan and maintenance loan to support their living costs. Additional funding, such as the childcare grant, is available depending on individual circumstances.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Baroness Coffey:To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases have been referred for the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions regarding a prosecution under the Suicide Act 1861 in the last ten years. \p Lord Hermer: From 1 April 2009 up to 31 March 2025, manual records indicate there have been 199 cases referred to the CPS by law enforcement partners that have been recorded as encouraging or assisting suicide. The DPP has provided consent to prosecute in six cases. Five of these cases have been successfully prosecuted, and one was acquitted after trial. These figures are published on the CPS website and will next be updated in April 2026.
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Baroness Bertin:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Lloyd of Effra on 28 October (HL10895), when will they publish a formal response to the Independent Review of Pornography, Creating a Safer World–the Challenge of Regulating Online Pornography (HC 592), published on 27 February; and whether its recommendations will feature in their Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy. \p Baroness Lloyd of Effra: The Home Secretary announced in Parliament the decision to continue the Pornography Review, and we are grateful for Baroness Bertin’s work.

We welcome the findings of the Independent Pornography Review and the valuable insights it has provided into the online pornography landscape. The Review highlights a set of complex and challenging policy and regulatory issues.

Where relevant to violence against women and girls they are being considered by the Home Office in the development of the new Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, which aims to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade. The government will provide a further update on how it is tackling the issues raised in the Review as part of its mission to tackle VAWG in due course. The VAWG strategy sits with Home Office and DSIT has been feeding in.
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Lord Oates:To ask His Majesty's Government what funding they are providing to support initiatives such as the Solar Hospital Innovation for Energy Leasing Demonstrator project to provide power for healthcare in Africa. \p Lord Vallance of Balham: The Solar Hospital Innovation project was funded by DSIT through UKRI’s Energy Catalyst programme, as part of the up to £1 billion Ayrton Fund for clean energy innovation. DSIT provided £298,497 in funding for this project, alongside £79,343 in matched funding from local sources. This contributes to the wider Ayrton Challenge on Inclusive Energy and Leave No-One Behind. The installed 228KW solar system provided 158MW of clean energy over six months, displacing around 100 tonnes of CO2. This will save the hospital $75,000 per year which has been reallocated to a cancer drugs fund.
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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to develop accessibility standards for AI-enabled assistive communication technologies used by people with disabilities. \p Baroness Lloyd of Effra: The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations require most public sector organisations to ensure their services, websites, intranets, extranets, published documents, and apps are accessible to disabled people by meeting the requirements of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines v2.2 to level AA and by publishing a prescribed format accessibility statement. This includes requirements to work with assistive technologies. The regulations apply regardless of if the technology is AI enabled or not. The Government Service Standard requires Departments to make sure everyone can use the service. The standard doesn’t apply to the wider public sector.
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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that children are using artificial intelligence chatbots for mental health advice, in particular with regard to online safety and child protection. \p Baroness Lloyd of Effra: This Government is committed to improving NHS mental health services to ensure that children and young people receive the right support at the right time for their mental health.

The Online Safety Act requires all in-scope services, including AI chatbots, to proactively remove illegal suicide and self-harm content. Services likely to be accessed by children must take steps to prevent children from accessing suicide, self-harm, or eating disorder content.

DHSC’s 10 Year Plan has set out an ambitious reform agenda to transform mental health services to improve access and treatment and promote good mental health and wellbeing for the nation.
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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of artificial intelligence tools on employment levels, in the light of the finding in the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development Labour Market Outlook report, published on 10 November, that 17 percent of UK employers expect to reduce their workforce due to AI tools in the coming year. \p Baroness Lloyd of Effra: We want to ensure people have access to good, meaningful work. AI has the potential to transform the labour market and Government is working to ensure the UK is well prepared, so that AI drives growth and opportunities for workers, businesses, and communities.

We are closely monitoring data on the impact of AI on the workforce, such as the CIPD report, and actively preparing for a range of scenarios. We are supporting workforce readiness for AI through multiple initiatives. Including our commitment to give 7.5 million workers essential AI skills by 2030.
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Lord Risby:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have undertaken on the impact of regulatory burdens on the confidence of foreign investors, and on the UK's competitiveness. \p Lord Stockwood: This Government has recognised that the administrative burden of regulation is too high. We have now established a baseline for the administrative burden of regulation on businesses of £22.4 billion a year. This is why we have committed to reduce this administrative burden by 25%, or £5.6bn, by the end of this Parliament. The Government is working to make the UK the best place to start and grow a business and this approach is designed to create a regulatory environment that is proportionate, transparent and internationally competitive, enabling businesses to innovate and invest with confidence.
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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the regulatory requirements applying to AI-enabled toys for children. \p Baroness Lloyd of Effra: Government has committed to reviewing product regulations including the Toys (Safety) Regulations. These reviews will examine whether changes are needed to detailed safety requirements to reflect modern challenges, such as the use of AI in toys.

Following an appropriate consultation as required under The Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025, Government will decide whether to implement any changes to the Toy (Safety) Regulations to ensure they address modern safety issues and technological developments, harness opportunities to create economic growth, and continue to protect people and places from product-related harm.
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Lord Murray of Blidworth:To ask His Majesty's Government how many meetings the departmental board of the Ministry of Defence has had since 4 July 2024. \p Lord Coaker: Since 4 July 2024, the Defence Board has met six times under the Chairmanship of the Secretary of State for Defence, the Rt Hon John Healey MP.

The Secretary of State has given the Defence Board a clear mandate to debate and monitor progress against the Department's highest priorities, which include People, implementation of the Strategic Defence Review, Defence Reform, and the Defence budget and Investment Plan.

The Defence Board is expected to meet at least four times annually in line with the corporate governance code of good practice.
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Lord West of Spithead:To ask His Majesty's Government how many one-star and above officers were serving in the military on 1 June, and how many civil servants of a grade equivalent to ‘one star’ and above were employed in the Civil Service in the Ministry of Defence. \p Lord Coaker: The requested data for individuals serving in the military was not gathered on the specified date. However, as of both 1 April and 1 July 2025, there were 551 military one-star officers (NATO Rank OF-6) and above.

As of 1 June 2025, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and its four Executive Agencies - DE&S, SDA, DSTL, and UKHO - employed 518 Civil Servants at one-star equivalent grade or above. This figure includes personnel outside the Senior Civil Service but of equivalent grade, with Executive Agency grades aligned to the closest Civil Service equivalents where applicable.

Quarterly UK service personnel statistics are published on gov.uk at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-2025

The latest MOD biannual civilian personnel report for October 2025 can be found at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-biannual-civilian-personnel-report-october-2025/mod-biannual-civilian-personnel-report-october-2025#further-information
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-12-03 conversation_29
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-12-03 conversation_29

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likely impact on Northern Ireland and its participation in the Single Electricity Market of the introduction of the European Union's carbon border adjustment mechanism on 1 January 2026; and what discussions they have had with the European Union about an interim arrangement for Northern Ireland. \p Lord Whitehead: The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will enter its definitive regime from January 2026 applies to imports of electricity and certain goods into the EU.

The EU CBAM does not apply in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland-based power generators are already part of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme in order to maintain the arrangements underpinning the Single Electricity Market. Electricity sent to Northern Ireland from Great Britain is not affected by the EU CBAM.

If businesses are moving electricity to Ireland or elsewhere in the EU, they may need to provide information to their EU-based importer to help them meet their requirements under the EU CBAM. The UK will continue to engage closely with the EU as it finalises the CBAM.

UK businesses should stay informed about developments regarding the EU CBAM, the Department for Business and Trade offers a comprehensive support package through business.gov.uk.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-12-03 conversation_30
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-12-03 conversation_30

Lord Randall of Uxbridge:To ask His Majesty's Government whether the current subsidy arrangement with Drax includes support for burning old growth forest wood in its power station. \p Lord Whitehead: Sustainability criteria require biomass to be legally harvested, and comply with any applicable legislation in the countries of origin to protect primary forest and old growth areas. Old growth sources are not excluded as some jurisdictions permit harvesting for valid reasons, such as fire prevention or disease control.

We have not seen evidence that the bioenergy industry drives harvesting decisions as it accepts low-value residues which would otherwise become waste.

Nevertheless, we have introduced an explicit exclusion for primary material harvested in old-growth areas in the new contract to eliminate this risk.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-12-03 conversation_31
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-12-03 conversation_31

Lord Randall of Uxbridge:To ask His Majesty's Government whether wood pellets sourced from old growth forests in Canada have been burned in the Drax Power Station in 2024 and 2025. \p Lord Whitehead: We have not seen evidence that material sourced from old growth forests in Canada has been used for UK power generation and Drax has a policy of not sourcing directly from protected Old Growth Management Areas or Old Growth Deferral Areas in British Columbia.

Nevertheless, we have introduced an explicit exclusion for material harvested in old-growth areas in the new contract to eliminate this risk. Any breaches would result in significant financial penalties and could lead to termination of the contract. This will be enforced by enhanced assurance and audit arrangements.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-12-03 conversation_32
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-12-03 conversation_32

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the source of large quantities of waste dumped by the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire; what assessment they have made of systematic waste disposal issues; and what plans they have for clean-up of the waste, and to what timescale. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Environment Agency (EA) has declared this case as a critical incident and is leading the multi-agency emergency response with the local police, fire services and Oxfordshire County Council following several lines of inquiry. Specialist officers are investigating the site so that the individuals responsible are caught, prosecuted, and made to pay for the damage including the clear up. We cannot commit to a timescale at this stage. While this investigation takes place the EA is taking robust steps to prevent contamination of the River Cherwell.

Separate to the incident in Oxfordshire the Government is making policy and regulatory reforms to close loopholes exploited by criminals - fundamentally reforming the waste carriers, brokers and dealers system, tightening waste permit exemptions and introducing digital waste tracking.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-05 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-05 conversation_1

Lord Weir of Ballyholme:To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to issue guidance to schools, colleges and universities about the provision of single sex-spaces. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this government.   The department is currently reviewing the draft non-statutory guidance for schools and colleges on gender questioning children. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has been clear that children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of this guidance and, as such, the government is looking carefully at the consultation responses, discussing with stakeholders and considering the relevant evidence, including the final report of the Cass Review which was published post-consultation, before setting out next steps.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-05 conversation_2
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-05 conversation_2

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to continue to provide funding to eight specialist music and dance schools through the Music and Dance Scheme. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: I refer my noble Friend to the answer of 23 October 2025 to Question 79113.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-05 conversation_3
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-05 conversation_3

Baroness Coffey:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Levitt on 22 October (HL10869), how many (1) arrests, and (2) charges have been made under the Suicide Act 1961 in the past ten years. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Home Office holds some of the information requested.

However, data is collected by broad offence group, for example ‘Miscellaneous crimes against society’, and not on more specific offences such as those under the Suicide Act 1961.

There were 91 offences recorded by the police in the year ending June 2025, an increase of 35 on the previous year (56 offences). This was up from 32 in the year ending March 2016.

There were no charge/summons for aiding suicide offences recorded by the police in the year ending June 2025 (down from 1 in the previous year).

Table: The number of ‘aiding suicide’ offences, and charge/summons, recorded by the police in England and Wales, 2015/16 to year ending June 2025

Volume of Charged/Summonsed Recorded

Number of offences

Ratio of Charged/Summonsed as proportion offences

2015/16

1

32

3%

2016/17

0

29

0%

2017/18

0

26

0%

2018/19

1

37

3%

2019/20

1

48

2%

2020/21

2

73

3%

2021/22

1

49

2%

2022/23

0

53

0%

2023/24

1

51

2%

2024/25

1

91

1%

Year ending June 24

1

56

2%

Year ending June 25

0

91

0%
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-05 conversation_4
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-05 conversation_4

Baroness Maclean of Redditch:To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision by the Metropolitan Police Force to stop recording non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs), whether they plan to put an end to the existence of NCHIs altogether. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: This Government has been clear that a consistent and common-sense approach must be taken with non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs).

The Home Secretary has asked the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing to expedite its review of NCHIs which began earlier this year. The review is considering the recording of information that has not yet reached the criminal threshold, but which may still be useful for the purposes of monitoring community tensions and keeping the public safe. It is also considering the fundamental right of freedom of expression and recent court rulings in this area.

The Home Office is working closely with the NPCC and the College as they develop their findings.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-05 conversation_5
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-05 conversation_5

Baroness Smith of Llanfaes:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide additional funding for policing in Cardiff in recognition of its capital city status. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: A National and International Capital City (NICC) grant is paid to the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police to reflect the unique demands of policing in London. The NICC grant is partially funded from a reallocation of the core funding for all police forces in England and Wales and as such, decisions on the level of the funding must consider its impact on wider policing.

South Wales Police will receive up to £441.7 million in 2025-26, an increase of up to £32.6 million when compared to 2024-25. Decisions on the allocation of NICC funding are taken at the time of the Police Settlement and as with previous years, more details on force funding allocations for 2026-27 will be made via the provisional police funding settlement later in the year.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-05 conversation_6
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-05 conversation_6

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the remarks concerning the potential risks of autonomous AI made by the Director-General of MI5 on 16 October, and what steps they are taking to mitigate autonomous AI threats to national security. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: As MI5’s Director General has noted, AI strengthens the UK’s national security capabilities, but its misuse or loss of control poses serious risks. The UK Government is actively addressing these concerns.

The Home Office collaborates with the UK intelligence community and technical partners like the AI Safety Institute and Alan Turing Institute to assess threats and shape policy. This includes ensuring AI systems align with human values and operator intent to reduce misalignment risks.

Through the National Security Strategy 2025 and UK AI Opportunities Action Plan, the UK is investing in sovereign, high-assurance AI for defence and critical infrastructure, developing cybersecurity standards, and evaluating advanced AI models to detect harmful capabilities—ensuring AI is deployed safely and in line with national interests.

In September 2025, the UK also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the US under the Technology Prosperity Deal, strengthening collaboration on AI and national security to mitigate future risks. Subsequently, the UK has committed to greater collaboration between the US Centre for AI Standards and Innovation and the UK AI Security Institute, and secured multi-billion-pound US tech investments in UK AI infrastructure and Growth Zones to deliver new AI infrastructure in the UK.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-05 conversation_7
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-05 conversation_7

Baroness Maclean of Redditch:To ask His Majesty's Government what data they hold on the number of asylum seekers who are baptised while in asylum accommodation. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.