theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-21 conversation_50
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-21 conversation_50

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the continued fall in the value of the pound; and whether they have any plans to prevent further decline. \p Lord Livermore: The government does not comment on specific financial market movements. Gilt yields and the value of sterling are determined by a wide range of international and domestic factors, and it is normal for the price of sterling and the yields of gilts to fluctuate when there are wider movements in the global financial markets.

The Chancellor has commissioned the Office for Budget Responsibility for an updated economic and fiscal forecast for the 26th of March, which will incorporate the latest data.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

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Baroness Redfern:To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to ensure that the increase in employer National Insurance contributions does not result in job losses among lower paid women with caregiving responsibilities. \p Lord Livermore: The Office for Budget Responsibility’s October 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook expects that the Employer National Insurance contributions package will lead to a reduction in the participation rate of 0.1 per cent from 2025-26 onwards. Overall, once the impact of all budget measures are taken into consideration, the OBR expect the employment level to increase from 33.1 million in 2024 to 34.3 million in 2029.

Employers have a choice about how they respond to the NICs increase. The Government recognises that employers may respond by increasing employees’ wages more slowly than they would have otherwise, alongside absorbing pressures through prices, efficiencies or lower profits.

The Government is protecting the lowest paid by increasing the National Living Wage. This limits the ability of employers to pass on increases in costs to those on lower pay. The Government has also introduced important protections for workers as part of the Plan to Make Work Pay.

The Government is partnering with business to maximise women’s contribution to the economy. In line with the ambition of the Invest in Women Taskforce to expand access to funding for female entrepreneurs, the British Business Bank is investing £50 million in women-led funds. HMT’s Women in Finance Charter is supporting financial services firms to make the most of their female talent.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

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Lord Spellar:To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest estimate of delivery times for equipment to expand capacity on the electricity grid, including high voltage cable, pylons, large power transformers and circuit breakers. \p Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Through engagement with electricity operators, we are aware of estimated lead times for grid components. Due to growing cross-industry demand, lead times have increased, for example, to 24-months for 132kV transformers and to four years for 400kV transformers and network cabling.

We continue to support Ofgem’s developing Advanced Procurement Mechanism (launching early this year) which will allow transmission operators to access constrained equipment earlier in project development.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

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Lord Harris of Haringey:To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the article "Mitigating the risks of antimicrobial failure", by Dr Wendy Thompson, Callum Wood and Professor Mike Bromley, published by the National Preparedness Commission on 6 September 2024, what assessment they have made of the risk of resistance to fungicides on (1) food security, and (2) human health; and what consideration they have given to adding antimicrobial resistant pathogens to the UK Plant Health Risk Register. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Integrated pest management (IPM) helps support sustainable agriculture and combat pesticide resistance by diversifying the tools used to handle pests. The Government supports farmers’ use of IPM through the Sustainable Farming Initiative’s paid actions. These include optimising chemical pesticide use through precision application. Last year we launched a new IPM guidance page on gov.uk which provides clear and practical information about IPM to support planning and decision making.

We work closely with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, which monitors fungicide resistance development in cereal pathogens, to inform disease management strategies.

Antifungal resistance in humans, which is in part driven by the use of fungicides, is increasing globally and in the UK. Fungicides must be used responsibly to reduce potential risk to public health. The Government is committed to investing in research and development to advance its understanding of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and how it spreads. The AMR National Action Plan’s top 10 research priorities include questions that seek to understand what drives resistance beyond antimicrobials, such as the risks associated with the use of antifungals on human health.

The UK Plant Health Risk Register is a comparison tool used to assess the risk to the UK of non-native plant pests to both cultivated plants and those in the wider environment. It is used to prioritise actions that industry and Government can take to reduce the threat posed by each pest. Resistant strains of plant pests are not evaluated in the risk register because 1) the metrics used to assess non-native plant pest species are not appropriate to the assessment of resistant plant pest strains, and 2) plant health legislation applies to non-native pest species rather than strains of species that are already present in the UK. However, Defra has funded a Review of Antibiotic Use in Crops, Associated Risk of Antimicrobial Resistance and Research Gaps (copy attached) and collaborates with international organisations, such as via the International Plant Protection Convention, on approaches to AMR.

Review of Antibiotic Use in Crops... (pdf, 828.2KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

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Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb:To ask His Majesty's Government how much residual waste was disposed of in 2023 (1) by weight, and (2) as a proportion of all waste. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Data on residual waste disposed of and incinerated in 2023 is not yet available. Estimates of residual waste (excluding major mineral wastes) and municipal residual waste in England for 2023 are due to be published in Spring 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of research published by LinkedIn on 7 January, LinkedIn Jobs on the Rise 2025: The 25 fastest-growing roles in the UK, which ranks 'artificial intelligence engineer' as the fastest growing job in the UK; and whether they plan to implement AI education into the national curriculum. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Skills England and the department have not yet fully assessed the findings published in the recent LinkedIn report ‘Jobs on the Rise 2025’. However, we will consider this as part of our evidence base to identify current and future skills needs and ensure qualifications and training pathways are in place to meet them. Additionally, we are collaborating with other government departments, such as the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with their Industrial Strategy sectoral plans. This will support our thinking on how to meet current and future skill requirements in key growth areas and deliver on the skills and talent recommendations set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan published earlier this month.

The ongoing independent Curriculum and Assessment Review will seek to deliver a curriculum that ensures children and young people leave compulsory education ready for life and work, building the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to thrive. This includes embedding digital skills in their learning.

The review group will publish an interim report in early spring setting out its initial findings and confirming the key areas for further work and will publish its final report with recommendations this autumn. The department will take decisions on what changes to make to the curriculum in light of these recommendations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

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Lord German:To ask His Majesty's Government how much they have spent on rehabilitation and training services at each prison in England and Wales in each of the past three years. \p Lord Timpson: Expenditure on rehabilitation and training services covers a range of provision, recorded under numerous budget headings, and cannot be collated without incurring disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

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Lord German:To ask His Majesty's Government what rules regulate the commissioning of training and rehabilitation activities by prison governors. \p Lord Timpson: Public Contracts Regulations (PCR 2015), which are enshrined in the Laws of England and Wales, along with Central Government commercial policies and processes are applied in the commissioning of all contracted-out core training and rehabilitation services in the prisons.

The Prison Governors are also empowered, at a local level, to contract bespoke rehabilitation services through a variety of compliant contracting routes. These contracting services are provided through a central commercial directorate to the prisons within the Ministry of Justice to achieve the best value for money whilst delivering our strategic priority of reducing reoffending.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-21)

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Lord Garnier:To ask His Majesty's Government what was the average tariff length imposed for murder in (1) 2022, and (2) 2023. \p Lord Timpson: The average (mean) tariff for murderers (excluding whole life cases) sentenced in 2022 was 257 months and in 2023 it was 266 months.

Year of Sentence

Mean Tariff (months)

2022

257

2023

266

Data sources and quality -

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

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

The figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-19 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Wills:To ask His Majesty's Government when the successful candidate for the Independent Public Advocate role will take up their position. \p Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: The Government is committed to placing victims at the heart of processes that follow a major incident, which is why we are establishing the Independent Public Advocate. We are on track for the successful candidate to take up their position in the Summer.

The public appointment campaign to appoint the Standing Advocate of the IPA was launched on 24 September 2024 and is nearing completion. Interviews concluded on 14 February, and we will announce the preferred candidate shortly.

As this public appointment is made by Ministers and regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, the recruitment process must comply with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

The candidate will be subject to a pre-appointment scrutiny hearing by the Justice Select Committee.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Weir of Ballyholme:To ask His Majesty's Government how many gender recognition certificates have been issued in each of the past 10 years. \p Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: The table below shows the number of applications received by the Gender Recognition Panel that were granted full Gender Recognition Certificates in the last 10 years.

Table 1: Number of Gender Recognition Certificates granted in full during the complete financial years from 2014/15 to 2023/24

Financial Year

Gender Recognition Panel

2014/15

244

2015/16

329

2016/17

316

2017/18

351

2018/19

323

2019/20

364

2020/21

427

2021/22

495

2022/23

871

2023/24

1,088

Date source: Tribunals statistics quarterly: October to December 2024 - GOV.UK
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Baroness Helic:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the compulsory digital training on domestic abuse introduced for family judges, magistrates, and legal advisers in October 2021; how many individuals have completed the training; how frequently it is delivered or refreshed; and what evaluation has been conducted of its effectiveness in improving outcomes in the family courts. \p Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: To preserve judicial independence, statutory responsibility for the training of the courts judiciary in England and Wales is held by the Lady Chief Justice and fulfilled by the Judicial College. It would therefore be constitutionally inappropriate for the Government to undertake assessments of judicial training.

I am aware that the Judicial College launched updated digital training on domestic abuse for all family judges in October 2021 and for magistrates and their legal advisers in November 2021. The judicial training and magistrates and legal adviser training were mandatory.

This was followed in 2022/23 by an intensive one-year programme of mandatory live training for family judges on the harms of domestic abuse, which was also offered to judges in the civil jurisdiction, and intensive mandatory continuation training for family magistrates and legal advisers.

Domestic abuse remains a central part of induction and continuation training for all judges, magistrates and legal advisers who hear family cases. Training is regularly evaluated and reviewed by the Judicial College and updated as appropriate.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Blencathra:To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16, what plans they have to include the biological sex of civil servants in reports about those employed by the Ministry of Justice and its agencies and public bodies. \p Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: The Supreme Court ruling made it clear that the provision of single-sex spaces is on the basis of biological sex. Providers and Government Departments should note and follow the ruling.

The Government is considering the implications of the Court’s judgment.

The Government publishes annual statistics on the UK Civil Service workforce, including reporting on sex. The statistics can be found here: Statistical bulletin - Civil Service Statistics: 2024 - GOV.UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Roberts of Llandudno:To ask His Majesty's Government what contribution they have made to the UN's Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan in 2025. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: According to the United Nations Financial Tracking Service, as of 9 May the UK has contributed $260.4 million to UN-coordinated appeals in 2025 so far. Of this, $198.9 million went to Humanitarian Response Plans and Needs and Response Plans. This data is gathered and reported by the UN; The UK's official Statistics on International Development, covering the whole of 2025, will be published in autumn next year.

The UK will continue to play a key humanitarian role, including in Sudan, in Ukraine, and in Gaza. For example, last month we announced £120 million in new support for Sudan, which will target over 600,000 people with lifesaving assistance.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Roberts of Llandudno:To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the £120 million humanitarian funding for Sudan announced on 15 April will be allocated to support survivors of sexual violence. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The UK is a major humanitarian donor to Sudan with £226.5 million provided in financial year (FY) 2024/25 and a further £120 million in support this current FY which the Foreign Secretary announced at the London Sudan Conference on 15 April. Since the start of the conflict in April 2023, millions of Sudanese civilians have benefitted from UK-funded humanitarian programmes including survivors of sexual violence. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office officials are now determining how funding for FY 2025/26 will be allocated and further information will be provided in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Baroness Whitaker:To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Israel about offering support or protection to the Druze population in Syria, and what steps they are taking to support these actions. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: We regularly engage with Israel, including to discuss recent events in Syria and the importance of refraining from actions that could risk aggravating tensions between Syrian communities. We will continue to work with the Syrian Government and international partners, including Israel, to advocate for the protection all Syrians.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Baroness Whitaker:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent violence against the Druze community in Syria. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: Recent violence against the Druze community in Syria was appalling. In our statement on 3 May, we publicly urged the Syrian government to take steps to shield civilians from violence and hold those responsible to account. The protection of all civilians and their full inclusion in the transition process is vital for peace in Syria. This will continue to be a priority in our engagement with the Syrian government.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Birt:To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of world steel production is supplied by (1) China, and (2) the United Kingdom. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: According to the World Steel Association, world crude steel production totalled 1,884 million tonnes (Mt) in 2024. Of this, China produced 1,005Mt, representing around 53% of world crude steel production. The UK produced 4Mt of crude steel, representing around 0.2% of world crude steel production.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Birt:To ask His Majesty's Government what is the percentage of UK steel production as a proportion of the demand for steel in the UK. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: According to the World Steel Association, UK demand for finished steel products totalled 9.1 million tonnes (Mt) in 2023 (the latest year for which consumption data is available). World Steel Association data also shows that in 2024, the UK produced 4Mt of crude steel. As a proportion of domestic demand in 2023, this represented around 44%.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Sikka:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish the trade agreement between the UK and India; and whether they plan to seek Parliament’s approval prior to ratification. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: A summary document of the trade agreement between the UK and India is already on the Gov.uk website. This Government plans to publish the full agreement when the deal is signed, which will then be subject to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. The Act provides Parliament with the opportunity to scrutinise new trade agreements that are subject to ratification and, if it wishes, to resolve against them.

Additionally, any changes to UK legislation will need to be scrutinised and passed by Parliament in the usual way.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Udny-Lister:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to facilitate investment in Morocco as part of the 2030 International Federation of Association Football World Cup. \p Baroness Gustafsson: The UK-Morocco Association Agreement, which entered into force in January 2021, facilitates our trading relationship. HM Government is keen to strengthen trade ties with Morocco. In January 2025, Ben Coleman MP was appointed Trade Envoy for Morocco and Francophone West Africa. Total trade in goods and services (exports plus imports) between the UK and Morocco was £4.2 billion in 2024, up £0.6bn in current prices from 2023.

In March 2025, Gareth Thomas MP, Minister of State for Services, Small Business and Exports, visited Morocco with a delegation of businesses to showcase UK support for major infrastructure projects and signed a declaration of intent with the Head of the World Cup Committee to progress UK-Morocco collaboration on Morocco’s co-hosting of the Men’s Football World Cup in 2030. The UK looks forward to working with Morocco on this event and other infrastructure projects.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Empey:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect the proposed trade deal with India will have on the prawn industry in (1) the United Kingdom, and (2) Northern Ireland. \p Baroness Gustafsson: A trade deal with India will deliver on this Government’s core mission of economic growth and unlock new opportunities for businesses in every corner of the UK, including in Northern Ireland, increasing bilateral trade by £25.5bn, UK GDP by £4.8bn, and wages by £2.2bn each and every year in the long run.

We will set out further information on the sectoral impacts of this agreement in our impact assessment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Baroness Curran:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that young people have access to apprenticeships. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: I refer my noble Friend to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question HL2609.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Baroness Golding:To ask His Majesty's Government whether schools in England include the results of external candidates in their GCSE and A-Level statistics. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The department’s GCSE and A level statistics include the results of external candidates at the end of key stage 4 (GCSEs) or 16-18 study (A levels), which are recorded against the school that a pupil has been allocated to. For state schools, pupils are allocated to a school based on the school census, while for independent schools or colleges, pupils are allocated based on exam data or the Individualised Learner Record. All exam results achieved by a pupil are recorded against the allocated school or college, regardless of where they were entered for the exam, including private exam entries.

Prior to publication, schools and colleges are given the opportunity to request the removal of incorrectly included external candidates from their GCSE and A level performance measures data, via the Check Your Performance Measures Data service.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Laming:To ask His Majesty's Government whether local authority social care services are funded and equipped to meet the needs of the 621,880 children referred to them in 2024. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) for the 2025/26 financial year will grant councils in England access to over £69 billion in funding, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase on the 2024/25 financial year. Decisions on allocation of funding for all local authority-delivered services, including children’s social care, are for local authorities to take based on local need, priorities and statutory duties.

In recognition of the need to ensure local authorities have the resources needed to deliver good quality children’s social care services, the LGFS for 2025/26 provides two new grants for children and family services. A new Children’s Social Care Prevention Grant is set to be introduced, which will provide £270 million of new funding for investment in additional prevention activity through the implementation of Family Help and child protection reforms. The Children and Families Grant, worth £414 million, will also be available. This will consolidate several previous departmental children’s social care grants, including £253.5 million from the former Supporting Families Programme.

The government’s investment in 2025/26 is a significant step in our ambition to rebalance the children’s social care system and will enable local authorities to move towards financial sustainability and deliver improved outcomes for children and families.

Funding for future years will be subject to phase two of the spending review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Baroness Finn:To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total cost of (1) redundancy, (2) severance, and (3) human resources consultancy, as a result of the planned reduction of 2,100 roles in the Cabinet Office. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The Cabinet Office has announced plans to restructure and reorganise, to create a more strategic, specialist, and smaller centre of government.

Savings will be made from non-pay budgets and pay budgets, and we expect up to 1,200 staff will leave the department in the next two years. Our priority is to achieve the necessary reductions through voluntary means or attrition. So far, 540 employees have been approved to leave through the Voluntary Exit Scheme, which is expected to cost £27 million. Estimates of the total cost of staff exits are under development. All exit payments will comply with the Civil Service Compensation Scheme. This is a long term investment as part of this government's commitment to reshape the way the British state delivers for and serves working people

These staff exits are separate to c.900 people who have moved out of the department through machinery of government changes. This includes the transfer of the Government Digital Service to DSIT to create the digital centre of government.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Booth:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 10 April (HL6032) , what is their estimate of the annual cost of each of the 26 arm's-length bodies which they have confirmed are in the process of being set up. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: Departments are responsible for assessing the potential costs of proposed new bodies as part of their business case development. The Cabinet Office does not centrally estimate costs for departments’ proposals.

The government is conducting a full line-by-line Spending Review which will cover the costs of proposed and existing ALBs to ensure value for money is being delivered for the taxpayer.

On 6 April, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced a full review of all arm’s length bodies to ensure their existence can be strongly justified against key principles. Any future decision to set up any new ALBs would need to demonstrate alignment with these principles and follow the joint HMT and Cabinet Office approval process for new bodies.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Baroness Finn:To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is a model contract for permanent secretaries; and if so whether they will place a copy in the Library of the House. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: Contracts for Permanent Secretaries and all other SCS are not published publicly so we will not be placing a copy in the Library of the House.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Baroness Deech:To ask His Majesty's Government how many competitions for public appointments have been paused before completion since 9 July 2024; what are the reasons for pausing these processes; and when they will be resumed. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The public appointments digital system, run by the Cabinet Office, enables departments to effectively and consistently manage their public appointment campaigns. It shows the current stage of a campaign and the outcome when completed. However, the system does not record if a campaign has been paused, and where campaigns are paused, the Cabinet Office does not collect the reasons for this or data on when such campaigns might be resumed. That would be a matter for individual sponsor departments and their ministers as part of the normal day-to-day management of the recruitment campaigns they run.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Weir of Ballyholme:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made representations to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to include events in Northern Ireland in their work commemorating Victory in Europe Day and Victory over Japan Day. \p Baroness Twycross: Supported by DCMS, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is running the For Evermore Tour, with more than 250 mobile exhibitions and events across the UK and a number of global commemorative sites to the Pacific, highlighting the stories of those who fought in the Second World War.

CWGC has confirmed the Tour will visit Northern Ireland in June and is in the process of confirming venues at Stormont and Carrickfergus to coincide with the week leading up to and including National Armed Forces Day.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the quantity of new motorway constructed in the past ten years, and what plans they have to develop further motorways. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: No government for 30 years has proposed building significant stretches of new motorway.

The Department for Transport sets out forward investment plans for England’s strategic road network of motorways and major A-roads within 5-year road investment strategies. During the first RIS, covering 2015-2020, National Highways delivered 36 major enhancements schemes, adding 343 lane miles of capacity. In RIS2, covering 2020-2025, National Highways delivered a further 30 major enhancements, adding a further 363 lane miles of capacity. The Department is in the process of developing RIS3, starting in 2026. The scope of investment will be determined by the ongoing Spending Review.

The Department publishes total lengths of England’s road network including trunk A-roads and Motorways on the GOV UK website.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Sikka:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of bank branch closures on small businesses. \p Lord Livermore: The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and businesses, and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority.

That is why the Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 220 hubs have been announced so far, and over 150 are already open.

Cash Access UK, who oversee the rollout of banking hubs, reported from their research in Brixham (Devon) and Rochford (Essex), in October 2024 that spend on the high street is 71% higher amongst those who have visited the banking hub. Almost half (47%) of businesses surveyed said they have experienced an increase in footfall thanks to the banking hub.

In addition, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidance expects firms to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and put in place alternatives where reasonable. This seeks to ensure that branch closures are implemented in a way that treats customers, including business customers, fairly. Where firms fall short of expectations, the FCA may ask for closures to be paused or other options to be put in place.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord McColl of Dulwich:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on charities working in the social care and special education sectors; and what steps, if any, they are taking to reduce that impact. \p Lord Livermore: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

The Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes a £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. This represents an increase to local government spending power of up to 6.8% in cash terms.

The Government increased funding for the core schools budget by £2.3 billion, increasing per pupil funding in real terms, in 2025-26. £1 billion of this funding will go towards supporting the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system.

The Government also provides support for charities via our tax regime, which is among the most generous of anywhere in the world, with tax reliefs for charities and their donors worth just over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2024.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Lee of Trafford:To ask His Majesty's Government how tax relief through independent savings accounts allowing investment overseas contributes to (1) the UK economy, or (2) the growth agenda. \p Lord Livermore: The Government is committed to incentivising greater saving and investment, to help people save for their future goals and build greater financial resilience. The Government offers a generous tax treatment on Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) to support people of all incomes and at all stages of life to save.

Individuals can currently save or invest up to £20,000 per year in an ISA, with all income and gains received in the wrapper received tax-free.

The Financial Services Growth & Competitiveness Strategy Call for Evidence, which closed on 12 December, asked how increasing retail participation in capital markets could support long-term sustainable growth within the sector and the wider economy. The call for evidence welcomed further evidence on how to improve consumer engagement with investing, and the Government is considering the feedback provided.

The Government is looking at options for reforms to ISAs that get the balance right between cash and equities to earn better returns for savers, boost the culture of retail investment, and support the growth mission.

The Government keeps all aspects of tax and savings policy under review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Cromwell:To ask His Majesty's Government how much of the savings from the reductions in delinked payments will be allocated to payments to farms participating in the new Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Reductions to delinked payments allowed this Government to unlock a record level of funding for Environmental Land Management schemes, as part of the £5 billion for farming secured over 24/25 and 25/26 financial years.

In line with its obligations under the Agriculture Act 2020, Defra regularly publishes an annual report, setting out commitments in the previous financial year. Defra intends to publish the annual report for the financial year 2024/25 later this year. The annual report for financial year 2025/26 will be published next year and will include Farming and Countryside programme spend broken down by each scheme.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Cromwell:To ask His Majesty's Government when the full details of the next round of the Sustainable Farming Incentive will be announced, and when that scheme will open to applications. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: We will provide further details about the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive in summer 2025.
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Lord Cromwell:To ask His Majesty's Government what quantitative estimate they have made, using the data they hold on Basic Payment Scheme payments now delinked, of the amount saved by the current reductions to delinked agricultural payments between now and the end of the period to which they apply, compared to the payments originally anticipated for the same period at the introduction of delinked payments. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: When delinked payments were introduced in 2024, no decision had been made about the reductions that were to apply to these payments for years after 2024.

We estimate that the reductions to be applied to delinked payments for 2025 will lead to a further £550 million reduction in these payments compared to 2024. This money is being re-invested in full into our other schemes for farmers and land managers in England, within an overall farming budget of £2.4 billion for 2025/26.

The reductions to delinked payments for future years have not been decided yet and will be announced in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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The Lord Bishop of St Albans:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report published on 22 April by Friends of the Earth International, Climate and biodiversity in freefall, particularly the finding that 78 per cent of the top 50 carbon offsetting projects are likely ineffective or worthless. \p Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The UK is a strong advocate for carbon pricing and a pioneer on carbon markets, through domestic action and our support for the uptake of pricing and market schemes globally.

Harnessed properly, carbon markets can help deliver global climate ambition, mobilise much-needed finance to tackle climate change, and deliver cost-effective abatement and wider development benefits. They can play a crucial role in protecting forests internationally and in the UK.

Stakeholders have called for greater clarity on what constitutes a high-quality carbon credit and how credits should be used. Therefore, in November last year the UK Government published a set of guiding principles for high-integrity voluntary carbon and nature markets and in April this year we launched a consultation into steps that can be taken to implement these.

Through our climate finance programmes the UK has helped address the challenges linked with ‘project-based’ forest credits , for example, the ‘leakage’ of carbon emissions. We have worked with countries to develop jurisdictional approaches to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+), which cover entire countries or states, allowing greater transparency and the generation of higher-integrity carbon credits.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the use of green hydrogen as an energy source. \p Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Hydrogen Allocation Rounds (HARs) remains our primary mechanism for allocating revenue support through the Hydrogen Production Business Model to low carbon, non-CCUS enabled hydrogen production facilities across the UK.

In the Autumn 2024 Budget, we confirmed support for 11 green hydrogen projects from the first Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR1), and on 7 April 2025 we announced a shortlist of 27 projects that were invited to the next stage of the Second Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR2) process.

This announcement reinforces the Government’s recognition of the key role low carbon hydrogen will play in delivering our Clean Energy Superpower and Growth Missions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Sikka:To ask His Majesty's Government what investment they have made or intend to make in thorium-based nuclear energy technology. \p Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: There are currently no funded projects specifically for thorium-based nuclear technologies. Potential for future investment will be subject to the Spending Review and the scope of future R&D schemes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Roborough:To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to publish the results of the consultation on allowing Woodland Carbon Credits under the Woodland Carbon Code to be admitted into the United Kingdom Emissions Trading Scheme. \p Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: We are currently exploring the inclusion of greenhouse gas removals into the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, including the potential integration of high integrity woodland, such as Woodland Carbon Units under the Woodland Carbon Code. A consultation was launched in May 2024, and we will respond in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Pearson of Rannoch:To ask His Majesty's Government when is the latest date by which they intend to publish the report from the Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group. \p Lord Khan of Burnley: I refer the Noble Lord to the Terms of Reference for the Working Group.

Terms of Reference (pdf, 123.2KB)
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Lord Jones of Penybont:To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to reforming the loss of future earnings element of clinical negligence compensation for cases arising from obstetrics. \p Baroness Merron: We recognise that clinical negligence is an important issue, and ministers will examine the drivers of costs, how to manage spending on clinical negligence, and the potential merits of reform options.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lord Jones of Penybont:To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Civil Procedure Rule Committee regarding the implementation of fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence claims valued up to £25,000. \p Baroness Merron: Currently, the Government is considering the way forward on a wide range of matters relating to clinical negligence reform, and we will announce our position in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-24)

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Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown:To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of illegal immigrants that French authorities have prevented from travelling to the UK. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: Our work with the French authorities is estimated to have prevented over 12,000 crossing attempts so far this year. Data on small boat activity in the English Channel, including preventions, is published weekly on .GOV.UK.