theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-16 conversation_3
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-16 conversation_3

Lord Oates:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to support a just energy transition for Africa, particularly for vulnerable communities with limited access to electricity. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The UK is strongly committed to promoting access to clean energy in Africa. Investments by British International Investment (BII) currently provide clean energy access to over 26 million people. Our £11.6 billion UK international climate finance also supports clean energy access, along with multilateral initiatives like Mission 300, aiming to connect 300 million people in Africa by 2030. The UK remains a key contributor to the International Development Association (IDA) and the African Development Fund (ADF) concessional windows at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which will fund much of Mission 300.

Flagship bilateral programmes such as the Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform and the Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) programme also make a contribution. These initiatives received significant funding boosts at COP28 and COP29 to accelerate the adoption of clean energy solutions. We will continue to collaborate with African governments and international partners to deploy innovative technologies and business models, ensuring affordable, clean, and modern energy access in Africa.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of statements made during the trial of Jimmy Lai that appear to characterise his engagement with foreign governments as a criminal act. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: This Government has been clear that Jimmy Lai's prosecution is politically motivated and that he should be released immediately. Mr Lai's prosecution is evidence that the National Security Law is being used to silence China's critics. Diplomats have attended Jimmy Lai's trial throughout, and his case remains a major priority.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to make regulations under section 267 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, in light of concerns raised by cultural and heritage organisations about potential abuses of cooling-off period provisions. \p Lord Leong: In the ‘Consultation on the implementation of the new subscription regime’, Government consulted on regulatory proposals to implement the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. This included how provisions for the cooling-off period will work. We are analysing the responses, including submissions from the cultural and heritage sectors. Officials have met with relevant representatives and individual organisations in those sectors to hear their views and we continue to engage with the sectors. A Government Response will be published in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government what international agreements, if any, they are developing with other countries to try to reduce net migration to the UK; and when they anticipate any such agreements being concluded. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Government’s Plan for Change sets out our ambition to secure borders and control immigration.

We are committed to strengthening existing relationships with international partners, including resetting our relationship with the EU and further deepening our co-operation with France, Germany and Italy. We have also been seeking out new international partnerships, and most recently signed a new agreement with the Government of Iraq to fast-track the repatriation of individuals with no legal right to remain in the UK.

We continue to have discussions with partners across the globe, strengthening our collaborative efforts to address migration challenges.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Jackson of Peterborough:To ask His Majesty's Government what is the policy of the Passport Office on self-identification, both with and without a gender recognition certificate, in relation to the recording of legal sex. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: Current Government policy is that only ‘male’ and ‘female’ sexes are recognised for official purposes under UK law, and this position is reflected in UK passport policy. In the majority of cases, this is determined by the person’s gender as registered at birth and recorded on their birth certificate.

HMPO guidance for customers on the evidence required to change the sex marker in their passport can be found at: Gender recognition policy - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

There are currently no plans to change this process.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect the first returns of illegal migrants to take place under the UK-France Returns Agreement. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: Under the UK France returns agreement, the first arrivals have already been detained and readmission requests referred to France. We expect the first returns to start in the coming weeks.

The Home Office will provide further updates in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Godson:To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Mayor of London about the reported 58.5 per cent increase in knife crime in London between 2021 and 2024. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Home Office remains in regular contact with the Mayor of London across all knife crime issues.

The Mayor of London and Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime were members of the Knife-Enabled Robbery (KER) Taskforce, chaired by the Policing Minister.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Jackson of Peterborough:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 6 August (HL9826), whether they will review the gender recognition policy of the Passport Office following the decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: There are currently no plans to change the gender recognition policy.

UK Government policy on recognition of gender changes is co-ordinated by the Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO). We have provided initial advice to Ministers following the recent Supreme Court judgment. OEO is coordinating the government response to this.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Godson:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address challenges faced by agencies and the police in identifying individuals within the asylum system who may pose a threat to national security. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The first priority of government is protecting national security.

The Home Office uses various tools to detect and disrupt travel by individuals of national security interest and by individuals excluded from the UK; previously deported from the UK; or using lost, stolen or revoked documents and visas. This includes the use of domestic and international watchlists.

All applications for UK immigration status, including asylum claims, are subject to comprehensive security checks. Where an individual is assessed as presenting a risk to our country, we take swift and robust action.

It is longstanding policy not to discuss either the specific data held on the watchlist, the source of the data or how it is used, as to do so would be counterproductive and harmful to the national security of the UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Baroness Goudie:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that children's hospices receive equitable and sustainable long-term funding, in light of their role in delivering the 10-Year Health Plan. \p Baroness Merron: We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.

We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant. We cannot yet confirm what the funding for 2026/27 will be, or how it will be administered.

The Department and NHS England are looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.

The Government and the National Health Service will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services to ensure that the future state of services reduces variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.

Officials will present further proposals to ministers over the coming months, outlining how to operationalise the required changes to palliative care and end of life care to enable the shift from hospital to community, including as part of neighbourhood health teams.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Baroness Redfern:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to require a mandatory women's heath rotation in GP training, to improve awareness and management of women's health conditions including polycystic ovary syndrome. \p Baroness Merron: General practitioners (GPs) are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge, including on polycystic ovary syndrome, remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.

All United Kingdom-registered doctors are expected to meet the professional standards set out in the General Medical Council’s (GMC) Good Medical Practice. The training curriculum for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and must meet the standards set by the GMC. Women's health, including the topic of polycystic ovary syndrome, is included in the RCGP curriculum for trainee GPs. This also includes gynaecology, menopause, sexual health, and breast health.

The Government has committed to training thousands more GPs. GP training takes place across a variety of settings, which may include a rotation in women’s health. The arrangements of training rotations are a local matter for the organisers of postgraduate education to enable delivery of the RCGP curriculum.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Hunt of Kings Heath:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will ask the NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board to hold discussions with the trustees of The Light House Christian Care Ministry about supporting the trustees of the charity to enable it to continue to provide counselling services in the Coventry area. \p Baroness Merron: There are no plans for Ministers or officials in the Department to meet with the Light House Christian Care Ministry. NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) understands the pressures felt across the voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise sector and is in dialogue with The Light House (Christian Care Ministry) Trust Ltd. The ICB holds a £15,000 grant with the trust for counselling services and will consider the trust as part of its activities to assess its portfolio of grants.

The ICB has a duty to regularly review the services it commissions, ensuring taxpayer money is spent wisely, waste is minimised, and resources are used in the best way to improve the health and wellbeing of local people. In line with this approach, the ICB is currently reviewing counselling services in its area to ensure they deliver best value and meet the needs of its population.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Wills:To ask His Majesty's Government how many self-employed care workers operate in England, and what assessment they have made of how many of those workers meet the criteria for self-employment. \p Baroness Merron: There is no available estimate of the number of care workers who are self-employed. The only available data on self-employment within the adult social care sector is for personal assistants who are employed by direct payment recipients.

Skills for Care estimates that in 2024/25, there were 100,000 personal assistants (PAs) working for direct payment recipients, and of these, 10% were self-employed. There is no equivalent data available on self-employed PAs who are working for individuals funding their own care.

The Department has not made an assessment of how many of these workers meet the criteria for self-employment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Wills:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of care provider closures in each local authority area since January 2024. \p Baroness Merron: Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to shape their local markets, and ensure that people have a range of high-quality, sustainable and person-centred adult social care and support options available to them, and that they can access the services that best meet their needs.  Care providers entering and exiting is a normal part of a functioning market, and local authorities should have appropriate contingency plans in place depending on the services being provided.

The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) Market Oversight Scheme monitors the financial health of typically the largest and potentially most difficult-to-replace providers in the adult social care sector. The CQC will notify local authorities if they consider it likely that any provider’s services will be disrupted because of business failure.   Since January 2024, there have been no such notifications.

The number of adult social care providers deregistered by the CQC from 1 January 2024, broken down by local authority, is shown in the attached table.

Additional document (docx, 21.1KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Kamall:To ask His Majesty's Government how much financial support NHS England provided, if any, to NHS trusts for the training of locally employed doctors towards a medical speciality in 2024–25. \p Baroness Merron: Locally employed doctor (LED) is a catch-all term used to refer to doctors employed by a National Health Service trust that are not on one of the nationally negotiated contracts. LEDs do not work in formal or approved training posts and as such are not funded centrally by NHS England for any specialty.

There are some individual NHS trusts that support LEDs through alternative training pathways, mainly in core training in medicine, anaesthetics and surgery. Data on this would only be available at trust level and is not collected or held centrally.

NHS England has published the LED Blueprint for Change. This outlines a set of targeted high impact actions for Trusts to use to enhance opportunities for training, skills improvement, career pathways and progression to support professional development for LEDs. It has been shaped by LEDs and other key stakeholders including the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, General Medical Council, NHS Employers and British Medical Association.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Wills:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of introducing standard national terms and conditions for contracting adult social care services to ensure appropriate fees are paid by public bodies to allow providers to meet their legal obligations for care regulations and employment, including pay for all working time, including travel, and mandatory training. \p Baroness Merron: Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, they are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all people. In meeting this duty, local authorities must consider ways of promoting a workforce with the appropriate skills and working conditions. Local authorities should work with care providers on an ongoing basis to arrive at a shared understanding of what it costs to run high quality and sustainable care provision, taking into account local circumstances.

We expect local authorities to pay sustainable fee rates that meet the costs of delivering care, which is why the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund will provide over £1 billion for adult social care to local authorities over 2025/26. This can be used to target increasing fee rates paid to adult social care.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Wills:To ask His Majesty's Government how many local authorities have been found to be non-compliant with the outcomes-based commissioning requirements set out in the care and support statutory guidance in each year since 2020, and what enforcement action has been taken against those local authorities. \p Baroness Merron: Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. The Care and Support Statutory Guidance is the accompanying statutory guidance for local authorities and partner agencies, which sets out the principles that should underpin market shaping and commissioning activity, including a focus on outcomes and wellbeing.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) assesses how well local authorities are delivering their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including those related to market shaping and commissioning. To date, the CQC has published over 60 assessment reports, which are publicly available on the CQC’s website. To date, none have yet been found to be failing in its market shaping duty. If the CQC identifies that a local authority has failed to deliver one or more of its Care Act duties, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Wes Streeting MP) has legal powers to intervene.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Young of Cookham:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps are being taken to ensure that ringfenced NHS funding for children's hospices is available beyond 2025–26; and to increase this funding to £30 million per year by 2030. \p Baroness Merron: We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.

We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant. We cannot yet confirm what the funding for 2026/27 will be, or how it will be administered.

The Department and NHS England are looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10 Year Health Plan.

The Government and the National Health Service will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services to ensure that the future state of services reduces variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.

Officials will present further proposals to ministers over the coming months, outlining how to operationalise the required changes to palliative care and end of life care to enable the shift from hospital to community, including as part of neighbourhood health teams.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government how many children have been detained in adult mental health wards (1) in total, and (2) for over 48 hours, in the past year; and what estimate they have made of the cost of removing all children from those facilities. \p Baroness Merron: NHS England has confirmed that across the services, there have been a total of 12 children, all aged between 16 and 18 years old, who have been detained in adult mental health wards in the 2024/25 financial year. All 12 patients were detained for over 48 hours.

Neither the Department nor NHS England have made an estimate of the cost of removing all children and young people from these facilities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Swire:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to encourage the greater use of regional airports across the United Kingdom. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The UK aviation market operates predominantly in the private sector. Regional airports invest in their infrastructure to attract passengers and airlines, while airlines are well placed to deliver services to their customers by responding to demand for different routes.

The Government continues to support vital connectivity to the regions through public service obligation routes whilst an expanded Heathrow could provide an opportunity to strengthen regional connectivity to the UK’s hub airport.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to strengthen cybersecurity across the railway sector. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The Department for Transport (DfT) works across Government to introduce relevant standards, guidance, and policy to ensure the cyber security and resilience of our essential services.

DfT uses both policy and regulatory levers to support the rail sector to effectively manage cyber risk and assist the sector to secure its networks and systems. We work closely with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the rail industry, and others to continuously assess and mitigate emerging cyber threats to the sector.

As Competent Authority under the Network and Information Systems (NIS) Regulations 2018, DfT regulates rail Operators of Essential Servies (OES) to ensure that rail services which are most critical to the British public are compliant with relevant cyber standards. We will use the forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill (CSRB) to strengthen our regulatory powers, improve incident reporting, and expand the type of entities in scope.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Evans of Rainow:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Canal and River Trust's decision to remove litter bins from canal towpaths on the effective management of litter on land owned by the Canal and River Trust. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: As an independent charity, the Canal and River Trust is responsible for operational matters on its waterways and land owned by it, including litter management.

Under section 89 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Trust has a duty to keep the land it is responsible for clear of litter and refuse. It is for the Trust to work out how best to comply with the duty, considering the standards set out in statutory Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse. The Trust also has a responsibility to remove litter and fly-tipping in its canals where it would interfere with navigation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Beamish:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the Joint Unit For Waste Crime. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: No formal assessment has been made but the Joint Unit for Waste Crime (JUWC) recently published its annual report for 2024-25 here. A copy is attached to this answer.

Since 2020, the JUWC has worked with over 130 partner organisations and led or attended over 300 multi-agency days of action resulting in over 170 associated arrests. In recent years, the JUWC has made significant progress aligning its approach to other criminal justice agencies to target organised crime groups. The work of the JUWC has received cross government support and the model is respected internationally.

We have increased the Environment Agency’s (EA) total budget for 2025-26, including the amount available to tackle waste crime. This will enable the EA to increase its frontline criminal enforcement resource in the JUWC and area environmental crime teams by 43 full time staff. This resource will be targeted at activities identified as waste crime priorities using enforcement activity data and criminal intelligence.

JUWC Annual Report (pdf, 772.9KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Beamish:To ask His Majesty's Government what opportunities there are for businesses based in North East England to secure work as a result of the decision of the government of Norway to purchase Type 26 frigates from BAE Systems. \p Lord Coaker: The Norwegian Government’s announcement on 31 August 2025, that it had selected the UK as a strategic partner for their acquisition of Type 26 warships, will sustain around 4,000 jobs across the UK’s supply chain until well into the 2030s.

This is the largest ever UK warship export deal by value and it is expected to provide a £10 billion boost to the UK economy and support more than 400 British companies across all regions, including the north east of England. It is a huge vote of confidence in the UK’s defence industry and supply chains, which are supported by small and medium enterprises.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Beamish:To ask His Majesty's Government, when they plan to make a decision about the sites of the new munitions factories which were announced through the Strategic Defence Review; and when they will make a further announcement about their location. \p Lord Coaker: The Strategic Defence Review committed to build at least six new energetics and munitions factories in the UK. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is currently developing a plan to deliver this commitment alongside our wider Defence Industrial Strategy, delivering long-term investment to boost UK growth and generating skilled UK jobs and export opportunities. The MOD is carefully considering arrangements for those factories including potential locations, and more detail will be set out in due course. It is currently considered to be premature to discuss specific proposals or sites until the necessary preparatory work has concluded.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Wigley:To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have received concerning the making of military awards for bravery for those involved in the activities of Unit 731 in Southeast Asia during the Second World War. \p Lord Coaker: Unit 731 was a Japanese secret research facility which operated between 1933 and 1945 and conducted human experiments to test potential military uses of biological and chemical agents.

The victims, who were all killed, were predominantly Chinese, and to a lesser extent, Russian, Korean and Mongolian. Reports of Western and Commonwealth Prisoners of War being victims of Unit 731 are unverified and there is no confirmed evidence of UK nationals being held there.

The Ministry Of Defence has received no correspondence making representations for military awards for bravery, in respect of those involved in the activities of Unit 731 during the Second World War.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Trefgarne:To ask His Majesty's Government how many Type 26 Frigates are currently on order for (1) the Royal Navy, and (2) other customers. \p Lord Coaker: There are eight Type 26 frigates on order for the UK. The recent announcement that Norway has selected the UK as their preferred strategic partner for Frigate procurement signals Norway’s intention to order five Type 26 ships.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord West of Spithead:To ask His Majesty's Government what are the countries that have signed up to the Type 26 frigate programme. \p Lord Coaker: The Type 26 frigate programme is a UK programme. The recent announcement that Norway has selected the UK as their preferred strategic partner for Frigate procurement signals their intention to order Type 26 ships.

The Type 26 is already the reference design for the Australian Hunter Class Frigate Programme and the Canadian River Class Destroyer Programme.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Hampton:To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they plan to have with the government of Cyprus and the Sovereign Base Areas to allow the dependents of UK Armed Forces to work in Cyprus. \p Lord Coaker: At present, there are no discussions planned on this topic. Immediate family members of UK Service personnel are frequently employed by the Sovereign Base Areas Administration (SBAA) and by British Forces Cyprus (BFC), in the UK’s Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) on Cyprus. They are also free to start their own businesses in the SBAs. Additionally, immediate family members may apply for employment in the Republic of Cyprus, following the same process as any other UK citizen.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Beamish:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of low-Earth-orbit satellite technologies in supporting (1) military communications capabilities and (2) communications resilience. \p Lord Coaker: The UK Ministry of Defence has adopted the use of low-earth orbit satellite technologies to augment and supplement its sovereign military geostationary communications satellites in support of deployed operations and training exercises. There are significant benefits of low-earth orbit satellites as part of a hybrid approach, including ease of use, fast throughput and rapid deployment. These benefits need to be balanced against security, assurance and vulnerability considerations. Resilience of Defence satellite communications is achieved through a multi-orbit approach, of which low-Earth orbit satellites forms one element.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord Wigley:To ask His Majesty's Government what is the anticipated increase in defence procurement expenditure placed with businesses operating in (1) Wales, (2) Scotland, and (3) Northern Ireland. \p Lord Coaker: The Defence Industrial Strategy set out how defence will work with the Devolved Governments to launch Growth Deals in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The level of investment in defence procurement in individual regions will be set out in the Defence Investment Plan, which will be published in the autumn.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

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Lord West of Spithead:To ask His Majesty's Government whether BAE Systems will run two building streams of Type 26 frigates to ensure that Royal Navy and Norwegian Navy delivery dates are met. \p Lord Coaker: The recent announcement by the Norwegian Government to select the UK as a strategic partner for the acquisition of Type (T26) warships is expected to provide a £10 billion boost to the UK economy and support more than 400 British companies.

Both the Royal Navy and Norwegian Navy T26 frigates will be built simultaneously by BAE Systems on the Clyde, benefitting from investments already made, such as the Janet Harvey Shipbuilding Hall in Govan. The new Shipbuilding Hall will improve schedule performance and the pace of delivery, reducing the time between future ship deliveries for both the UK and Norway.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-16 conversation_35

Baroness Goldie:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, there has been of the relative cost benefit of (1) decommissioning RFA Argus and (2) carrying out repairs; and what plans have been developed to effect its potential replacement. \p Lord Coaker: The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) retains three Bay Class Landing Ships Dock (Auxiliary) to support UK amphibious capability. The RFA has committed to at least one of these vessels maintaining appropriate readiness, while the others undergo deeper maintenance and upkeep.

Regarding RFA ARGUS, The RFA continue to work alongside Defence Equipment and Supprt surveyors and commercial partners to assess the cost and value of effecting the required repairs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-16 conversation_36

The Lord Bishop of Sheffield:To ask His Majesty's Government what consultations they are holding with the higher education and further education sectors regarding the implications of the policy reforms introduced in the White Paper Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The immigration White Paper sets out a series of measures that will achieve a reduction in net migration, while maintaining the UK’s globally competitive offer to international students and making a significant contribution to growth by boosting our skills base.

This includes the commitment to explore the introduction of a levy on higher education (HE) provider income from international students, with proceeds to be reinvested in the domestic HE and skills system. We will set out more details around the levy in the Autumn Budget.

We are committed to engaging with the sector on the design of the international student levy and want to understand specific concerns providers have as early as possible.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-16 conversation_37

The Lord Bishop of Sheffield:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to promote and support vocational development and training between United Kingdom further education institutions and their equivalents overseas. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: This government is committed to supporting educational partnerships between the UK and our overseas partners, including in further education.

The UK’s International Education Champion, Sir Steve Smith, spearheads overseas activities, opening up partnership opportunities and developing strong relationships. Sir Steve's international missions promote all sectors and areas of education. We are currently reviewing the UK’s International Education Strategy to ensure that it continues to reflect the priorities of the entire education sector and provides an attractive offer, including on vocational training and skills, to our global partners. We are working closely with the sector and aiming to publish the refreshed strategy this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-16 conversation_38

Lord Risby:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the availability of skilled staff for small businesses; and what measures they are taking to support workforce development and training. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The Employer Skills Survey provides robust evidence about skills shortages in the labour market and skills gaps in the workforce. In 2024, skill-shortage vacancies were higher among businesses with two to four employees compared to those with 100 or more (42% vs 19%). Regarding internal skill gaps, the proportion of employees judged not fully proficient at their job was lower for businesses with two to four employees compared to those with 100 or more (1.8% vs 4.6%).

We have established Skills England as the single authoritative voice on the country’s current and future skills needs. It will ensure the views of all businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are considered to build a system delivering better skills for better jobs. It is already responding to employer need, including SME employers, by developing the first foundation apprenticeships and first short apprenticeships which will give employers greater flexibility in key sectors.

It is tackling barriers to small business engagement by reducing bureaucracy and duplication. Through collaboration with local partners, it is shaping high quality Local Skills Improvement Plans, which are empowering local areas to better align skills provision with local labour market needs, including helping to meet the ongoing workforce development and training needs of SMEs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-16 conversation_39

The Lord Bishop of Sheffield:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of generative artificial intelligence on the further education sector. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: ​Generative artificial intelligence (AI) will support with the delivery of the government’s Plan for Change.

The government has published the AI Opportunities Action Plan, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-opportunities-action-plan/ai-opportunities-action-plan. This considered barriers to AI take-up across the economy and made 50 recommendations. The further education sector will enable the delivery of short new courses in areas such as AI, digital, and engineering. These will be funded through the Growth and Skills Levy to support Industrial Strategy sectors from April 2026.

In August 2025, the department published a policy paper setting out the opportunities and challenges for the use of generative AI in the education sector. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/generative-artificial-intelligence-in-education/generative-artificial-intelligence-ai-in-education?pStoreID=Http.

We are working with the education sector, educational technology industry experts, and academics to build the evidence base and support the education sector to use AI safely, responsibly, and effectively. This includes publishing free support, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/using-ai-in-education-settings-support-materials.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-16 conversation_40

Baroness Stowell of Beeston:To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current status of the sale of the Telegraph Media Group, whose current ownership remains subject to an interim enforcement order. \p Baroness Twycross: The Secretary of State takes her quasi-judicial responsibilities under the Enterprise Act 2002 and in respect of the sale of the Telegraph Media Group very seriously and she therefore cannot provide a running commentary on the sale. The Telegraph Media Group remains under The Public Interest Merger Reference (Telegraph Media Group Ltd) (Pre-emptive Action) Order 2024. She will keep Parliament updated on any decisions she takes relating to the transaction.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-16 conversation_41

The Lord Bishop of Southwark:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are considering using the underspend in the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme to lift the cap on individual claims in the second half of the 2025–26 financial year. \p Baroness Twycross: Government has allocated up to £23 million to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme in 2025/26. This year’s scheme will end on 31 March 2026 or when the budget is exhausted, whichever is the sooner.

Applications can be made throughout the year and are paid on a weekly basis. In order to help applicants plan, we publish an online tracker showing remaining funding. This indicates remaining budget and is not an underspend. We typically see an upsurge in claims towards the end of the financial year.

Altering the scheme's established criteria during the course of the financial year would not be fair on those organisations whose claims have already been paid, or on those who intend to claim later in the year and may find budget unavailable. We do not have plans to amend or remove the cap.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-16 conversation_42

Lord Murray of Blidworth:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ratify the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation; and by when they expect it will be ratified. \p Baroness Levitt: The Government recognises the important role that mediation can play in resolving commercial disputes and promoting access to justice, alongside other dispute resolution methods such as litigation and arbitration.

The UK signed the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (known as the Singapore Convention) in May 2023. The Government is currently consulting stakeholders in the UK legal and mediation sectors, and other experts, on how the Convention could be implemented in domestic law. We are committed to ratifying the Convention once all the necessary domestic implementing measures are in place.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-16 conversation_43

Lord Beamish:To ask His Majesty's Government how many prosecutions there have been for landfill tax fraud in each of the past four years. \p Baroness Levitt: The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of prosecutions for a wide range of offences in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, which can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics. However, it is not possible to separately identify prosecutions for landfill tax fraud as the data does not include a specific offence relating to it.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-09-16 conversation_44

Lord Laming:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that local authorities facing budgetary problems continue to fulfil their statutory responsibilities. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The Government recognises the significant pressures that councils are facing. This Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. The Government is committed to ensuring that funding is targeted effectively at the places and services that need it most and allocated in a way that empowers local leaders to deliver against local priorities. This includes committing to multi-year allocations for each council through the upcoming 2026-27 Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) and moving to a more up-to-date assessment of each council’s needs and resources.

Councils are responsible for their own financial management, and the department does not monitor their day-to-day business. Any council that has concerns about its ability to set or maintain a balanced budget should approach the department in the first instance.