theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-17 conversation_5

Lord Rennard:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to scrutinise claims for Public Duty Costs Allowance. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA) was introduced to assist former Prime Ministers still active in public life. Payments are made only to meet the actual cost of continuing to fulfil public duties. The PDCA was exceptionally extended to the former Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Sir Nick Clegg from 2015-2019. No other former Deputy Prime Ministers claim the allowance.

The costs are a reimbursement of incurred expenses for necessary administrative costs arising from their special position in public life for example managing an office (staffing and administration costs); handling correspondence as a former Prime Minister; and support with visits and similar activities. The level of the limit is reviewed by the Prime Minister at the start of a Parliament and annually. Invoices are submitted to the Cabinet Office to cover relevant office and salary costs. PDCA claims are also subject to an annual audit by the National Audit Office.

The Cabinet Office does not hold a comprehensive record of claims made against the PDCA going back to 1991 when the allowance was established. However, I would refer the noble Lord to a written answer provided to him on 6 December 2022 by Baroness Neville-Rolfe, then Minister of State, (reference HL3763) which provides details of historical claims of PDCA.

Details of PDCA claims have been published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) since 2013-14. The written answer referred to above includes details of claims up to the financial year 2021-22. Details of claims for the financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24 are set out in Table 1 below, and can also be found in the relevant ARAs.

Table 1

2022-23

2023-24

The Rt Hon. Sir John Major

115,000

115,000

The Rt Hon. Sir Tony Blair

115,000

115,000

The Rt Hon. Gordon Brown

114,627

114,788

The Rt Hon. Lord David Cameron

108,312

68,546

The Rt Hon. Lady Theresa May

113,422

113,475

The Rt Hon. Liz Truss

23,310

101,332

The Rt Hon. Boris Johnson

-

182,083

Total PDCA

617,667

836,345

In relation to the data provided in Table 1, it should be noted that The Rt Hon Lord David Cameron stopped receiving the allowance when he was appointed the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on 13 November 2023. The Rt Hon Boris Johnson was eligible to claim the Public Duty Cost Allowance, however no claims were received in 2022 to 2023. Due to 2022 to 2023 being the first year of set up, the Cabinet Office has agreed to reimburse these costs in 2023 to 2024. All future office costs are to be claimed in-year with claims received by 31 March. 2022 to 2023 office costs amounted to £67,083.

Details of the financial year 2024/25 will be published in the next Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Baroness Finn:To ask His Majesty's Government what is the membership of the Cabinet Office's (1) Investment Committee, (2) People and Operations Committee, and (3) Resilience and Security Committee, and how many times each of those committees has met in the past 12 months. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: Between 8 July 2024 and 7 July 2025, the Investment Committee met 12 times. The current membership of the Cabinet Office Investment Committee is:

Cabinet Office Chief Operating Officer (Chair);

Cabinet Office Chief Finance Officer;

Cabinet Office Commercial Director;

Cabinet Office Chief People Officer;

Cabinet Office Strategy Director; and

Cabinet Office Chief Digital Information Officer.

Between 8 July 2024 and 7 July 2025, the People and Operations Committee met 10 times. The current membership of the People and Operations Committee is:

Cabinet Office Chief Operating Officer (co-Chair)

Government Chief Property Officer (co-Chair)

Cabinet Office Chief People Officer;

Cabinet Office Chief Digital Information Officer;

Director, Modernisation and Reform;

SCS Diversity and Inclusion Champion;

SCS Race Champion;

SCS Gender Champion;

SCS Disability Champion;

SCS Social Mobility Champion;

Professional Head of Intelligence Analysis, Joint Intelligence Organisation;

Director, Functional Strategy, Performance and Capability, Government People Group;

Director, Defence and Nuclear, National Security Secretariat;

Cabinet Office Strategy Director;

Head of Cabinet Office and Civil Service Communications; and

Representative from Cabinet Office Race Equality Network (associate member).

Between 8 July 2024 and 7 July 2025, the Resilience and Security committee met 4 times. The current membership of the Resilience and Security Committee is:

Cabinet Office Chief Operating Officer (co-chair);

Director General, Propriety and Constitution Group (co-chair);

Government Chief Security Officer;

Cabinet Office Chief Digital Information Officer;

Cabinet Office Chief Financial Officer;

Cabinet Office Chief Information Security Officer, Government Digital Service;

Chief Operating Officer, Government Property Agency;

Cabinet Office Commercial Director;

Director, Intelligence and Security, National Security Secretariat;

Professional Head of Intelligence Analysis, Joint Intelligence Organisation;

Director, Propriety and Ethics, Propriety and Constitution Group;

Deputy Director, Corporate Services at No 10 and Cabinet Office; and

Chief Digital Information Officer, Crown Commercial Service.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Baroness Finn:To ask His Majesty's Government whether non-UK citizens are eligible to serve on Assessment Advisory Panels. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The Governance Code on Public Appointments sets out the role of Advisory Assessment Panels and includes guidance on their composition. The only prerequisites for the composition of individual panels are that there should be a departmental representative and an independent member. It is for ministers to agree on the composition of all Advisory Assessment Panels, including deciding the appropriate mix of knowledge and experience amongst panel members, based upon the requirements of each individual campaign. There has been no change since under the previous administration.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Baroness Finn:To ask His Majesty's Government what is the process by which official members of the Main Honours Committee are selected. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The Main Honours Committee is made up of the chairpeople of all ten independent honours committees, as well as an official chairperson who is appointed by the Cabinet Secretary and ex officio members, as set out here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/honours-committees.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Baroness Finn:To ask His Majesty's Government how many vacancies there are on the Health and Social Care Honours Committee. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: Honours committee quoracy is set by the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (HD Committee). It states that the independent membership must be higher than the number of officials on the Committee. There is no maximum number of independent members.

For the Health and Social Care Committee, the quoracy stands at four independent members. There are currently six independent members. There is no live recruitment campaign.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Baroness Alexander of Cleveden:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to relocate Civil Service roles outside London. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: On 14 May, the Government announced it will be:

Strengthening its presence in 13 cross Government locations across the UK.

Ensuring that 50% of UK-based SCS are located outside of London by 2030.

Strengthening the talent pipeline by launching a new apprenticeship programme, setting an ambition for 50% of Fast Stream roles to be based outside London by 2030, and committing to develop and launch a local government interchange programme in partnership with the Local Government Association (LGA).

Reducing the number of Civil Service buildings in London, closing 11 buildings by 2030 to deliver £94m in savings per year.

Launching two new thematic campuses, an Energy Campus in Aberdeen and a Digital & AI Innovation Campus in Manchester.

In June, the Government announced that Places for Growth existing thematic campuses in Darlington, Sheffield and Leeds will be leading a new approach to bring together policy makers with those on the frontline to support mission delivery.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Baroness Finn:To ask His Majesty's Government from what source the Civil Service Board derives its authority; whether the Board exercises any powers delegated by ministers; and if so, by what legal or administrative instrument those powers are conferred. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The Civil Service Board has ceased operation. Its last meeting took place on 29 January 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of artificial intelligence on the job market. \p Lord Vallance of Balham: Government is working to harness the benefits that AI can bring in terms of economic growth, productivity gains, rising living standards, and improved worker wellbeing; while mitigating the risks. Government is planning for a range of plausible outcomes and closely monitoring the data that will help us track and prepare for these. We will continue to work closely with other government departments through the AI Opportunities Action Plan to ensure we shape AI to deliver economic prosperity for the UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Baroness Bertin:To ask His Majesty's Government, following the findings of the Children's Commissioner's report ‘A lot of it is actually just abuse' - Young people and pornography, published in January 2023, what progress they have made in reducing the harms to adolescents and children caused by violent photography, including non-fatal strangulation and incest in pornography. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: The Independent Pornography Review was a thorough assessment of a complicated and multi-faceted set of issues. Government departments are undertaking detailed work to consider how best to tackle the important set of issues raised.

The Government has recently announced that pornography depicting acts of strangulation will be made illegal through Crime and Policing Bill. The Online Safety Act will prevent children from accessing pornography, with duties requiring highly effective age assurance in force from 25 July.

Ofcom's draft guidance summarises measures for platforms to tackle the abuse that women and girls disproportionately face online. The finalised guidance will be published by the end of the year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the priorities of the Danish presidency of the Council of the European Union, and what plans they have to meet the presidency to discuss those priorities. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: Denmark assumed the Presidency of the Council of the EU on 1 July. Under the headline 'a strong Europe in a changing world', the Danish Presidency has two overarching priorities: a secure Europe and a competitive and green Europe. The Government will continue to engage regularly with the Danish Government on our shared priorities, as well as with the EU institutions, as we deliver a long-term UK-EU strategic partnership.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Lord Grocott:To ask His Majesty's Government how many police officers left the force in the past 12 months, broken down by how many served (1) for less than 12 months, (2) between 12 months and 5 years, (3) between 5 years and 10 years, and (4) over 10 years. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police officer leavers in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin.

Information on the length of service of leavers is available in table JL6 of the data tables accompanying the publication.

Table 1 below shows the number of police officer leavers, by length of service, in England and Wales for the year ending 31 March 2024. In the year ending 31 March 2024 there were 9,236 police officers leaving the police forces in England and Wales. 16.2% of all leavers had less than 1 years service, while 12.3% of all leavers had more than 30 years service.

Table 1: Police officer leavers (headcount) by length of service in the year ending 31 March 2024, England and Wales.

Length of service

Headcount Officer leavers

% of all leavers

Less than 1 year

1,495

16.2%

1 to 2 years

1,082

11.7%

2 to 3 years

606

6.6%

3 to 4 years

484

5.2%

4 to 5 years

297

3.2%

5 to 10 years

674

7.3%

10 to 15 years

393

4.3%

15 to 20 years

749

8.1%

20 to 25 years

1,028

11.1%

25 to 30 years

1,289

14.0%

30 years or over

1,139

12.3%

Total

9,236

100.0%

Note:

Data on police officer leavers for the year ending 31 March 2025 will be published on 23 July 2025.

Retention is a key focus for the Home Office and the NPCC and forces should be using evidence-based strategies to manage the retention and progression of existing officers, as well as continuing to recruit new officers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Lord Empey:To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current daily cost of providing accommodation for asylum seekers other than in hotels; and how this compares with the daily cost in 2024. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The 2024/25 annual report, published on 17 July 2025, states on p75 that £2.1bn was spent on hotels in 2024-25, at an average of £5.77m per day, compared to 3.0bn spent on hotels in 2023-24, at an average of £8.3m per day.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Baroness Bertin:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the national police database and its ability to analyse the link between (1) exposure to violent and misogynistic pornography,  and (2) violent offences against women and girls. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Police National Database provides a joined-up view of vital intelligence gathered nationwide and made available to Policing and law enforcement agencies. Its data is uploaded regularly by police forces and law enforcement agencies.

PND searches can link people, addresses, phones and vehicles and can be used to investigate individual offenders or crimes, or to build intelligence about networks or gangs involved in criminal activity.

Where people are suspected of crimes involving obscene publications, indecency or violence against women and girls, the details would be shown on their record on PND. If their record includes intelligence indicating both exposure to violent and misogynistic pornography and violence against women and girls, further investigation could follow to establish whether there was a link.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Lord Davies of Gower:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the regulatory challenges facing small and medium-sized enterprises involved in the development and deployment of sustainable aviation fuel, and what plans they have to simplify relevant processes. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: There are a number of steps we are taking to support enterprises of all sizes to contribute to SAF targets. We aim to minimise regulatory burdens when designing our policies.

We are encouraging the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the UK through the SAF mandate, which obligates fuel suppliers to supply a proportion of SAF in their fuel. To minimise the impact on small or micro businesses from being obligated, the minimum threshold for registering with the SAF mandate scheme and being set an obligation is 15.9 terajoules of aviation fuel, or 450,000 litres, per annum. This minimises unnecessary administrative burdens with negligible impact on GHG emissions reductions.

We are supporting the production and development of UK supplies of SAF through the Advanced Fuels Fund (AFF). Applicants were invited to apply for funding in 2025 with no restriction on the size of the project. Previous rounds have supported a range of proposals from demonstration to commercial scale. The Spending Review 2025 will continue support for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the UK to 2029/30.

In addition to providing grant funding under the AFF, our SAF Bill currently before the House, will deliver a SAF Revenue Certainty Mechanism. This mechanism will help unlock investment in UK SAF production and grow this emerging sector.

Our SAF Clearing House also supports SAF producers through the testing process – a grant funding window is currently open to applications.

We keep our policies under review to ensure they are not creating unnecessary regulatory burdens.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government, in regard to the BBC report about high prices that businesses can pay to rent phone equipment on lengthy finance deals, what assessment they have made of the impact of finance agreements on equipment, such as phones, on small businesses. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: The Department for Business and Trade has not made any assessment of the impact of financial agreements on equipment in relation to small businesses.

Businesses can reach out to the Business Support Service or their Local Growth Hub for further support and advice before taking out any finance agreements. Further financial support can be found via the Business Finance Finder on https://www.gov.uk/business-finance-support
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to resolve the dispute over the Drumcree parade, and whether they plan to permit the Orangemen to march through Garvaghy Road and other areas. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland recently met with officers from Portadown District LOL No.1 and appreciated the opportunity to hear their views on the annual Drumcree parade. The Parades Commission is the independent public body overseeing public processions in Northern Ireland and the Secretary of State encouraged the group to engage with the Commission.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering:To ask His Majesty's Government what alternatives to custodial sentences they are considering for women with babies and young families, particularly for offences such as shop theft, and what rehabilitation measures are in place to prevent those women from reoffending. \p Lord Timpson: This Government has a clear goal of reducing the number of women in prison and supporting more in the community. That is why we created the Women’s Justice Board. The Board’s initial focus is on early intervention and diversion; community solutions; and addressing issues specific to young women, pregnant women, and mothers with dependent children in the Criminal Justice System.

We are taking forward the Independent Sentencing Review’s recommendations on short and suspended sentences, which will reduce the number of women in custody, including those with babies and young families. We have also accepted in principle the Review’s recommendation to increase the availability of Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle root causes of offending, particularly for repeat offenders.

Women’s specific Commissioned Rehabilitative Service providers have been appointed in every HMPPS region to deliver bespoke and specialist support to women on probation to address their offending behaviour. Additionally, the Government is investing £7.2 million in community support in 2025/26, with funding for women’s centres and other organisations focused on diverting women from prison and addressing their often-complex needs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Lord Roberts of Llandudno:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to improve access to benefits and support services for people who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness. \p Baroness Sherlock: The Government has committed to a cross-government strategy to get the country back on track to ending homelessness. We have already taken the first steps, making a £1 billion investment in homelessness and rough sleeping services in 2025/26, a £233 million increase on the previous year, to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and to help prevent rough sleeping.

My department is committed to ensuring people experiencing homelessness receive the benefits and support they need. Support is in place to help people experiencing homelessness claim and receive benefits, including:

Jobcentres provide outreach in community and homelessness settings in areas with high levels of homelessness and organise referrals to local authority housing teams under ‘Duty to Refer’ legislation. There are single points of contact in every jobcentre to support work coaches with complex homelessness cases, along with training to better understand and support vulnerable customers. Our advanced customer support senior leaders and vulnerable customer champions review our processes to ensure we are effectively safeguarding such customers.

The Government’s plans to get Britain working include the new Jobs and Careers Service, which will provide individualised support to those with the greatest barriers to work, while Connect to Work will provide support to people with disabilities, health conditions and complex barriers, including those experiencing homelessness.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Baroness Redfern:To ask His Majesty's Government, in considering options for future welfare reform, what steps they are taking to ensure that their policies on welfare, employment support and health services are aligned. \p Baroness Sherlock: At the heart of our reforms is the principle that those who can work should work. If you need help into work the government should support you and those who can’t work should be supported to live with dignity.

The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out reforms to both benefits and employment support. Underpinning the changes to benefits, such as rebalancing Universal Credit rates, is our new guarantee of Pathways to Work employment, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions. This brings our total investment for this group to £3.8 billion over this Parliament.

We understand that welfare, employment and health are connected – and that is why we are taking a cross-government approach as we deliver and develop our Plan for Change.

The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health and Social Care have worked together on the 10 Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Health Plan will ensure a better health service for everyone, by setting out the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of health and care needs, including for disabled people. Furthermore, it outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.

We will continue to work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside other departments, as we develop our package of reforms in further detail and to ensure policies are aligned.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce legislation to protect consumers from the practice of some video game companies that allows games to become unplayable after the development cycle has ended. \p Baroness Twycross: The Government is aware of concerns relating to the life-span of licensed, online-only video games and appreciates the frustrations of players of some games that have been discontinued. The Government has responded to a petition on this issue.

There are no plans to amend existing consumer law on disabling video games. Those selling games must comply with existing requirements in consumer law, and we will continue to monitor this issue.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Lord Blunkett:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 26 June (HL8471), and with regard to paragraph 4.36 of the Spending Review 2025 (CP 1336), what proportion of the additional £1.2 billion allocated per year by 2028–29 for skills by the Treasury will be (1) part of the growth and skills levy, and (2) drawn down from the skills surcharge levied on employers for bringing in overseas staff. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Further details on allocation of the department’s Spending Review settlement will be set out following the conclusion of departmental business planning.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to identify and act on trusts holding excessive quantities of reserves that are depriving pupils of resources for which public funds have been provided, following the Academy trust reserves guidance, published by the Department for Education on 2 June. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Academy trusts hold reserves, as part of good financial management, for a range of reasons. This will include:

Academy trusts must be accountable and transparent on how they manage their reserves. The Academy Trust Handbook requires trusts to have a reserves policy in place, explain their policy in their published annual report and include a clear plan for managing the reserves they hold.

The department engages with academy trusts on their reserves to ensure they have plans in place to use their funds to deliver outcomes that benefit pupils, effectively mitigate against unforeseen issues, and invest in their current and future pupils’ education.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Lord Blunkett:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 26 June (HL8470),  when they intend to announce the revised formula for allocating the growth and skills levy (formerly the apprenticeship levy), including (1) the total for each year of the spending review period, and (2) the amount to be held back by the Treasury. \p Lord Livermore: At Spending Review 2025, the Government allocated an additional £1.2 billion per year for skills by 2028-29. Final allocations for all skills programmes, including the growth and skills offer, will be confirmed in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Lord Mackinlay of Richborough:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Livermore on 8 July (HL8787 and HL8788), what calculations support the statement that Making Tax Digital for Income Tax will generate an expected £1.95 billion of additional tax revenue by 2029–30. \p Lord Livermore: Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax is expected to generate £1.95 billion in additional tax revenue by 2029–30 by reducing taxpayer errors through digital record-keeping and quarterly updates using MTD-compatible software.

The estimate is the expected reduction in the tax gap due to error and failure to take reasonable care among Self Assessment taxpayers based on the number of taxpayers expected to participate in MTD, and on evidence from evaluation of MTD for VAT.

Additional revenue is also expected from digital prompts to encourage more accurate reporting, with effects estimated using controlled trials.

These calculations have been certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Lord Lucas:To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the potential increase in annual revenue of online marketplaces collecting VAT on all sales to UK residents, regardless of the identity of the seller; and what, if any, are their objections to so doing. \p Lord Livermore: Since 1 January 2021, online marketplaces are required to register and account for VAT for supplies of low value imports of £135 or less facilitated by their platforms. Where an overseas seller sells goods located in the UK at the point of sale via an online marketplace, the online marketplace is liable for the VAT for goods of any value.

The Government is aware that some compliance challenges still persist and therefore recently announced it will explore the merits of reform to online marketplace liability. If any policy decisions are taken, their impact will be considered in the normal way.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Lord Polak:To ask His Majesty's Government which Fujitsu contracts have been extended by HM Revenue and Customs in the past 12 months; and whether ministerial approval was sought. \p Lord Livermore: Seven Fujitsu contracts have been extended by HMRC in the past 12 months to ensure continuity of essential services. These are: the Call-Off Contract for COTS Software (Oracle), Crown Hosting Run, Data Services, Data Project Services, Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) and Vulnerability Managed Service, Pre-Production Environment (PPE) Web Solutions, and the Trader Support Service. As a public contracting authority, HMRC adheres to the procurement rules and spend controls set by the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, obtaining appropriate ministerial approval where required. Of the seven contracts, six had extension values below the Cabinet Office Spend Control threshold of £20 million and were approved internally by HMRC in line with established processes and governance controls. Only one contract—the Trader Support Service—exceeded the threshold (£66.8 million) and therefore required both Cabinet Office Spend Control and Ministerial Approval.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-17)

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Lord Spencer of Alresford:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of their economic strategy on (1) productivity, and (2) international confidence in the UK market. \p Lord Livermore: Increasing productivity is vital in driving economic growth, in turn improving the living standards of working people and putting money into people’s pockets. That is why growth is the priority mission of this government and why we continue to take steps to boost productivity.

This includes increasing the capital envelope by £120 billion over the SR period. Additional capacity announced at Spending Review 2025 and the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy has allowed the government to increase the capacity of Public Financial Institutions by around 60% this Parliament, to £153 billion. We are also removing barriers to investment through ambitious planning reforms, and championing growth-enhancing sectors through our modern Industrial Strategy.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), in its role as an independent economic forecaster, has assessed the impact of the increase in capital departmental expenditure limits (CDEL) announced at Autumn Budget 2024 and the planning reforms set out at Spring Statement 2025. The OBR estimated that the CDEL increase would raise real GDP by approximately 0.26% after ten years, while the planning reforms were assessed to increase real GDP by around 0.42% over the same period.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-11)

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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of (1) theft from farms and (2) flytipping in each of the last three years, and what steps they are taking to reduce these. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Data on overall levels of farming theft has been collected by stakeholders. In 2023, National Farmers Union Mutual estimated the cost of specific crimes that victimise famers:

We recognise the importance of tackling rural crime and are committed to safeguarding rural communities. The Home Office and Defra are working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to deliver the updated Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy.

The Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 requires secondary legislation before it can come into effect. We are currently considering the views of those who may be affected by the legislation and its regulations, to understand the potential implications and determine the scope of the legislation. We will publish the Government’s response to the Call for Evidence on the scope of the legislation soon and intend to have the necessary regulations in place later this year.

Local authorities are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions to Defra, which we publish annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. This excludes the majority of private-land incidents.

Local authorities have enforcement powers to help them tackle fly-tipping, including fixed penalty notices and prosecution action which can lead to a significant fine or imprisonment. We intend to seek powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to enable the Secretary of State to issue statutory enforcement guidance to support local authorities to appropriately and consistently exercise their enforcement powers.

We have committed in our manifesto to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up their mess. We will provide an update on this in due course.

We will continue to work with stakeholders through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, such as the National Farmers Union, local authorities and police, to promote and disseminate good practice on tackling fly-tipping.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-11)

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Lord Blencathra:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to establish a nationwide accreditation scheme for tested and repaired products similar to the Revolve programme in Scotland. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: This Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy. To support the Government in achieving this goal, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has convened the Circular Economy Taskforce to help us develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England, which will be supported by a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis. Through this work we are considering the evidence for interventions right across the economy. We are exploring the circularity impacts of a wide range of levers, including encouraging reuse and repair, as we develop our strategy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-11)

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Lord Blencathra:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Greater Manchester Renew Hub on circular consumer practices, and what plans they have to replicate this project in other areas. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: We have not made an assessment into the impact of the Greater Manchester Renew Hub. However, at the heart of the Circular Economy Strategy is delivering circular economy principles through local action; this is something the Secretary of State for Environment – a former Council leader – is passionate about. We recognise the Greater Manchester Renew Hub as an excellent example of local action that we can learn from as we work on developing the Circular Economy Strategy for England.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-11)

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Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb:To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they will take, if any, in response to a campaign launched on 3 April called 'Ban Hatch &amp; Dispatch' by the Vegetarian Society calling on the Government to ban the practice of male chick culling in the United Kingdom. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The legislation sets out strict requirements to protect the welfare of animals at the time of killing, including male chicks from the egg production sector.

Permitted killing methods for chicks, such as gas stunning and maceration, are based on scientific research and assessment to ensure birds are spared any avoidable pain, distress, or suffering. All laying hen hatcheries in the UK use argon gas mixtures as their stunning method.

We are firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. In recent years there has been rapid global progress in the development of technologies that allow chicks to be sexed in-ovo (within the egg). We welcome the UK egg industry investing in the development of day zero sexing technology.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-11)

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Lord Roborough:To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of funding they have provided to the Canal and Rivers Trust is intended to be used to keep urban waterways and towpaths clean. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The current grant agreement between Defra and the Canal and River Trust provides for the grant to be used in pursuit of the charitable objects of the Trust, including a range of permitted activities set out in the agreement. The activities include litter management. The agreement, however, does not stipulate what proportion of the grant should be spent on any of the activities, which is for the Trust to decide on the basis of need at any given time.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-11)

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Lord Roborough:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have considered placing a statutory duty to maintain an adequate level of bin provision on the Canal and Rivers Trust. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: We have not made an assessment of the adequacy of bin provision beside waterways in urban areas.

Under section 89 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, The Canal and River Trust has a duty to keep the land they are responsible for clear of litter and refuse. It would be for them to work out how they can best comply with the duty, considering the standards set out in statutory Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse.

An adequate cleansing regime alongside the provision of public litter bins can help to maintain acceptable standards of cleanliness on land managed by a duty body. WRAP have previously provided guidance on the provision of litter bins which is available at https://www.wrap.ngo/resources/guide/binfrastructure-right-bin-right-place

The Canal and River Trust also has a responsibility to remove litter and fly-tipping in canals where it would interfere with navigation.

This Government is committed to reducing waste by transitioning to a circular economy. As part of this we remain focused on delivering the Collection and Packaging Reforms including the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). The DRS will go live in October 2027. It will introduce a redeemable deposit on single-use in-scope drinks containers which can be claimed back by customers when the empty container is returned. This will reduce litter alongside canals, increase recycling rates, create high quality recyclate for producers, and promote a circular economy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-11)

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Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve recycling infrastructure and technologies to enable the increased recovery of critical minerals and other materials. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: This Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has convened the Circular Economy Taskforce to help us develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England, which will be supported by a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis. We are considering the evidence for interventions right across the economy, including interventions that would enable the increased recovery of critical minerals and other materials.

Critical minerals in particular are crucial for the Government’s ambition to kickstart economic growth and make Britain a clean energy superpower. The Department for Business and Trade plans to bring forward a Critical Minerals Strategy, which will support the aims of the forthcoming Circular Economy Strategy by driving ambitious reform to promote recycling and the retention of critical minerals within the UK economy.

Beyond critical minerals, the largest waste management companies in the UK estimates that over the next decade the forthcoming Collection and Packaging Reforms alone will stimulate £10 billion investment in recycling infrastructure and create 21,000 new jobs; whilst also enhancing UK domestic material security by reducing reliance on virgin imports of critical materials.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-11)

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Lord Weir of Ballyholme:To ask His Majesty's Government how many lorries have been prevented from entering Northern Ireland and returned to Great Britain as a result of internal UK market checks in the past 12 months. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: In line with the commitments we have made, as we move to our new UK internal market system, we will ensure that the only checks when goods move within the UK internal market system are those conducted by UK authorities as part of a risk-based or intelligence-led approach to tackle criminality, abuse of the scheme, smuggling and disease risks. But in order not to undermine that approach, as is the case across the UK we do not disclose the specific number or nature of interventions made by UK authorities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-11 conversation_9

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that reproductive health issues, such as polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, fertility and menopause symptoms, are covered in relationships and sex education in schools in England. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Statutory guidance on the current relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum, published on GOV.UK states that by the end of secondary education, pupils should know the facts about reproductive health, including fertility, and the potential impact of lifestyle on fertility for men and women and menopause. This guidance is attached and is also available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education. While endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome are not mentioned specifically in the statutory guidance, it is open to schools to include it as part of this education.

To support schools further, in 2020 the department developed teacher training modules which are freely available to download from GOV.UK and are attached and is also available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health. This included working with Endometriosis UK when developing the ‘changing adolescent body’ module, which references endometriosis. In addition, the ‘intimate and sexual relationships, including sexual health’ module refers to endometriosis, polycystic ovaries, fertility and menopause.

The department is currently reviewing the RSHE statutory guidance. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has been clear that children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of this guidance for schools and as such we will talk to stakeholders, analyse consultation responses and consider relevant evidence before setting out next steps. This will include assessing whether amended content on reproductive health issues is needed.

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