theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-08-01 conversation_24
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-08-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-08-01 conversation_24

Lord Teverson:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce a mandatory registration scheme for all marine vessels to combat the problem of abandoned boats on rivers, estuaries and the shoreline. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The UK is leading an action under the second OSPAR Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter to improve the management of end-of-life recreational vessels. The Government commissioned the environmental consultancy Resource Futures to undertake research on the number of vessels reaching end-of-life and the policy options to reduce the issue of marine litter from abandoned vessels. This research will inform further OSPAR action, including the development of best practice guidance.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-08-01 conversation_25
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-08-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-08-01 conversation_25

Baroness Penn:To ask His Majesty's Government when the threshold for qualifying for Small Employers' Relief was last up-rated, and from what level. \p Baroness Sherlock: Small employers (those who have gross Class 1 National Insurance contributions liability of £45,000 or less in the previous tax year) can claim what is known as Small Employers Relief and can recover 100 percent of Statutory Maternity Pay they have paid out plus an additional compensation payment. This additional compensation payment is known as Small Employers’ Compensation and seeks to support small employers with the associated costs of having an employee on maternity leave which are not thought to affect large employers in the same way, such as the employer’s share of National Insurance contributions that might be payable, as well as administration and recruitment costs.

The same reimbursement arrangements apply to Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Statutory Neonatal Care Pay.

The threshold for qualifying as a small employer was increased in April 2004 from £40,000 to £45,000 (or less) of gross Class 1 National Insurance contributions liability in the previous tax year.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_1

Lord Jackson of Peterborough:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office on 15 November 2024 (HC11596), whether there is a quadrilateral meeting to discuss government business. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: Various forms of Ministerial meetings take place.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_2
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_2

Lord Leigh of Hurley:To ask His Majesty's Government what is the salary level or grade of seniority of a (1) permanent civil servant, (2) direct ministerial appointment, (3) public appointment and (4) special adviser at which there is a policy of public transparency on the individual public servant’s remuneration. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: In the Civil Service, the Senior Civil Service (SCS) is subject to pay transparency arrangements. Departments publish the remuneration of their staff operating at Board level in their Annual Accounts (Remuneration and staff report). Departments also publish the salaries of their SCS staff in quarterly 'organograms' on GOV.UK.

The Cabinet Office also publishes an annual ‘high earner’ list of senior officials in departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies. The previous administration did not update this list prior to the General Election. The Cabinet Office will publish a new 2025 list in due course.

Below SCS, delegated grades are not subject to pay transparency arrangements as pay and grading below the SCS has been delegated to departments since 1996, and the publication of permanent civil servants’ remuneration within these grades is at the discretion of each organisation.

Direct ministerial appointees and public appointees are officeholders rather than employees, and do not have a grade of seniority. Most such roles are unremunerated. Where an individual role does attract remuneration, this would usually be made public either in the recruitment advertisement, when made via an open competition, or in the announcement of the appointed individual.

The salaries of special advisers earning equivalent to senior civil servants (£75,000 and above) are given in bands of £5,000 and are published in the Special Adviser Annual Report.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_3
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_3

Lord Bethell:To ask His Majesty's Government what are the process and criteria for triggering an economic impact assessment of a new disease in the Department of Health and Social Care; and whether they are undertaking an assessment of the suitability of that process and criteria against long Covid, as a condition that did not exist five years ago. \p Baroness Merron: The Government understands the scale of the challenge presented by long COVID, which is also felt on employment and the economy.

NHS England established over 100 long COVID services for adults, and for children and young people. These assess people with long COVID and direct them into appropriate care pathways which provide appropriate support and treatment.

The Government has also invested over £57 million into long COVID research. The projects aim to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, and to evaluate clinical care.

The Department regularly reviews evidence on the health and economic impact of diseases and conditions. Where appropriate, this evidence is used to produce impact assessments which inform the development of new policies to address the needs of the population.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_4
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_4

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that NHS targets and metrics incentivise improvements in patient care and experience. \p Baroness Merron: The Government is committed to putting patients first. This means making sure patients are seen on time and ensuring that people have the best possible experience of care.

Earlier this year, acting on the findings of The Darzi Review, and in order to move power from the health centre to local leaders, NHS England published the 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance, setting out the first steps for reform and the immediate actions for systems to take to deliver on the Government’s objectives. This rationalised the number of targets given to National Health Service systems, with the previous version for the 2024/25 financial year having had 32 targets, while this year’s has 18 and focuses on what matters most to patients, including, for instance, improving patient experience of access to general practice as measured by the Office for National Statistics’ Health Insights Survey and shifting focus from inputs to outcomes for patients.

Additionally, in the Elective Reform Plan, published on 6 January 2025, the Government committed to working with patients, carers, and their representatives to publish the standards that patients should expect to experience while they wait for care. Once published, these standards will set an expectation to all trusts for the service they are expected to deliver. We will continue to work with patients and carers to build on this work and establish a gold standard for experience.

We will support NHS trusts to prioritise the experience of care by ensuring they make customer care training available to non-clinical staff with patient facing roles, as well as ensuring the take up of training already available on the e-Referral Services to support more effective referral, booking, and waiting list management processes. NHS trusts will also be required to name an existing director who will be responsible for improving experience of care.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_5
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_5

Lord Wills:To ask His Majesty's Government what their estimate is of the percentage of total care packages funded privately that have handed back in each of the past three years, broken down by region. \p Baroness Merron: A limited amount of information on care packages handed back by home care agencies has been collected by the Department since September 2022. We have recently reviewed how this information is gathered and are starting to gather more detailed information. However, we are unable to publish the data as the majority is supplied on a voluntary basis, and is therefore not representative.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_6
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_6

Lord Walney:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to counter Iranian state influence in the United Kingdom including in political, academic and community spheres. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: On the 4th March, the Security Minister announced to Parliament a concerted package of measures to counter the threat from the Iranian Intelligence Services. This includes our decision to specify Iran on the Enhanced Tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), which will require individuals and organisations directed by Iran to conduct activity in the UK to register with the Home Office. Failure to do so will be a criminal offence.

In concert with partners, the UK Government will continue to use all appropriate tools at our disposal to protect the UK and its people against any threats from the Iranian state, including malign influence.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_7
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_7

Lord Blunkett:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Timpson on 9 April (HL6405), whether they have taken steps to assess the potential for reducing costs and increasing productivity from retaining Gov Facilities Services Limited in-house. \p Lord Timpson: Government Facility Services Limited was created in 2018 as a government company to ensure continuity of facilities management services to prisons in the South and East of England following the collapse of the previous contracted supplier, Carillion. This was always planned to be a transient organisation whilst the Department decided on how the Prison and Probation estate would be maintained in the future.

A 2023 assessment conducted in partnership with the Cabinet Office determined that an insourced solution was not the preferred option for future prison maintenance services. The assessment was conducted in line with Cabinet Office guidance and was consistent with the options appraisal approach prescribed by HM Treasury Green Book. Financial analysis determined that an outsourced option would be more cost effective and deliver the best value for money. The value and performance of the Department’s service providers are subject to ongoing contract management and are reviewed and changed, where appropriate, to align with the business requirements.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_8
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_8

Lord Jackson of Peterborough:To ask His Majesty's Government how many times Jonathan Ashworth has visited the London office of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport since July 2024. \p Baroness Twycross: Jonathan Ashworth has visited our London office in a personal capacity on two occasions since July 2024.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_9
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-22 conversation_9

Lord Pickles:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they recognise the concept of regions only in England; or whether they recognise them also within Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The Prime Minister has been clear that rebuilding the country requires UK wide delivery, working effectively with all levels of government, in every nation and indeed in every region.

The UK Government is directly responsible for working with Mayors and regional partners such as local government to drive delivery across England’s regions. We also work closely with regional local partners and in collaboration with the Devolved Governments to deliver the UK Government's responsibilities across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_1

Lord Kempsell:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the readiness of the UK Armed Forces for action in the Indo-Pacific region. \p Lord Coaker: The Carrier Strike Group deployment is a key focus for the UK as it travels to the Indo-Pacific region later this year. The UK also operates two persistently deployed Royal Navy Offshore Patrol Vessels in the region, and holds a permanent British Army garrison in Brunei.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_2
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_2

Baroness D'Souza:To ask His Majesty's Government, following the reported recent visit of the Chief of Defence Staff to China, whether they will place minutes of meetings held with his Chinese counterparts in the Library of the House; and what assessment they have made of the impact of prospective Sino-British military cooperation on cross-Taiwan Strait stability. \p Lord Coaker: The Ministry of Defence does not routinely publish readouts after individual bilateral meetings. The Chief of the Defence Staff met with General Liu Zhenli, Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, and they discussed a range of security issues reflecting the importance of military-to-military communications.

We have a clear interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. We consider the Taiwan issues one to be settled peacefully by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through constructive dialogue, without the threat or use of force or coercion. We do not support any unilateral attempts to change the status quo.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_3
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_3

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to honour their existing commitments to multilateral aid for the years of 2025, 2026 and 2027, and how much they anticipate this will be. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: Reducing the overall size of our Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget will necessarily have an impact on the scale and shape of the work we do. Decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, based on various factors including impact assessments.

Multilateral cooperation is an important part of working through partnerships and allows a global scale of investment and delivery that outstrips what countries can achieve alone. However, with less money in the system, we must have a laser focus on delivering more effectively and efficiently.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_4
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_4

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger:To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the announcement that overseas aid spending will be reduced to 0.3 per cent of gross national income (GNI) from 2027, what percentage of GNI will be spent on (1) overseas projects and (2) projects on gender, once the costs of housing refugees have been taken into account. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The Government is committed to ensuring that asylum costs fall and has already acted. The Government has taken measures to reduce the asylum backlog, reform the asylum accommodation system to end the use of expensive accommodation in the next Spending Review (SR) period and increase detention capacity to facilitate more asylum removals. Whilst there will always be volatility in asylum forecasts, we expect these decisions to drive down overall in-donor refugee costs over the next SR.

All UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending is consistent with the international rules agreed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Development Assistance Committee. This includes ODA spent on in-donor refugee costs.

Decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, based on various factors including impact assessments. The UK is committed to empowering women and girls around the world through our international work.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_5
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_5

Lord Bailey of Paddington:To ask His Majesty's Government what housing targets they have set for each London borough under the National Policy Planning Framework; whether these targets are mandatory; and whether they plan for them to remain in place for each borough if the overall target for London is met. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The responsibility for the overall distribution of housing need in London lies with the Mayor, who considers an overall strategy for London's growth and development capacity through the statutory London Plan. Local authorities must assess and plan how to meet their local housing targets over the plan period, justified by evidence on land availability and constraints on development.

The National Planning Policy Framework expects strategic policy-making authorities, like the Greater London Authority, to take account of the national standard method when assessing local housing need, which incorporates a baseline of local housing stock adjusted upwards to reflect local affordability pressures. The local housing need for each London borough as calculated through the national standard method can be found here on GOV.UK.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_6
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_6

Lord Bailey of Paddington:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the merits of giving local authorities the power to act against short-term lets in London which cause problems, and of requiring short-term lets to obtain planning permission before going on the market. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: Primary legislation provides that homes in London that are liable for council tax may be let for temporary sleeping accommodation for up to 90-nights in a calendar year. Planning permission is required to let for more than this number of nights. We have committed to introduce a register of short term lets which will help local authorities to apply and enforce these rules. We understand the challenges presented by short term lets and continue to consider further action.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_7
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_7

Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are reviewing the National Referral Mechanism for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery; and, if so, what they expect the review to cover. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery, prosecuting those responsible and supporting victims in their recovery.

To ensure the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) system operates as effectively as possible, we will launch a public consultation on how the Government can improve the process of identifying victims of modern slavery. This was something that the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls committed to on 27 March in a House of Commons debate marking the tenth anniversary of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Lord Moreas made similar remarks on 28 March in a House of Lords debate on the Modern Slavery Act 2015 Committee Report.

This consultation will be developed in the coming months and will focus on definitions of a victim of modern slavery, improving identification and decision-making processes, and futureproofing the modern slavery system. A key aim will be to strengthen the system’s credibility, ensuring it effectively serves victims of modern slavery while also being resilient to any challenges that could affect its integrity.

The Government will set out further details in due course.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_8
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_8

Lord Spellar:To ask His Majesty's Government how many welding apprentices there are currently in the United Kingdom. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The number of starts and enrolments on welding apprenticeship courses in England are shown in the table below.

Standard name

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

2024/25 reported to date

Starts

Multi-Positional Welder (Arc Processes) (ST0350)

low

low

low

low

Nuclear Welding Inspection Technician (ST0292)

10

10

10

low

Pipe Welder (ST0851)

60

100

110

130

Plate Welder (ST0852)

210

250

340

290

Welder (ST0349)

340

310

340

250

Enrolments

Multi-Positional Welder (Arc Processes) (ST0350)

90

30

10

low

Nuclear Welding Inspection Technician (ST0292)

20

20

30

20

Pipe Welder (ST0851)

120

200

260

340

Plate Welder (ST0852)

400

600

810

860

Welder (ST0349)

510

640

650

570

Note:

(1) Published in March 2025, the data set includes full-year figures from 2021/22 to 2023/24 and figures from August 2024 to January 2025 for 2024/25.

(2) Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10.

(3) Total starts are the count of apprenticeships started at any point during the stated academic period. Learners starting more than one apprenticeship will appear more than once.

These figures are published in the ‘Apprenticeships’ accredited official statistics publication, which can accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships/2024-25.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_9
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_9

Lord Patten:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, they have made of the use of artificial intelligence to cheat during university examinations in England. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The government has not made an assessment of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to cheat during university examinations in England. The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator for universities.

Universities are independent and autonomous bodies responsible for designing their own policies regarding the use of AI and for taking steps to prevent academic misconduct.

As the independent regulator for higher education (HE) in England, the OfS places conditions of registration on HE providers that are designed to protect students. Condition B4 covers fair and effective assessments, as well as tackling academic misconduct.

Where it detects that a provider is at risk of breaching its conditions of registration, the OfS has the power to investigate and impose sanctions where appropriate.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_10
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_10

Baroness Thornton:To ask His Majesty's Government whether funding for the Early Years Development Programme has ceased and, if so, what further training will be available to early years practitioners to ensure they have the skills needed to support children with speech and language development; and when any new programme will commence. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: This government has a clear plan to break down barriers to opportunity, which starts with investing in high-quality early years education, so tens of thousands more children are school-ready at age five.

The Early Years Professional Development Programme (PDP3) was a key element in the Early Years Education Recovery Programme, which supported the early years sector to address the impact of the pandemic on the youngest and most disadvantaged children.

Now that the Early Years Education Recovery Programme has concluded as scheduled, the department is considering all options for how best to support the sector to help children achieve the best start in life, including support for speech and language development.

As announced in the Plan for Change, the department has set a milestone of a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn in the classroom. We will measure our progress through 75% of children at the end of reception reaching a good level of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile assessment by 2028.

​​The department is continuing to improve access to speech and language therapy by funding the Early Language and Support for Every Child pathfinder project, in partnership with NHS England. This programme aims to improve capacity and knowledge in the workforce, supporting children in early years and school settings with mild to moderate speech, language and communication needs by utilising therapy support assistants.

The department is also providing a range of support and training for early years educators, building a stronger, more expert workforce, to enable settings and childminders to deliver high-quality early education. We have already announced the continuation of support, such as the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), which provides children with extra support for their speech and language development. The NELI training, which 74,500 staff have completed, includes training for staff more broadly on early language. This is alongside up to £6.1 million in additional funding for the Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs.

We continue to learn from all government programmes, including PDP3, and will provide further updates in the coming months.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_11
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_11

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon:To ask His Majesty's Government what advice they are giving to universities regarding their duties under the Equality Act 2010 alongside their duties in relation to freedom of speech and academic freedom. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The Office for Students will be publishing updated guidance for the higher education sector to support it to understand how to comply with its duties in relation to freedom of speech and academic freedom.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_12
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_12

Baroness Eaton:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they hold data on the number of demotion orders under section 82A of the Housing Act 1985 that social housing providers applied for in 2024. \p Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: The information requested is not held.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data about possession proceedings at Mortgage and landlord possession statistics: October to December 2024 - GOV.UK.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_13
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_13

Lord Bethell:To ask His Majesty's Government what are the process and criteria for triggering an economic impact assessment of a new disease in the Treasury; and whether they are undertaking an assessment of the suitability of that process and criteria against long Covid, as a condition that did not exist five years ago. \p Lord Livermore: HM Treasury has a comprehensive framework for assessing and managing potential risks to the economic and fiscal outlook, including those posed by new diseases. This framework involves systematic monitoring through internal risk monitors, risk governance forums, and collaboration with other government departments such as the Cabinet Office and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). In escalatory scenarios, such as where a new disease with high transmission rates emerges, HM Treasury is prepared to conduct economic impact assessments to inform policy and response plans.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, HM Treasury officials engaged with other Government departments to consider the implications of long COVID, including assisting with preparations for the DHSC long COVID Oversight Board. HM Treasury will provide more information on its efforts to understand the economic implications of long COVID-19 to the ongoing COVID-19 inquiry.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_14
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the rise in borrowing in March; and what steps they are taking to ensure that borrowing levels remain sustainable, particularly in relation to tax rises. \p Lord Livermore: The fiscal rules confirmed at the Budget last October put the public finances on a sustainable path and prioritise investment to support long-term growth. These rules are to ensure the current budget is in balance and net financial debt falls by 2029-30.

At the Spring Statement in March, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) showed that the government is on track to meet its fiscal rules, thanks to decisive action taken to reduce spending and grow the economy.

The OBR will produce a new forecast in the Autumn for the annual Budget, and the Chancellor will take decisions in the round based on that forecast.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_15
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_15

Lord Lucas:To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to adding (1) a company number field to the Gov.uk VAT checker service, and (2) a VAT number field to the Companies House online register, with the aim of reducing corporate fraud and VAT evasion. \p Lord Livermore: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Companies House (CH) are committed to preventing fraud and tax evasion by identifying and holding accountable corporate entities that attempt to evade their responsibilities and tax liabilities. The departments have strong relations, further strengthened by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (2023) and have developed a collective programme of activities to facilitate closer cooperation on company registrations and de-registrations, accounting and filing, and sharing risk intelligence and data.

There are no plans to add a Company Number field to the UK VAT Registration checker service, or a VAT Registration Number field to the Companies House online register. However, HMRC and CH will continue to work together to develop and implement further improvements to the way that businesses register as a company and register for corporation tax and VAT to reduce tax evasion and corporate fraud.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_16
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_16

Lord Bailey of Paddington:To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 11 December 2024 (HL3030), what discussions they have had with Transport for London regarding the implementation, including timescale, of a licensing requirement for pedicabs since 11 December; and what assessment, if any, they have made of the impact of pedicabs on London. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The Department for Transport passed the Pedicabs (London) Act 2024 to regulate the Pedicabs industry in London. Following Royal Assent of the Act, Transport for London (TfL) undertook a public consultation earlier this year seeking views on high level policy proposals to regulate pedicabs in London. The consultation closed on 7 March 2025 and TfL is currently analysing the responses with a view to publishing the consultation report and next steps in due course. An impact assessment was published on 7 February 2024 when the Bill was introduced into the House of Commons which assessed the impact of pedicabs on London alongside likely effects of the legislation.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_17
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_17

Lord Berkeley:To ask His Majesty's Government whether the most recent cost estimates for High Speed 2 include finance costs, or charges on the public money that will be spent on the project, in accordance with Treasury requirements and the government financial reporting manual; and what debt ratio, discount rates and assumptions were used. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The HS2 project is funded via capital contribution by the Department for Transport (DfT). Financing costs or charges on public money are not incurred by HS2 Ltd. As a Non-Departmental Public Body, HS2 Ltd also adopts the interpretations of Internation Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and additional disclosure requirements contained in the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) for the relevant financial year, where these are compatible with the requirements of the Companies Act. HS2 Ltd does not have debt as the Company is fully funded by HM Treasury/DfT. The key assumption for cost estimates is that they are currently presented in Q3 2019 prices. Regarding discount rates, the DfT’s Economic Appraisal of HS2 as presented in the “Phase One Full Business Case” (April 2020), which included the expected benefits, Ticket Revenues, construction costs and Operating Costs, were all discounted and presented in Net Present Value (NPV) terms in line with the DfT Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG) and HM Treasury Green Book guidance.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_18
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_18

Lord Birt:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 24 March (HL6028), whether they will now answer the question put, namely whether they will conduct a strategic review of road construction, renewal and repair. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The Government has no plans to conduct a strategic review of this sort, but various initiatives are underway to update the guidance on the design, operation and maintenance of both the Strategic Road Network and local highways.

National Highways, for example, which is responsible for the Strategic Road Network (trunk motorways and major A roads) in England, is currently updating its Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB). The DMRB contains information about current design standards relating to the design, assessment, and operation of motorway and all-purpose trunk roads in the United Kingdom.

The Department for Transport is also starting the process of updating the UK Roads Leadership Group’s guidance document Well-Managed Highway Infrastructure: A Code of Practice. This will provide new guidance to local highway authorities on how best to look after their local highway networks, and the Department will engage with the local highway sector as appropriate as the review progresses.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_19
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-29 conversation_19

Baroness Coffey:To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the River Deben Action Plan. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Publicly launched in May 2024 the "Recovering the Deben - From Source to Sea" action plan developed by The East Suffolk Catchment Partnership (ESCP) continues to secure action in the catchment. Since the plan’s launch, the East Suffolk Catchment Partnership has been working with landowners to develop natural flood management schemes in the upper catchment, with the Forestry Commission to improve woodland connectivity, and with a wide range of stakeholders to improve riparian habitats. In addition, the partners have come together to share monitoring and evidence and are developing a State of the Deben Report. A successful bid on behalf of the partnership by the Rivers Trust into the Water Restoration Fund marks a major milestone in supporting the action plan ambitions. With funding in place, the Rivers Trust is recruiting a Programme Manager to work with partners, stakeholders, and local communities to secure further improvements such as addressing fish passage, installing buffer strips alongside the watercourse throughout the catchment, the use of nutrient attenuation ponds, and increasing the understanding of catchment water quality impacts on the Deben Estuary, a Site of Special Scientific Interest in need of recovery.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_1

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have the sufficient powers to take down websites that promote or advertise activity offline which would be illegal if it were online. \p Baroness Lloyd of Effra: Yes, the government considers that Ofcom has sufficient enforcement powers under the Online Safety Act.

The Online Safety Act provides that Ofcom can apply to the courts for business disruption measures (BDMs) in the most egregious cases of non-compliance with duties under the Act. BDMs include access restriction orders requiring third parties to withdraw ‘access facilities’ from regulated services, including websites, in breach of duties’

Services regulated under the Online Safety Act have duties to remove illegal content.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_2
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_2

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to monitor the accuracy and effectiveness of AI systems used by the Civil Service. \p Baroness Lloyd of Effra: Responsibility for monitoring the AI systems built or procured for use by the civil service lies with the Department that procures the system.

DSIT supports departments in their adoption of AI systems through guidance like the AI Playbook for Government which provided advice on how to govern AI systems, including risk mitigation, AI quality assurance and operational monitoring. Within DSIT, teams like the Incubator for AI regularly publish evaluations of their tools on ai.gov.uk.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_3
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_3

Lord Clement-Jones:To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2024, published on 23 October, what steps they are taking to meet their manifesto commitment to phase out animal experimentation. \p Lord Vallance of Balham: The Labour Manifesto commits to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal.

The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year which will outline the steps we will take to meet this manifesto commitment.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_4
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_4

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what cybersecurity safeguards and oversight mechanisms are in place to protect online data and systems during regulatory relaxation periods under the UK’s 'AI sandbox' testing framework. \p Baroness Lloyd of Effra: The AI Growth Lab will pilot responsible AI innovations in supervised settings and allow for targeted regulatory modifications. This could accelerate adoption in key sectors across the economy such as healthcare, transport and professional services.

The call for evidence invites views on which sectors could benefit most from access to the Lab as well as the safeguards required to ensure safety and public trust.

Precise controls would be tailored to the AI product or service being sandboxed. The Lab would work in partnership with existing regulators. Statutory “red lines” (e.g., fundamental rights, workers’ rights, consumer safety) could not be modified.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_5
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_5

Lord Clement-Jones:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they were aware that Anthropic downloaded over 7 million pirated books between 2021 and 2023 to train its Claude AI model when selecting Anthropic as the supplier for the GOV.UK chat service; and whether they conducted a risk assessment for the use of a model developed using unlawfully accessed copyright-protected works. \p Baroness Lloyd of Effra: The Government Digital Service recognises the importance of ethical, legal, and data protection considerations in the use of large language models.

A range of large language models from multiple suppliers have been considered in developing GOV.UK Chat. GOV.UK Chat is a product in active development that currently accesses Anthropic models through an existing agreement with Amazon Web Services, enabling the Government Digital Service to test a range of models from different suppliers. Risk assessments have been undertaken in accordance with government standards, including consideration of ethical, legal, and data protection risks relevant to the models tested.

GOV.UK Chat is being developed entirely within the Government Digital Service by a multidisciplinary team of civil servants. The Government continues to engage with UK-based AI developers and remains open to collaboration where this supports innovation and the delivery of public services.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_6
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_6

Lord Allen of Kensington:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase skills and employment support for people receiving sickness benefits. \p Baroness Sherlock: We are taking steps to support people into work including for disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits. In our Pathways to Work Green Paper we set out our plan for the “Pathways to Work Guarantee” and we are building towards our guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions on out of work benefits. The guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by the end of the decade.

We anticipate the guarantee, once fully rolled out, will include: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement - and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support.

We are already making progress and have deployed over 1000 Pathways to Work Advisors in Jobcentres across England, Scotland and Wales who are helping disabled people and people with health conditions towards and into work. A key focus of the Pathways to Work advisers is offering voluntary support to Universal Credit claimants with a Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) element. The support aims to help customers identify and overcome obstacles which may stop them from moving towards or into work and for those who are ready to access employment and wider skills support, and our employment programmes earlier.

Alongside this, our Supported Employment programme Connect to Work is rolling out across all of England and Wales throughout 2025 and early 2026 to help disabled people, people with health conditions and individuals with complex barriers to employment to find work and sustain work. This complements support delivered through the health and care system, including Employment Advice in Talking Therapies, which gives employment support for people being treated for mental health conditions, and WorkWell which is being trialled in 15 areas across England to deliver integrated work and health support.

More generally, DWP helps people build the skills they need to get a job and move forward in their careers. Work Coaches offer a wide range of support, including help with job searching and referrals to training opportunities. These can include apprenticeships, short skills courses, training in English, maths, and digital skills, support for learning English as a second language (ESOL), careers advice, and Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs).
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_7
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_7

Lord Storey:To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total amount of unspent funds from the Apprenticeship Levy returned to the Treasury for each of the past five years. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The Department for Work and Pensions, and prior to that the Department for Education, has responsibility for apprenticeships in England only. The annual English apprenticeships budget is agreed at key fiscal events and ring-fenced. This budget is distinct from the total levy receipts collected by HM Treasury and the funds in employers’ apprenticeship service accounts.

The English apprenticeship budget covers the spend drawn down by all levy-paying employers, as well as apprenticeships for those who do not pay the levy, the costs of English and maths tuition for apprentices, and additional payments to employers, training providers and apprentices. It also covers the administrative costs of running the apprenticeships programme.

Over the past two financial years the English apprenticeships budget has been almost fully spent. The table below provides details of the English apprenticeships budget. As is usual practice, any underspends in overall departmental budgets by the end of the financial year are returned to HMT as per the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance.

£ (million)

Financial year

2020-21

2021-22

2022-23

2023-24

2024-25

Ring-fenced apprenticeships budget

2,467

2,466

2,554

2,525*

2,769

Underspend against the ring-fenced apprenticeships budget

604

11

96

16*

0

*The 2023-24 annual apprenticeship budget was revised in-year from £2,585 million to £2,525 million, as £60 million was surrendered in-year.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_8
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-10 conversation_8

Baroness Wolf of Dulwich:To ask His Majesty's Government whether the procedures required for recognition as a Higher Technical Qualification have been changed, or are in line to be changed, as a result of (1) the creation of Skills England and the abolition of the Institute for Apprenticeship and Technical Education, and (2) the transfer of Skills England to the Department for Work and Pensions. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Following its creation, Skills England continues to accept Higher Technical Qualification (HTQ) applications on a rolling basis. This function moved with Skills England when it transferred to be an executive agency of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).