theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_8

Lord Oates:To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to Hamas and the government of Israel to encourage them to return to the previously agreed ceasefire, complete the release of all hostages, and negotiate a path out of conflict. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The Government does not engage with Hamas, and we are clear there can be no role for Hamas in Gaza's future. However, the Government regularly engages on these issues with the Israeli Government and Palestinian counterparts in the Palestinian Authority, the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Fatah. Since day one, this Government has been clear that we need to see an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages cruelly detained by Hamas, better protection of civilians, significantly more aid consistently entering Gaza, and a path to long-term peace and stability. All parties must engage with negotiations to get hostages out, surge aid, and secure a permanent end to this conflict. Diplomacy, not more bloodshed, is how we get security for Israelis and Palestinians.

The Foreign Secretary has most recently engaged on this with President Abbas and Prime Minister Mustafa, including during Prime Minister Mustafa's visit to the UK on 28 April 2025. The Foreign Secretary also raised his concerns in discussions with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar on 21 May. On 19 May the UK, alongside France and Canada, issued a joint statement expressing concern over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza and the expansion of settlements in the West Bank. The statement called for the release of hostages, reaffirmed Israel's right to self-defence with an emphasis on proportionality, and voiced support for both a ceasefire and a two-state solution.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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The Lord Bishop of Southwark:To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning its responsibilities under international humanitarian law for access to food, water and medical supplies by the population of Gaza. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: Israel must immediately restore the flow of aid into Gaza in line with its obligations under International Humanitarian Law. On 23 April, we issued a statement, together with France and Germany, calling for Israel to immediately restart a rapid and unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza and expressed our outrage at recent strikes on humanitarian personnel, infrastructure, premises and healthcare facilities. The Minister for the Middle East summoned the Israeli Ambassador on 20 May to make clear that the UK stands firmly against Israel's resumption of military action in Gaza, its wholly inadequate plan for aid delivery and to demand that a full and unhindered resumption in the flow of aid into Gaza takes place immediately. UK support has meant over 430,000 people have received essential healthcare, more than 640,000 have received food, and 275,000 people have improved access to water, sanitation, and hygiene services. On 28 April the UK announced a package of support for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including £101 million for humanitarian aid, support for Palestinian economic development, and strengthening Palestinian Authority governance and reform. The Minister for the Middle East spoke with the Israeli Ambassador on 20 May to make clear that the UK stands firmly against Israel's resumption of military action in Gaza, its wholly inadequate plan for aid delivery and to demand that a full and unhindered resumption in the flow of aid into Gaza takes place immediately.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Scriven:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the operational independence and security of UK sovereign interests of accepting gifts from host governments in Gulf states, including the recent sports complex gifted to the Royal Navy by the King of Bahrain. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: His Majesty's Government recognises the importance of ensuring the operational independence and security of sovereign interests, including when operating in partnership with allied nations.

The sports complex is the generous gift of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and the Bahrain Royal Family to the UK for its ongoing commitment to the security of the region. And it is intended to support the welfare and morale of UK personnel stationed at the UK Naval Support Facility in Bahrain, enabling year round access for service personnel.

The UK and Bahrain maintain a longstanding defence relationship, due to our shared interests in regional security and stability.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment has been made of civilian casualties from US and UK military action in Yemen (1) since March and (2) between January 2024 and January 2025. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: In planning its operations, the Ministry of Defence takes the greatest possible care to minimise the risk of civilian casualties. Every mission carried out by Royal Air Force aircraft is assessed carefully, including for any evidence that civilian casualties resulting from British military action have been caused. All instances must be confirmed to Parliament.

On 29 April, UK forces participated in a joint operation with US forces against a Houthi military target in Yemen which careful intelligence analysis had identified was being used to manufacture long-range attack drones. This was the first UK strike on the Houthis since 30 May 2024, and was again conducted in self-defence and in line with the UK's longstanding policy.

We do not comment on other nations' military operations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Baroness Hodgson of Abinger:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help find the missing Yazidi women and girls taken by Daesh in 2014. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: Although the UK has not provided direct funding to help locate the missing Yazidi people, we have supported Iraq to develop capacity for Daesh accountability.

The UK strongly condemns atrocities committed against the Yazidis in Iraq by Daesh. We remain committed to the safety and security of the Yazidi community in north-east Syria and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, including those who have been displaced, are currently located in internally displaced peoples camps like al-Hol, and who face challenges returning to Yazidi communities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government, following the 30th anniversary of the disappearance of the Panchen Lama, what representations they have recently made to the government of China to encourage it to disclose his whereabouts and to respect religious freedom in Tibet. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The UK Government stands firm on human rights, including China's repression of the people of Tibet. We have serious concerns regarding the welfare and whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and we call for his release.

We will champion freedom of religion or belief for all abroad, and work to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief through the UN and bilateral engagement.  For example, the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor and Energy Secretary all raised human rights recently with their counterparts (President Xi, Foreign Minister Wang, Vice Premier He and Vice Premier Ding respectively). The UK also joined a statement led by Australia on Xinjiang and Tibet at the UN General Assembly in October 2024.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Empey:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of the UK–EU reset agreement for Gibraltar. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The strengthening of the UK-EU relationship is an important development, as we work with the Government of Gibraltar to conclude a UK-EU treaty in respect of Gibraltar which protects sovereignty and UK military autonomy, and which secures future prosperity for Gibraltar. All parties involved agree on the importance of finalising an agreement as soon as possible. The UK Government is steadfast in its support for Gibraltar and will only agree to terms with which the Government of Gibraltar is content.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Baroness Smith of Llanfaes:To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they had with the government of Wales ahead of the UK–EU summit and what topics were on the agenda in those meetings. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The Welsh Government was engaged at both official and Ministerial level in the pre-Summit period. This included regular official-led meetings and bilateral meetings between the Minister for the Cabinet Office with the Welsh First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for the Economy. There was also an Inter-Ministerial Group on UK-EU relations in Edinburgh, chaired by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, the week before the Summit on 12 May.

Pre-Summit engagement included a range of topics, including potential summit outcomes that would be a devolved responsibility.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown:To ask His Majesty's Government whether customs declarations will be required for goods covered by the EU-UK 'reset' agreement; and whether Northern Ireland will be subject to continuing ‘dynamic’ alignment with EU rules for such goods. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The new Windsor Framework customs arrangements introduced on 1 May will remain in place, in addition to the arrangements put forward for sanitary and phytosanitary goods (SPS) at the UK-EU Summit. The arrangements introduced on May 1 ensure that goods sent to or from consumers will not be subject to customs declarations or duty. We have also introduced a range of schemes to support businesses by removing unnecessary checks and paperwork; over 10,000 businesses are already signed up to the UK Internal Market Scheme.

The new UK-EU Common Understanding agrees to remove a broad and wide-ranging set of requirements for sanitary and phytosanitary goods and plants moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

When implemented, there will be no need for SPS paperwork such as health certificates to move agrifood or plant products to Northern Ireland, no mandatory identity or physical checks on those goods, no need for Plant Health Labels when moving plants for planting, seed potatoes, and used agricultural machinery, and no bans on ‘high risk’ plants.

The continued application of the Windsor Framework would provide for Northern Ireland maintaining its privileged unique dual access to both the European Union Single Market and the United Kingdom internal market.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Agnew of Oulton:To ask His Majesty's Government whether any permanent secretaries have break clauses in their contracts; and whether the inclusion of a break clause within a civil service contract is compatible with the civil service management code. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: As with standard Senior Civil Service contracts, the employer and/or the employee can terminate employment by giving notice. This is compatible with the civil service management code.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Mawson:To ask His Majesty's Government how many small and medium-sized building companies have ceased trading in the financial years (1) 2024–25, (2) 2023–24, and (3) 2022–23; and what assessment have they made of the trend of these figures. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the Acting National Statistician of the UK Statistics Authority.

Emma Rourke | Acting National Statistician

The Lord Mawson OBE

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

2 June 2025

Dear Lord Mawson,

As Acting National Statistician, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many small and medium-sized building companies have ceased trading in the financial years (1) 2024–25, (2) 2023–24, and (3) 2022–23; and what assessment has been made of the trend of these figures (HL7770).

Using the quarterly business demography release[1], we can show, in Table 1, the number of businesses which were classified to the construction industry which have ceased trading in the financial years listed. Figures for building companies are not separately available so the wider aggregation of the construction industry has been used. This consists of construction of buildings, civil engineering, and specialised construction activities. These figures are classified as ‘official statistics in development’.

Table 1: Number of businesses classified to the construction industry which have ceased trading in the financial years 2022/23 – 2024/25.

Financial year

Number of business closures within the Construction industry

2022/23

46,505

2023/24

40,700

2024/25

39,235

Source: Office for National Statistics

It is not possible to show these figures for small and medium sized enterprises only since this breakdown is not available from the quarterly release. However, figures from our 2024 UK Business: activity, size and location dataset[2] show that small and medium sized enterprises, taken to be businesses with employment less than 250, make up 99.9 per cent of businesses in the construction industry.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) makes no estimate of the trend of these figures.

Yours sincerely,

Emma Rourke

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/businessdemographyquarterlyexperimentalstatisticsuk/latest

[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/ukbusinessactivitysizeandlocation/2024
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Baroness Finn:To ask His Majesty's Government how many COVID-19 support schemes with total disbursements exceeding £100 million have been subject to a fraud and error measurement exercise by the Public Sector Fraud Authority; how many of those schemes have not undergone that exercise; and whether they will publish a list of all schemes assessed, including the methodology, timing and results of each exercise. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: As set out in the 2021-22 Fraud Landscape Report, relevant departments reported conducting fraud and error measurement exercises covering higher risk spending both during and after the pandemic. These were undertaken in financial year 2021-22.

These fraud and error measurement exercises in six COVID-19 support schemes (those with the highest spend and assessed level of fraud risk) were reviewed by the Government Counter Fraud Centre of Expertise (now the Public Sector Fraud Authority, PSFA) against the Government Counter Fraud Function’s Fraud Loss Measurement Standard. Each of these six COVID-19 support schemes had expenditure totalling more than £100m each.

The PSFA concluded in 2022 that the fraud and error measurement exercises undertaken by these departments in respect of these six schemes did not meet the Government Counter Fraud Profession Fraud Loss Measurement Standard. The failure of the six measurements assessed by the PSFA does not mean the measurement exercises, and results, were without value.

The PSFA does not intend to publish a list of all schemes assessed, although a majority have already been published in the Annual Reports & Accounts of the respective departments.

The Covid Counter-Fraud Commissioner, who was appointed in December 2024, is also working closely with government departments and local authorities to tackle fraud linked to pandemic support schemes and recover public money. As set out in the Spring Statement, the government has accepted the Commissioner's early recommendation to improve incentives for departments to recover funds.
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Baroness Finn:To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the report by the National Audit Office, Tackling fraud and protecting propriety in government spending during an emergency, published on 8 February 2024 (HC444), how the Public Sector Fraud Authority defines fraud resource levels of (1) no counter-fraud, (2) clearly mismatched, and (3) potential mismatched; how many government bodies they assessed for fraud resource levels; what methodology they used; and whether they will publish a list of the bodies falling into each of those categories. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: As set out in the Public Sector Fraud Authority’s Treasury Minutes Progress Report to the Public Accounts Committee on the Sixty-ninth Report of Session 2022-23 (Tackling fraud and corruption against government), available here, we no longer define fraud resources levels in this way.

This is because it is not feasible to identify a ‘correct’ level of counter fraud and corruption investment. This level is dependent on multiple factors which are considered by individual departments and organisations. The optimum level varies, depending on each organisation's fraud risk appetite and the balance of the other risks they face.

Departments agree targets for their impact on fraud, and an overview is published in Cross Government Fraud Landscape report. We will publish an update on performance in tackling fraud in the next report which is due for publication in November 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Porter of Spalding:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the one-time analysis published on 23 November 2023, Complications from abortions in England: comparison of Abortion Notification System data and Hospital Episode Statistics 2017 to 2021, which discussed the limitations of the HSA4 form, what steps they are taking to improve data collection on complications from at-home tablet-induced abortions. \p Baroness Merron: In accordance with the Abortion Act 1967, registered medical practitioners must notify the Chief Medical Officer of abortions within 14 days. The HSA4 abortion notification form is provided to collect the required information, including details of any known complications, up until the time of the patient’s discharge from the abortion service. The HSA4 form is a statutory instrument, the content of which cannot be changed without legislation.

The Department continues to work with abortion providers to ensure that abortion complications known up until the time of discharge from the abortion service are recorded on the HSA4 form. There are no plans to require the notification of complications that occur after discharge from the abortion service.

Abortion continues to be a very safe procedure, for which major complications are rare at all gestations. Home use of early medical abortion pills is recognised to be a safe procedure by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the World Health Organisation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Porter of Spalding:To ask His Majesty's Government what are the criteria for determining whether an in-person consultation is required following a request for at-home abortion tablets. \p Baroness Merron: In March 2022, Parliament voted to amend the Abortion Act to allow women in England and Wales to take one or both pills for early medical abortion at home at up to 10 weeks’ gestation. The legislation came into force on 30 August 2022.

Women should be given the choice to either have an in-person consultation with a clinician or to have a virtual consultation and, if eligible, will be able to take both pills for early medical abortion at home. If there is any uncertainty about the gestation of the pregnancy, or if the doctor has any concerns, the woman will be asked to attend a clinic. If she does not attend the clinic, the doctor would not be able to form an opinion in good faith that the pregnancy is below ten weeks, and would therefore not be able to proceed with prescribing abortion pills for home use.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Markham:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in the upcoming national cancer plan to identify and address regional disparities in the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer. \p Baroness Merron: It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including ovarian cancer, as quickly as possible, to treat it faster, and to improve outcomes. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a general practitioner or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.

Reducing inequity and variation in cancer care is a priority for the Government, as is increasing early cancer diagnosis, as both are key contributors to reducing cancer health inequalities. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the NHS’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.

In addition, we have committed to delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, during our first year in Government as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment.

The recently announced National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and aftercare. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to improve the experience and outcomes for people with cancer. This will include improving levels of early diagnosis across England. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years, including to ovarian cancer.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Weir of Ballyholme:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of investment required to extend capacity and capability for cerebrospinal fluid and blood-based biomarker testing within this Parliament. \p Baroness Merron: NHS England has established a dedicated programme team to prepare the National Health Service for the potential arrival of new Alzheimer’s treatments that are approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and determined to be clinically and cost-effective by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, including use of biomarker testing.

As part of national preparations for the potential future roll out of Alzheimer’s disease modifying treatments, NHS England has commissioned horizon scanning which has helped the NHS and other national partner agencies to better understand the current pipeline and maturity of digital and biomarker-based innovations in development in the academic and commercial sectors.

NHS England is also working with partner agencies to support and inform further research into other diagnostic modalities, including blood-based biomarker and digital tests.

Public and charitable partner funding has been invested in new research which will help us to understand whether or not blood based biomarker tests improve the speed and accuracy of the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or change treatment decisions in clinical practice, and research findings will influence whether these tests become a future standard of care in the NHS.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Sharkey:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish data regarding the performance of specialised services (1) delegated to integrated care boards, and (2) retained by NHS England. \p Baroness Merron: Data related to the performance of specialised services is factored into other performance processes undertaken by the National Health Service. In 2025/26, this will include monitoring performance using the NHS Performance Assessment Framework. A consultation on the draft NHS Performance Assessment Framework was launched on 12 May 2025. Further information on the framework is available on the NHS.UK website, in an online only format.

The framework will monitor the performance of NHS organisations and will publish an assessment of how well each organisation is considered to be delivering against the framework’s metrics. The proposed metrics include organisational performance in meeting certain NHS Constitution rights, such as the right to start consultant led treatment within 18 weeks, which applies equally to specialised and non-specialised NHS services.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Empey:To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Spain about allowing UK passport holders to use e-gates at Spanish airports. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: We have secured confirmation that there will be no legal barriers to eGates use for UK nationals travelling to and from EU Member States after the introduction of the EU's Entry/Exit System.

But the Prime Minister has been clear that we believe European countries should go further and faster now.

We are therefore working with individual Member States at pace to make that transition happen as soon as possible. This includes discussions with Spain.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Rogan:To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Portugal about allowing UK passport holders to use e-gates at Portuguese airports. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: We have secured confirmation that there will be no legal barriers to eGates use for UK nationals travelling to and from EU Member States after the introduction of the EU's Entry/Exit System.

But the Prime Minister has been clear that we believe European countries should go further and faster now.

We are therefore working with individual Member States at pace to make that transition happen as soon as possible. This includes discussions with Portugal.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Birt:To ask His Majesty's Government whether Natural England plan to resume work on the consideration of the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge for designation as a National Landscape and the boundary extension review of the Chilterns National Landscape. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Defra is aware that Natural England, in light of pressure on its budgets, has taken the hard decision to stop work on the Chilterns boundary review and consideration of the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge for designation as a National Landscape. It had yet to reach the stage of sharing proposed ‘candidate areas’ publicly and as a result of having to stop the project there is no longer a planned timeline for the public consultation. Natural England is in contact with the affected partners to work through the implications of this decision over the coming weeks. We continue to recognise the value landscape designations bring to people and nature and remain committed to maximising that value over the long term.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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The Lord Bishop of Norwich:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce mandatory extended producer responsibility for the tobacco industry or a ban on single-use cigarette filters to reduce environmental impact. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: This Government has no current plans to introduce mandatory extended producer responsibility to the tobacco industry or ban single-use cigarette filters.

Tobacco litter remains a concern for Defra, with cigarette filters consistently scoring as the most littered item in surveys. Local authorities already have powers to punish those who litter them including through prosecution.

Defra believes the best way to tackle littering of filters is through reductions in smoking rates. We therefore continue to support all initiatives to encourage people to quit smoking or prevent them from starting smoking. Through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, the Government is committed to creating a smoke-free generation, gradually ending the sale of tobacco products across the country and breaking the cycle of addiction and disadvantage.

We will continue to monitor the available evidence on the prevalence of littered cigarette filters before considering further action.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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The Lord Bishop of St Albans:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Water Quality Monitoring Network Annual Report 2023/24 published by the Angling Trust on 20 May. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Government has seen the Angling Trust report and will consider its findings alongside the recommendations from the Independent Water Commission. We recognise that citizen science is a valuable tool for enhancing monitoring and engaging the public in scientific and environmental issues and we thank everyone for their involvement in this.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide compensation to veterans, and where appropriate their descendants, for injuries or illnesses caused by radiation exposure from nuclear tests (1) in the UK, or (2) authorised by the UK. \p Lord Coaker: This Government is deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK nuclear testing programme. We recognise their Service and the huge contribution they have made to the UK’s security.

Around 22,000 Nuclear Test Veterans were considered in an analysis of the data in the Nuclear Weapons Test Participants Study – a long-term epidemiological study of the health of veterans who were present at UK nuclear testing between 1952 and 1967. Four analyses of this data to date, concluded that Nuclear Test Veterans have a similar incidence of cancer and, in general, a longer healthy life expectancy than the control group. The possibility that test participation caused an increase in risk of leukaemia cannot be ruled out. Our policy is therefore to award a war pension for claims for leukaemia having clinical onset within 25 years of presence at test sites.

Nuclear Test Veterans and their entitled family members are already eligible to apply for compensation under the War Pension Scheme. There is no time limit for claiming, however if a claim is made more than seven years after termination of service, as would be the case for Nuclear Test Veterans, the claimant is granted the benefit of doubt when there is uncertainty about whether the disablement is linked to or worsened by their service. Factors such as being on operations or in a hazardous environment can support a service-related claim. Claims handlers will review historical records, including medical records, to establish a causal link to service for Nuclear Test Veterans seeking compensation.

This Government has no current plans to develop a specific compensation scheme for either Nuclear Test Veterans or their families.

Ministers are keen to engage with the issue of records head on and have repeatedly met with MPs and groups in the nuclear test veteran community to discuss a range of topics. The Minister for Veterans and People, Al Carns, has commissioned officials across the Ministry of Defence, as a priority, to look at what information may be held by the Department. An update on the progress to date will be provided before summer recess.

Four analyses of an independent epidemiological study have previously been carried out, the latest report was published in 2022. This report concluded that overall levels of mortality and cancer incidence in nuclear test veterans have continued to be similar to those in a matched Service control group, and lower than in the general population.
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Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of their policy of inheritance taxation for agricultural land on (1) family farms in Northern Ireland, and (2) the United Kingdom's food security. \p Lord Livermore: The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free.

Information from claims is not recorded to enable regional or national breakdowns of the number of estates expected to be affected. However, the Government has set out that the reforms are expected to result in up to around 520 estates across the UK claiming agricultural property relief paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.

The Government’s decisions at Autumn Budget 2024 provided £5 billion over two years for farming and land management in England, which will restore stability and confidence in the sector, strengthening food security alongside nature’s recovery. This is the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Lord Rooker:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of domestic boilers that are ready for using blended gas. \p Baroness Curran: Industry have conducted trials and tests on whether or not domestic boilers can accept gas blended with hydrogen up to 20%. The Department is working with Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to ensure that this evidence is assessed independently and robustly.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_34

Lord Rooker:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan for a core hydrogen pipeline network to operate in the UK. \p Baroness Curran: We are committed to conducting analysis to assess the potential scale, pace and geography of developing a core network. In the early years of the hydrogen economy, it is likely that most industrial demand for hydrogen will be located within industrial clusters where sites can share infrastructure and access available supply. We are therefore prioritising the development of regional network infrastructure while we continue to review the case for a core network to connect regional networks in the future.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_35
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_35

Lord Rooker:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Project HySpeed, in particular the project's impact on assisting faster decarbonisation solutions for UK foundation industries such as steel, cement and glass production. \p Baroness Curran: Low carbon hydrogen is a critical sector for the UK and can play a key role in our mission to make the UK a Clean Energy Superpower. The Government’s existing policy framework has established an investable model to support the UK’s hydrogen economy, with our first Hydrogen Allocation Round delivering projects that will create over 700 new jobs and growth across the UK.

The Government acknowledges the Project HySpeed proposal but does not comment on individual projects. The Government will continue to assess whether current measures are sufficient to incentivise hydrogen production and use in key sectors.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_36

Baroness Hayman:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 14 May (HL Deb cols 2301), what plans they have to introduce property-linked finance for energy efficiency improvements. \p Baroness Curran: The Government recognises the important role that private finance can play in supporting with the upfront costs of energy efficiency improvements and low carbon heating. We are reviewing property-linked finance schemes implemented in countries such as the United States, Australia and Canada. We will continue to explore options for working with the private sector, including banks and building societies, to scale up private finance and support owners and businesses to future-proof their buildings.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_37
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_37

Baroness Hayman:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 14 May (HL Deb cols 2301), what plans they have to introduce low-interest loans for landlords to install energy efficiency measures, similar to schemes in Scotland. \p Baroness Curran: Private finance can play a key role in helping us achieve our decarbonisation ambitions. As part of the Government’s ambitious Warm Homes Plan, officials are exploring the role of incentives and private finance for households to support homeowners, including landlords, with the upfront costs of energy efficiency upgrades and low carbon energy technology. This includes engaging with the finance sector on the potential for low-interest loans.

After the spending review, we will be publishing the Warm Homes Plan which will set out further details.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_38

Baroness Hayman:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 15 May (HL7063–7), what plans they have to monitor the amount and types of land that solar panels are installed on in the future. \p Baroness Curran: The Department currently monitors the geographical location of solar developments through the Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD). We plan to broaden the scope of this database to provide information on the area and types of agricultural land used by existing solar projects and those in the planning pipeline.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_39

Lord Rooker:To ask His Majesty's Government how much of the gas entering the UK via interconnector pipes is blended with hydrogen. \p Baroness Curran: Whilst the EU has established a framework to allow Member States to blend up 2% hydrogen into their gas transmission networks, the Government can confirm that none of the gas entering the UK via interconnector pipes is currently blended with hydrogen. We will continue to monitor this area and engage with officials in relevant countries as and when required.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_40
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_40

Lord Rooker:To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the energy industry about decarbonising the energy system by blending low carbon hydrogen with natural gas since 4 July 2024. \p Baroness Curran: The Government been engaging with industry to gather evidence on the technical feasibility, costs and benefits of hydrogen blending. We intend to publish a consultation on blending hydrogen into the National Transmission System in the near future.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_41

Lord Rooker:To ask His Majesty's Government which department is leading the development of a hydrogen market capable of creating new manufacturing jobs. \p Baroness Curran: Building a thriving hydrogen market is a priority for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, delivered in close coordination with Department for Business and Trade and others across government. We want the UK to be a world leader in clean energy technologies, with a sustainable manufacturing base leading to high value job creation. Our forthcoming Industrial Strategy will drive sustainable economic growth and support key clean energy industries.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_42

Baroness Hayman:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 14 May (HL Deb cols 2301), what assessment they have made of the results of the Green Homes Finance Accelerator programme, and what plans they have to take forward and scale up any of its initiatives. \p Baroness Curran: The Green Home Finance Accelerator programme, supports the development of innovative green finance products and services that help homeowners cover the upfront cost of decarbonising their homes.

Following a competitive process, 26 projects were awarded funding to research and develop their product over a six-month Discovery Phase. 13 projects were successful in securing a share of approximately £16 million to pilot their products with homeowners across the UK until June 2025. The results of the pilot phase for each project will be published later in the year and the Government will use the findings of these to inform future policy development.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_43

Baroness Hayman:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to produce a warm homes plan, as set out in the Labour Party Manifesto 2024; and when they expect to publish it. \p Baroness Curran: The Government will publish a Warm Homes Plan in due course, this will set out how we will help people find ways to save money on energy bills and transform our ageing building stock into comfortable, low-carbon homes that are fit for the future.

As the first step towards the Warm Homes Plan, the Government has committed an initial £3.4 billion over the next 3 years towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency, with £1bn of this allocated to 2025/2026.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_44

Lord Nash:To ask His Majesty's Government how many installations accredited under the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive reported zero metered heat generation in each of the past two scheme years; and what was the total value of public subsidy paid to these installations in each year. \p Baroness Curran: The Domestic and Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive schemes are administered by Ofgem on behalf of the government. Given the nature of the data requested, Ofgem will write to the noble Lord and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_45

Baroness Finn:To ask His Majesty's Government how many personnel with privileged access to the One Login production environment held baseline personnel security standard, not full security check clearance, in each quarter since July 2022; and what proportion of those people were (1) contracted through Deloitte, and (2) working from outside the UK. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: GOV.UK One Login takes the security clearance and audit of personnel very seriously. Access to production is granted only to those that require it and is closely monitored. One Login has implemented a policy of SC clearance for all developer staff, which is higher than the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) which is considered sufficient across many parts of government.   No staff based overseas has had any access to the GOV.UK One Login production environment.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_46
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-05 conversation_46

Lord Browne of Belmont:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that UK citizens are protected from online fraud and social media and text messaging scams. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: Under the Online Safety Act regulatory framework, online platforms are required to take steps to reduce the risk their services are used to facilitate fraud, scams and other illegal activity. These duties have started to take effect on services. Ofcom is the regulator and has powers to enforce against non-compliance.

Government and industry are also currently developing a second Telecoms Charter. Under the first Telecommunications Charter, telecoms operators introduced firewalls that have stopped more than 1 billion scam text messages since January 2022. The Government will also ban “SIM farms”, devices used to send out scam texts to thousands of people at once.