theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-23 conversation_4
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-23 conversation_4

Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on the success of British farming. \p Lord Livermore: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs). The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

The Government’s decisions at Autumn Budget 2024 provide £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.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-23 conversation_5
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-04-23 conversation_5

Baroness Wyld:To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the Government response to the House of Lords inquiry into preterm birth: reducing risks and improving lives on 14 January, whether they have received the findings of the NHS maternity and neonatal estates survey; and if so, when they expect to publish them. \p Baroness Merron: NHS England expects to shortly publish the findings of their survey of maternity and neonatal estates, which examined compliances against the current estates’ standards, including the requirements of neonatal parental accommodation.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_1

Baroness Goudie:To ask His Majesty's Government who is responsible for ensuring that pharmacies in women's prisons are stocked correctly and take into account prisoners' illnesses; and how many qualified clinicians are on duty each day. \p Baroness Merron: NHS England contracts prison healthcare and pharmacy services directly via its Health and Justice regional commissioning teams, which also assure the contracts.

Contracted providers are expected to enable access to a prescription dispensing pharmacy service, which can be on-site or via an externally contracted pharmacy, that meets the same standards as those provided by community pharmacies.

The provider is responsible for ensuring the service meets the standards set out in the National Health Service’s health and justice national prison primary care service specification. These include the expectation that dispensed medicines are provided for supply to the patient within specific timeframes, with the pharmacy deciding which medicines to keep in stock based on the usual items prescribed.

The contracted provider will decide how many qualified clinicians need to be on duty each day based on the health needs and size of the prison population, and the admission, release, and transfer rates at the prison. The provider provides the regional commissioning team with information about the workforce and service delivery arrangements as part of the contract monitoring information and service assurance.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_2
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_2

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial situation of pharmacies, and whether they intend to provide increased funding to support them. \p Baroness Merron: We are working at pace with Community Pharmacy England to ensure that the funding we have available for community pharmacy in 2025/26 is used in the best way possible. We will announce the outcome of the consultation in the usual manner, by letter to contractors, when the consultation has concluded.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_3
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_3

Lord Kempsell:To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the effects of increased employer National Insurance contributions on GP practices. \p Baroness Merron: We have made the necessary decisions to fix the foundations of the public finances in the Autumn Budget. Resource spending for the Department will be £22.6 billion more in 2025/26 than in 2023/24, as part of the Spending Review settlement. The employers’ National Insurance rise will be implemented in April 2025.

General practices (GPs) are valued independent contractors who provide over £13 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with the profession about what services GPs provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract, taking account of the cost of delivering services.

We are investing an additional £889 million in through the GP Contract to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade, and we are pleased that the General Practitioners Committee England is supportive of the contract changes.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_4
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_4

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of mycotoxins and rat excrement in imported grain. \p Baroness Merron: Imported grain for human consumption is subject to surveillance monitoring by Port Health Authorities, and this includes physical checks that encompass mycotoxins and the presence of other extraneous matter. Imported consignments of grain that do not meet our food safety requirements are not allowed entry on to the British market.

The Food Standard Agency is not aware of any concerns relating to imported grain failing to meet food safety requirements.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_5
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_5

Baroness Deech:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the safety of the puberty blocker clinical trial to be undertaken by the NHS this year; and whether the trial is compatible with the indefinite ban on puberty blockers for under-18s announced in December 2024 by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. \p Baroness Merron: The Cass Review, which was the most robust evaluation of gender healthcare in the United Kingdom to date, took stock of all the available evidence regarding use of puberty blockers and concluded that, at present, there is insufficient evidence to support the use of these medicine for the treatment of gender dysphoria and/or incongruence. Similarly, the independent report by the Commission on Human Medicines concluded that there was an ‘absence of long-term safety and efficacy data for this population’.

Better-quality evidence is therefore critical if the National Health Service is to provide reliable, transparent information and advice to support children and young people. That is why the government is supporting NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to set up the ‘PATHWAYS: Puberty Suppression and Transitional Healthcare with Adaptive Youth Services’ study.

The PATHWAYS study proposal is going through all the usual review and approval stages. These include independent academic peer review and National Institute for Health and Care Research funding committee consideration, and it will need to secure full ethical approval ahead of set up and opening to recruitment. The design of the trial, including the safety of participants, is being considered and finalised as part of the approvals process. Subject to the study achieving the necessary approvals, the study protocol will be made available by NIHR in the public domain, as is usual for publicly funded studies. Only once all approvals are in place will the study commence.

Legal provision exists within the current prohibition, namely article 3, which allows the supply of GnRH analogues as part of an authorised clinical trial.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_6
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_6

Lord Scriven:To ask His Majesty's Government which cancer networks have been told by commissioners that their funding will be cut next financial year; and what is the percentage cut to their budgets. \p Baroness Merron: The Government has committed significant investment to improving cancer care with a focus on reducing waiting times for diagnosis and treatment. This includes approximately £1.5 billion capital funding in 2025/26 for new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners, creating capacity for over 30,000 more procedures and 1.25 million diagnostic tests. Furthermore, we have already hit our pledge early to deliver over two million more elective care appointments.

We are ensuring patients get care faster by halving the number of targets in Operational Planning Guidance and by transferring a higher proportion of funding than ever before directly to local systems with minimised ringfencing. These steps allow local leaders maximum flexibility to plan better and more efficient services.

To deliver on our priorities to diagnose and treat cancer faster, Service Development Funding will be rolled into rolled into core allocations. This means the total allocation for Cancer Alliances in 2025/26 is £379 million compared to £419 million in 2024/25, a reduction of approximately 9% as funding is transferred to different priorities. Further information is available on the revenue finance and contracting guidance for 2025/26 on NHS England’s website.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_7
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_7

Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government when they last discussed the formation of a peacekeeping force in Darfur with international partners, and what response they received. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The Foreign Secretary will host foreign ministers at a conference on Sudan in London on 15 April to galvanise international efforts to bring an end to the conflict and get aid to where it is needed the most. The UK continues to pursue all diplomatic avenues to press the parties into a permanent ceasefire, allow unrestricted humanitarian access, protect civilians, and commit to a sustained and meaningful peace process.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the governments of (1) Kenya, (2) Ethiopia, (3) South Sudan, and (4) Chad, about the origin and prevention of weapons being transported to Sudan, and what response they received. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: Support from external actors to both the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces is prolonging the conflict in Sudan. The UK continues to emphasise to international partners the importance of refraining from actions that continue the fighting. Countries who have influence with the parties, including those in the region, should encourage them to come to the table for a political resolution and to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_9
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Baroness Northover:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how the political declaration from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women will support universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights worldwide. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: Member states successfully adopted a consensus Political Declaration at the 69th UN Commission on the Status of Women. Our assessment is that new text on maternal and neonatal health, menstrual health and hygiene management are examples of progress supporting access to sexual and reproductive health services. The UK is proud to defend and promote universal and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and has a long history as an influential global leader on SRHR to championing these fundamental rights in multilateral institutions.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_10
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Lord Kempsell:To ask His Majesty's Government what is their position on the sovereignty of British Antarctic Territory. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The UK has no doubt about our sovereignty over the British Antarctic Territory. It is the oldest territorial claim in Antarctica, dating back to 1908. The UK is also fully committed to the Antarctic Treaty, 1959. The UK maintains a permanent presence in Antarctica through the British Antarctic Survey, who operate three scientific stations, and the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, who manage the historic base at Port Lockroy. The Royal Navy's Ice Patrol Ship is deployed to Antarctica during the austral summer, reaffirming our sovereignty over the British Antarctic Territory and monitoring compliance with the Antarctic Treaty.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_11
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Lord Lucas:To ask His Majesty's Government whether, when the Health, Education and Social Care Chamber makes a serious adverse ruling against a school but the judgment is not made public, it communicates the judgment to the relevant inspectorate; and, if not, why. \p Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: The provision of written reasons for decisions in Special Educational Needs and Discrimination (SEND) proceedings in the First-tier Tribunal is governed by the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008. The rules can be found at the following link: The Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008.

Rule 30 provides that written reasons must be provided to the parties where (i) the decision finally disposes of all issues in proceedings or (ii) the Tribunal makes a determination in a preliminary issue. The decision in individual cases on whether to disclose a written decision to someone other than a party to the proceedings is a judicial one and not something in which Ministers can intervene.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_12
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom:To ask His Majesty's Government whether any entity owned or partially owned by the Government has acted as a prosecutor in its own interests in the past five years. \p Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: Certain Government agencies (such as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and TV Licencing) are permitted under legislation to bring criminal prosecutions within specified remits. In addition, where the UK taxpayer is a shareholder or the only shareholder, a company may bring a private prosecution using common law powers preserved under section 6(1) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.

The Government does not collate or record data on individual prosecutors and private prosecutions, although some prosecutors may publish their own data separately. This Government considers that the public should be given more information about private prosecutors to improve confidence in the criminal justice system. This is why we have launched a public consultation on options to improve the oversight and regulation of private prosecutors in the criminal justice system, which closes on 8 May.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Lord Bradley:To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of convicted offenders had a pre-sentence report prepared by the Probation Service presented to the judiciary in England and Wales in (1) the Crown Court and (2) a magistrates' court in each of the past three years. \p Lord Timpson: We cannot provide the percentage of convicted offenders with a pre-sentence report prepared by the probation service and presented to the Crown Courts and Magistrates Court for the past three years as the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

However, we can provide the number of pre-sentence reports prepared by the probation service and presented to the Crown and Magistrates courts respectively.

Number of pre-sentence reports prepared and presented by the probation service in England and Wales:

Crown Courts

Magistrates Courts

2023

30,494

60,874

2022

25,079

58,161

2021

27,779

60,878

Note: Offender Management Statistics for the year of 2024 will be published on 24 April 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Lord Jackson of Peterborough:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address barriers to marriage faced by lower income couples following the publication of new research by the Marriage Foundation. \p Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: The Law Commission’s 2022 report on weddings law made 57 recommendations for the reform of weddings law and set out its view that its recommendations would provide greater choice for couples, lowering the cost of weddings and making them more accessible to all.

Marriage will always be one of our most important institutions. That is why we are carefully considering the Law Commission’s report and have a duty to take the time to consider these important issues. We will set out our position on weddings reform in the coming months.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_15
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_15

Baroness Coffey:To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to commence sections 2, 3 and 4(1) to (4) of the Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023. \p Baroness Sherlock: The Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 proposed regulations to support the introduction of administrative liability orders (ALOs), removing the requirement to obtain a court issued liability order. Introducing this process should enable the Child Maintenance Service to take faster action against those paying parents who actively avoid their responsibilities and get money to children more quickly. We are working with His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service and the Scottish Government to establish a process for implementing ALOs and plan to introduce regulations to Parliament by the end of this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering:To ask His Majesty's Government what the role of the Emergency Planning College is in assessing risks to critical infrastructure. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The primary focus of the Emergency Planning College (EPC) is to build resilience through training and exercising. It helps organisations to build capabilities to manage emergency and crises situations. All learning material is regularly reviewed to ensure alignment with the latest government direction, policy and legislation. The EPC does not have a role in assessing risks to Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) but uses the National Risk Register (NRR) in the development of its training materials and courses.The NRR is the external version of the government’s internal, classified National Security Risk Assessment. All risks in the NRR, including those related to CNI, are kept under review to ensure that they are the most appropriate scenarios to inform emergency preparedness and resilience activity.

The UK Resilience Academy (UKRA) will be established in April 2025 to ensure that all those who work on resilience have the capability, knowledge and skills they need to play their part in making resilience a ‘whole of society’ endeavour.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Lord Kamall:To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of days of work that were lost due to asthma in the UK in each year since 2010 for which there are data available. \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 National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Lord Kamall

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

21 March 2025

Dear Lord Kamall,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking for an estimate of the number of days of work that were lost due to asthma in the UK in each year since 2010 for which there are data available (HL5962).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects information on the labour market status of individuals through the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is a survey of people resident in households in the UK. The LFS also collects information on whether respondents have missed days off work due to illness and/or injury.

Unfortunately, we do not collect information regarding the type of sickness at a level of detail to identify those suffering from asthma specifically, but we can provide the number of working days lost due to respiratory conditions.

We publish estimates of the number of working days lost through sickness absence, including the number of working days lost due to respiratory conditions, in our Sickness absence in the UK labour market: 2022 article1. This article is due to be updated to include 2023 and 2024 estimates on 1 May 2025. This update will also include revisions to estimates from 2019 to 2022. We will send the updated data to you once it has been published.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Table 1 contains LFS estimates of the number, and percentage, of working days lost due to respiratory conditions from 2012 to 2022, the latest data currently available.

Table 1: Number and percentage of working days lost due to respiratory conditions, between 2012 and 2022.

Number of working days lost due to respiratory conditions (millions)

Percentage of working days lost due to respiratory conditions (% of all working days lost)

2022

16.2

8.7

2021

10.0

6.7

2020

6.4

5.5

2019

5.6

4.0

2018

3.9

2.8

2017

3.7

2.8

2016

5.4

3.9

2015

5.4

3.9

2014

6.8

5.0

2013

5.8

4.4

2012

4.4

3.3
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Lord Agnew of Oulton:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 17 February (HL4611), what are the 11 central government organisations that submitted business cases for pay flexibility under the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance 2024–25, published on 29 July 2024; and which of those businesses cases (1) have been approved, (2) have been rejected, or (3) are still under consideration. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: For 2024/2025, the Cabinet Office has now received 12 business cases. Of these, four have been approved to date, one has been rejected, and seven are ongoing.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK has sufficient energy supplies to support the increased use of artificial intelligence technologies, data centres and electric vehicles. \p Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The UK Government is taking several steps to ensure sufficient energy supplies for AI technologies, data centres, and electric vehicles.

Building the low carbon economy of the future will lead to significant increases in electricity demand across many sectors. These projected increases are a key part of the analysis that underpins the work happening across government on future AI energy needs. The Department is working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in setting up the AI Energy Council that will have senior representatives from both the energy industry and the AI industry to look at where best to locate AI data centres and proactively manage the energy requirements of AI.

By unlocking new low carbon electricity generation, improving access to the electricity grid and efficient use and operation of the energy system we will achieve Clean Power by 2030 and maintain secure, resilient energy supplies that can meet electricity demand.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Lord Wigley:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of increased electricity prices in Wales under the proposals to introduce zonal pricing of electricity in the UK. \p Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government have not yet taken a decision on Zonal or Reformed National pricing. Zonal pricing has the potential to reduce bills for consumer across Great Britain, and we are currently conducting quantitative and distributional analysis to understand the impacts of zonal market design options on consumers, including those in Wales. A cost-benefit analysis will also inform policy decisions and help conclude how effectively the options meet the objectives.

Zonal pricing could be implemented with varying degrees of consumer exposure. We are working closely with the Welsh Government to understand how any potential REMA reforms could impact Welsh consumers and industry, and this will be taken into account as part of the final decision-making process.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_21
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Baroness Sater:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have made for allocating the funds of the Dormant Asset Scheme to support financial education of young people. \p Baroness Twycross: In November 2024, this government confirmed that the next £350 million estimated to flow into the Dormant Assets Scheme in England between 2024 and 2028 would be split equally between the named causes - youth, financial inclusion, social investment, and community wealth funds. Further details, including what this money will be used for, will be set out in a Dormant Assets Strategy to be published in due course.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_22
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the civil service can attract artificial intelligence experts from the private sector; and what assessment they have made of whether this will increase the effectiveness of the civil service. \p Lord Vallance of Balham: The Government is actively attracting AI experts from the private sector. Key steps include the AI Accelerator Programme, cross-sector secondments, and specialist AI roles such as Machine learning engineer. The Government Digital and Data Pay Framework ensures competitive salaries, while AI training courses on Civil Service-Learning support upskilling. These efforts aim to enhance decision-making, improve public services, strengthen cybersecurity, and increase efficiency. The government has also unveiled ambitious plans to grow the digital workforce, targeting 10% of civil servants in digital roles within five years.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-03-27 conversation_23
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge:To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) charities, (2) campaign organisations, and (3) survivors, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology has met regarding adult non-consensual intimate image abuse since 5 July 2024; and on which date each meeting took place. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: The Secretary of State has made it a key priority to tackle intimate image abuse and in September 2024 made new intimate images offences priority offences under the OSA. Online platforms must proactively tackle such content from 17 March.

The Secretary of State cares deeply about this topic and spoke alongside campaigners at Ofcom’s violence against women and girls event in November.

Ministers have regular meetings with a range of stakeholders on a number of subjects, including non-consensual intimate image abuse. Details of Ministerial meetings, including the purpose of meetings, are published quarterly on the GOV.UK website
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the use of artificial intelligence in road cameras will make roads safer; and whether they plan to encourage its use. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: Decisions on enforcement cameras, including artificial intelligence cameras, used to enforce road traffic legislation is an operational matter for Police and Crime Commissioners in conjunction with Chief Constables and local policing plans.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of water industry governance in other countries, and of best practice which could be adopted in England and Wales. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Government is committed to the system of economic regulation. This model has delivered a range of benefits including high quality drinking water and reducing leakage by around a third.

However, public trust in the industry is currently low and we need to ensure a robust regulatory system is in place to deliver the much-needed investment to clean up our waterways and meet the additional challenges of population growth and climate change. The Water (Special Measures) Act was the first major step this Government took to deliver for customers and the environment by driving meaningful improvements in the performance and culture of the water industry.

Launched in October 2024, the Independent Water Commission is drawing upon a panel of cross-sector experts and will recommend reforms to reset our water sector regulatory system, which could include proposals for improving industry governance. The Commission will consider approaches from other countries, where varying water governance models have evolved.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the water industry prioritises good water quality. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Ofwat published its final determinations for Price Review 2024 in December 2024, which sets company expenditure and customer bills for 2025-2030. This will deliver substantial, lasting, improvements for customers and the environment through a £104bn upgrade for the water sector. This investment will mean cleaner rivers, seas, and lakes across the country, more jobs and more investment.

Since 1 January 2025, water companies have been required to publish data related to discharges from all storm overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning. The Secretary of State has authorised Ofwat to carry out enforcement action for this duty, in accordance with the powers conferred under sections 18 and 141DA (4) of the Water Industry Act 1991.

Ofwat is monitoring compliance with the duty to report relevant data in real time. Ofwat’s enforcement powers provide for a wide range of enforcement activity, including substantial penalties. Where it detects non-compliance, it will take appropriate enforcement action.

In addition to this, the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 has introduced an equivalent duty for water companies to publish data related to discharges from all emergency overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning. Once commenced, this duty will be enforced in the same way.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential merits of using special administration measures to address governance and environmental compliance issues in the water sector. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: A Special Administration Regime (SAR) enables a company which provides vital public services (e.g. water, energy, rail) to be put into administration in certain circumstances, to ensure that the public service will continue to be provided.

There is a high bar for the imposition of a Special Administration Regime. The law states that Special Administration can only be initiated if the company becomes insolvent, can no longer fulfil its statutory duties or seriously breaches an enforcement order.

Enforcement of governance and compliance issues fall within the remit of the regulators. There is a robust system of independent economic and environmental regulation for holding the water sector to account. It is of course right that we continue to look at the regulatory context, and where necessary, take action to strengthen the regulatory framework. This is why the Government has launched the Independent Water Commission, which will fundamentally transform how our water system works.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address agricultural pollution in rivers; and whether they will launch a dedicated review into this issue. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: This Government has made it clear that levels of water pollution are unacceptable. That is why cleaning up our rivers is a priority for this Government; addressing agricultural pollution is key to delivering this.

To this end, we are currently reviewing the Environmental Improvement Plan to set out how Defra will deliver improvements to reach our legally binding targets including to reduce agricultural pollution. We want to work with farmers to tackle agricultural pollution through a range of proportionate and effective regulations, advice programmes and incentives schemes.

As part of this, we are prioritising finalising the Post-Implementation Reviews on both the Farming Rules for Water and Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations. The outcomes of these reviews will inform our next steps to ensure these regulations are effective for both farmers and the environment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the closure of applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive on upland farmers. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: We fully recognise the importance of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for upland farmers – and we strongly want the scheme to be available to them as we move forward.

We have closed SFI for new applications because the current SFI budget has been successfully allocated, with large-scale uptake of the scheme and 37,000 live SFI agreements delivering towards our environmental targets.

We will be reforming the SFI offer to direct funding towards SFI actions which are most appropriate for the least productive land and have the strongest case for enduring public investment.

We expect to publish more information about the reformed SFI offer in summer 2025. This will include an indication of when we expect to re-open SFI for applications.

In the meantime, as announced on 25th February, we’re increasing HLS payment rates. We believe this uplift better reflects the contributions made by those with HLS agreements and will support the continued protection and management of these sites.

We will also open the rolling application window for Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier this summer and have published information that sets out what upland farmers can do now to prepare to apply for CSHT.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering:To ask His Majesty's Government what was the time allowed between the agreement of criteria for applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive from upland farmers and the date the scheme was closed. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Defra announced details of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2024 offer on 21 May 2024, at GOV.UK. This included details of the criteria for applications made by upland famers.

Defra has now closed SFI for the submission of new applications, but existing agreements will continue. We now have over 37,000 live SFI agreements. Every penny in all existing SFI agreements will be paid to farmers, and outstanding eligible applications that have been submitted will be processed.

We will provide further details about the reformed SFI offer once the Spending Review has been completed.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Baroness Redfern:To ask His Majesty's Government how many licences to release beavers they have granted since beavers were classified as a native species in October 2022. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

Since October 2022 Natural England has issued 13 beaver enclosure licences, 1 genetic reinforcement licence, and 1 wild release licence.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Baroness Redfern:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure any veterinary agreement with the EU includes a carve-out protecting the UK's ability to implement mandatory method-of-production animal welfare labelling, including imports. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Government was elected on a mandate to improve animal welfare.

The Government is committed to resetting our EU relationship, including by seeking to negotiate an SPS agreement. We have been clear that an SPS agreement could boost trade and deliver significant benefits on both sides. It’s too early to discuss any specific areas in detail and we will not be providing a running commentary on discussions with the EU.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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The Earl of Caithness:To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to restricting tick and flea treatments for pets containing fipronil or imidacloprid to prescription only, in the light of evidence of their human and environmental toxicity and their detrimental effects on aquatic life. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Parasiticides, such as those containing fipronil and imidacloprid, play an essential role in protecting both animal and human health against fleas and ticks and their associated vector-borne diseases, which can lead to parasitic disease in pets and present zoonotic risks to humans, as well as causing distress and discomfort. The concerns regarding the potential contribution of flea and tick treatments to the levels of imidacloprid currently being detected in UK surface waters are recognised. The Veterinary Medicine Directorate (VMD) is currently gathering evidence on this issue and has initiated the formation of a cross-governmental Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (PiE) Group.

The PiE Group has set out a roadmap of activities to address levels of fipronil and imidacloprid in UK waterways. The immediate priority is to collaborate with key stakeholders to enhance and promote consistent messaging to users on the appropriate use of topical parasiticides for cats and dogs, aiming to reduce potential environmental impacts. Beyond this, actions will focus on developing our evidence base through research and monitoring. The group will use this evidence to improve understanding of the issue and inform future policy activities in the longer term.

At this stage, there are no plans to restrict flea and tick treatments to prescription only. Any future regulatory decisions will be based on robust scientific evidence to ensure both environmental protection and continued access to essential veterinary medicines.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how the Old Trafford Regeneration Project will impact the surrounding area, and how they intend to support the project. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: There is significant economic and growth potential around Old Trafford. The development has the potential to make a strong contribution to Greater Manchester’s economy as well as the Government’s growth mission. Making the most of this potential will require co-ordinated and long-term leadership by the Mayor and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), working in partnership with Government and private sector interests. GMCA will receive an integrated funding settlement worth over £600m per annum, starting from 2025-26, and empowering them to drive local growth and invest in local priorities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Lord Bradshaw:To ask His Majesty's Government what fees are charged by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for access to their database by (1) legal firms seeking to pursue claims, and (2) those seeking to enforce parking fines. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The law permits the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to provide information from its vehicle record where the requester can demonstrate reasonable cause to receive it. The fee payable by private sector organisations seeking the contact details of the registered keeper of a vehicle is £2.50 but if additional information is needed the fee is £5.00. The fee is set to recover the cost of providing the information and ensures that the cost is borne by the requester, not passed on to the taxpayer.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-27)

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Lord Kempsell:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in relation to any current UK–US trade negotiations, and what plans they have for any future negotiations. \p Baroness Gustafsson: The UK-US relationship is already very strong, with trade of around £300 billion, and shared investment of over £1.2 trillion at the end of 2023. The Prime Minister and President Trump met on 27 February and agreed to deepen this relationship and to work together on a trade deal focused on tech. The Secretary of State for Business and Trade has also been engaging with the US Administration including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, to make the case for stronger UK-US trade that benefits both our countries.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-21 conversation_1

Lord Bassam of Brighton:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish data on the number of investigations carried out into online race hate incidents related to football since the introduction of this as a specific offence in 2022. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Home Office publishes data on the number of football-related race hate incidents in England and Wales in the annual ‘Football-related arrests and banning orders, England and Wales’ Official Statistics release. The latest data covering the 2024 to 2025 domestic football season and can be accessed at the following link: Football-related arrests and banning orders statistics - GOV.UK

Data on the number of football-related race hate incidents for each of the last five years are available in table 11 of the accompanying data tables and are provided below:

Table 1: Matches with reported incidents of hate crime relating to race, England and Wales, 2019/20 season to 2024/25 season

Season

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

2024/25

Hate crime - Race

214

2

283

248

226

287

The Home Office does not hold data on the number of investigations carried out into online race hate incidents related to football.

table  (pdf, 192.3KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-10-21 conversation_2

Lord Jackson of Peterborough:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 26 September (HL10489), for what reason is the data requested not published and collected currently. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.