theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-21 conversation_62

Lord Wigley:To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect the Rail Accident Investigation Board to publish its final report on the collision between passenger trains near Talerddig on 21 October 2024. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) currently expects to publish its final report on the collision between passenger trains near Talerddig on 21 October 2024 during Spring 2026.

RAIB published an interim report on the Talerddig collision on 30 April 2025, which is available on GOV.UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-21)

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Lord Scriven:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 29 July 2024 (HL238), what assessment they have made of whether East Midlands Railway is still running trains with faulty air conditioning, resulting in staff and passengers travelling in high temperatures. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The Department is aware of occasions where the air conditioning has failed within one of the carriages on an East Midlands Railway (EMR) train whilst in service. When this occurs the train conductor helps passengers find alternative seats in a cooler carriage and offers water to those who decide to remain in the affected carriage. Excessive temperature is one factor that is measured through the Service Quality Regime to ensure timely rectification of a fault by train operators.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-21)

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Lord Blencathra:To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of trees and bushes alongside railway lines that have been cut down in excess of that required to prevent trees falling on the lines. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The government has not made an estimate of this figure. Network Rail must prioritise the performance and safe operation of the railway whilst also carrying out its activities in a way that minimises harm, and wherever possible improves the natural habitat. Trees are removed from beside the railway line for a number of reasons beyond the risk of falling on the line, including invasive species, pests or disease (such as ash dieback) and leaf fall.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-21)

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Baroness Pidgeon:To ask His Majesty's Government what investment they have provided to Community Rail Network in this financial year, and what funding they plan to provide in the next three financial years. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The Community Rail Network (CRN) is a membership organisation which supports community-based groups and partnerships that connect their community with their railway. The Department provides funding towards the Network. Over £800,000 has been granted to the CRN via core and project funding in this financial year.

Support for wider Community Rail Partnerships is also provided via the Train Operating Companies. As we move towards establishing Great British Railways, the Community Rail movement will be integral to helping us deliver our priorities and will continue to deliver for passengers and communities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-21)

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Lord Blencathra:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide level access onto trains by acquiring level access rolling stock, raising platform levels or lowering trackbeds. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: Level access onto trains brings a range of benefits and enables easier journeys for passengers with different access requirements. The government has committed to develop a long-term strategy for rolling stock and associated infrastructure, which will look at and consider the issue of level access as part of this work.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-21)

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Baroness Stedman-Scott:To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people who have entered the Universal Credit system as a consequence of increased employer labour costs, including higher employer National Insurance contributions, particularly in low-margin sectors. \p Baroness Sherlock: No such assessment has been made.

Data on the Universal Credit caseload, including up-to-date trends information, is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk

Guidance for users is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-21)

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Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Children's Commissioner's report Growing up in a low income family - children's experiences, published on 8 July; and what actions they intend to take to address the levels of child poverty in England identified by the report. \p Baroness Sherlock: The Child Poverty Taskforce, co-chaired by the Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, is committed to listening to the voices of children and families and embed the voices of these families directly into their work.

The Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s report, Growing up in a low-income family: Children‘s experiences, was commissioned by the Child Poverty Taskforce to provide evidence on children’s lived experience of poverty to support the development of an ambitious child poverty strategy. The findings of the report make for uncomfortable reading, but it is vital that we face up to the reality of what children in poverty are feeling so we can develop a Strategy that is fit for purpose and truly responds to the needs of children as they set out from their perspective. This valuable research forms part of the Taskforce’s ongoing wider work to ensure those voices are a central part of developing a strategy.

​The Child Poverty Unit, based in the Cabinet Office, worked closely with the Office of the Children’s Commissioner on the report, including at research design and reporting stages, and the findings have already been considered as part of strategy development.

​The Minister for School Standards is planning to meet with the Children‘s Commissioner for England to discuss the report in detail and a Children’s Commissioners roundtable, co-chaired by the Minister for Employment and the Minister for School Standards, will be held in September to bring together all four Children’s Commissioners for a broader discussion on child poverty.

​The Taskforce is considering the report’s recommendations in advance of publication of the strategy in the autumn.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-21)

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Baroness Stedman-Scott:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement welfare strategies specifically for those areas excluded from highly clustered, high-productivity economic sectors. \p Baroness Sherlock: Our Get Britain Working White Paper set out our cross-Government plan to get people into work and on in work.

As part of that, we are planning to offer greater employment support in every part of the country to those who need it to get into work and fulfil their potential.

This Government is also taking action to deliver strong, secure, and sustainable economic growth to boost living standards for working people in every part of the UK. Central to this will be the Industrial Strategy, which will help us seize the most significant opportunities and create the most favourable conditions for growth and investment in key UK sectors – spread throughout the country. Through our 643 Jobcentres and unique high street presence, DWP will help growth driving sectors recruit the people they need to thrive.

Government has held several skills summits with industry, including on construction, clean energy and water, and has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with DEFRA to improve JCP customer access to a wider pool of vacancies, with others to follow with relevant sectors.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-21)

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Lord Foster of Bath:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish a report of the findings of the research carried out by Public Group International under a contract that ended on 31 March (procurement reference 104167) into the effectiveness of industry self-regulation of loot boxes. \p Baroness Twycross: Yes. We are finalising the research findings and will publish a report in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-21)

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Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 23 June (HL8468), what assessment they have made of the root causes of the conflict in Benue, in particular of the role of religion. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The UK Government is deeply concerned about the ongoing violence in Nigeria's Middle Belt and we express our sincere concern for all those impacted. The root causes of intercommunal violence are complex and often linked to land disputes, historical tensions, and criminal activity. While religion is not a causal factor in these conflicts, the impacts are felt acutely by religious communities, including hindering people's ability to practice their faith freely. The UK supports all affected communities, regardless of faith or ethnicity, and is working through programmes like Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria and the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership to promote peace, strengthen local institutions, and protect civilians. The UK remains committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), with Nigeria a priority country under the new FoRB strategy, and we will continue to raise this issue in our engagements with Nigeria.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-21)

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Lord Truscott:To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether there are any lessons to be learned by Parliament’s Restoration and Renewal programme from the HS2 programme. \p Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The R&R Client Team, the R&R Delivery Authority and independent reviewers undertaking work on R&R have reflected on the lessons learned from HS2 set out in published reports and reviews. The recently published Stewart Review on HS2 is being carefully considered and its findings, in areas such as governance, the need for time and space for proper planning and development, and cost and schedule, will inform the development of the R&R costed proposals which are expected to be published later this year. Reports by the Public Accounts Committee, National Audit Office, the Institution of Civil Engineers, and the Office for Value for Money will also continue to be embedded within the R&R Programme as the programme evolves.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-08-12 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-08-12)

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Lord Clement-Jones:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to evaluate the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programme commissioned in April; and whether any evaluation will be made public. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: An independent evaluation of the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme is underway. Further information on this evaluation is available on Contracts Finder here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/0a81fac4-1f16-427a-82d2-b4bbc44d9f21?origin=SearchResults&p=1. This evaluation will thoroughly explore the implementation and outcomes of the PINS programme so far, including to what extent the programme may have improved schools’ capability and capacity to support neurodivergent pupils. Interim findings from this evaluation are expected in autumn 2025 and will be published, in accordance with Government Social Research protocol.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-08-12)

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Baroness Prentis of Banbury:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have held any meetings with the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church regarding the protection of cathedral schools and their choral traditions. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Ministers and departmental officials hold regular meetings with both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. The most recent meetings with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education took place earlier this month. There have been no issues or concerns raised about the protection of Cathedral Schools and their choral traditions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-08-12)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support workers to train in new sectors when facing unemployment due to artificial intelligence. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: At the recent Spending Review, the government announced substantial investment in skills in England with an additional £1.2 billion by 2028/29. This includes supporting targeted skills packages for key sectors such as construction, digital and technology, engineering, and defence.

The government will provide approximately £1.4 billion in funding for the adult skills fund in the 2025/26 academic year. This includes funding the Free Courses for Jobs offer, which gives eligible adults the chance to access high value Level 3 qualifications for free, which can support them to gain higher wages or a better job.

The government will also support adult learners to retrain through our technical education offer, including through a range of apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps. Our new levy-funded growth and skills offer will introduce greater flexibility to employers and learners in England.

From September 2026, learners will be able to apply for funding from the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE), which will be the new student finance system for courses and modules starting from January 2027 onwards. The LLE will allow people to retrain, upskill and gain new qualifications across their working lives, at a time that is right for them, such as those returning from a career break.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-08-12)

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Lord Scriven:To ask His Majesty's Government which five integrated care systems have had deficit support funding withheld; and how much funding has been withheld from each. \p Baroness Merron: The £2.2 billion of deficit support funding this year is being provided quarterly, and only to systems that deliver their plans. The five systems that have had deficit support funding withheld for quarter 2 are as follows: Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care System (ICS); North East London ICS; Cheshire and Merseyside ICS; Coventry and Warwickshire ICS; and South Yorkshire ICS. Deficit support funding will be released to these systems once progress has been made and there is confidence in the delivery of their plans, with progress and funding released reported in individual board reports throughout the year.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-08 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Lord Moynihan:To ask His Majesty's Government which of the Premier League of English Football League Clubs were consulted on the proposal to include parachute payments in the Football Governance Bill and on which dates those meetings took place. \p Baroness Twycross: The Football Governance Bill is the culmination of almost five years of work. During this time, there has been extensive engagement with key stakeholders by the department (which included regular meetings with the Premier League, where policy such as parachute payments were discussed) and by the Minister for Sport, whilst she was in Opposition.

Ahead of the introduction of the Football Governance Bill, DCMS Ministers met with Brentford, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Brighton and Hove Albion, Crystal Palace and Everton and parachute payments were discussed. A significant number of meetings also took place with the Premier League executive, who represent their members and have advocated on behalf of clubs. Similar meetings were also held with the EFL and National League executives and clubs.

The Secretary of State and Minister for Sport invited all clubs to meet on 23rd October where the Bill was again discussed.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Lord Blunkett:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in relation to recruitment to the youth-led round tables and Youth Advisory Board in developing the National Youth Strategy. \p Baroness Twycross: We will ensure that young people can influence decisions on the new Youth Strategy at every stage. A Youth Advisory Group is being established, with the first meeting scheduled for January 2025. Members of the group will comprise young people with diverse lived experience from across the country. We will also engage with other youth stakeholder groups through roundtables and a range of other activities.The Minister for Youth, the Secretary of State and DCMS officials have already met with a number of young people and youth sector organisations to hear their thoughts on the Strategy. We will continue to do so over the coming weeks and months.

We know there is existing work across the sector to understand issues faced by young people, propose solutions, and promote youth voice in decision-making. We will build on what already exists to co-produce the strategy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Lord Moynihan:To ask His Majesty's Government whether, following Committee Stage of the Football Governance Bill, they intend to continue with plans to provide the Secretary of State with legislative powers to define the beginning and end dates of the season for football competitions. \p Baroness Twycross: This power is required so that in the case of any potential future changes to a football season and how it is calculated, the Secretary of State is able to quickly make corrective amendments to the definition.

This power is not about amending the industry’s definition of a season. The current definition of a football season within the Bill is accurate for the current situation. If the current situation were to change, the Secretary of State should have the ability to alter this definition to ensure the regime is still operational.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Lord Moynihan:To ask His Majesty's Government what is the meaning is of “exercises a higher degree of influence or control over” club, as set out as part of the proposed Owners’ and Directors’ test in Clause 3(2)(b) of the Football Governance Bill. \p Baroness Twycross: A club’s ultimate owner is defined as the owner who has the highest degree of influence or control over the activities of the club.

A club can have more than one ultimate owner if those owners - all have the same degree of influence or control.

The definition of “significant influence or control” by owners will be set out in Secretary of State guidance, which will be published in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Lord Moynihan:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will place copies of all correspondence with UEFA, FIFA and the International Olympic Committee regarding the proposal to introduce a Football Regulator in the Library of the House. \p Baroness Twycross: As has been reiterated throughout the Committee stage of the Football Governance Bill, it would not be appropriate to publish private correspondence with any stakeholders in the Library of the House.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Lord Moynihan:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Twycross on 18 December (HL Deb col 370), whether it is their intention to seek assurances from UEFA that the introduction of backstop powers to the proposed Football Regulator does not impact on the autonomy and independence of football’s governance as required by UEFA. \p Baroness Twycross: As set out during the House of Lords Committee Stage debate on 18 December, UEFA raised no concerns about the backstop in its most recent meetings with DCMS and the Minister for Sport. The Department continues to engage with UEFA and other relevant stakeholders as the Bill progresses through Parliament.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Lord Moynihan:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will list all the appointments made to date to the Shadow Football Regulator, setting out how many were previously employed in the DCMS during the last five years as employees, advisers, or appointees to DCMS-appointed Sports Advisory Groups, and where the Shadow Football Regulator’s office is based. \p Baroness Twycross: The Shadow Football Regulator is a transition team within DCMS that is working to set up a new Independent Football Regulator. Staff are currently located across DCMS’ sites in Manchester and London.

As of 19th December 2024, the Shadow Regulator comprises 38 Full Time Equivalent staff, 36 of which are at grades below senior civil service (SCS) level - as is usual practice regarding the civil servants we are unable to comment further on these appointments due to the risk of identifying the individuals who have been appointed.

The remaining two appointments are at SCS level. Of these, one returned to DCMS following a secondment to the Sports Ground Safety Authority. The other was recruited from an independent regulator.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Viscount Waverley:To ask His Majesty's Government to what extent pragmatic but stable engagement with China is integral to their foreign policy. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: As G20 countries and members of the UN Security Council, the UK and China have a shared responsibility to work together. This Government will take a long-term, consistent and strategic approach to UK-China relations; cooperating where we can, competing where we need to and challenging where we must.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Lord Browne of Ladyton:To ask His Majesty's Government whether their Embassy in Bogotá has been monitoring the return of the displaced Wiwa Indigenous Communities of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia, and what is their assessment of the security in that region for indigenous communities. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: We remain concerned at the violence facing the Wiwa community. Embassy officials visited and discussed security concerns with Wiwa communities in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in October 2024, and raised these issues with local authorities, the Ministry of Defence, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace. Supporting Colombia in its commitment to secure a lasting peace is an important priority of this Government. We are working with the Colombian government and other partners to implement the 2016 Peace Agreement, including the Ethnic Chapter. We support the protection of the Wiwa indigenous peoples through our funding of civil society organisations and UN agencies.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Lord Browne of Ladyton:To ask His Majesty's Government what support and funding, if any, they give to Indigenous Women’s Commissions in the various Colombian Indigenous Tribes (1) to support the legal training the commissions offer about sexual and gender-based violence, (2) to train magistrates in the Indigenous Justice System about gender, and (3) to support the work they do with indigenous women and girls, victims of sexual and gender-based violence. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: Colombia is a priority country for the UK's Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) Strategy. The UK has supported the Special Jurisdiction for Peace for those documenting cases of sexual violence in conflict. With women's organisations, our support has ensured survivors of sexual violence, including indigenous women, receive justice and support. The UK has also supported Colombia's first Women Peace and Security National Action Plan, ensuring indigenous women's experiences were heard. During his visit to Colombia in November, Lord Collins met civil society and women's organisations to underline UK support.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Lord Browne of Ladyton:To ask His Majesty's Government whether UK aid is being used to address the depletion of important ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: We remain concerned about the environmental damage from organised crime in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, and Embassy officials have raised this with the Ministry of Environment. Through the Magna Carta Fund, the UK has supported civil society to protect indigenous environmental defenders. This has included the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, where we support protection and judicial mechanisms for environmental defenders, and contribute funding to conservation and restoration schemes to protect fragile ecosystems.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to engage with industry in relation to the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 as part of the development of illustrative base fees; and what plans they have to publish the methodology used to develop the most recent illustrative fees. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Under the new Government, Defra has engaged with industry to ensure that the calculation of local authority costs to manage household packaging waste is as accurate as possible. This engagement continues and underpins further development of illustrative Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) base fees to ensure robust quality assurance of the modelling.

We included a summary of the methodology to calculate pEPR fees as part of the two publications of pEPR illustrative base fees, in August and September 2024. As part of our current engagement with industry we are sharing further details on our methodology and will continue ensuring that the information is shared more widely.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Lord Truscott:To ask His Majesty's Government how many social homes they expect to be delivered in each of the next five years. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: With regard to our work to increase the number of new social homes, I refer to the noble Lord to the answer given to Question UIN 19382 on 20th December 2024.

UIN 19382 (pdf, 76.9KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Lord Kamall:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the cut in the winter fuel payment on hospital admissions this winter. \p Baroness Merron: An impact assessment of the cut in winter fuel payment on hospital admissions this winter has not been produced. The Government has taken action to ensure low-income households are protected this winter.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Lord Kamall:To ask His Majesty's Government how many people as of 1 December who were medically fit to be discharged from hospital had not been. \p Baroness Merron: On 1 December 2024, the number of patients in England remaining in hospital who were medically fit to be discharged was 12,086.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle:To ask His Majesty's Government how many physician associates currently working in the NHS or in private healthcare have not passed the Physician Associate National Examination; and whether they plan to ensure that physician associates currently working have passed it before the deadline for registering with the General Medical Council in December 2026. \p Baroness Merron: The Department does not hold data on how many Physician Associates (PAs) currently working in the National Health Service or in private healthcare have not passed the Physician Associate National Examination (PANE).

Statutory regulation of PAs and Anaesthesia Associates (AAs) by the General Medical Council (GMC) has begun. The GMC has made it a mandatory registration requirement for all PAs to have passed the PANE. Under the Anaesthesia Associate and Physician Associate Order, PAs and AAs must join the GMC register or cease practising by December 2026.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that there will be no cuts to the other parts of the health budget to pay for assisted dying if it is legalised in the UK. \p Baroness Merron: As per long-standing convention, the Prime Minister has set aside collective responsibility on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life Care) Bill, so the Government will remain neutral on the passage of the bill. As with all bills, there are multiple stages for it to go through before it can become law, and this continues to be a matter for Parliament.

If the will of Parliament is that the law on assisting dying should change, the Government would work to ensure that the law is implemented in the way that Parliament intends and that is legally effective.

Autumn Budget 2024 set budgets for this year and the next financial year. Funding for future years and future decisions across the health budget will be decided through the normal spending review process.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-08)

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Lord Berkeley:To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what are the rules for All-Party Parliamentary Groups requiring them to advertise their future meetings; and who is responsible for monitoring and enforcing any non-compliance. \p Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The arrangements for All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are set out in the The All-Party Parliamentary Groups Guide to the Rules. This states that the chair of the relevant APPG is responsible for the publication of certain meetings at least a week in advance in the All-Party Notices. The meetings which require a notice are an annual general meeting; an extraordinary general meeting; or any other meeting where a vote is to be held or a decision taken, or where there is an outside speaker. The notice in the All-Party Notices must include the details of a parliamentary contact and, if relevant, the name of the outside speaker.

The Guide to the Rules was approved by the House of Commons Standards Committee following a resolution of the House of Commons.

Paragraph 10 of the House of Commons Code of Conduct provides that an MP who is the chair and registered contact of an APPG must ensure that the APPG complies with the rules on APPGs. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards may investigate alleged breach of those rules. Members of the House of Lords are not permitted to be named as the chair and registered contact of an APPG but may be an office holder.

All-Party Parliamentary Groups Guide to the Rules (pdf, 841.3KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-18 conversation_1

Lord Kempsell:To ask His Majesty's Government what consultations they have made, or representations they have received, before deciding to reduce funding for the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The Advanced Mathematics Support Programme (AMSP) remains a government funded programme that continues to positively impact mathematics education across England. Due to financial challenges, the department has made the difficult decision to reduce the funding for AMSP for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years. The department has worked with the AMSP supplier, Mathematics Education Innovation, to ensure high quality professional development and support remains available to schools and colleges to continue rising standards in level 3 mathematics.

The department remains committed to ensuring all children and young people have a strong foundation in mathematics to thrive in the modern economy, regardless of background and socioeconomic status. Our Plan for Change will ensure every child gets a rich education that helps them achieve and thrive.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-18 conversation_2
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-18 conversation_2

Lord Kempsell:To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to deliver the objectives they set in the AI Opportunities Action Plan while removing funding for mathematics education in schools and colleges through the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: This government is committed to ensuring both learners and employers have access to crucial digital and artificial intelligence (AI) skills that have the potential to increase productivity and create new high value jobs in the UK economy. To achieve this, the department will build a responsive skills system, coordinated through Skills England, to deliver on the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade.

The department will remain committed to ensuring all children and young people have a strong foundation in mathematics to thrive in the modern economy, regardless of background and socioeconomic status. The Advanced Maths Support programme remains a government-funded programme that continues to provide high quality teaching to increase participation and attainment in level 3 maths, to support student career progression and economic growth in technological advances.

The department also funds a national network of Maths Hubs, which is supported by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. This network aims to raise the standard of mathematics education from reception to age 18 and enhance the quality of mathematics teaching through a collaborative national network of mathematics educational professionals.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-18 conversation_3

Lord Kempsell:To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to support pupils who wish to study classical languages in state schools in England. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The study of classical languages can teach valuable lessons in history that are as relevant in the 21st century as they were for the ancient world. All schools can choose to teach classical subjects if they wish at any stage in a child’s education and can support this provision from their core funding.

Mainstream schools and young people with high needs are receiving £2.3 billion more in the 2025/26 financial year compared to 2024/25. This means core schools funding will total almost £63.9 billion next year.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-18 conversation_4
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-18 conversation_4

Lord Kempsell:To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of their decision to reduce funding for the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme, what plans they have to ensure young people have the opportunity to learn core mathematics in state schools. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: High and rising school standards, including in mathematics, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best life chances. The department is committed to ensuring all students have opportunities to study mathematics after the age of 16, including increasing participation in core mathematics qualifications for students who wish to continue studying mathematics but do not want to study A or AS level mathematics. A level mathematics continues to be the most popular A level, since 2014, with almost 100,000 entries in 2024 (98,066), which is up 11% from 2023. A level further mathematics also saw significant increases of 20% in 2024 (16,816).

In the 2024/25 academic year, we introduced the core mathematics premium of £900 per year per student to support students’ participation in programmes with core mathematics qualifications. The department’s guidance on the core mathematics premium can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-funding-core-maths-premium/16-to-19-funding-core-maths-premium.

The Advanced Maths Support programme remains a government-funded programme and includes support to the expansion of core mathematics by providing online and face-to-face teacher continuous professional development for new and existing core mathematics teachers, to ensure they have the capacity and capability to confidently teach advanced mathematics.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-18 conversation_5
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-18 conversation_5

Lord Jackson of Peterborough:To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to concerns expressed by the president of the British Rabbinical Union’s on the potential impact of clauses 25 and 26 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on Jewish and other religious education. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The department respects the work of yeshivas and other institutions in providing education to the Jewish community.

Parents are legally allowed to educate their children at home, providing this education is suitable. However, the department is aware of rising numbers of children not on a school roll due to them either being home educated, attending full-time non-school alternative provision or missing education completely, and we are concerned that some of these children may not be receiving a suitable education or known to the local authority at all.

As part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the government will introduce compulsory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England. These measures will help authorities to identify children that need support and to take prompt, appropriate action when needed.

The government’s proposal to require registration with the local authority will not interfere with parents’ right to educate their child in a way and with methods as they think best and appropriate, provided that the education being received by the child is suitable.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-18 conversation_6
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-18 conversation_6

Lord Freyberg:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any skills gaps in the retrofit and green construction workforce; and whether they have identified any upskilling needs. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The government’s ambition to build 1.5 million new homes over this Parliament needs a strong, skilled workforce. So far, the government has taken steps to achieving this ambition, including overhauling the planning system and introducing 32 new Homebuilding Skills Hubs. These will deliver fast-track training in critical areas such as bricklaying, groundwork, and site carpentry, to boost housebuilding and drive forward the government’s Growth and Opportunity Missions.

Around 5,000 more construction apprenticeship places will be made available per year by the 2027/28 financial year from £140 million industry investment.

The specific skills needed for retrofit and green construction are increasingly in demand. Green construction skills include heat pump installation and historic building retrofit, as well as a breadth of traditional construction skills such as insulation and electrical. The sector needs a combination of upskilling and new recruits to meet the demand induced by new infrastructure projects, the 1.5 million houses target and ongoing steady-state demand.

As set out in Skills England’s first report, the Construction Industry Training Board (sponsored by but independent of government) forecast that, before any new projects had been factored in, 252,000 extra workers were needed between 2024 to 2028 across the UK. Also as mentioned in report, construction is one of the sectors where upskilling is required to enable workers to use new technology, particularly as pertains to retrofit and green building methods.

The construction sector faces some acute skills and workforce shortages. According to the department’s 2022 Employer Skills Survey, which is the latest available data, construction was the industry with the highest proportion of vacancies due to skills shortages. Roughly a third of construction occupations are in high demand (6% in 'critical demand' by Standard Occupational Classification Code). These include quantity surveyors, groundworkers and crane drivers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-18 conversation_7

Lord Mackinlay of Richborough:To ask His Majesty's Government, in respect of the Student Loan Company’s loan book of pre-Brexit qualifying loans to EU, EEA and EFTA students, of those loans, how many and to what total value (1) have been permanently written off; and (2) are currently deemed non-performing. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: EU students are required to repay their UK government student loans on the same terms as UK citizens, whether resident in the UK or overseas.

In respect of EU, European Economic Area (EEA) and European Free Trade Association students with pre-Brexit qualifying loans that have been permanently written off, the total count of students is 21,914. The vast majority of the 21,914 total count of write-offs can be attributed to automated trivial balance write-offs. Trivial balance write-offs occur if there is a positive or negative balance on an account of £25 or less and no contact can be established with the borrower. The total amount written off is £3,929,619.45. As repayments are income contingent, neither the department nor the Office of National Statistics have a recognised definition for a 'non-performing’ student loan.

This data has been supplied by the Student Loans Company. The data is for EU and EEA domiciled borrowers eligible for tuition fee support only. The data includes student loan accounts for the 2020/21 academic year and earlier. EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals stopped being eligible for UK student loans for courses starting in the 2021/22 academic year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-18 conversation_8

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to invite the Equality and Human Rights Commission to review the rights implications of the Information Commissioner's Office regulatory record; and if not, why not. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: Although DSIT acts as the ICO’s sponsor within government, it is an independent regulator and accountable to Parliament in how it carries out its duties.

The Data (Use and Access) Bill, which was introduced in the House of Commons on Thursday 6 February, introduces a new governance structure for the ICO – including a new statutory board - to bring it into line with regulatory best practice. The Bill also seeks to introduce new reporting requirements on the ICO, including annual metrics on its investigations, their outcomes and use of its powers. This will bring greater transparency and accountability.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-18 conversation_9
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-18 conversation_9

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how the AI Cyber Security Code of Practice will help businesses use AI responsibly; and how they will encourage businesses to adopt the Code of Practice. \p Lord Vallance of Balham: As part of the Government’s efforts to ensure technologies can be used safely, the Code of Practice was published and will be used to create a global standard in the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Addressing AI cyber risks will help businesses harness AI benefits. The updated Code, informed by a risk assessment, literature reviews, an enterprise survey, Call for Views feedback, and NCSC’s Guidelines for Secure AI Development, includes an implementation guide with detailed actions and AI use case examples. DSIT will engage with industry to understand how to support businesses in adopting the future standard.