theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-03 conversation_6

Lord Meston:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increase in the number of teenagers with 'child in need' status in England over the past decade and the drivers of this trend. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Information on the numbers of children in need (CIN) in England is published in the statistics release 'Children in need' in England, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-in-need/2024. The data shows that the number of CIN aged between 10 and 15 has increased over the last 10 years, but has remained stable since 2018. The number of CIN aged 16 and over has increased gradually over time from 70,680 (18% of all CIN) at 31 March 2014 to 106,780 (27% of all CIN) at 31 March 2024.

The drivers of activity in children's social care analysis highlights an increase in factors affecting teenagers in the care system, which may contribute to an increase in teenagers entering care. The analysis can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1080111/Drivers_of_Activity_in_Children_s_Social_Care.pdf.

Challenges like this are why, as part of our Plan for Change, the government is investing over £2 billion over the course of this parliament to provide more help for families and better protection for children through the Families First Partnership programme.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Lord Meston:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that early help and family support services are equipped to meet the increasing needs of teenagers identified as children in need. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Through the Families First Partnership programme, backed by over £2 billion of funding between 2025/26 and 2028/29, the government is rolling out reforms to Family Help to ensure that all children, including teenagers, and their families, can access the right targeted support at the earliest opportunity.

In Family Help, multi-disciplinary teams will be embedded into the hearts of communities, providing access to a range of professionals and services tailored to local needs, including youth services. Where appropriate, youth workers can function as lead practitioners, being responsible for building relationships with, and coordinating support for, teenagers who need it.

To date, we have seen examples of local areas establishing specialist Family Help teams focused on contextual safeguarding, some of which bring together social workers and youth workers to support young people at risk of harm or experiencing exploitation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Lord Hampton:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that supported lodgings are fully integrated into the new Regional Care Cooperatives, and recognised as a core part of local sufficiency planning for older children in care and care leavers. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Regional Care Cooperatives will plan and commission all placements for looked-after children in the region, including placements for older children in care.

The Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations ensure that supported lodgings schemes are now registered and regulated by Ofsted, and must meet the supported accommodation standards to operate legally. This enables supported lodging to form part of local sufficiency planning for older children and care leavers.

Local authorities and Regional Care Cooperatives can therefore identify where registered provision exists and commission supported lodgings with the added level of quality assurance that regulation provides via registration and regular inspection.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Baroness Bull:To ask His Majesty's Government why educational psychologists are not required to learn about dyscalculia as part of their training, but they are required to learn about dyslexia. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Educational psychologists play a critical role in the support available to children and young people, including those with special educational needs and disabilities. That is why we are already investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists over two cohorts, starting their studies in 2024 and 2025. This is in addition to the £10 million currently being invested in the training of over 200 educational psychologists who began their training in September 2023.

The Educational Psychology Funded Training scheme is a three-year doctorate programme delivered by universities on behalf of the department. The courses are approved by the Health and Care Professions Council and accredited by the British Psychological Society, who set programme content requirements. The curriculum includes 'individual differences in Maths difficulties', which we expect would cover conditions such as dyscalculia.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Baroness Coussins:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the impact on teaching and learning of modern foreign languages of the decision to withdraw funding from state schools for the International Baccalaureate. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: All institutions will still be able offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) and receive normal funding per student supported by this government’s very significant investment into 16 to 19 education.

The base rate of funding per student has increased to £5,105 in the 2025/26 academic year, up over 5% on last year. However, to make this funding work hard, we have announced that from 2026/27 we will focus large programme uplift (LPU) funding, which is on top of the base funding, on those large programmes which include mathematics, further mathematics and other high value A levels. Other programmes, such as the IB, will no longer attract this uplift.

The department is giving transitional protection funding in the 2026/27 academic year so, for institutions that will lose a significant amount of LPU, the reduction will be spread over two years.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Lord Black of Brentwood:To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of state-funded schools had no applications for (1) GCSE music, and (2) A level music, in 2024. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The department does not hold information regarding the number of applications for individual subjects. However, the number of entries into each subject in each school and college can be downloaded from the Compare School and College Performance website: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/download-data.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Lord Black of Brentwood:To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have received about the impact on the UK's creative economy of the proposal to introduce a levy on fees that higher education institutions charge overseas students, set out in the White Paper Restoring Control over the Immigration System, published on 12 May (CP 1326). \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The international student levy will fund the reintroduction of targeted maintenance grants for disadvantaged students to break down the barriers to opportunity through the department’s Plan for Change.

We will set out further details on the international student levy and targeted means-tested maintenance grants at the Autumn Budget.

We are committed to engaging the sector on the design of the international student levy and want to understand specific concerns providers have as early as possible.

We have received representations from a group of specialist institutions regarding the impact of the levy on the creative industry, to which the government replied on 13 October.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Lord Blunkett:To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they have given to the leadership of Barnsley College in respect of the proposed merger with the Northern College on (1) retaining the ethos and mission of the Northern College, (2) having a senior leader of the Northern College sufficiently incorporated into the Barnsley College leadership team, and (3) governance arrangements which respect the history and special identity of the Northern College. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The department has worked with Northern College over a number of years following the college entering Formal Intervention in April 2021. The proposed merger with Barnsley College has seen a continuation of this work alongside both Northern College and Barnsley College’s Corporation Boards to progress the merger proposals. Negotiations are progressing as planned between the parties with a key aim of sustaining the Northern College ethos and mission at the heart of these plans. Future organisational structures are currently being worked through between the two Boards with a meeting planned at Northern College later this month, where Barnsley College’s Corporation Board Chair and College CEO will join the Northern College Board to discuss the post-merger vision for learning delivery at Northern College. It will be for both College Boards to agree who from the current Northern College Board joins the Barnsley College Corporation Board from 1 March 2026 to provide assurance that the history and special identity of Northern College continues.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Baroness Alexander of Cleveden:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase skills and employment support for people receiving sickness benefits. \p Baroness Sherlock: Long-term sickness continues to be the most common reason for economic inactivity among the working age population. Good work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched last November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate.

Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.

Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care, WorkWell and NHS Health and Growth Accelerators.

It is also recognised that employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. To build on this, the DWP and DHSC Joint Work & Health Directorate (JWHD) is facilitating “Keep Britain Working”, an independent review of the role of UK employers in reducing health-related inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. The lead reviewer, Sir Charlie Mayfield, is expected to bring forward recommendations in Autumn 2025.

Additionally, the JWHD has developed a digital information service for employers, continues to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme, and continues to increase access to Occupational Health.

In our March Green Paper, we set out our Pathways to Work Guarantee. We will build towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and those with health conditions on out of work benefits.

The NHS 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, stated our intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to respond to the concerns of the UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders about the treatment of environmental defenders in the UK. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The UK Government takes its obligations under the Aarhus Convention seriously and remains committed to engaging constructively with its mechanisms, including the rapid response mechanism and the work of the Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Convention.

The UK has responded to the Special Rapporteur. These responses are publicly available on the website of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Viscount Stansgate:To ask His Majesty's Government which minister is responsible for issues involving light pollution. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Minister Hardy holds responsibility for issues involving light pollution.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Baroness Northover:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental impact of exporting aluminium scrap to Asia, compared to recycling it domestically; what implications that exporting has for the UK’s circular economy objectives; and what steps they are taking to protect the UK’s aluminium recycling industry from increasing exports of aluminium scrap to Asia. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Overseas facilities receiving UK waste must be operated in accordance with standards that are broadly equivalent to those established in UK legislation.

Defra is committed to building a circular economy that enhances industry competition and capitalises on the UK’s potential in aluminium processing, whilst realising our environmental objectives. We recognise that export markets can complement domestic reprocessing to ensure more of our waste is recycled, but we are keen to ensure there is a level playing field for UK reprocessors.

This includes working with the UK regulators to ensure the proper enforcement of our rules and regulations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Baroness Young of Old Scone:To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the European Commission in the past year to review the implementation of Article 391 of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement on non-regression from levels of environmental protection. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Government meets annually with the European Commission, through the Trade Specialised Committee on Level Playing Field for Open and Fair Competition and Sustainable Development, to discuss the implementation of the Level Playing Field chapter of the EU-EK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, within which Article 391 sits. This year’s meeting of the Trade Specialised Committee was held on 15th October.

The Government, along with Devolved Governments and the UK’s environmental governance bodies, also met with the European Commission under Article 395 on 10th February. This article seeks to facilitate cooperation on the effective monitoring and enforcement of environment and climate law, including our TCA commitments.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of micronutrient deficiencies in the English diet, including minerals; and what discussions they have had, or plan to have, with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board about consideration of the nutritional quality of varieties in the recommended lists for cereals and oilseeds, with regard to micronutrients. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Department of Health and Social Care’s National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) provides information on dietary intakes of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and blood markers of nutritional status for adults and children. The UK Scientific Advisory Committee for Nutrition has conducted risk assessments on the adequacy of specific micronutrients in the UK diet and made recommendations.

Defra's genetic improvement network initiative supports breeding research which identifies beneficial genetic traits to improve productivity, sustainability and resilience of UK crops including wheat varieties and oilseed rape. No research has been undertaken on micronutrients.

Defra engages regularly with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) on a range of agricultural matters. However, these discussions have not included the consideration of micronutrient content in relation to the Recommended List of cereal and oilseed varieties.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Lord Bradshaw:To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the buses purchased with government assistance under the Bus Service Improvement Plans are purchased from (1) UK manufacturers, and (2) China. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The Department for Transport provides funding to local transport authorities (LTAs) to support the delivery of their Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs). Decisions on how this funding is used to improve services for passengers are for local authorities to make. The majority of projects delivered by LTAs using capital BSIP funding are used on bus infrastructure, such as bus priority schemes. The Department does not track the manufacturers of buses procured using BSIP funding.

The Government is committed to ensuring the UK remains a leader in bus manufacturing, and earlier this year launched the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel. The Panel brings together industry experts and local leaders to achieve three key objectives of supporting growth in UK bus manufacturing, developing a pipeline of future bus orders and prioritising passenger-centric bus design.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Lord Harper:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have undertaken an assessment of the economic and employment impact on the UK aviation sector arising from the absence of mutual recognition arrangements with the European Union. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: The Government has been clear that it will work to reset the relationship with Europe, to strengthen ties and tackle barriers to trade. Agreements on UK-EU licensing and maintenance organisation recognition must be established through the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and agreed by the UK-EU Specialised Committee on Aviation Safety. The agenda is being agreed with the EU Commission and will be published in advance of the Specialised Committee on Aviation Safety. The Government is aware of the economic and employment impacts following EU exit, including on personnel licensing and maintenance organisation approvals, and will continue to seek expansions to the Aviation Safety Chapter of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement where appropriate.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Lord Berkeley:To ask His Majesty's Government what is the status of the proposed public service obligation grant for a Newquay to London air service, which companies have submitted bids, and when they expect a decision to award. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: Cornwall Council are running a tender exercise for an operator for the Public Service Obligation air service between Newquay and London to commence on 1st November 2025. The Department has no role in the assessment of bids received, nor on timescales for making the decision to award the contract.

When a decision has been made by Cornwall Council, it will submit a funding request to the Department which will then assess its value for money before deciding whether to provide funding for the air service.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Lord Harper:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure a level playing field for UK airlines and aviation businesses under current and future air services arrangements with EU member states. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: Following the UK’s departure from the European Union (EU), air services arrangements between the United Kingdom (UK) and EU Member States have been governed by the Air Transport chapter of the UK-EU Trade and Corporation Agreement (the TCA). The TCA was negotiated in 2020 and provisions within the Air Transport chapter ensure fair and equal opportunities to access the market for both UK and EU carriers. The Department for Transport engages regularly with the UK aviation industry to understand any market access issues and provide support where necessary.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Lord Naseby:To ask His Majesty's Government what incentives are available for UK businesses to produce net-zero air fuel. \p Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill: Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is one of the key measures required to achieve net zero emissions from aviation by 2050. SAF reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its lifecycle production and use when compared to conventional kerosene.

We are encouraging the production, development, and use of SAF in the UK in three main ways:

1) We are building demand through the SAF Mandate, which came into place in January this year and sets targets for the supply of an increasing amount of SAF in the overall UK aviation fuel mix. Under the SAF Mandate, eligible SAF is required to meet a reduction of 40% GHG savings and fuels are rewarded in proportion to their GHG savings.

2) The Advanced Fuels Fund aims to grow the UK supply of SAF by supporting first-of-a-kind SAF production plants through the project pipeline to reach investment ready stage and achieve commercial scale. £63m has been allocated across 17 UK projects for this financial year. The Spending Review 2025 will continue support for the production of SAF in the UK to 2029/30. DfT will provide details on the parameters of this support in due course.

3) We are helping to derisk SAF projects and support investment by legislating to introduce a revenue certainty mechanism. The SAF Bill was introduced at the House of Commons on 14 May 2025 and passed Report Stage and Third Reading on 15 October.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Baroness Alexander of Cleveden:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of the recent state visit by the President of the United States of America on business in the UK, in particular in Scotland. \p Lord Stockwood: The historic state visit by President Trump demonstrated the unique depth, breadth, and importance of the UK-US relationship.

Businesses across the UK are set to benefit from over £150 billion of inward investment announced during the visit – the largest amount ever linked to a visit of this kind.

Businesses across Scotland are set to benefit from major new investments announced during the state visit, including a £1.5 billion commitment from CoreWeave to boost data centre capacity, which will include them partnering with DataVita in Lanarkshire to build one of Europe’s largest, most efficient AI data centres and significant expansion plans from BlackRock in Edinburgh nearly doubling their workforce to 1400. These investments will support jobs, innovation, and long-term growth in Scotland and across the UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Lord Weir of Ballyholme:To ask His Majesty's Government what engagement they have had directly with companies in Northern Ireland to ensure they are directly represented in trade negotiations between the UK and Israel. \p Lord Stockwood: The UK Government is responsible for negotiating international trade agreements on behalf of all the nations and regions in the UK.

This Government, however, suspended trade negotiations with Israel on 20th May, owing to the actions of this Israeli Government in Gaza and the West Bank.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Baroness Hodgson of Abinger:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to appoint a special envoy on arbitrary detentions. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: We are committed to strengthening our support for British Nationals overseas, and we will come forward with further details soon.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Baroness Hodgson of Abinger:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made representations to the government of Myanmar about reported airstrikes in the Kachin and Karenni states, and whether they plan to sanction those responsible for atrocity crimes. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The UK strongly condemns the Myanmar military's use of airstrikes on civilian infrastructure, including schools, hospitals and places of worship. On 13 May, the former Minister for Indo-Pacific called for all parties, particularly the Myanmar military, to refrain from airstrikes, safeguard civilians, and protect civilian infrastructure. Earlier this month, our Head of Mission in Yangon raised concerns over the use of airstrikes against civilians with the Myanmar military regime. Since 2021, the UK Government has enacted 19 sanctions packages, including 10 individual sanctions targeting the import of aviation fuel into Myanmar. It would not be appropriate to speculate about potential future sanctions designations as to do so could reduce their impact.

Since the military coup in Myanmar, the UK has provided over £190 million in life-saving humanitarian assistance, emergency healthcare and education support, and work to support civil society and local communities. In response to the earthquake in March 2025, we provided £25 million of life-saving support to those affected. We remain committed to supporting civil society, advocating for the release of those arbitrarily detained, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and working with international partners for accountability. The UK has provided £900,000 to the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar since 2021 and established the Myanmar Witness program to collect evidence of human rights violations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Baroness Hodgson of Abinger:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will call for an emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly to address Myanmar. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The UK continues to lead efforts at the United Nations to keep Myanmar on the International agenda. In its penholder role, the UK convened six UN Security Council (UNSC) meetings in 2024, including the first open meeting in five years focused on the Rohingya. In 2025, three Council meetings have already been held, alongside a UNSC Joint Press Statement on the Myanmar earthquake. The UK has also co-sponsored multiple Human Rights Council resolutions, most recently in April 2025, condemning ongoing human rights violations against the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the humanitarian situation in Myanmar following the earthquake on 28 March, the continuing conflict, and the cuts in US and other international aid; and what action they are taking to respond to the humanitarian needs in that country. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The UK has committed £25 million in life-saving support for people affected by the earthquake in Myanmar. In the six months since the earthquake, UK-funded assistance including lifesaving aid, has reached over one million people, 56 per cent of whom are women and girls, and 154 clinics have been set up with UK funding. Overcoming challenges regarding humanitarian access, the UK continues to deliver aid to the hardest hit areas, directing over 65 per cent of the funding to local organisations on the ground in Myanmar. The UK will continue to support Myanmar with official development assistance (ODA) in the current financial year 2025 to 2026 set to be over £80 million.
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Baroness Hodgson of Abinger:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to encourage the international community to ensure that the forthcoming elections in Myanmar will be free and fair. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: We continue to support the aspirations of the people of Myanmar for a peaceful, democratic future. Any meaningful election needs to be accompanied by an end to violence, a resumption of dialogue among all parties concerned, and it must also address the urgent need to allow access for humanitarian assistance, to end human rights violations, and reverse the collapse of public services. We will continue to engage international partners, including ASEAN and at the UN Security Council, on the challenges facing people in Myanmar.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

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Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to provide financial and technical support to the National Unity Government, ethnic minorities and civil society in Myanmar, including on international human rights law and standards and other governance-related matters. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The UK continues to engage with a range of opposition stakeholders, including the National Unity Government, Myanmar diaspora, and civil society organisations. UK Aid supports civil society efforts to promote peace and stability in Myanmar, with over 65 per cent of funding directed to local organisations, including faith and education groups. The UK will continue to provide support on justice, accountability, Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB) and capacity building on human rights and governance.
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Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the environmental situation in Myanmar on human rights in that country; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the demand for rare earths from Myanmar on the conflict and human rights and humanitarian crisis in that country. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The UK is concerned by reports of "in-situ leaching" of rare earths in Myanmar, which is associated with considerable environmental damage locally and further afield as leaching chemicals enter river systems. Reports of forced displacement around mining operations are equally concerning. All actors in Myanmar have a responsibility to respect human rights, including by protecting the environment. Our Overseas Business Risk Guidance makes clear that UK businesses procuring natural resources in Myanmar should conduct thorough supply chain due diligence to ensure that their intended activities do not contravene sanctions prohibitions and restrictions and that they are not supporting the military or its associated businesses. The UK has sanctioned a number of State Owned Entities involved in extractive industries in Myanmar including Myanmar Mining Enterprise 1 and 2 and the Myanmar Timber Enterprise.
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Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle:To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the potential benefits of the Commonwealth officially recognising Palestine as a state, and what consideration they have given to Palestine joining the Commonwealth as a member. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: All new applications for Commonwealth membership are considered on their merits, and decided by consensus by all member states.
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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of their partnership with the World Bank on the position of the City of London as a global financial centre. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The UK works closely with the World Bank (WB) to strengthen the position of the City of London as a global financial centre. The World Bank Group has 70 staff members in London, which is one of three International Finance Corporation (IFC) Treasury Hubs.

IFC, WB's private sector arm, has an active committed investment portfolio of over $5.2 billion with UK businesses. The UK is the largest investor country for the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), with an exposure of $7.4 billion.

The City is also a centre of innovation. For example, last month, with support from the UK, the IFC sold $500 billion of assets on the London Stock Exchange in a breakthrough transaction which will create a new asset class for UK and international investors.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-03 conversation_36

Lord Hayward:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to carry out voting system trials in the May 2026 local elections; and if so, which voting systems they will trial, and in which local authorities those trials will take place. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The Government committed in its manifesto to encourage greater participation in democracy. To support this, the Government is exploring ways to make voting in person more efficient, more convenient, and better aligned with the expectations of today’s electors.

Local authorities were invited to submit applications to pilot a range of flexible voting methods at the May 2026 elections in England, and these are being considered for approval.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-03 conversation_37

Baroness Eaton:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to incentivise housing developers to speed up to allow local authorities to adopt new housing estates. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: I refer the Noble Lady to the answer given to question UIN 81305 on 24 October 2025.

UIN 81305 (pdf, 82.1KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-03 conversation_38

Baroness Redfern:To ask His Majesty's Government in which cases work on new estates being built on flood plains has been held up by a lack of inspection partners. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: Local authorities are best placed to determine in their Local Plan whether building on flood plains is suitable, as this is a complex issue that involves balancing development needs with environmental and safety concerns.

The government is strengthening the planning system to reduce flood risk in new developments. Updates to the National Planning Policy Framework require sustainable drainage systems in all developments and reinforce the use of the sequential test to avoid high-risk areas.

We are also improving flood risk assessment tools and aligning planning guidance with the Flood Ready Action Plan to embed resilience early in the planning process.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-03 conversation_39

Lord Patten:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 22 October (HL10990), whether "the settings of Heritage Assets" may include views from a distance, and whether the word "assets" by definition alone includes a setting. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The ‘setting of a heritage asset’ is defined in the glossary of the National Planning Policy Framework. National planning policy seeks to protect the significance of a heritage asset which is defined as deriving not only from a heritage asset’s physical presence, but also from its setting.

National Planning Policy Framework (pdf, 658.4KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-03 conversation_40

Baroness Eaton:To ask His Majesty's Government how many local authorities will not be able to deliver a five-year housing land supply in their local plan following the decision to increase mandatory housing targets, and which local authorities will not be able to deliver that supply. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The National Planning Policy Frameworks sets out that local authorities should identify and update annually a five-year housing land supply (5YHLS) of deliverable housing sites (with appropriate buffer) for decision making. We have restored this test to safeguard the delivery of homes.

While the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) may be aware of an authority’s 5YHLS position at the time of a specific appeal, this position is not static. It may change over time due to annual updates or as a result of subsequent planning appeal decisions. As such, my Department does not collect live data on the 5YHLS status of individual local planning authorities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-03 conversation_41

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the response to the call for evidence on options to bring the UK into compliance with its obligation under the access to justice provision of the Aarhus Convention, in particular with regard to environmental claims being "prohibitively expensive". \p Baroness Levitt: The United Kingdom Government is committed to the effective implementation of all of its international obligations including those under the Aarhus Convention.

The Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services wrote to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee on 29 May 2025, setting out the approach we plan to take over the coming years to bring England and Wales into compliance with the access to justice provisions in article 9 of the Aarhus Convention. The Minister of Justice for Northern Ireland also shared a letter with the Committee on 30 May 2025, setting out her plans for Northern Ireland to reach compliance with these provisions. Both letters can be found on the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s website.

Our approach to England and Wales was informed by the Call for Evidence we conducted between 30 September 2024 and 9 December 2024. Our full response to that Call for Evidence will be published in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-03 conversation_42

Lord Moraes:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to respond to the Domestic Abuse Commissioner's report, Everyday business: Addressing domestic abuse and continuing harm through a family court review and reporting mechanism, published on 14 October. \p Baroness Levitt: The Government recognises the impact family court proceedings can have on children and adult survivors of domestic abuse, which is why we are prioritising the protection of abuse survivors going through the family court. This includes the expansion of the Pathfinder programme, which promotes safeguarding and supports victims of domestic abuse through early multi-agency collaboration and expert domestic abuse support.

The family court also has a range of powers to protect victims. These include prohibiting the cross-examination of domestic abuse survivors by their abusers and automatically deeming survivors eligible for special measures, such as giving evidence via video link or from behind a screen. Additionally, Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs) and Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs) can attend court to provide support throughout proceedings.

The Government welcomes the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report. We are carefully considering the recommendations and will publish a full response in due course.

On 22 October we announced that, as part of the wider package of family court reforms, we will repeal the presumption of parental involvement. Alongside this announcement, we have published the Review of the Presumption of Parental Involvement and the accompanying reports from the three commissioned research projects.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-03 conversation_43

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the export potential of the UK hydrogen and fuel cell technology sector by 2030, and what steps they are taking to support UK access into international markets. \p Lord Wilson of Sedgefield: UK companies are at the forefront of the clean energy transition, and are already exporting their innovative technologies and world-renowned services to projects across the globe.

We are working hard to ensure UK hydrogen and fuel cell companies continue to capitalise on the opportunities of the global clean energy transition, and to access high value opportunities in international markets.

This includes working to remove trade barriers, as well as championing our world-leading hydrogen companies overseas.

We are also working with international governments to unlock opportunities in established and emerging markets, establishing international partnerships to support UK commercial collaborations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-03 conversation_44

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the strength of UK supply chains for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, and what plans they have to reduce the UK’s reliance on overseas imports of hydrogen technologies for taxpayer-funded hydrogen projects. \p Lord Wilson of Sedgefield: The UK is optimally positioned to develop a thriving hydrogen economy, with many UK companies at the forefront of hydrogen technology advancement.

The Government announced a public finance offer for clean energy industries to crowd private investment into sustainable UK supply chains. This includes: a £1bn Clean Energy supply chain fund; £5.8bn for the National Wealth Fund to invest across this Parliament in clean industries including low-carbon hydrogen; and a £4bn British Business Bank Industrial Strategy Growth Capital initiative.

We will also work with projects to deliver events connecting developers and suppliers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-03 conversation_45

Lord Carrington:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the availability of qualified tradespeople to meet proposals for the energy efficiency requirements of private rented housing. \p Lord Wilson of Sedgefield: Government recently consulted on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. The consultation included proposals for rented homes to achieve Energy Performance Certificate C or equivalent by 2030 and was accompanied by the Department’s options assessment. A government response to the consultation and further impact assessment will be published in due course. The Government’s Warm Homes Plan will also include further initiatives to facilitate the creation of high quality, well-paid, and future proofed jobs in the retrofit sector.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-03 conversation_46

Lord Carrington:To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are introducing to improve accountability, transparency and consumer protection in publicly funded energy efficiency schemes, in the light of the National Audit Office report Energy efficiency installations under the Energy Company Obligation, published on 14 October (HC 1334). \p Lord Wilson of Sedgefield: The Government has taken decisive action to protect consumers, including:

The Department will also be offering an on-site audit to all households that received external wall insulation under ECO4 and GBIS. Where issues are found, remediation will be at no cost to the consumer, with installers responsible for repairs.

The Department is conducting a comprehensive overhaul of the consumer protection system, with reforms to be outlined in the Warm Homes Plan.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-03 conversation_47

Lord Carrington:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to strengthen oversight and governance in future energy efficiency programmes. \p Lord Wilson of Sedgefield: The Government has taken decisive action to protect consumers, strengthen oversight and standards, including:

Further improvements will be outlined in the Warm Homes Plan.