theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Lord Krebs:To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Statement by Baroness Merron on 22 May (HLWS662), whether the commitment by advertisers and broadcasters to implement the advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink in October 2025 is based on the February 2024 proposed guidance from the Advertising Standards Authority, or the updated guidance discussed in the consultation update on 13 January. \p Baroness Merron: The Government is committed to implementing advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on television and online, as part of its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever. These restrictions are expected to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from United Kingdom children’s diets per year and deliver £2 billion in health benefits.

The Government received representations from a range of stakeholders in response to the Advertising Standards Authority's (ASA) revised implementation guidance and prior to the written statement on 22 May announcing a revised approach to implementing the advertising restrictions. This included written correspondence from the food and drink industry and the advertising industry, however, representations did not reference legal action against the Government or the ASA. We listened carefully to the concerns raised by all stakeholders and worked with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to find a successful resolution.

The resolution was agreed on the basis that advertisers and broadcasters, with the support of online platforms and publishers, have made a unique and public commitment to comply with the restrictions as though they would still come into force from 1 October 2025. The consistent position of the Government is that brand advertising is not in scope of the advertising restrictions, and this was clearly understood by Parliament during the passage of the Health and Care Bill. We have engaged with industry stakeholders and understand that businesses are using the implementation guidance the ASA consulted on between December 2023 and February 2024 as a guide to comply with the restrictions.

Ofcom was appointed as the statutory regulator for the advertising restrictions, and this was set out in primary legislation via the Health and Care Act 2022. Following consultation, Ofcom appointed the ASA as the frontline regulator. The ASA is required by law to consult my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on its non-statutory implementation guidance ahead of publication.
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Lord Laming:To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to address the fact that 34 per cent of children in care moved home at least once during their GCSE or A level years, as estimated by the charity Become in their recent report Moving during exams: the instability crisis affecting children in care. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: We are committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any transitions well-planned and supported. Where a change to a child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their personal education plan should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.

The government is introducing measures, including through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to rebalance the market, improve regulation and commissioning of placements, and bring greater visibility to the prices local authorities are paying. This includes a focus on addressing the barriers that prevent homes from being established where they are needed.

Through our Plan for Change, we are also investing £2 billion over this Parliament to give more children a safe, loving home, including expanding the children’s home estate, delivering more foster care placements and helping keep families together by providing targeted support before problems escalate.

These measures will provide greater placement availability, stability and ensure that, where it is in a child's best interests, they are placed closer to home.
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Baroness Redfern:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that mental health support is available in all primary and secondary schools. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to high and rising standards in schools and breaking down barriers to opportunity, helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education.

The government will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs), so every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. By April 2026, the department estimates that 60% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England will be covered by an MHST, up from 52% in April 2025.

The government will also recruit 8,500 mental health staff to treat children and adults, and open new Young Futures Hubs with access to mental health support.

To support education staff, the department provides a range of guidance and practical resources on promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing, such as a resource hub for mental health leads and a toolkit to help schools choose evidence-based early support for pupils.
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Lord Patten:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the use of artificial intelligence leads to cheating in university examinations. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Cheating of any kind is unacceptable. It threatens to undermine the reputation of our world-class higher education (HE) sector and devalues the hard work of those who succeed on their own merit.

Universities are independent and autonomous bodies responsible for decisions such as admissions, diversity of provision, course content, teaching and assessment. As such, they are responsible for designing and implementing their own policies and approaches to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and for taking steps to detect and prevent any form of academic misconduct by students, including the misuse of AI, as set out in the Office for Students’ (OfS) regulatory framework.

The experience and expertise of the sector is contributing to the department’s evidence base for how generative AI is used in education. In January 2024, the department published research entitled ‘Generative AI in education: Educator and expert views’ containing insights from interviews with teachers and experts in HE and the education technology industry. The full research paper is attached and also available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b8cd41b5cb6e000d8bb74e/DfE_GenAI_in_education_-_Educator_and_expert_views_report.pdf.

The OfS set out its approach to the use of AI in HE in a recent blog post entitled ‘Embracing innovation in higher education: our approach to artificial intelligence’. The full blog post is available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-and-events/blog/embracing-innovation-in-higher-education-our-approach-to-artificial-intelligence/.

HL8601 attachment (pdf, 610.7KB)
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Lord Patten:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether self-identification as neurodivergent leads cheating in university examinations. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The department does not have evidence to suggest that university students are using self-declaration of neurodiversity to cheat or gain unneeded leniency in exams or assessments.

Universities provide support for neurodiverse students to ensure they have equal opportunities to succeed. This includes reasonable adjustments such as extra time in exams or alternative assessment methods.

To receive this type of support, students typically need to provide evidence of their neurodivergence and how it would impair their ability to complete certain activities. This process helps ensure that only those who genuinely need support receive it.

Universities are increasingly aware of the need to support neurodiverse students appropriately. This includes training staff to recognise and support students with neurodiverse conditions. The focus is on providing fair and necessary support to students who need it.
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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of learning through play in the early years. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards and requirements that all early years providers must follow to ensure every child has the best start in life and is prepared for school. The EYFS is clear that children learn through play and that play is essential for children’s development. For example, singing songs helps to develop language comprehension, vocabulary, self-expression and literacy. Practitioners should carefully organise enabling environments and cultures for high-quality play and are encouraged to create games and provide opportunity for play both indoors and outdoors.

‘The Children of the 2020s’ study is part of the department’s programme of research that will improve our understanding of children’s progress throughout key phases of learning and education and aid future policy development. The study follows more than 8,500 families and their babies, born in England between September and November 2021. The first wave of data published in 2023 showed that more than half of primary caregivers engaged in physical or turn-taking play, singing, pretend games and noisy play with their babies several times a day. These activities were linked to improved early language development. The second wave of data is due to be published in the autumn, and we will assess that to consider how we shape future policy for early education, including anything it tells us about learning through play.
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Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of promoting a culture of reading for pleasure in the home learning environment on the development of early years and school-age children. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The government recognises the significant benefits of promoting a culture of reading for pleasure in the home learning environment. Reading for pleasure supports the development of early language, literacy and cognitive skills, and is strongly associated with improved educational outcomes and emotional wellbeing. Through our national campaign ‘Little Moments Together’ we encourage parents and carers to chat, play and read with their children, helping to foster a love of books and stories from the earliest years. This complements our wider investment of £10.7 million in home learning environment services through Family Hubs, which provides families with the tools and support to create language-rich, nurturing settings. These efforts are part of our broader ambition, set out in the Plan for Change, to ensure every child has the best start in life and develops strong foundations for lifelong learning and success.
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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government what role they see for early intervention in early years education (1) during a child’s first 1001 days, and (2) below the age of 6 years. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: There is strong evidence that the 1,001 days from conception to the age of two set the foundations for cognitive, emotional, and physical development. Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, families are supported during this period and beyond. Focusing on early years is a preventative measure to improve the outcomes of children of all ages. Family Hubs provide thousands of families access to the support they need to help give their child the best start in life, which includes support with infant feeding, parent-infant relationships, perinatal mental health, parenting, early language development and the home learning environment.

On 11 June, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, set out plans for spending and public sector reforms through the Spending Review 2025. This announcement confirmed departmental budgets for 2026/27 onwards and committed that the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, working with parents to help give children the best start in life. This builds upon my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change, published in December 2024, which outlined the ambition to give children the best start in life by strengthening and joining up family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood.
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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of promoting a culture of reading for pleasure at home on the development of children in (1) the early years, (2) school-age children. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The government recognises the wide-ranging benefits of promoting a culture of reading for pleasure at home, both in the early years and throughout a child’s school life. Reading for pleasure supports the development of early language, literacy, and cognitive skills, and is associated with improved educational attainment and emotional wellbeing. In the early years, shared reading helps build secure attachments and supports communication and confidence. For school-age children, it reinforces comprehension, vocabulary, and a lifelong engagement with learning.

In 2025/26, we are investing £10.7 million in home learning environment services through Family Hubs to help parents create language-rich, nurturing settings that support early communication and confidence. Our Little Moments Together campaign encourages parents to chat, play and read with their children, simple, everyday actions that help foster a love of books and stories. These efforts are part of our wider ambition under the Plan for Change, which includes a national target for 75% of children to achieve a Good Level of Development by 2028. By supporting families to embed reading into daily routines, we are helping to lay strong foundations for children’s development and long term success.
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Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton:To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to widen the participation of girls in sport in secondary schools. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The government is committed to breaking down the barriers to accessing sport and physical activity for children and young people, including girls. Our manifesto set out our intention to support more children to be active by protecting time for physical education (PE) in schools and working across government to support the role grassroots clubs play in expanding access to sport and physical activity.

On 19 June, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced next steps for the future of PE and sport in schools. As part of our mission-led approach and Plan for Change, the government will co-design PE and School Sport Partnership networks. We are looking to develop and build strong partnerships between schools, national governing bodies, local organisations and clubs. The planned model will look to strengthen and broaden partnership-based support with the aim to increase equal access for children to high quality PE and extracurricular sport.

Schools are also supported to increase girls’ engagement in sport through programmes delivered by sector organisations, such as the Football Association’s ‘Barclays Girls’ Football School Partnerships’ programme and Sport England’s online Studio You programme.
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Baroness Redfern:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to establish family hubs to ensure adequate literacy skills across the country. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The government is committed to improving early literacy and ensuring children have the best start in life. Strong early foundations are essential for school readiness and long-term educational success. That is why we are focused on strengthening the home learning environment and supporting families from pregnancy through the early years, as part of our wider ambition under the Plan for Change. This includes the national target for 75% of children to achieve a Good Level of Development by 2028.

Family Hubs are central to this ambition, providing joined-up support for families across health, education and early years services.

In 2025/26, we are investing £10.7 million in home learning environment services through Family Hubs to help parents create language-rich, nurturing settings that support early communication and confidence.

On 11 June, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed that the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme as part of the Spending Review 2025. Through our ‘Little Moments Together’ campaign and partnerships with the voluntary sector, we continue to support parents to chat, play and read with their children, simple, everyday actions that make a lasting difference to early literacy and school readiness.
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Lord Kamall:To ask His Majesty's Government, following the announcement of the end of international recruitment of social care workers, what plans they have to train British residents, in particular those who are unemployed, to become part of the social care workforce through (1) Skills England, and (2) other ring-fenced funding programmes. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Skills England, and its predecessor the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE), has worked with employers to develop apprenticeships covering a range of occupations in the care services sector. These are designed to enable an individual to acquire full competence in an occupation whilst undertaking paid work and provide a progression route in the sector. These products are available for both public and private sector employers to use, with funding to support the training from the Growth and Skills Levy.

In addition, a Health and Social Care foundation apprenticeship has been developed and will be available for delivery from autumn this year. This is specifically aimed at young people who are not yet ready for work, and will provide the individual with a mix of employability and sectoral skills designed to provide a good grounding for a career in the health or adult social care sector.

To support the awareness of careers in adult social care, the National Careers Service, a free, government funded careers information, advice and guidance service, uses a range of labour market information to support and guide individuals. The Service website gives customers access to a range of digital tools and resources, including ‘Explore Careers’ which includes more than 130 industry areas and more than 800 job profiles including a range of construction and health and social care roles, describing what the roles entail, qualifications needed and entry routes.
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Baroness Altmann:To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Debt Management Office and the Bank of England about the impact of quantitative tightening gilt sales on insurance company sales of gilts following bulk annuity transactions. \p Lord Livermore: The Government consults primary dealers and gilt investors regularly to understand their needs, taking that feedback into account when designing the gilt financing programme. The gilt market is deep and liquid and enjoys strong demand from a well-diversified investor base.

Historically, we have seen changes in demand patterns from across the investor base. Overall demand has however remained resilient throughout these periods of changing investor patterns as a result of our policy of supporting a strong and diversified market.

In carrying out quantitative tightening, the Bank of England is liaising with the Debt Management Office to ensure that its gilt sales minimise disruption to market functioning.
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Lord Mackinlay of Richborough:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the functionality of HMRC’s online personal tax accounts to include Making Tax Digital requirements from April 2026. \p Lord Livermore: Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax will be rolled out from 2026 to simplify the process by which self-employed individuals and landlords make their annual tax returns. It will also reduce error and help to ensure self-employed individuals and landlords pay the right amount of tax. This in turn will help tackle the tax gap and generate an expected £1.95 billion of additional tax revenue by 2029-30 to fund vital public services.

Businesses that currently use MTD for VAT have reported several benefits including time savings, increased tax confidence, greater accuracy, and improved business operations in comparison to manual processes. Extending MTD for Income Tax will extend these benefits to a further 2.75 million self-employed individuals and landlords

MTD for Income Tax will require users to keep electronic tax records, submit quarterly updates of income and expenditure and submit a Tax Return. Users will need to complete these steps using commercial software. The government is not building functionality to allow MTD users to complete these steps on their online Personal or Business Tax Accounts. However, MTD users will be able to see details of information submitted within software through their Personal or Business Tax Accounts. This includes information about their quarterly updates and estimated tax liability.

The government has worked with the software industry to ensure there are free and low-cost software options available, alongside a wider range of software choices to suit varying needs and budgets. The use of software offers more flexible and tailored ways for users to manage their tax affairs compared to HMRC’s online services.
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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce the level of value added tax applied to repairs and renovations on churches, historic buildings and residential homes. \p Lord Livermore: To stimulate the construction of new homes, the Government currently maintains a zero rate of VAT on new-build residential buildings. Additionally, residential renovations are subject to a reduced rate of VAT of five per cent if they meet certain conditions. These include conversions of buildings from one residential use to another, conversions from commercial to residential use, and the renovation of properties that have been empty for two or more years.

To preserve heritage, restorative work carried out on listed buildings previously benefited from a zero rate of VAT. However, this relief was abolished in 2012, as it was primarily used to carry out extension work unnecessary for heritage purposes. Withdrawing this relief simplified VAT rules and also removed the scope for error when categorising construction work as either alteration or repair.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport also administer a Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. This provides grants towards VAT paid on repairs and maintenance to the nation's listed places of worship.
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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the adoption of artificial intelligence by business on economic growth. \p Lord Livermore: The IMF estimates the adoption of AI across the economy could boost productivity by up to 1.5 percentage points a year, if we embrace it fully and safely.

The Technology Adoption review, an evidence review used to inform our Industrial Strategy, also found that AI was consistently raised by stakeholders across all sectors as the technology that could drive efficiency and growth, and the review identified the barriers limiting uptake of AI.

That is why the Government has committed to fully funding the AI Opportunities Action Plan, including adoption and skills packages that raise industry awareness of AI and ensure businesses across the growth-driving sectors address AI skills shortages.
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Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 18 June (HL8163), what steps they are taking to ensure that Mastercard provides details of the compensation scheme in an effective and timely way. \p Lord Livermore: In May, the Competition Appeal Tribunal approved a settlement which would allow consumers to claim compensation in relation to historical card fees. This is a settlement between those claimants that brought the case and Mastercard, in which government is not involved.
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Lord Birt:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of economic data for 2023 issued by the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development showing that GDP per person in Germany was 15 per cent greater than in the United Kingdom, and that GDP per hour worked was 20 per cent greater; and whether they have identified any reasons for these disparities. \p Lord Livermore: As was the case in many advanced economies, the UK experienced a slowdown in productivity growth following the Global Financial Crisis, but this was sharper than for our peers.

HM Treasury published analysis at the Budget in October 2024 [1] , showing that under the previous government UK productivity growth fell to the second slowest in the G7 – lower than France, Germany and the US. This is also reflected in national data collated by the IMF and the OECD.

The UK’s productivity gap with Germany is largely explained by lower levels of capital per worker and weaker total factor productivity.

Increasing productivity is vital in driving economic growth and improving the living standards of working people. That is why growth is the priority mission of this government and why we continue to take steps to boost productivity.

This includes increasing the capital envelope by over £100 billion at Autumn Budget 2024 and a further £13 billion at Spring Statement. Additional capacity announced at Spending Review 2025 and the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy has allowed the government to increase the capacity of Public Financial Institutions by around 60% this Parliament, to £153 billion. We are also removing barriers to investment through ambitious planning reforms, and championing growth-enhancing sectors through our modern Industrial Strategy.

[1] Box 1.A UK growth performance since the GFC - Autumn Budget 2024 – HC 295
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Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown:To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of high net worth individuals who have left the UK since the Autumn Budget 2024. \p Lord Livermore: Taxpayers are not always required to inform HM Revenue and Customs when they leave the UK. Some taxpayers outside of Self Assessment might file a P85 form after leaving the UK, but only where they are seeking to claim a repayment of income tax.

Taxpayers in Self Assessment can indicate that they have become non-resident after leaving the UK, but tax returns for the 2024 to 2025 and the 2025 to 2026 tax years are not due to be received by HMRC until 31 January of 2026 and 2027 respectively.

HMRC does not produce statistics on high-net-worth individuals, but does, however, produce statistics on a subset of these individuals in the Non-domiciled taxpayers in the UK statistical release.[1]

[1] The latest release of the Non-domiciled taxpayers in the UK statistics can be found here for the 2022/23 tax year: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-non-domiciled-taxpayers-in-the-uk/statistical-commentary-on-non-domiciled-taxpayers-in-the-uk--2
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Lord Blunkett:To ask His Majesty's Government what taxes are payable on immigration fees paid by employers on behalf of employees and their dependents, and whether they plan to review the level of such taxes. \p Lord Livermore: If an employer pays for certain immigration fees on behalf of prospective or current employees, these costs could be liable to Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions for the employee as earnings or a benefit-in-kind.

Whether tax is payable will depend on individual circumstances as tax exemptions may apply. For this reason, each circumstance will need to be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The Government has no plans to change the tax treatment of immigration fees. However, all taxes are kept under review as part of the tax policymaking process.
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Lord Clement-Jones:To ask His Majesty's Government whether alternative suppliers are being considered in the re-tendering of the Trader Support Service, and whether they will take into account the risk profile of Fujitsu in those considerations. \p Lord Livermore: HMRC follow standard government procurement rules and keep the performance and conduct of all their suppliers under review. All of HMRC’s contract opportunities are publicly available through Contracts Finder and Find-a-Tender Service. Contract opportunities are available to any economic operator that is able to meet the requirements of the procurement in compliance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 or The Procurement Regulations 2024, as applicable.
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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment method in the UK; and whether they plan to further regulate the use of those currencies. \p Lord Livermore: The Government believes that cryptoassets, specifically stablecoins, have the potential to play a significant role in UK payments. The Government’s view is that action to bring UK-issued stablecoins into scope of payments regulation is best done alongside broader planned reforms to payments legislation. The Government intends to bring forward legislation delivering a comprehensive national regulatory framework for cryptoassets by the end of this year and is engaging with industry on draft legislation.
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Lord Clement-Jones:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the propriety of awarding the Trader Support Service contract to a company that is under public scrutiny as part of the Post Office Horizon scandal. \p Lord Livermore: As a public contracting authority, HMRC follow government procurement rules when awarding contracts, ensuring value for money for taxpayers. The Trader Support Services contract was procured in compliance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Existing service delivery is managed robustly by contract management teams in compliance with this legislation and to ensure that the requirements of UK traders are met under the Windsor Framework. HMRC keep the performance and conduct of all their suppliers under review.
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Lord Dodds of Duncairn:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to exempt hospitality businesses from the business rates surcharge as part of a review of support for high street sectors. \p Lord Livermore: We are creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street and supports investment.

To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values below £500,000 from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that RHL businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support.

This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we intend to apply a higher multiplier from 2026-27 on the most valuable properties - those with rateable values of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but cover the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants. The final design of the new higher multiplier, including the rate, will be set at Budget 2025.
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Lord Wigley:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to review the pension provisions of the former workforce of Allied Steel and Wire; and what assessment they have made of the impact of inflation on those pensions. \p Baroness Sherlock: The Minister for Pensions has heard how members have been affected by aspects of the Financial Assistance Scheme, including issue of the indexation of pre-1997 pension accruals and we are committed to consider what we have heard on these matters.
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UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-08 conversation_56

Lord Cameron of Lochiel:To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to energy companies to expedite smart meter installations as part of the phased Radio Teleswitch Service shutdown. \p Lord Wilson of Sedgefield: Ofgem and industry have convened a taskforce on the Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) involving all major energy suppliers, which the Government attends. This is working with key stakeholders to urgently ramp up efforts to replace the remaining RTS meters in Great Britain.

The Minister for Energy Consumers is meeting with Energy UK and Ofgem on a fortnightly basis to discuss progress, with a particular focus on Scotland and remote and rural areas.

The Government is clear that suppliers must fulfil all their legal obligations to their customers and will work with Ofgem to hold suppliers to account.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-08 conversation_57

Lord Cameron of Lochiel:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide compensation to households who are unable to switch from a Radio Teleswitch Service meter to a smart meter and consequently lose access to power. \p Lord Wilson of Sedgefield: As RTS meters typically control heating and hot water on a separate circuit to a premises' electricity, consumers should not be at risk of losing their electricity supply.

There are now technical solutions available to allow the replacement of all RTS meters.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-08 conversation_58

Lord Cameron of Lochiel:To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to assist (1) residential properties, (2) business properties, in island communities in Scotland who are yet to switch over from Radio Teleswitch Service meters to smart meters. \p Lord Wilson of Sedgefield: DESNZ has stepped in to ensure there will be a managed and more controlled start of the Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) phase out from 30 June. People with an RTS meter will not face any unexpected disruption to their heating or hot water when the phase out begins.

The RTS Taskforce, which is attended by Government, has agreed that resources should be targeted towards regional hotspots, such as Scotland, with a high number of RTS meters and it is leading work to ensure suppliers have sufficient installer capacity to replace RTS meters in residential and business premises across GB.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-08 conversation_59

Lord Cameron of Lochiel:To ask His Majesty's Government on what dates the shutdown of the Radio Teleswitch Service will be completed, broken down by area. \p Lord Wilson of Sedgefield: The RTS signal will be switched off in carefully targeted local areas, where suppliers are ready to respond quickly in case of any issues, starting from 30 June.

Industry’s phase out plan will be flexible and subject to change, as suppliers must demonstrate to Ofgem and Government that they are sufficiently prepared before they can proceed. Households will be contacted by their energy suppliers to inform them well ahead of time of any phase out activity in their area. Ofgem will also contact local authorities to inform them of planned activity in their area ahead of any switch off.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-08 conversation_60

Lord Cameron of Lochiel:To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) residential, and (2) business, properties have a Radio Teleswitch Service meter in Scotland, broken down by local authority area. \p Lord Wilson of Sedgefield: The Department does not hold local authority level data on RTS meters in residences or businesses. Ofgem data shows that as of 30 May, 105,879 RTS meters remain in premises in Scotland.

Energy suppliers have contacted all premises with RTS meters and Ofgem is encouraging customers to book an appointment to ensure they are provided with a replacement meter as soon as possible.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-08 conversation_61

Viscount Camrose:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that software services provided to UK public sector bodies by companies based in the jurisdiction of hostile state actors cannot be accessed by those hostile state actors. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: The government takes data security very seriously and has taken appropriate action to mitigate hostile state actors providing or accessing the software services being used by the public sector. The National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) requires public sector contracting authorities to mitigate any potential risk from hostile states by addressing national security risk in all procurements.

The Procurement Act 2023 introduces powers to exclude a supplier from a specific procurement, terminate a public contract with a supplier, or debar a supplier from all, or a range of, public contracts. Ministers may exercise this power should they deem there to be a threat to national security.

Contracting authorities should follow Government Security Group (GSG)’s guidance on Tackling Security Risk in Government Supply Chains, as well as supply chain guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and National Protective Security Authority (NPSA).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-08 conversation_62

Lord Clement-Jones:To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the development of sovereign digital capabilities when procuring government digital services. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: The Government’s blueprint for modern digital government published in January sets out a coordination approach to strengthening procurement of digital capabilities across the public sector, making use of governments' scale to unlock greater value and procure in a way that drives creation of responsible, inclusive and secure technologies.

While each department is responsible for creation of their own requirements and making procurement decisions based on their specific needs, the Government Digital Service will continue to support departments through guidance such as the Technology Code of Practice.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-08 conversation_63

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to attract academics from overseas to settle in the UK. \p Lord Vallance of Balham: The Immigration White Paper reaffirms the government’s commitment to attracting top talent by simplifying the Global Talent visa and increasing the number of people arriving on high talent routes. The government has launched a new £54 million Global Talent Fund to bring around 10 leading researchers and their teams to the UK and invested £25 million in new Turing AI ‘Global’ fellowships. In addition, £150 million and £250 million endowment funding was allocated respectively in 2023/24 for the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Green Future Fellowships and the Royal Society’s Faraday Discovery Fellowships.

A new Global Talent Taskforce has been announced to attract exceptional talent into our Industrial Strategy sectors.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-08 conversation_64

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to attract people with skills in artificial intelligence from overseas to settle in the UK. \p Lord Vallance of Balham: As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, the Government is committed to making the UK a global hub for AI talent.

We recently announced over £115 million of investment to attract world-leading research talent to the UK, strengthening our position as an AI superpower. This includes the £54 million Global Talent Fund, the proposed expansion of ARIA and Pillar VC’s Encode fellowship, and the launch of a Global Talent Taskforce to identify and support top international researchers to work and settle in the UK.

These initiatives complement Turing AI ‘Global’ Fellowships and Spärck AI scholarships announced earlier this month, which will attract world-leading academics and students to the UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-08 conversation_65

Lord Clement-Jones:To ask His Majesty's Government what priority they will give to the development of sovereign digital capabilities, excluding artificial intelligence, under their new industrial strategy. \p Lord Vallance of Balham: The Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy commits to supporting the digital and technologies sector as a high growth industry. As part of the Digital and Technologies Sector Plan we have prioritised six frontier technologies with the greatest growth potential and strategic importance. The Sector Plan commits to grow domestic capabilities in these technologies, including through programmes to boost our semiconductor chip design capability, targeted R&D investment in advanced connectivity technologies and a ten-year funding commitment for the National Quantum Computing Centre. We will develop a domestic skills base in these technologies through a new £187 million TechFirst programme to grow the UK’s digital talent pipeline.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-08 conversation_66

Lord Clement-Jones:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications for their use of Microsoft products of Microsoft's decision to suspend the email account of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: We are aware of media reports that Microsoft may have blocked the email account of Karim Khan, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), in compliance with US sanctions imposed by the Trump administration. It is our understanding that Microsoft has strongly denied this action, it would therefore be inappropriate for us to comment further at this point in time, other than to note that we constantly keep our commercial relationships under review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-07-08 conversation_67

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce a glass bottle deposit return scheme. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for single-use plastic and metal drinks containers in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland will launch in October 2027, which will drive our efforts to stop litter filling up our streets, rivers and oceans.

In England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, glass is not in scope of the scheme.

Glass drinks containers across the UK are included in the scope of the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging scheme, to make sure it is appropriately and efficiently recycled.