theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-06 conversation_61
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-06 conversation_61

Baroness Boycott:To ask His Majesty's Government, for each of the most recent five years for which data are available, what was the total amount of public expenditure that has been allocated to companies or charities for the purposes of (1) anaerobic digestion and (2) redistributing surplus food for human consumption. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Over the last 7 years, the department has spent approximately £13 million of funding on supported redistribution organisations across the country.

This year, under the new Government, Defra announced £15 million to ensure that farm produce that would often go to waste or be eaten by animals is provided to a network of food banks. This helps the department reach its zero waste targets and ensures that the country's most vulnerable people have a ready supply of healthy food that is grown by British farmers.

WRAP Gate Fees Report (pdf, 1559.7KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-06 conversation_62

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to update the Feral Wild Boar Action Plan published in 2008. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: While we have never had an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in the UK, the overall risk of an incursion of ASF is currently assessed to be medium (the event occurs regularly) and we continue to prepare for a possible outbreak. Defra’s approach to ASF is set out in the Disease control strategy for African and Classical Swine Fever in Great Britain (copy attached) and considers the latest scientific evidence and veterinary advice, including the role of feral pigs and wild boar.

Preventing an outbreak of ASF in the UK is one of Defra’s key biosecurity priorities. Current policy reflects our experience of responding to past outbreaks of exotic animal disease and is in line with international standards of best practice for disease control. To ensure this approach is reflected in our control and mitigation strategies, Defra are undertaking a review of both the England Wildlife Health Strategy, which provides a policy framework within which Defra is able to develop and make policy decisions in relation to wildlife disease management supported by the Contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases of animals in England, and the feral wild boar action plan in relation to exotic disease control.

Defra works closely with Forestry England to actively monitor and control the population of feral wild boar in the Forest of Dean and prevent the establishment of populations in other areas managed by Forestry England. Annual assessments of the size and structure of the Forest of Dean wild boar population and progress to control the population are available on the Forestry England website. Outside of these areas primary responsibility for wild boar management lies with local communities and individual landowners. Defra work closely with stakeholder organisations to ensure communities, local authorities and landowners have access to guidance and information where needed to control populations and mitigate the impact of feral wild boar in their areas. Advice and further information on licensing and legislation relating wildlife management is available on GOV.UK (copy attached).

Defra encourages all pig keepers and members of the public to be vigilant and help protect our pig sector and wildlife from the threat of ASF. Found dead feral wild boar in England should be reported to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (see attachment), and sightings of live wild boar can be made through the Mammal Societies Mammal Tracker app or directly through the National Biodiversity Network.

disease control strategy (pdf, 2079.6KB)

wildlife licencing  (pdf, 245.4KB)

Spotting/ reporting ASF (pdf, 295.6KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

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Baroness Gale:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that any veterinary agreement concluded with the European Union will not undermine the United Kingdom's existing animal welfare protections or limit the ability of the United Kingdom to introduce new animal welfare protections, including on imports, in the future. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: This Government is committed to resetting relations between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU). As part of this, the government is seeking to negotiate a veterinary/ sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement to boost trade and deliver benefits to businesses and consumers on both sides. The UK and EU are like-minded partners with similarly high standards.

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. That is exactly what the Government will do, and we will be outlining more detail in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

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Lord Roborough:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier payments to farmers are being delayed from December 2024 to mid-2025; what is the reason for any delay; and what assessment they have made of the impact on farmers’ finances. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: There are no delays to payment for existing Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier customers. Since 1 December we have paid around 14,000 customers with both Mid-Tier and Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship agreements, the revenue payment total around £151 million.

More information about the timing and content of the new expanded Higher Tier scheme will be published later in December.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-06 conversation_65

Lord Swire:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to combat littering. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Littering is a crime that blights communities and the environment. Local authorities already have a range of powers to tackle littering including the ability to issue fixed penalty notices of up to £500. They must spend the income from these penalties on enforcement or clean up.

This Government is committed to delivering the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers in October 2027, as agreed with the devolved Governments of the UK, and in accordance with the Joint Policy Statement published in April 2024. It is estimated that DRS could lead to an 85% reduction in litter of in-scope items.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-06 conversation_66

The Earl of Lytton:To ask His Majesty's Government how many residential mortgages were handled by or on behalf of UK Asset Resolution in each 12-month period beginning with 1 July 2017; for each period what were (1) the number of compulsory repossessions and sales of underlying security; (2) the average surplus or shortfall realised upon sale of a security as a percentage of the stated mortgage acquisition cost; (3) the number of mortgagors against whom action was initiated after a sale to recover a shortfall in proceeds; and (4) the average administrative costs charged to mortgagors in respect of the combined property repossession, forced sale, and debt recovery processes. \p Lord Livermore: UK Asset Resolution (UKAR) sold its former subsidiaries (Bradford and Bingley and NRAM, formerly part of Northern Rock) and the remaining mortgage assets of those subsidiaries in 2021. As a result neither UKAR nor HM Treasury can directly access the relevant account level data that is required to answer these questions. This data is owned by UKAR’s former subsidiaries.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-06 conversation_67

Viscount Waverley:To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer is planning to visit China in early 2025, and what level of priority they are giving to developing a relationship with China built on trade and investment. \p Lord Livermore: A strong UK-China relationship is important for both countries, and investment and growth are priorities for this government. China is one of our biggest trading partners and therefore it is important to have serious, pragmatic discussions with its leaders, cooperating where we can, competing when needed and challenging where we must.

The Prime Minister met President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit in November and agreed that the Chancellor should visit Beijing in 2025 to discuss economic and financial cooperation with her counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng. Ministerial travel will be confirmed in the usual way.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-06 conversation_68

The Lord Bishop of St Albans:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to reform the process for appointing the Financial Conduct Authority's senior leadership and to introduce Parliamentary oversight of the appointment of its Chair. \p Lord Livermore: The Government appoints the Chair, Chief Executive and Non-Executive Directors of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and has no plans to reform the process for appointing the FCA’s senior leadership.

The Government and Parliament already have numerous mechanisms for holding the FCA to account and assessing its performance and effectiveness. This includes the requirement for the FCA to produce Annual Reports, and to notify relevant parliamentary committees of relevant consultations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-06 conversation_69

The Lord Bishop of St Albans:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendation from the APPG for Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services to establish a Financial Regulators’ Supervisory Council and to conduct periodic reviews of the operational effectiveness of the Financial Conduct Authority. \p Lord Livermore: The Government has noted the APPG’s report. Whilst the Government recognises the difficulties faced by those who have lost out, many of the issues explored in the report have already been reviewed, and the FCA has made significant changes as a result.

The Government agrees that the FCA must continue to learn from these experiences and ensure that it is securing an appropriate degree of consumer protection - building on the work delivered through its Transformation Programme.

The Government has no plans to establish a Financial Regulators Supervisory Council.

The Government and Parliament already have numerous mechanisms for holding the FCA to account and assessing its performance and effectiveness. This includes the requirement for the FCA to produce Annual Reports, and to notify relevant parliamentary committees of relevant consultations.

Senior representatives of the FCA also make regular appearances before parliamentary committees, where its performance and operational effectiveness are scrutinised.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-01-06 conversation_70

Lord Wigley:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to discuss with the Welsh Government the full implications of the proposed rises to National Insurance contributions which the Welsh Government will be responsible for implementing in the financial year 2025–26 and the timeframe; and what proportion of the additional payments which the Welsh Government as an employer will be required to make will be covered by additional funding from the Treasury. \p Lord Livermore: HM Treasury continues to engage closely with finance counterparts in the Welsh Government.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor provided funding to the public sector to support them with the additional cost associated with changes to Employer National Insurance Contributions.

The Welsh Government will receive funding through the Barnett Formula in 2025-26 for any changes to UK Government department budgets, including support for Employer National Insurance Contributions. This is the normal operation of the funding arrangements as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.

This funding will be in addition to the Welsh Government’s record Spending Review settlement for 2025-26, which is the largest in real terms of any settlements since devolution.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

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Baroness Deech:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to give consideration to the options for reform set out by the Law Commission in its scoping report Financial remedies on divorce and dissolution (HC 460), published on 17 December. \p Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: The Government is grateful to the Law Commission for its work on this important and complex area. We will carefully consider the details and will provide a response in due course.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-06 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-06 conversation_1

Baroness Altmann:To ask His Majesty's Government what latest estimate they have made of the cost per year of (1) tax relief, and (2) National Insurance relief, on new pension contributions unions. \p Lord Livermore: Estimates of Income Tax relief on pension contributions can be found online in Table 6 of the Private Pension Statistics publication. [1] Estimates of the cost per year of Income Tax and National Insurance contribution relief, broken down by type of pension, can be found in Tables 6.1 and 6.2 of the publication respectively.

Table 6 summary: Estimated cost of pension Income Tax and National Insurance contribution (NIC) relief

Estimated cost of pension Income Tax and NICs relief

2023 to 2024 tax year [provisional]

Total pension Income Tax relief

54,200

- of which contributed to a defined benefit scheme

24,100

- of which contributed to a defined contribution scheme

30,000

Total pension National Insurance Contributions (NICs) relief

24,000

- of which contributed to a defined benefit scheme

11,800

- of which contributed to a defined contribution scheme

12,100

Total pension Income Tax and NICs relief (gross of tax charges)

78,200

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-and-stakeholder-pensions-statistics
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-06 conversation_2
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-06 conversation_2

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the impact of charging National Insurance to limited liability partnerships on the number of such firms relocating abroad or restructuring as companies. \p Lord Livermore: The Government does not comment on tax speculation outside of fiscal events. The Chancellor will set out the Government’s fiscal plans at the forthcoming Budget.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to incorporate the recent fall in government borrowing costs into fiscal planning. \p Lord Livermore: The Government sets fiscal policy on the basis of independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts. The Chancellor commissioned an updated forecast to accompany the Budget on 26 November.

The government’s fiscal strategy, as set out at the Budget in October 2024 and the Spring Statement earlier this year, put the public finances on a sustainable path while prioritising investment to support long-term growth. At the upcoming Budget, we will continue to deliver that strategy, including by meeting the fiscal rules.

This is the responsible choice – to live within our means, reduce the amount we spend on debt interest, protect public services and support the Bank of England to get inflation down.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-06 conversation_4

Lord Wigley:To ask His Majesty's Government what amount of interest was paid on the UK national debt for each financial year since, and including, 2015–16. \p Lord Livermore: The requested information is in the table below and publicly available in the Office for National Statistics’ Public Sector Finances bulletin for September 2025. [1]

Time period

Current expenditure, of which Interest (£ million)

Apr 2015 to Mar 2016

46,360

Apr 2016 to Mar 2017

49,922

Apr 2017 to Mar 2018

56,162

Apr 2018 to Mar 2019

50,134

Apr 2019 to Mar 2020

50,266

Apr 2020 to Mar 2021

41,012

Apr 2021 to Mar 2022

70,892

Apr 2022 to Mar 2023

108,063

Apr 2023 to Mar 2024

83,213

Apr 2024 to Mar 2025

85,402

The government is committed to its non-negotiable fiscal rules, to reduce debt and borrowing. This is the responsible choice – to live within our means, reduce our levels of borrowing in the years ahead and support the Bank of England to get inflation down, so we can deliver on the promises of working people, spend less on servicing debt and reduce the burden on future generations.

[1] Please see Appendix A, table PSA6B part 2, second column (Series NMFX). This series denotes Central Government debt interest payable. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/datasets/publicsectorfinancesappendixatables110
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-06 conversation_5

Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee:To ask His Majesty's Government whether UK aid supporting education in Pakistan ensures that the content delivered meets UNESCO standards of peace, tolerance, and equality, including towards minorities, and women and girls. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: Our education programmes in Pakistan focus on marginalised communities and set ambitious targets for reaching girls and religious minorities, including through: improvements in teaching quality, inclusion, and system reform, which contribute to curriculum development that is aligned with international best practice. All programmes are subject to due diligence and safeguarding and materials are reviewed for equity across gender, ability, ethnicity, and religion before being shared with government counterparts.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

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Baroness Warsi:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the government of Israel's support for and association with far-right activists in the United Kingdom, and of the impact on community relations in the United Kingdom. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: The Government's priority is to support and promote community cohesion across the UK, working closely with local authorities, devolved administrations, voluntary and community sector and faith organisations, and other government departments.

The government's new £2.87 million Common Ground Resilience Fund is supporting community connection and cohesion in England by funding locally led interventions to build community resilience. Furthermore, MHCLG is co-ordinating cross-Government efforts to develop a longer-term, more strategic approach to social cohesion - working in partnership with stakeholders to rebuild, renew and address deep-seated issues.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-06 conversation_7

Baroness Smith of Llanfaes:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to regulate, and mandate independent testing of, period products following recent reports of harmful chemicals and heavy metals being found in such products. \p Baroness Lloyd of Effra: Period products are already regulated under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 which require that only safe products, in their normal or reasonably foreseeable use, are placed on the market. There are obligations on producers and distributors to, where reasonable, sample test products to check safety. The Government employs a risk-based approach to product testing, targeting categories with a high potential for danger and do not test period products. We have no plans to independently test them.

However, during the passage of the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025, the Government committed to consult on period product safety, and as part of this Officials are also reviewing the need for any further research and testing for harmful chemicals and heavy metals in period products to complement the consultation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

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Lord Harper:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 23 October (HL Deb col 945), whether the potential security threat posed by the proposed location of the Chinese Embassy is a material planning consideration; and whether the information used to assess that security threat will be published in full when the planning decision is made. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The full reasons for the decision will be set out in the final decision letter. All inquiry documents for this case are publicly available on Tower Hamlets website here . Post-inquiry representations will be listed in the decision letter and will be available on request.

Tower Hamlets  (pdf, 172.0KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-06 conversation_9

Lord Mott:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the data on which they based the decision to withdraw funding for Anglian Water's waste water treatment plant relocation. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The cost to government of relocating the Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant with funding from the Housing Infrastructure Fund had increased from £277m to over £700m. This was unaffordable within the programme budget, and a decision was made, in line with standard Housing Infrastructure Fund processes, to withdraw the funding.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-06 conversation_10

Baroness Eaton:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of removing the statutory requirement to consult local authorities as part of the pre-application stage for nationally significant infrastructure projects, and the impact of removing that statutory requirement on local authorities securing community benefit. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: Replacing the statutory requirement to consult on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) will give applicants and local authorities greater flexibility to engage in a more proportionate way. The Government has designed its policy to ensure local authorities can continue to play an important role in the NSIP regime. Applicants will be required by law to notify local authorities of their schemes. Local authorities will also be able to continue to provide Local Impact Reports to the Examining Authority and the Secretary of State outlining the impacts of a scheme on their area. The Government has also committed to extending the power for local authorities to recover costs from applicants for their advice. A consultation seeking views on how to achieve this closed on 28 October. Community benefits are typically secured through legally binding development consent obligations (DC obligations), which remain enforceable regardless of changes to consultation requirements.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

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Baroness Maclean of Redditch:To ask His Majesty's Government what resources they are making available to support training and resourcing for artificial intelligence and large language models in planning departments for the purpose of (1) assessing good design, and (2) boosting productivity in those departments and local authorities. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The government is committed to building more high-quality, well-designed, and sustainable homes and places. There is a clear framework through policy and guidance on how to achieve well-designed places in plan making and decision making, and the principles of good design are set out in national design guidance. We will be publishing updated guidance in due course. We are also exploring the role of digital tools to support local planning authorities to deliver good design through the planning system.

We support the responsible integration of AI across local government operations and services to reduce costs, drive efficiencies and improve service outcomes.

My department is working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) Incubator for AI (i.AI) to deliver the ‘Extract’ product, which uses AI to transform planning information and maps from PDFs into data. This will unlock data, which can be made available on planning.data.gov.uk, to power innovation, analysis and new types of planning software. We intend to make this product available for all local authorities in England during 2026. We are developing Extract to make it as intuitive as possible to all users, to encourage greater adoption. As a vital part of our commitment to developing AI-enabled products responsibly, we are also identifying and meeting the need for AI literacy and training among users in local planning authorities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-06 conversation_12

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that construction of AI data centres is compatible with energy infrastructure capacity and statutory environmental targets. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires local planning authorities to plan for growth sustainably, taking account of infrastructure needs and environmental impacts. It also ensures planning decisions contribute to meeting statutory environmental targets, including by preventing unacceptable pollution and protecting local environments. Planning authorities must also consider water and wastewater capacity, with the cross-government Water Delivery Taskforce helping to ensure infrastructure keeps pace with growth.

Subject to draft Regulations that are currently before Parliament being in place, environmental impacts, including energy and water impacts will be assessed as part of the overall consideration and determination of data centre projects that have been directed to proceed through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects consenting process.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will further streamline consenting while maintaining strong environmental safeguards.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-06 conversation_14

Lord Scriven:To ask His Majesty's Government what measures are used by NHS England or the Department of Health and Social Care to measure improvements to health for people with learning disabilities directly linked to the Core20PLUS5 programme. \p Baroness Merron: The Core20PLUS5 is a national approach to inform action to reduce healthcare inequalities at a system level. The approach defines a target population, the Core20PLUS, and five clinical areas to focus on that require accelerated improvement. PLUS population groups should be identified at a local level. NHS England expects to see learning disability identified as a priority cohort.

The Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme has worked closely with NHS England’s clinical programmes to develop and embed indicators which enable the monitoring of the access, experience, and outcomes for Core20PLUS populations, and this includes people with a learning disability. The Core20PLUS5 indicator for learning disability is the Percentage of patients aged 14+ on GP learning disability registers who received an annual health check.

NHS England has published a Statement on Information on Health Inequalities which sets out the data that integrated care boards (ICBs) are expected to collect. This includes that ICBs should publish in their 2023/24 and 2024/25 annual reports relating to learning disability annual health checks and adult mental health inpatient rates for people with a learning disability and autistic people. Within these annual reports, it is expected that ICBs should explain how the information has been used to guide action.

In addition, each ICB must have an executive lead for learning disability and autism who will support the board in addressing health inequalities, supporting equal access to care across all health services, and improving overall health outcomes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

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Lord Scriven:To ask His Majesty's Government why a contract worth £8 million for IT consultancy is required to support the abolition of NHS England and the transfer of many of its functions to the Department of Health and Social Care. \p Baroness Merron: We inherited two head offices for the National Health Service, one for NHS England and one for the Department of Health and Social Care, and with two organisations comes two sets of corporate IT systems.

This two-year contract will maximise efficiency and boost productivity by designing and integrating the Department and NHS England’s corporate IT functions to create one single system following the merger.

All Government contracts are robustly assessed to ensure they deliver value for the taxpayer.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-11-06 conversation_16

Lord Lebedev:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support and fund the development of the bionics and advanced prosthetics industry, including through companies such as Open Bionics, and to ensure the wider adoption and availability of those technologies through public health services. \p Baroness Merron: The Government support the bionics and advanced prosthetics industry by funding end-to-end innovation, from early-stage research and development to clinical trials and evidence generation, via Innovate UK and the National Institute of Health and Social Care Research (NIHR).

Through NIHR, the Department funds innovative research through multiple programmes and broader infrastructure investments. The NIHR supports a range of projects developing next-generation bionic and prosthetic technologies. NIHR-funded initiatives include: the Starworks Child Prosthetics Network; the Rebel Hand Project, which is developing smart prosthetic hands for children; the Virtual Reality Prosthetics Training System; and the Brain Injury Sensory Prosthetic, which is using augmented reality for vision rehabilitation. These examples illustrate the broad support for innovation in bionics and advanced prosthetic development.

The Government is committed to ensuring that patients have access to high-quality prosthetics while supporting British innovation in healthcare technology. The NHS Supply Chain plays a vital role in supporting our health service, delivering significant value, and thereby ensuring more resources are directed to frontline patient care.

The NHS Supply Chain’s Prosthetics, Components and Associated Products Framework is due to launch on 24 November 2025 to replace the Artificial Limbs Framework. The new framework will offer over 95,000 products to provide clinical choice in order to meet patient need. The full product range, which encompasses bionics and advanced prosthetics along with repair componentry, will be made available from 12 compliant suppliers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-06)

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Lord Ravensdale:To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they have considered in addition to the installation of heat pumps to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from domestic hot water and heating systems. \p Lord Wilson of Sedgefield: Decarbonising heating is one of the biggest challenges facing the UK getting to Net Zero by 2050. A range of technologies are likely to be required including heat pumps, heat networks and biomethane. As part of the Government's ambitious Warm Homes Plan, we will upgrade up to 5 million homes across the country by accelerating the installation of efficient new technologies like heat pumps, solar, home batteries and insulation. We will publish more details soon.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-12 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-12 conversation_1

Lord Wasserman:To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average number of requirements attached to a community order given to a woman sentenced in the Intensive Supervision Court in Birmingham since June 2023. \p Lord Timpson: Since the launch of the Birmingham Intensive Supervision Court in June 2023 through to the end of February 2025, the average number of requirements attached to a community order under the Birmingham Women’s Intensive Supervision Court has been three requirements per order.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-12 conversation_2

Lord Wasserman:To ask His Majesty's Government how many women sentenced in the Intensive Supervision Court in Birmingham received a community order with (1) a drug rehabilitation requirement, (2) a mental health treatment requirement, (3) an alcohol treatment requirement, (4) an unpaid work requirement, and (5) a curfew requirement, since June 2023. \p Lord Timpson: Since the launch of the Birmingham Intensive Supervision Court in June 2023 through to the end of February 2025, a total of 77 women have been sentenced to a community order. The breakdown of the attached requirements are as follows:

(1) a drug rehabilitation requirement – 38 (49%)

(2) a mental health treatment requirement – 62 (81%)

(3) an alcohol treatment requirement – 17 (22%)

(4) an unpaid work requirement – less that 5 (less than 6%)

(5) a curfew requirement – less than 5 (less than 6%)

Note: counts of less than 5 have been suppressed for privacy reasons.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-12 conversation_3

Lord Wasserman:To ask His Majesty's Government how many women have been sentenced in the Intensive Supervision Court in Birmingham since June 2023; and how many received (1) community orders, and (2) suspended sentence orders. \p Lord Timpson: Since the launch of the Birmingham Intensive Supervision Court in June 2023 through to February 2025, 96 women have been sentenced under the Birmingham Intensive Supervision Court. 77 women (80%) were sentenced to a Community Order and 19 women (20%) were sentenced to a Suspended Sentence Order.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-12 conversation_4

Baroness Smith of Llanfaes:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede on 24 April (HL6663), what religious and non-religious groups they are aware of that wish to conduct legally recognised marriages in England and Wales and are unable to do so. \p Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: I refer the Noble Lady to the answer I gave on 24 April to question HL6663. The Law Commission concluded in its 2022 report on weddings law that there are a number of inconsistencies and complexities within the current legal framework for weddings. Examples given by the Law Commission include the fact that Jewish and Quaker weddings may take place in any location, whereas weddings conducted by other religious groups (save the Church of England), including Muslims, Hindus and Catholics, must take place in a registered building.

The Law Commission therefore recommended a scheme that could place all weddings on a level playing field.

Given the points raised by the Law Commission, it is right that we take the time to consider the issues. We will set out our position on weddings reform in the coming months.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-12 conversation_5

Lord Kempsell:To ask His Majesty's Government how long the trial of the provision of tasers to prison officers will last, in which prison it will take place, and how many prison officers will be armed with tasers during the trial. \p Lord Timpson: The operational trial of the use of Conductive Energy Devices (CEDs, commonly known as “tasers”) will commence in summer 2025 and continue until there is sufficient evidence to provide a basis for recommendations to the Lord Chancellor. Officers in the Operational Response and Resilience Unit (ORRU) in HM Prison and Probation Service will be equipped with CEDs when attending certain incidents across the adult male estate.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-12 conversation_6

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have raised any formal complaint with the government of Israel over the response on social media of the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 26 April describing comments by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Middle East about aid workers as a blood libel against Israel. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: Gaza is the deadliest place to be a humanitarian in the world and it is appalling that over 400 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023. Israel's admission of responsibility for the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) strike on 19 March is an important step. As I said on social media, Israel must thoroughly investigate all attacks that have harmed aid workers, and we expect that those responsible are held to account in a meaningful way.

Steps must be taken to ensure this stops happening. The UK expects accountability when aid workers are killed, wherever it happens.

We will continue to make both private and public representations to the Government of Israel to ensure that humanitarian workers are protected and able to do their jobs safely.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-12 conversation_7

Lord Kempsell:To ask His Majesty's Government how many Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) staff have been assigned to work on negotiations or policy for the Chagos Islands agreement with Mauritius, including staff reassigned from other teams; what are the salary bands of those staff; and how many staff have been seconded to the FCDO from other departments for that work. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: It would be difficult to assess how many officials are working on these issues, given that we do not record and measure the amount of time spent on any one topic where an official covers a range of matters.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-12 conversation_8

Lord Sikka:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will suspend aid to Pakistan following terrorist attacks in India on 22 April. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The UK condemns terrorism in all forms and our thoughts are with those affected by the Pahalgam terror attack, their loved ones and the people of India. Until all the facts are established, we must not speculate on the nature of the attack. The UK has transitioned from a traditional aid relationship with Pakistan to a mutually beneficial partnership which underpins UK national interests, including in keeping us safe from irregular migration, terror threats and organised crime. Some of the technical assistance we provide through UK Official Development Assistance is integral to these efforts.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-12 conversation_9

Lord Empey:To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria they use to determine the number of diplomatic staff for a country that are permitted to work in the United Kingdom. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: Appointments to diplomatic missions are governed by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961, which states that States may freely appoint members of staff to their missions, and, in the absence of specific agreement, the receiving state may require that the size of a mission be kept within limits. His Majesty's Government does not set objective criteria for limiting the number of diplomatic staff for a country in the UK, but, as set out in the 1985 Government Report on the Review of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, His Majesty's Government may limit the size of a mission in cases where there are issues relating to the nature of the mission's activities or to take account of the size of UK missions in the country concerned. Such considerations are made on a case-by-case basis.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-12 conversation_10

Lord Boateng:To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of the United States of America on the future of the African Growth and Opportunity Act and its effectiveness to date in delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: We have not directly discussed the African Growth and Opportunity Act with the US administration. Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals will require collective action, and the UK will continue to work with all partners towards that vision, including to reduce barriers to trade to support growth and development.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-12 conversation_11

Lord Boateng:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the America First Trade Policy on the Government's aid policy in relation to the least developed countries. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: We are monitoring and assessing the implications of the evolving US trade policies on our partner countries, including emerging and developing economies. We will continue to strengthen our partnerships and work to reduce barriers to trade given its importance to growth and development.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-12 conversation_12

Lord Boateng:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the state of UK–USA donor coordination, and of the impact of the reduction of spending of the United States Agency for International Development in sub-Saharan African. \p Baroness Chapman of Darlington: We are closely monitoring developments and assessing the implications of the US funding cuts across all humanitarian and development sectors, including joint and coordinated programming.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-12 conversation_13

Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy on whether to extend the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The UK Government supports the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), which helps protect civilians and supports the transitional government of South Sudan to implement their peace process. In the 2024/25 financial year, the UK provided nearly £52 million to support the UNMISS mandate to aid preparations for elections, including through support and technical assistance to electoral institutions.

Negotiations are underway on the renewal of this mandate. The UK Government is committed to working with its partners to secure its renewal.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-12 conversation_14

Lord Godson:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of legal challenges when relying on the provision in Article 21 of the Cluster Munitions Convention allowing the United Kingdom to fight alongside states that are not party to that Convention. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: Article 21 of the Cluster Munitions Convention allows for co-operation between States Parties and non-State Parties. The UK's interpretation of Article 21 is clear. UK personnel are not prohibited from military cooperation and operations with non-States Parties which may engage in activities prohibited to a State Party, but the use, production or transfer of cluster munitions remains prohibited in all circumstances for UK personnel as does the express request for the use of cluster munitions where the choice of munitions used is within the UK's exclusive control. This position is enshrined in UK law by the 'Cluster Munitions (Prohibitions) Act 2010', establishing criminal offences to enforce the prohibitions, while providing a defence for international military operations or co-operation activities. We also recognise our obligations under Article 21 to discourage States not party from using cluster munitions.

As Baroness Chapman laid out at the House of Lords debate on 3 April regarding Landmines and Cluster Munitions, the UK remains a committed State Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The UK continues to discourage the use of cluster munitions and further calls on all non-State Parties to ratify and accede to the Convention. Nevertheless, we have a long history of operating alongside states with different legal obligations whilst adhering to and promoting our own.