theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-05-22 conversation_4

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering:To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme on operational costs for pubs and brewers. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Government has worked closely with industry, including the brewing and hospitality sectors, throughout development of Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR). In October 2024, the Government published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the pEPR scheme on packaging producers as a whole. This impact assessment did not split the assessment by sector.

Since Autumn 2024, the Government has been working with stakeholders, including representatives of the brewing and hospitality sector, to consider potential amendments to the definition of household packaging. Despite considering multiple approaches, a consensus on a single approach that works for all sectors and within the bounds of legal and regulatory requirements, was not reached.

We are continuing to explore options with producers and will bring forward a consultation as soon as possible. We recognise the strength of feeling but also the need for a system that can be effectively monitored and enforced, given the impact on the pEPR fees for the packaging remaining in scope of fees.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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The Lord Bishop of St Albans:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support farmers in the light of dry conditions this spring. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The UK has a resilient food supply chain that has frequently demonstrated its ability to adapt when required.

The Met Office’s 3-month weather outlook for May, June, and July indicates near average rainfall is most likely for the UK but with a slightly higher than normal chance of wet weather. Defra is aware of the current concerns around the ongoing dry conditions. However, it is too early to understand the impact of this period of dry weather on livestock, horticulture and crop plantings, and the subsequent impact this may have on yield and quality later in the year at harvest time.

We continue to engage and work closely with the industry and to monitor the weather impacts on domestic food production, through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG), which was established by Defra and the Devolved Administrations to monitor the UK market across all key agricultural commodities.

The Government is also engaged with research on climate change and adaptation measures through our work with the Met Office Hadley Centre Food Farming and Natural Environment (FFNE) service.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Baroness Gale:To ask His Majesty's Government whether the policy to require government catering contracts to favour high-welfare products will be determined in line with the highest animal welfare tiers set out in the consultation on fairer food labelling. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The National Procurement Policy Statement, published in February, underscores the Government's commitment to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards, supporting local suppliers and upholding ethical sourcing practises across public sector contracts. This includes sourcing products from all farmed animals which have been raised to high UK welfare standards as defined in current animal welfare legislation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of climate change on the availability of British agricultural produce for UK and overseas markets. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: We celebrate the amazing job food businesses do in feeding the nation. The UK Food Security Report is a triannual statistical report required under the Agriculture Act 2020. The most recent report, published December 2024, assessed that the UK produces 62% of all the food we need and 75% of the food we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year.

Food production faces pressing risks from climate change and nature loss, as assessed in the Government’s Third Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3). Strengthening food security by supporting our farmers and food producers is a top priority for this Government. Defra is taking action to reduce climate change impacts, for example through the third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3), which includes a range of measures for the agri-food system.

The government works with the Met Office Hadley Centre’s Food Farming and Natural Environment (FFNE) service on food supply resilience research in relation to climate change and adaptation measures.

The Government’s Land Use Consultation asked about the support that land managers, including farmers, would need to plan for climate change. Responses to this consultation will inform the Land Use Framework that will be published later this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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The Lord Bishop of St Albans:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to introduce specific legal protection for chalk streams. \p Baroness Hayman of Ullock: Chalk Streams will be prioritised as part of the record £11 billion of investment to improve nearly 3,000 storm overflows in England and Wales during Price Review 2024, with 75% of such High Priority Sites needing to be improved by 2035 and the rest by 2045. By 2050, we expect no storm overflow spill to cause any adverse ecological harm and spill no more than 10 times per year.

The Government is committed to securing better environmental outcomes alongside securing the development we need and is considering how best to reform environmental assessment processes with this objective in mind.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the commissioning of vaccination services is not adversely affected by the abolition of NHS England. \p Baroness Merron: Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new executive team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead the formation of a new joint centre. As we work to bring the two organisations together, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.

Whilst this transformation takes place, we are putting plans in place to ensure that there is no risk to continuity of care and that service delivery is maintained. Outside of the planned organisational changes at national level, there are already established plans, as set out in the NHS Vaccination Strategy 2023, to delegate the commissioning of vaccination services from NHS England to the integrated care boards, starting from April 2026. This will strengthen the ownership of local systems of vaccination and enable innovation in delivery models, to maximise uptake and coverage across local populations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost of lawyers to the public purse in medical negligence cases in each of the last three years for which figures are available. \p Baroness Merron: NHS Resolution (NHSR) manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England. The following table shows the payments made for clinical negligence claims from 2021/22 to 2023/24:

Notes:

The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the NHS in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years, and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.

The causes of the overall cost rise are complex and there is no single fix, as costs are likely to be rising because of a range of factors, including higher compensation payments and legal costs, rather than more claims or a decline in patient safety.

We recognise that this is an important issue, and ministers intend to look at all the drivers of cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Wigley:To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of reactor-produced radioisotopes used for treatment of cancer in the UK are provided from (1) the European Union, (2) Australia, (3) Argentina, and (4) the rest of the world. \p Baroness Merron: Medical radioisotopes can be produced in different ways and the cyclotrons used in the United Kingdom produce a small supply of medical radioisotopes, mainly for diagnostic use. This is because the cyclotrons used in the UK supply relatively low-level radioactive material which is best suited for imaging and diagnosis. For therapeutics, particle emitting radioisotopes tend to be used. For UK use, these are mainly manufactured in research reactors, and there are currently no reactors in the UK that manufacture these isotopes. Research reactors can also supply medical radioisotopes for imaging and diagnosis.

Medical radioisotopes are purchased from suppliers on trust and hospital levels, and the Department has not made a systematic review of the origin country for these products.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of GLP-1 drugs on combatting and preventing disease. \p Baroness Merron: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for licensing medicines, such as GLP-1s, based on an assessment of their safety, quality, and efficacy. The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) then appraises licensed medicines based on an assessment of their clinical and cost-effectiveness, and makes recommendations on whether they can be recommended for routine use on the National Health Service. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended in a NICE appraisal, usually within three months of final guidance.

The MHRA only assesses medicines within the indications for which companies submit evidence. Any extension of a medicine’s licence to cover additional indications would require a separate evidence submission. Similarly, the NICE only appraises medicines within their licensed indications.

There are a number of GLP-1s licensed for use in weight management, type 2 diabetes, and for cardiovascular risk reduction for adults who are overweight or obese. The NICE has recommended them as a clinically and cost effective option, when prescribed alongside diet, physical activity, and behavioural support, to support some people living with obesity to lose weight. For those living with obesity, weight loss can provide significant health benefits, reducing the risk of developing certain diseases as well as improving the management of some existing weight related conditions.

There is also research exploring the role of GLP-1 drugs for the treatment and prevention of wider diseases, including cardiovascular disease, dementia, and cancer, and health related behaviours, including alcohol and nicotine intake. The MHRA and the NICE will consider the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of any wider use of GLP-1 medicines should evidence be submitted to them.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Browne of Belmont:To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to strengthen cybersecurity capabilities; and what plans they have to address emerging threats such as cyber espionage. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The Government is committed to using all of its levers to disrupt cyber threats and to keep the public safe. We do this by investing in our cyber capabilities, working with industry to improve resilience to cyber crime, and by engaging internationally to pursue and expose malicious cyber activity through sanctions and attributions.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, is our world leading capability and has helped create the Knowledge Base, an innovative tool to understand the relationships between and impact of any disruption to critical systems, regardless of the hazard involved. The National Cyber Force (NCF) conducts cyber operations to disrupt hostile state activities, terrorists and criminals threatening the UK’s national security, from countering terror plots to supporting military operations.

Through the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, this Government will bolster our national defences and critical infrastructure.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Kempsell:To ask His Majesty's Government what arm's-length bodies they have (1) shutdown or intend to shutdown, and (2) created or intend to create, since 4 July 2024. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: Cabinet Office maintains records and oversight of formally established arm’s-length bodies (ALBs). No ALBs have been formally established since 4 July 2024. Individual departments are responsible for any proposals to open or close ALBs. The government has already closed or announced the closure of: Education and Skills Funding Agency, Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE), NHS England, Valuation Office Agency and the Office of Place.

On 6 April, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced a full review of all ALBs, with a view to close, merge or bring functions back into departments if its continued existence cannot be justified. This review aims to reduce duplication, drive efficiency, and ensure democratic accountability for policy decisions that affect the British public. It includes proposed new ALBs and the outcomes will be announced in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Agnew of Oulton:To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the full cost of employing a civil servant at (1) grade 6, (2) senior civil service pay band 1, and (3) senior civil service pay band 2, including salary, employer pension contributions, National Insurance, estates, and other overhead costs, in each year since 2016. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: Mean and median salaries for civil servants are published for delegated grades as part of the Civil Service Statistics publication, and for SCS paybands as part of the Government Evidence to the Senior Salaries Review Body. Figures on estimated total costs are not routinely published.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Baroness Jenkin of Kennington:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office) on 7 April (HC43082), whether they have changed the policy that Equality, Diversity and Inclusion guidance for the Civil Service should be publicly published. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The controls outlined in the Civil Service Equality Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance, which was published on 14 May 2024, remain in place.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Jackson of Peterborough:To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy on the (1) funding, and (2) engagement, with the band Kneecap, with reference to the guidance published on 14 March 2024 Government's principles of engagement. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: The Department of Business and Trade decided not to award a grant to Heavenly Records. My Department has not had any engagement with Kneecap and is currently reviewing how the scheme operates, with the intention of introducing appropriate eligibility criteria for any future grant rounds, to address the risk that an artist or the applicant awarded support may say or behave in a way that could bring the scheme into disrepute.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Agnew of Oulton:To ask His Majesty's Government, for each grant scheme currently operated by the Department for Business and Trade, what is the most recent reported fraud and error rate; whether they undertook post-payment assurance, forensic sampling or risk-based audit to support that rate in the financial period that rate relates to; what is the proportion of total expenditure currently subject to recovery proceedings in each grant scheme; and how much has been recovered to date. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: The Department for Business and Trade reports fraud and error to the Public Sector Fraud Authority, and data for 2022-23 and 2023-24 will be published in the Annual Fraud Landscape Report. The Department has set up a Grants Delivery Directorate, staffed by grant specialists to ensure professional delivery and compliance with Cabinet Office Functional Standards. This includes ensuring effective monitoring and post payment assurance. New grants will have an initial Fraud Risk Impact Assessment, with Fraud Risk Assessments agreed as appropriate.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that British industry has sufficient access to energy to remain competitive within Europe. \p Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Government works closely with the National Energy System Operator to analyse where the energy we need will come from over the short, medium and long-term and to assess a range of factors that could affect our supplies. This enables early action and decisions to ensure we can meet demand. Energy security and resilience is maintained through a diverse mix of sources.

The Capacity Market is Government’s main tool for security of electricity supply, ensuring the electricity capacity required to meet peak demand for businesses and households is met for up to four years ahead of its use.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Cromwell:To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average environmental cost of producing and installing a power pylon within the range of 36 to 190 metres in height, including a breakdown of the costs of the materials for the bases required to support these pylons. \p Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government does not hold data on the average monetary or environmental cost of producing and installing an electricity pylon. Such assessments are undertaken by the relevant planning applicant and considered as part of the decision-making process by the Secretary of State. A wide range of context specific, qualitative and quantitative factors determine said value.

The environmental impact of proposed pylon developments is assessed on a scheme-by-scheme basis with the method, content and scope of assessment dependent on the likely significance of the proposed scheme’s environmental impact based on its size, nature, location and the relevant legislative and policy frameworks.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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The Lord Bishop of St Albans:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the advice to parents from primary schools in St Albans to ban smartphones for children under 14 years old; and whether they plan to ban smartphones for children under 14 years old nationwide. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: The government is committed to keeping children safe online. The Department for Education’s ‘Mobile Phones in Schools’ guidance is clear that schools should prohibit the use of devices with smart technology throughout the school day, including during lessons, transitions and breaks. We expect all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.

We are focused on implementing the Online Safety Act which will protect children from both illegal and legal but nonetheless harmful content, including pornography and violent content. We continue to keep under review all evidence of options to protect children online.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report published on 7 May by Cisco, 2025 Cisco Cybersecurity Readiness Index, which states that only four per cent of UK firms have achieved a "mature" level of readiness against cybersecurity threats. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: The government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025 shows that many businesses do not have sufficient measures in place to protect against cyber threats. This is why the government is taking a range of action to drive up cyber resilience across the UK. This includes the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill which will improve the UK’s cyber defences and better secure our essential services and more of the digital infrastructure the public and businesses rely upon, and a new Cyber Governance Code of Practice which supports boards and directors to effectively govern digital risks and help protect their businesses and organisations from cyber attacks.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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The Lord Bishop of St Albans:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the 5Rights Children and AI Design Code, and what steps they are taking to assess the impact of AI on children. \p Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: The Government recognises the importance of this issue and welcomes proposals on how to ensure technology keeps children safe. The Government engages with a range of stakeholders on the impact of AI, including child safety organisations and experts.

Regarding the impact of AI, the majority of AI systems are regulated by existing regulators, a range of which have specific measures for protecting children. The strongest protections in the Online Safety Act are for children, who will be protected from both illegal content, and legal content which is nonetheless harmful to children, including where that content is AI generated.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Baroness Redfern:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to sustain recruitment and training until Probation Service vacancies are filled across all geographic areas. \p Lord Timpson: Recruitment and training of staff remain high priorities for the Probation Service, to ensure we have a sufficient workforce to safely supervise and manage people in the community. The Probation Service exceeded the 2024/25 trainee Probation Officer recruitment target of 1,000, successfully onboarding 1,057 trainees. The Lord Chancellor has committed to onboarding a further 1,300 trainees in 2025/26.

We have extended centralised recruitment campaigns for key grades to all regions to reduce the time to fill operational roles. Last year we launched a non-graduate route for staff to train as Probation Officers. This will increase applications and provide routes for a more diverse range of staff.

The pace of recruitment is balanced against the organisation’s ability to train and support new recruits whilst retaining sufficient services in the meantime. There is a core learning and development curriculum that must be completed by all new entrant Probation Services Officers and by Trainee Probation Officers alongside the academic requirement of their qualification. The Probation Service has continued to deliver the required learning to the high volumes of new recruits over recent years to ensure that learners can meet the qualification standards.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Baroness Redfern:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the IT systems used by the Probation Service and its partners to save time and enable practitioners to make better decisions. \p Lord Timpson: The Ministry of Justice is improving its IT systems to address capacity challenges within HM Prison and Probation Service. These will save practitioners and Probation Service partners time, by reducing administrative burdens and by supporting delivery of the Independent Sentencing Review recommendations. We are focusing on:

A) Putting foundations in place, including replacing the existing legacy systems with a single, integrated digital service for probation officers that will put all the tools they need in one place and reduce the need to shift between systems and repeat tasks;

B) Addressing data quality and integration issues, by putting in place a single data source for the probation service, to reduce time taken to search for and access data, including data from other agencies; and

C) Piloting new uses of technology, such as AI to eliminate manual processes (voice transcription to automate writing up notes), and deploying two-way smartphone communications with offenders (e.g., automated reminders and offender check-ins).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering:To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to inform members of the public about safety measures to take where a wildfire warning is in place, in particular to prevent the use of open fires such as barbecues. \p Baroness Taylor of Stevenage: Fire and rescue services (FRSs) have a statutory duty to promote fire safety within their areas. Where they identify the use of open fires and barbecues as a fire risk, such as when a wildfire warning is in place, Government would expect FRSs to promote relevant fire safety messages within their communities.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Fire Kills campaign works closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council to support FRSs to promote such messaging. The Government encourages the public to follow this advice, in addition to that of their local authority and landowners.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Reay:To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Northern Ireland Office pays subscription fees to Stonewall. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: The Northern Ireland Office does not pay subscription fees to Stonewall.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Weir of Ballyholme:To ask His Majesty's Government whether provision of milk as part of the free breakfast club scheme will substitute for current provision of free or subsidised mid-morning milk. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

Milk is an excellent food for children’s growth and development, which is why the department includes milk within its healthy breakfast examples for the newly launched early adopter breakfast clubs.

The school food standards require lower fat or lactose reduced milk to be available to children who want it during school hours, which includes any time during a school session or a break between sessions. Section 512ZB (3) of the Education Act 1996 sets out the requirement that milk must be provided free of charge to pupils eligible for free school meals.

Any milk provided during breakfast clubs does not substitute for current provision of free or subsidised mid-morning milk, as breakfast clubs take place before the start of the school day.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Weir of Ballyholme:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the projected saving per pupil as a result of the proposed changes to school uniform requirements under the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

Too many families still tell the government that the cost of school uniform remains a financial burden. That is why we are legislating to limit the number of expensive branded items of uniform and physical education kit that schools can require.

Based on previous department surveys of parents, we estimate that the aggregate savings of the new limit on compulsory branded items to parents with children in primary school is around £21 million per year, and for those with children in secondary school is around £52 million per year. We estimate that some families will save over £50 per child on the back to school shop.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government, what assessment they have made of the rising number of people aged 16 to 24 currently not in education, employment or training; and what steps they are taking to increase the number of young people entering education or employment. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The government is determined to break down barriers to opportunity for all our young people and transform their life chances.

Almost one in seven 16 to 24 year-olds in England and the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEET). This number is too high, and the department is taking the action needed to tackle this issue.

In the ‘Get Britain Working’ white paper, the government set out its commitment to establish a Youth Guarantee of support to access training, an apprenticeship, or to find work for all 18 to 21 year-olds. £45 million has been allocated to Youth Guarantee Trailblazers to develop the Youth Guarantee. The Department for Education and the Department for Work and Pensions will be working with strategic authorities in initially eight areas, including Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, East Midlands, Liverpool City Region, West of England, West Midlands, Tees Valley and two London areas.

The Youth Guarantee builds on entitlements that young people have to participate in education and training up to age 18. Local authorities have statutory duties to support young people into education and training, including identifying and helping those who are currently NEET. The department has also recently published guidance to help local authorities identify young people at an increased risk of becoming NEET, based on characteristics such as a learning difficulty or disability, or poor school attendance so they can be given extra support.

In addition, new foundation apprenticeships will give more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working lives. They will help bridge the gap between employers with skills shortages and those young people not currently engaging with apprenticeships through the existing routes and offers. The first foundation apprenticeships will be available in the construction sector from August, and to support these opportunities, employers will receive £2,000 for every construction foundation apprentice they take on and retain in the industry.

The Department for Education will also offer two weeks’ worth of work experience for every young person and better careers advice at school, and has also created a new body, Skills England, to deliver national, regional and local skills needs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-22)

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Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon:To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to carry out a comprehensive review of foster carer fees. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The department is considering the possible benefits and costs of a national register of foster carers as part of our wider work in reforming the children’s social care sector. There are a range of proposals for such a register, all of which require careful consideration.

The national minimum standards for fostering sets out a clear minimum expectation that all “foster carers should receive at least the national minimum allowance for the child, plus any necessary agreed expenses”.

In January 2025, we shared information about how to report underpayment of the national minimum allowance to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) for investigation. The LGSCO have reassured us that they will investigate any reports of underpayment raised with them and ensure action is taken to rectify this.

Fees paid to foster carers are not determined by the government. Instead, fostering services set their own rates based on various factors, such as the skills of the foster carer and the level of support the child requires. The department currently has no plans to carry out a comprehensive review of foster care fees. We encourage local authorities to work together to develop consistent regional offers of financial support to foster carers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-01)

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Lord Kempsell:To ask His Majesty's Government how many special advisers are in post, broken down by department; and how many special advisers left their posts between July 2024 and June 2025. \p Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent: A breakdown of how many special advisers are in post by department is available in the Annual Report on Special Advisers is attached. Between July 2024 and June 2025, 19 special advisers left their posts.

Annual Publication of Special Adviser Interests (pdf, 204.0KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_1

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock:To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to reset the level of the Sovereign Grant once the reservicing works in Buckingham Palace have been completed. \p Lord Livermore: As required by the Sovereign Grant Act 2011, the next review of the Sovereign Grant will take place in 2026. The government has committed to bring forward legislation to reset the Grant to a lower level from 2027-28 once Buckingham Palace reservicing works are completed.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_2
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_2

Baroness Neville-Rolfe:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Exchequer Secretary on 30 January (HC26469), whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the representations they received from TheCityUK on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. \p Lord Livermore: The Government does not intend to place a copy of the representations in the House of Commons library as these are considered confidential and disclosure may prejudice the exchange of information in the policy development process.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_3
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_3

Baroness Neville-Rolfe:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s speech to the Confederation of British Industry Conference on 25 November 2024, whether it remains their policy that there will be no further tax rises or borrowing, beyond those in the Autumn Budget 2024. \p Lord Livermore: As the Chancellor has said, the commitment to our fiscal rules is non-negotiable, and we will meet them at all times.

The Chancellor has asked the OBR to produce an economic and fiscal forecast on the 26 March. This will provide a clear assessment of our performance against the fiscal rules. We will not give a running commentary on economic developments.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_4
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_4

Lord Alton of Liverpool:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Prime Minister's speech on Holocaust Memorial Day, what criteria were used when listing acts of genocide; why the alleged genocides against Uyghurs and Armenians were not listed; and why the genocide in Darfur, which is not officially recognised by the UK, was included in the list. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The Government is fully committed to International Law. The UK's long-standing policy is that any determination as to whether genocide has occurred is a matter for a competent national or international court, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. The Prime Minister was highlighting the appalling acts reported and the mounting evidence of abhorrent atrocities against civilians in the conflict in Darfur. The widespread violence and significant death toll are horrific. Those responsible must be held to account.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_5
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_5

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the freeze in foreign aid from the United States of America on global conflict and instability. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: We are currently working to assess the implications of the US funding pause across development sectors, geographic regions and multilateral organisations. We are gathering information and working with other donor partners to share analysis of the pause before making any decisions.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_6
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_6

Lord Jackson of Peterborough:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 16 September 2024 (HL694), what funding the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office has allocated to Stonewall in 2024 and 2025, broken down by each individual programme; what is the rationale for any funding; whether the funding was subject to competitive tender; and what assessment has been made of the appropriateness of government funding for Stonewall overseas. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office collaborates closely with a variety of civil society organisations to advance His Majesty's Government's commitment to defending the human rights and freedoms of LGBT+ people globally.

Following an open call for proposals in June 2023, Stonewall was awarded £649,979 to deliver programme activities in 2024 and 2025. This funding was used to support the most vulnerable LGBT+ people who were victims or at risk of violence or even death due to their sexual orientation and gender identity.

A breakdown of funding for each individual programme is provided in the table below.

Project

2023/24 Actual

(Q4)

2024/25 Forecast

(Q1-4)

2025/26 Forecast

(Q1-4)

Total

Out of the Margins - addressing violence and discrimination against LBT+ women in the Caribbean, Southern Africa, and Eastern Europe.

£86,156

£88,653

£86,286

£261,095

SAFAR - building global capacity to protect and support LGBT+ people in high-risk or crisis situations.

£65,684

£159,487

£163,713

£388,884

Total

£151,840

£248,140

£249,999

£649,979
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_7
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_7

Lord Roberts of Llandudno:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the halting of the manufacture of Captagon in Syria. \p Lord Collins of Highbury: We assess that Captagon production and supply chains inside Syria have decreased significantly since the fall of the Asad regime. However, illicit smuggling networks continue to operate across the Syria-Jordan border. We are working with international partners to raise awareness of and tackle the threats posed by the Captagon industry in the Middle East region.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_8
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_8

Lord Black of Brentwood:To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 4 February (HL4235), whether they will set out the specific details of any proposals received from the Metropolitan Police for Special Grant Funding for Operation Grange in the financial year 2025–26; if they have received such proposals, when they expect to reach a decision on those requests; and if they have not received any proposals, when funding for Operation Grange will cease. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: Decisions on the investigation and formal requests for funding are an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_9
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_9

Lord Swire:To ask His Majesty's Government how many people have had their British citizenship revoked in each of the past five years. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The British Nationality Act 1981 provides the Secretary of State with powers to deprive a person of citizenship status only under the circumstances set out at sections 40(2) and 40(3) of the Act. Section 40(2) allows the Secretary of State to deprive any person of British citizenship, should they deem it conducive to the public good to do so.

Detail on the numbers of conducive deprivation orders made under Section 40(2) of the 1981 British Nationality Act, are published in the Government Transparency Report: Disruptive and Investigatory Powers. Eight reports have been published to date providing the number of deprivations of citizenship orders made up until the end of 2023 can be found on Gov.UK.

More recent data will be published in future publications in relation to deprivation of British citizenship 40(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981.

Section 40(3) of the 1981 British Nationality Act, allows for deprivation of citizenship where fraud, false representation or concealment of material facts have been used to obtain British citizenship. Since August 2020 these figures have been published via the Transparency report on asylum data, which can be found on Gov.UK:

For ease, the data below (taken from the Immigration and Protection data: Q3 2024 – GOV.UK report) sets out the number of people deprived of British Citizenship on the grounds of fraud:

Year

Deprivation Orders

2018

50

2019

82

2020

43

2021

273

2022

308

The current published data runs to 2022, more recent data will be published when available.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_10
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_10

Lord Taylor of Warwick:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current immigration rules for skilled workers, and whether they intend to reduce restrictions on access to the UK for those workers. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: As announced by the Prime Minister on 28 November 2024, the Government will be producing a White Paper setting out our plans for reducing net migration, which will be published in due course.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_11
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_11

Lord Empey:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that work visas will be issued to those with dog grooming skills. \p Lord Hanson of Flint: The Points Based Immigration System uses the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code system, owned by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), to classify job roles. These codes can be broad, covering a multitude of job roles, many of which visas are unlikely to be granted for.

There is more to obtaining a Skilled Worker visa than just having a role on the list of eligible occupations. Jobs must also meet the required salary thresholds, as well as applicants having to be sponsored by a licensed employer, and meet English language requirements.
lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_12
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-02-26 conversation_12

Baroness Bull:To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the prevalence of dyscalculia; and how many school-age children receive a formal diagnosis of dyscalculia each year. \p Baroness Smith of Malvern: The information requested is not held centrally.

The department collects information on the special educational needs (SEN) of pupils in schools and the SEN of children and young people with an education, health and care (EHC) plan. Both of these data collections use the following categories:

Dyscalculia cannot be identified separately in the collected data.

Information on the SEN of pupils is published in the department’s ‘Special educational needs in England’ publication, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england.

Information on EHC plans maintained by local authorities is published in the department’s ‘Education, health and care plans’ publication, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.