House of Lords Business

Lord Blunkett to ask His Majesty's Government what targets the Treasury have for the time to respond to letters from parliamentarians specifically addressed to Treasury ministers; and what percentage of such correspondence is answered within that timeframe.  HL3181

Lord Foster of Bath to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 3 December (HL2700), whether they consider nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement to be legally binding targets in UK law.  HL3182

Lord Foster of Bath to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the fact that the carbon dioxide emission levels for 2030 specified in the fifth carbon budget are 33 per cent below those specified in the nationally determined contributions for 2030; and what steps they will take to address this disparity.  HL3183

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester to ask His Majesty's Government further to the report Hidden Hardship, published by Dr Stephanie Denning of Coventry University in November 2023, what assessment they have made of the need (1) to tailor support provided through the welfare state for people experiencing rural hardship, and (2) to address the lack of affordable housing, public… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Jackson of Peterborough to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to give the proposed Police Performance Unit powers to sanction police forces incorrectly recording (1) hate crimes, and (2) non-crime hate incidents.  HL3185

Lord Jackson of Peterborough to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether there is any correlation between the incidence of non-crime hate incidents and hate crimes.  HL3186

Lord Lucas to ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to complete their review of beaver release policy in England.  HL3187

Lord Lucas to ask His Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to use the powers in clauses 2 and 4 of the Data (Use and Access) Bill to require the Student Loans Company to collect data on the courses its customer attended when incurring their student debt and their subsequent career progression in order (1) to assess the long-term value of those courses, (2) to propose… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Lord Lucas to ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to publish the report of the review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender, led by Professor Alice Sullivan.  HL3189

Lord Lucas to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which local authorities in England are fulfilling their obligation to publish information on the admissions arrangements for all state schools in their area, including full admissions rules and details of the outcomes of the previous admissions round.  HL3190

Lord McNicol of West Kilbride to ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to introduce the cross-sector AI risk register announced by the previous government on 6 February; if so, when; and if not, what steps they are taking to monitor AI risks.  HL3191

Lord Mendelsohn to ask His Majesty's Government what is the total UK spend on research and development as a percentage of gross domestic product; where the UK ranks against the other OECD nations in this regard; and what is their target for increasing the level by the end of this Parliament.  HL3192

Lord Mendelsohn to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support research and development by small and medium-sized companies.  HL3193

Lord Mendelsohn to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast that real business investment will fall 0.6 percentage points as a share of gross domestic product from 2023 to 2029, and what plans they have to address the risk of business investment falling.  HL3194

Lord Mendelsohn to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they made of the recommendations of the Harrington Review of Foreign Direct Investment.  HL3195

Lord Mendelsohn to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for scaling up and strengthening the role of the Office for Investment.  HL3196

Lord Mendelsohn to ask His Majesty's Government what targets they have for increasing levels of foreign direct investment in the UK.  HL3197

Lord Moylan to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect on international competitiveness of requiring airside transit passengers at UK airports to obtain and pay for an Electronic Travel Authorisation if there is no equivalent requirement for those transiting at airports in the European Union.  HL3198

Baroness Neville-Rolfe to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 17 September (HC4696), which efficiency savings for the financial years 2024–25 and 2025–26 announced before the 2024 general election have been discontinued since that time, and what was the previously estimated value of each such saving.  HL3199

Baroness Randerson to ask His Majesty's Government whether the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority will retain independent commissioners, as is currently the case with the National Infrastructure Commission, as recommended by the Institution of Civil Engineers.  HL3200

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask His Majesty's Government how many times the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has exercised its discretionary power to exercise flexibility in its application of routing criterion two of its Highly Specialised Technologies programme in circumstances where there is uncertainty on the incidence and prevalence of the disease and… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask His Majesty's Government what factors informed the decision to limit treatment eligibility to 300 people in its licensed indication, or 500 people across all indications, in England under the second routing criterion of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Highly Specialised Technologies programme, and what scope there is f… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote earlier detection and diagnosis of heart valve disease in women and to ensure better outcomes.  HL3203

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick to ask His Majesty's Government whether, following the launch of the Men’s Health Strategy on 28 November, they will publish a Women’s Health Strategy, and include cardiovascular disease in any such strategy.  HL3204

Lord Rogan to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Vallance of Balham on 3 December (HL Deb col 1035), how much commercial companies are paying to fund a ship to provide protection for undersea cables, and to whom this money is paid.  HL3205

The Lord Bishop of St Albans to ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of churches and cathedrals currently open for daily access that would be likely to be closed for daily public access due to their condition as a result of any withdrawal of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme in March 2025.  HL3206

The Lord Bishop of St Albans to ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to announce the future of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.  HL3207

Lord Scriven to ask His Majesty's Government how many applications they received for funding to establish Health Protection Research Units based in (1) the North East, (2) Yorkshire, and (3) the North West.  HL3208

Lord Scriven to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the value for money to taxpayers of the South Tees Development Corporation (STDC) given the recent external auditors’ finding of “significant weaknesses” in its value for money arrangements and the auditors being unable to give an opinion on STDC’s 2021–22 and 2022–23 financial statements.  HL3209

Baroness Smith of Llanfaes to ask His Majesty's Government whether, following the nationalisation of Great Western Rail (GWR), they will review the timetables for the routes currently operated by GWR, and whether they will include a late evening service on those routes.  HL3210

Baroness Smith of Llanfaes to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 26 November (HL2477), what they expect the minimum standards for asset pooling to be in the Local Government Pensions Scheme, and what would be required for the Wales Public Sector Pension Partnership to meet these minimum standards.  HL3211

Lord Swire to ask His Majesty's Government whether they will ensure that a decision in principle about a long-term loan of the Elgin Marbles to Greece, or otherwise, is not made before the matter is fully debated in Parliament.  HL3212

Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of nuclear energy in supporting an increase in the use of artificial intelligence.  HL3213

Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the impact of rising mortgage rates on the length of mortgage terms and the resulting effect on the retirement age of mortgagors.  HL3214

Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the resources available to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to reduce the time it takes for new drugs to enter the market.  HL3215

Baroness Thomas of Winchester to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to enforce section 36 and Schedule 4 of the Equality Act 2010, to ensure landlords cannot unreasonably deny disabled access adaptations to communal areas.  HL3216

Lord Watson of Invergowrie to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the University of Manchester article, "Modern slavery and digital technology in ‘Fast Fashion’: the transparency dividend", published on 8 July, and, in particular, the need for businesses to avoid so-called ‘tech-washing’ and associated human rights abuses.  HL3217