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House of Lords Business

See what is going on in the House of Lords today, as well as what has happened since June 1998. This includes the relevant Order Paper, Minutes of Proceedings, questions tabled and edition of House of Lords Business. These documents can also all be downloaded.

Questions for Written Answer for 17 January 2025

Tabled on 16 January and due for answer by 30 January.

Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask His Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to secure guarantees from Sudan’s warring parties for the safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance to conflict-affected populations.  HL4128
Answered
Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask His Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to support progress towards a ceasefire, and ultimately an end to the conflict, in Sudan.  HL4129
Answered
Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to increase multi-year funding to support the most food-insecure people in Sudan and Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries.  HL4130
Answered
Baroness Barran to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) pupils’ access to education following the concerns of the Special Education Needs and Disabilities Transport Operators Group that the increase in National Insurance contributions will affect their ability to take children to school every day.  HL… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Bates to ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to mark the 80th anniversary of the First Session of the United Nations General Assembly held in the Methodist Central Hall and the First Session of the United Nations Security Council held in Church House in January 1946 in Westminster.  HL4132
Answered
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that community-based legal advice on employment issues, including sexual harassment, is available to workers.  HL4133
Answered
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle to ask His Majesty's Government what steps the Health and Safety Executive is taking to ensure that workers are (1) protected from sexual harassment, and (2) able to travel between work and home safely, particularly those working non-standard hours.  HL4134
Answered
Lord Black of Brentwood to ask His Majesty's Government what discussions Ministers and special advisers in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have had with representatives of the tourism industry, including from lobbying firms, in relation to the implementation of the Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.  HL4135
Answered
Lord Blunkett to ask His Majesty's Government what conversations Ministers of the Department of Business and Trade have had with major companies, including former publicly owned utilities, about withdrawing provision for customers to talk to staff directly via telephone, rather than via online communication such as “chat bots” or live online chat services; and what plans they have… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Dodds of Duncairn to ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish the “series of papers that make the case, through sectoral analysis, for Northern Ireland’s place in the Union and ways in which to take it forward”, described in Annex B of Command Paper 1021, Safeguarding the Union, published on 31 January 2024.  HL4137
Answered
Lord Dodds of Duncairn to ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in developing a twinning programme for primary schools in Northern Ireland, as proposed in Annex B of Command Paper 1021, Safeguarding the Union, published on 31 January 2024.  HL4138
Answered
Lord Dodds of Duncairn to ask His Majesty's Government how much of the £10 million fund to boost investment in strategically important ports linking Northern Ireland and Great Britain has been allocated.  HL4139
Answered
Lord Dodds of Duncairn to ask His Majesty's Government how the Northern Ireland Enhanced Investment Zone will operate, which government department has responsibility for it, and how much funding it has been allocated to date.  HL4140
Answered
Lord Dodds of Duncairn to ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in facilitating collaboration between the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Civil Service to support the transformation programme in Northern Ireland and improve the delivery of public services; and which government department is responsible for this work.  HL4141
Answered
Lord Empey to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the availability of adequate insurance capacity to enable them to achieve their target of building 1.5 million houses during this Parliament.  HL4142
Tabled
Lord Farmer to ask His Majesty's Government, following their announcement on 10 January that approximately £57 million will be made available to local authorities for the continuation of Start for Life services, what plans they have to require local authorities to publish details of the Start for Life support services available in their area on their websites.  HL4143
Answered
Lord Farmer to ask His Majesty's Government following their announcement on 10 January that approximately £57 million will be made available to local authorities for the continuation of Start for Life services, what plans they have, if any, (1) to produce guidance for local authorities on Start for Life services, and (2) to introduce a duty on the Secretary of State for Health and… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Fuller to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter regarding local government reorganisation sent by the Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution to the leaders of all two-tier councils and neighbouring unitary authorities, published on 15 January, what statutory process and timetable they expect to use to postpone the May 2025 local council el… Item text truncated - open link to view full item text
Answered
Lord Gascoigne to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to accelerate the phase-out of animal experimentation, and to support scientists to transition to human-specific medical research approaches.  HL4146
Answered
Lord Gascoigne to ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to diverting public funding from animal-based research projects towards those that use human-specific research approaches.  HL4147
Answered
Baroness Hodgson of Abinger to ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 14 January (HL3735), when they will announce the outcome of the Business Planning process, in particular for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.  HL4148
Answered
Baroness Hoey to ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to make representations to the government of the United States about recognising Somililand.  HL4149
Answered
Lord Lexden to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential financial savings achieved by the NHS resulting from their plans to provide universal access to fracture liaison services by 2030.  HL4150
Answered
Lord Lexden to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of acute hospital beds occupied by patients with fragility fractures.  HL4151
Answered
Lord Mawson to ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of adults in England currently receive prescriptions for anti-depressants.  HL4152
Answered
Lord Mawson to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of anti-depressants in treating (1) mild, (2) moderate, and (3) severe, depression.  HL4153
Answered
Lord Mawson to ask His Majesty's Government what research they have undertaken on the (1) cost, and (2) effectiveness, of non-drug related approaches to treating depression.  HL4154
Answered
Lord Mawson to ask His Majesty's Government what was the cost to the NHS of anti-depressants in each of the past ten years; and how many they prescribed in each of those years.  HL4155
Answered
Lord Mawson to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any unintended consequences of taking anti-depressants.  HL4156
Answered
Lord Mawson to ask His Majesty's Government what was the cost to the NHS of prescribing tablets to patients aged over 70 in each of the past ten years; and what assessment they have made of any unintended consequences of those patients combining multiple tablets.  HL4157
Answered
The Lord Bishop of St Albans to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment has been made of the potential benefits of strengthening advertising regulation in relation to children and young people.  HL4158
Answered
Lord Sarfraz to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) physical, and (2) cyber, threats to cable landing stations in the UK; and what measures they are taking to ensure the resilience of those stations against potential disruption.  HL4159
Answered
Lord Spellar to ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest estimate of the number of individuals in England on the parliamentary electoral register, and what percentage this represents of the number of those eligible to vote.  HL4160
Answered
Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of healthcare professionals using AI tools to listen to and transcribe patient notes; and whether they intend to introduce regulations to ensure the data remains confidential and is stored responsibly.  HL4161
Answered
Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure mortgage rates remain affordable for customers.  HL4162
Answered
Lord Taylor of Warwick to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase levels of investment into scientific innovation as a proportion of GDP in comparison to other European countries.  HL4163
Answered
Lord Weir of Ballyholme to ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that all regions of the United Kingdom will benefit from their proposed fast tracking of AI, given the different regulatory regimes in different parts of the UK.  HL4164
Answered
Lord Weir of Ballyholme to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the additional costs to devolved governments on public sector pay bills as a result of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions.  HL4165
Answered
Lord Weir of Ballyholme to ask His Majesty's Government what steps are they taking to ensure that any review of the National Curriculum learns from best international practice.  HL4166
Answered
Lord Weir of Ballyholme to ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Ireland to ensure full co-operation and disclosure of all available information to the Independent Commission on Reconciliation and Information Recovery in the case of the Kingsmills massacre.  HL4167
Answered
Lord Weir of Ballyholme to ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to uphold the Carltona principles when producing any remedial orders relating to the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.  HL4168
Answered
Lord West of Spithead to ask His Majesty's Government whether any decisions have been made to convert the Reserve Forces and Cadets Associations into a non-departmental public body in advance of the strategic defence review; and whether members been asked to agree to such a proposal.  HL4169
Answered
Baroness Whitaker to ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they have issued on which speech, language and communication difficulties (1) count, and (2) do not count, as a disability within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010.  HL4170
Answered
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Item that is new or altered.
* Item is an oral question.
Numbers starting HL are unique identifiers for written questions, Bills or papers.