Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that upcoming autonomous vehicle trials prioritise public safety and inclusive design practices, including engagement with disabled people and other underrepresented groups, and whether they have consulted with safety bodies such as the Royal Society of the Prevention of Accidents about those trials.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Government announced in June fast-tracking the Automated Passenger Services Permitting Scheme to Spring 2026. This enables organisations to move beyond existing trialling and demonstrate the capability of their technology as passenger services.
Self-driving services provide an opportunity to enhance transport for older and disabled people. The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 requires that the Secretary of State considers to what extent the granting of a permit is likely to improve understanding of how these services should be designed for, and delivered to, older and disabled people. Permit holders are required to report on the steps taken to meet the needs and requirements of older and disabled people.
The Department is continuing to build an evidence base to better understand the opportunities that exist to enable innovative approaches in providing accessibility. A consultation on the proposed Automated Passenger Services permitting scheme is open until 28 September. We have also recently closed a call for evidence on our Statement of Safety Principles, through which the Department has gathered evidence, including from safety bodies, to support the setting of safety standards for autonomous vehicles.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Khan of Burnley on 16 October 2024 (HL1196), what plans they have to provide the finances for a Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum to those of a Muslim faith who gave their lives in two World Wars, as announced in the March 2024 Budget.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We are absolutely committed to remembering the vital contribution made by Muslim soldiers who fought incredibly bravely throughout the World Wars in the British Army and Allied Forces.
The Government are developing plans to provide funding of up to £1 million to build a fitting Muslim War Memorial and honour the lasting legacy of their vital contribution.
It is important that the Government considers a broad range of options for delivering the memorial and to inform our thinking, MHCLG ran a market engagement exercise earlier this year. The exercise was published on the Contracts Finder and Find a Grant portals. Responses have been evaluated and we are now developing plans for a competitive funding award process to be launched later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to retrospectively assess the awards and decorations given to the agents who fought for the UK in the F section of the Special Operations Executive in World War II, in particular (1) the small number of women who received military honours, and (2) the men who were killed but have no British award or decoration.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
There is no doubt that the actions of the agents of F section of the Special Operations Executive were very brave, and the Government remains grateful for their service and sacrifice. Indeed, many were recognised with gallantry awards, such as the awards of the George Cross to Odette Sansom, Noor Khan, Cicely Lefort, Diana Rowden and Lilian Rolfe.
It is the long-standing policy of the UK Government, that military and civilian gallantry awards cannot be awarded retrospectively more than five years after the service or actions in question. This policy has been in place since the end of the Second World War and was approved by King George VI. Successive Governments have seen fit not to change it. It is a long-held belief that people making decisions at the time were better placed to make judgements about an individual’s actions than we can be now at a distance of many years and without information about other people’s contemporary actions for comparison.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of the skin cancer detection pilot scheme “Map My Mole” conducted by a small number of NHS GP surgeries in the South West, in particular with regard to potential for reducing unnecessary referrals and for saving NHS time and expense; and whether they plan to deliver home-use technology for detecting and assessing skin cancer risks.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a formal assessment of Map My Mole, the skin cancer detection pilot scheme. The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster, so that more patients survive this horrible set of diseases, including skin cancer. To achieve this, the NHS has delivered an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment.
Since 2023/24, NHS England has also been rolling out teledermatology services, which allow a virtual review of dermoscopic images. In providers where this has been fully implemented, improvements in workforce capacity have been seen doubling the number of patients that can be reviewed per clinic in some cases, and improving faster diagnosis standard performance.
NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national report has provided recommendations to encourage the wider use of technology to ensure skin cancer patients get faster and more equitable access to care. GIRFT is also planning a programme to support primary care colleagues, offering training for new staff to recognise harmless skin lesions, like moles and warts, with the aim of reducing unnecessary referrals to hospital and freeing up capacity for other patients on the waiting list.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to provide the finances for a Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum to those of a Muslim faith who gave their lives in two World Wars, as announced in the March Budget.
Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley
Our country has a long history of commemorating and honouring the brave actions of service men and women during the two World Wars, and we will never forget the sacrifices they made for our future. The government will set out further details on our plans to commemorate and mark the service given by our Muslim communities in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of removing the cap on student recruitment in higher education on the sustainability of the sector, and whether they plan to review or restore the cap.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of higher education (HE) in England, publishes an annual report on the financial health of the HE sector.
The OfS’ most recent report, published in May 2024, does not cite the removal of the cap on student recruitment as a key risk to the financial sustainability of the sector. There are no plans to reintroduce student number controls. The report is attached and can also be read here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/ly1buqlj/financial-sustainability-report2024.pdf.
The UK’s universities are autonomous, vibrant and independent. The government values this, as does the HE sector. This means that, ultimately, it is for providers, as part of an autonomous and independent sector, to decide on effective business models.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the Research Excellence Framework process for universities, and whether they plan to replace it with a less onerous and more cost-effective process.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The next research assessment exercise, REF2029, will be completed in 2029. It is led by Research England and the Devolved Funding Bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These funding bodies are engaging with the sector to lighten the bureaucratic burden wherever possible, for example by using existing data sets.
DSIT recognises the need to reduce bureaucracy across the research system as much as possible. The department is working with the sector and funders to achieve this.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to raise with the government of Iran (1) the detention of lawyers defending Iranian protesters, and (2) the detention of 17 journalists, including Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, who first reported on Jina Mahsa Amini's death in custody.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Iran's human rights record is dire. The UN Fact Finding Mission's update to the Human Rights Council (HRC) on 5 July echoed our serious issues over the continued detention of protesters, lawyers and journalists, the ongoing wave of executions, and new legislation targeting women accused of breaching headscarf rules. We continue to work with our international partners to ensure the regime is held to account. That is why the UK initiated the joint statement of 5 July calling on Iran to end executions, which was signed by 54 countries. On 6 July we announced a further package of human rights sanctions, including on senior prison officials and on the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (SCCR) - the body responsible for setting headscarf policies. Our annual Human Rights Report, published on 13 July, outlines our wide-ranging concern with the human rights situation in Iran and Iran remains an FCDO Human Rights Priority Country. We continue to raise these and other human rights issues with Iran at all appropriate opportunities, including through our Ambassador in Tehran.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they intend to have with the government of Iran regarding the executions, and threat of executions, of many of those connected to the protests that began in that country in September 2022.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Iran's human rights record is dire. The UN Fact Finding Mission's update to the Human Rights Council (HRC) on 5 July echoed our serious issues over the continued detention of protesters, lawyers and journalists, the ongoing wave of executions, and new legislation targeting women accused of breaching headscarf rules. We continue to work with our international partners to ensure the regime is held to account. That is why the UK initiated the joint statement of 5 July calling on Iran to end executions, which was signed by 54 countries. On 6 July we announced a further package of human rights sanctions, including on senior prison officials and on the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (SCCR) - the body responsible for setting headscarf policies. Our annual Human Rights Report, published on 13 July, outlines our wide-ranging concern with the human rights situation in Iran and Iran remains an FCDO Human Rights Priority Country. We continue to raise these and other human rights issues with Iran at all appropriate opportunities, including through our Ambassador in Tehran.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Iranian authorities about punishments for women and girls found in breach of provisions requiring the wearing of a headscarf.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Iran's human rights record is dire. The UN Fact Finding Mission's update to the Human Rights Council (HRC) on 5 July echoed our serious issues over the continued detention of protesters, lawyers and journalists, the ongoing wave of executions, and new legislation targeting women accused of breaching headscarf rules. We continue to work with our international partners to ensure the regime is held to account. That is why the UK initiated the joint statement of 5 July calling on Iran to end executions, which was signed by 54 countries. On 6 July we announced a further package of human rights sanctions, including on senior prison officials and on the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (SCCR) - the body responsible for setting headscarf policies. Our annual Human Rights Report, published on 13 July, outlines our wide-ranging concern with the human rights situation in Iran and Iran remains an FCDO Human Rights Priority Country. We continue to raise these and other human rights issues with Iran at all appropriate opportunities, including through our Ambassador in Tehran.