Baroness Deech

An interim Chair of the Committee, Isabel Doverty, was appointed on 1 April 2025 by the Prime Minister. Ministers are considering options for the recruitment of a permanent Chair to lead ACOBA.

The public appointments digital system, run by the Cabinet Office, enables departments to effectively and consistently manage their public appointment campaigns. It shows the current stage of a campaign and the outcome when completed. However, the system does not record if a campaign has been paused, and where campaigns are paused, the Cabinet Office does not collect the reasons for this or data on when such campaigns might be resumed. That would be a matter for individual sponsor departments and their ministers as part of the normal day-to-day management of the recruitment campaigns they run.

Ministers are in the process of considering the next steps for this campaign.

Access and usage of Victoria Tower Gardens is managed by the Royal Parks under its Contract for Services with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. We do not have any plans to restrict future closures of Victoria Tower Gardens.

Holocaust commemoration events have historically been held at the existing Holocaust Memorial in Hyde Park. Further to the previous agreement to use Victoria Tower Gardens for the Yom HaShoah commemorations in 2024, the Royal Parks sought the department’s views on the continued use of the Gardens on behalf of the event organisers. DCMS agreed to the continued use of Victoria Tower Gardens for commemoration of the 80th Anniversary National Holocaust Commemoration, Yom HaShoah, on 23rd April 2025.

Access and usage of Victoria Tower Gardens is managed by the Royal Parks under its Contract for Services with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. We do not have any plans to restrict future closures of Victoria Tower Gardens.

Holocaust commemoration events have historically been held at the existing Holocaust Memorial in Hyde Park. Further to the previous agreement to use Victoria Tower Gardens for the Yom HaShoah commemorations in 2024, the Royal Parks sought the department’s views on the continued use of the Gardens on behalf of the event organisers. DCMS agreed to the continued use of Victoria Tower Gardens for commemoration of the 80th Anniversary National Holocaust Commemoration, Yom HaShoah, on 23rd April 2025.

As autonomous, self-governing institutions, universities should have robust policies and procedures in place to ensure that they deal with any incidents of racial and religious hatred decisively and take concerted action to prevent and tackle antisemitism on campus.

The Office for Students (OfS) introduced a new registration condition in July 2024 that will come into force on 1 August 2025 and covers incidents of harassment and sexual misconduct that affect students. It will establish regulatory requirements around training, reporting mechanisms and provision of support and will require universities to develop the capability and resource capacity to implement them. The OfS will be able to take action against providers where there is, or has been, a breach of this condition.

Network Rail and Great Western Railway are executing plans to mitigate the impacts of the closure of Botley Road on station users, the wider public and businesses during the current closure of Botley Road. Work is underway to provide additional support for persons with reduced mobility as well as improvements to wayfinding, lighting and access to the station. Network Rail is working with Thames Water to produce a plan to complete critical utility works and to re-open the road. I have promised to meet stakeholders with Andrew Haines, the Chief Executive of Network Rail, as soon as there is a robust plan in place to complete the works. In the meantime, we welcome all further ideas on the most effective ways of mitigating the effects of the delays on local people, businesses and railway passengers, as we understand and regret the delays in delivering the works and the effect this is having.

Network Rail has not undertaken an assessment of the impacts and social costs resulting from the continuing closure of the A420 (Botley Road) to deliver the Oxford station improvements. Network Rail is working to produce a plan to complete the works and re-open the road. When this has been finalised I propose to meet with stakeholders to discuss it. I wrote to you on 2 September and explained that Network Rail and Great Western Railway are executing a plan to mitigate the impacts of the road closure on those accessing the station and city centre, including persons with restricted mobility. I expect Network Rail to continue to promote Oxford as being open for business throughout this critical and challenging phase.

Network Rail has not undertaken an assessment of the impacts and social costs resulting from the continuing closure of the A420 (Botley Road) to deliver the Oxford station improvements. Network Rail is working to produce a plan to complete the works and re-open the road. When this has been finalised I propose to meet with stakeholders to discuss it. I wrote to you on 2 September and explained that Network Rail and Great Western Railway are executing a plan to mitigate the impacts of the road closure on those accessing the station and city centre, including persons with restricted mobility. I expect Network Rail to continue to promote Oxford as being open for business throughout this critical and challenging phase.

I wrote to you on 2 September and explained that Network Rail and Great Western Railway are executing a plan to mitigate the impacts of the closure of Botley Road on station users, the wider public and businesses during the current closure of Botley Road. Work is under way to provide additional support for persons with reduced mobility as well as improvements to wayfinding, lighting and access to the station. Network Rail is working to produce a plan to complete the works and re-open the road. When this has been finalised I propose to meet with stakeholders to discuss it.

No formal assessment has been made of the regulation of stem cell-based embryo models.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) published Modernising Fertility Law in November 2023, which made a number of recommendations for legislative change, including around its regulatory powers. Ministers have met with the HFEA Chair and discussed the emerging regulatory challenges.

The Government is considering the HFEA’s priorities for changing the law and will decide how to take this forward at the earliest opportunity.

The Department has no current plans to extend the 14-day limit on human embryo research.

The Cass Review, which was the most robust evaluation of gender healthcare in the United Kingdom to date, took stock of all the available evidence regarding use of puberty blockers and concluded that, at present, there is insufficient evidence to support the use of these medicine for the treatment of gender dysphoria and/or incongruence. Similarly, the independent report by the Commission on Human Medicines concluded that there was an ‘absence of long-term safety and efficacy data for this population’.

Better-quality evidence is therefore critical if the National Health Service is to provide reliable, transparent information and advice to support children and young people. That is why the government is supporting NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to set up the ‘PATHWAYS: Puberty Suppression and Transitional Healthcare with Adaptive Youth Services’ study.

The PATHWAYS study proposal is going through all the usual review and approval stages. These include independent academic peer review and National Institute for Health and Care Research funding committee consideration, and it will need to secure full ethical approval ahead of set up and opening to recruitment. The design of the trial, including the safety of participants, is being considered and finalised as part of the approvals process. Subject to the study achieving the necessary approvals, the study protocol will be made available by NIHR in the public domain, as is usual for publicly funded studies. Only once all approvals are in place will the study commence.

Legal provision exists within the current prohibition, namely article 3, which allows the supply of GnRH analogues as part of an authorised clinical trial.

The UK is committed to working with the Government of Egypt to ensure that the application of its new asylum law adheres to international standards when it is implemented. Officials at our Embassy in Cairo are regularly engaging with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to this end. The UK advocates for the implementation of the rights guaranteed by Egypt's constitution.

Egyptian borders are a matter for the Egyptian government. We maintain a close dialogue with Egypt on a range of issues relating to the conflict in Gaza and strongly support the efforts led by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to secure an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. It is a ceasefire, the release of all remaining hostages and a long-term political solution that offer the best hope of alleviating the suffering of civilians in Gaza and deliver a permanent and sustainable peace.

UN Human Rights Council members are elected by the entire UN membership, based on an equitable geographic distribution of seats. We expect all Human Rights Council members to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights.

The UK has regularly raised concerns at the Human Rights Council about the proportionality of the standing agenda item 7 with regards to Israel. Most recently, at an Interactive Dialogue on the Occupied Palestinian Territories on 25 February, we said that 'the UK is opposed to the existence of item 7. The UK wants to see all countries face appropriate scrutiny of their human rights record but opposes the disproportionate focus of this item'.

Over the last 18 months, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has consulted experts, including from the London School of Tropical Medicine and Every Casualty Counts, and interrogates relevant research. Experts assess that the total number of deaths in Gaza since 7 October 2023 estimated by the Gaza Ministry of Health is a reasonable figure, and likely to be an underestimate.

From 1 April 2023 to 22 January 2025 £2.71 million has been spent on project costs, including work on the Holocaust Memorial Bill, preparations for redetermination of the planning application and preparation for the commencement of construction. £1.66 million of that money has been spent since 22 May 2024.

From 1 April 2023 to 22 January 2025 £2.71 million has been spent on project costs, including work on the Holocaust Memorial Bill, preparations for redetermination of the planning application and preparation for the commencement of construction. £1.66 million of that money has been spent since 22 May 2024.

The scope and content of the Learning Centre exhibition will be developed by the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation, drawing on a wide range of external advice and expertise. Further information can be found on the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation website page and in their mission statement: UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation - GOV.UK

Estimated costs and the expected charitable donations were set out in the Written statement of 28 June 2023 by Baroness Scott of Bybrook [Statement HLWS875].

The Government is seeking Parliament’s approval of the Holocaust Memorial Bill with a view to constructing the UK national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre as quickly and efficiently as possible.

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.