Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government on what authority The Royal Parks closed Victoria Tower Gardens on 23 April for the 80th Anniversary National Holocaust Commemoration.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

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.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to restrict future closures of Victoria Tower Gardens.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

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.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 15 April (HL6489), who were the experts consulted on the reliability of the Gaza Ministry of Health's fatality figures.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

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.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of non-democratic states currently serving on the United Nations Human Rights Council and of their record of upholding human rights.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

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.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to continue the process for appointing new members of the House of Lords Appointments Commission; and whether the appointment criteria have changed.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

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

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many competitions for public appointments have been paused before completion since 9 July 2024; what are the reasons for pausing these processes; and when they will be resumed.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

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.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to appoint a Chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

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.

Found: LORD YOUNG OF ACTON BARONESS DEECH BARONESS FOX OF BUCKLEY LORD MACDONALD OF RIVER GLAVEN 84_ Clause

Found: LORD YOUNG OF ACTON BARONESS DEECH BARONESS FOX OF BUCKLEY LORD MACDONALD OF RIVER GLAVEN 84_ Clause

Found: LORD YOUNG OF ACTON BARONESS DEECH BARONESS FOX OF BUCKLEY LORD MACDONALD OF RIVER GLAVEN 84_ Clause

Found: LORD YOUNG OF ACTON BARONESS DEECH BARONESS FOX OF BUCKLEY LORD MACDONALD OF RIVER GLAVEN 84_ Clause

Found: LORD VERDIRAME BARONESS DEECH _ After Clause 2, insert the following new Clause— “Learning Centre