Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the timescale for commencing section 106 of the Equality Act 2010, and which protected characteristics will be covered under the provisions of section 106 when it is enacted.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The Government is committed to commencing the Equality Act 2010’s provision requiring registered political parties to publish anonymised data relating to the diversity of their candidate selections.
Introducing this policy will, through increased transparency, demonstrate tangible progress towards better representation among candidates of the population that they seek to serve. Ministers are considering which protected characteristics will be required to be reported on and the timescale.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to launch a consultation on the implementation of section 106 of the Equality Act 2010, and if so, when they plan to launch that consultation.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The Government is committed to commencing the Equality Act 2010’s provision requiring registered political parties to publish anonymised data relating to the diversity of their candidate selections.
We are currently exploring when and how to commence the provision under section 106, and when to consult. We will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of proposed cuts to overseas aid spending, whether they plan to reduce the headcount of staff; and how they will ensure the necessary technical staff are retained to deliver on the UK’s commitments.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As part of Phase 2 of the Spending Review, all departments are expected to meet savings and efficiencies of more than 5% of their Financial Year 2025-26 budgets by the end of the period (Financial Year 2028-29). Detail of these proposals will be confirmed once the Spending Review concludes. The proposed cuts to overseas aid spending will also be confirmed through the Spending Review. The UK government is committed to ensuring it has the development capability and technical expertise needed to deliver its ambition on international development.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has already taken action. Since the merger, the department has strengthened the technical expertise required to boost capabilities.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total projected cost of housing migrants and refugees in hotels and other accommodation for each year from 2025 to 2028.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
It remains our absolute commitment to end the use of hotels over time, as part of our reduction in overall asylum accommodation costs. The Home Office will continue to publish accurate end-of-year information on actual asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to honour their existing commitments to multilateral aid for the years of 2025, 2026 and 2027, and how much they anticipate this will be.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Reducing the overall size of our Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget will necessarily have an impact on the scale and shape of the work we do. Decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, based on various factors including impact assessments.
Multilateral cooperation is an important part of working through partnerships and allows a global scale of investment and delivery that outstrips what countries can achieve alone. However, with less money in the system, we must have a laser focus on delivering more effectively and efficiently.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the announcement that overseas aid spending will be reduced to 0.3 per cent of gross national income (GNI) from 2027, what percentage of GNI will be spent on (1) overseas projects and (2) projects on gender, once the costs of housing refugees have been taken into account.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is committed to ensuring that asylum costs fall and has already acted. The Government has taken measures to reduce the asylum backlog, reform the asylum accommodation system to end the use of expensive accommodation in the next Spending Review (SR) period and increase detention capacity to facilitate more asylum removals. Whilst there will always be volatility in asylum forecasts, we expect these decisions to drive down overall in-donor refugee costs over the next SR.
All UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending is consistent with the international rules agreed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Development Assistance Committee. This includes ODA spent on in-donor refugee costs.
Decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, based on various factors including impact assessments. The UK is committed to empowering women and girls around the world through our international work.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede on 1 April (HL6113), how many of the 158 inquests completed on the Isle of Wight in 2023 (1) were heard by jury, (2) were court inquests, and (3) were held as an 'inquest in writing' under section 9C of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The following information for the Isle of Wight coroner area is either included in, or can be extrapolated from, the Coroner Statistics 2023 which are available at: Coroners statistics 2023 - GOV.UK.
In 2023:
No inquests were heard with a jury.
81 inquests involved a public court hearing.
77 inquests were conducted in writing under the provisions of section 9C of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.
The Coroner Statistics for 2024 will be published on 08 May 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to make changes to the UK Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan 2023–2027, and if so, how they plan to make those changes, who they will consult, and when they plan to make the changes.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK's fifth Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan was published in February 2023. The Government intends to build on the approach and ambition displayed in the UK's fifth Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan during this 25th anniversary year of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325.
The Government looks forward to setting out its priorities for the 25th anniversary year to the Women, Peace and Security All-Party Parliamentary Group and civil society in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede on 1 April (HL6113), what is the longest outstanding inquest in the Isle of Wight.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to supporting an inquest process which is as swift as possible and which puts the bereaved at the heart of the process. We recognise the impact of delays on bereaved families and wider systems.
However, while the Ministry of Justice is responsible for coroner law and policy, operational responsibility for coroner services lies with individual local authorities (known as “relevant authorities”) which are responsible for funding, administration and coroner appointments for each of the 77 coroner areas in England and Wales. For the Isle of Wight coroner area, the relevant authority is the Isle of Wight Council.
For this reason, the Ministry of Justice does not hold information on the longest running inquest in the Isle of Wight coroner area. More generally, however, the Coroner Statistics for 2023 (the most recent year for which data is available) indicate that 46 inquests had been open for more than two years in the area at 31 December 2023. The Statistics are available at Coroners and burials statistics - GOV.UK. Statistics for 2024 will be published on 8 May 2025.
I understand there has been significant pressure on accommodation for inquest hearings, and in terms of staffing and coroner resources, in the Isle of Wight coroner area. To address this, the refurbishment of a court is now nearing completion; and the Isle of Wight Council is currently recruiting for two additional Assistant Coroners. It is anticipated that, once in place, these measures will help address the issue of inquest backlog.
We will continue to work closely with the Chief Coroner, local authorities and other key partners to reform and deliver a framework for the future development of coroner services across England and Wales.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede on 1 April (HL6113), what steps they are taking to support families of the deceased during the wait for an inquest.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to supporting an inquest process which is as swift as possible and which puts the bereaved at the heart of the process. We recognise the impact of delays on bereaved families and wider systems.
However, while the Ministry of Justice is responsible for coroner law and policy, operational responsibility for coroner services lies with individual local authorities (known as “relevant authorities”) which are responsible for funding, administration and coroner appointments for each of the 77 coroner areas in England and Wales. For the Isle of Wight coroner area, the relevant authority is the Isle of Wight Council.
For this reason, the Ministry of Justice does not hold information on the longest running inquest in the Isle of Wight coroner area. More generally, however, the Coroner Statistics for 2023 (the most recent year for which data is available) indicate that 46 inquests had been open for more than two years in the area at 31 December 2023. The Statistics are available at Coroners and burials statistics - GOV.UK. Statistics for 2024 will be published on 8 May 2025.
I understand there has been significant pressure on accommodation for inquest hearings, and in terms of staffing and coroner resources, in the Isle of Wight coroner area. To address this, the refurbishment of a court is now nearing completion; and the Isle of Wight Council is currently recruiting for two additional Assistant Coroners. It is anticipated that, once in place, these measures will help address the issue of inquest backlog.
We will continue to work closely with the Chief Coroner, local authorities and other key partners to reform and deliver a framework for the future development of coroner services across England and Wales.