Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they made of advice issued by Historic England and the Twentieth Century Society relating to the listing of (1) the principal surviving buildings of the former Holborn Union Infirmary and Whittington Hospital at Archway, (2) Medlock Mill in Manchester, and (3) other buildings they have received advice on in the last year, and why they decided to go against this advice.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Secretary of State is required to consult Historic England before deciding whether to designate a listed building. Decisions are informed by advice from Historic England and relevant representations from other interested parties, including the Twentieth Century Society, then made in accordance with the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and the Secretary of State’s Principles of Selection for Listed Buildings (2018). The Department takes decisions on whether or not to list based on the criteria of special architectural or historic interest.
The reasoning behind the decisions in cases where there is a departure from Historic England's recommendation is detailed in decision letters to Historic England. That reasoning is then shared by Historic England alongside their notifications to interested parties of the decisions made.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the preservation of buildings of historic interest remains a Government priority.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This government remains committed to the preservation of buildings of historic interest.
For example, this year we announced nearly £20 million new capital funding to support heritage through the Heritage at Risk Capital Fund and Heritage Revival Fund, and over the last 12 months around 150 buildings were added to the National Heritage List for England.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to revising upwardly the 1850 cut-off date for listed buildings being subject to greater selection, as per the general principles of listing relating to age and rarity.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Principles of Selection for Listed Buildings set the criteria used to determine whether a building is of special architectural or historic interest. Currently, the Principles of Selection state that “from 1850 to 1945, because of the greatly increased number of buildings erected and the much larger numbers that have survived, progressively greater selection is necessary”. We do not currently have plans to revise this but continue to keep the Principles of Selection under review.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure a gendered response to emergency aid given to those affected by the earthquake in Afghanistan and to ensure that no restrictions are applied to women helping the rescue effort in country.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The aftermath of the earthquake in Kunar Province in Afghanistan has been truly devastating and will have a disproportionate and lasting impact on women and girls. We have released £1 million in emergency funding to help our partners deliver critical healthcare and emergency supplies to the most vulnerable, with a significant focus on women and girls. We continue to monitor the situation and will make further allocations if necessary. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will also continue to advocate for unimpeded access for female aid workers in all our communications with the Taliban and partners.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, as pen holder for Women, Peace & Security (WPS) at the United Nations, how they will mark the 25th Anniversary of the WPS Security Council Resolution (UNSCR 1325).
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
25 years on from landmark UN Security Council resolution 1325, the UK is proud of its global leadership on the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. It is important that we mark this milestone, with women remaining disproportionately impacted by high levels of global conflict. We are grateful to members of this House for their unwavering commitment to this agenda over the last quarter of a century. We are proud that the UK's strong track record on WPS is due to our meaningful cooperation across Government, Parliament, and UK civil society as we strive together to implement UN Security Council resolution 1325. The UK is working closely with our domestic and international partners, including utilising our global network of posts, to ensure we appropriately mark the anniversary around the world. The UK is steadfast in its commitment to the WPS agenda and will continue to demonstrate this during the 25th anniversary and beyond.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to mark the occasion of the 25th anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
25 years on from landmark UN Security Council resolution 1325, the UK is proud of its global leadership on the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. It is important that we mark this milestone, with women remaining disproportionately impacted by high levels of global conflict. We are grateful to members of this House for their unwavering commitment to this agenda over the last quarter of a century. We are proud that the UK's strong track record on WPS is due to our meaningful cooperation across Government, Parliament, and UK civil society as we strive together to implement UN Security Council resolution 1325. The UK is working closely with our domestic and international partners, including utilising our global network of posts, to ensure we appropriately mark the anniversary around the world. The UK is steadfast in its commitment to the WPS agenda and will continue to demonstrate this during the 25th anniversary and beyond.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in regard to the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986: Non-technical summaries for project licences granted January – March 2025 that require a retrospective assessment, published on 11 June, what assessment they have made of the suffering caused to macaque monkeys.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Each application to use animals in science is subject to a robust and rigorous harm benefit assessment by a trained Home Office Inspector whom is a member of either the veterinary or medical profession. This ensures that any harm that may be caused to the animals is justified by the likely expected benefits for humans, animals or the environment.
All applications must conform with all legal requirements set out in the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. This includes, applying the principles of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement); the replacement of animals with alternatives, the reduction of the number of animals used to the minimum possible and the refinement of any techniques to reduce the harm suffered by the animals to the minimum. The Home Office conducts a robust and rigorous harm benefit assessment which requires a detailed justification of the harms and which demonstrates the 3Rs have been fully considered. All licence holders have a responsibility to fully implement the 3Rs throughout the lifetime of a licence and demonstrate this requirement at audit.
Licence holders are required to complete retrospective assessments for licences if the protocols in the studies are using non-human primates, cats, dogs and equidae and all those involving procedures classified as severe. Retrospective assessments must consider whether any lessons can be learnt from the programme of work which may contribute to the further implementation of the principles of replacement, reduction and refinement.
The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT), the Home Office and DEFRA are engaging with stakeholders to finalise a strategy to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternatives to animal testing which is scheduled for publication later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in regard to the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986: Non-technical summaries for projects granted in 2025, January to March, what steps they are taking to end invasive brain research on non-human primates and other animals.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
All applications must conform with all legal requirements set out in the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. This includes, applying the principles of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement); the replacement of animals with alternatives, the reduction of the number of animals used to the minimum possible and the refinement of any techniques to reduce the harm suffered by the animals to the minimum.
The Home Office conducts a robust and rigorous harm benefit assessment which requires a detailed justification of the harms, and which demonstrates the 3Rs have been fully considered. All licence holders have a responsibility to fully implement the 3Rs throughout the lifetime of a licence and demonstrate this requirement at audit.
The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT), the Home Office and DEFRA are engaging with stakeholders to finalise a strategy to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternatives to animal testing which is scheduled for publication later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people moved to the UK through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy in (1) 2022, (2) 2023, (3) 2024, and (4) 2025.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
It has been over four years since the ARAP was launched, and as of the 31 March 2025, has seen 21,316 principals and their family members already relocated to the UK.
Over 12,800 people have been successfully resettled under the ACRS since 2021 and over half of these arrivals have been children and a quarter women.
Data on the number of Eligible Persons resettled under ARAP and ACRS in the years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 is available in the quarterly published immigration statistics on GOV.UK.
For a summary of the data, see the resettlement section of the How many people come to the UK via safe and legal (humanitarian) routes?’ chapter; for detailed data, see table Res_D02 of the asylum and resettlement data sets.
The above is the best available operational data, as of 31 March 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people moved to the UK through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme in (1) 2022, (2) 2023, (3) 2024, and (4) 2025.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
It has been over four years since the ARAP was launched, and as of the 31 March 2025, has seen 21,316 principals and their family members already relocated to the UK.
Over 12,800 people have been successfully resettled under the ACRS since 2021 and over half of these arrivals have been children and a quarter women.
Data on the number of Eligible Persons resettled under ARAP and ACRS in the years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 is available in the quarterly published immigration statistics on GOV.UK.
For a summary of the data, see the resettlement section of the How many people come to the UK via safe and legal (humanitarian) routes?’ chapter; for detailed data, see table Res_D02 of the asylum and resettlement data sets.
The above is the best available operational data, as of 31 March 2025.