Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the additional costs to Post Offices of person-to-person parcels going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and requiring documentation under the Windsor Framework.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government has not made a specific estimate of any costs to the Post Office of adapting to the arrangements set out in the Windsor Framework.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many colleges and institutions are registered as higher education providers with the Office for Students.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

There are currently 426 higher education providers registered with the Office for Students (OfS) as of 28 March 2025. The full OfS register of providers is publicly available and can be found on the OfS website.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to abolish university tuition fees for nursing.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

Currently, there are no plans to abolish tuition fees for nursing courses for the 2025/26 academic year. Students undertaking nursing, midwifery and allied health profession courses qualify for non-repayable grant support through the NHS Learning Support Fund. In addition, for the 2025/26 academic year, we will be increasing loans for living costs by 3.1%. This ensures that the most support is targeted at students from the lowest income families, while keeping the student finance system financially sustainable.

The higher education (HE) sector needs a secure financial footing to face the challenges of the next decade, and to ensure that all students can be confident they will receive the world-class HE experience they deserve. This is why, after seven years of frozen fee caps under the previous government, the department has taken the difficult decision to increase maximum tuition fee limits for the 2025/26 academic year by 3.1%, in line with the forecast rate of inflation.

In recognition of the increased investment students are being asked to make, the department expects the sector to deliver the very best outcomes, both for those students and for the country. We will publish our plan for HE reform in the summer, and work with the sector and the Office for Students to deliver the change that the country needs.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current protests and demonstrations in Zimbabwe and the detention of opposition party members by the Zanu PF government.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The UK is monitoring political developments in Zimbabwe, including demonstrations on 31 March when a number of protestors were arrested. The UK supports the rights to peaceful protest and due process guaranteed by Zimbabwe's constitution.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will invite the Police Service of Northern Ireland to investigate the conduct of ministers following the declassification of the minutes of a meeting with Sinn Fein at Hillsborough Castle on 9 October 2001 which record that ministers had "turned a blind eye" to serious crimes of the IRA, as reported in the Belfast Telegraph on 28 March.

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

The Government does not comment on National Archives releases or releases relating to previous Governments.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many tuition fee loans, and for how much in total, were provided to franchised delivery providers of education who are (1) registered with the Office for Students, and (2) non-registered, in the past three years.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

The attached table shows the number of students in receipt of a tuition fee loan and the total amount of tuition fee loans paid on behalf of students studying at franchised providers in England, split by whether the franchised provider is registered with the Office for Students. This covers tuition fees paid by Student Finance England for the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.

In franchising arrangements, tuition fees are paid directly to the lead provider, who often retains a portion before passing the remainder onto the franchised provider. The department does not collect data on the proportion of tuition fees retained by the lead provider. The tuition fee amounts presented in the table therefore overestimate the amount of tuition fee funding received by franchised providers.

Data captures loan payments made up to 31 August 2023 for the 2021/22 academic year and up to 31 August 2024 for the 2022/23 and 23/24 academic years. As the loan payment amounts for 2023/24 do not capture late payments, it is not appropriate to compare 2023/24 with previous years.