Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce a set of core standards for agri-food imports to ensure both fair competition for farmers and quality for consumers.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government shares the public’s high regard for the UK’s environmental protections, food standards and animal welfare.

As set out in the UK’s Trade Strategy, the Government will not lower food standards and will uphold high animal welfare standards. Defra recognises concerns about methods of production which are not permitted in the UK.

While production methods vary in line with different climates, diseases and other contextual reasons, the Government will always consider whether overseas produce has an unfair advantage and any impact that may have. Where necessary, we will be prepared to use the full range of powers at our disposal to protect our most sensitive sectors.

This reflects the Government’s commitment to uphold our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food safety standards, areas in which the UK is a world leader.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the compatibility of the Chemicals (Health and Safety) (Amendment, Consequential and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026 with UK commitments to dynamically align with EU pesticide standards as part of the future UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Chemicals (Health and Safety) (Amendment, Consequential and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026 makes amendments to assimilated law for three areas of chemical regulation: GB Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR), GB Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Chemical Substances and Mixtures Regulation (GB CLP); and the Export and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Regulation (GB PIC). The changes being made are set out in the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) response to its consultation that ran between 23 June 2025 and 18 August 2025. HSE is committed to minimising divergence with the EU across all regimes.

GB BPR is now included in the negotiations between UK and the EU on a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement. Until the agreement is concluded, the changes to GB BPR made by this instrument are necessary to resolve critical issues in the GB biocides regime which could otherwise lead to a large group of biocidal products and active substances being removed from the GB market. The implications for GB BPR will be further analysed when the final shape of the Agreement is known.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether shipping businesses operating out of Northern Ireland will be able to access the decarbonisation support funds made available under the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition and the Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure competition.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

UK SHORE funding is open to organisations in all four nations of the UK, including Northern Ireland which is subject to the Windsor Framework. There has been at least one project involving businesses from Northern Ireland in each round of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competitions, and we anticipate Northern Irish businesses will apply for both the seventh round of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC7) and second round of the Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure competition (ZEVI2). For full details of the subsidy control and eligibility criteria, prospective applicants will be able to seek further information from Innovate UK who are running roadshow events on the funding across the UK, including in Northern Ireland.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the compatibility of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition and the Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure competition with the Windsor Framework’s rules on state aid.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

UK SHORE funding is open to organisations in all four nations of the UK, including Northern Ireland which is subject to the Windsor Framework. There has been at least one project involving businesses from Northern Ireland in each round of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competitions, and we anticipate Northern Irish businesses will apply for both the seventh round of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC7) and second round of the Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure competition (ZEVI2). For full details of the subsidy control and eligibility criteria, prospective applicants will be able to seek further information from Innovate UK who are running roadshow events on the funding across the UK, including in Northern Ireland.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to enabling the British Board of Film Classification to perform a formal auditing role for online pornography platforms to ensure online-offline regulatory parity.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government announced the joint pornography team as part of the VAWG strategy in December. In March, it committed to produce a delivery plan setting out how the government can most effectively close the gap between the regulation of online and offline pornographic content. This will test audit and reporting functions and will consider which regulatory frameworks can best address the issue, noting the interactions with the BBFC’s existing remit and that of Ofcom under the Online Safety Act.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 5 February (HL13800), whether they plan to conduct periodic reviews of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's cost-effectiveness methodology to ensure that it remains up-to-date and appropriate.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We have one of the most comprehensive vaccination programmes in the world. Our approach to evaluating vaccination programmes is informed by expert recommendations and advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Working closely with the UK Health Security Agency‑based JCVI secretariat, the Department ensures that the cost-effectiveness methodology for assessing vaccination programmes continues to enable the committee to advise on programmes that deliver the greatest health benefit to the greatest number of people.

The Department maintains oversight of this methodology on an ongoing basis, with particular focus when the range of available evidence and underlying evidence landscape changes over time. Those changes may arise from time to time at irregular intervals, and so it is unlikely to be helpful to review the methodology at fixed and regular intervals.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 5 February (HL13800), what assessment they have made of whether a health-systems focus on the benefits of vaccines and immunisations may disadvantage prevention within the health technology appraisals process.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The cost-effectiveness methodology used by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) ensures that decisions are objective, consistent, and based on high-quality data on health benefits and costs. This approach is not understood to disadvantage vaccinations and immunisations as a form of prevention when compared with treatments, therapeutic health measures, or other forms of prevention.

This is because, similar to the JCVI, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence also applies a health‑sector perspective when appraising preventative and treatment interventions. Beyond vaccines, many other health interventions can generate wider societal or economic benefits, and so applying an appraisal approach across the health system which is consistently focused on health benefits does not uniquely disadvantage vaccinations or immunisations.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to maintain collection of plant biosecurity risk data when routine border controls are removed as part of the future UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government is currently negotiating a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement to make agrifood trade with our biggest market cheaper and easier, cutting costs and removing trade barriers for British producers and retailers. While those negotiations are ongoing, the Government cannot comment further on the SPS agreement, but it will mean the UK will work jointly with the EU on threats to the UK’s biosecurity.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of measures requiring checks of large, mature tree imports as part of the UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement on preventing the introduction of novel pests or pathogens.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government is currently negotiating a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement to make agrifood trade with our biggest market cheaper and easier, cutting costs and removing trade barriers for British producers and retailers. While those negotiations are ongoing, the government cannot comment further on the SPS agreement, but it will mean the UK will work jointly with the EU on threats to the UK’s biosecurity.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026 on Northern Ireland’s ferry operators.

Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government assessed the implications of extending the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to domestic maritime through a published impact assessment. Analysis does not assess the impact on individual operators, as costs vary widely by fleet, route and commercial arrangements. However, to support policy development, case study analysis of specific routes was carried out, including Great Britain–Northern Ireland ferries. This showed that, even assuming full cost passthrough, the effect on passenger fares was minimal.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the outcome of their consultation on regulations to be made under section 154A of the Online Safety Act 2023; and when regulations under that section will be laid before Parliament.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

No consultation on regulations to be made under section 154A of the Online Safety Act has yet been published.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is continuing to work with Ofcom, UKRI, researchers, and service providers to design a framework to provide a means for researchers to access the invaluable data held by tech companies for the purposes of online safety research.

We will provide an update in due course.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they have taken to carry out targeted outreach to increase the number of women in the rail industry.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Government continues to work with arm’s length bodies and industry partners to deliver targeted outreach to increase women’s participation in rail careers. This includes early career engagement programmes, apprenticeship pathways, and outreach in schools and universities to promote rail as an appealing career choice.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of workers within the rail industry are women; and what steps they are taking to encourage women into that industry.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

According to the National Skills Academy for Rail 2025 Annual Workforce Survey, 18.9 per cent of the UK rail workforce is female.

The rail industry is expanding access for women through school and university outreach, targeted recruitment, improved welfare and facilities and more inclusive policies. There are also industry initiatives to help attract, retain, and progress women into skilled and leadership roles, including apprenticeship schemes and mentoring and leadership programmes from Women in Rail and Rail Unites for Inclusion, which continue to see record engagement.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the number of women who leave the rail workforce before retirement, and (2) the reasons why women leave the industry.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

We do not hold official data on attrition of women in the rail industry. However, industry insights highlight a range of factors that can influence retention including representation in senior roles, inclusive workplace culture and access to flexible or job share opportunities.

Through the creation of Great British Railways, we are actively establishing a more inclusive, modern culture, increasing representation to better attract and retain a diverse workforce.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of why women are less likely to enter the rail industry.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Yes, working with the industry the Government has assessed the factors influencing women’s participation in the rail industry and has identified areas to broaden participation. Areas include, for example, representation in leadership roles, flexible working patterns and increasing awareness of the range of rail careers available. Research in this area continues to guide the Government’s work with the rail sector to ensure a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

Found: declared the following interests: Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee, Chair of InterTrade UK Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Steventon; Baroness Hodgson of Abinger; Baroness Neuberger; Lord Randall of Uxbridge; Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Steventon; Baroness Hodgson of Abinger; Baroness Neuberger; Lord Randall of Uxbridge; Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick