Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the ruling by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal on 17 December into the actions of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Metropolitan Police regarding the investigation of journalists in Northern Ireland.

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

The Government has noted the detailed Investigatory Powers Tribunal judgment in this case. The Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has already accepted the Tribunal’s judgment that due consideration was not given to whether there was an overriding public interest in interfering with journalistic sources before authorising surveillance. And although officers complied with UK law and procedure at the time, a 2013 authorisation for communications data was a breach of the PSNI’s human rights obligations. The Tribunal dismissed the complaint that the police had unlawfully obtained information and communications data by non-statutory means.

The Chief Constable has stated that he will take time to consider and reflect on the judgment and along with the findings of the McCullough Review, to consider what further steps the PSNI can take. The McCullough Review is an independent review of PSNI use of surveillance against sensitive professions. The Northern Ireland Policing Board has asked for the McCullough Report to be provided by 31 March 2025.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the ruling by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal on 17 December, what assessment they have made of the current levels of surveillance by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Metropolitan Police into journalists, politicians and others in Northern Ireland.

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

There are a number of robust legal protections afforded to sensitive professions. These include Articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 and the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989.

There have been significant changes made since the actions investigated by the Tribunal occurred, including the implementation of the Investigatory Powers Act (2016) in 2018. Oversight of the use of investigatory powers is provided by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office who ensure that their use is necessary and proportionate, and in accordance with the law.

The Northern Ireland Policing Board has asked the Chief Constable for the McCullough Report, an independent review of PSNI use of surveillance against sensitive professions, to be provided by 31 March 2025.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to mitigate against the impact of material switching as a result of the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024.

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

Once the Scheme Administrator has been established it will look at what measures may be needed to mitigate against material switching, where switching may produce perverse environmental outcomes. As pEPR places the cost of disposing of packaging back on those who place packaging on the market, the system contains intrinsic incentives against producers switching to materials which are more expensive to reprocess in the waste stream.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to engage with industry in relation to the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 as part of the development of illustrative base fees; and what plans they have to publish the methodology used to develop the most recent illustrative fees.

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

Under the new Government, Defra has engaged with industry to ensure that the calculation of local authority costs to manage household packaging waste is as accurate as possible. This engagement continues and underpins further development of illustrative Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) base fees to ensure robust quality assurance of the modelling.

We included a summary of the methodology to calculate pEPR fees as part of the two publications of pEPR illustrative base fees, in August and September 2024. As part of our current engagement with industry we are sharing further details on our methodology and will continue ensuring that the information is shared more widely.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what preventive measures they are considering to address a potential rise in excess deaths from COVID-19 in 2025, particularly among at-risk groups, due to the changes in the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's recommendations on eligibility for vaccination against COVID-19.

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

The Government is guided by the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation (JCVI) on eligibility for vaccination programmes. Given the continued effectiveness of vaccines and improved treatments, for most people there is a much lower risk of severe illness compared to earlier in the pandemic.

The JCVI advises that older people and those who are immunosuppressed are the two groups who continue to be at higher risk of severe disease and death, and that vaccination every six months remains appropriate given the durability of protection afforded by the currently available vaccines. Its advice is to offer vaccination in autumn 2025 and spring 2026 to these groups, and also any individuals living in care homes for older adults, as care homes for older people are particularly high-risk settings and may include some younger individuals. This advice is available at the GOV.UK website, in an online only format. The Government is considering this advice carefully and will respond in due course.

Appropriate levels of testing will remain to support diagnosis for clinical care and treatment, and to protect very high-risk individuals and settings. Those who are clinically extremely vulnerable and immunocompromised are part of the group who is eligible for COVID-19 treatments in the community, enabling them easy access to anti-viral treatments. The Government will also maintain essential COVID-19 surveillance activities in the community, primary and secondary care, and in high-risk settings.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether an increase in the number of GP appointments will be needed as a result of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's recommendations on COVID-19 vaccine eligibility for 2025.

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

The independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises the Department on the approach to vaccination and immunisation programmes. The aim of the COVID-19 immunisation programme is to prevent serious disease, leading to hospitalisation and/or mortality, arising from COVID-19. On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme in 2025 and spring 2026. This advice is available on the GOV.UK website, in an online only format.

For spring 2025, the JCVI advises that, as with previous spring campaigns, a COVID-19 vaccine should be offered to adults aged 75 years old and over, residents in a care home for older adults, and the immunosuppressed aged six months and over. The Government has accepted the JCVI’s advice on eligibility for the spring 2025 COVID-19 vaccination programme. The Government is considering the advice for autumn 2025 and spring 2026 carefully, and will respond in due course.

In the 12 months to October 2024, an estimated 379.6 million general practice appointments were delivered, of which approximately 2.8 million were appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations. As the JCVI has not advised for an expanded cohort of vaccine eligibility for 2025 compared to 2024, noting that advice on autumn 2025 is still being considered, additional capacity for general practice appointments is not likely to be required.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the rate of statutory stick pay on (1) employee retention, (2) economic activity, and (3) growth.

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

The Department has not made an assessment of the impact of the rate of Statutory Sick Pay on employee retention, economic activity and growth.

The Department has undertaken a Regulatory Impact Assessment and an Equality Impact Assessment of the Statutory Sick Pay changes to remove the Lower Earnings Limit and remove the 3-day waiting period. Our RIA demonstrates that businesses may stand to benefit from the changes through increased employee productivity, lower staff turnover and reduced recruitment costs. Both impact assessments can be found here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6715f848386bf0964853d848/Impact_assessment_improve_access_statutory_sick_pay_removing_lower_earnings_limit_removing_waiting_period.pdf

https://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2024-0716/Statutory_Sick_Pay_EA.pdf

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential benefits of a youth mobility agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The UK has a range of cultural exchange schemes that offer young people from the UK and partner countries the chance to experience life in another country and to make lifelong ties and friendships overseas.

Regarding a youth mobility arrangement with the EU, the EU has not approached the UK with a formal proposal. The Government routinely discusses a range of issues with European counterparts, but we are clear that there will be no return to free movement, and that we must reduce the UK's levels of net migration after the record highs reached under the last government.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have had discussions with the European Union about a youth mobility agreement; and if so, when.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The UK has a range of cultural exchange schemes that offer young people from the UK and partner countries the chance to experience life in another country and to make lifelong ties and friendships overseas.

Regarding a youth mobility arrangement with the EU, the EU has not approached the UK with a formal proposal. The Government routinely discusses a range of issues with European counterparts, but we are clear that there will be no return to free movement, and that we must reduce the UK's levels of net migration after the record highs reached under the last government.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they are monitoring the impact of the maternal respiratory syncytial virus vaccination programme on paediatric hospitalisations; and what steps they are taking to assess and improve the programme.

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

Through the Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Watch programme, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) undertakes surveillance of hospitalisations due to confirmed respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

The UKHSA also undertakes monitoring and evaluation of immunisation programmes, including the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing hospital admissions. Such an analysis is being developed for the maternal vaccination programme for infant RSV prevention.

The UKHSA also provided analysis on RSV prevention considerations for very and extremely premature babies as part of the October 2024 meeting of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the latest data on uptake for the maternal respiratory syncytial virus vaccination programme, broken down by (1) region, and (2) integrated care system.

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

Coverage of the respiratory syncytial virus maternal vaccine programme will be measured in women who were at least 28 weeks gestation at the time of the start of the programme, and after they give birth. The first coverage data for this cohort will be published in January and will be broken down by region and integrated care system.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 6 August (HL443), what assessment they have made of the uptake of the maternal respiratory syncytial virus vaccination programme in relation to other year-round maternal vaccination programmes so far.

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

Coverage of the respiratory syncytial virus maternal vaccine programme will be measured in women who were at least 28 weeks gestation at the time of the start of the programme, and after they give birth. The first coverage data for this cohort will be published in January, when uptake can be compared to uptake in other maternal programmes like pertussis.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing a deposit return scheme on plastic bottles and cans in England.

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

On 19 November 2024, the Government published a policy update reaffirming its commitment to deliver a Deposit Return Scheme in October 2027. The materials included in the scheme are single use (PET) plastic, steel, and aluminium drink containers. UK Government will work closely with the Scottish Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland to launch the scheme across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

We laid the regulations for England and Northern Ireland before Parliament on 25th November 2024. This is a significant milestone. We plan for the regulations to come into force in late January (assuming parliamentary time allows). The application process for the deposit management organisation (DMO) for the deposit return scheme is now live and appointment of the DMO(s) for England, Northern Ireland and

Scotland is planned for April 2025.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government when the communique for the Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs held on 18 November will be published on GOV.UK, given their commitment to publish communiques within two weeks of the Inter-Ministerial Group taking place.

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

The four Governments have committed to jointly agreeing a communique for the Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs within two weeks of the meeting taking place. Each government will then take the necessary steps to arrange for publication on respective websites as soon as possible. Some governments published the communique on their relevant websites earlier this month and it has now been published on GOV.UK (attached).

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Civil Aviation Authority and NATS Holdings about the delays and cancellations at Edinburgh Airport on 15 December.

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

The Air Traffic Control tower at Edinburgh airport is operated by Air Navigation Solutions (ANSL). Air Traffic Control tower operations are commercial agreements between the Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) and the airport concerned. Neither the Government or the Civil Aviation Authority has any involvement in the awarding of these contracts.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Civil Aviation Authority, airline carriers and authorities of the main airports about the operation of the air traffic control system following technical failures at Edinburgh Airport on 15 December; and what assessment they have made of the operation of air traffic control technology.

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

Air Traffic Control tower operations at UK airports are commercial agreements between the Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) and the airport concerned. The Government, Civil Aviation Authority and airlines do not have any involvement in these agreements.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish their Independent Pornography Review.

Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The work of the Independent Pornography Review is ongoing and is an important area of interest to this government.

The Review is expected to finalise by early 2025, with publication of the report following shortly after this.

Found: biodiversity, particularly while delivering more renewable energy and infrastructure.89 Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: biodiversity, particularly while delivering more renewable energy and infrastructure.89 Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick