Duke of Somerset
Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary
Joined House of Lords: 12th December 2014
Left House: 29th April 2026 (Excluded)
Division Voting information
All Debates
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
Sparring Partners
(8 debate interactions)
(2 debate interactions)
Department Debates
(6 debate contributions)
(5 debate contributions)
(5 debate contributions)
(4 debate contributions)
Legislation Debates
(943 words contributed)
(829 words contributed)
(606 words contributed)
(177 words contributed)
Lords initiatives
These initiatives were driven by Duke of Somerset, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
Duke of Somerset has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Duke of Somerset has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Latest 3 Written Questions
(View all written questions)ePassport gates are open to UK/EU/EEA and Swiss nationals, aged 12 and over as well as adult members of the Registered Traveller Service (RTS). ePassport gates are used by over 70% of those passengers eligible to use them.
The ePassport Gates at London Airports operate flexibly dependant on demand, operating in banks of 5 and 10. Egate operation requires Border Force Staff deployed into monitoring roles such as behavioural detection to enhance security at the border and provide safeguarding assurances. The number open can be flexed dependent on passenger flow, if there is a large number of arriving passengers that are not eligible to use the e-Gates, a bank of e-gates could be closed, and those officers deployed to the main Passport Control Point to check non-eligible passengers.
If the eGates were to be open even when no eligible passengers were arriving, this could worsen the passenger experience of those not eligible to use e-Gates as a result of Officers engaged in monitoring roles, when they could be better deployed processing passengers on the main Passport Control Point where Officers can use various techniques
Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Border Force is committed to providing an excellent service and over 95% of all passengers seeking entry at Heathrow in 2018 have been dealt with within the service level agreements. But this must be balanced with Border Force’s responsibility to secure the border. It is worth noting that the 95% figure in the answer is in absolute passenger number terms rather than number of wait time measurements.
Border Force is taking a number of steps to ensure passengers are dealt with quickly, including through investment in technology and maximising available staff at the busiest times of the day.
Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Ministry of Defence largely sells its surplus estate freehold in accordance with the disposal process set out by the Treasury, in order to ensure best value for the taxpayer. However, if warranted, properties may be sold with a long-term leasehold in order to retain an element of influence over their future use and occupation.