Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of the UK's offshore wind capacity is generated by machinery manufactured in the UK; and what steps they are taking to increase UK manufacturing for future offshore wind projects.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. I will correspond directly with my noble Friend.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their procurement policy regarding priority for British produced chicken in food and catering contracts.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is open to considering all lawful means of achieving its ambition that half of all food purchased across the public sector should be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards.
The Government wants British farmers and producers to be well‑placed to bid for a fair share of the £5 billion spent each year on public sector food and catering contracts.
The Government has already published a new national procurement policy statement.
It sets expectations for Government contracts to favour products certified to high environmental standards that we think high-quality British producers are well-placed to meet.
Given the limited information on the origin and sustainability of food in the public sector supply chain, Defra has begun collecting new data to understand how far public sector settings are serving food, including chicken, from local and sustainable sources and what further action is needed.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many crown courts and magistrates’ courts there are in each of the boroughs in West Midlands County; and what is the case backlog in each of those courts.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Table 1 - Crown Court open cases in West Midlands by court (December 2025)
Court | Open cases |
Birmingham | 2,525 |
Wolverhampton | 1,711 |
West Midlands LCJB | 4,236 |
Table 2 - Magistrates’ courts open cases in West Midlands by court (December 2025)
Court | Open cases |
Birmingham | 10,063 |
Coventry | 1,845 |
Dudley | 1,262 |
Sandwell* | 22 |
Solihull* | 80 |
Sutton Coldfield* | 4 |
Walsall | 1,591 |
West Bromwich* | 8 |
Wolverhampton | 1,433 |
West Midlands LCJB | 16,308 |
notes
1) Open cases are those without a final result record. At the Crown Court this excludes cases where one or more defendants is absent and have a live bench warrant.
2) Court location relates to where a case was first received.
3) * signifies magistrates’ courts which have permanently closed. Open cases for these courts will have been transferred to other courts but workload will continue to be reported under the initial location.
The Crown Court backlog currently stands at over 80,000 cases and, without decisive action, would rise to 100,000 by 2028. Behind each of those cases is someone awaiting justice – defendants seeking to clear their name and victims putting their lives on hold. The record and rising Crown Court caseload means that thousands of victims and witnesses are waiting years for their day in court. Justice delayed is justice denied and the status quo is unacceptable.
That is why we asked Sir Brian Leveson, one of our most distinguished judges, to conduct an independent review of the criminal justice system and make recommendations for the modernisation of the system and ways to tackle the backlog. His expert panel gathered evidence over many months. They concluded that reform is essential alongside additional investment in sitting days and the workforce, and a programme of efficiencies. Part 1 of the Review set out a blueprint for pragmatic structural reform in our criminal courts and made clear that action across all aspects of the criminal justice process is needed. Reform, investment and modernisation are all necessary to ensure that our courts deliver justice effectively and efficiently.
The Government has already invested significantly in the system – in record sitting days (increasing judicial capacity), court buildings and technology, and in legal professionals with significant investment in legal aid. However, these investments in growing the workforce, whilst vital, will take years to take effect.
The Government is committed to doing whatever is necessary to deliver swifter justice for victims. Only by pulling every lever we have – investment, efficiency and reform – can we turn the tide on the backlog and begin to deliver faster and fairer justice.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current specifications for police body armour, with regard to (1) protection against ballistics, and (2) long term stress injuries arising from design and weight.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Home Office body armour standards, including for ballistic protection, are developed using expert scientific advice and in line with police operational requirements to ensure that body armour does not place an unnecessary burden on officers while protecting them.
Body armour certified to Home Office standards is rigorously and independently tested to ensure it meets the highest safety standards, based on operational requirements.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current position of the contract for the new vessels for UK Border Force.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer my noble friend to the answer to question HL14258 tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Beamish, on 4th February 2026.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to accelerate the development, testing, production and installation of DragonFire.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK Government is committed to accelerating the development, testing, production, and installation of the DragonFire high energy laser system. The UK remains on track to become the first European NATO nation to bring advanced laser directed energy technology into service. Two major periods of firing trials, conducted successfully in 2025, have been instrumental in advancing the system's readiness for service and operational capability.
In November 2025, the Ministry of Defence awarded a contract to MBDA for the delivery of the first two DragonFire units, with the first of these scheduled for installation on a Type 45 destroyer in 2027, five years earlier than originally planned. This programme exemplifies the MOD's commitment to supporting British technical excellence and rapidly integrating cutting-edge technology to enhance the capabilities of our Armed Forces.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government which company will provide the new electric buses for Sheffield.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
On 12 March it was announced that South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) will receive a grant of £33.4m to help improve air quality in Sheffield by replacing diesel buses with new zero-emission buses. It is for SYMCA to procure these buses.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much they spent to acquire Sheffield Forgemasters; how much more they have invested to date; and what estimate they have made of the cost of future investment.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) spent £2.56 million in August 2021 to acquire Sheffield Forgemasters and its unique defence supply capability in its entirety. To date the MOD has invested a further £542 million in the recapitalisation of the company to modernise and expand its defence manufacturing facilities, including a new 13,000 tonne forging line and a state-of-the-art machining facility. The programme to deliver this is running to cost and schedule and completes in 2033. The total investment is forecast to be £1.3 billion.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 12 February (HL14125), what is the breakdown of the students from England who participated in the Erasmus programme in 2020 by English region.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2020, the regional breakdown of higher education students from England who participated in the Erasmus+ programme was:
All Erasmus+ data is publicly available.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Executive Order “Prioritizing the warfighter in defense contracting”, published by the President of the United States of America on 7 January; and whether a similar decision in respect of stock buybacks and excessive corporate distributions would be appropriate for UK Defence procurement.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Executive Order highlighted by the noble Lord outlines potential actions placed upon contractors deemed to be underperforming by the United States Government. Under the Procurement Act 2023, which came into force on February 24 2025, the UK Government has similarly strengthened its ability to take action against underperforming suppliers through a more centralized, transparent system.
Under the Procurement Act 2023 (the Act) the UK Government has strengthened its ability to deal with underperforming suppliers. The Act introduced commercial levers to manage systemic underperformance via an expanded exclusions regime. This regime ensures that a suppliers’ historic conduct, including poor performance, breaches of contract or serious misconduct, can be assessed and addressed appropriately. Discretionary exclusion grounds allow contracting authorities to take proportionate action where suppliers have demonstrated significant or persistent poor performance, including any self-cleaning demonstrated by the supplier. Where a supplier is an excluded or excludable supplier, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) must or may restrict their participation in future competitions, depending on the nature of the exclusion, and in the most serious cases a Minister of the Crown may place a supplier on the debarment list, following investigation. This creates a transparent, consistent approach to managing poor performance risk across MOD and wider Government.