Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many civil servants have left their jobs following the reshuffle in summer 2026 at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Answered by Lord Wood of Anfield - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Between 1st June 2026 and 31st August 2026, 375 civil servants left the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) as part of the FCDO 2030 restructure.
In terms of how many civil servants left the FCDO following the Ministerial reshuffle in July 2026, the Cabinet Office routinely publishes a breakdown of special advisers by department as part of the Annual Report on Special Advisers.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what comparative analysis they have conducted on Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 academic performance between Voluntary Aided Catholic schools and Catholic schools that have converted to academy status within Catholic Multi-Academy Trusts over the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government recognises that faith schools operate within governance arrangements that require the consent of the relevant foundation, trustees or religious authority to voluntarily join an academy trust. However, under the Academies Act 2010, a voluntary application for academy status is made by the school's governing body.
The governing body must consult appropriately before conversion takes place. The department publishes guidance for schools about academy conversion which explains the statutory requirements around consultation.
The department has not conducted a specific comparative assessment of the financial resilience, per-pupil funding allocations, administrative overheads or academic performance of voluntary aided Catholic schools and Catholic schools within Catholic multi-academy trusts.
Academy trusts are required to publish annual accounts and the latest published data shows that 96% of academy trusts are operating with a cumulative surplus. Multi-academy trusts can realise efficiencies through economies of scale when delivering services across a group of schools.
Information on school and academy performance is published annually and is available through the department's performance data publications.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) financial resilience, (2) per-pupil funding allocation, and (3) administrative overheads, of voluntary aided Catholic schools compared to those operating within Catholic multi-academy trusts.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government recognises that faith schools operate within governance arrangements that require the consent of the relevant foundation, trustees or religious authority to voluntarily join an academy trust. However, under the Academies Act 2010, a voluntary application for academy status is made by the school's governing body.
The governing body must consult appropriately before conversion takes place. The department publishes guidance for schools about academy conversion which explains the statutory requirements around consultation.
The department has not conducted a specific comparative assessment of the financial resilience, per-pupil funding allocations, administrative overheads or academic performance of voluntary aided Catholic schools and Catholic schools within Catholic multi-academy trusts.
Academy trusts are required to publish annual accounts and the latest published data shows that 96% of academy trusts are operating with a cumulative surplus. Multi-academy trusts can realise efficiencies through economies of scale when delivering services across a group of schools.
Information on school and academy performance is published annually and is available through the department's performance data publications.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy regarding the structural conversion of maintained schools to academy status where conversion is directed or mandated by a diocesan authority rather than initiated by a school’s governing body.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government recognises that faith schools operate within governance arrangements that require the consent of the relevant foundation, trustees or religious authority to voluntarily join an academy trust. However, under the Academies Act 2010, a voluntary application for academy status is made by the school's governing body.
The governing body must consult appropriately before conversion takes place. The department publishes guidance for schools about academy conversion which explains the statutory requirements around consultation.
The department has not conducted a specific comparative assessment of the financial resilience, per-pupil funding allocations, administrative overheads or academic performance of voluntary aided Catholic schools and Catholic schools within Catholic multi-academy trusts.
Academy trusts are required to publish annual accounts and the latest published data shows that 96% of academy trusts are operating with a cumulative surplus. Multi-academy trusts can realise efficiencies through economies of scale when delivering services across a group of schools.
Information on school and academy performance is published annually and is available through the department's performance data publications.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) statutory guidance, and (2) requirements, apply to public and parental consultations conducted prior to a Catholic voluntary aided school converting to academy status under a diocesan-wide plan.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government recognises that faith schools operate within governance arrangements that require the consent of the relevant foundation, trustees or religious authority to voluntarily join an academy trust. However, under the Academies Act 2010, a voluntary application for academy status is made by the school's governing body.
The governing body must consult appropriately before conversion takes place. The department publishes guidance for schools about academy conversion which explains the statutory requirements around consultation.
The department has not conducted a specific comparative assessment of the financial resilience, per-pupil funding allocations, administrative overheads or academic performance of voluntary aided Catholic schools and Catholic schools within Catholic multi-academy trusts.
Academy trusts are required to publish annual accounts and the latest published data shows that 96% of academy trusts are operating with a cumulative surplus. Multi-academy trusts can realise efficiencies through economies of scale when delivering services across a group of schools.
Information on school and academy performance is published annually and is available through the department's performance data publications.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what comparative data they hold on the Ofsted outcomes of Catholic primary and secondary schools operating as Voluntary Aided schools and those operating as academies within Catholic Multi-Academy Trusts in each of the past five years.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked Sir Martyn Oliver to write directly to the noble Lord, Lord Alton of Liverpool, and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report from the former officials of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons that they have evidence of use of chemical weapons in the war in Sudan; and whether they intend to raise this in the UN Security Council.
Answered by Baroness Winterton of Doncaster - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of recent media reporting of alleged chemical weapons use in Sudan and are reviewing the allegations carefully. The UK takes any alleged breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention very seriously. Sudan is a State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention and we expect all those in Sudan to abide by the prohibition on developing, producing, possessing, transferring or using chemical weapons. We have consistently raised serious concerns about allegations of chemical weapon use in Sudan, including at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and will continue to do so. Officials have also raised this specific report with representatives of the Sudanese Armed Forces and urged Sudan to conclude its investigation into the allegations and report back to the OPCW.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency was responsible for applying for the creation of a medical dictionary for regulatory activities code for post-SSRI sexual dysfunction in 2021.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No, but the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency did have discussions on the underlying data in this area with officials responsible for the medical dictionary for regulatory activities, which resulted in them adding the lower level term “post-SSRI sexual dysfunction” to the regulatory dictionary under sexual dysfunction.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish an update on the new structure of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office following the summer 2026 reorganisation.
Answered by Lord Wood of Anfield - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) publishes organograms on staff roles and salaries every quarter on gov.uk. The data for June is available here: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Organograms of staff roles and salaries - National Data Library (https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/73e0260a-0516-44ff-b4eb-ba9fec420c45/organograms-of-staff-roles-and-salaries)
The FCDO will publish the September organogram at the end of November.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Article 216(3) of the Turkish Penal Code is being used to restrict the freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief of humanists, atheists and other non-religious people; what representations they have made to the Government of Türkiye on this issue; and what steps they are taking to ensure that the right to freedom of religion or belief, including the right to hold no religious belief, is upheld in Türkiye.
Answered by Lord Wood of Anfield - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Freedom of religion or belief is a priority for this Government. The right to freedom of religion or belief is enshrined in the Turkish constitution. We continue to urge Turkey to respect religious freedoms, including the right to hold no religious belief, which are essential to the long-term health of Turkish democracy.