Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Capita pensions management contract requires a streamlined process for emails from claimants to go directly to the relevant case, rather than having to be processed by a separate team.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Capita, the pension scheme administrator, provides a dedicated 'Contact Us' facility within the member portal, which utilises some automated sifting to categorise and direct inquiries. This process allows for both automated allocation and targeted manual review to ensure that correspondence is accurately routed to the appropriate specialist teams for resolution.
To further streamline the member experience, Capita is currently rolling out enhanced online tracking functionality. This will allow members to view the real-time progress of their retirement cases directly, reducing the requirement for manual correspondence and providing a more transparent, self-service digital journey. This functionality is in the process of being rolled out to members.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, in the provisions relating to the Capita contract, sufficient scope was made for the transfer of personal data relating to civil service pensions scheme.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office ensured that the contract with Capita provided a comprehensive scope for the transfer of all necessary data. Throughout the two-year transition period, the Cabinet Office, MyCSP, and Capita worked in close partnership to monitor data-sharing protocols. This approach ensured all of the scheme data, including personal data, was successfully transferred to Capita on the go-live of their administration of the scheme.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, in relation to the operation of the civil service pension scheme, loss of data has been reported to the Information Commissioner's Office.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office maintains strict oversight of data security within the Civil Service Pension Scheme. No incidents of data loss have been identified or reported. As no data breach has occurred, the Department has had no requirement to inform the Information Commissioner's Office
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to issue a Safeguarding Direction to protect the full width of the original track bed of the former Lewes to Uckfield rail line to facilitate its future use; and whether they will give further consideration to re-examining the potential value of the former Lewes to Uckfield rail line.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The case to build or restore railway services over this alignment should first be assessed and supported by the local transport authority, who should relate the proposal to growth, jobs and homes in the area. As part of that assessment, whether the previous route is available for reuse and to what extent should be assessed at a high level. The local transport authority can then take a view about the practicability of using the route. My Department would only safeguard the route if there was a reasonable long-term prospect of the scheme having a business case and being funded.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many British citizens were (1) forcibly removed from the USA by Border Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, and (2) repatriated under the Assistance to Voluntarily Self-Deport Service, in 2025.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
US immigration policy is a matter for the US authorities. We do not hold comprehensive data on the subjects requested.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the net annual cost to the Treasury of freezing business rates on recording studios.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has no current plans to freeze business rates for recording studios.
At the Budget in November 2025, the Government announced a £4.3 billion support package to support ratepayers across all sectors seeing bill increases. This includes a redesigned Transitional Relief scheme, which protects ratepayers from large overnight increases as a result of the revaluation.
The Government values the music industry and understands that recording studios are a vital part of the infrastructure of the industry. The Music Growth Package will see Government funding for the sector more than double from £4.1 million to up to £10 million a year for the next three years.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what targets they have set for raising literacy levels for year 7 students entering secondary education during the National Year of Reading.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The ‘Go All In’ campaign aims to increase reading engagement across all ages and encourage young people to see reading as enjoyable and rewarding, prioritising certain groups, such as boys aged 10 to 16, with a focus on key stage 2 to key stage 3 transition.
To strengthen literacy at the start of secondary school, the department is introducing a mandatory statutory reading assessment for all year 8 pupils, designed to identify gaps in reading fluency and comprehension early, ensuring schools can provide the right support. This academic year we have also launched a secondary pilot of the English Hubs programme, investing £2.3 million to support reading, alongside a national continuing professional development programme, Unlocking Reading, delivered by the Fischer Family Foundation to improve support for struggling readers. These measures collectively aim to strengthen reading engagement and improve literacy outcomes throughout key stage 3.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that every primary school is able to access volunteer support for teachers working to raise literacy levels.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Headteachers have the freedom to make recruitment decisions, including the use of volunteers in their schools. This freedom allows schools to tailor their provision to the needs of their pupils and provide safe, effective, and bespoke volunteering programmes. Schools are required to follow employment laws and statutory guidance, including crucial safeguarding guidance.
To support the government’s commitment to strong foundations in reading and writing for all children, we have launched the National Year of Reading 2026, a UK-wide campaign to address the steep decline in reading enjoyment.
The National Year of Reading is spotlighting the vital role that volunteers play in supporting literacy in schools, including helping children discover the joy of reading. We recognise the important work of reading volunteer charities such as Bookmark Reading Charity, Chapter One, Coram Beanstalk and Schoolreaders, who are partners of the National Year of Reading.
The National Year of Reading website includes a tool to find reading volunteering opportunities, information about how to become a National Year of Reading Champion, and case studies showing how volunteers are supporting reading for pleasure.
More information for those interested in reading volunteering is available here: https://goallin.org.uk/get-involved/volunteers/.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are examining road access issues relating to the south, south-west and west regions in considering the future of the Heathrow Express service; and whether those considerations will cover the optimal public transport solutions for an expanded Heathrow Airport.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises the vital role that surface access will play as part of any future expansion of Heathrow Airport. As part of the review of the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), launched on 22 October 2025, we will consider the transport infrastructure required to support a third runway. This will include rail and road connectivity, alongside public transport mode share targets and will consider the impacts for travellers from different regions. While it would not be appropriate to pre-empt the outcome of the ANPS review at this stage, it will be the responsibility of any expansion promoter to set out a surface access strategy demonstrating how they will meet the requirements set out in the ANPS.
My department is currently considering the future ownership structure of the Heathrow Express, and a decision will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the new valuations by the Valuation Office Agency on grassroots music venues.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. Music venues are valued in the same way as any other class of non-domestic property, through applying the statutory and common law principles that apply across non-domestic rating.
Some properties, including in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, have seen their rateable values increased. This is in part because the last revaluation updated rateable values to align with market values at 1 April 2021 – during the COVID pandemic. This meant rateable values were lower due to the atypical economic situation the pandemic created. This latest revaluation reflects a post Covid world, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties.
To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. Government support also means that most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.