Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment has been made of the potential benefits of strengthening advertising regulation in relation to children and young people.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent body responsible for regulating advertising in the UK and co-regulates broadcast advertising under contract with Ofcom. The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP), sister organisations of the ASA, are responsible for codifying the standards for advertising in their CAP and BCAP Codes. Within these codes, specific rules are set out for advertising to children, along with rules to ensure that adverts for age-restricted products are not targeted towards those under the age of 18.
The Government continues to work with industry through the Online Advertising Taskforce to explore non-legislative measures to improve trust, transparency and accountability in the online advertising ecosystem. The Taskforce has agreed a programme of work focused on tackling illegal advertising and minimising children being served advertising for products and services illegal to sell to them. Six industry-led working groups report to the Taskforce, including an age-assurance working group which specifically looks to improve standards to reduce children’s exposure to advertising for age-restructed products. More details on its work can be found in the Online Advertising Taskforce’s Progress Report 2023 - 2024.
The Government is keen to see industry working together in the first instance but will continue to monitor the regulatory framework to see if further legislation is needed.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of research by Cambridge University and Fudan University showing a link between social isolation and the increased risk of heart disease, stroke and infections; and what steps they intend to take to address loneliness in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government recognises that chronic loneliness is linked to negative health outcomes, and welcomes further research in this space, including the new research by Cambridge University and Fudan University. The Government continues to be evidence led in its approach to addressing loneliness.
The Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) leads on the cross-government tackling loneliness programme for England. DCMS’s current work to tackle loneliness includes supporting a range of organisations through the Tackling Loneliness Hub, an online platform for professionals working to reduce loneliness; working to improve the evidence base around loneliness; and providing advice through the Better Health: Every Mind Matters campaign’s advice pages.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations, if any, they intend to make to the government of Iran concerning the execution sentence of Pakhshan Azizi.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We condemn the Islamic Republic's unacceptable treatment of Pakhshan Azizi and other human rights defenders facing the death penalty in Iran. We have repeatedly called on the Iranian government to establish a moratorium on executions, including at the UN Human Rights Council, and have raised rights issues directly with the regime through our Ambassador in Tehran. In November 2024, the UK and international partners delivered a resolution, adopted by the UN Third Committee which called on Iran to release women human rights defenders imprisoned for exercising their rights.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will take steps to inspect and take into custody uninsured tankers sailing through UK waters.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As a signatory of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNLCOS), the UK cannot disrupt the transit of vessels through its territorial waters for lacking insurance, as this is not considered to fall within any of the exceptions to ‘innocent passage’.
Vessels which call into UK ports, however, are subject to the Port State Control Regime, which includes the inspection of the insurance documentation for the vessels and enforcement action if necessary.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Canal & River Trust Our Climate and Adaptation Report, published in December 2024; in particular, the roles that canals could play in (1) biodiversity, (2) decarbonisation, and (3) climate adaptation.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No assessment has been made. As a charity independent of government, the Canal and River Trust is responsible for its operational matters and decisions. The government does not have a role in that, but does provide an annual grant of £52.6m towards maintaining the canal infrastructure that helps the Trust to deliver its charitable objectives in line with the Waterways Trust Settlement. The Government recognises that the Trust has an important role to play in contributing to the Environmental Improvement Plan, alongside other government priorities.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many convictions there were for those caught driving whilst under the influence of drugs in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, (5) 2023, and (6) 2024.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, including convictions for driving whilst under the influence of drugs. They can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.
The below table provides the number of convictions from 2019 to 30 June 2024 (latest available data) for ‘Driving or attempting to drive a motor vehicle whilst unfit through drink or drugs (impairment) - drugs (MOT)’, England and Wales. Source: Court Proceeding Database [1][2].
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Jan-Jun 2024 |
Convictions | 443 | 439 | 552 | 356 | 345 | 172 |
[1] Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
[2] These figures are presented on a principal offence basis - i.e. reporting information relating to the most serious offence that a defendant was dealt with for. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 7 November 2024 (HL1998), what steps they intend to take to ensure the safety of the non-surgical cosmetics sector; and when they will set out their position on this subject.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to taking action to address concerns about the safety of the cosmetics sector, and is exploring options for further regulation in this area. We will set out the details of our approach in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking as penholder of the UN Security Council on Myanmar to call for the referral of the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK fully supports the International Criminal Court (ICC); however, our assessment remains that there is insufficient support amongst Security Council members for an ICC referral on the situation in Myanmar. It will not advance the cause of accountability in Myanmar for an ICC referral to fail to win Security Council support or to be vetoed; such a result would only give comfort to the Myanmar Armed Forces and reduce the pressure they currently face. In the event that an arrest warrant is issued, the UK will act in accordance with its international obligations.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect Atlantic salmon from extinction, following recent research from the International Union for Conservation of Nature that shows the species is at high risk.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates primarily to England.
Defra is working internationally to protect salmon populations through participation in the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO). A full list of actions related to salmon conservation can be found in the England and Wales NASCO “Implementation Plan”, along with annual progress updates, which can be found at https://nasco.int/conservation/third-reporting-cycle-2/.
The Environment Agency, responsible for managing salmon fisheries in England, ensured that 95% of salmon catches in 2023 were released alive through a combination of voluntary and mandatory measures. Between 2019 and 2023, they mitigated 58 barriers to fish passage on England’s salmon rivers. The Environment Agency is re-assessing the key pressures on salmon, in England, ahead of producing a new salmon Action Plan.
Cleaning up the water environment is a key priority for Defra. In October, the Government launched an Independent Commission of the water sector regulatory system. The Commission will report back this year with recommendations.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people were killed in collisions where the driver was under the influence of drugs in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, (5) 2023, and (6) 2024.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Data on road injury collisions are reported by police using the STATS19 system. Police officers who attend the scene can assign factors to a driver if they believe that they may have contributed to the collision occurring.
The number of fatalities from collisions where the road safety factor “affected by drugs” was assigned to the driver of a motor vehicle for the years 2019 to 2023 are shown in the table below.
Data for 2024 will be published in September 2025.
Year | Fatalities |
2019 | 90 |
2020 | 92 |
2021 | 78 |
2022 | 96 |
2023 | 144 |