Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the police forces about the potential dangers of food couriers riding electric bicycles on pavements.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Ministers and officials meet representatives of police forces regularly to discuss a wide range of topics.
The Highway Code details the legal responsibilities of cyclists. In addition to the main offences of dangerous and careless cycling there are a variety of specific offences including cycling on the pavement for which police officers and Police Community Support Officers can issue £50 fixed penalty notice.
In addition, the Government is giving the police greater powers through the Crime and Policing Bill to clamp down on vehicles, including electric bicycles, used anti-socially and illegally with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing them.
The Government has also recently consulted on proposals to allow the police to dispose of seized vehicles which have been used anti-socially and illegally more quickly. The consultation closed on 8 July and the Government response will be published in due course.
These combined measures will help tackle the scourge of vehicles ridden anti-socially and illegally and send a clear message to would-be offenders and local communities that this behaviour will not be tolerated.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many migrants arrived by small boats, and how many were deported to France, on 18 September.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
0 people arrived by small boats on 18 September 2025. On the same day, one person was removed to France under the UK-France returns agreement.
This was the first person to be removed under the agreement. More on this can be read on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-small-boat-migrant-returned-under-new-uk-france-agreement).
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether he and the Commission will seek to ensure that heritage concerns do not prevent the immediate installation of automated access control systems for four designated doors to the Chamber of the House.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The planned works to install pass readers and door automation were not able to be completed during the summer recess due to previously unidentified void spaces and encaustic tiles under the doors. The hidden voids were not visible in the pre-installation surveys that were undertaken.
I am informed that the Strategic Estates project team is engaging with teams across the House of Lords to identify the appropriate resolution to ensure the appropriate balance of accessibility, security, heritage, and value for money considerations. The House of Lords Services Committee were last updated on the project on Tuesday 9 September, following a Paper on Tuesday 24 June, and an update on the Automated Doors will be given by the Clerk of the Parliaments at the next meeting of the Commission on Wednesday 17 September.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether the new CCTV cameras will record all meetings in the Royal Gallery which peers may have with other peers and outside visitors.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The CCTV cameras are in operation and will record video activity in the areas covered. Control of the imagery will be in line with the agreed camera policy. Audio will not be captured by the CCTV cameras.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, with regard to the new CCTV cameras being installed around the Chamber of the House, whether the CCTV recordings will be watched in real time or saved for retrospective review; who will be watching or reviewing the images; when the captured recordings will be deleted; and whether the cameras will have the capacity to record sound even though there is no plan to do so at the moment.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Strict controls are in place for CCTV footage and reassurance regarding these is being provided to Member bodies, including the Services Committee and the Commission. Members from these bodies have also attended or have been invited to tours of Parliament’s Security Operations Centre, to witness some of the privacy controls in action.
Parliament’s Security Camera Policy is available publicly on the Parliament website. This provides some details of our security camera systems, including that:
I am advised that releasing the specific details of our security arrangements, including CCTV, would be useful for an adversary planning an attack on Parliament. For these reasons, releasing the requested details further to those outlined in the Policy would compromise the safety and security of those working on and visiting the Parliamentary Estate.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what suggestions and plans for changes to the Palace for the benefit of disabled members or visitors have been prevented from happening or were changed by the parliamentary Heritage Team.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Architecture and Conservation Team play an active and supporting role in assessing proposed interventions and advising on what can be achieved without Listed Building Consent (LBC), or where LBC is legally required.
The Architecture and Conservation team are responsible for ensuring that the Administration do not jeopardise Parliament’s adherence to the legal restrictions placed on it by the listing or the designation as a World Heritage site, and work collaboratively with teams across Parliament to ensure that all plans proposed by Strategic Estates to improve accessibility for disabled Members or visitors are compliant with the legal restrictions.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what is the remit of the parliamentary Heritage Team; who it reports to and what powers it has to prevent or change plans for adaptations on the Estate with are designed to make access easier for disabled members or visitors.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The remit of the Parliament’s Architecture and Conservation team (Heritage Team), which reports to the Managing Director of Strategic Estates, is to advise officers of Parliament’s Administration on good practice when managing works to the historic buildings on the Parliamentary Estate. The Architecture and Conservation team are responsible for ensuring that the Administration does not jeopardise Parliament’s adherence to the legal restrictions placed on it by the Grade 1 listing or the designation as a World Heritage site. Working within these restrictions, the Heritage Team and Strategic Estates work collaboratively with teams across the House of Lords to ensure that all projects, including those to improve accessibility, meet the heritage requirements of the building.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether any parts of the new CCTV cameras operating around the Chamber of the House have been made or supplied from China.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
No Chinese companies have supplied, installed, or maintained any of the CCTV cameras on the Parliamentary Estate. We follow the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA)’s guidance regarding the security equipment used on the Parliamentary Estate.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent cyber-attack on the Legal Aid Agency; what steps they are taking to ensure that legal aid providers are being remunerated for their work despite any disruption; and when the Agency's online digital service will again be operational.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede
On Wednesday 23 April, the Department became aware of a cyber-attack on the Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) online digital services.
To ensure the best chance of reaching as many potentially impacted individuals as possible the Ministry of Justice acted quickly. A notice was published a notice at 08:15 on the 19 May on GOV.UK.
This has been an unprecedented event and every effort is being made to restore services following the criminal attack on our systems. The LAA digital services have been taken offline to negate the threat and prevent further exposure of legal aid providers and users. We have been able to return some systems to internal use, enabling an improved ability to support criminal legal aid applications and payments.
We cannot confirm a specific timescale for full service restoration. In the interim, the LAA will continue to provide updates as soon as they are available and will work closely with representative bodies to ensure any extended or refined contingency measures support providers and their clients to the maximum extent. All updates, including contingency arrangements, are published on the LAA’s dedicated cyber security incident webpage: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/legal-aid-agency-cyber-security-incident.
Our priority remains to maintain access to justice and to ensure legal aid providers can continue to be paid in a timely manner. These enhanced measures are designed to support legal aid providers and their clients and to prevent a significant case backlog while contingency measures are in place.
The data breach is the result of serious criminal activity, but it was enabled by the fragility of the LAA’s IT systems as a result of the long years of underinvestment under the last Conservative Government. By contrast, since taking power this Government has prioritised work to reverse the damage of over a decade of under-investment. That includes the allocation of over £20 million in extra funding this year to stabilise and transform the LAA digital services. This investment will make the system more robust and resilient in the face of similar cyber-attacks in future.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase the legal penalties for perpetrators of cyber-attacks, including, in the most serious cases, (1) introducing a minimum term of life imprisonment, and (2) designating perpetrators as terrorists.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the serious threat posed by cyber-attacks, which can have devastating consequences to UK people and businesses. The Home Office is committed to ensuring the Computer Misuse Act (CMA) remains up to date and effective to tackle cyber criminality.
The CMA is the main legislation that criminalises unauthorised access to computer systems and data. The Act already provides for a range of penalties, including life imprisonment for offences that cause or create a significant risk of serious damage to human welfare or national security (section 3ZA(7)).
The Home Office is considering the issue of sentencing for CMA offences as part of the ongoing review of the Act. An update will be provided once proposals are finalised.