Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether there are plans to erect observation towers in front of Peers' Entrance to provide security officers a clear view of St Margaret’s Street over the security fence.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
There are no plans to erect observation towers in front of the Peers’ Entrance. The design of the Abingdon Street fence components was undertaken to carefully balance security requirements and heritage considerations, whilst maintaining necessary lines of sight for the security personnel working in this area, including at nearby entrances.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the current consultation on banning bottom trawling in designated marine protected areas will conclude, and what timeline they anticipate for implementing any resulting protections.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The consultation will close on 1 September 2025. Any resulting protection will be implemented as soon as is reasonably practical, but we cannot pre-judge the outcome of the consultation.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their consultation on banning bottom trawling in marine protected areas (MPAs), whether the 42 sites currently under consultation are in addition to the MPAs in which bottom trawling is already banned.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The proposed restrictions to bottom trawling in the consultation are in addition to those currently in place in the Marine Protected Areas. The level of protection from bottom trawling varies in each site, with some sites currently having no protection and others having partial bans. Full details of what is being proposed in each site can be found in the consultation document, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/stage-3-consultation-document.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker for how many days the disabled entrance door at Peers' Entrance has been out of action; and whether he is seeking compensation from the installers of the door for its failure and the additional cost of security personnel to activate the automatic mechanism.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Since it first opened in December 2024, the accessible pod at Peers’ Entrance has been out of action (requiring Peers to be diverted to an alternative accessible entry point) for 3 whole sitting days.
The resources associated with the operation of Peers’ Entrance have been met from existing departmental budgets, with no additional cost to the House or to the taxpayer.
The House Administration will need to consider corrective action or damages under the terms of our contracts for the works. These discussions are live and I am therefore not in a position to comment on the ongoing commercial and legal matters.
I know that the House Administration acknowledges the difficulties that have emerged and are urgently working on a permanent solution to resolve the ongoing issues.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker which officials initiated, approved and signed-off on the new security barrier on the West Front of the House of Lords and which members of the House were consulted on the design.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The need for an improved security perimeter along the West Front of the Palace of Westminster was identified by the independent review of Parliament’s security, undertaken by Sir John Murphy following the Westminster Bridge terror attack and murder of PC Keith Palmer in March 2017.
The projects business case was brought forward as part of the Security Programme, led by the Director of Parliamentary Security and was approved at Parliament’s Investment Committee, and by the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk of the House of Commons in their roles as Accounting Officers.
The House of Lords Commission considered the plans as they developed, in November 2023 and in May 2024, prior to the award of the contract for the manufacture and install of the fence. Alongside more general quarterly updates, the House of Lords Services Committee were consulted on the plans in May 2024.
Five drop-in events for Peers on the Abingdon Street fence were held between July 2024 and May 2025.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what is the justification for the difference in style and design between the steel bars on the West Front of the House of Lords and the bars surrounding the House of Commons.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Where possible, the newly installed fence along the West Front of the Palace of Westminster has been designed to be sympathetic to the existing fences while also meeting different and specific requirements. The primary driver of the difference is that the fence along the West Front has been designed to be completely removeable to accommodate the variety of access needs to Old Palace Yard. To achieve this, the fence posts had to be mounted onto the existing bi-steel barriers which make up the vehicle access (Corus) lane in Old Palace Yard. This meant it was not possible to match exactly the fence at Cromwell Green.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what plans he has to replace the kerb adjacent to Peers' Entrance with a dropped kerb and whether any reason has been given for not doing so.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The design of the pavements and kerbs adjacent to Peers' Entrance is compliant with the accessibility requirements of UK Building Regulations. While no final decision has been taken on making changes to the current design, it will need to take into account Health and Safety, disruption, cost as well as accessibility considerations. Strategic Estates and the Director of Facilities are considering this matter.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, before the approval of the security barrier installed along the West Front, what assessment was made of the ability of armed police officers guarding entrances along the West Front to have an unobscured view of Abingdon Street.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The design of the Abingdon Street fence components was undertaken to carefully balance security requirements and heritage considerations, whilst maintaining necessary lines of sight for the security personnel working in this area, including at nearby entrances.
Officials from the House consulted the Metropolitan Police throughout the risk assessment, design and installation phases of the project. The fence has been installed with the support of the Metropolitan Police, including consultation with tactical advisers specialising in firearms, public order and Counter Terrorism.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to minimise the operational and administrative compliance work for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Earlier this year, the Prime Minister announced that government will cut administrative costs of regulation to business by 25% by the end of this Parliament. Reducing these costs on businesses will allow them to flourish and to innovate, enabling economic growth.
Our SME Strategy will be published later this year, delivering on our Growth Mission of supporting SMEs. It will feature the new Business Growth Service, simplifying
available support for SMEs on access to finance and providing training and operational efficiency advice.
DBT will also resume funding for the Help to Grow: Management training and will extend the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce supporting the digitisation efforts of a greater number of SMEs. These programmes should enable SMEs to minimise their operational and administrative compliance work.
Finally, the Government supports the introduction of e-invoicing that can significantly reduce administrative tasks, improve cash flow, boost productivity and reduce errors in tax returns.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps will be taken by the Circular Economy Taskforce to engage with small and medium-sized enterprises about the development of the circular economy strategy.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Circular Economy Taskforce has already begun extensive engagement with small and medium-sized enterprises, trade associations, industry leaders, and other key stakeholders to ensure that the Strategy reflects the needs and insights of all involved. The Taskforce will continue its engagement efforts with events taking place through to the summer and beyond. These engagements are crucial for developing a comprehensive Strategy and we encourage all stakeholders, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, to actively participate in these engagements and share their perspectives to help shape a sustainable and prosperous future for the UK.