Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth Portrait

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Conservative - Life peer

Became Member: 9th September 2013


Public Services Committee
13th Feb 2020 - 31st Jan 2023
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
8th Jan 2018 - 24th Jul 2019
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
27th Oct 2017 - 24th Jul 2019
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Communities and Local Government)
17th Jul 2016 - 8th Jan 2018
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)
14th Jun 2017 - 27th Oct 2017
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
12th May 2015 - 14th Jun 2017
Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
13th Aug 2014 - 17th Jul 2016
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Energy and Climate Change)
12th May 2015 - 17th Jul 2016
Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee
12th Jun 2014 - 13th Aug 2014


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth has voted in 56 divisions, and 1 time against the majority of their Party.

2 Jul 2025 - House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill - View Vote Context
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 23 Conservative Aye votes vs 82 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 84 Noes - 263
View All Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth Division Votes

Debates during the 2024 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour)
Minister of State (Home Office)
(2 debate interactions)
Earl Russell (Liberal Democrat)
Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Energy and Climate Change)
(1 debate interactions)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour)
(1 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Legislation Debates
Great British Energy Act 2025
(1,468 words contributed)
Crown Estate Act 2025
(1,071 words contributed)
Tobacco and Vapes Bill 2024-26
(801 words contributed)
View All Legislation Debates
View all Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth's debates

Lords initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.


1 Bill introduced by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth


A bill to make provision about pension schemes, including provision designed to encourage arrangements that offer people different levels of certainty in retirement or that involve different ways of sharing or pooling risk and provision designed to give people greater flexibility in accessing benefits and to help them make informed decisions about what to do with benefits.

This Bill received Royal Assent on 3rd March 2015 and was enacted into law.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 50 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
1 Other Department Questions
21st Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to disaggregate data collection in Government Departments in relation to Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities.

The Office for Equality and Opportunity encourages the use of Government Statistical Service harmonised standards for ethnicity data collection across government departments and other public bodies.

The current ethnicity harmonised standard is based on the 2011 Census questions across the UK. The ethnicity questions were adjusted so they could be used in the 2021 censuses for England and Wales, and Northern Ireland; and the 2022 Census for Scotland.

The 2021 classification for England and Wales has 19 groups including the categories ‘Gypsy or Irish Traveller’ and ‘Roma’. (https://analysisfunction.civilservice.gov.uk/policy-store/ethnicity-harmonised-standard/).

Data collected by government departments for the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller groups is already published on the Office for Equality and Opportunity’s Ethnicity Facts and Figures website (https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/). It was the first of its kind in terms of scale, scope and transparency and has been welcomed as best practice internationally. It contains statistics covering topics such as health, education, employment and the criminal justice system.

Lord Collins of Highbury
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
2nd Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prosecutions there have been in each police authority area for drunken or drug influenced driving in each of the past three years; and how many of these prosecutions led to convictions.

A number of driving offences created by the Road Traffic Act 1988 relate to driving when under the influence of drink or drugs. These are as follows:

  • Section 3A(a) causing death by driving without due care and attention / reasonable consideration while unfit through drink or drugs.

  • Section 3A(b) causing death by due care while over prescribed limit.

  • Section 3A(ba) causing death by driving without due care / consideration while over specified limit - specified controlled drug.

  • Section 3A(c) causing death by due care and fail to provide specimen.

  • Section 3A(d) fail to give permission for a laboratory test on a blood specimen having caused a death.

  • Section 4(1) driving a motor vehicle when under the influence of drink or drugs.

  • Section 5(1)(a) driving a motor vehicle with an alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit.

  • Section 5A(1)(a) and (2) driving a motor vehicle with a concentration of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold any data which shows the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted of the above offences and to establish whether defendants charged with these offences were convicted would require a manual review of case files and this would be at disproportionate cost.

The figures in the table below relate to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants. It can be the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence. No data are held showing the final outcome or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at finalisation.

Management information is available which shows the number of offences of charged by way of the above list of Road Traffic Act 1988 offences in which a prosecution commenced. The table below shows the number of these offences in each police force area from 1st January 2022 to 31st December 2024.

Offences of attempt, in charge, aid and abet have been excluded but failure to provide specimen following drunken or drug influenced driving have been included to produce a list of offences that meet the criteria of ‘drunken or drug influenced driving’ prosecutions.

Drunken or Drug Influenced Driving Offence Volumes

2022

2023

2024

Avon & Somerset

1,761

1,562

1,753

Bedfordshire

432

400

373

British Transport Police

19

23

17

Cambridgeshire

758

720

640

Cheshire

1,814

1,623

2,134

City of London Police

230

244

220

Cleveland

1,351

959

1,273

Cumbria

840

976

949

Derbyshire

950

973

978

Devon & Cornwall

1,989

2,401

2,246

Dorset

710

661

682

Durham

1,062

921

920

Dyfed-Powys

961

1,076

653

Essex

1,929

1,743

1,780

Gloucestershire

949

836

786

Greater Manchester

2,075

3,086

3,421

Gwent

1,073

1,075

856

Hampshire

2,469

2,287

2,204

Hertfordshire

761

723

657

Humberside

1,106

838

1,084

Kent

2,281

2,140

2,141

Lancashire

2,138

1,643

2,219

Leicestershire

1,024

884

757

Lincolnshire

1,063

1,064

982

Merseyside

3,024

2,990

2,896

Metropolitan Police

5,286

3,561

3,971

Norfolk

1,120

1,120

976

Northamptonshire

910

995

970

Northumbria

1,460

1,330

1,429

North Wales

1,263

1,507

1,372

North Yorkshire

1,196

889

1,010

Nottinghamshire

1,557

1,628

1,156

South Wales

1,716

1,761

1,619

South Yorkshire

1,305

1,227

1,309

Staffordshire

1,235

1,065

1,125

Suffolk

835

985

960

Surrey

1,287

1,217

1,412

Sussex

2,036

1,836

1,696

Thames Valley

2,798

2,806

3,303

Warwickshire

569

468

444

West Mercia

1,526

1,483

1,583

West Midlands

1,656

1,376

1,356

West Yorkshire

2,623

2,400

2,362

Wiltshire

852

846

746

44 Police Force Areas Total

63,999

60,348

61,420

Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

Lord Hermer
Attorney General
24th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to attract people with business skills from overseas to settle in the UK.

The Government is committed to attracting highly skilled, talented individuals from abroad to live, work and contribute to the UK economy. Which is why we have launched the new Global Talent Taskforce. The Taskforce – working alongside the Global Entrepreneur Programme and our £54 million Global Talent Fund – will support the world’s best researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, top tier managerial and engineering talent and high-calibre creatives, to relocate to the UK. This builds on commitments in the recently published Industrial Strategy and Immigration White Paper to fast-track the relocation of the brightest minds into the UK to supercharge our growth-driving sectors.

Baroness Gustafsson
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
19th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to enforce the ban on the sale and use of illegally modified e-bikes, referred to as "fake e-bikes" in the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking, Unregulated and Unsafe: The Threat of Illegal E-Bikes, published on 16 June.

I thank the APPG for their report into this important topic, on which there is cross-Government work to tackle the issues raised and make sure e-bikes are safe to buy and use. Our product safety framework makes clear that consumer products can only be placed on the UK market if they are safe and comply with relevant laws. Businesses, including those modifying or servicing electric bikes, have responsibilities for the safety of those products. The Office for Product Safety and Standards and local authorities enforce the regulations.

E-bikes used illegally on public land is an enforcement matter for the police.

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
12th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 11 June (HL7370), what representations they have received from the pharmaceutical industry about tariffs imposed by the United States of America.

The Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade and other Ministers, as well as officials from my department and across government have been engaging widely with business organisations and companies from across the economy, including those in the pharmaceuticals sector.

We received a number of responses from the pharmaceuticals sector to DBT's Request for Input launched on 3 April to inform our response to US tariffs.

We will continue our extensive engagement with pharmaceutical businesses from across the UK throughout negotiations, ensuring that their perspectives on the challenges and opportunities are fully understood.

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
12th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 11 June (HL7370), what discussions they have had with the pharmaceutical industry about tariffs imposed by the United States of America.

The Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade and other Ministers, as well as officials from my department and across government have been engaging widely with business organisations and companies from across the economy, including those in the pharmaceuticals sector.

We received a number of responses from the pharmaceuticals sector to DBT's Request for Input launched on 3 April to inform our response to US tariffs.

We will continue our extensive engagement with pharmaceutical businesses from across the UK throughout negotiations, ensuring that their perspectives on the challenges and opportunities are fully understood.

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
13th May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of staff shortages in the hospitality sector; and what actions they are taking to address these shortages.

Between February and April 2025, there were 83,000 vacancies in the hospitality sector, which is 21% less than last year.

This is a significant improvement which can be credited to Government’s collaboration with the Hospitality Sector Council in addressing jobs shortages and building the sector’s talent pipeline.

As part of this, we are expanding Hospitality Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) which fast track individuals into hospitality vacancies by providing flexible training and support. SWAPs have already seen 10,000 starts in the sector in less than two years.

Baroness Gustafsson
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
12th May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what protections, if any, they have secured for the UK pharmaceutical industry in relation to the imposition of tariffs by the United States of America.

On 8 May, the UK government announced a landmark economic deal with the United States, making the UK the first country to get an agreement with President Trump.

The agreement will secure the UK preferential access to the US market for UK pharmaceuticals in case of new US tariffs being introduced in the future, further to any section 232 investigations. These conversations are ongoing, and we will work closely with the US administration to get the best deal for our pharma industry.

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
6th May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the governments of (1) China, and (2) the United States of America, regarding the introduction of trade tariffs.

We have concluded a landmark economic deal with the United States, making the UK the first country to reach an agreement with President Trump. This deal protects jobs in the automotive, steel, aluminium, pharmaceutical and aerospace sectors - sectors that employ over 320,000 people across the UK. We are continuing talks on a wider UK-US Economic Deal which will look at increasing digital trade, access for our world-leading services industries and improving supply chains.

In April, Minister Alexander travelled to Beijing where he met ministers from the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to discuss a range of bilateral and global trade issues, including the trade tariffs.

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
11th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to approve the construction of small modular reactors; and where these projects will be situated.

The Government recently consulted on the proposed National Policy Statement EN-7, which outlines an updated planning framework for new nuclear projects, including Small and Advanced Modular Reactors. We aim to finalise and designate EN-7 later this year.

Great British Energy-Nuclear (GBE-N) recently announced that it has selected Rolls Royce SMR as preferred bidder, subject to final government approvals and contract signature, to partner with to build the country’s first small modular reactors. GBE-N aims to allocate a site for its small modular reactor programme later this year.

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield
Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
19th May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made with their plans to develop carbon capture and storage projects.

The East Coast Cluster reached financial close in December 2024 and the HyNet Transport and Storage Network, operated by Liverpool Bay CCS, reached financial close in April 2025, with Government signing contracts with industry to get the first CCUS projects up and running. These two clusters will help remove up to 8.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year and are due to start operating from 2028.

Officials have continued to engage with Track-2 clusters to understand their plans. We recognise industry will be hoping for clarity on Track-2 - and future CCUS clusters – and further details will be provided in due course.

7th May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the use of green hydrogen as an energy source.

Hydrogen Allocation Rounds (HARs) remains our primary mechanism for allocating revenue support through the Hydrogen Production Business Model to low carbon, non-CCUS enabled hydrogen production facilities across the UK.

In the Autumn 2024 Budget, we confirmed support for 11 green hydrogen projects from the first Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR1), and on 7 April 2025 we announced a shortlist of 27 projects that were invited to the next stage of the Second Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR2) process.

This announcement reinforces the Government’s recognition of the key role low carbon hydrogen will play in delivering our Clean Energy Superpower and Growth Missions.

24th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to attract academics from overseas to settle in the UK.

The Immigration White Paper reaffirms the government’s commitment to attracting top talent by simplifying the Global Talent visa and increasing the number of people arriving on high talent routes. The government has launched a new £54 million Global Talent Fund to bring around 10 leading researchers and their teams to the UK and invested £25 million in new Turing AI ‘Global’ fellowships. In addition, £150 million and £250 million endowment funding was allocated respectively in 2023/24 for the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Green Future Fellowships and the Royal Society’s Faraday Discovery Fellowships.

A new Global Talent Taskforce has been announced to attract exceptional talent into our Industrial Strategy sectors.

Lord Vallance of Balham
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
24th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to attract people with skills in artificial intelligence from overseas to settle in the UK.

As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, the Government is committed to making the UK a global hub for AI talent.

We recently announced over £115 million of investment to attract world-leading research talent to the UK, strengthening our position as an AI superpower. This includes the £54 million Global Talent Fund, the proposed expansion of ARIA and Pillar VC’s Encode fellowship, and the launch of a Global Talent Taskforce to identify and support top international researchers to work and settle in the UK.

These initiatives complement Turing AI ‘Global’ Fellowships and Spärck AI scholarships announced earlier this month, which will attract world-leading academics and students to the UK.

Lord Vallance of Balham
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
11th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what financial assistance they are providing for the construction of data centres to expand computing capabilities for artificial intelligence.

The Government is encouraging growth in the data centre sector by addressing barriers to building. This includes changes to planning rules, cross-sectoral power reforms to reduce connection timelines and launching AI Growth Zones.

As part of the over £2 billion Spending Review settlement for the AI Action Plan, we have committed over £1 billion to expand the AI Research Resource, positioning the UK as a leader in high-performance AI computing, driving global innovation and scientific discovery. We’ve also announced that Scotland will host the UK’s most powerful supercomputer, backed by up to £750 million in additional investment.

Lord Vallance of Balham
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
12th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the strength of local print media; and what plans they have, if any, to offer financial or other assistance to that sector.

Sustainability of local journalism, in print as well as online, is an area of particular concern for this Government. We are developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. Our vision is a thriving local media that can continue to play an invaluable role as a key channel of trustworthy information at local level: reporting on the issues that matter to communities, reflecting their contributions and perspectives, and helping to foster a self-confident nation in which everyone feels that their contribution is part of an inclusive national story.

We are working across Government and with other stakeholders as the Strategy develops, and we recently held a roundtable discussion with local news editors to discuss our planned approach and collaboration with industry on the Strategy. An industry working group has now been set up to consider the issues in more detail and we will announce more in the coming months.

Baroness Twycross
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
4th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had in 2025 with the higher education sector on visa restrictions placed on international students.

The department regularly engages with the higher education (HE) sector to discuss range of topics including the recruitment of international students. This has recently included discussions with various HE institutions and their representative bodies on the measures set out in the Immigration White Paper, published on 12 May, and plans for their implementation.

This government will always welcome international students where they meet the requirements to study in this country. Our world class HE sector can offer a fulfilling and enjoyable experience to international students from around the world.

The Immigration White Paper sets out a series of measures that will achieve a reduction in net migration, while maintaining the UK HE sector’s globally competitive position and making a significant contribution to growth by boosting the UK’s skills base.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
2nd Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to set a target for the reduction or elimination of child poverty.

This government is committed to tackling child poverty and earlier this month announced an expansion of free school meals eligibility to all pupils in England with a parent receiving Universal Credit. This will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the Parliament, in decisive action as a downpayment ahead of publication of the Child Poverty Strategy in the autumn.

The government will use the leading, internationally recognised measure of poverty, Relative Poverty After Housing Costs. This is the proportion of families with below 60% of the median income, after deducting housing costs.

The government will also measure the experience of children in the most severe and acute forms of poverty, which we are considering how best to measure as we develop the Strategy.

These headline metrics will be supported by a range of other metrics as part of a monitoring framework to ensure the Strategy is on track to meet its aims, which will be set out alongside the publication.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
14th May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the benefits of school uniform.

The department strongly encourages schools to have a uniform as it can play a key role in promoting the ethos of a school, provide a sense of belonging and identity and setting an appropriate tone for education.

By creating a common identity amongst all pupils, regardless of background, a school uniform can act as a social leveller. If, however, the uniform is too expensive it can place a financial burden on families. This is why the department has introduced legislation to limit the number of branded items of uniform and PE kit that schools can require. The measure will help to bring down costs for parents and remove barriers from children accessing sport and other school activities.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
13th May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they are taking to reduce mobile phone usage by pupils in schools.

Schools should prohibit the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime, as set out in the ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance 2024. The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.

New research from the Children’s Commissioner, with responses from nearly all schools and colleges in England, shows that the overwhelming majority of schools, 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools, already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
5th Sep 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial state of universities; and what steps they are taking to address issues in this regard.

The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of Higher Education (HE) in England, publishes an annual report on the financial health of the HE sector.

The OfS’ most recent report, published in May 2024, showed that the financial position of the HE sector has become increasingly challenging. The report can be found at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/ly1buqlj/financial-sustainability-report2024.pdf, as attached.

The government recognises the immediate financial strain that some providers are under, and the department is working closely with the OfS to monitor any risks to ensure there are robust plans in place to mitigate them. Sir David Behan has been appointed as interim Chair of the OfS to oversee the important work of refocusing their role to concentrate on key priorities, including prioritising the financial stability of the HE sector.

This government is committed to creating a secure future for our world-leading universities so they can deliver for students, taxpayers, workers and the economy. This government has already started reviewing options to deliver a more robust HE sector, but we recognise it will take time to get it right.

Ultimately, HE providers are independent from government and therefore it is their responsibility to ensure they have a sustainable business model.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
8th Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to address the increasing demand for water provision because of climate change into the 2030s and beyond.

By 2050, England will need an additional 5,000 million litres of water per day due to the need to leave more water in the environment, climate change, population growth and to increase our resilience to drought. Combined with the challenges of ageing water infrastructure across England and new supply options taking years to come online, many areas may face a supply-demand deficit in years to come.

Approximately half of the shortfall between supply and demand needs to be met through reduction in water demand, the other half from new water resources. The Government have secured £104 billion in private sector investment over the next 5 years, to boost out water supply and manage demand. This will also drive major infrastructure projects – including nine new reservoirs.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
16th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of the driest spring in 132 years on water levels, and of the impact that low water levels are likely to have on the economy and on communities.

To manage the drought, the EA and water companies have activated their drought plans. These plans outline actions that are needed to reduce the impact of the drought on the economy and communities. Current actions by the EA include enhanced monitoring, acting to save fish where rivers are at risk of drying up, responding to environmental incidents, and coordinating actions through the National Drought Group. Water companies are following statutory plans, and the Government and the EA are regulating water companies to ensure they follow their plans.

Droughts pose a risk to communities and the economy by impacting public water supply, agriculture, fisheries, energy, transport, tourism and navigation. The EA recently published the National Framework for Water Resources, which identifies the ambitious actions needed to meet these significant national water resources challenges out to 2055.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
16th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the Spending Review 2025 (CP1336), what assessment they have made of the impact of reducing the operational budget of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in real terms on its ability to fund the clean-up of waterways.

Navigation authorities, including the Canal and River Trust and the Environment Agency (EA), are responsible for keeping their waterways clean, clear of obstacles, rubbish, aquatic plant overgrowths, and any other impediments, including responding to pollution incidents, to ensure safety of navigation for users.

EA funding is closely monitored to ensure it can carry out its duties and functions effectively and deliver for the public and the environment. Its total budget for 2025 to 2026 is £2,274 million.

The Canal and River Trust has responsibility for 2,000 miles of canals and rivers in England and Wales. Its purposes are to maintain the waterway network and conserve its heritage and natural environment in perpetuity for public benefit and enjoyment. Its grant from Defra, agreed for the period 2012 to 2027, is approximately £740 million.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
2nd Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what contribution, if any, the vaping industry makes to the cost of the appropriate disposal of vapes.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment regulations make producers responsible for electrical products (including vapes) they place on the market when they become waste. This week, following a consultation under the previous Government, we laid an amending SI to create a new category of electrical equipment for vapes (previously included in category 7: Toys, and Leisure), to ensure vape producers pay their fair market share towards separate collection, treatment, and recycling costs of their products.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
2nd Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost to the environment of the disposal of vapes.

Single-use vapes are a blight on our environment with an estimated 5 million incorrectly disposed of each week. This is why on 1 June 2025 we banned the sale and supply of these products. We have published our impact assessment which considers the environmental, economic and other impacts of this policy and will continue to monitor the impact of the ban.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
22nd May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government how many company directors and senior executives in the water industry have been charged with criminal offences in relation to pollution in rivers and waterways in each of the last three years.

For too long, water companies have discharged unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.

The Environment Agency (EA) generally commences criminal proceedings by way of summons. As of the date of this correspondence, no summons have been granted in respect of company directors and senior executives in the water industry over the past three years.

The EA is currently carrying out their largest ever criminal investigation into potential widespread non-compliance by water companies at over 2,000 sewage treatment works.

To drive this forward, the EA has hired 380 additional regulatory staff to carry out inspections and other enforcement activity. The most serious offences trigger a criminal investigation that could see water company fines and criminal prosecution for water bosses.

Earlier this year Ofwat proposed fines of £168 million against the first three investigated companies. These fines are alongside proposed enforcement orders, which require each company to rectify issues to bring them into compliance. OfWat’s investigations into eight further water companies continue.

In addition, the Water (Special Measures) Act has introduced a duty for water companies to publish data related to discharges from all emergency overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning. This will enable the public and regulators to see where, and how often, overflows are discharging and hold water companies to account.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
22nd May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that senior managers in the water industry are not awarded inappropriate bonuses.

For too long, water companies have discharged unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas. Water bosses taking bonuses when their companies criminally pollute our waterways is unacceptable.

As part of our Plan for Change, we’ve delivered on our promise to put water companies under special measures through our landmark Water (Special Measures) Act.

As part of the Act, Ofwat has new powers to ban the payment of bonuses if performance standards are not met. This means executives will no longer be able to take home eye-watering bonuses where companies fail to meet standards on environmental performance, financial resilience, customer outcomes or criminal liability.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
14th May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to protect peatlands.

The Government recognises the importance of England’s peatlands and committed in our manifesto to expanding nature-rich habitats including bogs. We have ambitions to restore hundreds of thousands of hectares of peatland across the country.

Defra is currently seeking views on proposed changes to The Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2021, which would provide protection to a broader area of upland peat. A public consultation was launched on 31 March and will close on 25 May, the results of which will be used to inform future policy in this area.

We are also looking at next steps regarding measures to ban horticultural peat and will continue to work alongside the horticultural sector to accelerate progress on the peat free transition.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
13th May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 12 May (HL7055), which sites are being considered for the potential ten new reservoirs; and on what timescale they intend that the new reservoirs should become operational.

The following new reservoir sites (with a capacity above 10 million litres per day) have been identified in water company’s latest statutory water resources management plans, with their capacity and expected completion date provided in the table below.

Reservoirs

Water company

Daily supply (Ml/d)

Start year

Broad Oak

South East Water

12.6

2033

Cheddar 2

South West Water

13

2035

Fens

Anglian Water, Cambridge Water

87

2036

Mendips Quarry

South West Water

46

2042

River Adur offline reservoir

Southern Water

19.5

2045

South East Strategic Resource Option

Thames Water, Affinity Water, Southern Water

293

2039

South Lincs

Anglian Water

166.5

2040

North Suffolk

Essex and Suffolk Water

19.9

2040

West Midlands

Severn Trent Water

32.5

2040


In addition to the nine sites above, work is already underway on Portsmouth Water’s Havant Thicket reservoir, as set out in the company’s WRMP19. This will supply an expected 21 Ml/d, with a latest forecast completion date of 2031-32.

The one reservoir enlargement is set out below.

Reservoir enlargement

Water company

Daily supply (Ml/d)

Start year

Tittesworth

Severn Trent Water

14

2049

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
6th May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of climate change on the availability of British agricultural produce for UK and overseas markets.

We celebrate the amazing job food businesses do in feeding the nation. The UK Food Security Report is a triannual statistical report required under the Agriculture Act 2020. The most recent report, published December 2024, assessed that the UK produces 62% of all the food we need and 75% of the food we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year.

Food production faces pressing risks from climate change and nature loss, as assessed in the Government’s Third Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3). Strengthening food security by supporting our farmers and food producers is a top priority for this Government. Defra is taking action to reduce climate change impacts, for example through the third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3), which includes a range of measures for the agri-food system.

The government works with the Met Office Hadley Centre’s Food Farming and Natural Environment (FFNE) service on food supply resilience research in relation to climate change and adaptation measures.

The Government’s Land Use Consultation asked about the support that land managers, including farmers, would need to plan for climate change. Responses to this consultation will inform the Land Use Framework that will be published later this year.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
30th Apr 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that water companies have sufficient supplies of water to meet customer needs.

This Government has made it a priority to ensure safe and secure supplies of water for customers. Statutory Water Resources Management Plans (WRMPs) set out how water companies intend to deliver a secure supply of water for customers. Every 5 years water companies are required to publish new WRMPs, and the latest (2024) plans have been scrutinised by the Environment Agency and Ofwat to ensure companies can meet future challenges.

The 2024 WRMPs include:

  • Halving leakage by 2050 (compared to 2019)
  • Reducing consumption to 110 litres per person per day by 2050
  • 75% of households on smart water meters by 2040
  • 10 new reservoirs and 1 reservoir enlargement
  • 9 new desalination schemes
  • 7 new water recycling schemes
  • multiple new internal and inter-company transfers to share resources

The Government is supporting delivery of the WRMP commitments, for instance the planned implementation of a mandatory water efficiency label, which will require water efficiency labelling of plumbing products and water-using white goods, enabling consumer choice based on efficiency.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
29th Apr 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the threat presented by Asian hornets to native biodiversity; and what action, if any, they propose to take in response.

A risk assessment was completed for Vespa velutina nigrithorax, the Asian hornet in 2011. The assessment concluded that Asian hornets eat a wide range of insect species including honey bees and that if this species were to become established in the UK, it would have a serious impact on biodiversity. For this reason, Defra and Welsh Government developed an Asian hornet contingency plan which outlines the government response and what actions will be taken when incursions of Asian hornet occur. Contingency action has been taken against all credible sightings of Asian hornet that have been reported in the UK since the first occurred in 2016.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
1st Apr 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of increasing water bills on consumers, and what action they will take to limit that impact.

For too long, investment has not kept pace with the challenges of an ageing infrastructure system, a rapidly growing population and climate change. Bills will therefore now need to rise to invest in our crumbling infrastructure and deliver cleaner waterways.

Ofwat published their final determinations for Price Review 2024 in December, which sets company expenditure and customer bills for 2025-2030. These bill rises equate to around £3 additional per month on average before inflation.

The Government expects water companies to put robust support measures in place to ensure that vulnerable customers across the country are supported and is working with industry to keep current support schemes under review to ensure that customers are sufficiently supported.

Furthermore, we expect companies to hold themselves accountable for their commitment to end Water Poverty by 2030 and will work with the sector to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to this end.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
1st Apr 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that the ban on keeping XL Bullies is enforced effectively.

This Government is committed to ensuring that the ban on XL Bully dogs is fully implemented and enforced to ensure our communities are protected from dangerous dogs. Defra have supported the police to deliver additional training to Dog Legislation Officers to make sure the ban is effectively enforced, and we are continuing to engage closely with the Police to monitor the impacts of the XL Bully dog ban.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
10th Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of investigations into the tax status of workers engaged by contractors or subcontractors on the delivery of HS2.

The Transport Secretary has been clear allegations of fraud need to be investigated urgently and rigorously. Wherever fraud is found, there will be consequences for those involved. All whistleblower allegations received by HS2 Ltd are treated seriously and thoroughly investigated.

Danny Sullivan Group (DSG), a labour supply subcontractor to Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV), has been under investigation for allegedly inflating invoices by including PAYE and NIC charges for self-employed workers who are not subject to these deductions.  The matter was reported to HMRC on 29 May 2025, but further details cannot be disclosed in line with HMRC guidance. On Friday 4 July 2025, BBV terminated its labour supply agreement with Danny Sullivan Group following an independent investigation into the status of workers.

While HS2 Ltd does not hold direct contracts with labour suppliers, it requires its supply chain to comply fully with contractual and tax obligations and HS2 Ltd is continuing to conduct further investigations into labour supply contracts across the supply chain.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
2nd Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of drugs and alcohol as a contributory factor in road accidents in each of the past three years, and what actions they are proposing to take as a consequence.

The Department for Transport publishes statistics that show the number of personal injury road collisions, in Great Britain, reported to police using the STATS19 system which were assigned the “affected by alcohol” or “affected by drugs” road safety factors (RSFs). The number of collisions assigned these factors is shown in the table below.

2021

2022

2023

Collisions assigned “affected by alcohol”

5,095

5,355

5,020

Collisions assigned “affected by drugs”

1,827

1,908

2,078

Collisions assigned “affected by alcohol” and/or “affected by drugs”

6,201

6,572

6,437

Collisions assigned any road safety factor

67,193

70,661

68,917

All collisions, including those not assigned a road safety factor

101,087

106,004

104,258

Driving under the influence of drink and drugs is unacceptable and illegal. We are determined to combat this behaviour and ensure that all such drivers are caught and punished.

My Department is considering these offences as part of the Road Safety Strategy, and we are considering policy options to pursue change in this area.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
1st Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government how, if at all, they publicise the specific location and availability of charging points for electric vehicles.

The Government is committed to making it easy for consumers to find public chargepoints. To support this, the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 came into effect in November 2023. These regulations require operators to share open data freely – including chargepoint location and availability information. This data is then made available to consumers via commercial platforms such as mapping services and roaming providers.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
1st Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the uptake of electric vehicles.

The Government is reducing the initial costs of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) by providing plug-in vehicle grants for vans, trucks, motorcycles, taxis and wheelchair accessible vehicles. Drivers of ZEVs also benefit from favourable tax rates, such as generous company car tax incentives. ZEVs will continue to have preferential first year rates of vehicle excise duty in comparison to the most polluting vehicles.

Government is also committed to increasing awareness of the benefits of ZEVs. We have been working with industry to create a more coordinated, focused cross-industry and Government approach to promoting ZEVs.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
1st Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government how many public charging points for electric vehicles there are in each local authority area, and how many there will be in each of the next three years.

As of 1 June 2025, the Government and industry have supported the installation of 80,552 publicly available charging devices across the UK (including 16,231 devices rated 50kW or above).

The latest data available regarding the number of public charging devices, for electric vehicles in each local authority area, in the UK, as at 1 April 2025, can be found in table 1a of the attached document.

The £381 million Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund has been allocated to all highest tier local authorities in England and will support the installation over 100,000 local chargers, ensuring the rollout continues at pace to support drivers across the country.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
18th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 16 June (HL8161), what precautions they are overseeing or initiating in seeking to minimise future disruption at UK airports.

The resilience of the UK aviation sector is important, and key to its success. It is the responsibility of the industry to manage demand, recruit, and roster staff. The aviation sector has increased resilience, with ground handlers, airlines, airports and air traffic control providers all undertaking significant recruitment campaigns, whilst investing in new infrastructure, equipment and technology.

The Aviation Minister regularly writes to industry to seek assurances from the aviation sector that they have sufficient resilience plans to manage operations effectively over peak periods, and the department continues to work closely with the sector to understand any potential risks and mitigating actions.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
11th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what projects they have authorised for driverless vehicle trials; for what periods the trials will run; and subject to what conditions.

Currently there are no automated vehicles on UK roads operating without a safety driver. There are, however, several organisations who have tested, or are at present testing, vehicles with a safety driver under our existing ‘Code of Practice: automated vehicle trialling’. The Code of Practice is available to support those planning to undertake a trial of automated vehicle technology with a safety driver and sets out their legal responsibilities.

Some of these trials have been, and currently are, Government funded including projects operating at the National Exhibition Centre and in Cambridge from park & ride sites to the Biomedical Campus. A recently completed CCAV funded project also saw a shuttle service operating in Sunderland, linking the city to the hospital.

The Government announced on 10 June that it will accelerate the timeline for the introduction of Automated Passenger Services (APS) regulations, as set out in part 5 of the Automated Vehicles (AV) Act 2024, subject to the outcome of a consultation later this summer. These regulations will help facilitate early commercial pilots of automated passenger services, which could include those that are taxi-and private hire-like in England and bus-like in GB from spring 2026. These pilots will drive innovation, attract investment, and help shape the final automated vehicles framework, which we aim to have in place by the second half of 2027.

APS pilots will be subject to the vehicle passing all relevant technical and safety approvals and local licensing authority (including taxi licensing authority for taxi like services) or bus franchising body consent being secured before any deployment can take place. Permits issued to enable deployments will include conditions for the service, which could include, for example: the number of vehicles, the type of vehicles, and the period for which the permit is granted for. If these conditions are not adhered to, the permit may be suspended or withdrawn.

The Secretary of State must also consider whether and to what extent granting a permit for an automated passenger service is likely to help improve understanding of how these services should best be designed for and provided to disabled and older passengers. Accessibility considerations will be set out in non-statutory guidance and related permit conditions can be enforced through the permitting process.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
5th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic impact of the closure of Heathrow Airport due to the fire at the North Hyde substation on 21 March.

The UK aviation sector is predominantly privately operated therefore airports are responsible for managing their own contingency plans and ensuring that they are robust and meet their own individual circumstances.

The Department does not formally assess the impact of individual resilience issues due to the complexity of the impact and vast range of indirect impacts across the economy.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
20th May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of progress being made towards developing road-worthy autonomous vehicles, and what steps they are taking to enable autonomous vehicles to be driven on roads legally.

To achieve our ambitions for the automated vehicle sector, we are working at pace to implement the regulatory framework for self-driving vehicles in the second half of 2027.

We are exploring options for accelerating early commercial pilots in advance of full implementation and will update on this work soon. By combining long-term regulatory certainty with near-term trialling opportunities, we are creating the right conditions for a thriving self-driving vehicles market.

Alongside developing our domestic regulations, we are playing a leading role in work to align international rules and regulations on self-driving, which will enable our companies to export globally. This work is anticipated to complete in early 2027.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
1st Apr 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the carriage of freight by rail.

The Government recognises that the economic and environmental potential of rail freight is significant and is committed to supporting its growth.

We encourage modal shift from road to rail through the Mode Shift Revenue Support scheme which has a budget of £18 million. The scheme has been extended to March 2026.

Under our plans to reform the railway, there will be a statutory duty on Great British Railways to promote the use of rail freight and there will be an overall rail freight growth target set by the Secretary of State, with clear and meaningful targets for rail freight growth within pre-defined periods.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
21st Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to lowering the legal alcohol limit for drivers as tested by a breathalyser.

This Government takes road safety very seriously and reducing those killed and injured on our roads is a key priority. The Department is currently considering policy options in this area.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
8th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the provision of charging points for electric vehicles.

There are now over 70,000 public charging devices in the UK, supporting drivers to switch to EVs, alongside 680,000 private chargepoints in England alone. The Government is committed to working with industry to further accelerate the rollout of affordable, accessible charging infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the Government is supporting the rollout of tens of thousands of local chargepoints, which are especially important for drivers without off-street parking. The Government also offers grants to support the installation of private chargepoints in certain residential and commercial properties and provides advice and guidance to support the planning and delivery of charging infrastructure.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)