Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 21 May (HL7312), when the Betting and Gaming Council will publish its report on advertising.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has provided the Government with their report on gambling advertising. It is for the BGC to decide whether to publish it. We have reviewed the report and are considering this alongside a range of other evidence to determine next steps in this area.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to monitor and regulate the use of personalised algorithms and targeted advertising by online gambling platforms.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
All gambling operators in the UK must comply with robust advertising codes, which are enforced by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) independently of Government. These codes apply across all advertising platforms, including online and social media. The codes are regularly reviewed and updated and DCMS regularly engages with the ASA to discuss these changes and the impact of the regulations.
All operators in the UK are also required to comply with the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice, which includes new provisions relating to direct marketing and socially responsible promotions. The impact of these measures will be assessed in due course.
We engage with a range of stakeholders and other regulators, such as the ICO, to understand whether more can be done to further raise standards in this area, particularly on online platforms.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce mandatory transparency requirements on gambling advertising spend and targeting strategies by licensed operators.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We currently have no plans to introduce mandatory transparency requirements on gambling advertising spend and targeting strategies by licensed operators.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they hold data about the condition of flora in each county in England, and if so, whether they will publish that data.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England (NE) does not hold county-level data on plants. When it requires such information, NE works with partners to access excellent quality datasets such as the ‘distribution database’ of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, which may be filtered by county. Such datasets may be processed and published by partners e.g. as County Floras or Rare Plant Registers. NE’s own holding of botanical data focuses on protected sites rather than county scale information. NE recently worked with the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland to produce a new GB level red list for vascular plants.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of special areas of conservation in each county in England are in a favourable condition.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The table below sets out the percentage of terrestrial special areas of consideration (SAC) feature area in each county assessed as being in favourable condition as of October 2025.
Four counties have no SAC features recorded within their boundaries and are therefore not listed in the table: Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Rutland, and the City of London.
County | % of SAC features in favourable condition |
Berkshire | 66.0% |
Bristol | 3.3% |
Buckinghamshire | 56.1% |
Cambridgeshire | 45.1% |
Cheshire | 4.1% |
Cornwall | 27.9% |
Cumbria | 28.1% |
Derbyshire | 18.9% |
Devon | 37.5% |
Dorset | 40.0% |
Durham | 25.6% |
East Riding of Yorkshire | 46.7% |
East Sussex | 35.8% |
Essex | 26.3% |
Gloucestershire | 20.4% |
Greater London | 52.3% |
Greater Manchester | 2.9% |
Hampshire | 37.5% |
Herefordshire | 12.0% |
Hertfordshire | 81.9% |
Isle of Wight | 31.7% |
Kent | 49.0% |
Lancashire | 27.3% |
Leicestershire | 0.0% |
Lincolnshire | 47.5% |
Merseyside | 0.0% |
Norfolk | 27.6% |
North Yorkshire | 37.7% |
Northumberland | 30.8% |
Nottinghamshire | 0.0% |
Oxfordshire | 83.9% |
Shropshire | 4.7% |
Somerset | 27.7% |
South Yorkshire | 2.4% |
Staffordshire | 15.5% |
Suffolk | 41.8% |
Surrey | 69.9% |
Tyne & Wear | 12.5% |
Warwickshire | 100.0% |
West Midlands | 20.6% |
West Sussex | 35.9% |
West Yorkshire | 2.5% |
Wiltshire | 37.6% |
Worcestershire | 50.0% |
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of local nature reserves (1) in each county, and (2) in each local authority area, in England are in a favourable condition.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities are responsible for declaring Local Nature Reserves (LNRs) and ensuring they are managed appropriately. There is no statutory requirement for LNRs to meet a specific “favourable condition” standard. As a result, Defra does not hold data on the condition of LNRs by county or local authority.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of sites of special scientific interest in each county in England are in a favourable condition.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 1 April 2023 Natural England changed from a unit (or area)-based assessment and reporting process to one based on the features within each site, called Whole Feature Assessment. A feature is a habitat, species, or geological characteristic for which the site is important.
The table below shows the percentage of Sites of Special Scientific Interest features in each county that are assessed as being in favourable condition as of 31st October 2025:
County | % of SSSI features in favourable condition |
Bedfordshire | 40.0% |
Berkshire | 68.7% |
Bristol | 45.2% |
Buckinghamshire | 57.1% |
Cambridgeshire | 41.8% |
Cheshire | 27.3% |
Cornwall | 51.5% |
Cumbria | 36.9% |
Derbyshire | 28.0% |
Devon | 46.8% |
Dorset | 23.0% |
Durham | 40.8% |
East Riding of Yorkshire | 49.5% |
East Sussex | 34.5% |
Essex | 43.6% |
Gloucestershire | 49.9% |
Greater London | 62.1% |
Greater Manchester | 36.2% |
Hampshire | 35.2% |
Herefordshire | 35.4% |
Hertfordshire | 50.0% |
Isle of Wight | 46.0% |
Kent | 39.9% |
Lancashire | 43.4% |
Leicestershire | 40.4% |
Lincolnshire | 47.9% |
Merseyside | 23.6% |
Norfolk | 42.4% |
North Yorkshire | 46.5% |
Northamptonshire | 37.0% |
Northumberland | 39.3% |
Nottinghamshire | 17.4% |
Oxfordshire | 55.2% |
Rutland | 51.1% |
Shropshire | 46.7% |
Somerset | 38.0% |
South Yorkshire | 43.1% |
Staffordshire | 18.2% |
Suffolk | 37.0% |
Surrey | 50.8% |
Tyne & Wear | 46.5% |
Warwickshire | 68.7% |
West Midlands | 45.3% |
West Sussex | 26.5% |
West Yorkshire | 35.1% |
Wiltshire | 44.1% |
Worcestershire | 48.4% |
.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of rivers in each county in England are in a good overall condition.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The most recent comprehensive assessment in 2019 shows that 16% of rivers in England are achieving good ecological status. This information is available on the Environment Agency’s Catchment Data Explorer, where it is presented for individual water bodies, river catchments and river basin districts. The next comprehensive assessment of the condition of the water environment is underway and will be published next year.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the Gambling Levy Programme Board and the Gambling Levy Advisory Group were established, and whether they will publish the membership of both of those bodies.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Gambling Levy Programme Board first met in June 2025. The Board is chaired by the DCMS Director of Sport and Gambling, and its membership consists of government officials from relevant HMG departments, and the Scottish and Welsh governments.
The Advisory Group first met in May 2025. It is chaired by a DCMS official and membership consists of working level representation from UK Research and Innovation, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, NHS England, the appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales and the Gambling Commission.
We will continue to regularly monitor the levy’s governance arrangements to ensure that there is effective oversight of delivery against objectives. We will publish the Terms of Reference and details of membership for the Levy Board and Advisory Group in due course.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Timpson on 22 September (HL10345), whether the positions of Director General of Operations and Chief Operating Officer for Prisons have now been filled on a permanent basis; and what role the Senior Leadership Committee has played in recruitment to these posts.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The roles of Director General of Operations and Chief Operating Officer for Prisons are currently being filled on an interim basis. The recruitment position is unchanged from my reply of 22 September.
Senior Leadership Committee (SLC) membership is currently made up of: Permanent Secretary, Home Office (who serves as the Chair); Permanent Secretary, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury; Chief Executive of the Civil Service and Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government; Permanent Secretary, Department for Education; Government Chief People Officer (Cabinet Office), Permanent Secretary, Department for Work & Pensions; and Director General, MI5. As set out in the Civil Service Senior Appointments Protocol, the First Civil Service Commissioner also sits on the SLC as a permanent member. There are currently no representatives from the Ministry of Justice on the SLC.
Civil Service Commissioners must chair all permanent competitions for posts at SCS Pay Band 4 (Permanent Secretary) and SCS Pay Band 3 (Director General) level. This requirement applies both to open (external) competitions and to Civil Service-wide (internal) competitions. Commissioners do not have involvement in appointments where an exception is granted, although these are reported to the Commission on a quarterly basis. The current appointments were made under exceptions due to the temporary nature of the arrangements. Any future permanent recruitment will follow the Civil Service Recruitment Principles and be chaired by a Civil Service Commissioner.