Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in each of the last ten years, in how many cases have His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service been (1) charged, or (2) convicted, of corporate manslaughter regarding (a) a death in a prison, or (b) a death in a prison where fire or smoke from a fire was the cause or contributed to the death.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service has never been charged with or convicted of corporate manslaughter.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether (1) high security hospitals or high security units within hospitals, (2) Immigration Removal Centres, and (3) Young Offender institutions and detention centres, are regulated by the Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate; and whether they are covered by Crown immunity regarding fire risk.
Answered by Baroness Blake of Leeds - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
High security hospitals (or high security units within hospitals) are not regulated by the Crown Premises’ Fire Safety Inspectorate (CPFSI). These are inspected by local Fire and Rescue Services.
Immigration Removal Centres are managed by private sector operators and are regulated by the Crown Premises’ Fire Safety Inspectorate (CPFSI). Crown immunity does not apply to the elements of IRCs that are managed by private operators. Where elements remain within the control of the Home Office, Crown immunity applies to these areas only. Short term holding facilities and processing centres operated by the Home Office are regulated by the Crown Premises’ Fire Safety Inspectorate (CPFSI) and Crown immunity does apply.
Young Offender Institutions and Detention Centres form part of His Majesties Prison and Probation Service and are regulated by the Crown Premises’ Fire Safety Inspectorate (CPFSI) and Crown immunity does apply. There are no private operators of Young Offender Institutions and Detention Centres. Secure training schools are privately operated and these are inspected by local Fire and Rescue Services.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in each of the last ten years, how many (1) deaths in prisons have been judged as preventable by coroners, and (2) deaths in prisons have been judged as preventable by coroners where fire or smoke from a fire was the cause or contributed to the death.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Department does not hold data on the number of deaths in prison that have been judged as preventable by coroners as coroners do not always express a clear view about whether a death is preventable.
In the last ten years, two deaths in prison have been the subject of coroners' findings indicating that the death may have been preventable, where fire or smoke inhalation from a fire was either the cause of death or a contributing factor.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following delays in recent years in the recruitment and appointment process for inspectorate and regulatory roles leading to (1) the extension of the contract for the current HM Chief Inspector for Prisons to 2027, and (2) the appointment of interim post holders for the Independent Chief Inspector for Borders and Immigration in 2024–25, the Independent Prevent Commissioner in 2025–26, and HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary and HM Chief Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services in 2026, what assessment they have made of the Home Office and Ministry of Justice appointment processes for such roles in each of the last five years; what comparison they have made with similar processes in other departments; and what steps they are taking to improve such processes.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The process for making appointments and extensions to regulated public appointments is set out in the Governance Code on Public Appointments. Departments’ adherence to the process is regulated by the Independent Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Commissioner publishes an annual report that includes commentary on the timeliness of public appointment processes. Data on campaign duration and overall performance across departments is also published in the annual Public Appointments Data Report, published by the Cabinet Office.
The Governance Code on Public Appointments was updated in October 2025 and introduced new measures to enable ministers to make appointments more quickly.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prisons are equipped with (1) automatic water misting systems only, (2) manual handling water misting systems only, or (3) both automatic and manual handling water systems.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Upon arrival, all prisoners receive a comprehensive fire safety induction covering the actions to take in the event of a fire and the risks and consequences associated with fire-setting behaviour. The quality and effectiveness of the induction process are subject to quarterly audits to ensure compliance and consistency across the prison estate.
All prisons have an adequate level of fire suppression. In the closed prison estate, 11 prisons are equipped with both fixed automatic and manual water misting systems: four of these have automatic systems in all cells, and seven have automatic systems installed in some cells, with manual provision in the remainder. The other 101 closed prisons are equipped with manual water misting systems.
H M Prison & Probation Service’s technical standards require all new closed prisons and secure accommodation blocks to be fitted with fixed automatic water misting systems in prison cells.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of prisoner awareness and understanding of what to do when a fire occurs; and what steps they are taking to ensure prisoners are aware of what to do when fires occur.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Upon arrival, all prisoners receive a comprehensive fire safety induction covering the actions to take in the event of a fire and the risks and consequences associated with fire-setting behaviour. The quality and effectiveness of the induction process are subject to quarterly audits to ensure compliance and consistency across the prison estate.
All prisons have an adequate level of fire suppression. In the closed prison estate, 11 prisons are equipped with both fixed automatic and manual water misting systems: four of these have automatic systems in all cells, and seven have automatic systems installed in some cells, with manual provision in the remainder. The other 101 closed prisons are equipped with manual water misting systems.
H M Prison & Probation Service’s technical standards require all new closed prisons and secure accommodation blocks to be fitted with fixed automatic water misting systems in prison cells.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Whitehead on 15 June (HL448), what modelling they have undertaken to estimate the number of individual retrofit measures to be financed through consumer loans under the Warm Homes Plan; and what (1) is their central estimate, and (2) were the assumptions used on loan size and repayment terms.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The Warm Homes Loan Scheme has been allocated up to ÂŁ300m CDEL and under the Warm Homes Fund up to ÂŁ1.7bn. The Government is undertaking detailed modelling, in line with departmental appraisal and analytical standards, to inform estimates of the number of retrofit installations that may be supported.
The number and type of measures financed will depend on several factors, including consumer uptake and the technologies installed; and loan sizes and repayment terms. These elements remain under development and analysis and, therefore, the Government has not yet finalised estimates of the total number of measures to be financed, nor any breakdown by technology type or tenure.
Further information will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Whitehead on 15 June (HL448), what estimate they have made of the total number of retrofit measures expected to be financed through consumer loans under the Warm Homes Plan over its lifetime; and what is the annual breakdown of those measures by technology type and tenure, once the loan sizes and terms are set out.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The Warm Homes Loan Scheme has been allocated up to ÂŁ300m CDEL and under the Warm Homes Fund up to ÂŁ1.7bn. The Government is undertaking detailed modelling, in line with departmental appraisal and analytical standards, to inform estimates of the number of retrofit installations that may be supported.
The number and type of measures financed will depend on several factors, including consumer uptake and the technologies installed; and loan sizes and repayment terms. These elements remain under development and analysis and, therefore, the Government has not yet finalised estimates of the total number of measures to be financed, nor any breakdown by technology type or tenure.
Further information will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Whitehead on 15 June (HL448), what estimate they have made of the total number of individual retrofit measures that will be financed through consumer loans under the Warm Homes Plan, based on their current assumptions about loan size and repayment terms.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The Warm Homes Loan Scheme has been allocated up to ÂŁ300m CDEL and under the Warm Homes Fund up to ÂŁ1.7bn. The Government is undertaking detailed modelling, in line with departmental appraisal and analytical standards, to inform estimates of the number of retrofit installations that may be supported.
The number and type of measures financed will depend on several factors, including consumer uptake and the technologies installed; and loan sizes and repayment terms. These elements remain under development and analysis and, therefore, the Government has not yet finalised estimates of the total number of measures to be financed, nor any breakdown by technology type or tenure.
Further information will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the consultation on proposals to enable the safe and legal use of plug-in solar (plug-in microgeneration) products in the UK lasted two weeks, and what consideration they gave to a longer consultation.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The move to make plug-in solar panels available in shops within months comes as government steps up its drive for clean homegrown power to get the UK off its dependency on fossil fuel markets. Plug-in solar panels provide a new, simple alternative for those who may not have the option of rooftop solar, and could offer savings of up to £110 a year on energy bills for a typical home.
It has been rolled out successfully in other countries. To safely bring plug-in solar to the UK market within this timeframe, we launched an expedited consultation on required regulatory changes alongside running a series of in-depth and targeted meetings with a wide range of stakeholders.