Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the problems common to the Post Office's Capture and Horizon projects.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
On 17 December, the Government published its response to the independent report into Capture, committing to offer redress to affected postmasters. We will develop our proposals through engagement with postmasters and key stakeholders.
The Kroll report does not make conclusions on whether Capture led to unsafe convictions The scale of convictions relating to Capture is so far unknown and no convictions have been overturned by the courts to date. The Criminal Cases Review Commission and its Scottish equivalent are actively reviewing cases which have been submitted, and the Government expects Post Office Ltd to fully engage with any ongoing or future investigations into Capture.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the latest figures for antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes for the (1) Metropolitan Police, (2) Greater Manchester Police, and (3) West Midlands Police, compared with the figures for September 2023; and what is the average figure for all police forces over the same period.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects information on the number of religious hate crimes by targeted religion on a monthly basis from police forces in England and Wales. However, information is only available for 31 police forces, including the Metropolitan and Greater Manchester Police, for the time period asked about. The available data broken down by month from September 2023 to March 2024 are given in the table below:
Number of religious hate crimes targeted against Jews and Muslims recorded by the police by month, 31 police forces in England and Wales, September 2023 to March 2024 | |||||||
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| Hate crimes targeted against Jews |
| Hate crimes targeted against Muslims | ||||
Month | Metropolitan Police | Greater Manchester Police | Total for 31 police forces |
| Metropolitan Police | Greater Manchester Police | Total for 31 police forces |
September | 42 | 8 | 95 |
| 77 | 19 | 194 |
October | 315 | 85 | 577 |
| 153 | 40 | 325 |
November | 222 | 68 | 444 |
| 166 | 49 | 362 |
December | 124 | 33 | 264 |
| 89 | 40 | 243 |
January | 108 | 37 | 226 |
| 71 | 37 | 217 |
February | 91 | 34 | 211 |
| 96 | 34 | 233 |
March | 108 | 51 | 238 |
| 129 | 51 | 332 |
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Monthly average (September 2023 to March 2024 | 144 | 45 | 294 |
| 112 | 39 | 272 |
Source: Police recorded crime, Home Office |
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Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether a decision on the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster is still expected to be taken in 2025.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The R&R Client Board published the strategic case for the R&R Programme in March 2024. This set out that three options for how to deliver the R&R works to the Palace (including full decant, continued presence and enhanced maintenance and improvement) will be developed in detail. This detailed work, which will include estimated costs and timescales as well as risks and mitigations for all three options, is expected to be presented to the Houses by the end of 2025 to enable an evidence-based decision on how best to restore the Palace.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that large amounts of sanctioned Russian liquefied natural gas reach European markets through Zeebrugge.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK has taken extensive action to limit energy revenues that are funding Russia's war. The UK prohibited the import of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in January 2023 and banned the export of energy related goods. In September 2024 we used new powers to sanction carriers transporting Russian LNG, followed by a second set of vessels in October. These carriers were shipping LNG from Russia's flagship Arctic LNG 2 project which has ceased production as a result of UK and partner sanctions. We are committed to working with partners, including the EU, to take further steps to constrain Russian revenue.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 11 November, why is HS2 defined as an England and Wales project attracting no Barnett consequential.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Heavy rail infrastructure is not devolved in Wales, hence the UK Government is responsible for spending on heavy rail infrastructure across England and Wales. The Government is committed to rail schemes in Wales, by providing funding for operations, maintenance and infrastructure, and enhancement schemes such as modernising Cardiff Central Station.
The approach to heavy rail infrastructure is consistent with the funding arrangements for other policy areas, such as the construction of prisons, where the UK Government is responsible for spending in Wales, as Justice is Reserved.
The Welsh Government is receiving at least 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in England. That translates into over £4 billion more in 2025-26.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 7 November (HL1982), whether they will provide a more precise answer to the question of how much funding under the Barnett formula they estimate will go to (1) Scotland, (2) Wales, and (3) Northern Ireland as a result of the latest total for public investment in HS2.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At spending reviews, the Barnett formula is applied to changes in a department’s overall budget (at department-level) rather than to specific programmes like HS2 (at programme-level). It is for the devolved governments to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit and they are accountable to the devolved legislatures for their decisions.
The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding since the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. The most recent report was published in July 2023.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government as a result of the latest total for public investment in HS2 how much funding under the Barnett formula they estimate will go to (1) Scotland, (2) Wales, and (3) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Barnett formula will continue to apply as set out in the published Statement of Funding Policy.
The UK Government is responsible for much of the rail infrastructure in Wales, and therefore spends money on this infrastructure rather than funding the Welsh Government to do so through the Barnett formula. In line with this responsibility, the UK Government is currently delivering an ambitious programme to upgrade Welsh railways.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland, rail infrastructure is a devolved responsibility, so the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive receive funding through Barnett formula. The Barnett formula is applied at fiscal events when UK Government departmental budgets are set rather than being applied when departments announce how they are spending their budgets.
The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding from the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. The most recent report was published in July 2023.
Overall, the devolved governments’ funding is at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in other parts of the UK and the devolved governments can allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage funding for rail infrastructure spending was allocated to Wales from 2011–12 to the most recent financial year for which figures are available, relative to (1) the total rail infrastructure spending, and (2) population.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The UK Government is responsible for rail infrastructure across England and Wales. Decisions on investment in rail infrastructure are taken to ensure that the railways are funded to operate safely and efficiently and in line with the strategic goals of the government.
From 2011/12 until 2023/24, the population of Wales represented, on average, 5.26% of the total population in England and Wales. For the same period, an average of 5.03% of the total investment on the conventional rail network in England and Wales (i.e. excluding HS2) was spent on rail infrastructure in Wales.
The table below shows the percentage in each year:
| % Population of Wales | Wales route funded infrastructure |
2011/12 | 5.43% | 3.70% |
2012/13 | 5.39% | 3.76% |
2013/14 | 5.35% | 3.79% |
2014/15 | 5.31% | 3.99% |
2015/16 | 5.27% | 4.72% |
2016/17 | 5.25% | 6.29% |
2017/18 | 5.23% | 6.46% |
2018/19 | 5.21% | 6.49% |
2019/20 | 5.22% | 5.99% |
2020/21 | 5.21% | 4.66% |
2021/22 | 5.20% | 4.74% |
2022/23 | 5.20% | 5.31% |
2023/24 | 5.20% | 5.03% |
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what regulations govern Universal Credit payments for prisoners immediately after their release.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are no specific regulations that govern the payment of Universal Credit (UC) to a prisoner upon release. They are treated like every other customer when they make a claim to UC. If they need urgent financial assistance when they have completed their online UC claim they can ask for a new claim advance payment which is offered to all new customers. There are provisions (Claims and Payments Regulations 2013) that allow prisoners to start to prepare their UC claim before their release, however the date of entitlement starts on the release date, and first payment is usually made around five weeks after the claim is made.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the latest recidivism rates for released prisoners receiving benefits.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This Government is reducing reoffending by giving prison leavers the tools to move away from crime.
The latest available data for England and Wales shows that 37.0% of adults released from custody between April 2021 and March 2022 were proven to have reoffended within 12 months of release.
We do not currently measure reoffending rates for released prisoners receiving benefits, on training schemes for job placements or in work (although the latter will be featured in future publications of proven reoffending statistics, with the first due for release in October 2024).
We do, however, know from previous research that offenders who leave custody into employment are up to nine percentage points less likely to reoffend, and there is a similar percentage point reduction in reoffending for those who have engaged in any form of in-prison education.