Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that the statutory duties of local highway authorities for the public rights of way network are integrated into the Local Government Outcomes Framework.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government has no plans at this stage to integrate local highway authorities’ statutory duties for public rights of way into the Local Government Outcomes Framework. The Local Government Outcomes Framework will include key national priorities delivered at the local level, so will not have metrics measuring all local authority statutory duties. Local highway authorities have clear statutory responsibilities for managing and maintaining the public rights of way network within their individual areas, including ensuring routes are kept free from obstruction. They are also required to prepare and keep under review a Rights of Way Improvement Plan, which assesses the condition of the network and sets out planned improvements for all users. These plans are published on each authority’s website.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how plans to introduce nine new river walks and three new national forests will contribute towards ensuring that everyone in England has access to green or blue spaces within fifteen minutes' walk from their home, as committed to in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025, published on 1 December.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is pleased to commit to progress in ensuring everyone should live within a 15-minute walk of a green or blue space. We have recently published for the first time green and blue space interim statistics and will continue to mature the metric and map the status.
As part of our work to improve public access to nature, we are also progressing plans to deliver nine new National River Walks across England, one in each region, to enhance access to nature. We will announce further details on this in due course.
Our new national forests will support delivery of environmental improvement goals including improving access to green space and better connecting people with nature. The ‘Western Forest’ will see 20 million trees planted across the West of England over the coming years and serve over 2.5 million residents, bringing trees and woodlands closer to where people live.
The second new national forest will be in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, and a competition will be launched for a third new national forest in the Midlands or North of England in early 2026.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether their plans to introduce nine new river walks and three new national forests will include the creation of new permanent legal rights of access.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our nine new river walks and three new national forests will both increase available natural space and make it more accessible.
We are progressing plans to deliver nine new National River Walks across England, one in each region, to enhance access to nature and are currently considering several delivery options. Further details will be announced in due course.
Our three new national forests in the West of England, the Oxford-Cambridge corridor and the Midlands or North of England, once confirmed, will support delivery of environmental improvement goals including improving access to green space and better connecting people with nature. The Government will set out plans for new national forests in the coming months which will incorporate many factors, including a consideration of new permanent legal rights of access.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of section 147ZA of the Highways Act 1980 on the rights of disabled people to access the outdoors with ease and confidence.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is supportive of the provision within section 147ZA of the 1980 Act that enables an authority to work with landowners and relevant parties to replace or improve existing structures so that they can be used more easily by individuals that may experience mobility challenges. There is currently no national assessment available of the impacts of this provision. However, we will continue to improve access to green and blue spaces, ensuring that it is safe and appropriate for all users, through our various initiatives.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 7 October (HL10487), what change in position there has been since the same information on National Insurance numbers issued to individuals outside the United Kingdom was provided for the year beginning June 2023 in the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 17 September 2024 (HL885).
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
HL 10487 asked specifically about the number of National Insurance Numbers issued to individuals outside the United Kingdom. That information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The Written Answer, HL885, provided data on the number National Insurance number allocations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK. Updated statistics covering the rolling 12 months period to June 2025 are published on the Department's Stat-Xplore tool and summarised below.
NINO Registrations To Adult Overseas Nationals Entering The UK
Nationality | Rolling year end June 2024.25 |
European Union | 58,730 |
Non-European Union (Other Europe) | 34,682 |
Asia | 374,155 |
Rest of the World | 152,748 |
Other / unknown | 9,628 |
Total | 629,947 |
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many National Insurance numbers were issued to individuals outside the United Kingdom in the past twelve months for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment has been made of civilian casualties from US and UK military action in Yemen (1) since March and (2) between January 2024 and January 2025.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In planning its operations, the Ministry of Defence takes the greatest possible care to minimise the risk of civilian casualties. Every mission carried out by Royal Air Force aircraft is assessed carefully, including for any evidence that civilian casualties resulting from British military action have been caused. All instances must be confirmed to Parliament.
On 29 April, UK forces participated in a joint operation with US forces against a Houthi military target in Yemen which careful intelligence analysis had identified was being used to manufacture long-range attack drones. This was the first UK strike on the Houthis since 30 May 2024, and was again conducted in self-defence and in line with the UK's longstanding policy.
We do not comment on other nations' military operations.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they made of potential risks to civilians in advance of airstrikes in Yemen on 29 April.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Ahead of the UK strikes in Yemen on 29 April, the utmost care was taken during planning to minimise any risk to civilians or non-military infrastructure.
This included conducting the strikes in the hours of darkness, as this was a feasible precaution available during this particular mission to further mitigate any such risks.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the British airstrikes conducted in Yemen on 29 April were in support of Operation Poseidon Archer or Operation Rough Rider.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We do not comment on other nations’ military operations but can confirm that the UK airstrike on 29 April 2025 was conducted against a Houthi military target in Yemen. The action was undertaken jointly with the US to uphold the freedom of navigation.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many times in each of the last five years the NHS applied for a warrant to remove patients from a hospital bed.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England do not hold this information. The statutory guidance on hospital discharge procedures, Hospital discharge and community support guidance, published in January 2024, sets out how local areas should plan and implement hospital discharge in order to support safe and timely discharge for all individuals. Further information on this guidance is available on the GOV.UK website, in an online only format.