Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to vet for public safety and security students and dependants from Gaza who are on expedited visas and are offered temporary leave to remain in the UK.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

As set out by the Home Secretary in her oral statement to Parliament on 1 September 2025, the Home Office has put in place systems to issue expedited visas, with biometric checks conducted prior to arrival for all the Chevening scholars from Gaza.

The Home Office is in the process of doing the same for students in Gaza who have been awarded fully funded scholarships and places at UK universities so they can start their studies in autumn this year (no later than 31 December 2025).

All visa applicants are required to provide their biographic and biometric data to enable a range security checks to be completed, including criminality checks.

The Home Office uses various tools to detect and disrupt travel by terrorists, by criminals and by individuals excluded from the UK; previously deported from the UK; or using lost, stolen or revoked documents and visas. This includes the use of domestic and international watchlists. The Home Office works with both law enforcement and wider government partners to ensure appropriate action is taken before travel or at the border when individuals of concern are identified.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have agreed with the former Deputy Prime Minister when she will vacate her residence in Admiralty House.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The former Deputy Prime Minister has vacated the property. The Government agreed the terms of vacation of Admiralty House with the former Deputy Prime Minister in the usual way.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 4 August (HL9337), on what date they registered the former Deputy Prime Minister's Admiralty House residence as a second home with Westminster City Council; and whether the Cabinet Office (1) paid a second homes council tax premium, or (2) claimed a job-related second homes council tax discount in respect of that residence.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

As has been the case under successive administrations, the Government Property Agency is responsible for liaising with Westminster City Council on the administration of council tax for Admiralty House.

The council tax rate for Admiralty House is determined by Westminster Council; council tax for Admiralty House is properly discharged.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what overseas visits the Prime Minister’s chief of staff has made, without the Prime Minister and at public expense, since being appointed, and at what cost.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Special Adviser travel expenses are not routinely published, as was the case under previous administrations.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether income levels affect socio-economic classifications and, therefore, whether train drivers earning £80,000 per year should be classed as working class under State of the Nation 2024: Local to national, mapping opportunities for all, published by the Social Mobility Commission in September 2024; and what assessment the Office for National Statistics has made of the classification of train drivers under the national statistics socio-economic classifications.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

Emma Rourke | Acting National Statistician

Lord Jackson of Peterborough

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

30 September 2025

Dear Lord Jackson,

As Acting National Statistician, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking whether income levels affect socio-economic classifications and, therefore, whether train drivers earning £80,000 per year should be classed as working class under State of the Nation 2024: Local to national, mapping opportunities for all, published by the Social Mobility Commission in September 2024; and what assessment the Office for National Statistics has made of the classification of train drivers under the national statistics socio-economic classifications (HL10733).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not incorporate income in the methodology or derivation of the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC).

The ONS classifies Train Drivers to the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2020 code 8231, which corresponds to " Train and tram drivers”. Under the simplified NS-SEC framework, this occupation is classified as analytic class 5: Lower supervisory and technical occupations.

There are 8 analytic classes in the NS-SEC used by the ONS:

· Higher managerial, administrative and professional occupation

· Lower managerial, administrative and professional occupations

· Intermediate occupations

· Small employers and own account workers

· Lower supervisory and technical occupations

· Semi-routine occupations

· Routine occupations

· Never worked, unemployed, and not elsewhere classified

The Social Mobility Commission groups these into 5 categories: ‘higher professional and managerial’, ‘lower professional and managerial’, ‘intermediate’, ‘higher working class’, and ‘lower working class’.

Yours sincerely,

Emma Rourke

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what information is passed to the employer once a senior civil servant has undergone developed vetting.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The decision on whether to grant developed vetting will be taken either by United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV), the department or police force that requires the individual to hold clearance, or by the sponsoring authority that carries out this task on behalf of departments. Vetting information required for the decision to be made is strictly controlled and access limited to those directly responsible for the decision reached. Upon successful application for clearance, the sponsor, who is often but not always exclusively within the individual’s employer, is notified.

In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the letter of 16 September from the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, why the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was not asked to contribute to the due diligence process on the appointment of Lord Mandelson as Ambassador to the United States; and whether any other bodies were involved in that due diligence process.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Due diligence was undertaken prior to the appointment of the former Ambassador to the United States, and was part of an established process to collate relevant information as part of the identification and selection of the appointee.

Following the announcement of the appointment, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office started the ambassadorial appointment process, including national security vetting, in the usual way.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the former Ambassador to the United States, Lord Mandelson, provided advice to the Prime Minister's Office during the Cabinet reshuffle on 5 September.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Prime Minister’s Office did not seek or accept any advice from the former Ambassador in respect of the reshuffle on 5 September.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government for what policy reason, if any, Lord Mandelson was permitted to keep his shareholding in Global Counsel whilst Ambassador to the United States of America.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

We do not comment on the finances of individual employees.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what meetings the Prime Minister's chief of staff has held with the Center for Countering Digital Hate and Hope not Hate while in post.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal

In line with longstanding process, relevant meetings are declared in the Special Advisor transparency publications. The Prime Minister’s chief of staff has not held meetings with the Center for Countering Digital Hate and Hope not Hate.