Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve punctuality and service quality on the East Coast Mainline.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department has invested £1.2 billion in route-wide upgrades across the East Coast Main Line (ECML) as part of the ECML Enhancements Programme. These investments will deliver significant improvements in journey times, reliability, and capacity, which will be realised through the introduction of the major timetable change in December 2025.

In addition, a further £105 million has been allocated to a package of enhancements at Darlington Station. Once completed by the end of the year, these works will support improved performance and reliability for passenger services across the northern section of the route.

The December 2025 major East Coast Upgrade Timetable will deliver a range of benefits, including:

• Faster Anglo-Scottish journeys operated by LNER and Lumo

• An additional hourly LNER service between London and Newcastle

• Over 60,000 extra seats per week between London and Newcastle

• Improved connectivity across East Coast Main Line stations

• Increased local services north of Newcastle

• Additional services between Newcastle and Reading, enhancing both capacity and connectivity

• New trains operating between Sheffield and Leeds

• Faster commuter services on the Cambridge line, supporting a full service at the new Cambridge South station

• Provision for new services linking Middlesbrough, Sunderland, and Newcastle, as well as Nottingham and Lincoln

To ensure successful implementation, an industry readiness taskforce is in place to support the delivery of the new timetable from day one with a focus on maintaining high performance standards across the route.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to defend the integrity of airspace above the prison estate from drone incursions which facilitate the delivery of illicit materials to prisoners.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is working hard to deter, detect and disrupt the use of illegal drones to deliver contraband into prisons.

Restricted Fly Zones have been introduced around all closed prisons and young offender institutions. These restrictions make all unauthorised drone incursions a crime and support police and prison collaboration to disrupt illegal drone use. Those using drones to smuggle illicit items which drive violence and criminality in custody may face up to a decade behind bars.

This year, we are investing over £40 million in physical security across 34 prisons.

Whilst we cannot share our counter drone tactics, as that would aid sophisticated serious and organised criminals, HMPPS uses suitable technology, alongside physical countermeasures and intelligence tools, with the support of Law Enforcement Agencies, to disrupt those who use drones. We are also working with UK and global partners to understand the tactics used abroad and identify opportunities to strengthen our response to illicit drone activity.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what correspondence the Prime Minister’s Office has had with Greta Thunberg since 4 July 2024.

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

It is not routine to publish correspondence between the Prime Minister and any individual or organisation.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish an impact assessment on closing the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme.

Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Ministry of Defence has considered the impact of closing the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme (ARAP). The scheme was in operation for four years and had received over 190,000 applications. Over the duration of the scheme, over 95% of total applications have been found ineligible.

It is now considered that most of those who wished to apply for ARAP and would likely be eligible, will have already applied. ARAP has therefore fulfilled its purpose. The Department is not intending to publish an impact assessment.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish a list of (1) departments, (2) agencies, (3) non-departmental public bodies, and (4) devolved administrations, they consulted prior to the decision to close the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme.

Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme is administered by the Ministry of Defence, and the decision to close ARAP to new applications was taken following consultation with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Home Office, His Majesty’s Treasury and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Other agencies were first informed of the intent to bring Afghan schemes to a close in the Defence Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement in the House of Commons in December 2024.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether Afghans who worked directly with UK forces and their families and who live in Afghanistan or Pakistan will have a pathway to settle in the UK following the decision to close the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme.

Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Afghan nationals who wish to come to the UK can still make an application to the Home Office under the most suitable route within the Immigration Rules. Any such application would need to demonstrate that the applicant meets the relevant requirements for that route, including payment of any applicable fees.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they consulted the government of United States before closing the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme.

Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) was a scheme developed by the UK Government to provide support to our Afghan Partners and allies. As such, the decision to close ARAP to new principal applications was taken by the UK Government.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the timetable and process for assessing whether payments made under the UK–Mauritius agreement on the Chagos Archipelago may be assigned as defence or security spending to reach the NATO target of 5 per cent of GDP; and whether NATO will play a role in assessing whether any such assignment qualifies under its guidelines.

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

The payments to Mauritius will be split between the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Ministry of Defence. The NATO qualifying status of these costs will be considered in the usual way.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to providing protective works for the Wapping Telephone Exchange in deciding whether to grant planning permission for the proposed Chinese embassy at the Royal Mint Court.

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

An independent Inspector held a public inquiry into the proposals in question, at which interested parties were able to put forward evidence and representations.

All material planning considerations will be taken into account in reaching a decision on this case.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the intention to reduce travel costs in the Civil Service, as outlined in the Spending Review of 11 June, will apply to ministerial travel.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Ministerial Code sets out that Ministers must ensure that they always make efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements. Ministerial travel in the UK is the responsibility of individual government departments with each department accountable for arranging the travel of its ministers, in line with the Ministerial Code.

The Spending Review 2025 confirmed that UK government departments will deliver reductions in administration budgets of at least 11% in real terms by 2028-29, and 16% in real terms by 2029-30.

Found: London SW1A 2DY The Rt Hon. the Baroness Coffey DBE The Lord Jackson of Peterborough