Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 26 September (HL10489), what estimate they have made of the cost of collecting, collating and verifying the data mentioned in the question.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
I thank the Noble Lord for his question. I am sure he will know that the Advisory Guide to Parliamentary Work published by the Cabinet Office sets out that there is an advisory cost limit known as the disproportionate cost threshold which is the level above which departments can decide not to answer a written question. The current disproportionate cost threshold is £850.
The Procedure Committee recommended that the threshold “be calculated only with regard to policy team time—it should not account for any central processing in parliamentary branches or WPQ teams, or the time taken by Ministers or their advisers”.
We estimate that the cost of locating and collating any relevant information and extracting the information to meet your request would exceed the appropriate limit.
This is because in order to respond to your request for information we would need to match, collate and verify information from multiple immigration data systems owned by Home Office to multiple systems containing the relevant information on Organised Crime Gangs.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 6 October (HL10578), what international data and systems they have relied on when completing security checks, including biometric and criminality checks, for students coming to the UK from Gaza; and what assessment they have made of their adequacy in supporting such checks.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Robust security checks will be undertaken on all individuals who enter the UK through this process. Biometrics will be collected as part of the visa application process and prior to travel to the UK.
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.
It would not be appropriate to provide further detailed information about the nature and scope of security checks.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the incidence of debanking without good reason by financial institutions.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Banking services fulfil a vital role for millions of people and businesses across the UK, and the Government is committed to ensuring high standards of consumer protection and financial inclusion across the financial services sector.
Earlier this year, the Government legislated to enhance protections for customers in cases where their bank account is terminated by their provider. Under these new rules coming into force for relevant new contracts from April 2026, Banks and other payment service providers will be required to give customers at least 90 days’ notice before closing their account or terminating a payment service and provide a clear and specific explanation so the customer can understand why it is being terminated.
These changes will ensure more transparent and predictable access to banking, giving customers the time and information they need to challenge decisions or find alternative arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Tunisia concerning the ongoing targeting of Christian communities, including instances of (1) physical violence and (2) forced marriage; and what steps are they taking to ensure religious freedom in the country.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
We regularly engage with Tunisian authorities and civil society organisations to promote human rights, including Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), and we will continue our dialogue with the Tunisian government on human rights as part of our annual Association Council, most recently held in July 2025.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 26 September (HL10489), why the requested data regarding migrants with suspected links to organised crime groups is not published and collected currently.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 26 September (HL10489), for what reason is the data requested not published and collected currently.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much they spent on fixtures, fittings, or refurbishment of the Ambassador's residence in Washington DC during Lord Mandelson's tenure as Ambassador.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Ongoing refurbishment work at our Embassy in Washington DC began in June 2019. The majority of work was completed in 2023, with limited aspects ongoing.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
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.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
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.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
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