Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 25 November (HL11903), when they expect to publish data on abortions for the years 2023 and 2024.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Publication of the 2023 abortion statistics has been pre-announced for 15 January 2026 and will be published on the GOV.UK website.
We will announce the exact date for publication of the 2024 abortion statistics in due course.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer from Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 17 December (HL12793), whether they will now answer the question put: namely whether Lord Mandelson received any severance payment at the conclusion of his role as Ambassador to the United States.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer cited in his question.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Hanson of Flint on 24 November (HL Deb Col 1128), what plans they have to publish information on (1) student visas revoked as a result of criminality, (2) the number of overseas students who have been deported after the revocation of their student visas, and (3) the number of overseas students detained pending deportation.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
This matter was debated in the Lords on 24 November 2025, where Members voted not to mandate publication of this data. Home Office analysts are exploring what information is available and will keep the matter under ongoing review.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many foreign national offenders have been deported in each month since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Over 7,000 FNOs have been returned from the UK under this government, and we will continue to do everything we can to remove these vile criminals from our streets.
There is no monthly breakdown available from published statistics.
The Home Office publishes data on FNO returns in the quarterly Immigration System Statistics release. Quarterly data on enforced, voluntary and port FNO returns (of which ‘deportations’ are a legal subset) are published in table ‘Ret_D03’ of the returns detailed datasets accompanying the release.
The Home Office also recently published figures on FNO returns (which include both enforced and voluntary returns) between 1 March 2023 and 31 October 2025, which can be found here: Returns from the UK from 1 March 2023 to 31 October 2025 - GOV.UK.
Work is currently underway to publish more detailed information on FNOs subject to deportation. Further information on this work can be found at: Statistics on foreign national offenders and the immigration system - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what analysis they have made of the impact on social mobility of the UK's participants of the proposed Erasmus+ scheme, agreed with the European Union and commencing in 2027.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We have now concluded negotiations with the European Commission on association to Erasmus+ in 2027. The government remains committed to providing opportunities to study and work abroad, especially for those participants from disadvantaged backgrounds.
We will now work closely with institutions and our young people to maximise take-up, particularly among disadvantaged groups. We expect that over 100,000 people could benefit from mobility and partnership opportunities from Erasmus+ participation in 2027-28.
This iteration of Erasmus+ has a bigger focus on participants from disadvantaged backgrounds, and one of its objectives is inclusion and supporting people with fewer opportunities to participate.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Housing and Planning on 8 July (HC63621), and with regard to page 26 of the Section 106 agreement for the proposed Chinese embassy, what role, if any, the EU had in the application for the proposed Chinese embassy; and what discussions they have had with the EU about that development.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
My Department does not comment on live planning cases.
The full reasons for the decision will be set out in the published decision letter.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government on what basis they have amended immigration rules in respect of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) to enable EUSS status holders to obtain an EUSS (Family) Travel permit from outside the United Kingdom without updating their UK Visas and Immigration account.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Changes to the EUSS travel permit (in Appendix EU (Family Permit)) were laid on 9 December and will come into force on 30 December. They enable all EUSS status holders to obtain an EUSS travel permit where they are unable to update their UK Visas and Immigration account, for example with the details of a new travel document, from outside the UK. This will help ensure EUSS status holders are not refused boarding by a carrier, or do not experience further difficulties when Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) are enforced from 25 February 2026.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Prime Minister on 12 November (HC Deb col 148), whether (1) the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, or (2) his special advisers, had any involvement in media briefings.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
No.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they consider (1) the European Court of Human Rights, and (2) the International Criminal Court, to be foreign courts.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and International Criminal Court (ICC) are international courts based respectively in France and the Netherlands. The UK is a State Party to both the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Rome Statute, the international treaties which established the ECtHR and ICC respectively. It is also a founding member of both instruments.
The Human Rights Act 1998 and the ICC Act 2001 give effect to the UK's obligations under the ECHR and Rome Statute. We respect the independence of both courts.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government for what reasons they were unable to conclude negotiations with regard to the United Kingdom’s accession under Articles 16.10 and 16.11 to the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) through the Reinforcement of the European Defence Industry Instrument.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided by the Ministry of Defence in the House of Commons on 4 December in response to Question 95829, which - for ease of reference - is reproduced below:
The Security and Defence Partnership agreed with the European Union on 19 May is an example of this Government's commitment to delivering on its manifesto pledges to strengthen European security, support economic growth, and reinforce NATO.
We are working swiftly with the EU to implement the Partnership and are prioritising cooperation on key areas, including support for Ukraine, countering hybrid threats, and promoting stability in the Western Balkans.
As the Minister for the Cabinet Office set out in his Written Ministerial Statement on 1 December, the Security and Defence Partnership also unlocked the possibility for enhanced UK participation in the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument. Earlier this autumn, the UK and the EU entered into formal negotiations on a bilateral agreement to facilitate UK participation in SAFE. The UK entered these negotiations in good faith, reflecting our shared strategic interests. However, it was not possible to conclude these negotiations with an agreement.
This Government has been clear that we will only enter into agreements that serve the national interest. In this case, the negotiations did not yield an agreement that met this standard.
It is disappointing that an agreement on UK participation in the first round of SAFE could not be reached; however, the UK's defence industry will retain access to SAFE under standard third-country terms, with the potential to contribute up to 35% of the content of SAFE contracts.
This Government remains committed to pursuing cooperation with the European Union on defence and security that aligns with our NATO First policy, supports our defence objectives and delivers for the UK taxpayer.