Lord Jopling

I have personally reminded Ministers of the 10 day target for their department throughout my time as Leader. As well as this my office routinely contacts departments and Secretaries of State who have breached the target, reminding them of their duty to ensure the target is met and to ascertain the reasons why deadlines have been missed. I have not at present written to any Permanent Secretaries but I will do so if the issue persists.

A list of all government ministers is on gov.uk at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers. This details whether ministers are paid or unpaid.

The Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975 sets a statutory limit on the number of ministerial salaries of 109. There are currently 108 paid ministers, 1 minister paid by the Labour Party, and 10 unpaid ministers.

Guiding principles for ministers on accepting gifts and hospitality are set out in the Ministerial Code. The Code applies to all government ministers.

On 8 May the UK government announced a landmark economic deal with the US, making the UK the first country to reach an agreement with President Trump. We are continuing talks which will look at increasing digital trade, access for our world-leading services industries and improving supply chains.

The US and the UK are each other's largest single country trading partners for financial services. Following discussions between the Chancellor and US Treasury Secretary Bessent, we agreed to use the upcoming Financial Regulatory Working Group (FRWG) to discuss collaboration on digital assets, including to support the use and responsible growth of digital assets, and the proposals put forward by the Commissioner on the Security and Exchange Commission for a transatlantic sandbox for digital securities.

The US is an indispensable ally and one of our closest trading partners. Our trading relationship with the US was worth £315 billion in 2024. As Secretary of State said on 3 April, we have been engaged in discussions on an economic deal between the US and the UK and we remain committed to this. The financial services industry is integral to our economy, and we will always act in the UK's national interest.

It is for providers to determine what courses to deliver based on employer and learner demand. Statistics are published on sector subject area, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/further-education-and-skills. The department does not hold information on which institutions are providing provision covering the construction of tunnels for the use of railway or road traffic.

National Highway’s (NH) will always need to prioritise the safety of both road users and its work force. At times for the M6 Lune Gorge scheme, this will mean full motorway closures are needed between Junction 37 and 38 to allow high risk construction activities to take place. Due to the layout of this section of the network, the only suitable diversion route is via the M6 J36, A590, A591, through Kendal, A6 exiting at M6 J39. Diversion routes are planned in advance with local councils.

NH has reviewed traffic flow data on the M6 and will use over-night closures, when traffic is much less, in order to minimise the impact to both drivers and local communities.

For certain activities, such as bridge demolition, there will also need to be weekend closures. NH recognises the potential disruption these may cause and will look to minimise the use of them.

When a diversion route does need to be used, this will be communicated well in advance in order to reduce the impact on communities such as Kendal.

NH is planning to deploy innovative construction methods, such as particular types of cranes and rolling roadblocks, to reduce the number of full closures needed, and the diversion of traffic through Kendal.

National Highways are still determining the optimal construction methodology, which will consider how to minimise the number of closures for both or one carriageway. This includes consideration of various techniques, such as Enhanced Mobile Carriageway Closures, to employ short-term rolling roadblocks that could remove the need for some full overnight closures.

Until this work is complete, National Highways are unable to confirm the number of nights when either one or both carriageways will be closed. However, due to the need to replace several bridge decks in their entirety, full closures will be required to undertake work such as high-risk demolition activity.

National Highways will endeavour to minimise disruption to road users, including freight, and the local communities that live close to Lune Gorge, whilst ensuring safe and efficient delivery of the project.

The eight bridges that carry the M6 and A685 over the Lune Gorge in Cumbria are not representative of all motorway and trunk road bridges of a similar age. The issue with these structures relates specifically to half-joint details which are more vulnerable to deterioration.

National Highways is responsible for 378 half-joint structures, the majority of which are over 50 years old and require bespoke management strategies in line with the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges. However, not all the 378 half joint structures will have the same level of deterioration as Lune Gorge and need the same level of renewal.

Around half of all National Highways’ bridges (4574 bridges) are 50 years old or over, however the condition of bridge structures is influenced by many factors. Whilst the age of the structure can be a one of them, other factors such as structural form, quality of construction, different materials, environmental exposure and traffic loading are often of greater significance in the deterioration of a structure. It is more likely that older assets will require significant renewals interventions, but not all of these could be described as rapidly reaching the end of their serviceable life and in need of replacement.

National Highways is currently working through the Detailed Design Phase of the M6 Lune Gorge structures project including consideration of construction methodologies. As such, the cost estimation process is not complete. The timescales for the main construction works are from Spring 2027 to Summer 2031, and preparatory work has started.

The contract for the works on the M6 bridges in Cumbria was not offered to any other contractor because the project was allocated to Kier Highways through the National Highways’ Regional Delivery Partnership Framework. To be an appointed supplier under this framework a competitive tendering process took place. I am not aware that this matter has been referred to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) publishes annual data, available on their website, which includes births from surrogacy at United Kingdom licensed fertility clinics. The following table shows the number of live births from in vitro fertilisation among surrogates at UK licensed fertility clinics in each of the last three years for which information is available:

Source: HFEA dashboard data, available at the following link:
https://www.hfea.gov.uk/about-us/hfea-dashboard/

Data on the HFEA dashboard is rounded to the nearest five to ensure patient confidentiality. The data is as recorded by the HFEA on 1 May 2025, and reflects the data on this date, and may change over time. This does not represent the total number of births from surrogacy in the UK, only those that have been carried out within UK licensed fertility clinics.

Information is not held by the Government on cases where the surrogate mother has claimed parentage of the child contrary to the wishes of the genetic parents.

Please refer to my answer to HL9053 published on 16 July. We encourage all Allies to meet their North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) commitments.

The North-Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) collects defence expenditure data from Allies and publishes it on a semi-regular basis. NATO spending reports are published online here: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_49198.htm. At the NATO Summit, Allies committed to investing 5 per cent of gross domestic product annually on defence and security, composed of 3.5 per cent core defence spending and 1.5 per cent security and resilience spending, by 2035. We encourage all Allies to meet their NATO commitments.