Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many babies were born in each of the past three years to surrogate mothers; and in how many cases the surrogate mother has claimed parentage of the child contrary to the wishes of the genetic parents.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

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.

Question

To ask the Leader of the House whether she has contacted the Permanent Secretaries at the Foreign Office, the Department for Education, and the Department for Health and Social Care to ask for explanations as to why these departments have failed to answer questions for written answer, tabled in May but still awaiting an answer in July.

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

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.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the percentage of GDP which the government of Belgium has spent on defence over the last five years in accordance with their obligations as a NATO member; and what representations they have made to that government regarding meeting pledged defence spending targets under NATO, including the new target of 5 per cent.

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

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.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government for how many weeks there have been traffic restrictions on the A1 between Wansford and Peterborough; for how many more weeks they expect those restrictions to be in place; and what are the reasons for those restrictions.

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

National Highways (NH) has had traffic restrictions on the A1 at Water Newton to Stibbington in place from 1 November 2024 as a large agricultural vehicle caused substantial damage to the bridge. This has required nearside lane closures that will be in place until 12 September 2025.

NH has 16 planned overnight closures during the period 17 July 2025 until 4 October 2025 to carry out various temporary maintenance and technology works to maintain the network. NH plan to carry out the work overnight to limit disruption to drivers during the day.

NH has an Interim remedial scheme where it will undertake interventions to widen the A1 to allow for 2 lanes running. This will begin in September 2025 and finish in October 2025. This will require a combination of initial nighttime closures followed by a series of 6 weekend closures.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 16 July (HL9053), whether they will answer the question put.

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

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

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 28 July (HL9485), what plans they have to undertake permanent repairs to the bridge on the A1 at Water Newton following the "temporary maintenance and technology works" referred to; and whether the repairs will require the reimposition of lane closures following their reopening on 12 September.

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

National Highways has confirmed that detailed design work for the permanent repair will commence once the current project to realign the southbound carriageway has been completed.

Realignment work (temporary repair) started on 8 September 2025. Most of the work is scheduled to take place over several weekend closures between 12 September and 20 October 2025.

Lane closures on the southbound carriageway are not expected to be reimposed until the programme of permanent repairs commences, which is currently anticipated to be in late 2026. All traffic will remain subject to a temporary 40mph speed restriction until permanent repairs are complete. This measure is necessary as the newly realigned driving lanes will be narrower than the standard width.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 28 July (HL9485), what caused the delay to the remedial work taking place on the A1 at Water Newton between the imposition of lane closures on 1 November 2024 and July 2025.

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

National Highways has had to take into account and work within several engineering, environmental, and archaeological constraints. The nature of the required works at this location were both challenging and complex.

The constraints included the presence of numerous public utilities in the immediate area, including a large water main situated close to the carriageway and the existing culvert. The site also includes Billing Brook which runs beneath the A1 at Water Newton and flows into a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest. Finally, the proximity of the nearby historic Roman town of Durobrivae which meant that archaeological factors have needed to be taken into account.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to night closures on the M6 in Cumbria for the construction of eight new bridges, how they intend to deal with the motorway users who enter service areas when the road is still open, but wish to leave after the 8pm closure.

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

For the planned Northbound total closures on the M6, once the carriageway is closed to traffic no vehicles will be able to enter Tebay services. Any vehicles remaining in the service area will be able to leave via the normal way.

For the planned Southbound total closure on the M6, for Tebay Services any remaining vehicles will be escorted onto the southbound carriageway into the contraflow and past the works activities under the control of the Traffic Safety Control Officer (TSCO). For Killington Lake Services, once the carriageway is closed, traffic will be unable to access the services, any vehicles remaining will be able to leave via the normal way.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government why the proposed construction of eight new bridges on the M6 road in Cumbria is not being done in the same way as the bridge construction on the A1 at Wentbridge where there have been no road closures, especially at night, during the period of work.

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

The two bridge repair projects on the M6 and A1 are not comparable. The Lune Gorge project on the M6 in Cumbria involves the entire replacement of several bridge decks, including the demolition of the current bridge decks. This means for periods of time, there will be gaps in the motorway with no bridges in place, making road closures essential.

The bridge repairs on the A1 at Wentbridge involves working on the top of the structure to carry out work to replace parapets, joints, and resurfacing. Therefore, National Highways have been able to keep the road open with a contraflow system for the majority of the works, requiring a few over-night full closures to carry out work which would have posed a safety risk should the running lanes remained open to live traffic.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the contract to build eight new bridges on the M6 road in Cumbria was offered to contractors other than Kier Highways; if not, why; and whether the matter is being reviewed by the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

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

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.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the National Highways statement that the eight bridges that carry the M6 and A685 over the Lune Gorge in Cumbria are “rapidly reaching the end of their serviceable life” after more than 50 years of operation applies to (1) all bridges on UK motorways and trunk roads of a similar age, (2) only certain bridges, and if so which others, or (3) only the eight bridges in Cumbria, and if so, why have these bridges in particular reached the end of their serviceable life in this time period.

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

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.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the estimated cost of building eight new bridges on the M6 in Cumbria; and what are the proposed start and finish dates for the work.

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

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.