Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how long the trial of the provision of tasers to prison officers will last, in which prison it will take place, and how many prison officers will be armed with tasers during the trial.

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

The operational trial of the use of Conductive Energy Devices (CEDs, commonly known as “tasers”) will commence in summer 2025 and continue until there is sufficient evidence to provide a basis for recommendations to the Lord Chancellor. Officers in the Operational Response and Resilience Unit (ORRU) in HM Prison and Probation Service will be equipped with CEDs when attending certain incidents across the adult male estate.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to combat the abuse of ketamine.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government is extremely concerned by the rising use of ketamine in the UK and its dangerous impact on people's health, which may be significantly underestimated by those who use the drug. That is why I have written to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), setting out those concerns and seeking their advice on reclassifying ketamine as a Class A substance. We will carefully consider the ACMD’s recommendations before making any decision on how to proceed.

The Office for Health Improvements and Disparities (OHID) has briefed local authorities and treatment systems on data on ketamine use and harm, and guidance on prevention, harm reduction and treatment interventions. In addition, OHID has been supporting local authorities in increasing access to and retention in drug treatment through the public health grant and the significant increases in treatment funding. As a result, and in response to increased prevalence, the treatment system is responding and the number of adults entering treatment for ketamine use is 11 times higher than a decade ago (Dec 2013 - Nov 24) and proportion of children and young people under the age of 18 young people accessing help in relation to ketamine has increased from under 1% in 2015-16 to 9% in November 2024.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) staff have been assigned to work on negotiations or policy for the Chagos Islands agreement with Mauritius, including staff reassigned from other teams; what are the salary bands of those staff; and how many staff have been seconded to the FCDO from other departments for that work.

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

It would be difficult to assess how many officials are working on these issues, given that we do not record and measure the amount of time spent on any one topic where an official covers a range of matters.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what arm's-length bodies they have (1) shutdown or intend to shutdown, and (2) created or intend to create, since 4 July 2024.

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

Cabinet Office maintains records and oversight of formally established arm’s-length bodies (ALBs). No ALBs have been formally established since 4 July 2024. Individual departments are responsible for any proposals to open or close ALBs. The government has already closed or announced the closure of: Education and Skills Funding Agency, Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE), NHS England, Valuation Office Agency and the Office of Place.

On 6 April, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced a full review of all ALBs, with a view to close, merge or bring functions back into departments if its continued existence cannot be justified. This review aims to reduce duplication, drive efficiency, and ensure democratic accountability for policy decisions that affect the British public. It includes proposed new ALBs and the outcomes will be announced in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government under what circumstances a member of the public would not be permitted to observe a Social Security and Child Support Tribunal hearing.

Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The question as to whether a member of the public would not be permitted to observe a Social Security and Child Support Tribunal hearing is a matter for the judiciary, after taking all the circumstances of the case into account, and in accordance with the Tribunal’s Procedure Rules.

The Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Social Entitlement Chamber) Rules 2008 state (at rule 30):

Public and private Hearings

30.—(1) Subject to the following paragraphs, all hearings must be held in public.

F1(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(3) The Tribunal may give a direction that a hearing, or part of it, is to be held in private.

[F2(3A) Without prejudice to paragraph (3), the Tribunal may direct that a hearing, or part of it, is to be held in private if—

(a) the Tribunal directs that the proceedings are to be conducted wholly or partly as video proceedings or audio proceedings;

(b) it is not reasonably practicable for such a hearing, or such part, to be accessed in a court or tribunal venue by persons who are not parties entitled to participate in the hearing;

(c) a media representative is not able to access the proceedings remotely while they are taking place; and

(d) such a direction is necessary to secure the proper administration of justice.]

(4) Where a hearing, or part of it, is to be held in private, the Tribunal may determine who is permitted to attend the hearing or part of it.

(5) The Tribunal may give a direction excluding from any hearing, or part of it—

(a) any person whose conduct the Tribunal considers is disrupting or is likely to disrupt the hearing;

(b) any person whose presence the Tribunal considers is likely to prevent another person from giving evidence or making submissions freely;

(c) any person who the Tribunal considers should be excluded in order to give effect to a direction under rule 14(2) (withholding information likely to cause harm); or

(d) any person where the purpose of the hearing would be defeated by the attendance of that person.

(6) The Tribunal may give a direction excluding a witness from a hearing until that witness gives evidence.

F1 Rule 30(2) omitted (27.12.2024) by virtue of The Tribunal Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2024 (S.I. 2024/1283), rules 1, 2(3)

F2 Rule 30(3A) inserted (temp.) (10.4.2020) by The Tribunal Procedure (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Rules 2020 (S.I. 2020/416), rules 1(2), 4(3)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals in receipt of Universal Credit were exempt from the benefit cap because a member of their household was in receipt of Disability Living Allowance in (1) 2020–21, (2) 2021–22, (3) 2022–23, and (4) 2023–24.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the cost to the Courts and Tribunal Service of the provision of language interpreters in (1) 2020–21, (2) 2021–22, (3) 2022–23, and (4) 2023–24, broken down by language those interpreters were translating from.

Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The total spend by HM Courts and Tribunals Service on translation and interpretation in each of the last four financial years was:

HMCTS does not hold expenditure information disaggregated by language, or to differentiate a) translation, and b) interpretation, so the total expenditure has been provided.

These figures include cover expenditure on the interpretation of official languages of the United Kingdom, including Welsh, as well as to provide equality for those with conditions that can be defined as a disability under the Equality Act, such as sign language interpretation.

These figures do not include any translation or interpretation spend covered by Legal Aid Agency central funds as these are not included in the accounts for HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total cost to the Courts and Tribunal Service of the provision of language interpreters whose first language was not English in (1) 2020–21, (2) 2021–22, (3) 2022–23, and (4) 2023–24.

Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The total spend by HM Courts and Tribunals Service on translation and interpretation in each of the last four financial years was:

HMCTS does not hold expenditure information disaggregated to a) translation, and b) interpretation, so the total expenditure has been provided.

These figures include cover expenditure on the interpretation of official languages of the United Kingdom, including Welsh, as well as to provide equality for those with conditions that can be defined as a disability under the Equality Act, such as sign language interpretation.

These figures do not include any translation or interpretation spend covered by Legal Aid Agency central funds as these are not included in the accounts for HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of Social Security and Child Support Tribunal hearings had a language interpreter provided to appellants whose first language was not English by the Courts and Tribunal Service in (1) 2021–22, (2) 2022–23, and (3) 2023–24.

Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Ministry of Justice does not hold the information requested.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of Social Security and Child Support Tribunal hearings were overturned in favour of the claimant in (1) 2020–21, (2) 2021–22, (3) 2022–23, and (4) 2023–24, broken down by (a) venue, (b) regional office, and (c) UK nation.

Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Decisions on benefits - typically, on a person’s entitlement to benefit, or its rate of payment - can be overturned on appeal for a variety of reasons. For instance, further evidence, including oral testimony, may be provided at the hearing. HM Courts & Tribunals Service cannot comment on decisions made by independent tribunal judiciary.

Information about overturn rates for appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) is published on gov.uk. The most recent statistics, for the period October to December 2024, was published on 13 March 2025 and is copied below.

Notes:

1. At venue level, some venues either did not record any cases disposed of at hearing in certain years or were closed for some of the years reported. These values are shown as '..' instead of a number.

2. From April 2023 the SSCS Tribunal started to list cases using a new Scheduling and Listing solution. This, alongside HMCTS migrating to a new Strategic Data Platform, has resulted in some cases heard and decided using this new listing solution not currently being included in the data above. Revised data will be published as soon as they are available.

3. Data are not available for Northern Ireland as appeals for Northern Ireland are administered by the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service.

4. Decisions in favour are those cases where the decision of the first-tier agency is revised in favour of the appellant.

5. Venues which did not record any hearings in the specified period have not been included in the data.

6. The regions to which the venues are attached are specific to this dataset and may not match other reports.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether all venues where Social Security and Child Support Tribunal hearings are held are accessible.

Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Social Security and Child Support Tribunal facilities provide a wide range of accessibility features such as step free building access, audio hearing capability, video hearing capability, fixed or portable hearing loops, facilities accessible by wheelchair and rooms that allow line of sight between the Judge and wheelchair user.

While not every accessibility feature is available in every tribunal hearing room, we are committed to ensuring tribunals are accessible to all users and aim to list cases at suitable venues when there are access needs. If a user has a disability that means they cannot access HMCTS information and services, they can request reasonable adjustments by phone, in person or in writing. If a user needs support in the hearing room, HMCTS will also discuss this with the judge hearing the case. Judges are committed to making sure everyone can give their best evidence, and everyone has a fair hearing.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government to what percentage of Social Security and Child Support Tribunal hearings the Department for Work and Pensions sent a presenting officer in (1) 2020–21, (2) 2021–22, (3) 2022–23, and (4) 2023–24.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The percentage of hearings for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) which were attended by a Presenting Officer (PO) can be found in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Proportion of tribunal hearings for selected Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) benefits which were attended by a DWP Presenting Officer

Source: HMCTS administrative data shared with DWP

Notes:

• Figures include tribunal hearings in all HMCTS regions including Scotland and therefore include appeals relating to PIP claims of Scottish residents. PIP has been devolved to Scotland since April 2020 and existing claims are currently being moved to the Scottish replacement benefit Adult Disability Payment.
• Where information about PO attendance was missing, this was counted as a hearing not attended by a PO.
• Figures for 2020/21 were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as POs were redeployed to other business critical areas during that time.
• This data is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.

Figures could not be provided for SSCS benefits other than PIP and ESA because the administrative data held by the department is not robust enough to answer the question.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what are the most common reasons for a presenting officer not to be sent to Social Security and Child Support Tribunal hearings by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Staffing levels mean it is not possible to send a Presenting Officer to every hearing. We prioritise attendance at tribunals where HM Courts and Tribunals Service have specifically directed a Presenting Officer to attend.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the potential future volume and value of exports to the United States of America as a result of the UK–US trade deal in comparison to March 2025.

Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The US is the largest single country partner for both UK exports and imports into the UK.

The Economic Prosperity Deal announced on 8 May will reduce tariffs for UK exporters in critical sectors.

For the car industry, we have negotiated a 100k quota that reduces tariffs from 27.5% to 10%. We’re pleased that as a result of our agreement with the US, UK steel will not be subject to additional 50% tariffs. We will continue to work with the US to implement our agreement, which will see the US tariffs on steel brought back down to MFN level. We have agreed new reciprocal market access on beef – with UK farmers given a guaranteed quota for 13,000 metric tonnes of beef exports at a very low tariff rate, British farmers now have a major opportunity to sell their high-quality British beef to a market of over 300 million people.