Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote reading and the use of libraries to improve reading rates among children.

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

The department, in partnership with the National Literacy Trust, is leading the National Year of Reading 2026 to tackle declining reading enjoyment. This UK-wide campaign combines a marketing initiative with events in schools, libraries, and communities. Activities will take place across the year and will include national events, alongside resources for schools and early years, and library engagement through initiatives such as the Summer Reading Challenge. The campaign aims to address long-term declines in reading enjoyment through engaging new audiences, reshaping public attitudes and building the systems needed to embed lasting, meaningful change. As part of this, we are providing £5 million of funding for secondary schools to purchase books to encourage reading for pleasure. The government has also committed £12.5 million in funding to guarantee a library for every primary school by the end of this parliament, which will be delivered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The government has also committed £28.3 million this financial year to support and drive high and rising standards in reading. This includes supporting the teaching of reading across all primary stages and key stage 3 in secondary via the English Hubs programme.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Timpson on 5 February (HL14147), what the deadline is to train and equip 500 prison-based staff to use taser devices.

Answered by Lord Timpson

This capability is being implemented on a phased basis, reflecting the complexity of introducing Conducted Energy Devices (generally known as TASERs) safely into the prison environment. Initial enabling activity is under way, including development of policy and operating procedures, assurance processes, training design, and engagement with key stakeholders.

Training and equipping of staff will be delivered incrementally, with cohorts authorised to access the equipment in stages, once the necessary governance, infrastructure and safeguards are in place.

In view of the need to prioritise safety, operational readiness and learning from early phases of implementation, it would not be appropriate at this stage to set a deadline for completion. Progress will continue to be monitored closely to ensure progress is maintained.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many sniffer dogs there are in England and Wales's prisons; and what plans they have to increase that number.

Answered by Lord Timpson

His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) currently deploys 492 licensed search dogs across prisons in England and Wales. These dogs form a key part of the Department’s approach to tackling the supply of illicit items, including drugs, mobile telephones and other contraband, and are used proactively across the estate.

Decisions on deployment, and any increase in search dog capacity, are made at local and regional level, enabling prisons to respond flexibly to their specific security risks and operational challenges. This includes the ability to scale up provision where intelligence or demand indicates a need.

HMPPS keeps this capability under regular review as part of its wider security strategy and will continue to assess whether additional resources are required to meet any emerging threats.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many job vacancies there currently are in HM Prison and Probation Service.

Answered by Lord Timpson

His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) holds required staffing levels which are subject to regular amendment and managed at a local and regional level. As a result of this discretion, HMPPS does not present vacancy data due to variability in required staffing levels.

We do, however, publish indicative vacancies in the HMPPS Workforce and the most recently published figures can be found via the following link: HM Prison & Probation Service workforce quarterly: December 2025 - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many visits Department for Business and Trade officials have made to Brussels since July 2024.

Answered by Lord Stockwood

Department for Business and Trade (DBT) officials routinely engage with EU institutions and Member State counterparts in Brussels and elsewhere as part of their normal duties to advance UK economic and trade interests.

The Department does not centrally record or routinely collate the number of individual visits made by officials, and providing a comprehensive figure would require a disproportionate use of time and resources. DBT officials regularly travel to Brussels to meet a wide range of EU and EU Member State counterparts to support the delivery of HMG objectives, including on trade, investment, regulatory cooperation and wider UK-EU engagement.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average cost of (1) drafting a Government bill, and (2) its passage through Parliament.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The drafting and passage of a Government bill requires resource from a number of departmental teams including legal and policy officials as well as shared resource such as the Office of Parliamentary Counsel.

Each Government Bill requires a different amount of resource based on its size and complexity. The Guide to Making Legislation sets out that bill teams must be properly resourced, with a dedicated bill manager, separate to the policy team, in place to oversee progress from an early stage.

In addition, the passage of Government bills requires resource in both the House of Commons and House of Lords.

Government does not hold data on the average number of people required to, nor the cost of, producing and passing Government bills.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what are the 10 secondary school subjects with the largest number of teacher vacancies in England.

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

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the UK–EU summit in 2026 will be held in the UK or the EU.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the total cost was of hosting the UK–EU summit in 2025.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many members of the Independent Monitoring Boards have been removed from their role following a security vetting failure or a breach of any codes of conduct in each of the last ten years; and how many are currently suspended pending investigation on either ground.

Answered by Lord Timpson

Over the last 10 years, no members of Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) have had their appointment terminated following a security vetting failure. During the same period, nine IMB members have had their appointment terminated following a breach of the IMB Code of Conduct.

The Department does not comment on individual disciplinary, conduct or vetting matters relating to IMB members. Whilst aggregate information on concluded cases is published where appropriate, it would not be appropriate to comment on ongoing cases.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many members of the Independent Monitoring Boards have been removed from their role following a criminal conviction in each of the last ten years.

Answered by Lord Timpson

No members of the Independent Monitoring Boards have been convicted of a criminal offence and subsequently removed from their role in the last ten years.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government why the 1,000 roles for newly qualified midwives announced in response to Baroness Amos’s investigation are temporary and not permanent.

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

We recognise that student midwives are a vital part of our future workforce, providing essential care and support to women, babies and families across maternity services.

Temporary posts give providers flexibility to recruit ahead of turnover, so newly qualified midwives can start work quickly rather than waiting for vacancies. This period will be used to stabilise services and support newly qualified midwives into practice, with the expectation they move into permanent roles as vacancies arise through normal turnover.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government when the new maternity and neonatal commissioner will be appointed by; and whether they will have a set time in post.

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

The Government has announced that it will appoint a statutory Maternity and Neonatal Commissioner. The full scope and role of the Maternity and Neonatal Commissioner is being considered urgently through the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government who will sit on the panel for the Independent Review of the Prison System.

Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Work is ongoing to establish a panel to support the Independent Review, in line with the appropriate appointment process. The panel will comprise individuals with the relevant expertise and experience to support the Review’s consideration of the matters set out in its Terms of Reference. Details of panel member appointments will be confirmed in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards their target to recruit 6,500 extra teachers by 2029.

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

We have now achieved 4,654 of the 6,500 additional teachers pledge, equivalent to 71.6% of the target, compared with the 2023/24 baseline. This includes 3,008 more teachers in secondary and special schools in 2025/26 and 1,646 more teachers in the statutory further education sector and school-based providers in 2024/25.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with representatives of Citizens Advice following findings that an increasing number of households are being directed towards Personal Independence Payments when contacting Citizens Advice for financial support.

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

The Department engages regularly with Citizens Advice and a range of other stakeholders on issues relating to the wider benefits system.

The Timms Review, the first ever full review of PIP, seeks to ensure we have a system that supports disabled people to achieve better health, higher living standards and greater independence, including through employment.