Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether relief for pensioners will be considered as part of the consultation on the high value council tax surcharge.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government will consult on options for support for those who may struggle to pay the High Value Council Tax Surcharge early in 2026. This will consider a range of options, to make sure any scheme is targeted and easy to access.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of mistakes, errors and potential miscarriages of justice through the use of the single justice procedure.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Single Justice Procedure (SJP) was designed to deal with straightforward, uncontested, non-imprisonable offences in a proportionate and efficient way. Cases are decided by a single magistrate with the support of a legal adviser, in private rather than in open court.
Whilst safeguards are in place, this Government acknowledges that errors have occurred within the SJP. In 2024, it became apparent that certain train operators had been incorrectly using the procedure to prosecute for offences under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, which are ineligible for prosecution through the SJP. Such instances highlight the importance of robust safeguards to protect fairness.
That is why we launched a consultation on the oversight and regulation of private prosecutors, which included a dedicated chapter on the SJP. The consultation explored measures to strengthen prosecutor accountability and ensure consistent standards in addition to how defendant submissions are handled in the SJP. The consultation closed on 8 May, and our proposals will be outlined in the Government’s response which we will publish in due course.
We are continuing to monitor risks and remain committed to enhancing safeguards in the SJP to maintain public confidence and fairness in the justice system. This includes ongoing engagement with stakeholders, reviewing operational practices and exploring further improvements to transparency.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of overpaid benefits they have recouped in each of the past 10 financial years.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The recovery of overpayments cannot be attributed to the year in which the benefit was overpaid, as many of those overpayments will have occurred over more than one year.
Furthermore, many of the overpayments that occurred in previous years are still undergoing recovery or are likely to be identified and recovered some time in the future.
The annual National Statistics publication Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK compares the amount of money recovered in each financial year from overpayment debts with its estimate of the money that was overpaid in that financial year – with the understanding that much of that recovered money each year would have been from benefits that were overpaid in past years. Figures from the National Statistics publications are provided in the annex.
The overall amount that can be recovered by deduction from benefit is set by regulations, and priority is given to a number of other deductions above those for recovery of an overpayment of benefit.
We encourage anyone who is finding recovery difficult to get in touch with DWP Debt Management, who can consider a lower rate of recovery or temporary suspension.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is capability in the Prison and Probation Service incident reporting system to categorise a prison incident as faith or ideology related; and if not, how the Prison and Probation Service collects data on prison incidents that are motivated by faith or ideology at a local and national level.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service does not hold a central record of whether prison incidents are motivated by faith or ideology. If a prison identifies that an incident was motivated by such a factor, this will be managed locally. Terrorist offenders are managed through a specialist, multi-agency process, which assesses offenders in terms of their individual risk.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the current and future responsibilities of the Commissioner for the British Indian Ocean Territory in light of the UK-Mauritius treaty on the Chagos Archipelago.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The responsibilities of the Commissioner are set out in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Constitution Order (2004). Clause 2 of the Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill will revoke this Order and the role will cease to exist on entry into force of the Diego Garcia treaty. Future governance arrangements for Diego Garcia, including any necessary Orders or Ordinances, will be made using the relevant powers in the Bill.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many special advisers and officials in total from all government departments were in attendance at COP30.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer of 17 November 2025, Official Report, PQ 88937.
PQ 88937 Andrew Snowden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) civil servants and (b) support staff attended the COP30 summit; and for what reason.
Cabinet Office response on 17 Nov: Ministerial travel is undertaken using efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements. Security considerations are also taken into account. Information about official overseas travel is published as part of the Cabinet Office transparency returns and made available on the GOV.UK website. It has been the practice that official Prime Ministerial flights are carbon offset where that is possible. Civil Servants and Special Advisers routinely travel with the Prime Minister, including so as to provide support in the conduct of any official duties, which can arise at any time.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish details of the new furnishings and refurbishments in the No. 10 and No. 11 Downing Street flats, including a list of refurbishments made and products purchased, with costs for each item.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer of 27 October 2025, Official Report, PQ 85501:
PQ 85501 Charlie Dewhirst: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 139 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published on 23 October 2025, if he will provide a breakdown of the expenditure, including for individual fixtures and fittings, for the (a) refurbishment and (b) furnishing of the empty Downing Street flat; and if he will name which was empty flat.
Cabinet Office response on 4 November: As was the case under successive administrations, an itemised list is not routinely published.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to conduct a survey of medical professionals to assess willingness to partake in assisted suicide.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill that is currently under consideration in Parliament is not a piece of Government legislation. As such, the Government does not currently have a plan to conduct a survey of medical professionals as per the question.
As currently drafted, clause 31 of the Bill “No obligation to provide assistance etc” subsection (1) describes that “No person is under any duty to participate in the provision of assistance in accordance with this Act.”
Should the Bill gain Royal Assent, detailed work on a delivery model would need to be undertaken. As part of this work, the Government would work closely with relevant stakeholders, including medical professionals.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will make an assessment of the ability of doctors to detect coercion accurately should the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill become law.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill that is currently under consideration in Parliament is not a piece of Government legislation.
Should the Bill gains Royal Assent, detailed work on a delivery model would need to be undertaken. This work would include developing guidance for medical practitioners on all aspects of the Bill, including detecting coercion if necessary.
Further considerations for information regarding Provision and Training of a Voluntary Assisted Dying service can be found in section 10 of the Bill’s impact assessment. A copy of the impact assessment is attached.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what engagement the Chancellor has had with representatives from the pub industry ahead of the upcoming Budget.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Government Ministers and Senior Officials regularly meet with businesses and business representation organisations from a range of sectors, including the pub sector. These meetings provide an opportunity for the Government to hear the views of the business community to aid in the formation of policy, including fiscal policy. These engagements are ongoing and will continue to be so.