Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what public resources are being used by the NHS or other public bodies to research psychedelic treatments; and whether they are considering the use of those treatments by the NHS.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has funded two high quality research awards concerning psychedelic treatments over the past five financial years, totalling £2,947,596. The first is a placebo-controlled, randomised, proof of concept trial to investigate the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of psilocybin therapy in opioid use disorder, with an award identification code of NIHR206736, which aims to understand if the psychedelic compound psilocybin, together with psychological support, could be a safe and effective way of preventing relapse in individuals with opioid addiction. The second is a feasibility randomized controlled trial of single-dose psilocybin in unipolar depressive disorder resistant to standard treatments, with an award identification code of CS-2017-17-007, which aims to conduct a randomised controlled trial of psilocybin in patients with treatment resistant depression, to investigate whether an open label trial design is feasible and practical in that patient group, and to collect the data needed to design future trials.
The Department recognises the importance of research in identifying and developing safe and effective medicines, including those derived from controlled substances. The Department is working closely with the Home Office and other key stakeholders across the Government to review the recommendations of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs’ report that considered the barriers to research regarding Schedule 1 controlled drugs. The Home Office will publish their response in due course, and the Department will support further work to remove the barriers to this type of research, enabling research that can improve people’s health and wellbeing, whilst maintaining the necessary controls for safety.
The Government wants National Health Service patients across the United Kingdom to be able to benefit from timely access to safe, clinically effective, and cost-effective new medicines. Any company wishing to bring a medicinal product to the market in the UK needs to apply to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for a marketing authorisation, and must engage with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. This is the basis of all decisions on the funding of medicines by the NHS.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for the fall in the overall number of teachers in state-funded schools in 2024–25; and how they are spending the money raised by charging VAT on independent school fees.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
Recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child. This is why the government’s Plan for Change has committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers in secondary and special schools, and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament.
We are already seeing positive signs that our investment in teacher recruitment and retention is starting to deliver. The workforce has grown by 2,346 full-time equivalent teachers between 2023/24 and 2024/25, in secondary and special schools, the schools where they are needed most. This includes 1,435 more secondary school teachers and 911 more special and pupil referral unit teachers compared to last year.
There are currently 4.6 million children in primary schools, 60,000 (1.3%) fewer than last year, down by around 172,000 (3.6%) compared to the 2018/19 peak, and numbers are forecasted to fall by another 165,000 (3.7%) between 2024/25 and 2027/28.
Measures to end private school tax breaks are expected to raise around £1.8 billion per year by 2029/30.
In the 2024/25 financial year, the department spent just over £600 million to support school teacher training, recruitment and retention.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many times the Foreign Secretary has met Chagossian groups and representatives since 5 July 2024, and on what dates.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK Government regularly meets Chagossian groups and representatives at both official and Ministerial levels, with the Minister for the Overseas Territories the Ministerial lead for Chagossian interests and outreach. The Foreign Secretary and the Minister of State for Europe, North America & UK Overseas Territories have had one meeting with Chagossian groups since 5 July 2024, on 22 May 2025.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government from which departmental budget payments to Mauritius regarding the Chagos Islands will be paid.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The costs associated with the deal will be split between the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
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.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
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
Benefit | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
PIP | 6% | 30% | 26% | 30% |
ESA | 7% | 31% | 21% | 23% |
Source: HMCTS administrative data shared with DWP
Notes:
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.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
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.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
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:
Financial Year | Spend (£) |
2020-21 | 7,094,093 |
2021-22 | 10,788,205 |
2022-23 | 11,489,997 |
2023-24 | 12,774,105 |
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.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
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:
Financial Year | Spend (£) |
2020-21 | 7,094,093 |
2021-22 | 10,788,205 |
2022-23 | 11,489,997 |
2023-24 | 12,774,105 |
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.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
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.