Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what has been the estimated cost to the state of educating children who have entered the state sector from independent schools since January.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
HM Treasury published a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) on applying VAT to independent school fees. The TIIN estimates that accounting for the spending implications of any pupil movement into the state sector, the policy will raise £1.7 billion per annum by 2029/30.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what funding they will provide for the Emergency Alerts service once its initial three-year funding comes to an end.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As set out in the 2025 Resilience Action Plan, the Emergency Alerts system is one of many public warning and informing capabilities that the UK Government, Devolved Governments and Category 1 responders have at their disposal. It is an integral part of keeping the public safe as it allows for quick sharing of life-saving information.
Since the launch of Emergency Alerts in 2023, the system has been activated five times, in conjunction with other local warning methods, during emergencies to minimise risk to life.
On Sunday 7th September at around 3pm tens of millions of phones across the country received the test message, marking the largest simultaneous public communications event since the Second World War.
The UK Government will continue to ensure that Emergency Alerts capability is maintained and it is expected that the funding of the system will continue through routine departmental spend.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much the continuity of education allowance has increased since January and whether they plan to increase it further.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) helps Service families to provide stability in their children’s schooling where mobility might otherwise cause disruption. The Ministry of Defence engages with Service families through the Families Federations, the chain of command and Pay Colonel teams, who ensure that their views are represented in policy discussions.
With regards to allowance calculations, I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given by the then Minister for Veterans on 9 July 2025 to question 66168.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Armed Forces families and representatives since January regarding the continuity of education allowance.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) helps Service families to provide stability in their children’s schooling where mobility might otherwise cause disruption. The Ministry of Defence engages with Service families through the Families Federations, the chain of command and Pay Colonel teams, who ensure that their views are represented in policy discussions.
With regards to allowance calculations, I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given by the then Minister for Veterans on 9 July 2025 to question 66168.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase mandatory random drug testing in prisons in England and Wales, and to expand the range of drugs tested for.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is committed to tackling drug use in prisons, which threatens prison safety and security, undermines our work to rehabilitate prisoners and drives reoffending. We therefore need to have a multi-pronged approach that tackles the supply of drugs, drives down demand and supports recovery – drug testing plays an important role in delivering this.
Random mandatory drug testing (rMDT) forms one part of our wider approach to tackling drug use in prisons. In custody, we also conduct more targeted testing, such as suspicion-based testing, when staff have reason to believe an individual has used drugs illicitly, as well as voluntary testing, which forms part of our approach on our Incentivised Substance Free Living Units, where prisoners sign a compact to remain drug free, receive access to improved conditions compared to a standard wing and are regularly tested. In probation settings, we are expanding our drug testing powers through the Sentencing Bill, meaning that any offender on licence can be tested.
We test for a wide range of substances and keep this under regular review to ensure we identify emerging trends to keep both staff and prisoners safe. Our new drug testing contract supports this by giving us greater flexibility to identify areas for improvement in our drug testing capabilities, ensuring we can keep pace with changing patterns of drug use and target support where it is most needed.
In recent years, levels of rMDT have fallen short across the estate because of staffing constraints, and as a result, volumes have not been sufficient nor consistently high enough to produce publishable data – though results are still used as part of adjudication proceedings. There has been some encouraging progress made in recent months to increase levels, and we will continue to keep performance under close review.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they had with officials in China regarding potential escalation in Taiwan during the recent visit of the Secretary of State for Business and Trade to Beijing.
Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK has consistently been clear on the continued need for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. This government has raised this issue with China several times, including at the UK-China Strategic Dialogue earlier this year.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government which prisons have been visited by (1) the Director General Chief Executive, and (2) the Chief Operating Officer, of the Prison and Probation Service in the past 12 months, including the date on which those visits took place.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The table attached provides details of prison visits undertaken by the Director General Chief Executive (DGCEO), the Director General of Operations (DGOps) and the Chief Operating Officer for Prisons (COO Prisons) of HM Prison & Probation Service during the past 12 months.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in implementing the recommendations of the review of prison officer training.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) remains committed to improving prison officer training and will be implementing the recommendations from the Independent Review of Prison Officer Training.
The Department has made progress in relation to recommendations of the Independent Review, including reviewing and improving uniform policy and leveraging technology to support and recognise learner performance, whilst also looking at opportunities to improve prison learning facilities. Furthermore, efforts are underway to automate onboarding processes for new prison officers using new technologies.
Meanwhile, the Enable Programme in HMPPS is leading a full redesign of prison officer training, aiming to strengthen the training offer through more robust, evidence-based approach. The new 12-month model will support the development of the knowledge, skills, behaviours and confidence needed for the modern prison officer role.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prison risk drone assessments have been carried out to date; where those assessments have taken place; and what assessment they have made of the results of that work, and the impact of those assessments on disrupting the influx of drugs into prisons.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are working hard to deter, detect and disrupt the use of illegal drones that deliver contraband, in order to create a safe and stable rehabilitative environment in our prisons. Our approach is multi-faceted and includes legislative measures and physical security countermeasures, as well as work across Government and with international partners.
As part of this work, we conduct drone vulnerability assessments across the prison estate to understand and mitigate risk. For operational security reasons, we cannot disclose further details surrounding these assessments.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made on the roll-out of stab vests to high-risk prison staff.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In June, the Government announced that protective body armour would be issued to frontline prison officers working in the highest risk areas of the prison estate. Delivery of this equipment began in September and is expected to be completed by the end of the month. This initiative is part of our wider commitment to enhancing safety and security across the prison estate, ensuring staff are properly equipped to carry out their duties in demanding environments.