Asked by: Lord Lebedev (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish a clear and legally precise definition of the term “cumulative disruption” as used in Lords committee stage amendment 372 to the Crime and Policing Bill; and how they will ensure that this concept is applied consistently by police forces and the courts.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 5 October 2025, the Home Secretary announced that the government would amend sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 to explicitly require a senior police officer to take account of the cumulative impact of frequent protests on local areas when considering whether to impose conditions on public processions and assemblies.
This measure is designed to require the police to consider whether public processions and assemblies have or will take place in the same geographical area when considering whether the serious disruption to the life of the community threshold is met. ‘Relevant cumulative disruption’ is defined in the clause.
The Home Office will work with the College of Policing and National Police Chiefs’ Council to include guidance on cumulative disruption in the Public Order Public Safety Authorised Professional Practice, and the Protest Operational Advice Document. These contain operational advice for frontline policing and are regularly updated to include all public order powers.
Asked by: Lord Lebedev (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the Crime and Policing Bill proposal regarding a prohibition on face coverings when in an area designated by police is compatible with the right to freedom of expression.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government is committed to protecting public safety and preventing disorder and crime whilst balancing the right to peaceful protest.
Under the provisions in clauses 118 to 120 of the Crime and Policing Bill, the police can only designate a locality for the purposes of the offence of concealing identity at protests where a senior officer reasonably believes that a protest is or may take place in the locality, that the protest is likely to involve or has involved the commission of offences, and it is expedient in order to prevent or limit offences being committed to designate the locality.
The measure includes a defence for individuals charged with this new offence if they prove they wore or used the item for a purpose related to health, religious observance or relating to the person’s work.
As such, a locality will only be designated where criminality has or is likely to take place, and under this new measure, the police will be expected to take action only against persons who are wearing or using items to conceal their identity at protests in a designated locality, without a legitimate purpose. Given these safeguards, the government is satisfied that this measure does not disproportionately interfere with individuals’ human rights.
Asked by: Lord Lebedev (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the decision to stop investigating non-crime hate incidents on the rate of hate incidents in London, and what data they hold to support that assessment.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
All police forces in England and Wales continue to record non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) and retain them as intelligence, making local decisions, as appropriate on whether further investigation is appropriate. The Home Office does not collate data on NCHIs.
The College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council are currently undertaking a review of NCHIs, working closely with the Home Office. We look forward to receiving the final recommendations of the review shortly and will consider them carefully.
Asked by: Lord Lebedev (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to encourage people skilled in AI research not to leave the UK to work elsewhere.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is taking decisive steps to attract and retain world-class AI researchers. We have expanded the Turing AI Pioneer Fellowships to build our expertise at home. We are also funding up to 100 Spärck AI scholarships for master’s degrees at leading UK universities, as part of the wider £187 million TechFirst digital skills programme.
To draw global talent, our new Turing AI Global Fellowships offer relocation packages for leading academics. These initiatives form part of a £1 billion AI R&D portfolio, which also includes doctoral training centres and research hubs – strengthening the UK’s research base and ensuring we remain a global leader in AI innovation.
Asked by: Lord Lebedev (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, as part of the upcoming BBC Charter review, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has conducted a study of how the BBC is fulfilling its duties with regard to impartiality; and if so, what the study found.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Under its Royal Charter, the BBC has a duty ‘to provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them’. In delivering on that duty, the BBC is independent from the government. It is the responsibility of Ofcom, as the BBC’s independent regulator, to hold the BBC to account for delivering on its Mission and Public Purposes, including due impartiality. Ofcom regularly reports on BBC performance, including in its annual reports on the BBC.
The government expects the BBC to uphold the highest editorial standards and to report the news accurately and impartially. The upcoming Charter Review will consider how best to ensure the BBC continues to deliver the high standards of reporting that the public expect of a national broadcaster.
Asked by: Lord Lebedev (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce safeguards to allow academics to speak freely on all matters, in particular measures to prevent dismissals or sanctions of university staff.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is absolutely committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom in universities. Academics must be allowed to test the truth of the ideas that shape society and to participate in the free exchange of ideas, including where this causes shock and discomfort.
On 28 April 2025, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, signed commencement regulations of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, enabling additional provisions to come into force from 1 August 2025. These provisions include strengthened duties on higher education (HE) providers in relation to securing and promoting the importance of freedom of speech and academic freedom. The provisions make clear that academic staff must be able to question received wisdom and present new, controversial, or unpopular ideas without risking their privileges, jobs, promotions, or future roles at their provider.
Further guidance on employment and promotion of academic staff in relation to freedom of speech is set out in paragraphs 145 to 153 of the Office for Students’ Regulatory advice 24.
Asked by: Lord Lebedev (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support and fund the development of the bionics and advanced prosthetics industry, including through companies such as Open Bionics, and to ensure the wider adoption and availability of those technologies through public health services.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government support the bionics and advanced prosthetics industry by funding end-to-end innovation, from early-stage research and development to clinical trials and evidence generation, via Innovate UK and the National Institute of Health and Social Care Research (NIHR).
Through NIHR, the Department funds innovative research through multiple programmes and broader infrastructure investments. The NIHR supports a range of projects developing next-generation bionic and prosthetic technologies. NIHR-funded initiatives include: the Starworks Child Prosthetics Network; the Rebel Hand Project, which is developing smart prosthetic hands for children; the Virtual Reality Prosthetics Training System; and the Brain Injury Sensory Prosthetic, which is using augmented reality for vision rehabilitation. These examples illustrate the broad support for innovation in bionics and advanced prosthetic development.
The Government is committed to ensuring that patients have access to high-quality prosthetics while supporting British innovation in healthcare technology. The NHS Supply Chain plays a vital role in supporting our health service, delivering significant value, and thereby ensuring more resources are directed to frontline patient care.
The NHS Supply Chain’s Prosthetics, Components and Associated Products Framework is due to launch on 24 November 2025 to replace the Artificial Limbs Framework. The new framework will offer over 95,000 products to provide clinical choice in order to meet patient need. The full product range, which encompasses bionics and advanced prosthetics along with repair componentry, will be made available from 12 compliant suppliers.
Asked by: Lord Lebedev (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support and resources they plan to provide to support research and development for in vitro gametogenesis, and the wider reproductive technologies industry.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government, through UK Research and Innovation’s Medical Research Council (MRC), supports a broad range of biomedical research, including in reproductive health, developmental biology and genetics. MRC’s applicant-led funding opportunities are open to proposals within its remit. MRC also funds large-scale, challenge-led transformative research through its Institutes and Centres of Research Excellence. All research is subject to appropriate ethical review.
Asked by: Lord Lebedev (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of sleep deprivation on mental health and national productivity, and what steps they are taking to address that issue and to promote sleep health.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
While no such specific assessment has been made, we recognise the potential impact of sleep deprivation on mental health.
NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression offer low-intensity therapy which may include interventions around sleep hygiene. Individuals who are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and/or depression can be referred by their general practitioner, or can self-refer, to NHS Talking Therapies.
Individuals can also access helpful resources on sleep problems on the NHS Every Mind Matters website.
In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Prioritisation Board has recently agreed to prioritise digital technologies that deliver cognitive behavioural therapy interventions for insomnia and insomnia symptoms as a topic for the development of HealthTech guidance.
Advice for healthcare professionals is also available from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on its website.
Asked by: Lord Lebedev (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the ongoing work to create an official definition of Islamophobia does not exacerbate anti-Muslim sentiment.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government has established the Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition working group to advise the Government on the appropriate and sensitive language to describe, understand and define unacceptable treatment, prejudice, discrimination and hate targeting Muslims or anyone who is perceived to be Muslim. The Government is committed to ensuring that efforts to define Anti-Muslim hatred/ Islamophobia contribute positively to tackling the issue, informed by extensive engagement with a wide range of communities and views.