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Written Question
Railway Stations: Advertising
Tuesday 20th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Gower on 12 February (HL1997), whether rules similar to Network Rail's code of acceptance for commercial advertising apply to non-commercial displays of political messaging.

Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The rules of Network Rail’s code of acceptance for commercial advertising apply to non-commercial displays.


Written Question
Railway Stations: Advertising
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what policies and guidance are in place for Network Rail concerning whether political statements are permitted in advertising or otherwise displayed in their stations.

Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

All advertisements and any displays in Network Rail’s stations must comply with Network Rail's code of acceptance for commercial advertising. The code states that any displays ‘will not be approved for or permitted to remain on display if they are of a political nature calling for the support of a particular viewpoint, policy or action or attacking a member or policies of any legislative, central or local government authority’. Advertisements must also comply with the ASA’s British Code of Advertising Practice.


Written Question
Retail Trade: VAT
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government when marketplaces and online retailers collect VAT under legislation introduced in 2021, how does HMRC ensure the VAT collected is actually handed over to HMRC; and what audit process and checks and balances are in place for allowing this proxy arrangement.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Online marketplaces and online retailers that are required to collect VAT under the legislation introduced in 2021 are required to do so by registering for VAT in the UK and paying any VAT due via a UK VAT return.

To ensure that VAT is correctly collected and paid to HMRC these businesses are subject to risk-based compliance activity in the same way as other VAT registered businesses.


Written Question
Medical Records: Children
Tuesday 30th January 2024

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement on the NHS webpage 'Can I access someone else's medical records (health records)?' that "children aged 12 or older are usually considered to have the capacity to give or refuse consent to parents requesting access to their health records, unless there is a reason to suggest otherwise".

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department and NHS England work closely together, in conjunction with a range of stakeholders across the sector, to make sure the National Health Service's position is right for children.

For children aged under 11 years old, parents are presumed to be exercising a child's right to access their records, where the child lacks capacity to exercise it on their own behalf. Children aged 11 years or older are usually considered to have the capacity to give or refuse consent to parents requesting access to their health records, unless there is a good reason to suggest otherwise.

Whilst reasonable efforts should be made to encourage the child to involve parents or guardians, children have the same rights of access and information as adults do. If a child has the capacity to give or withhold consent to the release of their health record information, health professionals should generally respect their wishes. General practice surgeries should have processes in place for determining on a case-by-case basis whether a child is competent to make this decision.


Written Question
Body Searches
Friday 26th January 2024

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether it is their policy that police officers assigned as male at birth who now identify as women should be allowed to strip search female suspects and, if not, what advice they will offer to the National Police Chiefs’ Council and to police forces which currently allow this practice.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and the PACE Codes of Practice have clear same-sex provisions in relation to the conduct of certain searches of persons by police officers.

All searches conducted in custody, including strip searches, as well as searches undertaken under stop and search powers involving the removal of more than an outer jacket and certain other garments, must be conducted by an officer of the same sex as the detainee.

It is not right, safe or respectful to women for an officer who is biologically male but who has simply self-identified as female to be able to conduct a strip search of a woman.

Whilst respecting the operational independence of the police, the Government expects chief constables to ensure that their force policies comply with all legal obligations, including under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and Equalities Act 2010.


Written Question
Sports: Transgender People
Tuesday 19th December 2023

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are taking steps to ensure that all sports governing bodies funded by Sport England have regard to women and women's organisations, including through consultation, when considering the inclusion of trans women in women's sports.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

When it comes to competitive sport, His Majesty’s Government believes that fairness and safety has to be the primary consideration. We are clear that a way forward is needed which protects and shows compassion to all athletes, whilst being clear that the integrity of competition must be maintained. HM Government recently set out this position in the sport strategy, published in August.

The national governing bodies of sports set their own policies for who can participate in their sports domestically. The Sports Council Equality Group, which includes Sport England, has produced guidance to help governing bodies with this process. The Group published guidance relating to the inclusion of transgender people in September 2021, after extensive consultation and a review of scientific research. This guidance encourages governing bodies to conduct meaningful and respectful consultation within their sport to ensure that a wide range of opinions are sought.


Written Question
Crown Prosecution Serivce: Gender
Thursday 23rd November 2023

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask His Majesty's Government what meetings or conversations the Crown Prosecution Service has had with (1) Stonewall or other campaigners for transgender rights, and (2) campaigners for the gender critical point of view, in the past three years; and on what policies or practices were these groups consulted during that time.

Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold a central record of all local and national meetings with stakeholders across all 14 CPS Areas and Central Casework Divisions over the past three years. The level of resource involved in obtaining this information would be disproportionate.

It has been possible to identify the number of meetings the CPS has had with Stonewall at a national headquarters level during the years 2022, and 2023, and this has been answered in PQ 671. The level of resource involved in obtaining the same information from earlier years would be disproportionate.


Written Question
Gender Based Violence and Hate Crime
Wednesday 22nd November 2023

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to place in the Library of the House, for each Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) panel or group that relates to hate crime or violence against women and girls: (1) its name; (2) its current membership; and (3) a description of the process for selecting members and any CPS criteria for the balance of its membership.

Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland

The Crown Prosecution Service keeps membership of all local and national external stakeholder groups, panels and forums under review to ensure that they contain relevant expertise and are representative of communities served.

Membership is subject to frequent change based on the nature of the forum or thematic subject being explored at any given meeting.

This material will not be placed in the Library of the House due to the level of resource that would be required to keep such dynamic information up-to-date.


Written Question
Crown Prosecution Service: Gender
Wednesday 22nd November 2023

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has taken to ensure that people with gender critical beliefs are represented on CPS panels and forums where such beliefs are relevant, such as hate crime panels.

Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland

Members of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) National External Consultation Group on Hate Crime are selected for their expertise in hate crime and are drawn from academia and the third sector.

The CPS keeps membership of all external stakeholder groups under review to ensure that they contain relevant expertise and are representative of the communities the CPS serves.


Written Question
Hate Crime: Transphobia
Wednesday 22nd November 2023

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the propriety of Crown Prosecution Service staff referring to live criminal cases as examples of transphobic hate in published material such as newsletters, and roundtable reports, and what guidance they have issued in this regard.

Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) emphasises that criminal proceedings in live cases are active and the defendants have a right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.

The CPS has published legal guidance on reporting restrictions, it can be found here: https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/contempt-court-reporting-restrictions-and-restrictions-public-access-hearings