Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have plans to increase protections to the lives of unborn children.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Existing criminal offences relating to foetuses are contained in the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929. The Government has no plans to change these.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many hotels are being used to accommodate migrants; how many migrants are being housed in hotels across the United Kingdom; and whether those numbers have increased or decreased since July 2024.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
According to the latest official data, published on 22 May 2025, there were 32,345 individuals staying in hotel accommodation as of 31 March 2025.
The current number of hotels in use is lower than it was at the time of the election, and significantly lower than the peak of 400 in use in autumn 2023.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of their policy of inheritance taxation for agricultural land on (1) family farms in Northern Ireland, and (2) the United Kingdom's food security.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free.
Information from claims is not recorded to enable regional or national breakdowns of the number of estates expected to be affected. However, the Government has set out that the reforms are expected to result in up to around 520 estates across the UK claiming agricultural property relief paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.
The Government’s decisions at Autumn Budget 2024 provided £5 billion over two years for farming and land management in England, which will restore stability and confidence in the sector, strengthening food security alongside nature’s recovery. This is the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether customs declarations will be required for goods covered by the EU-UK 'reset' agreement; and whether Northern Ireland will be subject to continuing ‘dynamic’ alignment with EU rules for such goods.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The new Windsor Framework customs arrangements introduced on 1 May will remain in place, in addition to the arrangements put forward for sanitary and phytosanitary goods (SPS) at the UK-EU Summit. The arrangements introduced on May 1 ensure that goods sent to or from consumers will not be subject to customs declarations or duty. We have also introduced a range of schemes to support businesses by removing unnecessary checks and paperwork; over 10,000 businesses are already signed up to the UK Internal Market Scheme.
The new UK-EU Common Understanding agrees to remove a broad and wide-ranging set of requirements for sanitary and phytosanitary goods and plants moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
When implemented, there will be no need for SPS paperwork such as health certificates to move agrifood or plant products to Northern Ireland, no mandatory identity or physical checks on those goods, no need for Plant Health Labels when moving plants for planting, seed potatoes, and used agricultural machinery, and no bans on ‘high risk’ plants.
The continued application of the Windsor Framework would provide for Northern Ireland maintaining its privileged unique dual access to both the European Union Single Market and the United Kingdom internal market.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much they expect to contribute to the European Union under the trade agreement reached on 19 May.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
There will be implementation costs associated with the UK-EU reset agreement, which will be confirmed in due course once we have negotiated the details of the agreement. This will include proportionate contributions in specific and limited areas, such as where access to specific IT systems will help to remove trade barriers for UK firms or manage biosecurity risks. The UK will also negotiate fair financial contributions to the Erasmus+ programme which will reflect the benefits of participation. We will not be making general contributions to the EU budget.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many employees of arm's-length bodies receive more than £100,000 in salaries and other benefits.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office does not hold the information requested. Pay for senior officials in arms-length bodies (ALBs) is set by the employing ALB and/or the sponsor department.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve treatments for Lyme disease.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department commissioned four reviews on Lyme disease, published by the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information group in December 2017. These reviews were undertaken alongside reviews conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, who developed definitive advice on the treatment, testing, and diagnosis of Lyme disease in April 2018.
If recognised promptly and treated with a full course of appropriate antibiotics, acute Lyme disease will usually resolve without further complications. Further information on the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease is available on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to engage with the farming community in relation to the reform of agricultural property relief for Inheritance Tax.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We actively engage with representatives from the farming industry through regular meetings and discussions, ensuring we listen to their views, understand their concerns, and take their feedback into account. The reforms to Agricultural and Business Property Relief will mean three quarters of estates will continue to pay no inheritance tax at all, while the remaining quarter will pay half the inheritance tax that most people pay, and payments can be spread over 10 years, interest-free. We are also investing £5 billion into farming over the next two years, the largest amount for sustainable food production in our country’s history, and are going further with reforms to boost profits for farmers by backing British produce and reforming planning rules on farms to support food production.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to build a strong relationship with the Trump administration in the United States of America.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary look forward to working with President Trump and the new Administration, to continue our shared mission to ensure the prosperity and security of our two great nations. The Prime Minister spoke to President Trump on 26 January and congratulated him on his inauguration. The two leaders stressed the importance of the close and warm ties between the UK and the US and agreed to meet in-person in the near future. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Secretary Rubio on 27 January. They both welcomed the opportunity for the UK and the US to work together to address shared challenges, including the situation in the Middle East, Russia's illegal war in Ukraine, the challenges posed by China and the need for Indo-Pacific security. The pair said they looked forward to working together and to meeting in person soon.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce knife crime among young people.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government's Safer Streets mission and we are taking a range of steps to realise this ambition and keep young people safe.
We have already implemented the ban on zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes approved by Parliament in April. The ban came in to force on 24 September 2024 and it is now illegal to sell or own these weapons. We are now going further, and on 13 November we launched a consultation on a ban of ninja swords, which has recently concluded.
We also know that more needs to be done to tackle the sale of knives online which is why last October, the Home Secretary commissioned Commander Stephen Clayman, as the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for knife crime, to carry out a full review into the online sale and delivery of knives. The report was received at the end of January and will be published imminently, but as a first step the Home Secretary has announced that the Government intends to strengthen age verification controls and checks for all online sellers of knives at the point of purchase and on delivery, to prevent lethal blades from ending up in the wrong hands.
We have set up a Knife-Enabled Robbery Taskforce, which brings together Ministers, Chief Constables and others working across criminal justice to take immediate action to tackle the fastest rising type of knife crime.
And finally, we have also created a new Young Futures programme, which will include the establishment of Young Futures Prevention Partnerships across England and Wales, bringing partners together to intervene earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime. It is vital we have a system that can identify and support those young people who need it most.
These are just some of the first steps we are taking to tackle the scourge of serious youth violence on our streets.