Question

To ask His Majesty's Government how many full-time equivalent staff in each government department were members of the Government Communication Service on (a) 4 July 2024 and (b) the most recent date for which figures are available.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The FTE for staff in the Government Communication Service is as follows:

These figures are for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, prior to the Machinery of Government changes announced in July 2026.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the average daily percentage of rolling stock available for passenger service for each train operating company in every month since June 2024.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department does not hold this information. The Department expects train operators to provide appropriate capacity to meet anticipated passenger demand, including through the effective deployment and maintenance of rolling stock.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect passenger rail services to run between Oxford and Bletchley serving the new station at Winslow.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Government recognises how important the first stage of East West Rail is to communities and passengers along the route, and we are working closely with industry partners to support the introduction of passenger services as soon as possible.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consultation they have undertaken with prisoners serving imprisonment for public protection, detention for public protection, and "two-strike" sentences imposed before 2005 on means of improving coordination between Parole Board hearings and the courses prisoners are required to take in preparation.

Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) staff regularly engage with those serving IPP sentences through a range of activities such as IPP prison forums.

In addition, Dame Glenys Stacey chairs an IPP External Stakeholder Challenge Group which meets quarterly and includes charities, campaign groups, criminal justice organisations and people with lived experience of the sentence. The group has provided constructive challenge on the IPP Action Plan, including on the need for clearer communication, stronger focus on outcomes, and better understanding of barriers to progression.

Progression panels are one example of where this engagement is relevant; they bring together staff to consider an individual’s progression, identify barriers, and help ensure the prisoner understands what further work or interventions are needed before Parole Board hearings.

The Public Protection Casework Section (PPCS) within HMPPS is responsible for setting parole reviews. When calculating the interval between reviews, PPCS engages with prison and probation staff to determine the length of time a prisoner is likely to require to complete the necessary interventions and programmes. This information is then taken into account when scheduling the review. Where a prisoner completes the required work earlier than anticipated, PPCS may bring the review forward.

We will continue to use these channels, alongside engagement with the Parole Board and operational partners, to improve coordination between parole reviews and the interventions prisoners need to support safe progression, and as we develop legislation to bring the sentence to an end.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made on the recent finding of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention regarding prisoners serving an Indeterminate Sentence for Public Protection.

Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Government respects the work of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and is considering its findings in the recently published Opinion concerning five individuals given Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences. A formal response will be provided later in the year.

On 1 September, the Lord Chancellor announced that the Government will bring an end to the IPP sentence for those who continue to serve it and will bring forward legislation to do this by the end of this Parliament. The Government will work across party lines and listen to experts to develop the right safeguards and keep public protection at the heart of the reforms.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what lessons they have learned from the delay in opening the current phase of East West Rail passenger services, and what steps they are taking to ensure that future phases are delivered and opened on schedule.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

While every phase of EWR presents different delivery challenges, lessons are already being incorporated into future planning, including strengthening programme governance, improving integration between infrastructure delivery and railway operations, and ensuring operational readiness is considered earlier during project development. The procurement of the operator should have taken place much earlier than it did, which is the fault of the previous government.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many reported road traffic collisions involved a driver who was driving on a foreign driving licence that was valid for use in the UK in each of the last five years.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The information requested is not held by the Department for Transport.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what advice they have issued, if any, to Right to Manage Companies which operate heat networks and are required to interact with the Energy Ombudsman, Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme, and Ofgem, particularly in relation to compliance with authorisation conditions under the Heat Networks (Market Framework) (Great Britain) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/269); and if they have not issued any such advice, whether they intend to do so.

Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Regulations will play a key role in ensuring consumers on a heat network receive the protections they need.

As the appointed regulator for heat networks, Ofgem is responsible for the oversight and enforcement of the new regulatory framework.

It has issued guidance to support those who own and operate heat networks, including on how to register with Ofgem and consumer protection rules and requirements set out in the authorisation conditions. The full list of guidance can be found on the Ofgem Heat Networks webpage.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, for each of the last five years, how many street works reinstatements there are that (1) fail inspection, and (2) require remedial works both within and after the statutory guarantee period; and what estimate they have made of the cost to highways authorities of remedial works undertaken after that period has expired.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department’s Street Manager digital service enables local authorities to record, monitor and co-ordinate street works, including inspections. As use of the service is not mandatory for all types of works, the Department does not hold complete data on the number of inspections that fail.

The Department has not made an estimate of the cost to highway authorities of remedial works undertaken after the statutory guarantee period has expired.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they hold information on the number of local authorities that (1) have introduced, and (2) are considering, parking charges based on vehicle (a) dimensions, (b) weight, and (c) emissions.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not hold data on how many local authorities have introduced, or are considering, parking charges based on vehicle dimensions, weight or emissions.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendation by the Court of Appeal in Haycock v R (EWCA Crim 1105) that there should be a systematic review process to ensure that individuals still subject to imprisonment for public protection and detention for public protection sentences are adequately identified and provided with legal advice.

Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice publishes routine data on prisoners serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences in custody in the Offender Management Statistics publication. This is available online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly.

Prison staff are required to assist any prisoner who wishes to request legal advice by providing lists of legal advisers, supplying appropriate forms, and assisting prisoners to complete them where requested due to language or literacy difficulties.

Criminal legal aid is available for eligible IPP and DPP offenders for parole proceedings and for related preliminary or incidental proceedings. Information on finding a legal aid adviser is available at: Find a Legal Aid Adviser or Family Mediator. Alternatively, organisations, such as the Association of Prison Lawyers or the Prisoners' Advice Service, may be able to assist in finding a prison law adviser.

On 1 September, the Lord Chancellor announced that the Government will bring an end to the sentence for those who continue to serve it and will bring forward legislation to do this by the end of this Parliament. These are complex cases, involving important public protection and victim considerations. Reform will take time to get right.

Question

To ask The Leader of the House when she expects a Written Answer to be given to the question asked by Lord Moylan on 13 July 2026 (HL2016).

Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal

The question was answered by the Department for Transport on the 7th September 2026. I apologise for the delay and have reminded the department of the need to meet the response target of 10 working days.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many terminations of pregnancy were carried out by (1) medical means and (2) surgical procedures, in the last year for which statistics are available; and how many of those carried out by medical means (1) involved, and (2) did not involve, an in-person meeting with an abortion provider.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The latest available official statistics show that there were 277,970 legal abortions carried out among residents in England and Wales in 2023, of which 35,765 were carried out by surgical means, and 242,205 were carried out by medical means. Data is not currently available on the number of medical abortions where the patient had an in-person meeting with an abortion provider.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they sought or assessed evidence from any of the nine countries referred to in paragraph 37 of their consultation stage impact assessment, Standardised packaging and pack inserts for tobacco products (excluding cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco), heated tobacco devices, herbal smoking products and cigarette papers, published on 10 July, before producing that impact assessment; if so, (1) what evidence was considered, and (2) why it was not identified in the impact assessment; and if not, why they applied an assumed impact size of 1.9 per cent a year, derived from cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco, to cigars without testing that assumption against the experience of those countries.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The impact assessment draws on available international evidence on standardised tobacco packaging, including evidence from Australia and Canada. This is a consultation-stage impact assessment, and the consultation process welcomed further evidence.

Found: Letter from Lord Hendy to Lord Moylan, Lord Harper and Lord Lansley regarding Great British Railway’s

Found: Letter dated 07/10/2026 from Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill to Lord Moylan regarding the Government's view

Found: Letter dated 15/09/2026 from Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill to Lord Moylan, Lord Harper and Lord Lansley