Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to place an order for UK companies to supply first-person view drones.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It is vital we invest our defence spending in the UK wherever possible to grow our economy and industrial base. Noting the role drones play in modern warfighting, the Strategic Defence Review announced a total of £2 billion investment in autonomy in this Parliament, taking our total investment in Defence autonomy to £4 billion. How we will spend this autonomy fund, including drones of all forms, will be decided as part of the Defence Investment Plan.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proposals they have to encourage combined cadet force units in state schools.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the noble Lord to the reply I gave him on 27 October 2024, to Question HL10931.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what incentives are available for UK businesses to produce net-zero air fuel.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is one of the key measures required to achieve net zero emissions from aviation by 2050. SAF reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its lifecycle production and use when compared to conventional kerosene.
We are encouraging the production, development, and use of SAF in the UK in three main ways:
1) We are building demand through the SAF Mandate, which came into place in January this year and sets targets for the supply of an increasing amount of SAF in the overall UK aviation fuel mix. Under the SAF Mandate, eligible SAF is required to meet a reduction of 40% GHG savings and fuels are rewarded in proportion to their GHG savings.
2) The Advanced Fuels Fund aims to grow the UK supply of SAF by supporting first-of-a-kind SAF production plants through the project pipeline to reach investment ready stage and achieve commercial scale. £63m has been allocated across 17 UK projects for this financial year. The Spending Review 2025 will continue support for the production of SAF in the UK to 2029/30. DfT will provide details on the parameters of this support in due course.
3) We are helping to derisk SAF projects and support investment by legislating to introduce a revenue certainty mechanism. The SAF Bill was introduced at the House of Commons on 14 May 2025 and passed Report Stage and Third Reading on 15 October.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was their total expenditure on police and crime commissioners for financial year 2024–25 and for each of the preceding 10 financial years.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has published accredited official statistics on police funding for England and Wales, which includes funding to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) for the period 2015-2026. The total funding for PCCs up to the financial year 2025-26 (including government funding and police precept) can be found below:
Financial Year | Total Nominal PCC funding (£ million) |
2015-16 | 10,927 |
2016-17 | 10,998 |
2017-18 | 11,042 |
2018-19 | 11,323 |
2019-20 | 12,166 |
2020-21* | 13,285 |
2021-22 | 13,753 |
2022-23** | 14,625 |
2023-24** | 15,435 |
2024-25** | 16,564 |
2025-26** | 17,685 |
Footnotes
*In 2020-21 the Home Office reimbursed all additional personal protective equipment (PPE) purchased between 27 February 2020 and 27 July 2020 and launched an Income Loss Recovery Scheme for forces to recover relevant lost income on expected sales, fees and charges against their 2020-21 budgets as a result of the pandemic. This support was provided in-year, in addition to the police funding settlement for 2020-21.
** Total funding in the table above includes in year funding for pay awards which would be different to what was announced at the time of the police funding settlements.
Due to changes in the structure of police funding and policing, it is difficult to make direct comparisons between current police funding figures prior to the financial year 2015-16. However, each year the Home Office produces a police grant report which is published and voted on by Parliament and contains grant funding allocations for the following year to be paid out under the Police Act 1996. A copy of the police grant report for the year 2014-15 is available online and in the House.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the cost of oil and gas imports for the financial year 2024–25.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The value for crude oil imports into the UK in 2024 was £22,745 million, and the value for natural gas imports in 2024 was £13,615 million. These are on a calendar year basis and financial years are not available. These data are sourced from Table 1.2 of the Department's Digest of UK Energy Statistics which are published annually and available via the internet.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are reviewing the policy of not allowing companies to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government has committed to not issue new licences to explore new fields while managing existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan.
Our ‘Building the North Sea’s energy future’ consultation, which closed earlier this year, sought views on how we should implement these commitments. We are analysing responses to the consultation and will issue a response in due course.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to encourage the setting up of combined cadet force units in state schools.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Department for Education (DfE) recognise the vital work of Cadet Forces in schools, membership of which is proven to help develop self-confidence, teamwork, leadership and resilience in young people. Since 2012 the two Departments have been working together on the joint Cadet Expansion Programme (CEP) in schools. This has seen a significant increase in the number of Cadet Units in schools – the vast majority being Combined Cadet Force contingents – with the focus on improving provision in the state sector. Prior to the CEP, 75% of School Cadet Units were in independent schools; now around 60% are in the state sector.
The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) recommended an expansion of in-school and community-based Cadet Forces across the UK of 30% by 2030, an increase of some 40,000 new Cadets, backed by an investment of £70 million. The CEP will form a key component of this initiative. Expanding the Cadet Forces, which provide skills and qualifications to young people from diverse backgrounds, and support economic growth, will benefit all areas of the UK, and work is already underway to establish where the 30% increase will be realised. The SDR is clear on the need for a whole of society approach to defence and the ongoing relationship between the MOD and the DfE is an important element of that plan.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to ensure that all visitors to the UK pay for their use of the National Health Service, except for emergencies.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Overseas visitors’ healthcare costs are recovered through three routes: direct charging; the Immigration Health Surcharge; or reciprocal healthcare arrangements.
The Department works closely with a dedicated team in NHS England to ensure that charging is applied fairly and consistently to overseas visitors. The Department and NHS England actively support the National Health Service to improve cost recovery through the monitoring of data and activity, the sharing of best practice and guidance, targeted follow-ups with trusts where issues are identified, and by working closely with the Home Office to improve data quality and reporting consistency.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much public funding has been provided to UK motor manufacturers to develop self-driving vehicles.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
From 2015 through to FY2025/26 the UK Government, through the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, a joint DBT and DfT unit, has provided £22m of matched, grant funding to UK motor manufacturers for the development of self-driving vehicles.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was their total expenditure in the last financial year on the offices of the Police and Crime Commissioners.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
As the directly elected representative for policing in their area, it is for Police and Crime Commissioners to set their budget and balance it in line with their priorities, including expenditure on their offices.
The overall funding available to Police and Crime Commissioners in 2024/25 was £16.4 billion. This includes Government Grants and Council tax precept.