Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much Capita has been paid so far for the civil service pension scheme contract; and how much has been withheld or reclaimed for performance or other reasons.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Current service levels are unacceptable, and the Government is taking robust action to hold Capita to account This includes withholding £9.9 million in contract payments for undelivered milestones, alongside confirmation that the Government surge team costs will be recovered directly from Capita.

Exact costs are subject to an ongoing commercial reconciliation as we comprehensively evaluate the latest service data. While specific operational figures remain commercially sensitive at this stage of the recovery plan, we continue to use all available commercial levers to manage performance and return to acceptable service standards.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what further consideration they have given to measures to prevent foreign money flowing into the wider political eco-system in light of the commitment they made to "consider opportunities for further work in the future" in their response to the Report of the Independent Review into Countering Foreign Financial Influence and Interference in UK Politics, published on 6 July.

Answered by Baroness Blake of Leeds - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government’s response to the Rycroft Review, published on 6 July 2026, accepted all 17 recommendations and set out a comprehensive package of reforms to strengthen the political finance framework.

The Representation of the People Bill includes measures to address a number of the Review’s recommendations including reforms to overseas, cryptoasset and company donations, donor checks, strengthening the Electoral Commission’s powers and extending its remit to candidate finance.

The Government is also considering the wider issues identified by the Review, including lobbying transparency and other potential routes through which foreign money may seek to exert influence within the wider political ecosystem. Any further policy developments will be announced to Parliament in the usual way.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 23 September 2025 (HL10215), what further progress they have made in developing new registration fee arrangements for early years providers.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government has consulted on new Early Years Register fee arrangements through the early years funding consultation, published on 6 July 2026 and which closed on 14 September 2026. The consultation sets out proposed reforms to the early years entitlements funding system, including proposals intended to simplify funding arrangements, improve access for families on low incomes, improve support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and make funding more efficient and transparent.

As part of the consultation, we are proposing to reduce or remove individual annual Ofsted fees, which could simplify the system and reduce direct cost pressures on providers, supporting provider sustainability.

All interested parties, including local authorities, early years providers, parents and carers, were encouraged to take part and share their views before the 14 September closing date.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 15 September 2025 (HL10214), what progress they have since made for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's digital services other than driving licence transactions being available 24 hours a day.

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

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online services for driving licence transactions, vehicle licensing and vehicle excise duty enforcement penalty payments are already available 24 hours a day.

Since December 2025, all DVLA online vehicle services have been available until 9pm.

The DVLA is working to extend all services to 24 hour availability – this requires wider transformational changes to vehicle services which are currently in development.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 23 June (HL Deb col 546), how many DVLA staff are allocated to police compliance by registered suppliers of number plates.

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

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) employs 13 staff who are involved in administering the Register of Number Plate Suppliers (RNPS) scheme.

There are six RNPS Enforcement Officer posts where the post holder spends all their time on the RNPS scheme. Please note that two of these posts are currently vacant while new members are recruited.

There are also four staff who deal with RNPS queries and applications as part of their role. The team is managed by an Executive Officer for whom this is 50 per cent of their role, a Higher Executive Officer for whom this is 70 per cent of their role and a Senior Executive Officer for whom this is 40 per cent of their role.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in response to the recommendation of the Independent Review into Countering Foreign Financial Influence and Interference in UK Politics, published on 26 March, that non-party campaigner and candidate campaign spending should come from permissible donors and that reporting and transparency requirements should apply to these groups year-round; and what further steps, including legislation, they intend to take.

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

In response to Recommendation 4 of the Rycroft Review, the Government announced in July our intention to introduce permissibility and transparency requirements for donations to prospective candidates outside of formal regulated periods.

Our intention is for candidates to be required to (i) provide a declaration to confirm donations used to fund campaigning activity prior to formal candidacy are from permissible sources and (ii) report any donations received during this period which exceed £2,230.

The Government has also committed to enacting Mr Rycroft's recommendations to amend non-party campaigning rules. However, changes in this area require careful consideration and consultation to ensure that any new requirements do not place unnecessary burdens on legitimate campaigning activity. Mr Rycroft recognised the complexity of this area in his review. The Government is considering how best to deliver the objectives in a way that is effective, proportionate and enforceable, including consideration of the period that any requirements should cover.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in response to the recommendation of the Independent Review into Countering Foreign Financial Influence and Interference in UK Politics, published on 26 March, that foreign-funded political advertising should be banned and that imprints on printed and digital election material should include who has paid for the material; and what further steps, including legislation, they intend to take.

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

The Government recognises the growing risk posed by foreign interference in British politics, including through online political advertising, and agrees with the intent to eliminate the risk of foreign-funded political advertising.

In our response to the Rycroft Review, we committed to identifying the most effective and proportionate solution to this risk. This work will include consideration of the non-party campaigning rules, alongside wider options, and we will set out proposals in due course.

The Representation of the People Bill already strengthens the digital imprint regime by requiring all third-party campaigners to include imprints on their organic digital campaigning material. We are also considering further reforms to provide greater clarity on who has paid for campaigning material.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in response to the recommendation of the Independent Review into Countering Foreign Financial Influence and Interference in UK Politics, published on 26 March, that they consider the recommendations made by the Law Commission on political finance laws with a view to improving the effectiveness and consistency of the law.

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

While we understand the calls for consolidation of electoral law, major reform would require careful consideration and an extensive amount of time. The Government’s immediate priority is the implementation of its manifesto commitments. A full-scale consolidation and simplification would require an in-depth review and modernisation alongside consolidation; to achieve this would be the job of more than one Parliament.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the corrections made to the spelling or punctuation of names of people in the Civil Service Pension Scheme since Capita started maintaining the data; and what estimate they have made of the similar changes that were made in the previous equivalent period under the previous supplier.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

We do not hold this information.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people should be able to access a P60 or equivalent document acceptable to HMRC for the 2025-26 tax year through the Civil Service pensions website; and for how many people such documentation is currently accessible.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

If pensioner members have not received their P60, or are unable to access it, they are able to request a further copy from Capita.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by the Minister of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (HC Deb col 340), what progress the cross-government task and finish team has made to address the impact of large donors on UK politics.

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

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that the UK's political finance framework remains robust and commands public confidence.

We are establishing a cross-government task and finish team to consider the issues threatening UK democracy, including political funding, illegitimate influence, and broader threats to political equality.

Further details will be available in due course.

Question

To ask The Leader of the House when she expects a Written Answer to be given to the question asked by Lord Pack on 9 July 2026 (HL1927).

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

The question was answered by the Cabinet Office on 8 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 Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government why photographs on the Number 10 Flickr account are being published with a Creative Commons license which is not compatible with the terms of the Open Government License.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Details of the No10 Flickr licensing arrangements are made available in the 'about' section of the page, where it says: “All content is Crown copyright and re-usable under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated”.

This makes clear that OGL v3.0 applies.