Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of individuals holding Russian passports currently working in the UK in the financial services sector.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on sponsored work visas issued, broken down by occupation, industry, and nationality, in table Occ_D02 of the Sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset of the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release.

The published statistics refer to the number of visas granted, not the number of people in the country at a given point in time. They do not include the work status of all Russian passport holders – for example, dual nationals using their non-Russian passport, Russian nationals with indefinite leave, those on unsponsored visa routes, or dependents of other visa holders.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the availability of South Western Railways' passenger carriages to meet the publicised numbers for services on the mainline between Salisbury and Exeter.

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

The Department monitors South Western Railway’s (SWR) performance and fleet availability through its regular contractual and operational oversight arrangements, including services on the Salisbury to Exeter route. SWR plans its West of England services on the basis that some Class 158 and 159 trains will be unavailable for maintenance, overhaul or faults, with availability also affected by unplanned repairs and the availability of replacement parts. SWR seeks to mitigate any resulting impact on passengers through train formation changes where possible and continues to work with suppliers and maintenance teams to improve fleet availability and reliability.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the performance of South Western Railways since it entered public ownership on 25 May 2025.

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

The Department is closely monitoring South Western Railway’s (SWR’s) performance following its transfer into public ownership on 25 May 2025 through a range of measures, including punctuality, cancellations, and passenger experience.

When SWR entered public ownership, eighty-four out of ninety of the new Arterio trains had not entered service. The new Arterio fleet is being rolled out and will support more reliable services over time, providing modern, higher capacity trains with improved performance and reduced maintenance requirements.

SWR also inherited a shortage of train drivers when it moved into public ownership, which contributed to high levels of driver-related cancellations.

South Western Railway is subject to bespoke and rigorous performance standards, and the Department continues to work with the operator to improve reliability, capacity, and service quality for passengers.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 14 July (HL1444) what assessment they have made of the need, if any, to collect information about the number of houses being built with air conditioning in future years.

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

Part O of the Building Regulations requires that new residential buildings are built to mitigate the risk of overheating. Mechanical cooling, including air conditioning, may be used to meet the Part O requirements where all reasonably practicable steps have been taken to minimise overheating through passive means. Part O, like other Building Regulations, is set in performance terms rather than mandating or prohibiting particular technologies or design solutions.

The Government recognises the value of good quality evidence to support the effective operation of the Building Regulations and has committed to a full technical review of Part O to ensure it is effective and proportionate. As part of this review, we will consider what information may be useful to better understand how industry is complying with the overheating requirements.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the rate of compensation being delivered by the Infected Blood Delivery Authority to those affected.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

HMG has regular engagement with IBCA to discuss progress. However, the delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA), which has opened its service to all cohorts including affected people. IBCA is contacting people across all cohorts in line with the prioritisation criteria recommended by the Infected Blood Inquiry in its July 2025 Additional Report. These criteria provide that any claims for people that are at the end of life, with advanced liver disease, or from someone aged 75 or over, will be prioritised across all groups.