Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of people infected by contaminated blood products since 1980 who are still alive.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made an estimate of the number of patients that became infected after the year 1980, although we have estimates for infections occurring in a wider timeframe. The Department used the principle number presented by the Infected Blood Inquiry, in its Statistics Expert Reports, which has identified the infected individuals for the period between 1970 and 1991; the number of those infected because of a bleeding disorder with hepatitis C is between 2,400 and 5,000, and those infected with HIV approximately 1,250. The inquiry further estimates that those infected with hepatitis C via blood transfusion ranges between 21,300 and 38,800, and between 80 and 100 with HIV.
Since November 2017, 3,553 individuals, who were infected because of contaminated blood, are currently registered with one of the United Kingdom Infected Blood Support Schemes. However, there may be others who were infected and are still alive but have not yet come forward.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the number of people who have been infected by contaminated blood since 1980.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made an estimate of the number of patients that became infected after the year 1980, although we have estimates for infections occurring in a wider timeframe. The Department used the principle number presented by the Infected Blood Inquiry, in its Statistics Expert Reports, which has identified the infected individuals for the period between 1970 and 1991; the number of those infected because of a bleeding disorder with hepatitis C is between 2,400 and 5,000, and those infected with HIV approximately 1,250. The inquiry further estimates that those infected with hepatitis C via blood transfusion ranges between 21,300 and 38,800, and between 80 and 100 with HIV.
Since November 2017, 3,553 individuals, who were infected because of contaminated blood, are currently registered with one of the United Kingdom Infected Blood Support Schemes. However, there may be others who were infected and are still alive but have not yet come forward.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of that low-cost, open source AI models could be used to launch the risk of malicious attacks on UK security.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has established a Central AI Risk Function (CAIRF), which brings together policymakers and AI experts with a mission to continuously identify, assess and prepare for AI associated risks.
CAIRF develops and maintains the UK Government’s AI Risk Register. The register is actively maintained by CAIRF to identify individual risks associated with AI that could impact the UK spanning national security, the economy and society.
In addition, the AI Security Institute's (AISI) work is part of this Government's efforts to tackle security threats from AI. AISI evaluates both closed and open-sourced AI models to assess the risks AI poses to security and public safety.
We are also mindful that open source can boost transparency and support AI safety research. The UK Government will carefully balance these important benefits alongside risks as it develops its regulatory approach.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 23 January (HL3940), what "factors" they use to assess the productivity of HM Land Registry, and what evidence they have that the hybrid model of working from home and office has "continued to improve" its productivity.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The measure of productivity of HM Land Registry, to which the previous answer referred, is based primarily on the subset of applications to HMLR which request a change to the register, and require manual processing by a caseworker, weighted by their relative complexity, and divided by the number of caseworkers deployed to the task. From 2023 to 2024, a period throughout which hybrid working has been in place, HMLR’s productivity increased by 7.1% During this period, the processing time for the oldest, most complex cases was also reduced by over six months.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reliability of South Western Railway Sunday services between Yeovil and London Waterloo.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
South Western Railway Sunday services between Yeovil and London Waterloo have been challenging. Over the past 13 rail periods, 79.04% of services have departed within three minutes of their advertised departure time, with 96.73% departing within fifteen minutes. I am meeting South Western Railway on performance issues, as is being done with all Operators, later this month.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reintroduce double track railway lines on the Tisbury loop between Salisbury and Gillingham, Dorset.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Future rail infrastructure investment will be considered as part of the current Spending Review, which will be concluded in June 2025.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the service provided by South Western Railway between London and Yeovil.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There are currently no plans to review the service between London and Yeovil. South-Western Railway is in continued contact with the Department regarding its service provision, including on the West of England line on which Yeovil sits. When reviewing services, the Department needs to assess business cases and balance demand with value for the taxpayer in its considerations.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of support for profoundly deaf students in higher education in England.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The department wants to break down the barriers to opportunity, ensuring that people of all ages and backgrounds can undertake activities which provide them with the skills and knowledge to support them throughout their education and into employment.
Higher education providers (HEPs) have responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for all their disabled students. Wherever possible, disabled students should expect to have their needs met through inclusive learning practices and individual reasonable adjustments made by their HEPs.
Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) is available to help students with the additional costs they may face in higher education (HE) because of their disability.
DSA can be used for the purchase of specialist equipment, for travel or to pay for non-medical help, which is the human support provided to students to enable them to access their studies. DSA is not means tested and does not have to be repaid.
DSA support for deaf students can include, for example, British Sign Language support, a specialist notetaker, computers, assistive software and specialist equipment, such as radio aids.
All HEPs registered with the Office for Students (OfS) that intend to charge higher level tuition fees must have an Access and Participation Plan (APP) approved by the Director for Fair Access and Participation at the OfS. APPs articulate how HEPS will improve equality of opportunity for underrepresented groups. HEPs should consider the Equality of Opportunity Risk Register published by the OfS which details 12 key risks to equality of opportunity within HE and the student groups most at risk, including disabled students.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need for Land Registry staff to work in their offices, and of the effects, if any, of staff working from home on the completion of housing transactions.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
HM Land Registry operates a hybrid working model under which all staff are expected to spend at least 60% of their time on average working in an office, in line with the guidance published by Cabinet Office.
HM Land Registry’s productivity is continuously assessed by management, looking at a variety of factors. It has continued to improve as the hybrid model has evolved over recent times. The majority of HM Land Registry’s information services, which are the most essential services for the completion of property transactions, are now automated.
HM Land Registry’s current processing times are published on GOV.UK here.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the effects of long-term sickness among civil servants on the delivery of public services.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Civil Service provides its employees with a comprehensive range of health and wellbeing tools and policies to ensure that employees remain in work or return to work as quickly as possible following absence due to ill health. In addition, since 2022, the Government People Group has worked with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the professional body for HR, and the Joint Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health and Social Care Work and Health Directorate, to benchmark the Civil Service approach to long term sickness for its employees, and ensure it is aligned to best practice.
Individual departments are responsible for managing their own workforces, including the impact of any sickness absences to ensure the effective delivery of the public services it is responsible for.