Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they have issued on whether teachers should be required to use preferred gender pronouns for pupils whose legal sex remains the same as their biological sex.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

Children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of the Gender Questioning guidance for schools.

It is vitally important that teachers have clear guidance, which is why the department is looking carefully at the consultation responses before setting out next steps to take the Gender Questioning guidance forward. The department will also consider this in light of the evidence published in the Cass Review. This will include consideration of the appropriate guidance to give on the use of pronouns in school settings.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to respond to the consultation on the draft guidance for schools and colleges on gender-questioning children, published in December 2023.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

Children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of the Gender Questioning guidance for schools.

It is vitally important that teachers have clear guidance, which is why the department is looking carefully at the consultation responses before setting out next steps to take the Gender Questioning guidance forward. The department will also consider this in light of the evidence published in the Cass Review. This will include consideration of the appropriate guidance to give on the use of pronouns in school settings.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 12 September (HL Deb cols 168GC–172GC), what assessment they have made of excluding cattle from the catchment areas of salmon spawning streams.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only. A specific national assessment on excluding cattle from the catchment areas of salmon spawning streams has not been undertaken because the potential impacts of cattle on salmon spawning streams are well documented.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the possible implications of the proposed World Health Organization Pandemic Preparedness Treaty for British sovereignty; what assessment they have made of the benefits of the treaty; and whether they intend to sign it.

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

As the COVID-19 pandemic showed, and the current outbreak of Mpox has reminded us, infectious diseases do not respect borders. That is why the Government is committed to working with our international partners to negotiate a Pandemic Accord (the Accord) that enhances global health security across the world.

The Government is satisfied that the Accord does not have implications for British sovereignty. No proposals have been introduced in negotiations that would cede sovereignty to the World Health Organization in making domestic decisions on national measures concerning public health. The Government would not accept any such proposals, in any case.

Agreeing a meaningful Accord is firmly in the global and the United Kingdom’s interest. An effective Accord should improve the world’s collective ability to prevent, detect, and respond to disease threats, and could stop some from becoming pandemics in the first place. The Government will decide whether to sign the Accord once the agreement has been finalised.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to support the United Nations Pact for the Future; and, if so, why.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

On 22 September, the Pact for the Future and its accompanying annexes, a Global Digital Compact and Declaration on Future Generations, was adopted by consensus in the United Nations General Assembly. In a speech to the General Assembly on 26 September, the Prime Minister emphasised the UK's support for the Pact for the Future. The Pact provides a critical opportunity for UN Member States to make real-world impact to turbocharge delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals and set a blueprint for how reinvigorated multilateralism can respond to today and tomorrow's challenges.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risks to Stephen Yaxley-Lennon's safety on the prison estate; and whether they intend to discuss this with the governor of Belmarsh.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

You will understand that the requirements of data protection legislation mean that I am unable to comment on the circumstances of specific individual prisoners.

I do want to assure you, however, that the safety of those who live and work in our prisons remains our paramount concern. The decision on where a prisoner should be located will take into account a range of factors, the purpose of which is to assign an individual to a suitably secure establishment which meets their needs effectively.

Any prisoner who has a specific concern about their time in prison can make a complaint via the internal prisoner complaints process and will be entitled to ask the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman to conduct an independent review of the matter, should it not be resolved to their satisfaction. Prisoners can also request to speak to a member of their prison’s Independent Monitoring Board.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will sign the Climate Intelligence World Climate Declaration; and, if not, why not.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The World Climate Declaration is not consistent with the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report, the most authoritative assessment of climate science globally, and the Government has no plans to sign it.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, what assessment they have made of the report by Oxfam Climate Finance Unchecked, published on 17 October, which states that between $24 billion and $41 billion of World Bank climate finance is unaccounted for due to poor record-keeping practices; and how much funding the UK has provided to the World Bank over the last 7 years in climate finance.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The FCDO and World Bank recognise the need to provide clearer and more timely information on World Bank climate initiatives and we are pushing them to explore ways to do that, as part of broader efforts to improve transparency.

We have reservations about the findings in the Oxfam report due to the methodology adopted. The World Bank disburses over 95 per cent of funds allocated to climate projects, and undisbursed funds are repurposed for other development needs. The World Bank's operations are also subjected to strict oversight and independent audits, in line with international standards.

The UK has provided £3.9 billion to the World Bank's International Development Association, the fund for the poorest countries, over the last four years - of which approximately 38 per cent was spent on climate-related programmes. We are also a 4 per cent shareholder in the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which lends to middle-income countries, and last year committed $38 billion. The Bank has a target for 45 per cent of its spending to be on climate related programmes.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much police time since 2014 has been spent recording and investigating non-criminal hate incidents, and how this compares with the amount of time spent investigating crimes involving (1) rape, (2) burglary and (3) Islamist terrorism.

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

The Home Office does not centrally hold or collate information on the number of non-crime hate incidents recorded by police forces.

Non-crime hate incidents would not appear on a basic or standard Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether non-criminal hate incidents are disclosed on prospective employees' criminal records; and if so, what assessment they have made of the implications for the careers of individuals affected.

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

The Home Office does not centrally hold or collate information on the number of non-crime hate incidents recorded by police forces.

Non-crime hate incidents would not appear on a basic or standard Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many non-criminal hate incidents have been recorded but not pursued by police since 2014.

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

The Home Office does not centrally hold or collate information on the number of non-crime hate incidents recorded by police forces.

Non-crime hate incidents would not appear on a basic or standard Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.