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Debates during the 2024 Parliament
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
Sparring Partners
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
(7 debate interactions)
(1 debate interactions)
Department Debates
(7 debate contributions)
(2 debate contributions)
(1 debate contributions)
Legislation Debates
(567 words contributed)
(174 words contributed)
(142 words contributed)
Lords initiatives
These initiatives were driven by Lord Porter of Spalding, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
Lord Porter of Spalding has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Lord Porter of Spalding has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Latest 9 Written Questions
(View all written questions)1 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Questions
(View all Lord Porter of Spalding's Defra questions)Defra has committed to work with the internal drainage board (IDB) sector and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to review IDBs’ current funding and costs. This will include examination of whether any changes are needed to their funding model.
Once the review is complete, Defra and MHCLG will consider the findings and decide on next steps, if any are required.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
3 Department of Health and Social Care Questions
(View all Lord Porter of Spalding's DHSC questions)In accordance with the Abortion Act 1967, registered medical practitioners must notify the Chief Medical Officer of abortions within 14 days. The HSA4 abortion notification form is provided to collect the required information, including details of any known complications, up until the time of the patient’s discharge from the abortion service. The HSA4 form is a statutory instrument, the content of which cannot be changed without legislation.
The Department continues to work with abortion providers to ensure that abortion complications known up until the time of discharge from the abortion service are recorded on the HSA4 form. There are no plans to require the notification of complications that occur after discharge from the abortion service.
Abortion continues to be a very safe procedure, for which major complications are rare at all gestations. Home use of early medical abortion pills is recognised to be a safe procedure by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the World Health Organisation.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In March 2022, Parliament voted to amend the Abortion Act to allow women in England and Wales to take one or both pills for early medical abortion at home at up to 10 weeks’ gestation. The legislation came into force on 30 August 2022.
Women should be given the choice to either have an in-person consultation with a clinician or to have a virtual consultation and, if eligible, will be able to take both pills for early medical abortion at home. If there is any uncertainty about the gestation of the pregnancy, or if the doctor has any concerns, the woman will be asked to attend a clinic. If she does not attend the clinic, the doctor would not be able to form an opinion in good faith that the pregnancy is below ten weeks, and would therefore not be able to proceed with prescribing abortion pills for home use.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is a legal requirement in England and Wales that all terminations must be notified to the Chief Medical Officer within 14 days of the procedure. The Department provides the HSA4 form for this purpose. Information is collected on the abortion and the woman that had the abortion, including the method of the abortion, whether any abortion pills were taken at home, the gestation, or number of weeks, and details of any known complications.
The Department publishes data from these notifications in annual abortion statistics reports, which include data on complications up until the time of discharge from the abortion service.
In November 2023, the Department published a one-time analysis comparing data from the Department’s Abortion Notification System and the Hospital Episode Statistics, which are produced and controlled by NHS England.
Abortion continues to be a very safe procedure for which major complications are rare at all gestations. The complication rates for the Abortion Notification System and the Hospital Episodes Statistics data remains similar to both before and after the introduction of the home use of early medical abortion pills.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Home Office collects and publishes information annually on the number of times a spit hood was used on members of the public by police force area in the statistical publication on the police use of force. The latest available data is for the year ending 31 March 2024 and can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-use-of-force-statistics-april-2023-to-march-2024
The number of times a spit hood tactic (referred to as a spit and bite guard in the statistical publication) was used on members of the public, broken down by police force area, and by financial year for each of the last three years, can be found in data table 14 and is copied below.
From Table 14 of the Police use of force, England and Wales April 2023 to March 2024 statistical publication. The number of times spit and bite guard tactics were used by police force area for the last 3 years are included below. Data for 2024/25 will be published in November/December 2025.
Year | Police force | Tactic | Total number of tactics |
2021/22 | Total England and Wales | Spit and bite guard | 8,281 |
2021/22 | Avon & Somerset | Spit and bite guard | 416 |
2021/22 | Bedfordshire | Spit and bite guard | 77 |
2021/22 | Cambridgeshire | Spit and bite guard | 87 |
2021/22 | Cheshire | Spit and bite guard | 113 |
2021/22 | City of London | Spit and bite guard | 17 |
2021/22 | Cleveland | Spit and bite guard | 12 |
2021/22 | Cumbria | Spit and bite guard | 46 |
2021/22 | Derbyshire | Spit and bite guard | 98 |
2021/22 | Devon & Cornwall | Spit and bite guard | 345 |
2021/22 | Dorset | Spit and bite guard | 145 |
2021/22 | Durham | Spit and bite guard | 46 |
2021/22 | Dyfed-Powys | Spit and bite guard | 32 |
2021/22 | Essex | Spit and bite guard | 333 |
2021/22 | Gloucestershire | Spit and bite guard | 45 |
2021/22 | Greater Manchester | Spit and bite guard | 636 |
2021/22 | Gwent | Spit and bite guard | 83 |
2021/22 | Hampshire and Isle of Wight | Spit and bite guard | 117 |
2021/22 | Hertfordshire | Spit and bite guard | 158 |
2021/22 | Humberside | Spit and bite guard | 115 |
2021/22 | Kent | Spit and bite guard | 225 |
2021/22 | Lancashire | Spit and bite guard | 92 |
2021/22 | Leicestershire | Spit and bite guard | 113 |
2021/22 | Lincolnshire | Spit and bite guard | 55 |
2021/22 | Merseyside | Spit and bite guard | 310 |
2021/22 | Metropolitan | Spit and bite guard | 1,557 |
2021/22 | Norfolk | Spit and bite guard | 115 |
2021/22 | North Wales | Spit and bite guard | 4 |
2021/22 | North Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 61 |
2021/22 | Northamptonshire | Spit and bite guard | 83 |
2021/22 | Northumbria | Spit and bite guard | 403 |
2021/22 | Nottinghamshire | Spit and bite guard | 83 |
2021/22 | South Wales | Spit and bite guard | 159 |
2021/22 | South Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 127 |
2021/22 | Staffordshire | Spit and bite guard | 79 |
2021/22 | Suffolk | Spit and bite guard | 68 |
2021/22 | Surrey | Spit and bite guard | 167 |
2021/22 | Sussex | Spit and bite guard | 222 |
2021/22 | Thames Valley | Spit and bite guard | 269 |
2021/22 | Warwickshire | Spit and bite guard | 43 |
2021/22 | West Mercia | Spit and bite guard | 163 |
2021/22 | West Midlands | Spit and bite guard | 502 |
2021/22 | West Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 399 |
2021/22 | Wiltshire | Spit and bite guard | 61 |
2022/23 | Total England and Wales | Spit and bite guard | 8,275 |
2022/23 | Avon & Somerset | Spit and bite guard | 379 |
2022/23 | Bedfordshire | Spit and bite guard | 86 |
2022/23 | Cambridgeshire | Spit and bite guard | 114 |
2022/23 | Cheshire | Spit and bite guard | 91 |
2022/23 | City of London | Spit and bite guard | 15 |
2022/23 | Cleveland | Spit and bite guard | 151 |
2022/23 | Cumbria | Spit and bite guard | 80 |
2022/23 | Derbyshire | Spit and bite guard | 101 |
2022/23 | Devon & Cornwall | Spit and bite guard | 309 |
2022/23 | Dorset | Spit and bite guard | 150 |
2022/23 | Durham | Spit and bite guard | 35 |
2022/23 | Dyfed-Powys | Spit and bite guard | 19 |
2022/23 | Essex | Spit and bite guard | 398 |
2022/23 | Gloucestershire | Spit and bite guard | 46 |
2022/23 | Greater Manchester | Spit and bite guard | 688 |
2022/23 | Gwent | Spit and bite guard | 103 |
2022/23 | Hampshire and Isle of Wight | Spit and bite guard | 104 |
2022/23 | Hertfordshire | Spit and bite guard | 146 |
2022/23 | Humberside | Spit and bite guard | 75 |
2022/23 | Kent | Spit and bite guard | 173 |
2022/23 | Lancashire | Spit and bite guard | 116 |
2022/23 | Leicestershire | Spit and bite guard | 107 |
2022/23 | Lincolnshire | Spit and bite guard | 52 |
2022/23 | Merseyside | Spit and bite guard | 278 |
2022/23 | Metropolitan | Spit and bite guard | 1,421 |
2022/23 | Norfolk | Spit and bite guard | 91 |
2022/23 | North Wales | Spit and bite guard | 32 |
2022/23 | North Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 66 |
2022/23 | Northamptonshire | Spit and bite guard | 88 |
2022/23 | Northumbria | Spit and bite guard | 423 |
2022/23 | Nottinghamshire | Spit and bite guard | 137 |
2022/23 | South Wales | Spit and bite guard | 150 |
2022/23 | South Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 104 |
2022/23 | Staffordshire | Spit and bite guard | 60 |
2022/23 | Suffolk | Spit and bite guard | 83 |
2022/23 | Surrey | Spit and bite guard | 134 |
2022/23 | Sussex | Spit and bite guard | 227 |
2022/23 | Thames Valley | Spit and bite guard | 276 |
2022/23 | Warwickshire | Spit and bite guard | 39 |
2022/23 | West Mercia | Spit and bite guard | 80 |
2022/23 | West Midlands | Spit and bite guard | 619 |
2022/23 | West Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 395 |
2022/23 | Wiltshire | Spit and bite guard | 34 |
2023/24 | Total England and Wales | Spit and bite guard | 9,844 |
2023/24 | Avon & Somerset | Spit and bite guard | 410 |
2023/24 | Bedfordshire | Spit and bite guard | 64 |
2023/24 | British Transport Police | Spit and bite guard | 359 |
2023/24 | Cambridgeshire | Spit and bite guard | 109 |
2023/24 | Cheshire | Spit and bite guard | 84 |
2023/24 | City of London | Spit and bite guard | 1 |
2023/24 | Cleveland | Spit and bite guard | 233 |
2023/24 | Cumbria | Spit and bite guard | 113 |
2023/24 | Derbyshire | Spit and bite guard | 91 |
2023/24 | Devon & Cornwall | Spit and bite guard | 260 |
2023/24 | Dorset | Spit and bite guard | 149 |
2023/24 | Durham | Spit and bite guard | 49 |
2023/24 | Dyfed-Powys | Spit and bite guard | 22 |
2023/24 | Essex | Spit and bite guard | 486 |
2023/24 | Gloucestershire | Spit and bite guard | 77 |
2023/24 | Greater Manchester | Spit and bite guard | 627 |
2023/24 | Gwent | Spit and bite guard | 124 |
2023/24 | Hampshire and Isle of Wight | Spit and bite guard | 153 |
2023/24 | Hertfordshire | Spit and bite guard | 170 |
2023/24 | Humberside | Spit and bite guard | 99 |
2023/24 | Kent | Spit and bite guard | 230 |
2023/24 | Lancashire | Spit and bite guard | 119 |
2023/24 | Leicestershire | Spit and bite guard | 118 |
2023/24 | Lincolnshire | Spit and bite guard | 36 |
2023/24 | Merseyside | Spit and bite guard | 361 |
2023/24 | Metropolitan | Spit and bite guard | 1,525 |
2023/24 | Norfolk | Spit and bite guard | 121 |
2023/24 | North Wales | Spit and bite guard | 36 |
2023/24 | North Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 103 |
2023/24 | Northamptonshire | Spit and bite guard | 142 |
2023/24 | Northumbria | Spit and bite guard | 521 |
2023/24 | Nottinghamshire | Spit and bite guard | 135 |
2023/24 | South Wales | Spit and bite guard | 165 |
2023/24 | South Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 133 |
2023/24 | Staffordshire | Spit and bite guard | 114 |
2023/24 | Suffolk | Spit and bite guard | 69 |
2023/24 | Surrey | Spit and bite guard | 179 |
2023/24 | Sussex | Spit and bite guard | 237 |
2023/24 | Thames Valley | Spit and bite guard | 422 |
2023/24 | Warwickshire | Spit and bite guard | 25 |
2023/24 | West Mercia | Spit and bite guard | 89 |
2023/24 | West Midlands | Spit and bite guard | 754 |
2023/24 | West Yorkshire | Spit and bite guard | 476 |
2023/24 | Wiltshire | Spit and bite guard | 54 |
Minister of State (Home Office)
3 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Questions
(View all Lord Porter of Spalding's MHCLG questions)I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given to Question UIN 16954.
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Currently, councillors in England are not eligible for membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme, after access was removed in 2014. As the Responsible Authority for the LGPS, MHCLG keeps access to the scheme under regular review.
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Department does not hold this data.
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Data on SDS40 releases forms a subset of data intended for future publication.
Offenders released under SDS40 will be subject to the same set of strict licence conditions that would apply had they been released at a 50% automatic release point and will be liable to recall to prison if they do not comply with these conditions or are judged to be a risk to public safety.
Prison release planning has been reviewed and adapted to account for recent changes. Prison, probation staff and support providers are working hard to ensure those being released early have all necessary available support. This includes temporary accommodation for those at risk of homelessness, access to employment and benefits, and continuity of mental health and substance misuse provision.
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)