Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have plans for further devolution of powers to the devolved nations.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We are clear on our commitment to make the existing devolution settlements in Scotland and Wales work effectively to deliver on people’s priorities. We will continue to protect and respect devolution, ensuring the current settlements enable collaboration on our national renewal.
In February, we announced the devolution of further powers to enable the Welsh Government to introduce a vacant land tax to incentivise house building and support economic growth. This will be subject to a joint consultation that we will publish in the near future. This is in addition to the progress that we have made in delivering our manifesto commitments including restoring the Welsh Government's decision making role over post-EU structural funding, agreeing how we will devolve employment support funding, and providing greater flexibilities for the Welsh Government's budget.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the May election results in Scotland and Wales on their relationship with those nations.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
This government has been clear since day one that rebuilding the country requires UK-wide delivery, working effectively with all levels of government. Good intergovernmental relations remain a priority and we look forward to working constructively with the new ministers in both Governments. The United Kingdom’s devolution settlements are fundamentally designed to accommodate different political parties leading in different parts of the country. People in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland rightly want to see their governments working together to deliver for them. That’s what we are committed to doing and the Prime Minister expects to convene a multilateral meeting with the heads of the devolved governments in June to continue this work.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relationship between a Prime Minister's length of tenure and their right to nominate honours upon retirement or resignation.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
By long-standing convention, all Prime Ministers, regardless of length of tenure, are entitled to nominate individuals for honours as part of both dissolution and resignation honours lists.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to increase the number of bomb shelters in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government continues to develop a wide range of plans designed to deter potential hostile actors and mitigate the impacts of risks facing the UK.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to issue a civil preparedness document in case of crisis or war, equivalent to that issued by the government of Sweden.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Advice for the general public on how to prepare for emergencies is published at GOV.UK/Prepare. The website provides simple and effective steps that individuals, households and communities can take to be more prepared for a range of emergencies.
We regularly review the website's content and continue to explore options for improving it, and for increasing public awareness of emergency preparedness advice beyond the website.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to apportion responsibility for the management of another global pandemic between the central and devolved governments.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
There is detailed guidance and processes in place which set out the arrangements whereby the UK Government will work with the devolved governments to plan for and manage the response to a pandemic. These are underpinned by the principles for responding to crises agreed with the devolved governments set out in the Amber Book - Managing Crisis in Central Government; and which is available for download from the gov.uk website.
Taken together, these arrangements reinforce the commitment to partnership working, recognising health is a devolved matter but seeking alignment of approaches to ensure consistent outcomes.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they take account of the increasing number of properties used for holiday lets when estimating the size of the population.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Lord Roberts of Llandudno
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
14 July 2025
Dear Lord Roberts of Llandudno,
As Acting National Statistician, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how the increasing number of properties used for holiday lets is taken into account when estimating the size of the population (HL9240).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) currently estimates the UK population using a combination of census data, administrative records, and statistical modelling. This is an estimate of people (not properties), and property information does not form part of the approach to producing the estimate.
Analysis of Census 2021 data shows the areas where second addresses are used as holiday homes across England and Wales[1].
You may also be interested in analysis produced by our housing analysis team titled Comparing empty home statistics in England and Wales[2] which included holidays lets and caravan parks.
Yours sincerely,
Emma Rourke
[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/bulletins/numberofvacantandsecondhomesenglandandwales/census2021
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to raise standards of integrity in government.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is a government of service and it is committed to restoring trust and confidence in public life. The Prime Minister will soon issue his Ministerial Code which outlines the standards expected of all Ministers.
In addition, the Government will establish a new independent Ethics and Integrity Commission, with its own independent Chair. We will ensure that this Commission has the powers and remit necessary to fulfil its responsibilities.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of knife-related homicides between 2000 and 2024 were by machete.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Lord Roberts of Llandudno
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
16 October 2024
Dear Lord Roberts,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what percentage of knife-related homicides between 2000 and 2024 were by machete (HL1510).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes figures on crime in England and Wales based on two main data sources: police recorded crime data, and the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW). As a victimisation survey, the CSEW cannot ask respondents about their experience of homicide. Homicide data is supplied to us by the Home Office as part of police recorded crime.
We publish breakdowns of the type of weapon used in homicide by a sharp instrument in table 9 of our Homicide in England and Wales appendix tables1. These breakdowns were introduced to the Homicide Index in April 2022. The latest period for which data are currently available is the year ending March 2023. These data have been presented in Table 1 below.
Of the homicides where a knife or sharp instrument was used, 5.7% of them were carried out using a machete in the year ending March 2023. See table 9 for a full breakdown. Data for the year ending March 2024 is provisionally scheduled for release in February 2025.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
1https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/appendixtableshomIcideinenglandandwales
Table 1: Number and percentage of offences currently recorded as homicide by a sharp instrument[1],[2].
Type of sharp instrument | Apr 2022 to Mar 2023 | Percentage |
Axe | 2 | 0.8 |
Combat / Rambo / Military style knife | 5 | 2.0 |
Flick knife | 6 | 2.5 |
Hunting knife | 4 | 1.6 |
Kitchen knife | 101 | 41.4 |
Lock knife | 7 | 2.9 |
Machete | 14 | 5.7 |
Sword | 3 | 1.2 |
Zombie knife | 7 | 2.9 |
Other knife[3] | 37 | 15.2 |
Other sharp instrument | 6 | 2.5 |
Sharp instrument involved but type not known/not recovered | 52 | 21.3 |
Total | 244 | 100 |
Source: Homicide Index from the Home Office
[1]As of 12 December 2023; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available.
[2]Type of sharp instrument was introduced in the Homicide Index on 1 April 2022.
[3]Other knife includes those which do not fit into the other published headings.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether Ministers may make personal statements that do not reflect Government policy.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The Ministerial Code sets out the standards of conduct expected of ministers and how they discharge their duty. Notably:
Section 8.3: Ministers should ensure that their statements are consistent with collective Government policy;
Section 6.5: Ministers are free to make their views about constituency matters known to the responsible Minister by correspondence, leading deputations or by personal interview provided they make clear that they are acting as their constituents’ representative and not as a Minister.
The Ministerial Code can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-code