Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that international law is upheld in the current situation in Iran.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK has engaged with a wide range of partners during the current crisis, emphasising that stability, de-escalation and restraint are key, and urging all parties to seize the opportunity for a diplomatic solution. We have consistently stressed that all sides must abide by international law.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to support the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force monitoring the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK has been clear that the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) remains vital for stability at this pivotal moment for Syria and the wider region [we said this at the last public meeting on UNDOF in January - https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-uk-will-continue-to-support-unifils-essential-role-in-maintaining-calm-along-the-blue-line-uk-statement-at-the-un-security-council] and we have called for all parties to respect the terms of the Agreement. We participate regularly in UN Security Council Meetings on UNDOF, most recently consultations on 12 June 2025. In December 2024, the Prime Minister reiterated, along with G7 partners, his support for UNDOF. [G7 Leaders' Statement on Syria: 12 December 2024 - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/g7-leaders-statement-on-syria-12-december-2024].

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to sanction Israeli politicians whose rhetoric has been characterised by human rights organisations and in filings before the International Court of Justice as incitement to commit genocide.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Since day one, this Government has been clear that we need to see an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages cruelly detained by Hamas, better protection of civilians, significantly more aid consistently entering Gaza, and a path to long-term peace and stability.

It is the UK government's long-standing position that any formal determination as to whether genocide has occurred is a matter for a competent national or international court, after consideration of all the evidence available in the context of a credible judicial process, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies.

Sanctions can be used to achieve a range of foreign and security policy objectives. We use sanctions when they complement other tools as part of a wider strategy. It would not be appropriate to speculate about future sanctions designations as to do so could reduce their impact.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to sanction Israeli officials or military personnel plausibly linked to violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza and the West Bank.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Since day one, this Government has been clear that we need to see an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages cruelly detained by Hamas, better protection of civilians, significantly more aid consistently entering Gaza, and a path to long-term peace and stability. It would not be appropriate to speculate about potential future sanctions designations as to do so could reduce their impact. Outside of Gaza, on 10 June 2025, we sanctioned Israeli Government Ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, in their personal capacities, in response to their repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. This followed two sanctions packages, in October 2024 and May 2025, targeting entities and individuals who also incited or supported violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that all people facing homelessness who seek support are seen and that every application is dealt with.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

In 2025/26 the Government is investing £1 billion in homelessness services in England, an increase of £233 million on the previous year. Local authorities can use this funding to provide a range of services to meet local need.

The Homelessness Code of Guidance sets out how local authorities in England should exercise their homelessness functions in accordance with the Homelessness Reduction Act, including how housing authorities must ensure their services are accessible. You can find the Code of Guidance on gov.uk here.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that all homeless people have access to sufficient food and hygiene products.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

In 2025/26 the Government is investing £1 billion in homelessness services in England, an increase of £233 million on the previous year. Local authorities can use this funding to provide a range of services to meet local need.

The Homelessness Code of Guidance sets out how local authorities in England should exercise their homelessness functions in accordance with the Homelessness Reduction Act, including how housing authorities must ensure their services are accessible. You can find the Code of Guidance on gov.uk here.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to improve access to benefits and support services for people who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government has committed to a cross-government strategy to get the country back on track to ending homelessness. We have already taken the first steps, making a £1 billion investment in homelessness and rough sleeping services in 2025/26, a £233 million increase on the previous year, to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and to help prevent rough sleeping.

My department is committed to ensuring people experiencing homelessness receive the benefits and support they need. Support is in place to help people experiencing homelessness claim and receive benefits, including:

• The DWP funded ‘Help to Claim’ service delivered by Citizen’s Advice
• The use of a 'care of' address, such as a local jobcentre
• Payment through the Payment Exception Service, enabling cash withdrawal from a PayPoint outlet, where the customer does not have a bank account.

Jobcentres provide outreach in community and homelessness settings in areas with high levels of homelessness and organise referrals to local authority housing teams under ‘Duty to Refer’ legislation. There are single points of contact in every jobcentre to support work coaches with complex homelessness cases, along with training to better understand and support vulnerable customers. Our advanced customer support senior leaders and vulnerable customer champions review our processes to ensure we are effectively safeguarding such customers.

The Government’s plans to get Britain working include the new Jobs and Careers Service, which will provide individualised support to those with the greatest barriers to work, while Connect to Work will provide support to people with disabilities, health conditions and complex barriers, including those experiencing homelessness.

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 - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

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

[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/articles/comparingemptyhomestatisticsinenglandandwales/2024-08-09

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to improve access to medical care and vaccinations for people who are experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness.

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

The Government recognises the importance of reducing barriers to healthcare services for those experiencing homelessness, including those in temporary accommodation.

We are committed to promoting high vaccine uptake for eligible cohorts across the vaccination programmes available on the National Health Service. General practices (GPs) offer relevant opportunistic catch-up vaccinations when anyone visits their GP for any reason. Primary and community care providers also have knowledge of, and have developed relationships with their local communities, making them optimally located to undertake outreach into underserved cohorts, such as the use of pop-up clinics and mobile units.

Local health systems are encouraged to use their access and inequality funding to target those who are at greater risk of morbidity, mortality, and hospitalisation, including those who are experiencing homelessness. Previously used to improve the offer of the COVID-19 vaccine, access and inequality funding can now be used to promote other vaccines, including flu, shingles, pneumococcal polysaccharide, and respiratory syncytial virus.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to spend the £445 million of funding allocated to the country’s rail infrastructure needs; and whether they will dedicate any of this funding to the electrification of the Crewe to Holyhead railway line.

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

The Spending Review and the 10-year Infrastructure Strategy recognises Wales’ long-term infrastructure needs and will deliver at least £445 million of rail enhancements to realise them. The detail of how this investment is to be realised will be determined by the Wales Rail Board in the coming months. The funding secured at the Spending Review includes delivery of the infrastructure changes needed to support the introduction of 50% more services across the North Wales mainline during 2026 and consideration of the future requirements of that line.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact and allocation of the funds budgeted to support those who lose their jobs as a result of the transformation of Port Talbot.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Tata Steel/Port Talbot Transition Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Wales, supports those affected by Tata Steel UK’s decarbonisation transition and is supported by £100 million of funding. £80 million of which is provided by the UK Government, as confirmed by the Chancellor in the Budget on 30 October, and the remaining £20 million is provided by Tata Steel UK. The joint investment by UK Government and Tata Steel UK of £1.3 billion in an Electric Arc Furnace at Port Talbot has helped to protect 5,000 jobs and many more within the supply chain.

The Transition Board, in under a year, allocated the full UK Government £80 million funding to help those people and businesses affected by the transition, and to regenerate the local area. The UK Government Funds have created:

• The Supply Chain Transition Fund, to help businesses adapt to new markets.

• The Employment and Skills Fund, to help individuals re-train and find new well-paid jobs.

• The Business Start-Up Fund, to help people affected start new businesses.

• The Business Growth and Resilience Funds to help businesses reliant on Tata Steel UK but not in the supply chain, such as shops and cafes, adapt to the changes.

• Mental health and wellbeing support, to provide additional help to those affected.

• Regeneration projects, to create new business space for local businesses; to help remediate land and flood mitigation for the creation of an innovation centre in Port Talbot; and to create a skills centre for future green skills in green energy.

• An Economic Growth and Investment Fund is in development, to attract inward investment into Port Talbot, to create new, well-paid jobs for those affected by job losses.

The Transition Board receives updates on the impact of the funds at every Board meeting, containing data provided by delivery partners, such as Neath Port Talbot Council and Business Wales. The Transition Board last met on 26 June, and the following progress was reported up until that date:

• The Employment and Skills Fund: more than 2,800 training courses and qualifications have been funded so far.
• The Supply Chain Fund: 240 jobs have been safeguarded, and 26 new jobs have been created so far.
• The Resilience and Growth Funds: a total of 192 enquiries for support have been received so far.
• The Business Start-Up Fund: 12 new business have been created.

Funding for growth and regeneration projects in Port Talbot have also been funded by the Transition Board:

• On 6 February, the Secretary of State for Wales announced over £8m of the Transition Board funding to support the South Wales Industrial Transition from Carbon Hub project. This will redevelop a four-acre site at Harbourside, Port Talbot which will include the construction of additional shared space, undertake flood mitigation and the provision of specialist equipment. This investment will help establish an Innovation District in Port Talbot. This will support more than 100 jobs and bring an estimated £87.7 million in GVA benefits to the local economy.

• Three additional growth and regeneration projects were announced by the Secretary of State for Wales on 22 May, which committed over £20m for the creation of an Advanced Manufacturing Production Facility (AMPF) and National Net Zero Skills Centre of Excellence; and for the redevelopment of Metal Box and Sandfields Business Centre. These two projects will support over 270 jobs, and bring an estimated £119 million in GVA benefits to the local economy.

The growth and regeneration projects will also create construction jobs during the building, refurbishment and remediation phases.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure homeless people can access benefits.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave to question HL9238 on 17 July.

The Government has committed to a cross-government strategy to get the country back on track to ending homelessness. We have already taken the first steps, making a £1 billion investment in homelessness and rough sleeping services in 2025/26, a £233 million increase on the previous year, to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and to help prevent rough sleeping

My department is committed to ensuring people experiencing homelessness receive the benefits and support they need. Support is in place to help people experiencing homelessness claim and receive benefits, including:

• The DWP funded ‘Help to Claim’ service delivered by Citizen’s Advice
• The use of a 'care of' address, such as a local jobcentre
• Payment through the Payment Exception Service, enabling cash withdrawal from a PayPoint outlet, where the customer does not have a bank account

Jobcentres provide outreach in community and homelessness settings in areas with high levels of homelessness and organise referrals to local authority housing teams under ‘Duty to Refer’ legislation. There are single points of contact in every jobcentre to support work coaches with complex homelessness cases, along with training to better understand and support vulnerable customers. Our advanced customer support senior leaders and vulnerable customer champions review our processes to ensure we are effectively safeguarding such customers

The Government’s plans to get Britain working include the new Jobs and Careers Service, which will provide individualised support to those with the greatest barriers to work, while Connect to Work will provide support to people with disabilities, health conditions and complex barriers, including those experiencing homelessness.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of churches in the West Bank that have been attacked in (1) 2023, and (2) 2024.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As the Foreign Secretary has made clear, the war in Gaza must end. We are concerned by incidents and strikes on holy sites across the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including most recently the Holy Family Church in Gaza being struck on 17 July and reports of attacks by violent settlers on Christian communities in the West Bank. Last week His Majesty's Consul General to Jerusalem visited Taybeh in the West Bank with church leaders and international partners to express solidarity with the local community following attacks by settlers on their community. My officials continue to meet with Church leaders in Jerusalem and carefully monitor reports impacting religious sites and freedom of religion or belief in Gaza and the West Bank. The UK is strongly committed to freedom of religion or belief for all.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of churches in Gaza that have been attacked in (1) 2023, and (2) 2024.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As the Foreign Secretary has made clear, the war in Gaza must end. We are concerned by incidents and strikes on holy sites across the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including most recently the Holy Family Church in Gaza being struck on 17 July and reports of attacks by violent settlers on Christian communities in the West Bank. Last week His Majesty's Consul General to Jerusalem visited Taybeh in the West Bank with church leaders and international partners to express solidarity with the local community following attacks by settlers on their community. My officials continue to meet with Church leaders in Jerusalem and carefully monitor reports impacting religious sites and freedom of religion or belief in Gaza and the West Bank. The UK is strongly committed to freedom of religion or belief for all.