Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether a direct train service between Sheffield and Manchester Airport will be reintroduced as part of the Northern Growth Strategy.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As part of the third phase of NPR, we will deliver better cross-Pennine links over and above the Transpennine Route Upgrade already underway, of which Manchester-Sheffield is a key part. NPR will unlock economic growth benefits by improving connectivity to Manchester Airport from across the North, including a new Manchester Airport station. Further details, including of future services, will be confirmed following engagement with local leaders on priorities and specific infrastructure choices.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the total expenditure by NHS England was on the remuneration of (1) chief executives, and (2) all other executive directors, of (a) NHS Trusts, and (b) NHS Foundation Trusts, in 2024–25.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the information requested. Each individual National Health Service trust and NHS foundation trust will publish information on the renumeration of executive directors, including the chief executive, as part of its annual reports and accounts which can be found on each body’s website.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the total expenditure by NHS England was on the remuneration of (1) chairs, and (2) non-executive directors, of (a) NHS Trusts, and (b) NHS Foundation Trusts, in 2024–25.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the information requested. Each individual National Health Service trust and NHS foundation trust will publish information on the renumeration of its chair and non-executive directors as part of its annual reports and accounts which can be found on each body’s website.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific reasonable adjustments are embedded in the digital benefit application interface to accommodate claimants with learning disabilities; and what percentage of those who failed (1) the identity verification, and (2) the work capability, online application stages in the past 12 months were identified as having a learning disability.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is committed to ensuring that its digital benefit services, including the Universal Credit online claim, are accessible to all, in line with our duties under the Equality Act 2010. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people with learning disabilities so that they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage when applying for support.
Universal Credit is designed as a modern digital service, with the online application structured in clear steps and using plain English, informed by user research and feedback. The questions presented are built dynamically based on the information the customer provides, so people only see the screens that are relevant to their circumstances, reducing complexity for those who may find long forms or highly technical language difficult to manage.
An Accessibility Statement link is also available at the bottom of each Universal Credit page. This explains how to access the service if extra support is needed, including how to ask for information in alternative formats or for additional help with managing the digital journey.
Customers who are unable to use the digital service can make a claim by telephone, and where they are unable to attend the jobcentre, a home visit can be arranged to undertake verification. Customers may also give explicit consent for a trusted third party to help manage their claim, or an appointee can be formally appointed to act on their behalf, with these arrangements recorded within the digital service.
The Department keeps the Universal Credit service under regular review and continues to work with stakeholders, disability organisations and people with lived experience to identify further improvements, including for customers with learning disabilities, to ensure that our services remain accessible and responsive to all.
With reference to the statistics requested, these are not readily available based on the requested parameters.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have requested information from the government of Bahrain about individuals applying for UK citizenship; if so, how many individual cases they requested information for; and what categories of information were requested in the past five years.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not held, and obtaining the specific information requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple systems owned by multiple teams across the Home Office and, therefore, could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to move the LeDeR programme onto a statutory footing to mandate the implementation of its findings following the data failures and publication delays associated with the 2023 LeDeR report.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to move the Learning from lives and deaths – people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR) programme onto a statutory footing. NHS England’s national LeDeR policy sets out a clear governance framework and expectation that integrated care boards (ICBs) should prioritise LeDeR reviews within their delivery plans and ensure that actions are implemented to improve services and reduce premature mortality for their local populations. Each ICB is also expected to have an Executive Lead for LeDeR and to produce an annual report about their local LeDeR findings, and to have an Executive Lead on learning disability and autism.
There are strong expectations and accountability mechanisms in place, which aligns with the ambition of the 10-Year Health Plan to distribute power to local systems and drive more holistic, ongoing support in the community. ICBs are held accountable to reduce health inequalities for people with a learning disability through existing national and local governance processes such as the NHS Operating Framework, annual assessments of delivery, and core performance indicators, including on LeDeR, to support improvement activities across all ICBs.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps NHS England has taken to audit the "automated data process" introduced in Spring 2023; and how it has validated the permanent rectification of the technical defects in mortality data which necessitated the withdrawal of the September 2025 LeDeR report.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The errors in the updated 2023 Learning from lives and deaths – people with a learning disability and autistic people report, which was produced by King’s College London, were found to be caused by an automated data-processing issue. This meant that some data on the causes of death was missing at the time of analysis. This affected the conclusions originally published. NHS England worked closely with King’s College London, to review the report, and a revised version has now been published on 27 January 2026.
NHS England has also worked with its data processor to correct the automated processing error so that it cannot recur. King’s College London has strengthened its data checking protocols to prevent similar issues in the future. The Department is assured that this issue has now been resolved and these improvements have been applied to the revised report.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have raised the arrest of Ebrahim Sharif on 12 November 2025 with the government of Bahrain; if so, on how many occasions they have raised that case; and who discussed the issue with that government.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Government is aware of the case and conviction of Ebrahim Sharif. I refer the Noble Lord to the answers provided to questions HL13268 and HL13269 (published 19 January 2026) and HL12137 (published 2 December 2025).
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the conviction of Ebrahim Sharif in Bahrain on 8 January.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Government is aware of the case and conviction of Ebrahim Sharif. I refer the Noble Lord to the answers provided to questions HL13268 and HL13269 (published 19 January 2026) and HL12137 (published 2 December 2025).