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 impact on the operational independence and security of UK sovereign interests of accepting gifts from host governments in Gulf states, including the recent sports complex gifted to the Royal Navy by the King of Bahrain.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
His Majesty's Government recognises the importance of ensuring the operational independence and security of sovereign interests, including when operating in partnership with allied nations.
The sports complex is the generous gift of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and the Bahrain Royal Family to the UK for its ongoing commitment to the security of the region. And it is intended to support the welfare and morale of UK personnel stationed at the UK Naval Support Facility in Bahrain, enabling year round access for service personnel.
The UK and Bahrain maintain a longstanding defence relationship, due to our shared interests in regional security and stability.
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 reports of intimidation and targeting of the family of Sheikh Ali Salman and individuals who visit his home by Bahrain’s Criminal Investigation Directorate; and whether this will impact the technical support and assistance they provide to that body.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We have made no assessment of the referenced allegation. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has previously raised the case of Ali Salman with the Bahraini Government, as well as with the independent oversight bodies.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to make representations to the government of Bahrain in the light of reports of medical neglect of Abduljalil al-Singace by Bahraini authorities; and whether they plan to endorse calls for his immediate release.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We continue to follow and discuss the case of Abduljalil al-Singace with the Bahraini Government, as well as with the independent oversight bodies, where appropriate. The UK remains committed to supporting reforms in Bahrain and to encouraging the government to meet its human rights commitments.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria they will use in reducing staff costs by 50 per cent for NHS England; and how this methodology was established with regard to local and regional outcomes.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers and senior Department officials are working with the new executive team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to jointly lead the formation of a new joint centre.
At this stage, while we are scoping the transformation programme, it is too early to share details of any programmes to reduce staff costs, but we are looking closely at areas of duplication between NHS England and the Department. The reductions will be achieved through a mix of efficiencies, removing duplication between the Department and NHS England and stopping functions at the centre that will support our aim of empowering the frontline.
The Government is committed to transparency and will consider how best to ensure the public and parliamentarians are informed.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people born on or after 1 January 2009 who will continue to smoke if the provisions of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill are enacted.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tobacco is the single most important entirely preventable cause of ill health, disability, and death in this country, and is responsible for 80,000 deaths in the United Kingdom each year. The majority of smokers start in their youth and are then addicted for life. More than four in five smokers start before the age of 20 years old.
As a result of Government action, smoking rates have declined in all ages since the 1970s, but there is still much further to go. Legislation has been an important driver of this decline, including raising the age of sale for smoking from 16 to 18 years old, which reduced prevalence in this age group by 30%.
The available data does not allow us to estimate the number of people under 18 years old that smoke and vape in England, and the data that is available is not comparable as it covers different age groups and countries. However, using the NHS Smoking Drink and Drugs survey data, we estimate that the number of 11 to 15 year olds regularly smoking in England is 42,000 in 2023. We do not have similar data for years 2022 and 2024. Using the Action on Smoking and Health GB survey data, we estimate that the number of children aged 11 to 17 years old that regularly use a vape in Great Britain, which can also be called an e-cigarette, is 169,000 in 2022, 206,000 in 2023, and 234,000 in 2024.
Our modelling of the estimated impact of the Smokefree Generation (SFG) policy on smoking rates is presented in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill Impact Assessment. In the central scenario we modelled, smoking prevalence among those aged 18 years old and over is estimated to fall from 11.6% in 2023 to 1.6% in 2056. In terms of the number of smokers, we estimate this is equivalent to approximately 700,000 smokers aged 18 years old and over in 2056 when SFG is implemented, compared to approximately 2.4 million smokers aged 18 years old and over if not implemented.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people in England under the age of 18 who regularly used (1) a vape, (2) an e-cigarette, or (3) smoked tobacco, in each of the years 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tobacco is the single most important entirely preventable cause of ill health, disability, and death in this country, and is responsible for 80,000 deaths in the United Kingdom each year. The majority of smokers start in their youth and are then addicted for life. More than four in five smokers start before the age of 20 years old.
As a result of Government action, smoking rates have declined in all ages since the 1970s, but there is still much further to go. Legislation has been an important driver of this decline, including raising the age of sale for smoking from 16 to 18 years old, which reduced prevalence in this age group by 30%.
The available data does not allow us to estimate the number of people under 18 years old that smoke and vape in England, and the data that is available is not comparable as it covers different age groups and countries. However, using the NHS Smoking Drink and Drugs survey data, we estimate that the number of 11 to 15 year olds regularly smoking in England is 42,000 in 2023. We do not have similar data for years 2022 and 2024. Using the Action on Smoking and Health GB survey data, we estimate that the number of children aged 11 to 17 years old that regularly use a vape in Great Britain, which can also be called an e-cigarette, is 169,000 in 2022, 206,000 in 2023, and 234,000 in 2024.
Our modelling of the estimated impact of the Smokefree Generation (SFG) policy on smoking rates is presented in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill Impact Assessment. In the central scenario we modelled, smoking prevalence among those aged 18 years old and over is estimated to fall from 11.6% in 2023 to 1.6% in 2056. In terms of the number of smokers, we estimate this is equivalent to approximately 700,000 smokers aged 18 years old and over in 2056 when SFG is implemented, compared to approximately 2.4 million smokers aged 18 years old and over if not implemented.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of extra enforcement officers required in each local authority to ensure that people born on after 1 January 2009 do not purchase tobacco products if the provisions of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill are enacted.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
History shows that when we have introduced targeted tobacco control measures, the size of the illicit market has not increased and in fact continued to fall. When the age of sale was increased from 16 to 18 in 2007, prevalence in this age group reduced by 30% and the number of illicit cigarettes consumed overall fell by 25% from 10 billion in 2005/06 to 7.5 billion in 2007/08.
The Department will conduct a New Burdens Assessment to assess the impact of policies in the Bill on local authorities prior to the Bill receiving Royal Assent. At this stage, we have not made a specific assessment of the number of additional enforcement officers needed in each local authority. However, we have engaged with National Trading Standards, the Association of Chief Trading Standards Officers' Board and Trading Standards regions to identify where to additional support and funding is needed to enforce the provisions in the Bill. As a result, an additional £10 million funding for Trading Standards was announced on 23 March 2025 which will bolster operations in local communities for the next year. This will fund an expected 80 more apprentice enforcement officers to tackle underage sales and prevent harmful tobacco and vape products finding their way into neighbourhood shops. We have allocated the apprenticeship funding regionally, based on smoking and vaping prevalence in the area, to target the areas where enforcement will most likely be needed.
In total, we will invest £30 million of new funding in 2025/26 for enforcement agencies including Trading Standards, Border Force and HM Revenue and Customs to tackle the illicit and underage sale of tobacco and vapes, supporting the implementation of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 30 April (HL6268), how many children were hospitalised as a result of non-therapeutic male circumcision between 2015 and 2025.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data is not available in the format requested. Data is collected on admissions with a primary diagnosis code of routine and ritual circumcision. This data is available for 2023/24, by age group, on the NHS.UK website, in an online only format.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have conducted an impact assessment of the planned 50 per cent staff cost reductions for NHS England this financial year; and if so, what are the implications for services and delivery at local and regional levels.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers and senior Department officials are working with the new executive team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to jointly lead the formation of a new joint centre. It is only right that with such significant reform, we commit to carefully assessing and understanding the potential impacts, as is due process. Evidence from these ongoing assessments will inform our programme as appropriate.
The new centre will operate in a leaner, more agile, and more efficient way and will empower staff at all levels of the health system, including local and regional, to deliver better care for patients, drive productivity up, and get waiting times down. This change will set local National Health Service providers free to innovate, develop new productive ways of working, and focus on what matters most.
The Government is committed to transparency and will consider how best to ensure the public and parliamentarians are informed of the outcomes.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 4 March (HL5190), whether any official or minister of the Department for Transport, acting as part of the Manchester Task Force, formally agreed to the decisions that caused the direct train service between Sheffield and Manchester Airport to be withdrawn from service.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Manchester Task Force was made up of Department for Transport (DfT) officials and representatives from Network Rail, train operators, Rail North Partnership (RNP), Transport for the North (TfN) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM). The task force also had the benefit from expert industry analysis and insight.
After gathering evidence, developing options and consulting with stakeholders and passengers, it identified a range of short and long-term actions to improve the performance of the railway in Manchester and thereby across the North and to support future growth in passengers.
The Task Force formulated a series of recommendations with input from DfT officials and officers from TfN, TfGM and RNP on which Ministers and Northern leaders made a decision on a new timetable.