Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential role of rural taxi services in reducing pressure on bus services in low-population areas of the country, thereby improving environmental performance.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Taxi and private hire vehicle policy is a devolved matter in all UK nations. The role the trade can play in providing flexible transport services, especially in rural areas, is recognised in Department for Transport guidance issued to licensing authorities in England.
The Rural Mobility Fund demand responsive transport (DRT) minibus pilot, currently underway in 14 different local authorities, is exploring whether DRT can provide a solution in rural and suburban areas, either alone or in conjunction with other services. A comprehensive monitoring and evaluation process is in place, consisting of a process evaluation and an impact evaluation. The final process evaluation report is due next year.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether children in low-income families are permitted to use funding from the apprenticeship levy to stay on at secondary school.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Apprenticeships are jobs with training that are open to anyone aged 16 and over. The apprenticeship levy was introduced to support employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training. The department’s annual budget for apprenticeships in England has increased to over £2.7 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. This budget is ringfenced for spend on apprenticeships training and assessment only to meet employer demand for high-quality apprenticeships and cannot be used for other purposes.
To ensure that every child, regardless of their background, can excel at school and achieve their full potential, the department has targeted a greater proportion of the schools national funding formula towards deprived pupils than ever before. In total, 10.2%, over £4.4 billion, of the formula will be allocated according to deprivation factors in the 2024/25 financial year and 17.8%, or £7.8 billion, will be allocated for additional needs overall. This will help schools in their vital work to close attainment gaps and level up educational opportunities.
The pupil premium grant, introduced in 2011, also offers direct funding to schools to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged 5 to 16 year olds in state-funded schools in England. The department increased the premium pupil funding to over £2.9 billion this financial year to ensure the most disadvantaged pupils receive the support they need to succeed at school.
The department is providing funding to ensure that every 16 to 18 year old has a place in further education or training if they want one. The department invested over £7 billion on 16 to 19 programme funding during the 2023/24 academic year, which included over £590 million to support students who are economically deprived and to account for low prior attainment in English and mathematics. Over £35 million has also been allocated in the 2023/24 academic year to provide free meals for 16 to 19 year olds in further education. Additionally, the department allocated over £159 million of bursary funding to institutions in the 2023/24 academic year to help disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds with costs such as travel, books, equipment and trips, which is nearly 12% higher than published allocations for the 2022/23 academic year.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to give effect to the recent United Nations Human Rights Council resolution affirming the rights of intersex people; and what is their planned timetable for addressing the rights violations experienced by people born with variations in their sex characteristics, including genital-normalising operations carried out on intersex children.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The UK recognises the fundamental importance of protecting the human rights of all people, including those with variations in sex characteristics (VSC), and we await the OHCHR report on the human rights of intersex people.
It is important to understand the experiences of people living with VSC in the UK and to use this insight to shape policy. In this vein, the Government is currently monitoring and considering evidence and research specific to people living with VSC.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what plans the House of Lords has to provide a facility within the Palace of Westminster for Members to organise screenings of high-quality audio-visual work.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce legislation relating to cybersecurity practices and offences.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government keeps the UK’s cyber legislation under regular review to ensure that it can be used to tackle new and emerging threats. The UK’s regulatory framework for cyber resilience is a mixture of: sector-based regulation such the Network and Information Systems (NIS) Regulations 2018; thematic regulation such as the Data Protection Act 2018; and criminal legislation such as the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
The Government has undertaken several amendments to legislation to ensure it keeps pace with the evolving cyber threat, including updating the Computer Misuse Act in 2015 and updating the Network and Information Systems Regulations (2018) in 2020.
In 2022 the Government published proposals to make changes to the Network and Information Systems Regulations and these will be implemented as soon as Parliamentary time allows. The government has also carried out a review of the Computer Misuse Act and is currently considering whether to bring forward legislative proposals.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote greater awareness of cyberthreats among (1) the civil service, (2) public sector workers, and (3) the general public.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The Government Cyber Security Strategy, published in January 2022, sets out how we will build and maintain our cyber defences - by building greater cyber resilience across all government organisations and working together to ‘defend as one’ which enables a greater defensive force. A key component of the strategy is that the civil service and the public sector at large will have sufficient cyber security knowledge and awareness to identify and respond to cyber threats. In central government this work is being led by the Security, Education and Awareness Centre which promotes awareness of all security issues, including cyber threat, across government.
The National Cyber Security Centre’s Cyber Aware campaign is encouraging the public to take the necessary steps to improve their online security. The campaign sets out the six behaviours they can adopt to stay safe. These range from creating stronger passwords using three random words to turning on two-step verification.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what contribution they are making to international efforts to (1) identify, (2) and counter, cybercriminal gangs who target networks and users in the UK.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The UK is a world leader in cyber security. Our operational agencies, such as the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and National Crime Agency (NCA) are a source of international best practice, and we strongly support international cooperation to tackle cyber crime. The Government’s approach to countering this threat is set out in the National Cyber Strategy (2022), under the pillar of detecting, disrupting and deterring our adversaries.
Cyber-crime is a global threat. Criminals and the technical infrastructure they use are often based in uncooperative jurisdictions, making international collaboration essential. Across our law enforcement network, we seek to maximise international links as part of our response to criminal activity. Alongside working closely with UK police and regional organised crime units, the NCA have built crucial relationships with partners such as Europol, the FBI, and the US Secret Service to assess cyber crime risks, share intelligence and coordinate action.
The NCA works to identify cyber criminals impacting the UK, wherever they are in the world. Working with international partners to target and disrupt cyber criminal gangs and the illicit cyber crime ecosystem that supports them. For example, in February 2023, we announced sanctions against seven Russian cyber criminals involved in the notorious organised crime group behind many of the most damaging ransomware groups in the last few years involving TRICKBOT, CONTI and RYUK ransomware. A second wave of sanctions was announced in September demonstrating the NCA’s unrelenting targeting of cyber-criminals.
The UK continues to shape the global conversation at multilateral forums and bilaterally to drive cooperation to deter malicious cyber activity. We have promoted the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime since it was agreed in 2001, and we are taking an active role in the development of the proposed UN treaty on cybercrime, to ensure that it supports international cooperation on tackling crimes that all countries face, while protecting human rights.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they consider predictive text engines such as ChatGPT and Google's LaMDA BARD to be within the scope of the Online Safety Bill, as currently drafted; and if not, what other measures they will introduce to hold companies responsible for the operation of such software should it be likely to be accessed by children or by vulnerable UK citizens.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Online Safety Bill has been designed to be technology-neutral to future-proof it and to ensure that the legislation keeps pace with emerging technologies. It will apply to companies which enable users to share content online or to interact with each other, as well as search services. Content generated by artificial intelligence ‘bots’ is in scope of the Bill, where it interacts with user-generated content, such as on Twitter. Search services using AI-powered features will also be in scope of the search duties outlined in the Bill.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are having discussions with the Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, and other partners regarding (1) cultural cinema programme activity in Edinburgh, and (2) the 2023 Edinburgh International Film Festival, following the closure of the Edinburgh Film House.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Cultural cinema programme activity in Edinburgh is a matter for the Scottish Government, since this is a devolved policy area. Following the Centre for the Moving Image (CMI) going into administration in October 2022, Screen Scotland purchased the intellectual property for the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
DCMS officials have spoken to the British Film Institute (BFI) about this issue. The BFI operates UK-wide and has a close working relationship with Creative Scotland and its dedicated screen agency, Screen Scotland. Throughout the period covered by the British Film Institute’s previous corporate strategy, British Film Institute 2022, Screen Scotland has been its delivery partner for the National Lottery-backed British Film Institute NETWORK programme, Short Circuit. The British Film Institute’s new strategy, Screen Culture 2033, is UK-wide and Scotland-based applicants are able to apply for applicable National Lottery funds.
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much Ofcom has spent on its work to promote online media literacy in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Ofcom is operationally independent from His Majesty’s Government and is accountable to Parliament. Information on Ofcom’s budget and funding arrangements can be found in its Annual Report and Accounts, which are lodged in the House of Commons Library and published on Ofcom's website.