Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance, if any, they have issued to police forces in England and Wales regarding how long they may take to process shotgun and firearms licensing renewals; and what assessment they have made of the length of time police forces in England and Wales have taken to process shotgun and firearms licensing renewals in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The issuing of shotgun and firearms certificates, resourcing of firearms licensing teams and the efficiency of police forces in processing licensing applications are matters for individual Chief Officers of Police and Police and Crime Commissioners.
Firearms licensing fees charged by police forces were increased significantly from 5 February 2025 to provide full cost recovery for police forces, and they were increased again on 6 June this year by the rate of inflation to ensure that the fees keep in line with police costs. The extra income from fees is helping police forces to better resource and train their firearms licensing teams and to improve performance.
The Home Office has not routinely collected data on the time taken to process the time taken to renew shotgun and firearms licences by police forces over the past five years. However, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for firearms licensing now publishes quarterly performance data for firearms licensing in all police forces in England and Wales which includes a new performance target for forces to complete applications for the grant or renewal of firearm and shotgun certificates within four months of receipt. We welcome this greater transparency and forces making improvements in performance, subject to ensuring public safety remains the priority and suitability checks are carried out properly.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to rank police forces in England and Wales on the speed of their processing of shotgun and firearms licensing renewals.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The issuing of shotgun and firearms certificates, resourcing of firearms licensing teams and the efficiency of police forces in processing licensing applications are matters for individual Chief Officers of Police and Police and Crime Commissioners.
Firearms licensing fees charged by police forces were increased significantly from 5 February 2025 to provide full cost recovery for police forces, and they were increased again on 6 June this year by the rate of inflation to ensure that the fees keep in line with police costs. The extra income from fees is helping police forces to better resource and train their firearms licensing teams and to improve performance.
The Home Office has not routinely collected data on the time taken to process the time taken to renew shotgun and firearms licences by police forces over the past five years. However, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for firearms licensing now publishes quarterly performance data for firearms licensing in all police forces in England and Wales which includes a new performance target for forces to complete applications for the grant or renewal of firearm and shotgun certificates within four months of receipt. We welcome this greater transparency and forces making improvements in performance, subject to ensuring public safety remains the priority and suitability checks are carried out properly.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the National Energy System Operator about building new onshore and offshore electricity transmission routes along the coasts to cater for Scotland's overcapacity in wind power and associated large converter stations.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) recommends necessary transmission infrastructure through its independent strategic network planning processes. Notably the upcoming Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) and the Centralised Strategic Network Plan (CSNP). The SSEP will identify optimal locations for generation technologies across Great Britain. The CSNP will use this modelling as an input to produce holistic design recommendations, ensuring onshore and offshore routes and associated assets such as converter stations are considered with demand in mind.
While the National Energy System Operator’s (NESO) independent strategic network planning processes (including the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan and the Centralised Strategic Network Plan) will identify the need for new infrastructure at a system level, the detailed routing of onshore and offshore routing of transmission assets is a matter for the Transmission Owners. In Scotland, planning and consenting of onshore electricity infrastructure is devolved, and decisions are taken by Scottish Ministers in accordance with Scottish planning policy and statutory processes.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what vetting procedures were undertaken prior to the appointments of Gordon Brown as the Prime Minister’s Special Reviewer on Global Finance and Cooperation, and Baroness Harman as the Prime Minister's Adviser on Women and Girls.
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)
It is a longstanding principle maintained across multiple administrations not to comment on individuals’ security clearance.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to (1) expel Dilshad Shamo and Ali Khdir from the UK following their sentencing on 10 April for involvement in people smuggling, and (2) permanently revoke any rights they have to live in or visit the UK in the future.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s top priority remains the safety and security of the United Kingdom and its citizens.
The Home Secretary has the power to deprive an individual of British citizenship where it was obtained by fraud, or where deprivation is conducive to the public good.
Deprivation on conducive grounds is used only for individuals who pose a threat to the UK or whose conduct is considered to involve very high harm, for example activities relating to national security (including terrorism and espionage), war crimes, serious and organised crime, or extremism and the glorification of terrorism.
The Government does not comment on individual cases or on operational activity however any referrals the Home Office receives relating to serious organised crime are subject to thorough investigation and decisions on deprivation are taken on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 26 February (HL14633), whether they will publish the (1) relevant stakeholders they consulted, and (2) standard protocols they used, to produce the updated government branding guidance.
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 guidance was developed and agreed upon by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Number 10.
There are no plans to discontinue the use of "His Majesty's Government". This term continues to be used on relevant official communications and records, and this will not change.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of the killing of Palestinian aid workers near Rafah in March 2025.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
I refer the the Noble Lord to the answer provided on 9 June 2025 in response to question HC56774 which, for ease of reference, is reproduced below:
We are appalled by repeated reports of mass casualty incidents, in which Palestinians have been killed when trying to access aid sites in Gaza. Desperate civilians who have endured 20 months of war should never face the risk of death or injury to simply feed themselves and their families. We call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events, and for the perpetrators to be held to account. Israel must immediately allow the UN and aid partners to safely deliver all types of aid at scale to save lives, reduce suffering and maintain dignity.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any guidance or advice for members of the public to deal with foxes that are ill or have mange.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Members of the public are advised not to feed foxes, regardless of whether they are ill, because it can be detrimental for their health and change their natural behaviours, increasing potential for pathogen transmission.
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health advise that whilst S. scabiei infestations (which in non-humans is referred to as ‘sarcoptic mange’) is contagious among foxes, there are few confirmed reports of mange being passed to dogs and little evidence to suggest outbreaks amongst domestic pets. The UK Health Security Agency advise that mange transmission between humans and animals has not been reported in the UK.
Animals with sarcoptic mange should be treated by a veterinarian but as foxes are wild animals, no one is responsible for seeking treatment for them and they can be dealt with by local landowners and vets as considered to be appropriate.
However, any suspicion of a notifiable disease such as rabies or influenza of avian origin in mammals must be reported immediately by calling 03000 200 301 in England.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they consider any increase in urban fox populations to constitute a health or environmental risk to the public.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Whilst there may have been an increase in the number of urban areas with resident foxes, we are not aware of an increased health or environmental risk to the public.
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health has published guidance which indicates that the risk of catching an infection from a fox in the UK is very low and that whilst there may be a health risk if a person comes into direct contact with fox faeces, this can be reduced with appropriate hygiene.
Members of the public are advised not to feed foxes because it can be detrimental for their health and change their natural behaviours, increasing potential for pathogen transmission.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with local authorities about any increase in the number of foxes in London.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has not had any discussions with local authorities about the number of foxes in London.
Foxes are not protected for conservation purposes in England, and the owner or occupier of the property can decide whether to control them. Local authorities do not have a statutory responsibility to control them.
In conjunction with Government advice, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health published guidance on the management of urban foxes for the benefit of local authorities, pest controllers and the public as part of their public health and protection resources.