Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure pharmacies receive sufficient support as a result of the changes announced in the Autumn Budget.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget 2024, which enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26. The employer National Insurance rise will be implemented in April 2025, and the Department will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage private companies to combat climate change.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Accelerating to net zero will unlock a range of benefits for businesses, including new market opportunities, access to green finance and reduced energy bills.
Climate Change Agreements provide tax discounts for businesses reducing their emissions, and the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund supports industrial sites with high energy use to transition.
We are currently running a pilot in the West Midlands, providing energy audits and grants to small and medium businesses to support them in decarbonising.
Small and medium-sized businesses can visit the UK Business Climate Hub, which is run in partnership with government, for advice and sources of finance or support on reducing emissions.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the new AI-powered chatbot on the Gov.uk website.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
GOV.UK Chat is a prototype chatbot developed by the Government Digital Service. It was first tested with users in November 2023. Results showed that nearly 70 percent of users found the chatbot’s responses useful and that its answers were accurate 80 percent of the time. These insights were used to improve the prototype ahead of the current pilot, which commenced on 7 November 2024. This pilot will be live for approximately 4 weeks, after which GDS will make an assessment of its effectiveness.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that rising university tuition fees do not exclude students from the poorest households.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to supporting the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university. The student finance system removes upfront financial barriers so that everyone with the ability and desire to enter higher education (HE) can do so.
Tuition fees will increase in line with inflation for the 2025/26 academic year for new and continuing full-time, part-time and accelerated degree domestic undergraduate students. HE providers are autonomous and responsible for setting their own fees under this level. In deciding to keep charging full fees, providers will want to ensure that they can continue to deliver courses which are fit for purpose and help students progress their qualifications.
Eligible students will be able to apply for upfront loans to meet the full costs of their tuition. Student loan borrowers will not see their monthly repayments increase as a result of this change, because monthly repayments depend on earnings, not on interest rates or the amount borrowed. Student loan borrowers are protected. Borrowers only make repayments when earning over the relevant student loan repayment threshold. At the end of the loan term, any outstanding loan debt, including interest accrued, will be written off, with no detriment to the borrower.
Borrowers who would be forecast not to repay their loans in full under the 2024/25 academic year fee and maintenance levels will see no increase to their lifetime student loan repayments.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce gas prices for consumers, particularly in relation to (1) high transmission costs, and (2) limited storage capacity.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to transforming Britain into a clean energy superpower and is working closely with Ofgem; to ensure energy is fair and affordable for consumers now and in the future.
Ofgem already regulate the cost of the transmission network, which safely and efficiently transports gas across GB, and under the current price cap represents an average annual cost of £7 per consumer.
Capacity of GB’s gas storage is not regulated by Ofgem however analysis published the Energy Security Plan Update in December 2023 shows we have sufficient and flexible gas storage to meet peak gas demand on any given day.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Football Association's aim to achieve equal access to football for girls in 90 per cent of schools by 2028; and what steps they will take to support this.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government agrees that every child should have the opportunity to play sport and do regular physical activity. Our mission-led Government puts children and young people at the heart of our priorities. This includes breaking down barriers to opportunity for every child to access high-quality sport and physical activity inside and outside of school, especially those who are less likely to be active.
It is ultimately for individual sports’ national governing bodies to decide on their specific aims and to evaluate progress against these.
The Government is committed to protecting time for physical education in schools. The upcoming expert-led review of the curriculum will ensure that all children can engage with a broad range of subjects, including PE and sport. The Department of Education also works closely with the FA to support schools to increase activity levels.
This Government recognises that grassroots facilities are at the heart of communities up and down the country and is acting to support more people to get active wherever they live through the delivery of the £123 million Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that artificial intelligence could save taxpayers and the oil and gas industry £10 billion in decommissioning costs.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is interested in opportunities to reduce decommissioning costs in the North Sea/UK Continental Shelf. We work closely with the North Sea Transition Authority, Oil and Gas industry partners, and those working on new and emerging technologies in support of this aim.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent Jabra study Great ExpectAItions: Work in the age of AI, which found that only 27 per cent of workers use AI in their everyday work.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is committed to boosting the responsible adoption of AI across all parts of the economy to drive innovation and kickstart economic growth. The AI Opportunities Action Plan will set out a roadmap to achieve this, including how we can strengthen our AI skills and talent base to ensure AI can be used by workers across the economy. The establishment of Skills England will also be key to embedding the right skills in workers, tackling skills shortages and supporting sustained economic growth.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to improve the treatment of, and (2) find a cure for, Alzheimer's disease.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To improve care for patients with dementia, including those with Alzheimer’s disease, NHS England's RightCare team has refreshed the RightCare Dementia Scenario, which works through the Dementia Well pathway journey, detailing optimal and sub-optimal approaches. The RightCare team has also developed a dementia model pathway based on data for each component of the Dementia Well pathway to provide a high-level view of what dementia care activity looks like for local areas, and aid targeted support where appropriate.
The quality of care for people with dementia in acute hospitals and memory assessment services is audited regularly by the National Audit of Dementia, commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership, and funded by NHS England and the Welsh Government.
NHS England has a dedicated team in place which has been planning for the roll out of new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, if and when they are approved for use.
The United Kingdom has established a rich ecosystem for dementia research, including through the UK Dementia Research Institute and related initiatives such as the Dementia Trials Accelerator, which is supported by the Government’s Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals programme.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of the forecast in the Office for Budget Responsibility report Economic and fiscal outlook, published on 30 October, that Government borrowing for the financial year 2028–29 is projected to rise from £39.4 billion as projected in March this year to £71.9 billion as projected in October.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government inherited a challenging fiscal position, with £22 billion of in-year spending pressures. The effect of these pressures was apparent in published public sector finances data, where current spending for the first half of the year is £11.8 billion higher than predicted in the OBR’s March 2024 forecast profile.
The decisions taken at Autumn Budget 2024 set realistic plans for public spending while putting the public finances on a sustainable path. Government borrowing (PSNB) peaks at 4.5% of GDP in 2024-25, then falls every year to reach 2.1% of GDP in 2029-30.
The Government has confirmed robust fiscal rules to put the public finances on a sustainable path. The independent OBR have confirmed that the fiscal rules are met two years early, in 2027-28.