Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to reduce noise pollution in towns and cities.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government is committed to ensuring that noise is managed effectively to promote good health and minimise disruption to people’s quality of life. Defra manages noise through the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations 2006.

The Regulations require noise mapping and the adoption of Noise Action Plans based upon this mapping. The Action Plans identify ‘Important Areas’, where the 1% of the population affected by the highest noise levels is located. The latest round of mapping is complete, with Noise Action Plans due to be published later in 2026.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether there has been an increase or decrease in rental properties available in London over the past two years.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The 2024-25 English Housing Survey sets out the most recent data on the size of London’s private rented sector. According to the 2024-25 Survey, the size of private rented housing stock in London has remained stable over the preceding two years with no significant increase or decrease.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to establish a government-led inquiry into lessons to be learned from HS2.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

An independent review of the governance and assurance of major transport projects led by James Stewart, drawing on HS2 as a case study, was published in June 2025. The Government has accepted the findings of this review in full and is taking forward its recommendations as part of the ongoing HS2 programme reset, recognising that some principles extend for the lifetime of the programme. On 19 May 2026, the Government also published a report by Sir Stephen Lovegrove looking at how the Civil Service sought to oversee and control the programme and HS2 Ltd, which we will respond to in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many benefit recipients receive higher than the national average wage.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

According to the Annual Survey for Hours and Earnings, produced by the Office for National Statistics, the median gross annual earnings for full-time employees in the UK who had been in their jobs for at least a year were £39,039 in April 2025. Using the Family (Benefit Unit) dataset from the Family Resources Survey for financial year ending 2025, there were 200,000 families in the UK who received more than £39,039 in State Support (this comprises tax credits and all benefits, including State Pension).

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they will take to prevent speculative investment platforms from creating fake new stories online.

Answered by Lord Livermore

The UK’s financial promotions regime is designed to ensure that consumers are provided with clear and accurate information that enables them to make appropriate decisions for their individual circumstances. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for enforcing the regime and can take action against any financial promotions that are illegal or which do not comply with its rules. This includes the promotion of speculative investments via false news stories.

The FCA is taking action to address illegal financial promotions shared online. Last month, the FCA led a week of action against illegal financial influencers, which resulted in one guilty plea, 4 targeted warning letters, 34 warning alerts, and 120 takedown requests to social media platforms.

The FCA has also worked closely with large search engines and social media platforms to ensure that they only allow financial promotions that are made or approved by FCA-authorised firms. In addition, the Online Safety Act requires all user-to-user (such as social media services) and search services to remove illegal content including fraud. Non-compliant services could face a fine of up to a maximum of £18 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is higher.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest estimate of the scale of UK benefits fraud.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Since the pandemic the Department has continued to reduce the level of fraud and error, to 3.2%, for FYE 2026 (£9.9 bn). This is a quarter lower than the 4.3% it was in 2022.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of unsold properties in the UK and the current length of time taken to sell a home.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

My Department does not collect data on the length of residential transaction times. We collect data on the number of residential property transactions but do not measure the number of unsold properties in the UK. We closely monitor industry data on these issues as part of our policymaking process.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of government subsidies for heat pumps go to households with an income above the national mean.

Answered by Lord Whitehead

The government does not collect data on recipient income across all heat pump subsidy schemes. Some schemes, such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), are not means-tested, so it is not possible to determine the proportion of funding going to households with an income above the national mean. Evaluations of government schemes that instal heat pumps (e.g. BUS, ECO) have published characteristics of scheme participants including income.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to leave the European Convention on Human Rights or to amend its application to British law.

Answered by Baroness Levitt

This Government is committed to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and has no plans to leave it.

However, commitment does not mean complacency. The UK played a leading role in negotiations on the Chișinău Declaration which set out a European consensus on the need for the ECHR to modernise in response to significant, complex migration-related challenges. As this process has demonstrated, the UK does not need to leave in order to deliver reform.

The Human Rights Act gives further effect in UK law to the rights and freedoms contained in the ECHR: it is an important part of our constitutional arrangements and fundamental to human rights protections in the UK. It will remain part of our law.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to regulate e-bikes.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Only e-bikes which comply with the requirements of the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle Regulations 1983 are legal to use on the roads. This includes their maximum assisted speed being limited to 15.5mph and the maximum power of their electric motor being limited to 250 watts.

Where these requirements are not complied with, the e-bike is classed as a motor vehicle and must be approved and registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency, taxed and insured in order to be used on the roads. The rider must also wear a safety helmet and hold a driving licence.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the combined cost of new regulatory measures under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 in addition to proposed tax increases for the average landlord. [I]

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

My department has made no single assessment covering the combined cost of the measures in the Renters’ Rights Act and proposed tax increases.

The Impact Assessment for the Renters’ Rights Act can be found here (and attached).

At Budget 2025, the Government announced a 2ppt increase to the rate of property income to be introduced from April 2027. This is to help narrow the gap between taxes paid on work and paid on income from assets. An assessment of this policy was published in a Tax Information and Impact Note which can be found on gov.uk here (and attached).

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they are giving, if any, to Right to Manage property companies and their directors on the legality or otherwise of imposing charges for approving pets. [I]

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Where a Right to Manage (RTM) company takes over management of a building it is responsible for ensuring compliance with the terms of the lease. In some cases, leases require approval for pets which the RTM is responsible for granting. RTM companies are entitled to recover permission fees to cover their reasonable costs.

Guidance for RTM companies in exercising their functions including granting approvals is provided by the Leasehold Advisory Service.

Permission fees and administration charges - whether issued by a landlord or an RTM company - should only be used where necessary and should cover only any reasonable costs incurred. Any fees and charges should be justifiable, transparent, and communicated effectively and there should be a clear route to redress if things go wrong.

By law, variable administration or permission charges must be reasonable, and leaseholders can challenge them by applying to the tribunal for a decision if they do not believe they are fair.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what strategies are in place to address the impacts of escalating energy prices on the cost of living.

Answered by Lord Whitehead

Tackling affordability is this government’s number one priority. The Government acted at last year’s Budget by taking on average £150 of costs off energy bills, with those decisions now factored into bills for the years to come.

The recent rise in the price cap announced by Ofgem will be deeply concerning news for families. That is why we are doubling down on our mission for clean power to get us off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices and onto clean, homegrown power to bring down bills for good.

In addition, around 6 million households in Britain will have benefitted from our expanded £150 Warm Home Discount this winter, which will remain in place for the rest of the decade. We understand that the developments in the Middle East are concerning: we will continue to monitor the situation ahead of the winter and plan for all contingencies.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the overall cost of net zero policies to the British economy.

Answered by Lord Whitehead

The costs of climate action are far outweighed by the cost of inaction.

The government’s Impact Assessment (IA) for Carbon Budget 7 estimates the net cost to deliver net zero over the period 2025-2050 at around £755 billion, with the total quantified benefits estimated to be £1.62 trillion, delivering a net present value of £865 billion.

The costs include a mix of private and public sector investment we estimate to upgrade infrastructure, transport and heating systems.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of evictions in the year prior to the implementation of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, and whether this is higher than the number of evictions in previous years. [I]

Answered by Baroness Levitt

The Renters Rights Act (RRA) received royal assent on the 27 October 2025. A phased implementation of the RRA commenced on 1 May 2026, abolishing Section 21 and introducing the tenancy reforms for the Private Rented Sector.

The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly data on possession proceedings at - Mortgage and landlord possession statistics - GOV.UK.

In 2025, the number of possession claims submitted by landlords was 91,092, down from 98,766 in 2024 and from 94,211 in 2023. The number of repossessions by Count Court Bailiffs was 29,067, up from 28,035 in 2024 and from 25,282 in 2023.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many students attending UK universities have no previous qualifications.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education sector.

Table 47 of HESA’s ‘Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2024/25’ reports the number of UK domicile entrants to higher education by their highest qualification. According to Table 47, in 2024/25, there were 50,740 UK domicile entrants (undergraduate and postgraduate) to UK higher education with no formal qualification.