Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 26 September (HL10094), what discussions they have had with the Palestinian Authority about reports that it is providing funds to families of those killed while carrying out the attacks on 7 October 2023.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
In President Abbas' letter to President Macron, dated 9 June 2025, he set out his commitment to the principles of non-violence, the organisation of elections, the development of a school curriculum that is free from incitement, and the implementation of a new social security system, which will revoke so-called prisoner payments, and ensure that any future welfare payments are needs-based and delinked from violent actions. The Palestinian Authority must now ensure that an independent audit is conducted to verify that these reforms have been completed.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 26 September (HL10094), what steps they will take to investigate reports that the Palestinian Authority is providing funds to families of those killed while carrying out the attacks on 7 October 2023.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
In President Abbas' letter to President Macron, dated 9 June 2025, he set out his commitment to the principles of non-violence, the organisation of elections, the development of a school curriculum that is free from incitement, and the implementation of a new social security system, which will revoke so-called prisoner payments, and ensure that any future welfare payments are needs-based and delinked from violent actions. The Palestinian Authority must now ensure that an independent audit is conducted to verify that these reforms have been completed.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 31 October (HL10859), how many times and over what period the Palestinian Authority committed to reform prisoner payments before 9 June; how those reforms were audited; and what assessment they have made of the impact of those reforms.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
In President Abbas' letter to President Macron, dated 9 June 2025, he set out his commitment to the principles of non-violence, the organisation of elections, the development of a school curriculum that is free from incitement, and the implementation of a new social security system, which will revoke so-called prisoner payments, and ensure that any future welfare payments are needs-based and delinked from violent actions. The Palestinian Authority must now ensure that an independent audit is conducted to verify that these reforms have been completed.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to encourage holders of paper Premium Bond certificates to check whether they have won a prize.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
NS&I provides information on its website and through its call centre to help Premium Bonds holders trace unclaimed prizes and their original investment. NS&I also publishes details on unclaimed prizes every month alongside Premium Bonds winners’ details and engages with the media to encourage customers to use its prize checker and tracing services.
Premium Bonds holders with original paper Bonds such as those purchased over the counter at the Post Office, can register them online or by calling NS&I’s helpline. Holders who do not have internet access or cannot print off a form can request a form by phone or in writing.
Finally, Premium Bonds holders who have lost historic certificates, or who do not have their Bond or NS&I number, can use NS&I’s dedicated tracing service by post or online. Holders can also use MyLostAccount which can be used to trace old accounts with other providers, as well as NS&I
Premium Bonds are never lost and NS&I pays out unclaimed prizes no matter how long ago the Bonds were purchased.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what advice they give to people who have lost historic Premium Bond certificates.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
NS&I provides information on its website and through its call centre to help Premium Bonds holders trace unclaimed prizes and their original investment. NS&I also publishes details on unclaimed prizes every month alongside Premium Bonds winners’ details and engages with the media to encourage customers to use its prize checker and tracing services.
Premium Bonds holders with original paper Bonds such as those purchased over the counter at the Post Office, can register them online or by calling NS&I’s helpline. Holders who do not have internet access or cannot print off a form can request a form by phone or in writing.
Finally, Premium Bonds holders who have lost historic certificates, or who do not have their Bond or NS&I number, can use NS&I’s dedicated tracing service by post or online. Holders can also use MyLostAccount which can be used to trace old accounts with other providers, as well as NS&I
Premium Bonds are never lost and NS&I pays out unclaimed prizes no matter how long ago the Bonds were purchased.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce proactive measures to track down the holders of the 11 unclaimed Premium Bond prizes worth £100,000 and the 19 unclaimed prizes worth £50,000.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
NS&I provides information on its website and through its call centre to help Premium Bonds holders trace unclaimed prizes and their original investment. NS&I also publishes details on unclaimed prizes every month alongside Premium Bonds winners’ details and engages with the media to encourage customers to use its prize checker and tracing services.
Premium Bonds holders with original paper Bonds such as those purchased over the counter at the Post Office, can register them online or by calling NS&I’s helpline. Holders who do not have internet access or cannot print off a form can request a form by phone or in writing.
Finally, Premium Bonds holders who have lost historic certificates, or who do not have their Bond or NS&I number, can use NS&I’s dedicated tracing service by post or online. Holders can also use MyLostAccount which can be used to trace old accounts with other providers, as well as NS&I
Premium Bonds are never lost and NS&I pays out unclaimed prizes no matter how long ago the Bonds were purchased.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to encourage Premium Bond holders to check whether they are the recipients of unclaimed Premium Bond prizes.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
NS&I provides information on its website and through its call centre to help Premium Bonds holders trace unclaimed prizes and their original investment. NS&I also publishes details on unclaimed prizes every month alongside Premium Bonds winners’ details and engages with the media to encourage customers to use its prize checker and tracing services.
Premium Bonds holders with original paper Bonds such as those purchased over the counter at the Post Office, can register them online or by calling NS&I’s helpline. Holders who do not have internet access or cannot print off a form can request a form by phone or in writing.
Finally, Premium Bonds holders who have lost historic certificates, or who do not have their Bond or NS&I number, can use NS&I’s dedicated tracing service by post or online. Holders can also use MyLostAccount which can be used to trace old accounts with other providers, as well as NS&I
Premium Bonds are never lost and NS&I pays out unclaimed prizes no matter how long ago the Bonds were purchased.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they issue guidance to schools and colleges regarding their use of social media channels, particularly the use of these to mark religious occasions and festivals.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department has not issued specific guidance for schools on the use of social media channels, although the department’s ‘Political impartiality in schools’ guidance makes the point that school-branded social media channels should not be partisan and should present a balanced presentation of political issues. However, this guidance is clear that the principles or views in line with the tenets of a particular faith are not considered to be political, so are not covered by statutory requirements on political impartiality. The full guidance is attached and can also be read at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what were the pay bands for special advisers for each year from 2018 to 2019; and how many special advisers were employed in each of those years within each pay band.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office has published details of special adviser appointments annually on gov.uk since 2010 and these are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/special-adviser-data-releases-numbers-and-costs on GOV.UK.
Details of special adviser appointments between 2002 and 2010 were periodically released in Written Parliamentary Statements and are available via Hansard but records from this period are not readily available.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what were the pay bands for special advisers for each year from 2011 to 2015; and how many Government special advisers were employed in each of those years within each pay band.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office has published details of special adviser appointments annually on gov.uk since 2010 and these are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/special-adviser-data-releases-numbers-and-costs on GOV.UK.
Details of special adviser appointments between 2002 and 2010 were periodically released in Written Parliamentary Statements and are available via Hansard but records from this period are not readily available.