Social Media: Substances Unfit for Human Consumption

Debate between Lord Watts and Baroness Lloyd of Effra

Wednesday 17th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

My noble friend raises an important question. The landscape here includes action by law enforcement agencies, such as that under the fraud strategy. It involves the MHRA and Ofcom, and indeed the ASA and trading standards. These activities are co-ordinated across government to make sure that there is effective action. On the specific resources available to trading standards, I will take that question back to the department and come back to him.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, do we not need effective legislation and a regulator that will actually do the job? Which one is failing us—the regulator or the legislation?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

As we discussed a little earlier this week in the House, advances are being made in the regulation in the measures that we are bringing forward to restrict social media companies in advertising or providing services to under-16s. There are the consultations that I mentioned by the OPSS on product safety, which go hand in hand with the importance of enforcement. The Secretary of State has written to Ofcom stressing the importance of that body enforcing effectively and prioritising, and has requested an enforcement strategy and framework to be available, so that that can be scrutinised by Parliament.

Self-employed: Paternity Leave

Debate between Lord Watts and Baroness Lloyd of Effra

Wednesday 20th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

Have the Government considered looking at the previous Government’s proposals in this area to see what lessons can be learned?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

I am pleased to say that, as a result of the Employment Rights Act, we have established new rights for parents through paternity leave and the unpaid parental leave day-one rights to bring more parents into scope, so that they can access parental leave and support their families.

Mobile Phone and Broadband Prices

Debate between Lord Watts and Baroness Lloyd of Effra

Tuesday 9th December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

The resilience of our network is absolutely critical. A fibre network is more resilient to many shocks, so the move to fibre will provide more resilience in the future. It is very important that in this transition from the PSTN to the fibre network, vulnerable customers are supported and have the back-up they need in cases of power cuts, and so on. The transition from the PSTN to the other network has already taken place for a large number of consumers in this country and is well on track towards the final handover.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, can I bore the House again? Our regulators are some of the worst in the world and they are letting the public down. We are not holding them to account. Is it not about time that some of these individuals got sacked and replaced by people who will protect the public?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

There are very important roles for our regulators. There are also very important governance systems in place that govern how regulators work and how they are accountable to Parliament. I do not think there is any case at present to take the action my noble friend suggests.

Data Adequacy Status: EU Data Protection Standards

Debate between Lord Watts and Baroness Lloyd of Effra

Thursday 4th December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

That is a very good point. I was able to discuss with my Malaysian counterpart the potential for a digital trade agreement when I was in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year. I very much hope that we can progress that to promote digital trade—and likewise with the EU. I assure the noble Lord that the Government are working extremely actively to progress the EU reset.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is this not just another example of the disaster of Brexit, which was spelled out, in all places, in the Telegraph a couple of weeks ago, demonstrating the damage that has been done to the country? Do we not need to speed up our relations and discussions to get back to some sensible agreement with our main trading partner in Europe?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

My noble friend is right about the importance of making swift progress to reset the relationship to promote trade and get all the agreements in place under the EU reset, which goes from everything from energy to defence and security—all sorts of areas where we can make real progress to support the UK economy.

Built Environment Sector

Debate between Lord Watts and Baroness Lloyd of Effra

Tuesday 28th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

I think the noble Lord knows that that is an issue the Treasury will be dealing with in due course.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, can the Minister give us an update on the practice, carried out for many years under the previous Government, of land banking by housing companies? Is she able to recall the promise that we would deal with this? Can she give us an update?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

This question is very pertinent. I am afraid that I cannot give him the full details on that right now, so, if I may, I promise to follow up in writing with him.