Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what additional funding they will provide to each of the devolved administrations to cover the costs of specialist medical treatment for children from Gaza.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is working urgently to get some of the critically ill and injured children medically evacuated from Gaza.

The costs associated with this process will not be finalised until we know which patients will travel to the United Kingdom and how many patients will travel. UK Government departments will absorb the costs from within their existing budgets. Therefore, no additional funding will be provided to the devolved administrations.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of phase 3 of the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme labelling scheme on the movement of pet food from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

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

The Government is using a data-driven approach to monitoring the market, that confirms the vast majority of pet food has been compliant with the new labelling requirements introduced on 1 July, and we have seen no evidence that the availability of pet food in Northern Ireland has been impacted by Phase 3. Industry is adapting well to the requirements of the Windsor Framework, and we will continue to work closely with businesses to support them in doing so.

Furthermore, the Government has introduced contingent legislation to enable targeted ‘not for EU’ labelling across Great Britain if evidence demonstrates that the availability of certain goods to Northern Ireland may be seriously adversely affected by the labelling requirement.

The Government is committed to safeguarding the supply of retail goods into Northern Ireland and protecting the UK Internal Market.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of supply chain divergence for pet food from Great Britain to Northern Ireland since the introduction of individual labelling requirements on 1 July.

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

The Government is using a data-driven approach to monitoring the market, that confirms the vast majority of pet food has been compliant with the new labelling requirements introduced on 1 July, and we have seen no evidence that the availability of pet food in Northern Ireland has been impacted by Phase 3. Industry is adapting well to the requirements of the Windsor Framework, and we will continue to work closely with businesses to support them in doing so.

Furthermore, the Government has introduced contingent legislation to enable targeted ‘not for EU’ labelling across Great Britain if evidence demonstrates that the availability of certain goods to Northern Ireland may be seriously adversely affected by the labelling requirement.

The Government is committed to safeguarding the supply of retail goods into Northern Ireland and protecting the UK Internal Market.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of availability of pet food in Northern Ireland since the introduction on 1 July of phase 3 labelling requirements under the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme.

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

The Government is using a data-driven approach to monitoring the market, that confirms the vast majority of pet food has been compliant with the new labelling requirements introduced on 1 July, and we have seen no evidence that the availability of pet food in Northern Ireland has been impacted by Phase 3. Industry is adapting well to the requirements of the Windsor Framework, and we will continue to work closely with businesses to support them in doing so.

Furthermore, the Government has introduced contingent legislation to enable targeted ‘not for EU’ labelling across Great Britain if evidence demonstrates that the availability of certain goods to Northern Ireland may be seriously adversely affected by the labelling requirement.

The Government is committed to safeguarding the supply of retail goods into Northern Ireland and protecting the UK Internal Market.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what quantity of pet food transported from Great Britain to Northern Ireland has been refused entry to Northern Ireland since the introduction of the requirement for individual labelling for pet food products.

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

The Government is using a data-driven approach to monitoring the market, that confirms the vast majority of pet food has been compliant with the new labelling requirements introduced on 1 July, and we have seen no evidence that the availability of pet food in Northern Ireland has been impacted by Phase 3. Industry is adapting well to the requirements of the Windsor Framework, and we will continue to work closely with businesses to support them in doing so.

Furthermore, the Government has introduced contingent legislation to enable targeted ‘not for EU’ labelling across Great Britain if evidence demonstrates that the availability of certain goods to Northern Ireland may be seriously adversely affected by the labelling requirement.

The Government is committed to safeguarding the supply of retail goods into Northern Ireland and protecting the UK Internal Market.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the timeframe constraint for the funding to redevelop Casement Park under the Financial Transactions Capital.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The UK Government has committed £50m of Capital Financial Transactions funding to redevelop Casement Park. This funding is ring-fenced for the redevelopment project. The UK Government will continue to work with the Northern Ireland Executive, but it is up to the Executive to take decisions on the design, implementation, spending profile and management of the Financial Transaction.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers are currently placed in (1) hotels, (2) houses of multiple occupation, and (3) other locations and facilities in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in contingency and dispersed accommodation, including houses of multiple occupation, across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. To the year ending 30 June 2025, these figures are as follows:

This Government is delivering on its pledge to close asylum hotels; drastically reducing taxpayer costs and giving control back to local communities. This Government is committed to ending the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of the Parliament.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the timetable to relocate all asylum seekers from hotels so that hotels no longer need to be used for that purpose.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in contingency and dispersed accommodation, including houses of multiple occupation, across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. To the year ending 30 June 2025, these figures are as follows:

This Government is delivering on its pledge to close asylum hotels; drastically reducing taxpayer costs and giving control back to local communities. This Government is committed to ending the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of the Parliament.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to suspend parts of the European Convention on Human Rights and the 1951 Refugee Convention.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

I refer the noble Lord to the statement made by the Minister of State for the Home Office (Lord Hanson of Flint) on 2 September.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they are having with devolved governments and local councils to ensure cross-border and cross-jurisdictional travel can be undertaken with concessionary fare passes.

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

Concessionary travel is a devolved policy area so the administrative arrangements in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ from those in England. Integrating these separate concessionary travel schemes would not be straightforward, due to the different benefits and restrictions for the concessionary bus pass which exist in each of the devolved nations. Travel Concession Authorities (TCA) in England that border Wales or Scotland can use their existing powers to offer travel across the border on a discretionary basis, but these would need to be agreed between the relevant TCAs in England and the relevant Welsh or Scottish authority. Whilst the Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007 does include a power to allow for mutual recognition of concessionary bus passes across the UK through regulations in the future, there are no plans at present to introduce such an arrangement on a national scale.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to enable concessionary fare passes from different parts of the UK to be recognised and usable throughout the UK.

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

Concessionary travel is a devolved policy area so the administrative arrangements in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ from those in England. Integrating these separate concessionary travel schemes would not be straightforward, due to the different benefits and restrictions for the concessionary bus pass which exist in each of the devolved nations. Travel Concession Authorities (TCA) in England that border Wales or Scotland can use their existing powers to offer travel across the border on a discretionary basis, but these would need to be agreed between the relevant TCAs in England and the relevant Welsh or Scottish authority. Whilst the Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007 does include a power to allow for mutual recognition of concessionary bus passes across the UK through regulations in the future, there are no plans at present to introduce such an arrangement on a national scale.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 12 September (HL10086), why voters with photographic identification cannot receive an Electoral Identity Card.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

I refer the Noble Lord to the response given on 12 September 2025 to UIN HL10086.

The sole purpose of the Electoral Identity Card is for voting at a polling station. If an individual holds another accepted form of photographic voter identification, they may use it to vote and there is no need to apply for an Electoral Identity Card.