Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total cost of customs declarations from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in the past 12 months.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government has not made an estimate of the total cost of declarations for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in the past 12 months.

The latest available information relating to declarations for goods moved on this route is for the calendar years 2022 and 2023. This information can be found on GOV.UK.

Businesses moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland can access free to use support from the Trader Support Service.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many black and white television licences have been issued in each of the past five years.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The BBC publishes information about the number of licences in force in its Annual Report and Accounts. For the years 2019/2020, 2020/2021, 2021/2022, 2022/2023, and 2023/2024 there has consistently been approximately 4,000 monochrome licences in force.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of premature deaths from cardiovascular disease on economic growth.

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

Too many lives are lost prematurely to cardiovascular disease (CVD). In 2023, 29% of all CVD deaths in England occurred in people under 75 years old. The Government is committed to ensuring fewer lives are lost to the biggest killers, including CVD.

That is why the Health Mission set an ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% in the next 10 years. To deliver on this, the Department and NHS England are working together at pace to understand both the scale of the challenge and the opportunities for progress across the prevention, treatment, and management of CVD.

We know that CVD is one of the largest health condition contributors to economic inactivity in England. Of the 2.5 million working-age people who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness, 770,000 reported cardiovascular problems as a contributing factor. Estimates show that CVD costs the National Health Service £10 billion annually, and £24 billion annually to the wider economy.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the annual cost to the NHS of hospital admissions from preventable cardiovascular disease.

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

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the second highest cause of premature death in England. It affects over 6.4 million people, causes one in four premature deaths, and 1.6 million disability adjusted life years.

According to the Kings Fund analysis, there were approximately one million hospital admissions for CVD in England in 2019/20, leading to 5.5 million bed days. During the 2023/24 financial year, there were 220,000 admissions for coronary heart disease and 100,000 admissions for stroke. CVD costs the National Health Service an estimated £10 billion, and the economy an estimated £24 billion a year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve personalised prevention of cardiovascular disease.

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

Our approach to personalised prevention is through the NHS Health Check, England’s cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme.

The Government continues to support this programme as it assesses the top seven risk factors for CVD in people aged 40 to 74 years old. Where an individual’s NHS Health Check indicates that further action is necessary, they may be referred to either behavioural support services and/or a clinical assessment, where appropriate.

To improve access to the NHS Health Check, we are developing a new NHS Health Check Online service, which people can use at a time and place convenient to them, to understand and act on their risk of CVD.

The Department is also piloting a new programme to deliver up to 130,000 lifesaving heart health checks in the workplace. These checks can be completed quickly and easily by people at work across 48 local authorities until 31 May 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to improve early detection and diagnosis of (1) high blood pressure, and (2) raised cholesterol levels.

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

The Government is committed to tackling the biggest killers, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD). Improving early detection and diagnosis of the key risk factors for CVD, including high blood pressure and raised cholesterol levels, is vital to deliver on this commitment.

The Government continues to support the NHS Health Check, England’s CVD prevention programme. For every 1.4 million NHS Health Checks delivered annually, there are 343,000 cases of high blood pressure identified, resulting in 40,000 diagnoses of hypertension, as well as 900,000 people identified with raised cholesterol levels.

To improve access to the NHS Health Check, we are developing a new NHS Health Check Online service, which people can use at a time and place convenient to them, to understand and act on their risk of CVD.

Subject to the outcomes of the NHS Health Check Online pilot, starting in spring 2025, the aim is to roll it out nationally from spring 2026, delivering approximately one million checks in the first four years.

The Department is also piloting a new programme to deliver up to 130,000 lifesaving heart health checks in the workplace. These checks can be completed quickly and easily by people at work across 48 local authorities until 31 May 2025.

For the 2025/26 contract year we have also brought in changes to shift care from sickness to prevention by incentivising general practitioners to focus on the most common killers, such as heart disease. Knowing that prevention is better than treatment, we have raised the upper threshold of CVD indicators in order to stimulate performance gains and improve CVD care for patients.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the progress of the cardiovascular disease prevention programme.

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

We are committed to ensuring that fewer lives are lost to the biggest killers, including from cardiovascular disease (CVD). That is why, in our Health Mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future, we have committed to reducing premature deaths from heart disease and strokes by 25% in the next 10 years.

The NHS Health Check programme, England’s CVD prevention programme, engages over 1.4 million people a year and, through behavioural and clinical interventions, prevents approximately 300 premature deaths, and 500 heart attacks or strokes a year. Data reported by local authorities shows that between April 2013 and December 2024, over 13.6 million NHS Health Checks have been delivered.

To improve access to the NHS Health Check, we are developing a new NHS Health Check Online service, which people can use at a time and place convenient to them, to understand and act on their risk of CVD.

For the 2025/26 contract year we have also brought in changes to shift care from sickness to prevention by incentivising general practitioners to focus on the most common killers, such as heart disease. Knowing that prevention is better than treatment, we have raised the upper threshold of CVD indicators in order to stimulate performance gains and improve CVD care for patients.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards the aim in the NHS 10 Year Plan to reduce preventable premature deaths from cardiovascular disease.

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

The Government is committed to ensuring that fewer lives are lost to the biggest killers, including cardiovascular disease (CVD). A central mission of the Government is to build a health and care system fit for the future. To achieve this, it is crucial that we tackle preventable ill health, such as CVD, by ensuring that those at risk of developing or already living with the disease are identified and can be effectively treated.

The NHS Long Term Plan committed to improving the identification and treatment of CVD risk factors, such as high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, and atrial fibrillation. There has been significant progress since the plan was made in 2019, including that:

• 835,970 more people have been identified with hypertension since 2019, and 512,160 more treated to target, up to March 2024;
• 91.5% of those on the atrial fibrillation register were being treated with anticoagulants in March 2024, an increase from 87.3% in March 2020, and there has been a 10% increase in the number of people on the atrial fibrillation register over this period.; and
• 62.3% of people at risk of CVD are now treated with lipid lowering therapy, as of June 2024, an increase of 676,000 people since March 2021.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the additional cost of children who transfer into the state education system as a result of changes to business rates for private schools.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

The government’s impact note on the removal of eligibility of private schools for business rates charitable relief estimates an extremely limited impact from the business rates policy taking effect, with any movement estimated to represent 0.03% of the total state school pupil population in England. This impact note is attached and can be found here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0129/ImpactNote.pdf.

Removing the eligibility for business rates charitable relief from private schools will raise approximately £140 million per year. Based on average per-pupil spending in England for the 2024/25 financial year, the government expects the revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector as a result of the business rates measure in England to steadily increase to a peak of around £20 million per annum after several years.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) international companies, and (2) jobs, have been created by Northern Ireland having dual access to the UK and EU markets.

Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Windsor Framework positions Northern Ireland as a unique gateway for the sale of goods to two of the world’s largest markets, as well as access to global markets through the UK's new trade agreements.

Whilst the Government has not made an assessment of the impact of dual market access on the number of jobs or international companies created, between 2019 and 2023, Northern Ireland’s sales of goods to Great Britain increased by £4.7bn or 69%, and sales to the EU increased by £2.9bn or 54%.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many deaths of working age people there have been as a result of cardiovascular disease in each of the past three years.

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

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Lord Weir of Ballyholme

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

26 March 2025

Dear Lord Weir of Ballyholme,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many deaths of working age people there have been as a result of cardiovascular disease in each of the past three years (HL6089).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publish regular statistics on deaths in England and Wales. These statistics are based on information recorded when deaths are certified and registered. They are based on when the death was registered rather than when it occurred. The number of deaths registered in England and Wales over 2021 to 2023 where the underlying cause was cardiovascular disease, and the deceased was aged 16-64, can be found in Table 1.

Table 1: Number of deaths where the underlying cause was cardiovascular disease in England and Wales, aged 16 to 64, deaths registered 2021 to 2023.

Source: Office for National Statistics

Any death assigned an underlying cause of death using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes I00-I99 was included. This will include deaths where the underlying cause was ischaemic heart disease, heart failure and cerebrovascular diseases. Further information on the definition can be found on the World Health Organisation (WHO) website1 .

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

1 https://icd.who.int/browse10/2019/en#/IX

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assistance they have made available to small firms in Northern Ireland who receive goods from Great Britain to ensure a smooth flow of trade.

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

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and the Government will ensure the interests of small businesses are embedded into our Industrial and Trade Strategies, as part of a comprehensive approach to delivering on our economic growth mission. The Windsor Framework established a broad set of arrangements to support Great Britain-based businesses to move goods to Northern Ireland, including to small businesses based in Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme reduces checks and administrative burdens on retail agrifood movements. The Northern Ireland Plant Health Label scheme removes unnecessary costs and enables previously prohibited goods to enter Northern Ireland. The first stage of the UK internal market scheme was implemented in 2023, and ensures thousands of businesses can move goods without being subject to customs duties. Businesses can also use the Customs Duty Waiver Scheme to waive any duties entirely, regardless of the destination of the goods, subject to an overall limit. The Government works closely with industry stakeholders and trade associations on the implementation of these arrangements and will continue to do so.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards introducing guidelines for routine lipoprotein(a) testing.

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

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone is able to benefit from evidence-based health care. Routine lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) measurement is not currently recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

The Department, and NHS England, will continue to look to the NICE for guidance on the role of Lp(a) testing. Should the NICE’s guidance change regarding the role of Lp(a) testing, the Department will assess any recommendations to inform future cardiovascular disease prevention policy.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they have met the Lipoprotein(a) Taskforce in the past six months, and when they are next scheduled to meet the taskforce.

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

Neither the Department nor NHS England have met with the Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) Taskforce in the past six months, and there are no meetings scheduled.

Routine Lp(a) testing is not recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance, and there are currently no treatments available which specifically target Lp(a).

The Government continues to focus on improving the uptake of lipid lowering therapies and treatment, as per NICE targets, to manage cholesterol for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards the aim set out in the NHS 10 Year Plan to reduce the number of hospital admissions for heart attacks and strokes.

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

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the second highest cause of premature death in England. It affects seven million people, causes one in four premature deaths and 1.6 million disability adjusted life years.

Whilst it is not possible to categorise whether a person’s CVD was preventable, almost 40% of the disease burden in England is due to preventable risk factors, such as tobacco, alcohol, obesity and high blood pressure. Over 75% of deaths from CVD are linked to preventable risk factors.

The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts the National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. All three shifts are relevant to improving outcomes for those experiencing heart attacks or strokes. More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all help people manage their conditions closer to home and help to reduce hospital admissions.

We are engaging with stakeholders to put the best available evidence and expert opinion at the heart of this ambition and to gather a diverse range of views. This includes from the British Heart Foundation, Diabetes UK, Stroke Association, Heart UK, UCL Partners, Association of Directors of Public Health and Local Government.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assumptions they have made in their budget estimates for additional resources gained from the recovery of unpaid tax.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government expects an additional £6.3 billion per year to be gained by 2029-30 from the measures announced as part of the Budget in October 2024 and Spring Statement 2025. These estimates have been certified by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what additional staff and funding they have provided to allow HMRC to pursue unpaid tax.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

As announced by the Chancellor in July 2024 (and confirmed in the Budget in October 2024) £1.4 billion of funding will be provided to HMRC over the next five years to recruit an additional 5,000 HMRC compliance staff, raising £2.7 billion per year in additional revenue by 2029-30.

In addition, the Government confirmed at the Budget in October 2024 that £262 million will be invested over the next five years, to fund 1,800 HMRC debt management staff, raising £2 billion per year in additional revenue by 2029-30. Further investment of £272m to modernise HMRC’s IT and data systems and increase tax receipts as a result, is expected to raise additional revenue of £700m per year by 2029-30.

As part of the Spring Statement 2025_, a package of measures to help further close the tax gap and raise over £800 million in additional gross tax revenue per year by 2029-30 was announced._. Specifically, investment of £100m in 500 additional HMRC compliance staff and £114m in 600 additional HMRC debt management staff, as well as £87m to increase collection of overdue tax debt using Debt Collection Agencies acting on HMRC’s behalf.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the Barnett consequentials are for Northern Ireland arising from the £1 billion support package announced for employment, health and skills for the disabled and those with long-term medical conditions.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Barnett formula is applied when UK Government departmental budgets change, not when additional funding is announced. The Barnett consequentials from the £1 billion employment support package will be confirmed at Phase 2 of the Spending Review 2025.

The Northern Ireland Executive is receiving £18.2 billion in 2025-26, including an additional £1.5 billion through the operation of the Barnett formula. This is the largest spending review settlement in real terms since devolution and ensures that the Northern Ireland Executive continues to receive over 24% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK, including the 2024 restoration financial package.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government how many lorries have been prevented from entering Northern Ireland and returned to Great Britain as a result of internal UK market checks in the past 12 months.

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

In line with the commitments we have made, as we move to our new UK internal market system, we will ensure that the only checks when goods move within the UK internal market system are those conducted by UK authorities as part of a risk-based or intelligence-led approach to tackle criminality, abuse of the scheme, smuggling and disease risks. But in order not to undermine that approach, as is the case across the UK we do not disclose the specific number or nature of interventions made by UK authorities.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the £1 billion employment, health and skills support package for disabled people and those with long-term medical conditions will be available to people across the entire UK.

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

We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work. This is backed up by £1 billion of new funding across the United Kingdom, with the share of funding for devolved governments calculated in the usual way.

The UK government will respect settlements with devolved governments.

Within Great Britain, we will work closely with the Scottish and Welsh Governments to ensure all aspects of our new approach to delivering employment support partner effectively with devolved provision, including but not limited to skills, health and careers as well as Scottish and Welsh Government-funded employment support.

In Northern Ireland, health, skills, careers and all aspects of employment support are transferred matters. We will work closely with the Northern Ireland Executive, including sharing best practice with the Northern Ireland Executive’s Department for Communities about how our reforms to reduce economic inactivity and support disabled people and people with a health condition are working.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their timeline for the implementation of all of the aspects of the Command Paper published on 31 January 2024, Safeguarding the Union (CP1021).

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

This Government is committed to taking all steps necessary to protect Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market, and to working in good faith to implement the basis on which devolution was restored. This includes continuing to take forward Safeguarding the Union, and working with all parts of the community - and with the EU - to address any issues relating to the implementation of the Windsor Framework as they arise.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what meetings they have planned with Chagossians to discuss the proposed Chagos Islands deal.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Minister of State, Stephen Doughty, has met with members of the Chagossian community, and officials have also been in regular contact with Chagossians on a range of issues. We will continue to engage with Chagossians in the UK and around the world on the implementation of the agreement at both an official and Ministerial level.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure families of students with special education needs are not charged additional fees as a result of changes to VAT on independent school fees.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

Pupils with special educational needs (SEN) and a requirement to attend a private school identified through an education, health and care (EHC) assessment are not impacted by the government’s VAT policy. Where a private school place is necessary to support a child with SEN, the local authority will fund it through an EHC plan. Local authorities can reclaim the cost of VAT added to fees for places that they fund through Section 33 of the VAT Act 1994.

Parents may make a choice that their child should attend a private school, but this is a choice like that made by any parent using the independent sector. Where parents have chosen to send their child to private school rather than a local authority deeming it necessary, VAT will apply to fees.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of proposed welfare reform on the projected number of people who are deemed unfit for work by 2030.

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

The recent Pathways to Work Green Paper announced our plans to abolish the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and instead use the Personal Independence Payment assessment as the single assessment for additional financial support, subject to parliamentary approval. Once the WCA has been abolished the Department for Work and Pensions will no longer classify people as fit or unfit for work.

The Department published “Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts” alongside the Spring Statement.

This report contains estimated caseloads for the Universal Credit health element from 2026/27 to 2029/30, categorised by whether claimants are receiving the higher rate or the frozen rate from 2025/26.

By 2029/30 an estimated 2.25 million people, the pre-April 2026 current claimants, will still be receiving the higher rate of the UC health element, frozen at its 2025/26 level. A further 730,000 are forecast to be receiving the new lower rate of the health element. All will receive a standard allowance that has been increased by more than CPI inflation.

Table A5: Benefit units affected by UC health element change

Note: Estimates are after behavioural effects and are rounded to the nearest ten thousand. A benefit unit is a single adult or a married or cohabiting couple and any dependent children.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.