Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to protect the unfettered flow of supplies to Northern Ireland in chemical industries.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Northern Ireland has unfettered access to the whole UK internal market, this ensures a smooth flow of goods, including in relation to chemical industries. The UK Government is steadfastly committed to continue protecting Northern Ireland’s unfettered access which has been guaranteed in perpetuity
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 5 February (HL 4343), what steps they are taking to support interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance in Gaza's future governance structure.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK is pressing for a Palestinian-led process for recovery and reconstruction in Gaza and a strong role for civil society. This is crucial to lay the groundwork for inclusive governance, accountability, and transparency so that the needs, desires, rights and freedoms and voices of all Gazans are protected. The UK remains strongly committed to freedom of religious belief for all abroad. No one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 5 Feburary (HL4343), whether in assisting the political reconstruction of Gaza they will seek to ensure the protection of all religious communities, equal rights and the safeguarding of freedom of religion and belief for all groups.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK is pressing for a Palestinian-led process for recovery and reconstruction in Gaza and a strong role for civil society. This is crucial to lay the groundwork for inclusive governance, accountability, and transparency so that the needs, desires, rights and freedoms and voices of all Gazans are protected. The UK remains strongly committed to freedom of religious belief for all abroad. No one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve musculoskeletal health, and how they will include chiropractors in this.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Improving health outcomes for the over 20 million people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions in the United Kingdom forms a key part of the Government's missions to build a National Health Service fit for the future, and to kickstart economic growth.
We are making a start by delivering a joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First Time MSK Community Delivery Programme, working with integrated care board leaders to reduce NHS community waiting times, improve data, metrics, and referral pathways.
Part of the recently published Elective Reform Plan also sets out funding to boost bone density scanning capacity. This will provide an estimated 29,000 extra scans per year, supporting improvements in early diagnosis and bone health.
Healthcare professionals play a vital prevention and early intervention role in supporting people to self-manage their MSK condition, and the Government recognises the role complementary and alternative medicine treatments such as chiropractic can play in supporting people. NHS England does not currently support or commission chiropractic care in the NHS.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support people with a musculoskeletal condition back into work, and whether they plan to use chiropractors to help people return people to work.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Improving health and work outcomes for the over 20 million people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions in the UK forms a key part of this government's missions to build an NHS fit for the future and kickstart economic growth.
Healthcare professionals play a vital prevention and early intervention role in supporting people to self-manage their musculoskeletal (MSK) condition and enabling them to get in and get on in work.
The 2025 Healthcare Professionals’ Consensus Statement for action on health and work, published 20 January 2025, commits to work over the next five years to support healthcare professionals, including allied health professionals, to engage more proactively with, and to promote ‘good work as a health outcome’ across the health and care sector. This will support patients, including with MSK conditions, to return and remain in good work.
To support people back into work, the Occupational Health Workforce Expansion Funding Scheme (launched July 2023) funded registered health professionals to undertake occupational health training and qualifications. To date, over 200 doctors and nurses have commenced training.
Government recognises the role complementary and alternative medicine treatments such as chiropractic can play in supporting people. NHS England does not currently support or commission chiropractic care in the NHS.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what financial assistance they plan to provide to the devolved nations as a result of the damage created by Storm Éowyn.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK Government recognises the significant impact that severe weather events can have on communities across the country and pays tribute to the incredible efforts of all those involved in the response to Storm Éowyn.
Responding to weather events in their respective nations is one of the responsibilities of the devolved governments but the UK Government has provided operational support to the Northern Ireland Executive following the damage caused by Storm Éowyn. Officials from across the UK Government have been working hard, including with industry partners, to provide the practical support needed to speed up the recovery effort in Northern Ireland. Additional staff have been redeployed to Northern Ireland, alongside helicopters, drones, generators, and replacement parts from stockpiles in other parts of the UK. The UK Government is continuing to work closely with the Executive to understand the scale of the damage and support the recovery efforts in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what further measures they are taking to combat antisemitism.
Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Antisemitism has absolutely no place in our society, and tackling antisemitism in all its forms is a top priority for this Government. We are working closely with Lord John Mann as HMG’s Independent Adviser on Antisemitism on the most effective methods to tackle antisemitism and advocate for British Jewish communities. We will ensure that the Jewish communities concerns about antisemitism are heard and acted upon.
This Government has also allocated further funding of £54m for the Community Security Trust to enable them to continue their vital work in protecting UK Jewish communities until 2028.
Tackling hate crime will be a key part of this Government’s work to overcome divisions and create connections between all communities, and we are exploring a more integrated and cohesive approach to achieve this.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional funding a school receives for each additional pupil.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
Every year, the department uses the schools national funding formula (NFF) to distribute core funding for 5 to 16-year-old pupils (reception to year 11) in respect of mainstream state-funded schools in England. The NFF determines how much funding will be available for schools in each local area. The precise sum received by an individual school is then determined by the local formula set by the appropriate local authority.
In the current NFF, the vast majority of funding is distributed on the basis of pupil numbers and pupils’ characteristics. In 2025/26, 74.2% (£36.0 billion) of the schools NFF has been allocated through basic entitlement funding, which every pupil attracts. A further 17.8% (£8.6 billion) of all funding has been allocated through additional needs factors based on deprivation, low prior attainment, English as an additional language and mobility. Therefore, the amount of additional funding a school attracts through the NFF for each additional pupil depends on the characteristics of that pupil. For example, in 2025/26, every primary age pupil attracts £3,847 in basic entitlement funding but would also attract an additional £495 if they were entitled to free school meals. The factor values for 2025/26 are attached and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-for-schools-and-high-needs-2025-to-2026.
Through the dedicated schools grant, we are allocating a national average of £6,466 per pupil in 2025/26 in mainstream schools, compared to £6,330 in 2024/25 (including premises and growth funding). This represents a 2.15% increase per pupil on average in 2025/26 compared to 2024/25.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current level of funding for Holocaust education and whether they plan to increase that funding.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines information for England only.
The government supports the teaching of Holocaust education by funding teachers’ professional development in this subject through University College London’s Centre for Holocaust Education (CfHE), and the Holocaust Educational Trust’s (HET) Lessons from Auschwitz project, which gives students aged 16 to 18 the opportunity to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau. In the 2024/25 financial year, CfHE will receive £500,000 in government funding, match funded by the Pears Foundation, and HET will receive £2.3 million. Funding for 2025/26 has been committed at broadly the same level.
In addition, a further £2 million funding for Holocaust remembrance and education was committed in the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024. This will be used to support the ambition set by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, for all students to have the opportunity to hear a recorded survivor testimony. The department is currently exploring how we can support schools to fulfil this ambition.
The government has also committed £7 million to tackle antisemitism in education. £500,000 has already been awarded to the University Jewish Chaplaincy and a £4.15 million procurement is currently being evaluated with delivery commencing from spring 2025. The remaining funding will go towards a future Tackling Antisemitism in Education innovation fund.
As with all programmes, funding for the 2026/27 financial year onwards is subject to the spending review.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the likely increase in pupil numbers in state schools in the next year arising from a reduction in the number of pupils being privately educated.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
As set out in HM Treasury’s government response to the technical note on applying VAT to private school fees and removing the business rates charitable rate relief, the government estimates that approximately 3,000 pupils will move from private schools to state schools in the 2024/25 academic year. The response can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees-removing-the-charitable-rates-relief-for-private-schools.
The government predicts that in the long-term steady state, 37,000 pupils will leave or never enter the UK private school sector as a result of the removal of the VAT exemption applied to school fees. This represents around 6% of the current private school population.
Of those leaving or never entering the private sector, the government estimates an increase of 35,000 pupils in the state sector in the steady state following the VAT policy taking effect, with the other 2,000 either being international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, or domestic pupils moving into homeschooling. This state sector increase represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. This movement is expected to take place over several years. Additionally, the government expects approximately 2,900 pupils will move into state schools in England following the business rates policy taking effect.
As such, the impact on the state education system as a whole is expected to be very small.
Local authorities, devolved governments and schools have processes in place to support pupils moving between schools. Children move between and within the private sector and the state-funded sector every year, for a range of reasons.