Lord Wigley Portrait

Lord Wigley

Plaid Cymru - Life peer

Became Member: 19th January 2011


EU Goods Sub-Committee
23rd Apr 2020 - 7th May 2020
EU Internal Market Sub-Committee
17th Oct 2017 - 23rd Apr 2020
Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Committee
16th May 2013 - 6th Nov 2013
Leader and Party President, Plaid Cymru
1st Jan 1991 - 1st Jan 2000
Public Accounts Committee
25th Jul 1997 - 16th Dec 1997
Welsh Affairs Committee
9th Jun 1983 - 15th May 1987
Leader and Party President, Plaid Cymru
1st Jan 1981 - 1st Jan 1984


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Lord Wigley has voted in 6 divisions, and never against the majority of their Party.
View All Lord Wigley Division Votes

Debates during the 2024 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Labour)
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
(5 debate interactions)
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour)
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
(5 debate interactions)
Lord Livermore (Labour)
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
(5 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
HM Treasury
(10 debate contributions)
Department for Transport
(3 debate contributions)
Department for Work and Pensions
(2 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
Legislation Debates
Crown Estate Bill [HL] 2024-26
(4,726 words contributed)
Great British Energy Bill 2024-26
(663 words contributed)
View All Legislation Debates
View all Lord Wigley's debates

Lords initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Lord Wigley, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.


6 Bills introduced by Lord Wigley


A Bill to provide that powers devolved to Senedd Cymru must not be amended or withdrawn without a super-majority vote of its elected members; and for connected purposes

Lords Completed
Commons - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading
Monday 26th June 2023

A Bill to transfer responsibility for the Crown Estate in Wales to the Welsh Government; and for connected purposes.

Lords - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading
Tuesday 10th September 2024
(Read Debate)

A Bill to make provision for a review of access for people with learning disabilities to healthcare and other services; to make provision for a review of the provision of learning disability services across government; to make associated provision for the reform of such services; to provide a statutory code of practice on the public sector equality duty for public bodies for matters relating to learning disabilities; and for connected purposes

Lords - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading
Thursday 10th February 2022
(Read Debate)

A bill to make provision to ensure that the police forces in England and Wales have sufficient resources to deliver police services; and for connected purposes

Commons - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading
Wednesday 5th February 2020
(Read Debate)

A Bill to require the Secretary of State to introduce proposals to halve the disability employment gap; and for connected purposes.

Lords - 20%

Last Event - None

A Bill to Make provision to ensure that the terms and conditions of employment offered by employers do not put workers who are permanently domiciled in the United Kingdom at a disadvantage through offering any bonus or payment in kind; and for connected purposes.

Lords - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading: House Of Lords
Tuesday 10th June 2014

Lord Wigley has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 26 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
12th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what conversations they have had with the Welsh Government about seeking to include statistics on the number of people resident in England who can speak, read or write in the Welsh language in the 2031 census.

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 Rt Hon. the Lord Wigley

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

18 November 2024

Dear Lord Wigley,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what conversations have been had with the Welsh Government about seeking to include statistics on the number of people resident in England who can speak, read or write in the Welsh language in the 2031 census (HL2487).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is developing its population and migration statistics by further expanding the range of data sources and methods it uses. A key focus of the Future Population and Migration Statistics (FPMS) Programme is continuing to expand the use of administrative data to produce population and migration statistics, working across the public sector to maximise the statistical value of its data assets. The FPMS will create a sustainable statistics system that will be flexible and dynamic in how it responds to the emerging issues of the day. The UK Statistics Authority (the Authority) plans to publish a recommendation to government in the coming months.

Decisions about the 2031 census have not yet been made. As such, topics for inclusion in a 2031 census have not formed part of the ONS’ discussions with the Welsh Government or other stakeholders. The FPMS programme has an ongoing programme of user needs engagement and carried out a consultation in 2023[1], which acknowledged the importance of collecting data on this topic. The consultation document categorised Welsh language skills as a topic for which further research is required into delivering statistics primarily based on administrative data. Welsh language is regarded as a priority characteristic within the FPMS programme with exploratory work on this topic ongoing. However, it is likely that data on Welsh language skills will predominantly come from sources relating to people resident in Wales.

In April 2023, the ONS and Welsh Government published a joint work plan on the coherence of Welsh language statistics produced from different sources[2]. The first project, to understand differences between Census 2021 and household survey estimates, has been completed. Other work outlined in the plan is ongoing, with the next priority looking at comparing Census 2021 with the Welsh School Census and other administrative sources. Welsh Government and ONS teams meet monthly to discuss progress and are arranging a secondment from Welsh Government to the ONS to support work on the planned projects. The ONS is also exploring the feasibility of producing Welsh language estimates through using existing administrative sources, with the involvement of Welsh Government.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1]https://consultations.ons.gov.uk/ons/futureofpopulationandmigrationstatistics/

[2]https://www.gov.wales/office-national-statistics-ons-and-welsh-government-joint-work-plan-coherence-welsh-language-statistics

Baroness Twycross
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
6th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the latest figures for employee activity rates for (1) England, (2) Scotland, (3) Wales, and (4) Northern Ireland.

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 Rt Hon. the Lord Wigley

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

11 November 2024

Dear Lord Wigley,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what are the latest figures for employee activity rates for (1) England, (2) Scotland, (3) Wales, and (4) Northern Ireland (HL2370).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects information on the labour market status of individuals through the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is a survey of people resident in households in the UK. The responses allow us to estimate how many people are in employment, and how many of those are in employment as employees, as opposed to other forms of employment such as self-employed.

Due to the current smaller sample sizes being achieved by the LFS, recent estimates are showing increased volatility and should be treated with additional caution.

The latest available estimates (June to August 2024) of the rates of employees for people aged 16 to 64 years, determined as the percentage of the population in employment as an employee, resident in each of the UK’s four nations, are presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Rates of employees, people aged 16 to 64 years, England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, not seasonally adjusted.

England

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

June to August 2024

66.5%

65.0%

62.7%

62.2%

Source: Labour Force Survey

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Baroness Twycross
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
16th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government which inquiries conducted under the Inquiries Act 2005 involved matters which were wholly or partly devolved in Wales when the inquiry started.

Since the introduction of the Inquiries Act 2005, there have been three inquiries which include matters which are partly or wholly devolved to Wales: the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, the Infected Blood Inquiry, and the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

Baroness Twycross
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
26th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 19 November (HL2484), when they expect to announce the finalised terms for bids for new pump storage electricity generation projects, and when they expect final decisions on such bids to be made.

Finalised terms for applications to the Long Duration Electricity Storage (LDES) investment support scheme, which could include applications from Pumped Storage Hydro (PSH) projects, will be set out in a Technical Decision Document to be published in the first quarter of 2025.

Ofgem is the delivery body for the LDES investment support scheme and has informed Government that it intends to open the scheme to a first round of applications in the second quarter of 2025 and is working with the aim of making decisions on initial applications in early 2026.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
12th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how many proposals they are currently considering from commercial organisations to construct pump storage hydro-electricity plants in Wales; in which year those proposals were first made; and when they anticipate reaching a conclusion on them.

As announced in October, the Government has decided to introduce an investment support scheme for long duration electricity storage (LDES) assets, including pumped storage hydro (PSH). This scheme will be delivered by Ofgem. We expect it to open for applications in 2025.

As the scheme has not yet opened, there are currently no formal proposals for Ofgem to consider. The Government is aware of interest in Welsh PSH and the potential for there to be some Welsh project applications in due course.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
4th Sep 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the results for floating offshore wind project applications in the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6, on what basis were (1) 400 megawatts of contracts awarded to projects in Scotland, and (2) no contracts awarded to projects in Wales.

All projects in Great Britain that met the eligibility criteria were able to apply into Allocation Round 6 (AR6). Eligible projects competed in an auction, run independently by National Grid ESO, designed to bring forward the most cost-effective projects in each delivery year. The scheme is geographically neutral and does not award contracts to projects based on regional quotas.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
4th Sep 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the results of the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6, which allocated 1.63 per cent of the total megawatts available to applicants from Wales, with which stakeholders in Wales they held discussions prior to reaching that decision.

The Contracts for Difference scheme is geographically neutral and does not award contracts to projects based on regional quotas. All projects in Great Britain that met the eligibility criteria were able to apply into Allocation Round 6 (AR6). Eligible projects competed in an auction, run independently by National Grid ESO, designed to bring forward the most cost-effective projects in each delivery year.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
12th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how many students were undertaking undergraduate degree courses at universities in England, at the most recent date for which figures are available, whose home addresses were in (1) Wales, (2) Scotland, and (3) Northern Ireland.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA – now part of JISC), is responsible for collecting and publishing data about UK higher education. The latest statistics refer to the 2022/23 academic year.

Figure 9 of HESA’s ‘Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2022/23’ reports the number of enrolments for UK providers based on student permanent address prior to study between the academic years 2018/19 and 2022/23 and is available by students’ study level. Figure 9 can be accessed at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/sb269/figure-9.

It is possible to filter the figures in the table to undergraduate degrees in English universities by setting the ‘Country of HE provider’ drop-down menu to ‘England’, and the ‘Level of study’ drop-down menu to ‘All undergraduate’.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Education)
2nd Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure the availability of medical radio-isotopes for the treatment of cancer patients in the UK.

The supply of radioisotopes has now returned to normal levels, and a Written Ministerial Statement was laid on 26 November to update Parliament. During the disruption to supply, the Department worked with industry, the devolved administrations, the National Health Service, members of the radiopharmaceutical community, and regulators to secure fair and equal access across the United Kingdom for patients, including for the treatment of cancer. Patients with the most critical needs were given priority.

Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
6th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of funding for community pharmacy services for 2025–26 and its adequacy to maintain current standards of service in rural areas.

Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and to better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists as we shift care from hospital to the community.

Now that the budget for Government has been set, we will shortly be resuming our consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding the funding arrangements.

Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
12th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money per head of population was paid by the Treasury to the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish Governments on the basis of the Barnett formula, in the most recent year for which figures are available.

All devolved government settlements are growing in real terms in 2025-26.

The devolved governments’ Spending Review settlements for 2025-26 are the largest in real terms of any settlements since devolution. They are each receiving at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK. That translates into over £16 billion more in 2025-26.

The Barnett formula ensures broadly the same change in funding per person across the whole of the UK, while the underlying baseline funding broadly reflects higher needs in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Fiscal Framework agreed between the UK and Welsh governments in 2016 added a needs-based factor into the Barnett formula to ensure Wales receives fair funding.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
16th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to re-allocate to the Welsh Government the £400 million accumulated End Year Flexibility fund consolidated out of revenue underspend between 2007 and 2011.

The End Year Flexibility fund was replaced by the Budget Exchange mechanism in 2011. For the Welsh Government, this was then replaced by the Wales Reserve in 2016 to continue to allow Welsh Government to move funding between years. The Wales Reserve limit is £350 million.

Underspends that the Welsh Government are unable to manage within the Wales Reserve are returned to the Exchequer, as set out in the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance.

The Welsh Government receives around 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in England. That translates to £3.5 billion more per year on average for the Welsh Government. It is for the Welsh Government to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
16th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government, in each year from 1999 to 2024, what directions have been given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or the relevant Secretary of State, to the Crown Estate Commissioners under section 1 of the Crown Estate Act 1961.

Section 1 of the Crown Estate Act 1961 provides that the Chancellor of the Exchequer may direct the Commissioners as to the discharge of their functions under the Act, but in doing so must have regard to the general statutory duties of the Commissioners.

Neither the Treasury nor The Crown Estate have any known record of the power of direction in section 1 of the Crown Estate Act 1961 being used since the 1961 Act came into force.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
16th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the current Crown Estate Commissioners live in Wales.

Crown Estate Commissioners are a public appointment made by The King on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. All Commissioner appointments are governed by the Code for Public Appointments.

As of October 2024, none of the current Commissioners declare a primary residence in Wales.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
8th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money the government of Wales paid to the Crown Estates in the financial year 2023–24.

Land owned in the UK by private companies is leased at market rates. The Crown Estate is an organisation that operates in the market, competing directly with the private sector, and as such their land is leased at market rates.

The Crown Estate received £2,826 total revenue from Welsh Government for the financial year 2023-24.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
8th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money each of the 22 counties of Wales paid to the Crown Estates in the financial year 2023–24.

The Crown Estate operates as an independent and unified commercial entity, engaging in a variety of business activities across Wales, England and Northern Ireland.

To achieve efficiency in its operations, The Crown Estate runs many of its functions at a whole enterprise level. Reflective of this whole enterprise approach, The Crown Estate runs a single set of accounts across its functions, which are not disaggregated according to administrative areas, local authorities or counties. Extracting the relevant information from the existing accounts into a bespoke format to align with the request for 22 counties of Wales would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold for Written Parliamentary Questions.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
8th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money each of the national parks in Wales paid to the Crown Estates in the financial year 2023–24.

Land owned in the UK by private companies is leased at market rates. The Crown Estate is an organisation that operates in the market, competing directly with the private sector, and as such their land is leased at market rates.

The revenue to The Crown Estate from leases of National Parks for Wales for the financial year 2023/24 is £21,304 from Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
8th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water paid to the Crown Estates in relation to their activities in (1) Wales, and (2) England in the financial year 2023–24.

The Government recognises there is a public interest in transparency in relation to how public money is managed. However, in this case, disclosure of information would be likely to prejudice The Crown Estate’s position in relation to future business negotiations with other water companies.

If The Crown Estate is unable to obtain best value, this could have a detrimental effect on the amount of money The Crown Estate returns to the public purse. On that basis, the Government believes the public interest weights in favour of withholding this information at this point in time.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
8th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money the Ministry of Defence paid to the Crown Estates in relation to their activities in Wales in the financial year 2023–24.

During the financial year 2023-24, the Ministry of Defence paid £2,805 to the Crown Estate in relation to its activities in Wales.

Lord Coaker
Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
16th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government, for each of the past 10 years, what was the total monetary value of land sold, either on a freehold or leasehold basis, in (1) England, (2) Wales, and (3) Northern Ireland.

His Majesty’s Government does not hold the information in the format requested to answer question and it could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
12th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prisoners are currently held in prisons on indeterminate sentences whose home addresses are recorded as being in Wales.

As of 30 September 2024, excluding those recalled to prison following release, there were 342 prisoners serving indeterminate sentences who had a recorded home address in Wales.

As at 30 September 2024, there were a total 8,501 prisoners serving indeterminate sentences in custody in England and Wales, excluding those recalled to prison following release.

The figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Lord Timpson
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
26th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in co-operation with the Welsh Government to ensure the availability of funding for the safeguarding of coal-tips in Wales.

At the Budget, the UK Government allocated £25 million of funding in 2025/6 for essential work being undertaken by the Welsh Government to keep disused coal tips maintained and safe.

This is a clear demonstration of how the Government is committed to resetting the relationship with the Welsh Government based on trust and mutual respect.

As well as this, the Mining Remediation Authority continues to provide coal tip expert advice and undertake inspections on behalf of the Welsh Government on a cost recovery basis.

Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
26th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have received from the Welsh Government regarding revising the Barnett formula.

The Secretary of State for Wales regularly meets with the First Minister to discuss a variety of issues. There are ongoing discussions with the Welsh Government on their Fiscal Framework, and we remain committed to working in partnership with the Welsh Government to ensure the smooth delivery of their funding settlement.

The Welsh Government’s budget is growing in real terms in 2025-26 and is the largest settlement in real terms since the dawn of devolution at £21 billion. The Welsh Government receive over 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK.


Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
26th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with Welsh Ministers on establishing a medical radioisotope manufacturing plant at Trawsfynydd in Gwynedd.

The UK Government has regular discussions with the Welsh Government on a range of issues including the Welsh Government’s Project ARTHUR, which is a proposal to establish a public sector laboratory for the supply of medical radioisotopes at the Trawsfynydd site in Gwynedd.

The Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation and the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and technology met the Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning on 16 October and 4 November respectively. Project ARTHUR was discussed at both meetings.

Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
12th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they had with the Farmers' Union of Wales between 4 July and 30 October concerning the economic challenges facing farmers in Wales.

The Wales Office has regular engagement with the Farmers Union of Wales as well as other farming union stakeholders in Wales. The Parliamentary Under Secretary for Wales met the Farmers Union of Wales on 11 September where challenges facing farmers in Wales were discussed. Furthermore, on 5 November the Secretary of State for Wales and the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Wales held a virtual meeting with farming unions to discuss the Budget and its effects on farmers in Wales.

The Secretary of State for Wales also hosted a farming unions roundtable event at the Royal Welsh Show on the 22 July.

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