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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of storm and flood warning systems in the UK following Storm Bert and Storm Darragh.

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

Defra is the Lead Government Department in England for flooding and works with the Environment Agency (EA) and Met Office to maintain a flood warning system for England.

The responsibility for flood warning systems in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland rests with the equivalent organisations to Defra and the EA in the Devolved Governments. The responsibility for storm warning systems in the UK is held by the Met Office.

Between September and mid-January 2025 over 1,400 Flood Warnings were issued in England. Defra, the EA and the Met Office regularly assess the effectiveness of their flood warning systems in England including after major events like Storm Bert and Storm Darragh. These assessments take various forms, including working with Local Resilience Forums in post incident reviews as well as annual performance reports under the Flood & Water Management Act 2010.

Defra, the EA and the Met Office continuously work to improve flood warning services, including by developing the capability of world leading Flood Forecast Centre. Examples of this work include a trial of Rapid Flood Guidance which took place in 2024, and which is currently being evaluated.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proposals for pumping water from the River Severn to the River Thames for use in South-East England.

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

The Severn to Thames Transfer is part of the RAPID programme and this means it will receive regulatory oversight as the owners (Severn Trent Water, Thames Water and United Utilities) continue to investigate and develop this potential strategic regional option (SRO). The Severn to Thames Transfer progressed through gate two in June 2023 after it was assessed by the RAPID partner regulators (Ofwat, EA and DWI). It was decided that this SRO should continue to be developed towards gate three.

The Severn to Thames Transfer is not currently a preferred option in water companies' water resource management plans (WRMPs). However, at PR24 Ofwat decided that the Severn to Thames Transfer should continue to be developed. This is because securing our future water supply is of critical importance, and therefore it is crucial that there is contingency within the system.

In the event that the Severn Thames Transfer is progressed, it is likely to involve a pipeline connection of the River Severn to the River Thames to enable the transfer of up to 500Ml/d raw water to the Southeast during times of drought.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what lessons Network Rail has learned from the railway accident near Llanbrynmair on the Shrewsbury to Machynlleth line in October 2024; and how those lessons will be heeded throughout the railway network.

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

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB), the independent body responsible for investigating rail accidents in the UK, launched an investigation into the fatal accident at Talerddig, near Llanbrynmair in Powys, on 22 October 2024, the day after the accident. Once the investigation is complete, RAIB will publish an investigation report, which will highlight any recommendations or learning points.

Maintaining high safety levels on the railway remains a priority for this Government and we expect the relevant parts of the rail industry, including Network Rail, to act on any recommendations resulting from RAIB’s investigation.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total number of people serving Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences at the latest available date; how many of these have been (1) released and recalled, or (2) never released; and how many remain in prison beyond their tariff.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes statistics on the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) population in Offender Management Statistics Quarterly (OMSQ). The latest published figures can be accessed using the links below.

As at 31 December 2024, there were a total 2,614 prisoners serving IPP sentences in custody, of which 1,045 were unreleased and 1,569 were recalled. The figures can be found in Table 1.Q.14: prison-population-31-Dec-2024.ods.

As at 30 September 2024, there were 2,885 offenders serving IPP sentences in the community. Of these, 1,742 had their IPP licences automatically terminated on 1 November 2024. The figures can be found in Table 6.13: Probation-Jul-to-Sep-2024.ods.

Between January and September 2024, there were 128 IPP first releases. The figures can be found in Table 3.Q.2: prison-releases-July-to-Sept-2024.ods.

Between 1 January and 30 September 2024, there were 471 IPP recalls. The figures can be found in Table 5.Q.2: licence-recalls-July-to-Sept-2024.ods.

Between 1 January and 30 September 2024, there were 451 IPP recall re-releases. The figures can be found in Table 5.Q.11: licence-recalls-July-to-Sept-2024.ods.

As at 31 December 2024, there were a total 1,035 unreleased IPP prisoners beyond their tariff. The figures can be found in Table 1.Q.18: prison-population-31-Dec-2024.ods.

It is right that the IPP sentence was abolished, and this Government is determined that those serving the sentence get all the support and opportunities they need to make further progress towards a safe and sustainable release.

On 15 November 2024, the Government published the updated IPP Action Plan, which puts a stronger emphasis on effective frontline delivery in our prisons. It will ensure that prisoners serving IPP sentences have robust and effective sentence plans, which they can actively engaging with, and that they are in the correct prison to access the right interventions and rehabilitative services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government when the actions outlined in the response to the consultation on fixed recoverable costs in lower damages clinical negligence claims will be implemented.

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

Currently, the Government is considering the way forward on a wide range of matters, including fixed recoverable costs, and we will announce our position in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government by what date they expect the work to remove dangerous cladding from high rise residential buildings in England to have been completed.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

No leaseholder in a high-rise residential building should wait a day longer for remediation than necessary. The Remediation Acceleration Plan published last December states that by the end of 2029 all high rise buildings (18 metres and over) with unsafe cladding in a government funded scheme will have been remediated. The joint plan with developers published alongside the Remediation Acceleration Plan established targets for developers to start or complete remedial works on all their buildings by the end of July 2027.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have held, or plan to hold, discussions with the government of South Korea on the potential for joint projects to accelerate the roll-out of nuclear-generated electricity in the UK.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The UK has a strong civil nuclear relationship with the Republic of Korea, including an annual Civil Nuclear Dialogue, where officials from both governments discuss shared challenges and opportunities to collaborate.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government by what date they anticipate that all compensation payments arising from the Post Office Horizon issue will be fully paid.

Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Horizon redress applications continue to be received and no deadlines have yet been set for them. However the Department’s target for the schemes which it administers is to respond to 90% of full claims within 40 working days. We hope, for example, to have settled nearly all cases in the GLO scheme by the end of 2025.

The Government remains committed to providing fair redress to all victims affected by this scandal as quickly as possible. We continue to encourage those victims who have not yet submitted a claim for redress to come forward. As of 31 March 2025, the total amount of redress paid to victims across all schemes has increased by more than three and a half times with £892 million having now been paid to over 6,200 claimants across all schemes.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the most recent figure for the number of people killed annually in road traffic accidents in England per million of the resident population; and how this compares with the rate of deaths in road traffic accidents in each of the other parts of the United Kingdom.

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

Data on road injury collisions are reported by police using the STATS19 system. In STATS19, a fatality is defined as a death that occurred within 30 days of the collision. The rates of fatalities in road collisions in 2023 per million population for different parts of the United Kingdom are shown in the table below.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what are the latest employee activity rates for (1) England and each of the regions of England, (2) Northern Ireland, (3) Scotland, (4) Wales, and (5) the United Kingdom as a whole.

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.

A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of HL6457 is attached.

The Rt Hon. the Lord Wigley

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

8 April 2025

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 employee activity rates for (1) England and each of the regions of England, (2) Northern Ireland, (3) Scotland, (4) Wales, and (5) the United Kingdom as a whole (HL6457).

An employee activity rate measures the amount of time employees spend engaged in productive billable work, versus non-billable activities. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not collect any information from businesses on their estimated employee activity rates.

We can estimate the proportion of the population aged from 16 to 64 years, that are employed as employees, which may be interpreted as an employee activity rate.

The ONS uses the Annual Population Survey (APS), which is a survey of people resident in households in the UK, to estimates of the number of employees in the regions and countries of the UK and the proportion of the population aged from 16 to 64 years that this represents.

Table 1 contains APS estimates of the number of employees aged 16 to 64 years and the proportion of the population of that age this represents, for the regions and countries of the UK, for the period October 2023 to September 2024, the latest data currently available. Table 1 should be read in conjunction with the advice on quality contained in the footnotes of this response.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Table 1: Number of employees aged 16 to 64 years and the proportion of the population of that age that represents, for the regions and countries of the UK, October 2023 to September 2024[1].

Source: Annual Population Survey

[1]The ongoing challenges with response rates, response levels and weighting approach mean that labour market statistics based on both the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the APS are considered ’official statistics in development’ until further review. Because of increased volatility of LFS and APS estimates, estimates of change should be treated with additional caution. The APS estimates have not been weighted to the same populations as the LFS. Therefore, all APS tables will be inconsistent with those used for LFS in the latest periods.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the railway stations in London are fully wheelchair accessible; and what plans they have to increase that number.

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

There are currently 137 railway stations with step free access between the entrance/ exit and platforms in Greater London (this excludes those operated by Transport for London). Since April 2024, the Access for All programme has delivered step free access at 25 stations across Britain, with Newtown station in Powys being one of the most recent. This Government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to repeal section 2(4) of the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948.

Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government does not currently plan to review or repeal section 2(4) of the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948. The Department of Health and Social Care recognise that this is an important issue, and the Department is looking at the drivers of cost in clinical negligence cases.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much land in Wales is owned by the Ministry of Defence, and what portion of that land is now available for sale for the purpose of building new houses.

Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

As of 1 April 2024, Ministry of Defence (MOD) land holdings Wales comprised of some 23,300 hectares (6.8% of the MOD total).

The majority (85.4%) of this land is freehold land owned by the Department, the remainder is land held on a short term and contractual basis or through grants for a specific purpose.

It is too early to say at this time what proportion of this land may be used for the building of new homes.

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Found: Letter dated 14/04/2025 from Lord Leong to Lord Clement-Jones and Lord Wigley regarding a correction