Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what further consideration they have given since July 2024 to the report of the Commission on Justice in Wales, published in 2019, and in particular those recommendations directed at His Majesty's Government.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Since July, the Government has focused on addressing the significant challenges facing the justice system.
The Commission on Justice in Wales, which was established by the Welsh Government, made many recommendations, principal among them the recommendation that justice should be devolved to Wales. Whilst that is not something we agree with, we are committed to working with the Welsh Government to ensure that we deliver justice in a way that best serves the people of Wales. We have, for example, been working with the Welsh Government on data collection and disaggregation, which was an area of interest for the Commission.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to give power to the Welsh Government to restructure the civil service in Wales to create an integrated public service.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government’s commitments on further devolution were outlined in our manifesto. We have no plans to devolve powers over the civil service to Wales.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the economies of both Wales and the UK, of the recent closure of shipping facilities at the port of Holyhead; and what discussions have they had with the company that manages the port and the government of Wales about minimising the impact of the closure.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
DfT is working closely with the Welsh Government, which is leading on this matter. Welsh officials have had regular contact with operators, including Stena, which operates the port of Holyhead. UK Government officials (including DfT, Border Force, DBT and HMRC) have supported them in the implementation of additional routes. DfT is also working very closely with the Irish Government and British Embassy Dublin, to support the response.
The Government recognises that this will have been a challenging time for the people and businesses of Ynys Mon. The Isle of Anglesey County Council business support portal will give the opportunity for businesses to express concerns to the Welsh Government. The Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales has also announced a new multi-stakeholder task force to help deliver a new strategy for the future of Holyhead Port.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much additional money has been provided to the government of Scotland to respond to recent instances of acute bad weather.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Scottish Government receives funding from the UK Government through the mechanical operation of the Barnett formula when there are changes to UK Government department funding.
Following Autumn Budget 2024, the Scottish Government is receiving £47.7 billion in 2025-26. This includes an additional £3.4 billion through the operation of the Barnett formula. This settlement is the largest in real terms since devolution.
Barnett-based funding for the Scottish Government is not ringfenced for a specific policy area such as responding to bad weather. This allows the Scottish Government the flexibility to allocate its funding across devolved areas as it sees fit, according to its own priorities and local circumstances. The Scottish Government is accountable to Scottish Parliament for these decisions.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Wales about safeguarding the funding of children's hospices that provide services to children on both sides of the England–Wales border.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There have not been any discussions between the Department and the Welsh Government about safeguarding the funding of children’s hospices.
The Department works collaboratively with the Devolved Governments to drive forward our objective of supporting people to lead more independent, healthier lives for longer. While health is predominantly devolved, the Department holds some reserved functions and working together across the United Kingdom on health and social care is ingrained in the values of our National Health Service and social care sector.
Children and young people’s hospices in England will receive £26 million in revenue funding for 2025/26, through what until recently was known as the Children’s Hospice Grant. We are also supporting both the children and adult hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We will set out the details of the funding allocation and dissemination for both funding streams in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many statutory public inquiries established under the Inquiries Act 2005 are currently still active; whether each inquiry has a target date for its completion; and whether there are financial resources ear-marked to cover the ongoing costs.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There are currently 10 statutory public inquiries established by HM Government under the Inquiries Act 2005 still active. Each inquiry has a sponsor department whose role includes covering ongoing costs. The duration of an inquiry is a matter for the inquiry chair, who usually has target dates for completion.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, if any, since July 2024 with the Royal Household about the inclusion of a symbolic representation of Wales on the royal standard.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Since July 2024, no discussion has been held with the Royal Household by the government about the inclusion of a symbolic representation of Wales on the royal standard.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to extend the £10,000 tax free bursary available to trainee art and design teachers, so that it is also available to trainee music teachers.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
Earlier this year, the department announced an initial teacher training financial incentives package for the 2025/26 recruitment cycle worth £233 million, which is a £37 million increase on the last cycle. This includes a £10,000 tax free bursary to encourage trainees to teach music.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the lowering of the threshold for employers' national insurance payments in the Autumn budget on the provision of daily school transport for children with special educational needs, and whether they will make an exception to ensure the continuation of those services.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer of 16 December 2024 to Question 19397.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to discuss with the Welsh Government the full implications of the proposed rises to National Insurance contributions which the Welsh Government will be responsible for implementing in the financial year 2025–26 and the timeframe; and what proportion of the additional payments which the Welsh Government as an employer will be required to make will be covered by additional funding from the Treasury.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury continues to engage closely with finance counterparts in the Welsh Government.
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor provided funding to the public sector to support them with the additional cost associated with changes to Employer National Insurance Contributions.
The Welsh Government will receive funding through the Barnett Formula in 2025-26 for any changes to UK Government department budgets, including support for Employer National Insurance Contributions. This is the normal operation of the funding arrangements as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.
This funding will be in addition to the Welsh Government’s record Spending Review settlement for 2025-26, which is the largest in real terms of any settlements since devolution.