Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the average time to resolve a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office in respect of Freedom of Information requests, in each of the past 5 years.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Information Commissioner’s Office have seen the average days to resolve or close an FOI complaint reduce over the past five years from 134 days in 2021/22 to 76 days in 2025/26 despite cases increasing from 5932 to 8337 over the same period. The ICO are now publishing this information on a monthly basis on their website.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government further to the reply by Baroness Lloyd of Effra on 23 March (HL Deb col 1353), which organisations they consulted on the UK Steel Strategy, and what feedback they provided.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

We have engaged a broad range of stakeholders in development of the steel strategy, including through the Steel Council, policy specific roundtables and bilateral meetings.

These have included representatives from steel producers, wider companies in the supply chain (such as fabricators, manufacturers and scrap processors), academia, civil society, devolved and local governments and trade unions.

We also conducted a full consultation on the steel strategy and a call for evidence on the new trade measure it contains. The wide range of feedback received has been accounted for and referenced within the steel strategy itself.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Lloyd of Effra on 23 March (HL Deb col 1351), what economic analysis was carried out on the impact of steel tariffs on (1) the construction sector and (2) domestic manufacturing industry, before the UK Steel Strategy was published.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government has carefully designed the new steel trade measure to secure the future of domestic capability while maintaining secure and resilient supply. This measure seeks to address the existential threat to UK steelmaking from overcapacity, while taking into account downstream impacts, including in the construction sector. Insights from across the steel supply chain via our Call for Evidence informed both the scope and design of the measure.

We continue to engage with industry and other stakeholders as we move into the delivery phase of the Steel Strategy, including implementation of the new trade measure ahead of 1 July.