Lord Jackson of Peterborough

As outlined in my previous answer of 29 October (HL 1459), officials have and will continue to engage with international and devolved governments as part of their work relating to conversion practices. Clearly, any country’s decision on whether and how to legislate in this area depends on their legal framework and context.

We are currently working toward publication of the draft Bill later this session and will engage Parliamentarians across both Houses and key stakeholders on our proposals in further detail.

Officials have liaised with a range of international counterparts in relation to conversion practices policy. The Government will continue to engage with a range of other jurisdictions as well as domestic stakeholders, as policy in this area develops. We are committed to listening to all viewpoints and concerns with respect.

Conversion practices are abuse and must be stopped. This Government is committed to delivering on the manifesto commitment to bring forward a full, trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices.

Officials routinely liaise with international counterparts regarding their work relating to conversion practices. A jurisdiction’s decision on whether and how to legislate in this area will depend on their specific legal framework and context.

We will continue to engage with counterparts as well as domestic stakeholders as policy in this area develops and are committed to listening to all viewpoints and concerns with respect.

Conversion practices are abuse and must be stopped. This Government is committed to delivering on the manifesto commitment to bring forward a full, trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices.

The Government is aware of work ongoing in Scotland regarding their plans to ban conversion practices. We will continue to engage with counterparts across the devolved administrations as policy in this area develops.

This Government’s position is that conversion practices are abuse. Such practices have no place in society and must be stopped.

As with all legislation, the Government is considering all possible impacts and relevant rights, in line with the requirement to consider the compatibility of legislation with Convention rights as an integral part of the policy-making process.

To be clear, any ban must not cover legitimate psychological support, treatment, or non-directive counselling. It must also respect the important role that teachers, religious leaders, parents and carers can have in supporting those exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Government engages with the European Commission and Member States on a range of issues relating to the rights of British nationals in the EU, including the issuing of documentation to UK citizens residing in the EU. We have consistently raised, both bilaterally with individual Member States and with the European Commission, the need to improve the speed at which documentation is issued in certain Member States. We also raise this issue through the structures created under the Withdrawal Agreement, such as the Specialised Committee on Citizens' Rights. We will raise this issue again at the upcoming Specialised Committee on Citizens' Rights on 14 November.

There are currently no infringement cases against the UK before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

In 2020, the European Commission launched infringement case INFR (2020)2202 against the UK. The case concerns the implementation of aspects of the Free Movement Directive into UK law while the UK was an EU Member State and during the transition period.

The proceedings are ongoing, and on 25 October, the UK Government responded to a Reasoned Opinion which had been issued by the European Commission on 25 July.

There are no immediate plans to report to Parliament on these proceedings but this will be kept under review.

The Government has no such list. The Government uses terms which are designed to be inclusive, easy to understand and accessible to everyone.

Allocation of working time spent on cross-government staff networks is an agreement between the staff network volunteers and their departments as employers.

The majority of staff time spent on the Civil Service LGBT+ Network is voluntary and unpaid.

The Government aims to strengthen arrangements on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications with the European Union. The regulatory environment for skills and professionals was on the agenda at the UK EU Trade Specialised Committee on Services, Investment and Digital Trade on 24 October 2024. The UK’s approach to the recognition of professional qualifications was discussed under that agenda item. The Government is engaging with businesses to understand views on recognition of professional qualifications between the UK and EU and looks forward to discussions with the EU in due course.

This Government recognises the importance of skills as a crucial factor in maximising the potential of our semiconductor sector, driving growth, and creating high-quality jobs throughout the UK. My officials are collaborating with stakeholders across industry and academia to understand the challenges faced by the semiconductor sector in order to take the necessary steps needed to expand the talent pool for the long term. The newly announced Skills England will play a vital role in bringing together government, industry and training providers to address the skills needs of the coming decade.

Given the global nature of semiconductor supply chains, international collaboration is crucial for both the UK’s resilience and economic growth. The government is working closely with international partners on supply chain resilience and developing its semiconductor skills base, including by implementing partnerships covering these issues with Japan, the Republic of Korea and India. It will support UK semiconductor organisations to participate in the EU Chips Joint Undertaking and drive international collaboration on semiconductors within the OECD’s ‘Informal Network on Semiconductors’ and the G7 ‘Point of Contact’ group, to further collective understanding of supply chains and coordinate resilience efforts.

The government’s number one mission is economic growth. At the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology we are accelerating innovation to unlock more growth across the UK, as well as supporting the government’s other missions such as the clean energy transition. The UK’s science and technology sectors, including semiconductors, are already driving that economic growth and unlocking the innovations that will help us reach net zero.

We are committed to securing areas of world leading advantage in the semiconductor technologies of the future by focusing on our strengths in research and development (R&D), design and IP, and compound semiconductors. This will facilitate technological innovation, boost growth and job creation, bolster our international position to improve supply chain resilience, and protect our national security.

We will work closely with industry and academia to ensure our work is delivering real-world benefits for UK citizens.

The European Union (EU) has raised a dispute that the UK’s decision to prohibit fishing for sandeel within UK waters is not compliant with the Trade and Cooperation agreement (TCA). The dispute proceedings are confidential therefore there is little more I can say at this time.

This Government committed in its manifesto to tackle the high costs of motor insurance. To deliver on this commitment, the UK Government has formed a cross-government Taskforce on motor insurance, co-chaired by the Department for Transport and His Majesty’s Treasury, which met for the first time on 16th October.

The Taskforce is comprised of ministers from relevant government departments and by the Financial Conduct Authority and Competition and Markets Authority. The Taskforce is supported by a separate Stakeholder Panel of industry experts representing the insurance, motor, and consumer sector.

This Taskforce has a strategic remit to set the direction for UK Government policy, identifying short- and long-term actions for departments that may contribute to stabilising or reducing premiums, while maintaining appropriate levels of cover. It will evaluate the impact of increased insurance costs on consumers and the insurance industry, including how this impacts different demographics, geographies, and communities.

Currently 7 National Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Networks are given pro rata time allocation to support respective network activity.

Time allocation

The National EDI Network Co-Chairs have a 25%-weekly time allocation and the Strand Lead/Board Member/Committee roles have a weekly 10%-time allocation. Each Network can recruit up to 10 Committee members (please note that not all Networks have up to 10 Committee members).

7 National EDI Networks with allocated time equates to:

1 x 25 % time allocation 37- hour week contract equates to 9.25 hours for each co-chair or 18.5 hours for both per week or 962 hours year for each of them

1x10% time allocation 37 – hour week contract equates to 3.7 per committee member, or for each committee member 10 x 10 % equates to 37 hours a week or 1,924 hours annually for all members of a Committee.

Across all 7 Networks:

• 70* people support network activity at 10% with 90% of their time focused on their contracted job role.
• 14 people spend 25% of their time on network activity, with 75% of their time focused on their contracted job role.

*note that not all Committee roles are filled.

Cross Civil Service Networks

Alongside DWP EDI Networks there a number of cross Civil Service Networks. DWP colleagues who take up the role of Co-Chair for a recognised cross government EDI Network can receive 5% time allocation to carry out their duties. Colleagues are welcome to be a member of any Staff Network but are only able to receive time allocation for one role on an EDI Network at any time.

The 2 chairs of the Civil Service LBGT+ Network both sit in DWP. They have 37-hour week contracts and 5% of this equates to 1.85 hours each a week – or 96.2 hours a year for each them.

The following table shows the number of abortion clinics which have never been inspected by the Care Quality Commission, as well as the number of clinics which have not been inspected since 30 September 2021:

Source: Care Quality Commission.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) was planning to publish information about their expectations of the frequency of future assessments in July 2024. Due to the timing of the review into the operational effectiveness of the CQC led by Dr Penny Dash, the CQC did not share this information as planned.

The interim findings of Dr Dash’s review, as well as the full and final report published on 15 October 2024, made clear recommendations on how the CQC needs to change its regulatory approach. The CQC has committed to making those changes.

The CQC will publish an update on how frequently it will be carrying out its future assessments in due course, in consultation with stakeholders and others, as outlined by Section 46 (7) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance was published on 14 May 2024, and required all Departments and arm's length bodies to set controls on all equality, diversity, and inclusion related expenditure. No further guidance was issued by the Department to National Health Service trusts.

NHS England has not published written guidance to NHS trusts and arm’s length bodies on reducing external spending on equality, diversity, and inclusion programmes.

The Department and NHS England do not have national policies relating to Stonewall membership for National Health Service trusts, and support NHS trusts in defining the appropriate policies to support equality, diversity, and inclusion, to align with the Government's Health Mission and priorities. As a consequence, there have been no assessments following the Cass Review.

The National Health Service provides a service that is available for all, and good equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) principles ensure that everyone can access healthcare.

NHS England does not routinely collect data on EDI spend across the NHS. NHS England does not have plans to initiate a review into EDI spending, and the Department does not plan to initiate a review into this spending.

Embedding inclusive leadership and promoting equal opportunities and fairness is part of the NHS Constitution, the Equality Act 2010 and is one of the recommendations of the Messenger Review. Implementing EDI principles is the personal responsibility of every member of staff in the NHS.

EDI roles are wide-ranging and help the NHS meet its legal duties set out for public bodies in the Equality Act 2010, through the public sector equality duty and the principles that guide the NHS Constitution.

The Government will continue to champion freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all abroad. No one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. Envoy roles will be decided upon in due course. We cannot comment on timelines for individual appointments. In the meantime, we continue to use the strength of our global diplomatic network, including dedicated staff within the FCDO, to promote and protect FoRB around the world.

FCDO officials responsible for freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) policy, attended the entirety of the Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief, in Berlin 9-11 October. Following the conference, we will build on discussions focused on the implications of artificial intelligence for FoRB. The use of AI presents both opportunities and risks for the enjoyment of human rights. It is important that we champion the positive potential of AI, whilst taking action to mitigate risks. We will do this by working with international partners and through multilateral fora including the UN and regional organisations.

The Government will champion freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all abroad. No one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. Envoy roles will be decided upon in due course. There is no set timetable for doing so. In the meantime, we continue to use the strength of our global diplomatic network, including dedicated staff within the FCDO, to promote and protect FoRB around the world.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is required by primary legislation to publish an annual assessment of the accuracy of its forecasts. All previous Forecast Evaluation Reports are available on the OBR’s website.

In addition, last year, the OBR published a working paper assessing its forecasting record since it was established in 2010. It found that the OBR’s forecasting accuracy is comparable to that of external forecasters, and its GDP and borrowing forecasts have typically been more accurate than the previous forecasts made by the Treasury.

The Budget Responsibility Bill will support transparency and accountability, by ensuring that significant fiscal announcements are always subject to independent scrutiny.

Parliament will remain sovereign: the legislation which sets out the legal framework will be taken through the House of Commons for approval, as will the Charter for Budget Responsibility which will set out the technical details. The Bill makes no changes to existing parliamentary scrutiny of Government tax and spending decisions.

The Home Office publishes statistics on the EU Settlement Scheme in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release). The number of people estimated to hold pre-settled status (five years’ limited leave to enter or remain) under the scheme as of 30 June 2024 is 1,810,040. The data is available in EUSS_RA_01 Table 3 of the Immigration system statistics, EUSS summary tables (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables#eu-settlement-scheme).

Since September 2023, we have been extending the pre-settled status of those approaching its expiry date if they have not yet obtained settled status (indefinite leave to enter or remain). All pre-settled status holders who meet those criteria are potentially affected by the extension provision.

Any demands the Home Office makes for local police forces to collect data for central use much balance policy needs with the burden on forces.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.

The particular information requested is not currently held centrally in a reliable and repeatable form.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.

These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.

The EU Settlement Scheme, contained in Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules, has provided 5.7 million people with the immigration status they need to continue living in the UK. This includes 1.8 million people who have obtained a grant of pre-settled status (five years’ limited leave to enter or remain).

Since September 2023, we have been extending the pre-settled status of those approaching its expiry date if they have not yet obtained settled status (indefinite leave to enter or remain). This ensures that no pre-settled status holder loses their rights in the UK for failing to make a second application to the scheme.

Homes England is promoting land north east of Castor and Ailsworth in the emerging Peterborough Local Plan Review, with the ambition to create a modern, sustainable community with high-quality homes, jobs, and facilities. The Local Plan Review is at an early stage and Homes England will be responding to consultations in line with the Council’s Local Development Scheme and engaging with all stakeholders throughout the process.

Attended hearings in the Court of Protection have ordinarily been held in public since 2016 with a ‘Transparency Order’ being made by the court to prohibit the publication of information that identifies, or is likely to identify, the vulnerable person concerned, their family, or any other person specified in the order.