Lord Patten

Age discrimination that cannot be objectively justified is unacceptable and unlawful across a range of fields under the Equality Act 2010. It is the strong protections in the 2010 Act that enable older people and their representatives to challenge such unlawful behaviour and ultimately seek redress in the courts or, in the case of older workers, an employment tribunal.

In addition, as regards to the public sector, the Public Sector Equality Duty places a duty on Government Departments, local authorities, the NHS and other bodies to have due regard to meeting equality requirements, including to eliminate unlawful age discrimination, where this is relevant to their policies and activities.

Age discrimination complaints to an Employment Tribunal stood at 2,434 in the year prior to the pandemic (2019/20) and fell slightly to 2080 in the 12 months to June 2023.

Age discrimination that cannot be objectively justified is unacceptable and unlawful across a range of fields under the Equality Act 2010. It is the strong protections in the 2010 Act that enable older people and their representatives to challenge such unlawful behaviour and ultimately seek redress in the courts or, in the case of older workers, an employment tribunal.

In addition, as regards to the public sector, the Public Sector Equality Duty places a duty on Government Departments, local authorities, the NHS and other bodies to have due regard to meeting equality requirements, including to eliminate unlawful age discrimination, where this is relevant to their policies and activities.

Age discrimination complaints to an Employment Tribunal stood at 2,434 in the year prior to the pandemic (2019/20) and fell slightly to 2080 in the 12 months to June 2023.

The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). The Infected Blood Compensation Authority Framework Document, published in March 2025, sets out the timelines agreed between IBCA and Cabinet Office; namely for the bulk of infected people to be paid no later than the end of next year and the bulk of affected people to be paid no later than the end of 2029.

In evidence to the Public Accounts Committee, the Chief Executive Officer of IBCA set out a commitment to ensure that all registered claims of the infected cohorts are brought into the system and the vast majority are paid by the end of the 2026-27 financial year. IBCA's recently published business plan confirms this commitment for all infected claims registered as of 7 July 2026.

As of 30 June, 19,565 people have registered their intent with IBCA to make a compensation claim. A total of 3,335 people have had their compensation paid. It is important to note that not everyone who has registered their intent with IBCA will be eligible for compensation.

The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). IBCA has now opened its compensation service to all cohorts, including living infected people who have never been compensated, estates of deceased infected people, and affected people. While the Government and IBCA are aware that some people have sadly died before receiving their compensation under the scheme, IBCA are, in line with recommendations made by the Infected Blood Inquiry and feedback from community group sessions, prioritising claims starting with those who are sadly nearing end of life, those with advanced liver disease, and those who are over 75.

With each new cohort, IBCA are starting small, allowing them to learn what additions to the claim service are needed. This will allow them to open their service to more people as the service is built around specific needs. Whilst the roll out of the Scheme is an operational decision for IBCA as an independent body, the Government fully supports their commitment to moving forward as swiftly as possible.

An announcement on the appointment of the National Statistician will be made in due course once the necessary recruitment processes have concluded.

There are no current plans to reduce the number of Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords.

The presence of the Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords reflects the constitutional position of the Church of England as the established Church and the Sovereign as the Supreme Governor of the Church.

The Government believes the House of Lords benefits from having a membership with a wide and diverse range of backgrounds including faith and religion.

When we came into government we inherited a compensation system that was widely seen as too slow, too legalistic and too adversarial. In addition, significant numbers of victims were not covered by the redress schemes then in existence.

As of 30 June 2025, approximately £1,098 million has been paid in total redress to over 7,900 claimants. This represents a fourfold increase since July 2024, with more than 5,000 victims receiving compensation for the first time.

However, there is still more to do, and the recent publication of the first volume of the Horizon IT Inquiry report gives clear recommendations on how we can improve this further.

We do not have any plans to conduct an analysis of the impact of home working in isolation. However, we will monitor the impact of the flexible working reforms which came into force in April 2024, and further changes planned though the Employment Rights Bill.

The Government recognises the increasing threat to the homeland from state actors and that critical national infrastructure, including subsea cables, will continue to be a target.

As the threat landscape evolves, it is essential to ensure that our risk assessments remain robust and fit for purpose. All risks in the National Risk Register, including the risk related to subsea cables, are kept under review to ensure that they are the most appropriate scenarios to inform emergency preparedness and resilience activity. We are currently reviewing and updating our assessments of risks to the UK’s subsea telecommunications cables.

While individual cables are vulnerable to damage, the UK’s international connectivity is resilient, supported by 45 international cables as well as high‑capacity fibre links running through the Channel Tunnel.

DSIT continues to work closely with the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Defence and other government departments to ensure the security and resilience of the UK’s subsea telecommunications infrastructure.

The Government has established a Central AI Risk Function (CAIRF), which brings together policymakers and AI experts with a mission to continuously identify, assess and prepare for AI associated risks.

CAIRF develops and maintains the UK Government’s AI Risk Register. The register is actively maintained by CAIRF to identify individual risks associated with AI that could impact the UK spanning national security, the economy and society.

In addition, the AI Security Institute's (AISI) work is part of this Government's efforts to tackle security threats from AI. AISI evaluates both closed and open-sourced AI models to assess the risks AI poses to security and public safety.

We are also mindful that open source can boost transparency and support AI safety research. The UK Government will carefully balance these important benefits alongside risks as it develops its regulatory approach.

While no specific assessment of racecourse buildings has been carried out, racecourses are well represented on the National Heritage List for England, with around 40 listed examples of associated grandstands, pavilions and racing stables. Many of these have been recognised for their historic associations and interest, among the oldest being the Grade II* listed Grandstand at York racecourse dating from 1755.

The department does not collect data on the qualifications that schools choose to offer.

The department publishes institution-level data on the number of pupils who finish 16 to 18 study by entries per qualification, which do not show substantial variation over the last 14 years:

Universities have responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for all their disabled students where necessary. Reasonable adjustments are offered at the discretion of the university based on an assessment of a student's individual needs.

In England, the management of university exams is guided by a combination of national regulatory bodies, university-specific policies and sector-wide frameworks.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator for higher education in England. While it does not set specific exam rules, its conditions of registration ensure that universities maintain high academic standards and fair assessment practices. It requires institutions to uphold principles of fairness, transparency and accessibility in assessments.

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education provides the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, outlining expectations for academic standards and quality. This includes guidance on assessment design, marking and academic integrity.

Each university is autonomous and sets its own assessment regulations, including:

• Exam formats.
• Marking and grading criteria.
• Procedures for mitigating circumstances.
• Reasonable adjustments which a student might require.

The department does not have evidence which suggests that reasonable adjustments are impacting the integrity of exams or assessments and have no current plans to conduct a survey on the integrity of university examinations.

Information on the number of care leavers is submitted to the department on an annual basis and is published in our statistical release, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.

The department publishes figures on the number of care leavers who have died in this age range in the methodology document accompanying this statistical release in the section ‘Data Quality and Uses’ (‘Care leavers aged 17, 18, 19, 20 or 21 years’). Information for 2022 to 2024 can be found in the attached table 1.

The department does not hold information centrally on the cause of death, the mental health of the care leaver or any details of past history of sexual abuse.

The total number of 18 to 21-year-old care leavers and the number and proportion of care leavers who are not in education, training and employment is shown in table 2.

Cheating of any kind is unacceptable. It threatens to undermine the reputation of our world-class higher education (HE) sector and devalues the hard work of those who succeed on their own merit.

Universities are independent and autonomous bodies responsible for decisions such as admissions, diversity of provision, course content, teaching and assessment. As such, they are responsible for designing and implementing their own policies and approaches to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and for taking steps to detect and prevent any form of academic misconduct by students, including the misuse of AI, as set out in the Office for Students’ (OfS) regulatory framework.

The experience and expertise of the sector is contributing to the department’s evidence base for how generative AI is used in education. In January 2024, the department published research entitled ‘Generative AI in education: Educator and expert views’ containing insights from interviews with teachers and experts in HE and the education technology industry. The full research paper is attached and also available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b8cd41b5cb6e000d8bb74e/DfE_GenAI_in_education_-_Educator_and_expert_views_report.pdf.

The OfS set out its approach to the use of AI in HE in a recent blog post entitled ‘Embracing innovation in higher education: our approach to artificial intelligence’. The full blog post is available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-and-events/blog/embracing-innovation-in-higher-education-our-approach-to-artificial-intelligence/.

The department does not have evidence to suggest that university students are using self-declaration of neurodiversity to cheat or gain unneeded leniency in exams or assessments.

Universities provide support for neurodiverse students to ensure they have equal opportunities to succeed. This includes reasonable adjustments such as extra time in exams or alternative assessment methods.

To receive this type of support, students typically need to provide evidence of their neurodivergence and how it would impair their ability to complete certain activities. This process helps ensure that only those who genuinely need support receive it.

Universities are increasingly aware of the need to support neurodiverse students appropriately. This includes training staff to recognise and support students with neurodiverse conditions. The focus is on providing fair and necessary support to students who need it.

An assessment of the spread or recession of common ragwort in the countryside has not been made, although the latest data from the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland indicate that it is still widespread. There is no general legal duty on Government to monitor levels of ragwort across the countryside.

Defra’s code of practice on how to prevent the spread of ragwort [see attached] states that humans may be at risk from ragwort poisoning through direct contact (e.g. hand pulling) however the Food and Environment Research Agency’s 2013 review of evidence concerning ragwort impacts, ecology and control options concluded that there is no evidence of human illness or fatalities resulting from ragwort. Links to further evidence can be found in this FOI release: Risk to humans from ragwort poisoning - GOV.UK [see attached].

Ragwort is classified as an Injurious Weed under the Weeds Act because it can be toxic to livestock when included in dry hay, or where livestock have nothing else to eat. Ragwort is a native plant that is valuable to a wide diversity of generalist pollinators, particularly in parched summer conditions when it can be the main nectar resource in a landscape.

An assessment of the spread or recession of common ragwort in the countryside has not been made, although the latest data from the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland indicate that it is still widespread. There is no general legal duty on Government to monitor levels of ragwort across the countryside.

Defra’s code of practice on how to prevent the spread of ragwort [see attached] states that humans may be at risk from ragwort poisoning through direct contact (e.g. hand pulling) however the Food and Environment Research Agency’s 2013 review of evidence concerning ragwort impacts, ecology and control options concluded that there is no evidence of human illness or fatalities resulting from ragwort. Links to further evidence can be found in this FOI release: Risk to humans from ragwort poisoning - GOV.UK [see attached].

Ragwort is classified as an Injurious Weed under the Weeds Act because it can be toxic to livestock when included in dry hay, or where livestock have nothing else to eat. Ragwort is a native plant that is valuable to a wide diversity of generalist pollinators, particularly in parched summer conditions when it can be the main nectar resource in a landscape.

The UK has some of the best, earliest, and largest number of designated Dark Skies Areas in Europe. This includes Exmoor National Park, which was the first designated Dark Sky Reserve in Europe; and Northumberland, which has been awarded the Dark Sky Gold Tier, indicating natural, non-polluted or near-natural night skies. A survey into the designation of the Northumberland International Dark Sky Park, for example, reported a positive impact on the local economy. There have been no recent assessments of the benefits by Defra.

Our inland waterways are important for the natural environment by providing green corridors along which biodiversity can flourish. They also directly contribute to the growth of local economies, through domestic tourism and facilitating active transport links. They have a wider positive benefit for our economy and culture through providing many public benefits, including health and wellbeing, leisure and recreation uses, and industrial heritage attractions.

Defra officials meet regularly with the Trust to discuss a range of issues. The Trust publishes its annual Impact Report on its contribution to the economy, environment, and wildlife. The Environment Agency has not undertaken specific quantitative assessments of the contribution its waterways make to the economy, environment, and wildlife; however, its previous navigation plans acknowledge the benefits they bring.

Communications between boaters and the Trust are a matter for both parties. The Trust recognises the importance of communications with boaters, conducts an annual boater survey, and has published its ‘Better Boating Plan’ that sets out areas of boaters’ concerns and actions being taken to address them. The recommendations in the Independent Commission on Boat Licensing’s report published last November included improved communications with the boating community. The Trust has accepted all the recommendations and is now considering how best to implement them.