Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 20 November (HL11652), what projects for reform of occupational health services are funded through the Small Business Research Initiative; how much funding was provided to each of those projects, and whether they will place a copy of the self-reported outcomes of those projects in the Library of the House.

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

The fund for stimulating innovation in occupational health (OH) funded five projects in Phase 2. Up to £300,000, inclusive of VAT, was allocated for each contract, to develop a prototype and undertake field testing for up to 12 months. The following table shows the projects to reform OH, their actual spend, and the project participant’s name:

Further details on each of the projects have been published on the Innovate UK transparency page.

Following the normal practice of Innovate UK, projects will not be required to deposit their self-reported outcomes in the Library of the House due to commercial confidentiality considerations.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the performance of ministers in fulfilling their duties under section 20 of the Environment Act 2021 regarding statements on bills containing new environmental law, and what consideration they have given to creating mechanisms to challenge incorrect or misleading statements.

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

In making a statement under the Environment Act 2021 Section 20, as with all other statements ministers make to either House, ministers are bound by the Ministerial Code which requires them to provide accurate and truthful information to Parliament.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases have been referred for the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions regarding a prosecution under the Suicide Act 1861 in the last ten years.

Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General

From 1 April 2009 up to 31 March 2025, manual records indicate there have been 199 cases referred to the CPS by law enforcement partners that have been recorded as encouraging or assisting suicide. The DPP has provided consent to prosecute in six cases. Five of these cases have been successfully prosecuted, and one was acquitted after trial. These figures are published on the CPS website and will next be updated in April 2026.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people are employed by the non-departmental public bodies of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport through Skilled Worker visas.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport does not have a record of the number of people its non-departmental public bodies employ through Skilled Worker visas as they are operationally independent.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many civil servants are employed through Skilled Worker visas by each department (including non-ministerial departments) and their executive agencies.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

This information is not held centrally and would only be held by individual departments.

Found: the meeting Members present: Lord Carter of Coles (The Chair); Lord Blencathra; Baroness Cass; Baroness Coffey