Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that training provided to civil servants through the Google partnership includes guidance on artificial intelligence bias, data ethics and accountability.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We have not yet agreed with Google as to how this training will be delivered but HMG will expect Google to adhere to the principles and standards in the Artificial Intelligence Playbook for the UK Government, published in February 2025.
Principles include: understanding AI and its limitations; and using AI lawfully, ethically, responsibly and securely. Specifically, the paper references training on ethical considerations, including bias mitigation and human oversight.
Additionally, the paper provides clear guidance on governance and oversight and that initiatives align with broader goals of societal benefit, ensuring that public trust is maintained and that AI contributes positively to public service.
Asked by: Lord Bates (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for their term as chair of the P5 Process for 2025–26.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The P5 Process, established by the UK in 2009, remains an important channel through which the Nuclear Weapon States (NWS) discuss implementation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The UK will assume the 2025-26 chair of the Process this summer 2025, taking over from China. We will seek to convene substantive discussions on nuclear doctrine between the P5 states, and discuss nuclear risk reduction. We will also facilitate two accompanying non-government dialogues, the Expert-Level Track (ELT) and Young Professionals' Network (YPN). The purpose of these dialogues is to engage non-proliferation and disarmament experts and early career professionals from academia and think tanks in P5 countries, with the aim of generating new ideas to support the government-level process.
Asked by: Antonia Bance (Labour - Tipton and Wednesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which state schools are taking part in the Early Language Support for Every Child Programme by (a) local authority and (b) constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
A list of state schools that have taken part in the Early Language Support for Every Child programme up to the end of June 2025 is provided. Please note that as this is a pupil-led and not school-led programme, a small number of schools may have engaged in the programme during the last few weeks of the 2024/25 academic year in July, and we are awaiting an updated list from one of the nine pathfinder areas, the East Midlands, which covers the Leicester City, Leicestershire and Rutland local authority areas. A further list will therefore be provided by the end of August 2025 capturing this information.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to meet with the government of Greece to discuss (1) immigration policy, and (2) how the UK, Greece and the EU can cooperate to reduce illegal migration from North Africa into Europe.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
We engage closely with the Greek Government on migration issues and are committed to supporting Greece's efforts to manage migration effectively. At Ministerial level, this has included meetings between our Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers at the end of 2024, and between the Minister of State, Stephen Doughty, and his Greek counterpart (most recently in New York in July 2025). We continue to work with Greek partners to identify opportunities for further cooperation around irregular migration to and through Greece.
Asked by: Antonia Bance (Labour - Tipton and Wednesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which state schools took part in the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programme in the most recent financial year by (a) local authority and (b) constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
State schools that took part in the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programme in the 2024/25 financial year by (a) local authority and (b) constituency is available in the attached table.
Asked by: Chris Ward (Labour - Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce educational inequalities in (a) the South East and (b) nationally.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
All children and young people should have every opportunity to succeed, no matter where they are from. However, we know educational inequalities exist across the country. This is not acceptable in the South East or nationally.
The department is tackling inequalities in the system head-on through our plan for change. From September we will be rolling out 30 hours of funded childcare for working parents, saving eligible parents using their full entitlement an average of £7,500 a year. We are also rolling out free breakfast clubs in every state-funded primary school, expanding free school meals to all children on Universal Credit and have delivered the largest ever uplift to early years pupil premium.
We are recruiting an additional 6,500 expert teachers in our schools and colleges and are making good progress, with over 2,000 more teachers in our secondary and special schools.
The department will spend close to £1.5 billion over the next three years on improving family services and early years education to begin the hard work needed.
We will fund Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority to ensure that children and families who need support the most, especially those from low-income backgrounds or with additional vulnerabilities, can access it. These hubs will be open to all families but will be located in disadvantaged communities where support is most needed, ensuring services are both inclusive and targeted.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that Shropshire Council has the resources to provide timely access to education, health and care plans.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
The government confirmed a substantial increase in high needs funding in 2025/26, this includes almost £1 billion which is intended to help local authorities in meeting the costs associated with supporting those children and young people with education, health and care plans. A further £740 million has been made available for councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools, paving the way for significant, long-term reform.
The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025/26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase on 2024/2025. For Shropshire Council, the final Settlement represents an increase in Core Spending Power of up to 3.8%, making available a total of up to £353.2 million in 2025/26.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect the rights and safety of (1) Armenian, and (2) Arab Orthodox Christian, communities in Syria; what discussions they have had with interim Syrian authorities about the protection of Syria's Christian minorities; and what guarantees, if any, they received from the Syrian authorities in those discussions.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are deeply concerned about sectarian tensions and violence in Syria. We have consistently advocated for an inclusive, representative and non-sectarian political transition and underlined the importance of protecting the rights of all Syrians, both publicly and as part of our engagement with the Syrian Government. We are pressing the Syrian Government on the need to improve their response to sectarian violence and hold those responsible to account. The Foreign Secretary raised these issues during his recent visit to Damascus, and during his call with Syria's Foreign Minister on 18 July. We will continue to judge the Syrian Government by its actions, not its words.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent violent sectarian conflict between ethnic groups in Syria, and what assessment they have made of the threat to Christian minorities in Syria as a result of further sectarian violence and destabilisation.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are deeply concerned about sectarian tensions and violence in Syria. We have consistently advocated for an inclusive, representative and non-sectarian political transition and underlined the importance of protecting the rights of all Syrians, both publicly and as part of our engagement with the Syrian Government. We are pressing the Syrian Government on the need to improve their response to sectarian violence and hold those responsible to account. The Foreign Secretary raised these issues during his recent visit to Damascus, and during his call with Syria's Foreign Minister on 18 July. We will continue to judge the Syrian Government by its actions, not its words.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of violence committed against women from minority communities in Syria, including Alawite, Christian, Druze, Kurdish, and Turkmen groups, given the UK’s commitments under UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have consistently advocated for an inclusive political transition and underlined the importance of protecting the rights of all Syrians, including women, and an improved response to sectarian violence. The Foreign Secretary raised these issues with the Syrian Government during his recent visit to Damascus and offered UK support. Syria remains a focus country in the UK's 5th National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, guiding our efforts in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1325. UK funding supports Syrian women's rights organisations to promote gender equality, strengthen women's roles in peacebuilding, and increase their participation in political and public life. Thirteen years on from the launch of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative, the UK is proud of its leadership on this issue and continues to fund programmes in Syria which document human rights violations and support the trial and convictions of perpetrators of these crimes.