Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 19 January (HL13419), what the specific issue was that limited the available political activity data and prevented the inclusion of that data in the Public Appointments Data Report 2024-25, published on 2 December 2025; whether that issue has been resolved; and whether they will retrospectively publish that data.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Political activity information is collected from candidates as part of the public appointments digital service’s online application process. Political activity data was not included in the Public Appointments Data Report 2024-25 due to a data collection issue which meant it could not be extracted in a usable format for reporting. The data collection issue has now been rectified, and political activity data will be considered for inclusion in the 2025-26 data report.
The last government did not publish a data report after 2021-22, but under this administration, the government has restarted publishing these reports in order to provide transparency.
I also refer the Noble Baroness back to PQ HL13974 and PQ HL13979:
Questions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 19 January (HL13419), what was the title and grade of the most senior official who approved the removal or omission of political impartiality data from the Public Appointments Data Report 2024-25, published on 2 December 2025.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Swansea on 19 January (HL13419), whether Ministers were informed or consulted on the decision not to include political activity data in the Cabinet Office Public Appointments Data Report 2024–25; and for what reason the headline political activity data published in the Commissioner for Public Appointment’s Annual Report of 17 December was not included in the Cabinet Office report of 2 December.
Combined answer:
As was the case under previous governments, and in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, the political activity of successful candidates is published by government departments as part of the public announcement regarding the appointment.
The last government did not publish a data report after 2021-22, but under this administration, the government has restarted publishing these reports in order to provide transparency.
Political activity data was not included in the Public Appointments Data Report 2024-25 due to a data collection issue which limited the data that was available. The data collection issue has now been rectified, and this information will be considered for inclusion in the 2025-26 data report.
The Commissioner for Public Appointments, as the independent regulator, decided to include the limited data for 2024-25 in his own reporting.
The Cabinet Office did not publish a data report in either 2022-23 or 2023-24, so political activity data was also not published in a collated form for these years.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 19 January (HL13919), whether the Cabinet Office appointments database holds information on the individual political affiliation of the public appointees who declared political activity in (1) 2024-25, and (2) 2025-26.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Political activity information is collected from candidates as part of the public appointments digital service’s online application process. Political activity data was not included in the Public Appointments Data Report 2024-25 due to a data collection issue which meant it could not be extracted in a usable format for reporting. The data collection issue has now been rectified, and political activity data will be considered for inclusion in the 2025-26 data report.
The last government did not publish a data report after 2021-22, but under this administration, the government has restarted publishing these reports in order to provide transparency.
I also refer the Noble Baroness back to PQ HL13974 and PQ HL13979:
Questions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 19 January (HL13419), what was the title and grade of the most senior official who approved the removal or omission of political impartiality data from the Public Appointments Data Report 2024-25, published on 2 December 2025.
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Swansea on 19 January (HL13419), whether Ministers were informed or consulted on the decision not to include political activity data in the Cabinet Office Public Appointments Data Report 2024–25; and for what reason the headline political activity data published in the Commissioner for Public Appointment’s Annual Report of 17 December was not included in the Cabinet Office report of 2 December.
Combined answer:
As was the case under previous governments, and in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, the political activity of successful candidates is published by government departments as part of the public announcement regarding the appointment.
The last government did not publish a data report after 2021-22, but under this administration, the government has restarted publishing these reports in order to provide transparency.
Political activity data was not included in the Public Appointments Data Report 2024-25 due to a data collection issue which limited the data that was available. The data collection issue has now been rectified, and this information will be considered for inclusion in the 2025-26 data report.
The Commissioner for Public Appointments, as the independent regulator, decided to include the limited data for 2024-25 in his own reporting.
The Cabinet Office did not publish a data report in either 2022-23 or 2023-24, so political activity data was also not published in a collated form for these years.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what training and guidance Ministers and civil servants receive to ensure that answers to written questions comply with the requirements of the Ministerial Code, particularly the requirement for answers to be "full and timely" under paragraph 9.8.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Parliamentary Questions training is the responsibility of individual Departments. There is a published Guide to Parliamentary Work for civil servants available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work) which sets out expectations in managing Parliamentary Questions.
The Parliamentary Capability Team within Government Skills also offers training on Parliamentary Questions to civil servants of all departments, grades and roles.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, what guidance he issues to Departments on whether they may decline to publish or signpost information which has otherwise been released to members of the public under Freedom of Information laws.
Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Guide to Parliamentary Work (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work), published by my office, sets out the government's position regarding the relationship between the treatment of requests for information through parliamentary questions and the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000. Paragraph 221 states that “if information would be released under FOI, it would also be released in response to a WPQ”.
I have written to all Members of Cabinet and spoken with Departmental Parliamentary Clerks and Permanent Secretaries to remind departments and Ministers about the importance of providing full and helpful responses to WPQs.
In addition, the House of Commons Procedure Committee recently launched an inquiry into WPQs which is considering the interaction between WPQs and FOIs. I look forward to working with the Committee as this work progresses.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government whether officials or special advisers assign any marking, code or traffic light, other than date, to incoming parliamentary Written Questions to assess or advise how they may be answered.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The way in which departments triage incoming parliamentary questions is a matter for each individual department. There is no specific centralised guidance on assigning codes or traffic light ratings to questions.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of households affected by the Local Housing Allowance freeze since its introduction.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines the maximum housing support for tenants in the private rented sector. Households in similar circumstances living in the same area are entitled to the same maximum rent allowance, regardless of the contractual rent paid. LHA rates are not intended to cover all rents in all areas.
LHA rates are reviewed annually at Autumn Budget. The Secretary of State confirmed in his Written Ministerial Statement that LHA rates would be maintained at their current 2024/25 levels for 2026/27.
Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
The impact on private renters was considered alongside factors such as rent levels across Great Britain, the fiscal context and welfare priorities including the decision to remove the two-child limit which will bring 450,000 children out of poverty.
Information on the number of households in receipt of LHA and those in shortfall (i.e. where contractual rent costs exceed LHA), is available on Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/). Monthly Universal Credit statistics showing the number of households in receipt of LHA and those in shortfall are published in the Households on Universal Credit dataset, and the Housing Benefit – Data from April 2018 dataset, and are currently available to August 2025.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest, and if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.
Renters facing a shortfall in meeting their housing costs can apply for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) from local authorities. From April 2026 DHPs for England will be incorporated into the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF). However, DWP would also point out that the causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and interact dynamically making it very difficult to isolate the relative importance of individual factors. We work closely with other departments, including MHCLG, to ensure the impacts of LHA on homelessness are considered.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Local Housing Allowance freeze on homelessness.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines the maximum housing support for tenants in the private rented sector. Households in similar circumstances living in the same area are entitled to the same maximum rent allowance, regardless of the contractual rent paid. LHA rates are not intended to cover all rents in all areas.
LHA rates are reviewed annually at Autumn Budget. The Secretary of State confirmed in his Written Ministerial Statement that LHA rates would be maintained at their current 2024/25 levels for 2026/27.
Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
The impact on private renters was considered alongside factors such as rent levels across Great Britain, the fiscal context and welfare priorities including the decision to remove the two-child limit which will bring 450,000 children out of poverty.
Information on the number of households in receipt of LHA and those in shortfall (i.e. where contractual rent costs exceed LHA), is available on Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/). Monthly Universal Credit statistics showing the number of households in receipt of LHA and those in shortfall are published in the Households on Universal Credit dataset, and the Housing Benefit – Data from April 2018 dataset, and are currently available to August 2025.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest, and if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.
Renters facing a shortfall in meeting their housing costs can apply for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) from local authorities. From April 2026 DHPs for England will be incorporated into the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF). However, DWP would also point out that the causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and interact dynamically making it very difficult to isolate the relative importance of individual factors. We work closely with other departments, including MHCLG, to ensure the impacts of LHA on homelessness are considered.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to review the current freeze on Local Housing Allowance rates.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines the maximum housing support for tenants in the private rented sector. Households in similar circumstances living in the same area are entitled to the same maximum rent allowance, regardless of the contractual rent paid. LHA rates are not intended to cover all rents in all areas.
LHA rates are reviewed annually at Autumn Budget. The Secretary of State confirmed in his Written Ministerial Statement that LHA rates would be maintained at their current 2024/25 levels for 2026/27.
Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
The impact on private renters was considered alongside factors such as rent levels across Great Britain, the fiscal context and welfare priorities including the decision to remove the two-child limit which will bring 450,000 children out of poverty.
Information on the number of households in receipt of LHA and those in shortfall (i.e. where contractual rent costs exceed LHA), is available on Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/). Monthly Universal Credit statistics showing the number of households in receipt of LHA and those in shortfall are published in the Households on Universal Credit dataset, and the Housing Benefit – Data from April 2018 dataset, and are currently available to August 2025.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest, and if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.
Renters facing a shortfall in meeting their housing costs can apply for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) from local authorities. From April 2026 DHPs for England will be incorporated into the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF). However, DWP would also point out that the causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and interact dynamically making it very difficult to isolate the relative importance of individual factors. We work closely with other departments, including MHCLG, to ensure the impacts of LHA on homelessness are considered.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance the Cabinet Office have issued to departments since the start of December 2025 about the approach to answering Written Questions about direct ministerial appointments; whether the Cabinet Office has made departments aware of expectation of transparency on direct ministerial appointments in the Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments, published October 2025; and what assessment they have made of compliance with that guidance of (1) the original, and (2) the corrected, Written Answer by the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office on 7 January (HC98100).
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office wrote to departments when the Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments was published, highlighting the contents of the guidance. As the guidance sets out, the responsibility for the publication of information about direct ministerial appointments rests with individual departments.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many hectares of English countryside have been burnt by wildfires in the last twelve months; and what the cost was of (a) fighting the fires, (b) loss of economic activity, (c) restoring the landscape and (d) NHS treatment of the effects of smoke pollution from those wildfires.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) has responsibility for land management and environmental policy, which includes environmental restoration. As outlined in the departments’ response to the Member’s question UIN 95122 on 14 January 2026, Defra does not hold details on how many hectares of the English countryside have been burnt by wildfires in the last twelve months.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has made no assessment as to the total cost of wildfires in England over the last 12 months.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has not made any estimates of deaths attributable to wildfire smoke in the United Kingdom in each of the last 10 years. While there is extensive evidence of health impacts from other countries linked to wildfires, there is relatively limited, but growing, evidence specific to the UK. The UKHSA monitors the broader impact of ambient air pollution on mortality in the UK.
Departments are working closely to develop the evidence base on wildfires, including assessing the risk and impacts. In 2025 Defra commissioned a two year research project, Wildfire and Peatland: Studies to Support Delivery of the Third National Adaptation Programme. The six sub-projects will address wildfire risks to English peatlands through evidence reviews, economic analysis, risk mapping, and stakeholder engagement.