Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they made of alternative delivery models, including direct commissioning from UK universities and specialist training providers, before awarding new Civil Service learning and development contracts to KPMG and EY.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The National School of Government and Public Services will provide world-class learning and development for civil servants, supporting public sector excellence and preparing our people for the future. Our new in-house delivery model will move away from reliance on professional services firms, ensuring learning is designed and delivered by civil servants for civil servants, working with the best external training providers, including universities.
In the meantime, the EY and KPMG contracts include the option of commissioning UK universities and specialist training providers to deliver training to the Civil Service.
Asked by: Lord Goodman of Wycombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the command paper Protecting What Matters, published on 9 March (CP 1540), with which (1) individuals, (2) groups, (3) organisations, (4) businesses, and (5) bodies, will the Cabinet Office work to support the introduction of training on how religious hatred manifests and how it should be addressed.
Answered by Baroness Blake of Leeds - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
It is for individual organisations and employers to determine which training offer and provider is best suited to their sectors. As set-out in Protecting What Matters, tackling religious hatred requires a whole-of-society response, and improving understanding across society of how religious hatred manifests and how it should be addressed is vital.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many proposed Freedom of Information responses were awaiting clearance from (a) the Communications Directorate and (b) special advisers on 31 August 2026, and how many in each category had been awaiting that clearance for (i) up to 20, (ii) 21 to 40 and (iii) more than 40 working days.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is the largest recipient of Freedom of Information requests across central government and received over 8,700 requests in 2025. The cases shown in the table represent a point-in-time snapshot of requests within the Communications Directorate and Special Adviser review processes and account for a relatively small proportion of the overall volume of FOI requests handled by the Department.
Cases within the Communications Directorate and Special Adviser review processes (information extracted and validated on 28 September 2026)
Review stage | Up to 20 working days | 21 to 40 working days | More than 40 working days |
Within Communications Directorate Review Process | 16 | 2 | 22 |
Awaiting Consideration by Special Advisers
| 12 | 9 | 15 |
Within wider Special Adviser Referral Process
| 13 | 34 | 53 |
Note: The Department does not routinely retain historical reports showing the stage reached within the Special Adviser review process at a specific point in time. The figures therefore reflect information extracted and validated on 28 September 2026. Cases awaiting consideration by Special Advisers have been presented separately from cases elsewhere within the wider Special Adviser referral process.
The figures are management information derived from the Home Office's case management system and supplementary information provided by the Special Adviser Private Office. They have not undergone formal quality assurance.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of civil servants in her Department were on permanent home working contracts in 2025.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of December 2025, there were 814 civil servants on home working contracts, equating to 13% of the total number of civil servants in Defra.
Asked by: Lord Kinnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to paying interest on a proportion of reserve deposits made with the Bank of England by commercial banks and providing for any reduction in reserves to be paid out of the interest on that proportion, rather than the current arrangements in which interest is paid on the whole deposit and provided to the Bank by HM Treasury from public funds.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Bank Rate is the reference rate that commercial banks both receive on their reserve holdings and must pay to borrow additional reserves from the Bank of England. Remuneration of reserves at Bank Rate plays a role in the implementation of monetary policy and ensures commercial banks pass on changes in interest rates to household and businesses.
Data on payments to and from HM Treasury to the Asset Purchase Facility (APF) is made publicly available by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in its monthly Public Sector Finances publication. The data is available in worksheet PSA9B.
Time period | Interest receivable (£ million) | Interest payable (£ million) | Net interest receivable (£ million) | Cash transfers to HM Treasury total (£ million) | Cash transfers from HM Treasury total (£ million) |
Dataset identifier code | MDD6 | MDD7 | MDD8 | MT6A | MF7A |
2021-22 | 17,990 | 1,859 | 16,131 | 7,218 | 0 |
2022-23 | 17,003 | 20,567 | -3,564 | 4,164 | 5,010 |
2023-24 | 15,403 | 39,748 | -24,345 | 0 | 44,549 |
2024-25 | 13,753 | 34,045 | -20,291 | 0 | 36,323 |
2025-26 | 11,802 | 23,596 | -11,793 | 0 | 16,660 |
These data refer to reserves backed only by bonds held in the Asset Purchase Facility (APF). A range of financial institutions hold reserve deposit accounts at the Bank of England and data on reserves held by commercial banks specifically is not publicly available. But the Bank of England does publish the aggregate level of outstanding reserves and the Bank Rate. As of 23 September 2026, total outstanding central bank sterling reserves were £642,336m.
The Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England are responsible for the conduct of monetary policy, and the separation of fiscal and monetary policy is essential to its effective delivery.
The UK’s approach of indemnifying the APF is in line with best practice as set out in a 2023 IMF working paper, relating to several areas of governance, accountability, and transparency. Other central banks do share both past Quantitative Easing-related profits and future losses with their national treasuries but do so, and account for doing so, in a variety of ways and over different time periods.
Asked by: Lord Kinnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the practice of using public funds from HM Treasury to pay the Bank of England to enable the Bank to pay interest to commercial banks on their reserve deposits is continuing in the UK, in the light of international comparisons with the EU, Swiss National Bank and US Federal Reserve Bank.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Bank Rate is the reference rate that commercial banks both receive on their reserve holdings and must pay to borrow additional reserves from the Bank of England. Remuneration of reserves at Bank Rate plays a role in the implementation of monetary policy and ensures commercial banks pass on changes in interest rates to household and businesses.
Data on payments to and from HM Treasury to the Asset Purchase Facility (APF) is made publicly available by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in its monthly Public Sector Finances publication. The data is available in worksheet PSA9B.
Time period | Interest receivable (£ million) | Interest payable (£ million) | Net interest receivable (£ million) | Cash transfers to HM Treasury total (£ million) | Cash transfers from HM Treasury total (£ million) |
Dataset identifier code | MDD6 | MDD7 | MDD8 | MT6A | MF7A |
2021-22 | 17,990 | 1,859 | 16,131 | 7,218 | 0 |
2022-23 | 17,003 | 20,567 | -3,564 | 4,164 | 5,010 |
2023-24 | 15,403 | 39,748 | -24,345 | 0 | 44,549 |
2024-25 | 13,753 | 34,045 | -20,291 | 0 | 36,323 |
2025-26 | 11,802 | 23,596 | -11,793 | 0 | 16,660 |
These data refer to reserves backed only by bonds held in the Asset Purchase Facility (APF). A range of financial institutions hold reserve deposit accounts at the Bank of England and data on reserves held by commercial banks specifically is not publicly available. But the Bank of England does publish the aggregate level of outstanding reserves and the Bank Rate. As of 23 September 2026, total outstanding central bank sterling reserves were £642,336m.
The Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England are responsible for the conduct of monetary policy, and the separation of fiscal and monetary policy is essential to its effective delivery.
The UK’s approach of indemnifying the APF is in line with best practice as set out in a 2023 IMF working paper, relating to several areas of governance, accountability, and transparency. Other central banks do share both past Quantitative Easing-related profits and future losses with their national treasuries but do so, and account for doing so, in a variety of ways and over different time periods.
Asked by: Lord Kinnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current total level of reserve deposits from commercial banks held by the Bank of England; and whether the interest paid by the Bank to commercial banks on those deposits is fixed at the Bank Rate by convention or another reason.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Bank Rate is the reference rate that commercial banks both receive on their reserve holdings and must pay to borrow additional reserves from the Bank of England. Remuneration of reserves at Bank Rate plays a role in the implementation of monetary policy and ensures commercial banks pass on changes in interest rates to household and businesses.
Data on payments to and from HM Treasury to the Asset Purchase Facility (APF) is made publicly available by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in its monthly Public Sector Finances publication. The data is available in worksheet PSA9B.
Time period | Interest receivable (£ million) | Interest payable (£ million) | Net interest receivable (£ million) | Cash transfers to HM Treasury total (£ million) | Cash transfers from HM Treasury total (£ million) |
Dataset identifier code | MDD6 | MDD7 | MDD8 | MT6A | MF7A |
2021-22 | 17,990 | 1,859 | 16,131 | 7,218 | 0 |
2022-23 | 17,003 | 20,567 | -3,564 | 4,164 | 5,010 |
2023-24 | 15,403 | 39,748 | -24,345 | 0 | 44,549 |
2024-25 | 13,753 | 34,045 | -20,291 | 0 | 36,323 |
2025-26 | 11,802 | 23,596 | -11,793 | 0 | 16,660 |
These data refer to reserves backed only by bonds held in the Asset Purchase Facility (APF). A range of financial institutions hold reserve deposit accounts at the Bank of England and data on reserves held by commercial banks specifically is not publicly available. But the Bank of England does publish the aggregate level of outstanding reserves and the Bank Rate. As of 23 September 2026, total outstanding central bank sterling reserves were £642,336m.
The Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England are responsible for the conduct of monetary policy, and the separation of fiscal and monetary policy is essential to its effective delivery.
The UK’s approach of indemnifying the APF is in line with best practice as set out in a 2023 IMF working paper, relating to several areas of governance, accountability, and transparency. Other central banks do share both past Quantitative Easing-related profits and future losses with their national treasuries but do so, and account for doing so, in a variety of ways and over different time periods.
Asked by: Lord Kinnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what has been the cost in each year since 2021–22 of payments to the Bank of England by HM Treasury, to enable the Bank to pay interest to commercial banks on their reserve deposits with the Bank.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Bank Rate is the reference rate that commercial banks both receive on their reserve holdings and must pay to borrow additional reserves from the Bank of England. Remuneration of reserves at Bank Rate plays a role in the implementation of monetary policy and ensures commercial banks pass on changes in interest rates to household and businesses.
Data on payments to and from HM Treasury to the Asset Purchase Facility (APF) is made publicly available by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in its monthly Public Sector Finances publication. The data is available in worksheet PSA9B.
Time period | Interest receivable (£ million) | Interest payable (£ million) | Net interest receivable (£ million) | Cash transfers to HM Treasury total (£ million) | Cash transfers from HM Treasury total (£ million) |
Dataset identifier code | MDD6 | MDD7 | MDD8 | MT6A | MF7A |
2021-22 | 17,990 | 1,859 | 16,131 | 7,218 | 0 |
2022-23 | 17,003 | 20,567 | -3,564 | 4,164 | 5,010 |
2023-24 | 15,403 | 39,748 | -24,345 | 0 | 44,549 |
2024-25 | 13,753 | 34,045 | -20,291 | 0 | 36,323 |
2025-26 | 11,802 | 23,596 | -11,793 | 0 | 16,660 |
These data refer to reserves backed only by bonds held in the Asset Purchase Facility (APF). A range of financial institutions hold reserve deposit accounts at the Bank of England and data on reserves held by commercial banks specifically is not publicly available. But the Bank of England does publish the aggregate level of outstanding reserves and the Bank Rate. As of 23 September 2026, total outstanding central bank sterling reserves were £642,336m.
The Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England are responsible for the conduct of monetary policy, and the separation of fiscal and monetary policy is essential to its effective delivery.
The UK’s approach of indemnifying the APF is in line with best practice as set out in a 2023 IMF working paper, relating to several areas of governance, accountability, and transparency. Other central banks do share both past Quantitative Easing-related profits and future losses with their national treasuries but do so, and account for doing so, in a variety of ways and over different time periods.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the maximum allowable operating speed in the HS2 Phase 1 tunnels.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
HS2 will now operate to a maximum permissible overall line speed of 320 km/h, this includes all tunnels on the route.
Asked by: Baroness Prentis of Banbury (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what the average response time was for applicants to receive a decision on their expression of interest to the places of worship renewal fund.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Historic England runs a competitive process to allocate funding for the Places of Worship Renewal Fund (PWRF), with clearly defined application windows, deadlines and target response dates published online to accompany applicant guidance.
The selection process for PWRF begins with an initial EOI submitted within the publicised application window. These EOIs allow HE to evaluate high-level project urgency, building eligibility, and alignment with regional priorities before inviting selected applicants to submit a full application. In the second stage, shortlisted applicants provide detailed technical specifications, comprehensive costings, and proof of deliverability for full assessment. Because both stages rely on set submission deadlines and fixed outcome notification dates, all applicants within a round progress concurrently and share the same overall response timeline.