Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance is issued to local authorities on the digitisation of marked electoral registers following elections, and whether they plan to legally require local authorities to make digital marked electoral registers available for purchase following elections.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Specified persons can request a copy of relevant parts of the marked copy of the register of electors, and other related lists, for a fee. This request can be for a paper or data copy. The Government has no plans to change these arrangements.
The Electoral Commission provides guidance on the supply and inspection of marked registers.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations officials in the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government have made to the Greater London Authority about the 35- per-cent affordable housing quota.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
On 23 October the Housing Secretary and Mayor of London announced a package of targeted and temporary support to drive up housebuilding in London. This includes a new, time-limited planning route and consultation on the removal of some design restrictions which limit the density of development. For further detail, please see the Written Ministerial Statement made on 23 October 2025 (HCWS991).
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have conducted a risk assessment on the potential impact of superintelligent AI systems on national security.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The increasing capabilities of AI may exacerbate existing risks and present new risks for which the UK needs to be prepared. There is considerable debate and uncertainty around Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Artificial Superintelligence (ASI), but the possibility of their development must be taken seriously.
The role of the AI Security Institute (AISI) is to build an evidence base on these risks, so the government is equipped to understand their security implications. AISI focuses on emerging AI risks with serious security implications, including the potential for AI to help users develop chemical and biological weapons, carry out crimes such as fraud, and the potential for loss of control presented by autonomous systems.
AISI works with a broad range of experts and companies to assess the potential risks these could pose as the technology continues to develop.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of removing the statutory requirement to consult local authorities as part of the pre-application stage for nationally significant infrastructure projects, and the impact of removing that statutory requirement on local authorities securing community benefit.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Replacing the statutory requirement to consult on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) will give applicants and local authorities greater flexibility to engage in a more proportionate way. The Government has designed its policy to ensure local authorities can continue to play an important role in the NSIP regime. Applicants will be required by law to notify local authorities of their schemes. Local authorities will also be able to continue to provide Local Impact Reports to the Examining Authority and the Secretary of State outlining the impacts of a scheme on their area. The Government has also committed to extending the power for local authorities to recover costs from applicants for their advice. A consultation seeking views on how to achieve this closed on 28 October. Community benefits are typically secured through legally binding development consent obligations (DC obligations), which remain enforceable regardless of changes to consultation requirements.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they hold data on the number of professional and vocational qualifications awarded in the field of construction and bricklaying in 2024.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Further education and skills:
For the full 2023/24 academic year, there were 12,840 apprenticeships achievements in the construction, planning and build environment sector subject area covering all ages. An additional 48,750 adult achievement regulated qualifications in construction, were supported by Adult Skills Budget.
T Levels:
T Levels completions that count towards performance tables in 2023/24 were:
Key Stage 4:
In 2023/24, 9,548 pupils took construction Technical Awards that count towards performance tables.
16 to 18:
Published in the ‘A level and other 16 to 18 results’ statistical release.
For 2023/24, vocational qualifications counting towards performance tables were taken by:
More information can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results/2023-24.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many local authorities will not be able to deliver a five-year housing land supply in their local plan following the decision to increase mandatory housing targets, and which local authorities will not be able to deliver that supply.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The National Planning Policy Frameworks sets out that local authorities should identify and update annually a five-year housing land supply (5YHLS) of deliverable housing sites (with appropriate buffer) for decision making. We have restored this test to safeguard the delivery of homes.
While the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) may be aware of an authority’s 5YHLS position at the time of a specific appeal, this position is not static. It may change over time due to annual updates or as a result of subsequent planning appeal decisions. As such, my Department does not collect live data on the 5YHLS status of individual local planning authorities.