Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town

The House of Lords Administration collects personal data from all employees which is recorded on the HR system and provided to HMRC. Employees must provide the sex recorded on their birth certificate or Gender Recognition Certificate (female or male).

The House of Lords Administration is not within the scope of the independent review commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). However, the absence of a single source of authoritative guidance on data collection on sex and gender and the need for attention to maintain impartiality on issues including gender noted in the review are as relevant to the Administration as they are to public bodies within the report’s scope.

The way in which data about sex and gender is collected by the House of Lords Administration is subject to periodic review. Work is currently underway to consider how we approach these issues in survey and data collection undertaken by the Administration, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology review will be a helpful contribution.

I refer the noble Baroness to the answer given to PQ HL8292 on 23 June 2025.

Written question from Lord Booth, tabled on 10 June 2025: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 10 April (HL6032), what estimate they have made of the annual cost of the Ethics and Integrity Commission.

Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent, on 23 June: We are restoring confidence in government and the highest standards in public life and have already taken steps to improve probity and transparency, including through issuing a new Ministerial Code which highlights the importance of the principles of public life, by strengthening the terms of reference for the Independent Adviser, and by introducing a new monthly Register of Gifts and Hospitality.

The government cannot comment on individual cases of civil action within arm’s length bodies.

Sponsor departments are responsible for maintaining the relationship between the government and its arm’s length bodies. This includes ensuring appropriate discussions about ongoing issues are held.

All formally recognised cross-government equality, diversity and inclusion networks are given equal consideration. The Cabinet Office oversees cross-government equality, diversity and inclusion networks. Management of departmental equality, diversity and inclusion networks is delegated to departments.

There is no central policy on email signatures in the Civil Service. Individual departments may choose to provide their civil servants with guidance on this matter. Civil servants should of course be mindful of the core values in the Civil Service Code, including ensuring anything included in their signatures maintains their commitment to impartiality.

With reference to PQ 1250 and PQ 1251 from 23rd July of this year, the Government is committed to establishing a new independent Ethics and Integrity Commission. As part of that, the government will consider whether any changes are required to improve transparency around lobbying and will update Parliament as necessary.

Sex and gender in data, statistics and research is an important area of discussion, and this review contributes to this ongoing dialogue. Given the wide breadth of recommendations, the government has ensured that the review has been shared with all the relevant departments and policy teams, who will consider the findings in light of their ongoing policy work.

The Government regularly discusses approaches to surveying with Sport England but has not held discussions on this topic specifically.

Yes. The government is in the process of commissioning independent research to better understand the root causes of headlamp glare and help identify potential countermeasures.

Fracture liaison services (FLS) are a globally recognised care model for secondary fracture prevention and can reduce the risk of refracture by up to 40%.

FLS are commissioned by integrated care boards, which make decisions according to local need. Officials continue to work closely with NHS England to explore a range of options to provide better quality and access to these important preventative services. This includes how best to support systems, who are responsible for commissioning.

We are considering evidence and examples from a wide range of sources, including existing services and the devolved administrations.

The Central Government Corporate Transparency Commitments require Government departments to publish details of ministers’ and senior officials’ meetings with external individuals or organisations on a quarterly basis. We will be publishing the meetings that my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care attended, in accordance with the transparency guidelines.

The Child Death Notification Form and the Child Death Reporting Form are part of the National Child Mortality Database. These continue to capture the sex of the child for under 18-year-olds, in line with sex being a protected characteristic under the 2010 Equality Act.

The Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) has a statutory obligation to notify the National Child Mortality Database within 48 hours of a child’s death, and they do so through A Child Death Notification Form. There is no reference to the mother’s gender in this form.

Following this, the Child Death Reporting Form and relevant supplementary reporting forms are sent out by the CDOP to every professional who has had contact with the child during life, or who has been involved in the investigation after death, to gather information when a child dies. In the Child Death Reporting Form, there is space for the professional to provide information on the gender of the mother. This is not a mandatory requirement to supply this information. This question has existed on the reporting form since at least 2010, and pre-dates the National Child Mortality Database.

Analysis of the responses to the consultation is currently still in progress, and a decision on the outcome of this process will be made at the earliest opportunity.

All of the National Health Service’s new Children and Young People’s gender services are being established closely in line with recommendations from the Cass Review, which the Government and NHS England are committed to implementing in full.

The recruitment campaign referred to relates to a temporary service which was set up solely to provide psychosocial support for the relatively small number of children and young people already referred to endocrine clinics by the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service clinic, prior to the closure of that service in March 2024. The trust has acknowledged that old terminology was used in the job advertisement, including the references to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's standards of care, and is amending it.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) officials have continued looking into this and I am eager to bring this to a resolution further to the apology for the ban from Sir Philip Barton (then Permanent Under-Secretary) in 2021. We continue to learn the lessons of the MOD's Etherton Review but it has become apparent how different the circumstances of the ban were, therefore requiring a different response. The FCDO are currently looking at the best way to address this, engaging with Cabinet Office and other relevant Government departments to find the best solution. Specifically, the new Permanent Under-Secretary is engaged on this issue and we are talking to officials and Ministers across Government to find the most appropriate solution.

The UK, alongside partners, continues to urge all stakeholders and regional actors to avoid escalation and any action that threatens stability in the wider Horn of Africa. We hear downstream nations' concerns about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), and we continue to urge all parties to reach a mutually acceptable agreement through negotiation and dialogue. To further address the rising tensions in the Horn of Africa, we have tabled a debate on 29th October in the House of Lords.

The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2023 came into force on 10 January 2024. All businesses within scope of the Money Laundering Regulations are now required to ensure that their starting point for assessing the risk posed by domestic politically exposed persons (PEPs), and the extent of the enhanced customer due diligence measures to be applied in relation to that customer, is that they present a lower level of risk than a non-domestic PEP.

The Government has been working closely with the FCA to follow up on the findings of its review into the treatment of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs by financial institutions) and to ensure firms improve their practices where necessary. The FCA is in the process of updating its guidance on PEPs to reflect the findings of its review and the changes made by The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2023. The FCA’s revised guidance will be published in due course.

The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) is a statutory duty set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, which applies to public authorities and other bodies who exercise public functions.

The monitoring and reporting criteria for funding programmes is determined by the awarding body based on an overall assessment of the fund objectives. If the funded organisation is a public authority or a body that exercises a public function, then that organisation will be legally obliged to comply with the PSED as a result of section 149 of the Equality Act 2010.

Parkrun does not provide participation data by sex or gender to Sport England.

The Financial Conduct Authority is currently consulting on changes to its guidance on the treatment of politically exposed persons (PEPs) for anti-money laundering purposes, following a review of the treatment of domestic PEPs by financial institutions. The consultation closes on 18 October 2024. The FCA expects that the revised guidance will be published and brought into effect in the first half of 2025.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) places a range of legal duties on Responsible Persons (the person in control of a premises), chief among which are the need to undertake a fire risk assessment to identify any general fire safety precautions that need to be taken to ensure that the premises, and people within it, are safe from fire.

In order to help Responsible Persons discharge their duties we publish a range of guides that include an explanation of their legal duties, how to complete a fire risk assessment in specific types of premises including purpose-built blocks of flats and guidance on specific issues such as how to undertake checks on fire doors. Responsible Persons have a duty under Article 18 of the FSO to appoint a competent person to assist them in implementing any preventative and protective measures identified in the fire risk assessment and our guidance provides advice on when and how to do this.

As set out on 21 November, the Government intends to consult next year on implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 on service charges and on legal costs, bringing these measures into force as quickly as possible thereafter. These include measures to drive up transparency and will apply to housing associations who charge leaseholders service charges unless specifically exempted.

With regard to the question about the regulation of managing agents, I refer the Noble Lady to the answer I gave to HL2579 which was answered on 28 November 2024. The Government has committed to introducing a Competence and Conduct Standard for registered providers of social housing and will set out next steps for implementing the standard in the coming months.

Registered providers of social housing are required to deliver the outcomes set out in the Regulator of Social Housing's regulatory standards, including the requirement to take all reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of tenants in their homes and associated communal areas.

As set out on 21 November, the Government intends to consult next year on implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 on service charges and on legal costs, bringing these measures into force as quickly as possible thereafter. These include measures to drive up transparency and will apply to housing associations who charge leaseholders service charges unless specifically exempted.

With regard to the question about the regulation of managing agents, I refer the Noble Lady to the answer I gave to HL2579 which was answered on 28 November 2024. The Government has committed to introducing a Competence and Conduct Standard for registered providers of social housing and will set out next steps for implementing the standard in the coming months.

Registered providers of social housing are required to deliver the outcomes set out in the Regulator of Social Housing's regulatory standards, including the requirement to take all reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of tenants in their homes and associated communal areas.

As set out on 21 November, the Government intends to consult next year on implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 on service charges and on legal costs, bringing these measures into force as quickly as possible thereafter. These include measures to drive up transparency and will apply to housing associations who charge leaseholders service charges unless specifically exempted.

With regard to the question about the regulation of managing agents, I refer the Noble Lady to the answer I gave to HL2579 which was answered on 28 November 2024. The Government has committed to introducing a Competence and Conduct Standard for registered providers of social housing and will set out next steps for implementing the standard in the coming months.

Registered providers of social housing are required to deliver the outcomes set out in the Regulator of Social Housing's regulatory standards, including the requirement to take all reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of tenants in their homes and associated communal areas.

Managing agents perform a critical role in managing and maintaining buildings, so it is vital that they provide a good service and are accountable to leaseholders for their actions. Many agents do so and with a high level of professionalism. The Government has not undertaken a specific assessment of the qualifications that managing agents must hold but we welcome the work of the industry itself to drive up standards across the sector. This includes ongoing efforts to encourage greater take up of professional qualifications and the development of Codes of Practice.

The Government will act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, including those designed to increase service charge transparency.

Over the course of this Parliament, the Government will further reform the leasehold system. We will enact remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to enfranchisement and the Right to Manage, tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, reinvigorate commonhold through a comprehensive new legal framework, and ban the sale of new leasehold flats so commonhold becomes the default tenure.