Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many contracts (1) have been let, and (2) are in the process of being agreed, between the Department of Health and Social Care and Palantir.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government had two contracts with Palantir Technologies UK which have expired. The first, worth £908,333.33, was for Foundry Software and implementation, between 12 June 2020 and 30 September 2020. The second, worth £750,000, was for the Adult Social Care Data Analytics Project, an extension of Palantir Foundry, between 12 October 2021 and 11 January 2022. There are no contracts in the process of being agreed.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they have given to the leadership of Barnsley College in respect of the proposed merger with the Northern College on (1) retaining the ethos and mission of the Northern College, (2) having a senior leader of the Northern College sufficiently incorporated into the Barnsley College leadership team, and (3) governance arrangements which respect the history and special identity of the Northern College.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department has worked with Northern College over a number of years following the college entering Formal Intervention in April 2021. The proposed merger with Barnsley College has seen a continuation of this work alongside both Northern College and Barnsley College’s Corporation Boards to progress the merger proposals. Negotiations are progressing as planned between the parties with a key aim of sustaining the Northern College ethos and mission at the heart of these plans. Future organisational structures are currently being worked through between the two Boards with a meeting planned at Northern College later this month, where Barnsley College’s Corporation Board Chair and College CEO will join the Northern College Board to discuss the post-merger vision for learning delivery at Northern College. It will be for both College Boards to agree who from the current Northern College Board joins the Barnsley College Corporation Board from 1 March 2026 to provide assurance that the history and special identity of Northern College continues.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government which organisations or charities constitute the collaboration committee relating to the Access to Work programme; and what are the role and remit of that committee, and what changes it has agreed in relation to entitlement to Access to Work.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Collaboration Committees bring together groups of disabled people, organisations that advocate for disability rights and other experts for specific work areas, including Access to Work, to collaborate and provide discussion, challenge, and recommendations.
Each committee is between 10-15 people to ensure there is space for everyone to talk. In addition, at least 50% of each committee are individuals with lived experience. Recommendations are still being drafted in conjunction with the Collaboration Committee who are providing insight to inform the design of the support we offer.
No changes have been made to Access to Work policy. Following the close of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation at the end of June, we are considering all responses to the consultation and will set out our plans in due course.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Leader of the House when she expects a Written Answer to be given to the question asked by Lord Blunkett on 17 September (HL10619) regarding the transfer of Skills England from the Department for Education to the Department for Work and Pensions.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The question was answered by the Department for Work and Pensions on the 27th October 2025. I apologise for the delay and have reminded the department of the need to meet the response target of 10 working days.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Prime Minister on 16 September (HCWS930), whether they plan to introduce legislation to repeal the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Act 2025 to reflect the move of Skills England from the Department for Education to the Department for Work and Pensions.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A workforce with world-class skills is central to this Government’s Plan for Change. Skills England is delivering on its vision to create better skills for better jobs, enabling growth and opportunity across the country. This includes supporting the development of the Government’s Industrial Strategy, working with businesses in priority sectors to develop sector packages and publishing its first three reports, which provide robust evidence to help government and partners make informed decisions on skills.
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc.) Act 2025 was vital in establishing Skills England and there are no plans to repeal it.
The transfer of responsibilities, including Skills England, from the Department for Education to the Department for Work and Pensions will strengthen the Government’s approach to adult employment and training. These departments will continue to work closely together and I will serve as a joint Minister for Skills.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish an updated Index of Multiple Deprivation for England and Wales.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
MHCLG announced recently that the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 will be published on Thursday 30th October 2025. This has been confirmed on GOV.UK
Welsh Government lead on publishing the Indices in Wales. They recently confirmed a release date of Thursday 27th November 2025 - Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation: 2025 | GOV.WALES
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following changes in the machinery of government and responsibility for skills being placed with the Department of Work and Pensions, which department will now be responsible for the administration of, and policy development for, Skills England.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on 30 June (HC61433), whether the proposed restriction on installing gas boilers for newly constructed dwellings applies to the development of blended green hydrogen and natural gas for heating purposes.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Future Homes Standard (FHS), to be introduced through the Building Regulations in autumn this year, will effectively preclude the use of gas boilers in new homes. A consultation setting out detailed technical proposals for the FHS was published in December 2023 and closed in March 2024. Hybrid and hydrogen-ready boilers would not meet the standards proposed in the consultation. We are carefully considering the feedback we received to the consultation and intend to publish the government response confirming our final position in due course.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 8 July (HL8809), whether (1) a certificate of sponsorship fee, and (2) an immigration skills charge, constitute a taxable benefit for employers in circumstances where those costs cannot be passed on to employees.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
If an employer pays for a certificate of sponsorship fee and the immigration skills charge, as a result of sponsoring a worker from overseas, these costs could be liable to Income Tax. Whether tax is payable will depend on individual circumstances as tax exemptions may apply. For this reason, each circumstance will need to be considered on a case-by-case basis. The Government has no plans to change the tax treatment of immigration fees. However, all taxes are kept under review as part of the tax policymaking process.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to restricting the contracts and investment for small nuclear modular reactors to UK-based companies, with the majority of component parts to be produced in the UK.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Following a robust, two-year procurement process, Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) has selected Rolls-Royce SMR as its preferred bidder to partner with to build the UK’s first small modular reactors, subject to final government approvals and contract signature.
Further details will follow in due course, but the government's long-term ambition is to bring forward one of Europe's first SMR fleets, with GBE-N's ambition being to deliver over 70% UK content across the fleet, which could benefit communities right across the country.