Question to the Wales Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Welsh Government since 7 May.

Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Wales each held early discussions with the First Minister to congratulate him on his appointment and to outline the importance of constructive working between our two governments. Other UK Government ministers have also engaged with their Welsh Government counterparts on matters within their areas of responsibility.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Scottish Government since 7 May.

Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The UK Government continues to work constructively with the Scottish Government to increase living standards, improve public services, and drive economic growth.

The Prime Minister has spoken to the First Minister of Scotland following the recent Scottish Parliament elections and noted his desire for continued positive engagement between the governments.

The Secretary of State for Scotland has also written to the First Minister to discuss how we can work together in the interests of people in Scotland. The Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister will shortly attend the next meeting of the Interministerial Standing Committee, and ministers across the UK Government continue to work closely with the Scottish Government on matters of mutual interest.

UKG publishes an IGR engagement dashboard on gov.uk detailing the number of meetings between the governments. The last publication was in March 2026, covering the period from July 2024-September 2025. The compilation for the next IGR dashboard quarters is underway and will be published shortly.

Effective intergovernmental relations remain a priority, and we look forward to working constructively with the new ministers in both governments. Scotland benefits from being part of a strong and successful United Kingdom where we pool resources, share opportunities and tackle challenges together.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what recent action, if any, they have taken to fast track large infrastructure projects; and what plans they have to facilitate the fast tracking of such projects in the future.

Answered by Lord Livermore

The Government introduced the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 which reformed the planning process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs). The Government has also worked with the judiciary to amend Civil Procedure Rules for NSIP cases. On 20 May 2026, the Chancellor announced two further proposed reforms to the consenting process for NSIPs.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to secure the long-term future of the British Council.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington

I refer the Noble Lord to my statement to the House on 26 March (HLWS1489).

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of potential links between vape use and cardiac arrests.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Evidence suggests that, in the short and medium term, vaping is less harmful than smoking and can be an effective quit aid for adult smokers. However, vaping is not risk-free and the long-term health effects are still emerging. Children and adult non-smokers should therefore never vape.

While vaping may result in short term physiological changes, such as increases in heart rate and blood pressure, the current evidence base does not identify a causal link between vaping and cardiac arrest.

The Government will continue to monitor emerging evidence closely, including through the landmark 10-year Adolescent Health Study, which will assess the long-term impact of vaping on young people’s health and wellbeing, alongside wider influences on adolescent health.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer from Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 18 June (HL1080), what steps they are taking following the National Audit Office’s report Investigation into the financial sustainability of the British Council, published on 13 June.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington

I refer the Noble Lord to the letter sent to the Foreign Affairs Committee by the Minister for Multilateral and Human Rights on Tuesday 30 June concerning the financial position of the British Council.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect all rail stations to be accessible for all.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Many of our stations date from a time when accessibility needs were not considered. However, whenever the industry installs, replaces or renews station infrastructure this must comply with current accessibility standards. We have also continued to fund the Access for All programme that has added accessible routes to more than 270 stations since 2006.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many rail stations are currently not accessible for all, and how many stations they expect to become accessible for all within the next twelve months.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

There are currently 583 stations with no step-free access and a further 523 stations with only partial step-free access across the Great Britain main line rail network.

The Department continues to improve accessibility through programmes such as the Access for All scheme. Ten stations are currently forecast to complete and become step-free by the end of June 2027. This is in addition to stations being made more accessible through other enhancements, renewals, or third-party funded schemes.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the UK's withdrawal from the EU on postal services.

Answered by Lord Leong - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

The government continues to inform and support parcel operators and businesses across sectors to adapt to the trading arrangements following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. We are also working closely with industry to help goods move smoothly and remain committed to ensuring that postal services can operate effectively.

Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, monitors the letters and parcels markets including consumers’ and business’ experiences of postal services. Ofcom publishes its findings in an annual post monitoring report on its website: www.ofcom.org.uk/post/market-performance/monitoring_reports.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's decision to stop payments for coastguard callouts on (1) human safety, and (2) local communities.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Public safety remains our priority. We have, and will continue, to engage with volunteers on what changes there may be to their availability in light of the change. Currently we are not seeing any operational impacts from the decision. Coastal response is operationally dynamic and multi-layered. Alongside the Coastguard Rescue Service, HM Coastguard will continue to draw upon the full UK Search and Rescue system, including HM Coastguard aviation assets, RNLI and independent lifeboats, independent rescue teams, lifeguards and other emergency services as they do today. We will continue to keep our search and rescue partners briefed on this issue.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what lessons about strategic planning they have learnt from heatwaves in the last four years, in particular in relation to reservoirs, air conditioning in publicly owned buildings, public transport, and healthcare.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The recent heatwaves have served to reinforce the importance of strategic contingency planning and highlight the wide range of potential consequences. The Resilience Action Plan sets out the Government’s work to strengthen domestic resilience to all risks, including climate change. ‘Environmental’ is one of 26 chronic risks identified in the Government’s Chronic Risks Analysis.

Furthermore, the Government is taking action to ensure that public and private infrastructure operators can continue to deliver the essential services that underpin the economy and set the conditions for sustainable long-term growth in the face of increasingly severe climate impacts.

More broadly, under the Climate Change Act 2008, the Government has a legal framework for strengthening UK preparedness to climate change risks. This includes preparing a Climate Change Risk Assessment every five years, which is led by Defra, followed by a National Adaptation Programme setting out how the government will address the identified climate risks across a range of sectors including infrastructure.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of shop theft, and what action they plan to take as a result.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

Action to restore neighbourhood policing is making a difference – including delivering more than 3,100 additional police officers and PCSOs into neighbourhood roles since March 2025.There are signs the tide is turning, with a small fall in shop theft offences by 1% in the year ending December 2025 compared with the previous year. This is compared with increases of nearly 30% in the period before the election.

We are removing the £200 threshold for shop theft and commencing the new offence of assaulting a retail worker as soon as possible.

We are also equipping the police to fight the organised crime gangs that drive shop theft across the country. Our £5m investment in the specialist OPAL policing unit is boosting intelligence-led policing to identify offenders, disrupt the tactics used to target shops, and bring more criminals to justice.

We are also actively engaged with retailers and law enforcement agencies to strengthen digital evidence-sharing and the responsible use of facial recognition technology, making it easier to identify repeat offenders and build stronger cases against them.