Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following delays in recent years in the recruitment and appointment process for inspectorate and regulatory roles leading to (1) the extension of the contract for the current HM Chief Inspector for Prisons to 2027, and (2) the appointment of interim post holders for the Independent Chief Inspector for Borders and Immigration in 2024–25, the Independent Prevent Commissioner in 2025–26, and HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary and HM Chief Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services in 2026, what assessment they have made of the Home Office and Ministry of Justice appointment processes for such roles in each of the last five years; what comparison they have made with similar processes in other departments; and what steps they are taking to improve such processes.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The process for making appointments and extensions to regulated public appointments is set out in the Governance Code on Public Appointments. Departments’ adherence to the process is regulated by the Independent Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Commissioner publishes an annual report that includes commentary on the timeliness of public appointment processes. Data on campaign duration and overall performance across departments is also published in the annual Public Appointments Data Report, published by the Cabinet Office.
The Governance Code on Public Appointments was updated in October 2025 and introduced new measures to enable ministers to make appointments more quickly.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of deaths related to climate change in each county in England.
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 information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary at the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Lord Foster of Bath
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
04 February 2026
Dear Lord Foster,
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what estimate has been made of the number of deaths related to climate change in each county in England (HL14056).
The ONS published Climate-related mortality, England and Wales: 1988 to 20221 in 2023. This release used climate and mortality data from 1988 to 2022 to analyse temperature-related mortality in England and Wales. The analysis estimates the relative risk, numbers and rates of death per 100,000 population associated with changing temperatures, based on a statistical model. Publication of updated estimates based on an enhanced statistical model and including data up to 2025 is provisionally planned for mid-2026.
Data is available for each English region and for Wales. However, data is not available by individual county in England.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have had any discussions with their EU counterparts about an exemption from the requirements of the forthcoming Entry/Exit System for British citizens.
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)
UK national travellers will be required to register in the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES). Exemptions will be in place for UK nationals who are Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries or otherwise long-term resident in the EU. Implementation of the EES is a matter for the EU and its Member States, and subject to ongoing EU legislative processes.