To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Prisons: Fires
Monday 3rd August 2026

Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of prisoner awareness and understanding of what to do when a fire occurs; and what steps they are taking to ensure prisoners are aware of what to do when fires occur.

Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Upon arrival, all prisoners receive a comprehensive fire safety induction covering the actions to take in the event of a fire and the risks and consequences associated with fire-setting behaviour. The quality and effectiveness of the induction process are subject to quarterly audits to ensure compliance and consistency across the prison estate.

All prisons have an adequate level of fire suppression. In the closed prison estate, 11 prisons are equipped with both fixed automatic and manual water misting systems: four of these have automatic systems in all cells, and seven have automatic systems installed in some cells, with manual provision in the remainder. The other 101 closed prisons are equipped with manual water misting systems.

H M Prison & Probation Service’s technical standards require all new closed prisons and secure accommodation blocks to be fitted with fixed automatic water misting systems in prison cells.


Written Question
Prisons: Fire Extinguishers
Monday 3rd August 2026

Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many prisons are equipped with (1) automatic water misting systems only, (2) manual handling water misting systems only, or (3) both automatic and manual handling water systems.

Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Upon arrival, all prisoners receive a comprehensive fire safety induction covering the actions to take in the event of a fire and the risks and consequences associated with fire-setting behaviour. The quality and effectiveness of the induction process are subject to quarterly audits to ensure compliance and consistency across the prison estate.

All prisons have an adequate level of fire suppression. In the closed prison estate, 11 prisons are equipped with both fixed automatic and manual water misting systems: four of these have automatic systems in all cells, and seven have automatic systems installed in some cells, with manual provision in the remainder. The other 101 closed prisons are equipped with manual water misting systems.

H M Prison & Probation Service’s technical standards require all new closed prisons and secure accommodation blocks to be fitted with fixed automatic water misting systems in prison cells.


Written Question
Warm Homes Plan
Thursday 16th July 2026

Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Whitehead on 15 June (HL448), what modelling they have undertaken to estimate the number of individual retrofit measures to be financed through consumer loans under the Warm Homes Plan; and what (1) is their central estimate, and (2) were the assumptions used on loan size and repayment terms.

Answered by Lord Whitehead

The Warm Homes Loan Scheme has been allocated up to £300m CDEL and under the Warm Homes Fund up to £1.7bn. The Government is undertaking detailed modelling, in line with departmental appraisal and analytical standards, to inform estimates of the number of retrofit installations that may be supported.

The number and type of measures financed will depend on several factors, including consumer uptake and the technologies installed; and loan sizes and repayment terms. These elements remain under development and analysis and, therefore, the Government has not yet finalised estimates of the total number of measures to be financed, nor any breakdown by technology type or tenure.

Further information will be published in due course.


Written Question
Warm Homes Plan
Thursday 16th July 2026

Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Whitehead on 15 June (HL448), what estimate they have made of the total number of retrofit measures expected to be financed through consumer loans under the Warm Homes Plan over its lifetime; and what is the annual breakdown of those measures by technology type and tenure, once the loan sizes and terms are set out.

Answered by Lord Whitehead

The Warm Homes Loan Scheme has been allocated up to £300m CDEL and under the Warm Homes Fund up to £1.7bn. The Government is undertaking detailed modelling, in line with departmental appraisal and analytical standards, to inform estimates of the number of retrofit installations that may be supported.

The number and type of measures financed will depend on several factors, including consumer uptake and the technologies installed; and loan sizes and repayment terms. These elements remain under development and analysis and, therefore, the Government has not yet finalised estimates of the total number of measures to be financed, nor any breakdown by technology type or tenure.

Further information will be published in due course.


Written Question
Warm Homes Plan
Thursday 16th July 2026

Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Whitehead on 15 June (HL448), what estimate they have made of the total number of individual retrofit measures that will be financed through consumer loans under the Warm Homes Plan, based on their current assumptions about loan size and repayment terms.

Answered by Lord Whitehead

The Warm Homes Loan Scheme has been allocated up to £300m CDEL and under the Warm Homes Fund up to £1.7bn. The Government is undertaking detailed modelling, in line with departmental appraisal and analytical standards, to inform estimates of the number of retrofit installations that may be supported.

The number and type of measures financed will depend on several factors, including consumer uptake and the technologies installed; and loan sizes and repayment terms. These elements remain under development and analysis and, therefore, the Government has not yet finalised estimates of the total number of measures to be financed, nor any breakdown by technology type or tenure.

Further information will be published in due course.


Written Question
Solar Power: Safety
Tuesday 14th July 2026

Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government why the consultation on proposals to enable the safe and legal use of plug-in solar (plug-in microgeneration) products in the UK lasted two weeks, and what consideration they gave to a longer consultation.

Answered by Lord Whitehead

The move to make plug-in solar panels available in shops within months comes as government steps up its drive for clean homegrown power to get the UK off its dependency on fossil fuel markets. Plug-in solar panels provide a new, simple alternative for those who may not have the option of rooftop solar, and could offer savings of up to £110 a year on energy bills for a typical home.

It has been rolled out successfully in other countries. To safely bring plug-in solar to the UK market within this timeframe, we launched an expedited consultation on required regulatory changes alongside running a series of in-depth and targeted meetings with a wide range of stakeholders.


Written Question
Parish and Town Councils: Community Development
Wednesday 1st July 2026

Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government why the consultation proposals from town and parish councils under the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 were issued in 2012 when the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 (Amendment) Act 2010 which enabled these proposals was passed two years before.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

It would not be appropriate to comment on the decisions of a previous administration.


Written Question
Local Government: Community Development
Wednesday 1st July 2026

Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government why the consultation Proposals from town and parish councils under the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 was issued in 2012, when the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 (Amendment) Act 2010 that enabled these proposals was passed two years before.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

It would not be appropriate to comment on the decisions of a previous administration.


Written Question
Warm Homes Plan
Monday 15th June 2026

Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many individual retrofit measures will be financed by the consumer loans offered under the Warm Homes Plan.

Answered by Lord Whitehead

The number of loans, and therefore the number of retrofit measures supported, will depend on factors such as average loan size and repayment terms.

We will set out more detail on loan sizes and terms in due course.


Written Question
Gambling: Advertising
Wednesday 29th April 2026

Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of restrictions under section 333(6) of the Gambling Act 2005 to the powers of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to make regulations on the remote advertising of gambling following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union; and what plans they have to restore any powers that have been lost.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government regularly reviews the effectiveness of gambling regulation in Great Britain.

We are not considering an amendment to the Gambling Act 2005 in relation to the remote advertising of gambling at this time.