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

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their plans to lower the voting age to 16, whether they have plans to amend the definition of a child to those under the age of 16 in the (1) Children and Families Act 2014, (2) Children Act 1989, and (c) Children Act 2004.

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

None of the measures in the Representation of the People Bill which extend the right to vote to 16- and 17-year-olds will change the definition of a child in those three acts.

There is no single definition of the age at which someone becomes an ‘adult’ in the UK. Different age limits are applied in different circumstances.

This government is clear that 16 is the right age to be able to exercise your democratic right. Extending the right to vote to 16- and 17-year-olds will allow them to have a say in the government that shapes their future and set them up for lifelong engagement in democracy.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their plans to lower the voting age to 16, whether they plan to amend the definition of children in section 20 of the Licensing Act 2003 on the exhibition of films from a person aged under 18 to a person aged under 16.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Lowering the voting age will have no impact on the definition of children in the Licensing Act 2003. There is no single definition of the age at which someone becomes an ‘adult’ in the UK; the idea of 18 being the ’standard’ age of adulthood is a misconception. People can work part time from 14, donate blood at 17, and adopt at 21.

Decisions about classifying films are made by the British Board of Film Classification at arm's length from the government to ensure impartiality. The BBFC’s age ratings are continually updated to respond to changing social attitudes towards media content through public consultation and research.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 8 July (HL1547), what mitigations, if any, have been approved and put in place in the Department for Health and Social Care with regard to any potential conflicts of interests of Rt Hon Alan Milburn.

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

Non-Executive Director candidates are required to declare all relevant interests prior to appointment. Actions to mitigate conflicts are then put in place for all relevant interests.

All financial interests and all remunerated outside employment, work, memberships, and appointments should be declared. Disclosure requirements and clear conflict of interest policies are detailed in Cabinet Office guidance to support the Department in managing any conflicts of interest. These include recusal from relevant matters, limitations on any gifts, transparent lobbying practices, and robust mechanisms for ethics enforcement within the Government.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 18 June (HL680), what assessment they have made of the appropriateness of Arts Council England funding Decolonise Fest.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

As stated in my response to HL680, Arts Council England funding decisions are made independently of the government. DCMS ensures that the Arts Council operates within the policy framework and controls set by Government. This reflects the arm's-length principle, under which Arts Council England is established as a non-departmental public body that makes funding decisions independently, and as such, DCMS does not routinely scrutinise individual funding decisions by Arts Council.

The Arts Council aims to fund a diverse range of cultural activity that represents the broad spectrum of views and interests of citizens and communities across the country. Where individuals have concerns about specific organisations supported by Arts Council or the conduct of individual funding recipients, these can be addressed by using Arts Council’s Raising a Concern process online.

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by the Secretary of State for Education on 29 April (HC Deb col 887), whether they define criticism of religion as racist.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. People are expected to express their views concerning religion and beliefs respectfully, acting within the confines of the law when providing criticism. This does not affect the unchanging right of British citizens to exercise freedom of speech and expression; including the criticism, debate or even ridicule of religious ideas, as long as it is lawful.

Any form of racial or religious hatred is unacceptable, and is different to free speech. We are committed to tackling all forms of hate and division, including violence and intimidation. Britain has a proud tradition of religious tolerance, and the different faiths and beliefs in the UK foster diversity and community cohesion for everyone’s benefit.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government for what reason they do not keep a central register of training undertaken by civil servants across all government departments; and whether they will review this practice and policy.

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 Government Skills Group, within the Cabinet Office, leads the civil service skills agenda and maintains data on learning and development activity delivered through its centrally managed contracts and systems.

There is no single central register for all training undertaken across all government departments. This is because of the technological barriers to aggregating learning and development data across departmental systems. Responsibility for maintaining records of local learning and development activity rests with individual government departments.

The Government Skills Group is committed to integrating learning and development data across the civil service in the future.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Women in Finance Charter, published on 30 June, what is the definition of a woman used in the gender diversity targets that must be reported to HM Treasury, and whether biological men who self-identify as a woman can be counted as a woman for the purposes of the data reporting.

Answered by Lord Livermore

The Women in Finance Charter is a voluntary, Government-backed initiative established by HM Treasury in 2016 to improve the representation of women in senior positions in UK financial services.

The Charter seeks to support the productivity, competitiveness, innovation and growth of the sector by improving the gender balance of senior leadership in signatory firms. Around 400 financial services firms have signed up to the Charter, covering more than 1.1 million employees. On 30 June 2026, HM Treasury published a 10 Year Review of the Charter to mark its tenth anniversary.

Charter signatories are responsible for setting their own targets for gender diversity in senior management and for defining the senior management population covered by those targets.

Individual signatory firms are responsible for determining how they measure, monitor and report progress against their commitments under the Charter.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hermer on 8 July (HL1265), what is the evidential basis for his assertion that X prioritises misinformation.

Answered by Lord Hermer

The criticisms of misinformation on X are numerous and well-documented.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the written answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Housing, Communities and Local Government on 16 June (UIN 7457), whether any of the four named organisations subject to the policy of non-engagement submitted written evidence to the working group's call for evidence.

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

The Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Working Group launched a Call for Evidence which closed on Sunday 20 July 2025. It was open to the public and any individual or organisation was able to submit evidence. The government does not routinely publish the details of individual respondents to calls for evidence.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office on 25 June (HC10289) and with reference to paragraph 1.6(d) of the Ministerial Code, what is the public interest reason for not disclosing the new Gender Reassignment Guidance to Parliament.

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 Cabinet Office believes disclosure of the model Policy and Guidance: Supporting Trans and Non-binary Employees would contravene Section 36(2)(b)(i), (ii), and (c) of the Freedom of Information Act.

Found: Lord Brennan of Canton (Remote) Lord Elliot of Mickle Fell Lord Grantchester Lord Jackson of Peterborough

Found: Lord Barrow Lord Brennan of Canton Lord Elliot of Mickle Fell Baroness Suttie Lord Jackson of Peterborough

Found: Lord Brennan of Canton Baroness Brown of Silvertown Lord Elliot of Mickle Fell Lord Jackson of Peterborough

Found: Lord Barrow; Lord Brennan of Canton; Lord Elliott of Mickle Fell; Lord Grantchester; Lord Jackson of Peterborough