Lord Scriven

Measures to modernise the constitution were announced in the King’s Speech, including legislation to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. This will be the first step in wider reform to the second chamber, as set out in the manifesto.

The UK is a leading advocate for human rights around the world. The Department for Business and Trade are currently assessing progress across the programme of Free Trade Agreements currently under negotiation. Economic growth is our first mission in government and Free Trade Agreements have an important part to play in that. The Department's trade deals will be aligned with its industrial strategy, to bring prosperity to communities across the country and fulfil our mission of securing the highest sustained growth in the G7.

While there has been no specific assessment into the functionality of air conditioning during the recent hot weather, a sample of EMR's trains are independently inspected each month to assess overall ambience, and this includes the temperature of the carriage.

EMR advises that, on the occasion in question, the air conditioning failed in one carriage. All other carriages on the train had functioning air conditioning and staff offered passengers the opportunity to move to a different carriage, as well as providing water. New trains are due to replace the current train fleet from 2025.

Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to embedding Pharmacy First and building on it, expanding the role of pharmacies and to better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists.

While His Majesty's government does not comment on individual cases, as part of official processes Government departments do liaise as necessary.

The Gulf Strategy Fund (GSF) helps deliver HMG objectives across the Gulf Cooperation Council States. All cooperation through the FCDO International Programme, including the GSF, is subject to rigorous risk assessments to ensure all work meets our human rights obligations and our values. The Annual Summary of projects funded by the GSF in 2023/24 will be published later this year.

All FCDO Staff are expected to maintain the highest standards of propriety and regularity at all times in line with the Civil Service Code and Diplomatic Service Code. The motorsport industry generates over £10 billion each year in the UK and provides significant employment opportunities. UK Ambassadors have regularly attended Formula One events as part of their official duties. However, we put the protection of human rights around the world at the heart of what we do and work with our allies to encourage all states to uphold their international human rights obligations.

His Majesty's Government has not made representations to the Government of Bahrain regarding human rights since taking office. The UK supports Bahrain's reforms and will continue to encourage their government to meet international and domestic human rights commitments.

The Home Office routinely publishes information on a quarterly basis, including the number of cases outstanding. Data on the total number of outstanding cases in the asylum system (‘asylum work in progress’), asylum decision makers, processing times and productivity is published in the ‘Immigration and Protection’ data of the Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

We are unable to forecast the number of people with outstanding case decisions as each case is decided on its own individual merits and there are many factors that can delay and contribute to the length of time to process asylum claims.

The previous government’s independent review into the Tees Valley Combined Authority’s oversight of the South Tees Development Corporation and Teesworks Ltd was published 29 January 2024. The then Secretary of State wrote to the mayor in March 2024 requesting a further report in six months’ time. We expect to receive this report in September 2024, and to publish this in due course.