Lord Wigley Portrait

Lord Wigley

Plaid Cymru - Life peer

Became Member: 19th January 2011


EU Goods Sub-Committee
23rd Apr 2020 - 7th May 2020
EU Internal Market Sub-Committee
17th Oct 2017 - 23rd Apr 2020
Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Committee
16th May 2013 - 6th Nov 2013
Leader and Party President, Plaid Cymru
1st Jan 1991 - 1st Jan 2000
Public Accounts Committee
25th Jul 1997 - 16th Dec 1997
Welsh Affairs Committee
9th Jun 1983 - 15th May 1987
Leader and Party President, Plaid Cymru
1st Jan 1981 - 1st Jan 1984


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Lord Wigley has voted in 48 divisions, and never against the majority of their Party.
View All Lord Wigley Division Votes

Debates during the 2024 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Labour)
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
(11 debate interactions)
Lord Livermore (Labour)
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
(9 debate interactions)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour)
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
(7 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
HM Treasury
(18 debate contributions)
Department for Transport
(8 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
Legislation Debates
Crown Estate Act 2025
(4,886 words contributed)
Crown Estate (Wales) Bill [HL] 2024-26
(1,778 words contributed)
Great British Energy Bill 2024-26
(1,072 words contributed)
View All Legislation Debates
View all Lord Wigley's debates

Lords initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Lord Wigley, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.


6 Bills introduced by Lord Wigley


A Bill to provide that powers devolved to Senedd Cymru must not be amended or withdrawn without a super-majority vote of its elected members; and for connected purposes

Lords Completed
Commons - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading
Monday 26th June 2023

A Bill to transfer responsibility for the Crown Estate in Wales to the Welsh Government; and for connected purposes.

Lords - 40%

Last Event - 2nd Reading
Friday 7th February 2025
(Read Debate)

A Bill to make provision for a review of access for people with learning disabilities to healthcare and other services; to make provision for a review of the provision of learning disability services across government; to make associated provision for the reform of such services; to provide a statutory code of practice on the public sector equality duty for public bodies for matters relating to learning disabilities; and for connected purposes

Lords - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading
Thursday 10th February 2022
(Read Debate)

A bill to make provision to ensure that the police forces in England and Wales have sufficient resources to deliver police services; and for connected purposes

Commons - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading
Wednesday 5th February 2020
(Read Debate)

A Bill to require the Secretary of State to introduce proposals to halve the disability employment gap; and for connected purposes.

Lords - 20%

Last Event - None

A Bill to Make provision to ensure that the terms and conditions of employment offered by employers do not put workers who are permanently domiciled in the United Kingdom at a disadvantage through offering any bonus or payment in kind; and for connected purposes.

Lords - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading: House Of Lords
Tuesday 10th June 2014

Lord Wigley has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 50 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
1 Other Department Questions
27th Jan 2025
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what is the latest estimate of the cost of repairing and safeguarding the Palace of Westminster; and by what date he anticipates a definite decision being taken on this matter.

The R&R Client Board published the strategic case for the R&R Programme in March 2024. This sets out that three options for how to deliver the R&R works to the Palace (including full decant, continued presence and ehanced maintenance and improvement) will be developed in detail. This detailed work, which will include estimated costs and timescales as well as risks and mitigations for all three options, is expected to be presented to the Houses by the end of 2025 to enable an evidence-based decision on how best to restore the Palace.

6th Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government how many statutory public inquiries established under the Inquiries Act 2005 are currently still active; whether each inquiry has a target date for its completion; and whether there are financial resources ear-marked to cover the ongoing costs.

There are currently 10 statutory public inquiries established by HM Government under the Inquiries Act 2005 still active. Each inquiry has a sponsor department whose role includes covering ongoing costs. The duration of an inquiry is a matter for the inquiry chair, who usually has target dates for completion.

Baroness Twycross
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
6th Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, if any, since July 2024 with the Royal Household about the inclusion of a symbolic representation of Wales on the royal standard.

Since July 2024, no discussion has been held with the Royal Household by the government about the inclusion of a symbolic representation of Wales on the royal standard.

Baroness Twycross
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
2nd Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the target date for the completion of payments to all those identified as victims of infected blood.

Our priority is to pay compensation as quickly as possible. The Infected Blood Compensation Authority is working to put in place a claim service that is simple and secure. We expect the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to begin making payments to people who are infected by the end of this year.

For people diagnosed with an eligible infection before 1 April 2025, the Scheme will remain open to applications until 31 March 2031. For people diagnosed after 1 April 2025, the Scheme will remain open to applications for 6 years from the person’s date of diagnosis.

Baroness Twycross
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
2nd Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 19 November (HL2370), what are the latest figures for employee activity rates for the regions of England.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Rt Hon. the Lord Wigley

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

4 December 2024

Dear Lord Wigley,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 19 November (HL2370), what are the latest figures for employee activity rates for the regions of England (HL3125).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects information on the labour market status of individuals through the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is a survey of people resident in households in the UK. The responses allow us to estimate how many people are in employment, and how many of those are in employment as employees, as opposed to other forms of employment such as self-employed.

Due to the current smaller sample sizes being achieved by the LFS, recent estimates are showing increased volatility and should be treated with additional caution.

The latest available estimates (July to September 2024) of the rates of employees for people aged 16 to 64 years, determined as the percentage of the population in employment as an employee, resident in each of England’s nine regions, are presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Rates of employees, people aged 16 to 64 years, regions in England, not seasonally adjusted.

Region in England

July to September 2024

North East

65.4

North West

65.9

Yorkshire and The Humber

64.1

East Midlands

66.8

West Midlands

65.3

East

67.5

London

65.1

South East

68.1

South West

67.1

Source: Labour Force Survey

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Baroness Twycross
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
12th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what conversations they have had with the Welsh Government about seeking to include statistics on the number of people resident in England who can speak, read or write in the Welsh language in the 2031 census.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Rt Hon. the Lord Wigley

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

18 November 2024

Dear Lord Wigley,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what conversations have been had with the Welsh Government about seeking to include statistics on the number of people resident in England who can speak, read or write in the Welsh language in the 2031 census (HL2487).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is developing its population and migration statistics by further expanding the range of data sources and methods it uses. A key focus of the Future Population and Migration Statistics (FPMS) Programme is continuing to expand the use of administrative data to produce population and migration statistics, working across the public sector to maximise the statistical value of its data assets. The FPMS will create a sustainable statistics system that will be flexible and dynamic in how it responds to the emerging issues of the day. The UK Statistics Authority (the Authority) plans to publish a recommendation to government in the coming months.

Decisions about the 2031 census have not yet been made. As such, topics for inclusion in a 2031 census have not formed part of the ONS’ discussions with the Welsh Government or other stakeholders. The FPMS programme has an ongoing programme of user needs engagement and carried out a consultation in 2023[1], which acknowledged the importance of collecting data on this topic. The consultation document categorised Welsh language skills as a topic for which further research is required into delivering statistics primarily based on administrative data. Welsh language is regarded as a priority characteristic within the FPMS programme with exploratory work on this topic ongoing. However, it is likely that data on Welsh language skills will predominantly come from sources relating to people resident in Wales.

In April 2023, the ONS and Welsh Government published a joint work plan on the coherence of Welsh language statistics produced from different sources[2]. The first project, to understand differences between Census 2021 and household survey estimates, has been completed. Other work outlined in the plan is ongoing, with the next priority looking at comparing Census 2021 with the Welsh School Census and other administrative sources. Welsh Government and ONS teams meet monthly to discuss progress and are arranging a secondment from Welsh Government to the ONS to support work on the planned projects. The ONS is also exploring the feasibility of producing Welsh language estimates through using existing administrative sources, with the involvement of Welsh Government.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1]https://consultations.ons.gov.uk/ons/futureofpopulationandmigrationstatistics/

[2]https://www.gov.wales/office-national-statistics-ons-and-welsh-government-joint-work-plan-coherence-welsh-language-statistics

Baroness Twycross
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
16th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government which inquiries conducted under the Inquiries Act 2005 involved matters which were wholly or partly devolved in Wales when the inquiry started.

Since the introduction of the Inquiries Act 2005, there have been three inquiries which include matters which are partly or wholly devolved to Wales: the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, the Infected Blood Inquiry, and the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

Baroness Twycross
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
22nd Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government how many companies owned by corporations with headquarters in the USA currently have manufacturing facilities in Wales.

Wales is a prime destination for foreign direct investment from the United States.

Many companies are operating in the manufacturing sector. A number of US-owned companies are operating in Wales’ world leading compound semiconductor cluster, including KLA and Vishay. Both companies have recently announced large investments in South Wales driven by our world-class research facilities and skilled workforce.

The information is not held centrally.

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
17th Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the volume and value of trade between the UK and Argentina.

Trade between the UK and Argentina was worth £2 billion in the 12 months to June 2024 with our top goods exports including beverages, pharmaceuticals and manufactured goods. In October, the Secretary of State met his Argentine counterpart, the first trade-related bilateral ministerial meeting between both governments since 2019. They agreed to work together to strengthen our trade relationship further including in areas such as services, customs, and education. This will build on our existing cooperation this year which saw the largest delegation from Argentina in 20 years to London’s Metal Exchange Week in September.

Baroness Gustafsson
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
13th Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of increased electricity prices in Wales under the proposals to introduce zonal pricing of electricity in the UK.

The Government have not yet taken a decision on Zonal or Reformed National pricing. Zonal pricing has the potential to reduce bills for consumer across Great Britain, and we are currently conducting quantitative and distributional analysis to understand the impacts of zonal market design options on consumers, including those in Wales. A cost-benefit analysis will also inform policy decisions and help conclude how effectively the options meet the objectives.

Zonal pricing could be implemented with varying degrees of consumer exposure. We are working closely with the Welsh Government to understand how any potential REMA reforms could impact Welsh consumers and industry, and this will be taken into account as part of the final decision-making process.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
29th Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what sites in Wales currently house or have in the past 20 years housed a nuclear reactor, including university and medical locations.

There have been two nuclear reactors located in Wales; both are now being decommissioned. The nuclear power plant on the Trawsfynydd site came offline in 1991 and the plant on the Wylfa site in Anglesey stopped generating electricity in 2015. The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) regulate nuclear sites in Great Britain and publish a map of licensed sites on their website at www.onr.org.uk/our-work/map-of-sites-and-facilities/. GE Healthcare operated a Nuclear Licensed site in Cardiff which was used for radiopharmaceutical manufacture and de-licensed in 2019. There was no reactor present on this site.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
22nd Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the hydroelectric output in Great Britain is generated in (1) England, (2) Wales, and (3) Scotland.

Hydroelectric power accounts for 2% of the UK’s electricity generation. A majority of hydroelectric output is generated in Scotland.

In 2023, annual figures show that:

3% of hydroelectricity was generated in England*

7% of hydroelectricity was generated in Wales*

90% of hydroelectricity was generated in Scotland*

Latest data available on hydroelectric generation is available via the DESNZ publication, Energy Trends December 2024, Table ET 6.1: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6762b0d6cdb5e64b69e30735/ET_6.1_DEC_24.xlsx. This table shows annual generation (latest data 2023) of hydroelectricity in GWh, by country, on which the above information is based.

*Rounded to the nearest hundred.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
2nd Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how many residual coal tips they have identified in (1) England, (2) Wales and (3) Scotland which represent a potential safety hazard; and what progress has been made in establishing target dates for the completion of remedial action on each such registered hazard.

There are over 6,000 disused coal tips in Britain with 2,573 located in Wales. The majority of tips are in local authority or private ownership which includes legal responsibilities. Welsh Government released details of their work programme to address the tips issue including inspections/maintenance. https://www.gov.wales/coal-tip-safety

There is no central tips record in England or Scotland. The geological makeup of tip locations in Scotland and England, and previous reprofiling/restoration, has left a lower risk profile. The Mining Remediation Authority has contacted all Local Authorities reminding them of their responsibilities relating to the management of coal tips, offering support where required.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
26th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 19 November (HL2484), when they expect to announce the finalised terms for bids for new pump storage electricity generation projects, and when they expect final decisions on such bids to be made.

Finalised terms for applications to the Long Duration Electricity Storage (LDES) investment support scheme, which could include applications from Pumped Storage Hydro (PSH) projects, will be set out in a Technical Decision Document to be published in the first quarter of 2025.

Ofgem is the delivery body for the LDES investment support scheme and has informed Government that it intends to open the scheme to a first round of applications in the second quarter of 2025 and is working with the aim of making decisions on initial applications in early 2026.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
4th Sep 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the results of the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6, which allocated 1.63 per cent of the total megawatts available to applicants from Wales, with which stakeholders in Wales they held discussions prior to reaching that decision.

The Contracts for Difference scheme is geographically neutral and does not award contracts to projects based on regional quotas. All projects in Great Britain that met the eligibility criteria were able to apply into Allocation Round 6 (AR6). Eligible projects competed in an auction, run independently by National Grid ESO, designed to bring forward the most cost-effective projects in each delivery year.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
4th Sep 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the results for floating offshore wind project applications in the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6, on what basis were (1) 400 megawatts of contracts awarded to projects in Scotland, and (2) no contracts awarded to projects in Wales.

All projects in Great Britain that met the eligibility criteria were able to apply into Allocation Round 6 (AR6). Eligible projects competed in an auction, run independently by National Grid ESO, designed to bring forward the most cost-effective projects in each delivery year. The scheme is geographically neutral and does not award contracts to projects based on regional quotas.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
22nd Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of tourists visiting the UK they estimate visit Wales.

Based on the latest available data from VisitBritain and the International Passenger Survey (IPS), the UK received 38 million inbound visitors in 2023, of which Wales received 892,000 visits.

Baroness Twycross
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
22nd Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with representatives of commercial radio companies regarding reduction of their presence in Wales.

The Media Act 2024 gives commercial radio greater flexibility to organise its programmes to meet the changing needs of its audiences. While decisions on changes to local radio services are ultimately matters for commercial radio companies, we are disappointed in recent decisions which have resulted in the end of Welsh language programmes.

The Government is a strong supporter of Welsh language broadcasting and will consider the wider implications on Welsh language radio with the Welsh Government and other stakeholders in Wales. Neither I nor any DCMS Ministers have had any direct discussions on this matter with Global.

Baroness Twycross
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
26th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to promote the UNESCO designated Slate communities in Wales as tourist attractions for visitors to the UK.

While tourism in Wales is devolved to the Welsh Government, VisitBritain, an arm’s length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, retains responsibility for marketing Great Britain on the international stage.

Visit Wales leads on the development of a tourism brand specifically for Wales, while VisitBritain works with Visit Wales to ensure that these brand values are reflected in the broader GREAT Campaign, which highlights a number of the many destinations and experiences on offer across Wales.

VisitBritain champions Wales as a distinguished travel destination, emphasizing its rich cultural heritage and landscape. VisitBritain also promotes UNESCO heritage sites on its website, including Wales slate communities.

Baroness Twycross
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
19th Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the lowering of the threshold for employers' national insurance payments in the Autumn budget on the provision of daily school transport for children with special educational needs, and whether they will make an exception to ensure the continuation of those services.

I refer the noble Lord to the answer of 16 December 2024 to Question 19397.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
19th Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to extend the £10,000 tax free bursary available to trainee art and design teachers, so that it is also available to trainee music teachers.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

Earlier this year, the department announced an initial teacher training financial incentives package for the 2025/26 recruitment cycle worth £233 million, which is a £37 million increase on the last cycle. This includes a £10,000 tax free bursary to encourage trainees to teach music.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
17th Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how much financial support has been provided to schools for the promotion of chess in each of the last three years.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

In the 2023/24 financial year, the department allocated £200,000 through the Strengthening Chess in Primary Schools grant, supporting primary schools to improve their pupils’ access to chess.

More broadly, at the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced an additional £2.3 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs for the 2025/26 financial year, compared to 2024/25. This means that overall core school funding will total almost £63.9 billion next year.

Each year schools receive core funding from the department to cover their expenditures. These expenditures could include teacher salaries, school lunches, electronic resources, art and craft supplies, or any other number of items.

It is for headteachers to decide how best to manage their budgets, including spending on the promotion of extracurricular activities such as chess. This funding is not ringfenced.

Schools may also choose to utilise their pupil premium funding to support enrichment. The pupil premium grant is funding to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England. Schools must use this funding in line with the menu of approaches which are based on the evidence of how best to improve attainment for disadvantaged pupils. This includes the flexibility to use pupil premium to tackle non-academic barriers to success, including providing enrichment opportunities to benefit those pupils who may not be able to have access otherwise.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
17th Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how many higher education institutions in England offer courses in (1) mathematics, (2) music and (3) both.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), now part of the Joint Information Systems Committee (Jisc), collects and publishes data on student enrolments across all UK higher education (HE) providers. This includes data on full person equivalents enrolled in different subject areas, categorised using the HE coding of subjects system. Counts of enrolments across all subjects from 2019/20 to 2022/23 are published in Table 49 of HESA’s Student Data, which can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-49.

Table 49 can be used to determine that in the 2022/23 academic year, there were 31,030 HE enrolments in ‘mathematics’ across 75 English HE providers and 31,405 HE enrolments in ‘music’ across 106 English HE providers. There were 58 HE providers in England that had enrolments in both ‘mathematics’ and ‘music’ in 2022/23.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
17th Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how many pupils sat A level examinations in music in 2015 and 2023.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The numbers of entries in A level music in the 2014/15 and 2022/23 academic years are published by the department in the ‘A level and other 16 to 18 results’ statistical release. There were 6,709 A level music entries in 2014/15 and 4,911 A level music entries in 2022/23

These numbers include all A level entries by students aged 16 to 18 in England in that academic year.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
12th Nov 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how many students were undertaking undergraduate degree courses at universities in England, at the most recent date for which figures are available, whose home addresses were in (1) Wales, (2) Scotland, and (3) Northern Ireland.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA – now part of JISC), is responsible for collecting and publishing data about UK higher education. The latest statistics refer to the 2022/23 academic year.

Figure 9 of HESA’s ‘Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2022/23’ reports the number of enrolments for UK providers based on student permanent address prior to study between the academic years 2018/19 and 2022/23 and is available by students’ study level. Figure 9 can be accessed at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/sb269/figure-9.

It is possible to filter the figures in the table to undergraduate degrees in English universities by setting the ‘Country of HE provider’ drop-down menu to ‘England’, and the ‘Level of study’ drop-down menu to ‘All undergraduate’.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
13th Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Welsh Government about monitoring high-risk toxic sites which could generate pollution in cross-border rivers.

This Government is committed to building stronger ties and working collaboratively with the Welsh Government on shared priorities including tackling pollution, restoring nature and supporting our farmers.

Effective regulations play an important part in reducing diffuse agricultural pollution and cleaning up our waters, as well as supporting improvements to farm businesses. Both governments are working closely with regulators, local farmers and other key partners in England and Wales on these issues, for example by working with local farmers and environmental NGOs, alongside the Wye Nutrient Management Board and the Wye Catchment Partnership who are leading efforts to tackle pollution in the Wye.

Additionally, the Environment Agency also works with farmers through advice-led enforcement to improve compliance. These inspections are targeted to areas of the greatest risk, including the catchments of protected sites.

Research is ongoing to identify mechanisms for improving water quality in the Wye. This will take a collaborative “living labs” approach where data is collected on and by working farm businesses working alongside academics/researchers to assess how farmers can best manage their nutrients and reduce pressures on the River Wye. The project will be multi-disciplinary, bringing in social research and economics as well as natural science.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
13th Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of storm and flood warning systems in the UK following Storm Bert and Storm Darragh.

Defra is the Lead Government Department in England for flooding and works with the Environment Agency (EA) and Met Office to maintain a flood warning system for England.

The responsibility for flood warning systems in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland rests with the equivalent organisations to Defra and the EA in the Devolved Governments. The responsibility for storm warning systems in the UK is held by the Met Office.

Between September and mid-January 2025 over 1,400 Flood Warnings were issued in England. Defra, the EA and the Met Office regularly assess the effectiveness of their flood warning systems in England including after major events like Storm Bert and Storm Darragh. These assessments take various forms, including working with Local Resilience Forums in post incident reviews as well as annual performance reports under the Flood & Water Management Act 2010.

Defra, the EA and the Met Office continuously work to improve flood warning services, including by developing the capability of world leading Flood Forecast Centre. Examples of this work include a trial of Rapid Flood Guidance which took place in 2024, and which is currently being evaluated.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
6th Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to issue guidelines to water companies operating in England regarding the salaries paid to their senior management.

For too long, customers have been let down and water companies have discharged record levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.

That is why we are placing water companies under special measures through the Water (Special Measures) Bill, which will strengthen regulation, including delivering new powers to ban the payment of bonuses for polluting water bosses and bringing criminal charges against persistent law breakers.

Executives will no longer be able to take home eye-watering bonuses where companies fail to meet standards on environmental performance, financial resilience, customer outcomes or criminal liability.

In October 2024, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Welsh Government, also launched an Independent Commission on the water sector regulatory system. This is a wide-ranging review to fundamentally transform how our water system works and clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
2nd Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent discussions in relation to an international treaty to curb plastic pollution; and what steps they are taking to accelerate progress on this matter.

Over 170 countries met for the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in Busan from 25 November 2024 to 1 December 2024 to discuss a landmark treaty to end plastic pollution. While it is disappointing that no agreement was reached, the Committee decided it would resume the meeting for final negotiations in 2025.

The UK was one of 85 countries to endorse the Stand Up for Ambition statement calling for a global target to reduce the production of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels, phasing out the most harmful plastic products and chemicals of concern in plastics, ambitious and effective financing from all sources, and allowing the treaty to be strengthened over time. The UK also supported using the text proposed by the Chair as a basis for future negotiations.

We urgently need an ambitious international agreement to end plastic pollution that tackles the full life cycle of plastics. The Government is committed to moving to a circular economy for plastics - a future where we keep our resources in use for longer; waste is reduced; we accelerate the path to net zero, we see investment in critical infrastructure and green jobs; our economy prospers; and nature thrives.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
3rd Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government for what duration they estimate that services between London Paddington and Cardiff Central stations will be disrupted to facilitate the development of HS2; and from what date disruptions will begin.

The construction works at Old Oak Common are scheduled to take place in stages, with several planned possessions through to the early 2030’s, of which the most extensive will be over the Christmas periods. Network Rail’s current plans do not involve widespread weekend closures; while most of the construction work will take place during the Christmas period closures, it is expected only two of the four tracks will be available on the Great Western Mainline at times.

The Government is working with Network Rail, HS2 Ltd, Transport for London, and the train operating companies to minimise the impacts of disruption, synchronising the timing of works with other works planned on the route wherever possible and ensuring the continued operation of rail services.

During the All-Line Blocks where no trains will be able to go to London Paddington, a limited number of services will be diverted to London Euston (to continue to provide service access into Central London), and other trains will terminate at Reading or Ealing Broadway (where passengers can use London Underground services to continue their journey to Central London). As the minister responsible for the delivery of HS2 Phase 1, I understand that minor and preparatory works for Old Oak Common will proceed in parallel with routine maintenance on the line, while I expect that the significant possessions required to bring Old Oak Common into use will not happen for several years.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
29th Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest estimate of the out-turn cost of HS2 on the basis of their latest proposals for the completion of the project.

Our latest position on cost is noted in our December 2024 report to parliament. We are undertaking a full reset of the programme, led by the new CEO Mark Wild. Until that work is concluded we are unable to provide a robust assessment of outturn cost but will be reporting to parliament in due course.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
27th Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the reduction of the general speed limit from 30 miles per hour to 20 miles per hour in built-up residential areas in England.

There has not been any consideration given to reducing the general speed limit from 30 miles per hour to 20 miles per hour in built-up residential areas in England.

It is for local authorities to decide where reduced speed limits will be effective on the roads they manage, and consultation and community support should be at the heart of the process.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
22nd Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the West Coast Main Line upgrade between Warrington and Carlisle on services between north Wales and London.

This investment in renewing and upgrading rail infrastructure is critical to meeting current and future needs of communities along the West Coast Main Line. The Department expects operators to minimise the impact of planned engineering works on passengers as far as possible.

It is expected that route blockades to facilitate these essential works will span a number of years, and it is possible there could be some disruption on parts of the route away from the works, including in north Wales. However, the specifics in terms of effect on passenger services are yet to be agreed between Network Rail and Train Operating Companies. Therefore, the Department is not yet able to assess the full impact on passengers during the work.

Network Rail and relevant Train Operating Companies will keep passengers informed closer to the dates when they are agreed.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
6th Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the economies of both Wales and the UK, of the recent closure of shipping facilities at the port of Holyhead; and what discussions have they had with the company that manages the port and the government of Wales about minimising the impact of the closure.

DfT is working closely with the Welsh Government, which is leading on this matter. Welsh officials have had regular contact with operators, including Stena, which operates the port of Holyhead. UK Government officials (including DfT, Border Force, DBT and HMRC) have supported them in the implementation of additional routes. DfT is also working very closely with the Irish Government and British Embassy Dublin, to support the response.

The Government recognises that this will have been a challenging time for the people and businesses of Ynys Mon. The Isle of Anglesey County Council business support portal will give the opportunity for businesses to express concerns to the Welsh Government. The Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales has also announced a new multi-stakeholder task force to help deliver a new strategy for the future of Holyhead Port.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
17th Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to maintain the frequency, reliability and journey times of passenger trains between Cardiff and London during the construction of HS2.

Old Oak Common is a crucial enabler for the Government’s growth mission. During construction there will be periods of full line closures and some periods – generally weekends – when the closure of some lines means fewer services will operate. During full closures, some services from Cardiff to London are expected to divert into London Euston, maintaining direct access into Central London. Government is working with industry to ensure disruption for passengers is kept to a minimum.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
11th Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken since 4 July to ensure that a reliable train service is maintained between London Euston and Holyhead.

The performance of Avanti West Coast (AWC) services between London and Holyhead has not been good enough, with too many cancellations and delays. Poor Network Rail infrastructure reliability has also contributed to the disruption felt by passengers.

The former Secretary of State met with AWC and Network Rail in July to challenge them on poor performance and demand immediate action to deliver urgent improvements.

As part of its recovery plan, AWC will introduce 25 new weekly services on its Chester and North Wales route from 15 December 2024. In addition, AWC expects to complete work to replace its diesel trains with a brand-new fleet of modern bi-mode Hitachi trains on the North Wales Mainline by May 2025, offering more space and a quieter journey for passengers.

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
25th Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what they estimate will be the cost to the public purse of clinical negligence by 2030; and what steps they intend to take to reduce this cost.

As part of the written evidence to the Health and Social Care Select Committee’s inquiry into National Health Service litigation reform in 2022, following work with the Government Actuary's Department and NHS Resolution (NHSR), the Department advised that projections for the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) indicated that by 2029/30, annual cash payments for clinical negligence under the CNST could increase to £4.3 billion. The CNST, the largest clinical negligence scheme, covers all clinical negligence claims against member NHS bodies where the incident in question took place on or after 1 April 1995. The estimate does not include other smaller clinical negligence schemes run by NHSR. A copy of the Department’s full written evidence to the inquiry is attached.

The National Audit Office has announced that it is undertaking a review of clinical negligence costs this year, including an up-to-date assessment of how total cash costs may change in the future, and will publish its report in autumn 2025. Full details of the review can be found on the National Audit Office’s website, in an online only format.

Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
19th Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to legislating to establish a financial cap on compensation payments made by the NHS to patients who make claims arising from treatment or advice received from the NHS.

The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.

The causes of the overall cost rise are complex and there is no single fix, as costs are likely to be rising because of a range of factors, including higher compensation payments and legal costs, rather than more claims or a decline in patient safety.

We recognise that this is an important issue, and ministers intend to look at all the drivers of cost, how to manage spending on clinical negligence, and the potential merits of reform options.

Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
19th Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had in the past nine months with representatives of the medical sector concerning the availability of radio isotopes for treating cancer patients.

The Department regularly engages with specialist clinicians, the British Nuclear Medicine Society, and the UK Radiopharmacy Group to assist in the management of supply issues with medical radioisotopes, including those used for treating cancer patients.

Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
6th Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Wales about safeguarding the funding of children's hospices that provide services to children on both sides of the England–Wales border.

There have not been any discussions between the Department and the Welsh Government about safeguarding the funding of children’s hospices.

The Department works collaboratively with the Devolved Governments to drive forward our objective of supporting people to lead more independent, healthier lives for longer. While health is predominantly devolved, the Department holds some reserved functions and working together across the United Kingdom on health and social care is ingrained in the values of our National Health Service and social care sector.

Children and young people’s hospices in England will receive £26 million in revenue funding for 2025/26, through what until recently was known as the Children’s Hospice Grant. We are also supporting both the children and adult hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We will set out the details of the funding allocation and dissemination for both funding streams in the coming weeks.

Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
2nd Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure the availability of medical radio-isotopes for the treatment of cancer patients in the UK.

The supply of radioisotopes has now returned to normal levels, and a Written Ministerial Statement was laid on 26 November to update Parliament. During the disruption to supply, the Department worked with industry, the devolved administrations, the National Health Service, members of the radiopharmaceutical community, and regulators to secure fair and equal access across the United Kingdom for patients, including for the treatment of cancer. Patients with the most critical needs were given priority.

Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
13th Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the statement made by the Security Intelligence Service Director-General of New Zealand on 7 March, what discussions they have had with the government of New Zealand about China signing strategic deals with Pacific nations linking economic and security cooperation.

The UK engages with the Government of New Zealand at both ministerial and official level across a wide range of regional and global issues.  This includes any developments relating to economic and security cooperation in the Pacific region.

Baroness Chapman of Darlington
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
3rd Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the announcements regarding the reduction in Official Development Assistance, which countries or humanitarian organisations will be exempted from cuts to aid.

The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security and Official Development Assistance (ODA). He has been clear that the government will continue to play a key humanitarian role, including in Ukraine, in Gaza and in Sudan. Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors including impact and value for money.

Baroness Chapman of Darlington
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
19th Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people are employed by the Crown Estate in Wales.

The Crown Estate has a dedicated Cardiff Hub serving as a base for its operations in Wales. On average three members of staff work from the Cardiff hub on a daily basis. However, this number is not representative of the total number of staff who are engaged in Wales matters or otherwise attend the Cardiff hub on a different basis. This is because staff, along with a network of managing agents and other agencies, work flexibly across Wales, Northern Ireland, and England.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
27th Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have received from farmers in Wales, or farming union representatives, concerning the projected impact of the removal of agricultural property relief for inheritance tax, on the viability of family farms in Wales.

The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.

It is expected that up to 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief will be affected by these reforms. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) are expected to be unaffected.

The Government takes into account all representations, and HM Treasury officials and Ministers meet with stakeholders on a regular basis. In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)