Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have received from the government of Wales about devolving responsibility for the Crown Estate's activities in Wales to Senedd Cymru.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK Government has regular discussions with the Welsh Government at official and ministerial level on a range of issues. This has included a request from the Welsh Government that the UK Government considers devolution of the management of The Crown Estate in Wales.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to designate the Trawsfynydd nuclear power station site as a nuclear research site for developing and producing radioisotopes for medical purposes.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) through Nuclear Restoration Services, are decommissioning the legacy facility and own the land at Trawsfynydd. The NDA engages parties to explore maximising national and local value with the land that it owns.
The responsibility for the supply of medical radioisotopes sites with the Department of Health and Social Care. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero provides support to other government department’s exploring nuclear medicine projects.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to ensure that all new contracts for wind farms at sea include clauses to ensure that the developer and operator must specify before a contractual agreement how the development will benefit the adjacent coastal communities.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that communities hosting clean energy infrastructure should benefit from doing so. While community benefits for offshore wind are currently delivered voluntarily, Government is exploring the introduction of a mandatory community benefit scheme across low‑carbon technologies. The offshore wind industry has well-established community benefit schemes providing funds for coastal communities.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money they have allocated for use by Senedd Cymru in 2026–27.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Spending Review 2025 confirmed that the Welsh Government is receiving an average of £22.4 billion per year between 2026-27 and 2028-29. This is the Welsh Government’s largest spending review settlement in real terms since devolution in 1998.
As a result of decisions at the Budget in November 2025, the Welsh Government will receive an additional £505m in Total Departmental Expenditure Limit (TDEL) through the operation of the Barnett formula over the Spending Review period, on top of the record settlement provided at Spending Review 2025.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many nests of Asian hornets have been discovered and destroyed in England in the past 10 years; and what discussions they have had with (1) the National Bee Unit, and (2) the NHS, about new initiatives to combat the threats posed by Asian hornets.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 2016 the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Bee Unit (NBU) have been taking action against incursions of Yellow-Legged Hornets (YLHs) also known as Asian hornet. During this time a total of 270 YLH nests were found and destroyed. Defra remains committed to taking action against YLH and the NBU stand ready to respond to reports of YLH in 2026. Defra have not engaged with the NHS about how to combat the threats posed by YLHs.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the percentage uptake of flu vaccines in children in each region of England; and what is their target uptake for children this winter.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
For England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publishes provisional vaccine uptake data throughout the flu season.
Monthly regional level data for general practice patients, including two- and three-year-olds and school-aged children, is available throughout the season. The following table shows the provisional vaccine uptake for two- and three-year-olds in England, by region, for the 2025 to 2026 season:
National Health Service region | Two year olds | Three year olds |
East of England | 36.8% | 37.0% |
London | 27.9% | 27.0% |
Midlands | 31.8% | 32.0% |
North East and Yorkshire | 33.6% | 33.7% |
North West | 28.2% | 29.0% |
South East | 41.2% | 41.6% |
South West | 41.1% | 40.7% |
England | 33.8% | 33.9% |
In addition, the following table shows the provisional vaccine uptake for school-aged children in England, by region:
NHS region | All primary school-aged in reception to Year 6 | All secondary school-aged in Year 7 to 11 | All school-aged children (reception to year 11) |
East of England | 43.7% | 47.9% | 45.4% |
London | 25.9% | 16.9% | 22.1% |
Midlands | 27.7% | 23.8% | 26.0% |
North East and Yorkshire | 33.4% | 19.9% | 27.6% |
North West | 29.2% | 12.6% | 22.1% |
South East | 35.1% | 15.4% | 26.3% |
South West | 37.6% | 9.3% | 25.0% |
England | 32.7% | 20.8% | 27.6% |
Providers are expected to deliver a 100% offer to eligible groups. They should ensure they make firm plans to equal or improve uptake rates in 2025 to 2026, particularly in those cohorts where uptake has been lower.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total value of Russian Central Bank assets held in the UK.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Assets belonging to the Central Bank of Russia have been immobilised in the UK and across the G7 through sanctions.
It is important any decision to release detail about the assets is taken on a collective G7 basis.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government which of the "lower business rates multipliers" for retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a rateable value of less than £500,000 will be applied in (1) Wales, (2) Scotland, and (3) Northern Ireland; and what discussions they have held with devolved administrations on this matter.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Business rates is a devolved policy area. Therefore, the new retail hospitality and leisure multipliers will apply in England only.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the average percentage increase in business rates payable by hospitality properties from April 2026 onwards, set out in Budget 2025, published on 28 November.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. Some properties, including in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, have seen their rateable values increased. This is in part because the last revaluation updated rateable values to align with market values on 1 April 2021 – during the CVOID pandemic. This meant rateable values were lower due to the atypical economic situation the pandemic created. This latest revaluation reflects a post Covid world, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties.
To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. Government support also means that most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, while ensuring that warehouses used by online giants will pay more. The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid.
Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the merits of providing weight loss drugs through the National Health Service; to what extent are is this already undertaken; and, if so, in which localities.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines should be routinely funded based on an assessment of their costs and benefits.
NICE has recommended liraglutide, under various brand names, semaglutide, under the brand name Wegovy, and tirzepatide, under the brand name Mounjaro, as treatments for obesity in adults with a high body mass index and with weight related co-morbidities. All medicines are recommended for use in specialist weight management services, with only tirzepatide also recommended for use outside of this setting.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are legally required to fund and make available medicines recommended by NICE, including obesity medicines, usually within three months of the publication of the final technology appraisal. NICE granted a phased rollout for the use of tirzepatide in primary care to manage NHS resources and allow time to establish new obesity care pathways.
These medicines should therefore be available on the NHS in specialist weight management services, where these services are available, and tirzepatide should have started to become available in primary care from 23 June 2025. We do not hold information on whether each ICB provides access to specific medicines in its locality. ICBs are responsible for ensuring they meet their legal duties, including making funding for NICE-recommended medicines available.