Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with representatives of veterinary prescribers regarding the need to reduce antibiotic resistance in animals and the environment.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) regularly speaks to veterinary prescribers through antibiotic stewardship groups. These bring together government, veterinary profession and livestock sector representatives to support responsible use and reduce antimicrobial resistance (AMR). These include:
· The Cattle Antibiotic Guardian Group
· Pig Health and Welfare Council Antimicrobial Usage (AMU) Subgroup
· British Poultry Council Stewardship Group
· Responsible Use of Medicines Alliance (RUMA) Companion Animal and Equine Group
· RUMA Targets Taskforce meetings
· Ruminant Antibiotic Stewardship Roadmap Steering Group
· Medicine Hub Industry Liaison Group
· The electronic Medicine Book (eMB) Pigs Steering Group
These discussions aim to:
· Share research, AMU, AMR, and disease surveillance data
· Promote responsible antibiotic prescribing, storage and disposal
· Encourage creation and uptake of training and guidance, including for vets and animal keepers
· Improve health and disease prevention through herd/flock health planning
· Advise on metrics for monitoring AMU
· Improve accuracy, availability, and coverage of AMU data in livestock, companion animals, and horses
· Encourage antibiotic use data for auditing and benchmarking
· Discuss environmental transmission pathways with veterinary prescribers, and the impact of these on their prescribing
By focusing on stewardship and responsible use of antibiotics in animals, the risk of AMR in animals, and potential subsequent onwards transmission through the environment is reduced.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the increase in the cost of input prices for manufacturing industries in the UK, arising from the Iran conflict.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Government is managing the economic consequences of the conflict across the whole of the UK. The UK’s economic fundamentals remain strong. The supply of inputs and commodities remains stable and generally well diversified.
Impacts on input cost increases are uncertain. They are likely to vary across industry sectors and businesses depending on which inputs are used, their importance in the cost base, and contracting arrangements – whether prices have been fixed or hedged in advance.
Government is working closely with business groups and industry leaders to understand the pressures facing industry and will be agile in responding as the situation develops.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the £2.5 billion fund to support the steel industry has been allocated to be spent in Wales.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The steel strategy reaffirms the government’s intention to spend up to £2.5 billion on the steel sector. This is in addition to the £500 million for Port Talbot.
Building on the direct financial support the government has provided to the sector so far, the National Wealth Fund will be the UK government’s main mechanism for providing financing for investment in the steel sector. Investment decisions are made by the National Wealth Fund on a case-by-case basis and it supports promising projects across the United Kingdom
Specifically for Wales, the Secretary of State for Wales will convene the National Wealth Fund and the private sector in a new initiative to help attract investment to Welsh steel projects, to support communities across Wales that rely on the industry.
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 total number of full time permanent employees of the NHS in England; and how many of those employees are (1) UK nationals, and (2) overseas nationals with permission to work in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold information on the number of overseas nationals with permission to work in the United Kingdom who are employed in the National Health Service in England. The following table shows, for January 2026, the self-reported nationality of staff employed by NHS hospital trusts and integrated care boards in England:
All nationality groups (headcount) | United Kingdom nationality | Non-UK nationalities | Unknown nationality |
1,545,602 | 1,197,793 | 330,982 | 17,119 |
Source: NHS Workforce Statistics, NHS England
Note: total staff number is not equal to the sum of components due to some staff working in more than one role.
Self-reported nationality may sometimes reflect an NHS employee’s heritage rather than their current citizenship.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to speed up the reduction of the proportion of the UK's energy needs met by oil and gas.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Through our Clean Power 2030 mission, we are reducing dependency on volatile global fossil fuel markets and delivering a diverse, secure and clean energy system based on renewables and nuclear, backed by a reserve of gas supply to be used only when essential.
Our work to date - reforming the connections queue, taking a clear decision on REMA and publishing roadmaps for key technologies like Solar and Clean Flexibility - has given a clear signal to industry. And we have now delivered the most successful renewables auction in history, with AR7 securing a record-breaking 8.4 gigawatts of offshore wind, which will power the equivalent of around 12m homes.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government on what date the role of the police commissioners in Wales will cease; whether the responsibility of the work of those commissioners will be transferred to the Senedd; if so, on what date; and if not, what plans they have for a replacement system, and when they will make a final decision on this matter.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government announced on 13 November 2025 that it plans to abolish the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) model across England and Wales at the end of their current term of office in May 2028.
Policing is a reserved matter. We are working closely with the Welsh Government, as well as other Welsh Stakeholders including Welsh local government, police forces and other partners, to ensure new governance arrangements provide strong and effective police governance in Wales. We will bring forward legislation to set out the new policing governance system for England and Wales when Parliamentary time allows.
We will continue to engage with Welsh Government and other Welsh stakeholders on matters relating to policing to ensure that Welsh priorities are fully considered within the existing devolution settlement.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what further steps they plan to take to safeguard a reliable supply of radioisotopes for use in the NHS.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The resilience of United Kingdom supply chains is a key priority, and the Department and NHS England are committed to helping to build long term supply chain resilience for medicines. We recognise the importance of ensuring a resilient and reliable supply of medical isotopes and how important that is for patients and for the National Health Service. We regularly engage with industry partners to support continued supply of medical radioisotopes to the NHS, including responding to supply disruptions. The Department is working with the NHS and other parts of the Government to better understand future needs for medical radioisotopes.
In respect to isotope production and associated research in the UK, the Government has made up to £520 million available through the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund to support UK manufacture of medicine and medical technology products. This includes applications looking to establish, expand, or improve UK-based manufacture of medical radioisotopes for diagnostic or therapeutic applications. In addition, last year, the Government also announced a £54 million funding package for eight innovative research and development projects, including £9.9 million earmarked for Project Alpha to explore how to make medical treatments from legacy nuclear material, something that could unlock the UK’s potential to develop promising new cancer therapies.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many overseas students have started undergraduate degrees at UK universities in each of the past 10 years.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education sector. This data is shared with the department and includes a wide range of information on students in UK higher education providers (HEPs), including their country of domicile.
Between 2015/16 and 2024/25, international entrants to undergraduate courses at UK HEPs have increased from 103,000 to 123,000. Year on year details are in the table below.
Academic Year | International Entrants to Undergraduate courses at UK HEPs |
2015/16 | 103,295 |
2016/17 | 104,970 |
2017/18 | 107,850 |
2018/19 | 114,470 |
2019/20 | 127,240 |
2020/21 | 124,115 |
2021/22 | 110,145 |
2022/23 | 121,915 |
2023/24 | 121,630 |
2024/25 | 123,325 |
Counts of entrants to UK HEPs by domicile are published in Table 1 of HESA’s Student Data.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many UK citizens currently located in Iran and neighbouring countries affected by recent military hostilities have asked the UK government for assistance in returning to the UK; how many have been promised such assistance; and how many have returned to the UK to date.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Lord to the statement Lord Collins made to the House on 19 March (Official Report, vol. 854, cols. 1121-1124), where he provided the latest details on our consular support to British nationals in the region.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what funding they have provided in the current financial year to support chess in schools in England.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In line with my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s announcement last year, we intend to invest up to £250,000 per year for 3 years (a total of £750,000) from the 2026/27 financial year to partner with an organisation to deliver a national chess in schools programme. This programme will aim to increase pupils’ participation in chess in schools across all nine regions of England.
It will prioritise mainstream primary and secondary schools with higher proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals, as well as special schools and alternative provision settings, and will include work to improve access for girls and pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.