Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many drones for military use were produced in the UK in each of the last three calendar years.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence does not hold a central record of all drones produced within the UK for military use.
Nevertheless, as highlighted by the Strategic Defence Review, drones now play an essential role in warfare across the land, maritime and air domains, which is why the Defence Investment Plan prioritises uncrewed systems, investing more than £5 billion in a plethora of platforms over the next four years alone. This funding will accelerate the transformation of our Armed Forces, rebuilding warfighting readiness and ensuring our forces are equipped for modern warfare.
To give just a few examples, £230 million will be spent on autonomous systems for seabed warfare to protect critical national infrastructure; £400m will be spent to deliver a suite of inexpensive, expendable autonomous systems and weapons to rapidly enhance the lethality of the Army, Commando Force and Special Forces; and we will invest £50 million on a variety of novel payloads, such as swarms of small drones, able to be launched from a wide range of crewed and uncrewed aircraft.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many new pumped storage hydro electricity generation plants have been authorised in (1) England, (2) Scotland, and (3) Wales, since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
Planning consent is a matter for the relevant planning authority, which varies by country. The UK Government would only be responsible for consenting pumped storage hydro (PSH) projects in England above 50MW. In practice, these do not exist given more suitable topography in other parts of Britain.
On 26 June 2026, Ofgem published its "minded-to" decisions on projects to be supported under the Long Duration Electricity Storage (LDES) cap and floor investment support scheme. This includes three PSH projects, all located in Scotland: Loch Kemp, Coire Glas and Earba. The latter two projects already have planning consent. No PSH projects in England applied to the scheme, and none in Wales passed an earlier eligibility assessment. Ofgem is now consulting on these decisions before confirming final awards in autumn 2026.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions, if any, they have had with the Welsh Government since 7 May regarding (1) proposals to abolish Police and Crime Commissioners, and (2) any possibility of the Senedd Cymru taking over responsibility for some or all of Police and Commissioners' responsibilities in Wales.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Since 7 May, UK Government Ministers and officials have continued to engage with the Welsh Government on police reform and future governance arrangements in Wales, including discussions between the Minister for Policing and Crime and Welsh Government Ministers on 7 July, and through established forums such as the Policing Partnership Board for Wales. These discussions have focused on future governance arrangements and the interaction between policing reform and devolved services.
It remains the view of the UK Government that policing in Wales should operate within an integrated England and Wales framework, supporting consistency, interoperability and resilience across both nations. The UK Government’s priority is delivering safer communities and stronger cross-border cooperation within the existing constitutional framework.
We will continue to work closely with the new Welsh Government, Welsh Policing and others to ensure that a new model for police governance works for Wales.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch Collision between two passenger trains near Talerddig, Powys, published on 18 June, whether questions relating to dynamic passing were considered as a factor causing or worsening the consequences of the crash.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is the independent body responsible for investigating rail accidents and determining their causes. In its report on the collision between two passenger trains near Talerddig, Powys, RAIB did not identify dynamic passing, dynamic loops or their absence as a cause of the accident, nor as a factor that worsened its consequences.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government in how many of the prisons located in Wales are inmates provided with facilities to play or study the game of chess.
Answered by Lord Timpson
A range of recreational board games, including chess, is available to prisoners in five of the six prisons located in Wales. Chess facilities are currently available at HMP Cardiff, HMP Swansea, HMP Usk, HMP Prescoed and HMP Parc. HMP Berwyn does not currently have chess-related facilities. Access to chess study materials is also available through the prison library arrangements at HMP Usk and HMP Prescoed.
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, if any, they have had with the Welsh Government regarding future projections of the water requirements of English corporations who currently obtain some or all of their water from Wales.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies in England and Wales have a statutory duty to provide a secure supply of water for customers, efficiently and economically and set out how they plan to continue to supply water to their customers through statutory Water Resources Management Plans (WRMPs).
As agreed in the Intergovernmental Protocol on Water Resources, Water Supply and Water Quality and with respect to WRMPs where there are cross border matters, WRMPs will be scrutinised by regulators on both sides of the border and decisions on WRMPs are made in consultation with the relevant administration.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many refugees who (1) have been given the right to remain in the UK and (2) are currently awaiting a decision on their application to remain are currently domiciled in Wales.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government publishes UK-level data on people granted leave under resettlement schemes in the Home Office’s quarterly Immigration System Statistics, including those arriving via safe and legal routes; data on those resettled in Wales is published within these statistics with breakdowns by scheme and local authority.
Figures for those residing in Wales who have been given leave to remain or are awaiting a decision under the Asylum and Human Rights routes; or those who are awaiting a resettlement decision under safe and legal routes are not published and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what financial contribution has the UK made, or plans to make, to help the humanitarian appeals for assistance following the recent earthquakes in Venezuela.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
I refer the Noble Lord to the Written Ministerial Statement on the UK response to the Venezuela earthquakes, laid before the House on 6 July 2026 (HCWS185), which sets out the Government's financial contribution and wider support for the humanitarian response.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the employees of the Ministry of Defence, including service persons of the Army, Navy and Airforce respectively are based in Wales.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As at 1 April 2025, 2,800 Military (UK Regular Forces) and MOD Civilian Personnel were based in Wales.
Latest statistics on the stationed location of UK regular service and civilian personnel and international global locations as at 1 April 2026 will be published on 9 July 2026 on gov.uk at the following link:
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the latest estimate of population growth over the most recent five year period in (1) England, (2) Wales, (3) Scotland and (4) Northern Ireland.
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 information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office for National Statistics.
The Rt Hon. the Lord Wigley
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
6 July 2026
Dear Lord Wigley,
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what is the latest estimate of population growth over the most recent five year period in (1) England, (2) Wales, (3) Scotland and (4) Northern Ireland (HL1519).
The most recent available population estimates(1) for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for the five-year period between mid-2019 and mid-2024 can be found in table 1 below.
Population estimates are regularly revised to incorporate new data and methods and should not be taken to be accurate to the level of precision provided.
On 29 July 2026, we will be publishing population estimates for England and Wales for mid- 2025. On 14 July 2026 the National Records for Scotland will be publishing population estimates for Scotland for mid-2025. In September/October 2026, the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency will publish population estimates for Northern Ireland for mid-2025.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
Table 1: Population estimates for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland from Mid-2019 to Mid-2024
| Mid-2019 | Mid-2024 | Change | Change (%) |
England | 56,230,056 | 58,620,101 | 2,390,045 | 4.3% |
Wales | 3,087,732 | 3,186,581 | 98,849 | 3.2% |
Scotland | 5,411,200 | 5,546,900 | 135,700 | 2.5% |
Northern Ireland | 1,898,519 | 1,927,855 | 29,336 | 1.5% |
Source: Population estimates from the ONS, the National Records of Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency