Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask The Leader of the House what steps she is taking to ensure the Department of Health and Social Care answer Questions for Written Answer within 10 working days.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
It is regrettable that the Department for Health and Social Care has missed the 10 day response target for Questions for Written Answer in recent times. The department is seeing a significant increase in the volume of questions which has impacted on their system, I have been given reassurances that they are focusing on this area as a priority.
I regularly raise the importance of meeting the 10 day target to all Lords Ministers at our weekly Front Bench meetings.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government further to the reply by Baroness Lloyd of Effra on 23 March (HL Deb col 1353), which organisations they consulted on the UK Steel Strategy, and what feedback they provided.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
We have engaged a broad range of stakeholders in development of the steel strategy, including through the Steel Council, policy specific roundtables and bilateral meetings.
These have included representatives from steel producers, wider companies in the supply chain (such as fabricators, manufacturers and scrap processors), academia, civil society, devolved and local governments and trade unions.
We also conducted a full consultation on the steel strategy and a call for evidence on the new trade measure it contains. The wide range of feedback received has been accounted for and referenced within the steel strategy itself.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Lloyd of Effra on 23 March (HL Deb col 1351), what economic analysis was carried out on the impact of steel tariffs on (1) the construction sector and (2) domestic manufacturing industry, before the UK Steel Strategy was published.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has carefully designed the new steel trade measure to secure the future of domestic capability while maintaining secure and resilient supply. This measure seeks to address the existential threat to UK steelmaking from overcapacity, while taking into account downstream impacts, including in the construction sector. Insights from across the steel supply chain via our Call for Evidence informed both the scope and design of the measure.
We continue to engage with industry and other stakeholders as we move into the delivery phase of the Steel Strategy, including implementation of the new trade measure ahead of 1 July.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the average time to resolve a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office in respect of Freedom of Information requests, in each of the past 5 years.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Information Commissioner’s Office have seen the average days to resolve or close an FOI complaint reduce over the past five years from 134 days in 2021/22 to 76 days in 2025/26 despite cases increasing from 5932 to 8337 over the same period. The ICO are now publishing this information on a monthly basis on their website.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 16 March (HL Deb col 732), what steps, if any, they plan to take to ensure that university leaders who fail to take action to combat antisemitism are held accountable.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The E6 condition of registration, introduced by the Office for Students (OfS) on 1 August last year, requires registered higher education providers to have strong policies to prevent and address harassment, including antisemitic abuse. The government expects universities to comply fully with E6 and the OfS has powers to act where institutions breach this condition of registration.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Collins of Highbury on 26 February (HL Deb col 736), when they expect to conclude the consultation with Scottish and Welsh Ministers about the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Minister is following the process in the Equality Act 2006 and is consulting the Devolved Governments at the relevant stages, as required under section 14(9). Consultation with Welsh and Scottish Ministers is required if, or in so far as, the Code relates to a duty imposed by or under the Public Sector Equality Duty. As part of the consultation, the draft Code has been shared with the Devolved Administrations. It is important that the correct process for laying the Code is followed. We will not be giving a running commentary whilst this takes place.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to answer Written Question HL14227, tabled on 3 February and due for answer on 17 February; and for what reason they have not yet answered the question.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
I refer the Noble Lord to my answer on 5 March 2026 (PQ HL14227):
Question: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Collins of Highbury on 2 February (HL Deb col 1299), what is the evidential basis that all public services they deliver are in full compliance with the law, as set out in the ruling of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16.
Answer:
As clarified by Lord Collins during the debate on 2 February, the Government is absolutely committed to fully implementing the For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] Supreme Court ruling.
Where necessary, government departments are carefully reviewing the ruling’s potential implications in full to ensure that their policies and guidance are legally compliant. It is important that departments take the time to get this right and seek specialist legal advice where necessary.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission - as the independent regulator - has submitted a draft Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations to Ministers, and we are working as quickly as we can to review it with the care it deserves. This will provide further guidance to duty bearers on how they should comply with the Equality Act 2010 following the ruling.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Collins of Highbury on 2 February (HL Deb col 1299), what is the evidential basis that all public services they deliver are in full compliance with the law, as set out in the ruling of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
As clarified by Lord Collins during the debate on 2 February, the Government is absolutely committed to fully implementing the For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] Supreme Court ruling.
Where necessary, government departments are carefully reviewing the ruling’s potential implications in full to ensure that their policies and guidance are legally compliant. It is important that departments take the time to get this right and seek specialist legal advice where necessary.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission - as the independent regulator - has submitted a draft Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations to Ministers, and we are working as quickly as we can to review it with the care it deserves. This will provide further guidance to duty bearers on how they should comply with the Equality Act 2010 following the ruling.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask The Senior Deputy Speaker for what reason access by Parliamentary pass holders to College Green was restricted for a period between 1100-1200 on Monday 19 January, and which Parliamentary official or office holder authorised this restriction.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The safety and security of all those who work on and visit the Parliamentary Estate is a top priority, with access controls in place to maintain this safety. Black Rod’s Office in the House of Lords work with The Serjeant at Arms’ Office and the Parliamentary Security Department to ensure that access, including the passage at College Green, is maintained wherever possible to allow for Parliamentary pass holders to have the access they need within the Estate and between parts of the Estate so that they can carry out their duties.
Access to College Green is managed by the House of Commons through the office of the Serjeant at Arms, in consultation with the Parliamentary Security Department. On the date in question, access was briefly impeded by a personal security operative working for an MP. The Office of the Serjeant at Arms has since reminded the MP of the established protocols to ensure that access is not impeded, restricted, or interrupted by security operatives or broadcast teams.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government to what extent Exercise Pegasus 2025 included members of both Houses of Parliament for oversight and scrutiny.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Exercise PEGASUS, the largest simulation of a pandemic in United Kingdom history, aimed to test our ability to respond to a pandemic, involving all regions and nations of the UK and thousands of participants, including Government ministers.
The live-simulation elements of the exercise took place on three non-sequential days with the exercise testing actions and decision making at specific points in time during a pandemic.
We have continued to engage both Houses of Parliament on the progress of the exercise, including by two Written Ministerial Statements. This engagement will continue as we progress phase four of the exercise, and the final post-exercise report and findings.