Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many entries there were for A-level music in state-funded schools for the last year in which figures are available, broken down by local authority area.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department last published data on entries for A levels in music and in music technology for the 2024/25 academic year.
The A level entries in these subjects for state-funded students by local authority area and nationally are set out in the spreadsheet. These statistics are available publicly via the ‘Explore education statistics’ service on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any representations they have received which have called for legislation that requires drivers to stop, check and report any road collisions involving cats if they are injured on the road.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Although there is no obligation to report all animal deaths on roads, drivers should, if possible, make enquiries to ascertain the owner of domestic animals, such as cats, and advise them of the situation.
There are, however, no plans to introduce a legal duty for drivers to report collisions with cats. Cats are much smaller than other specified animals, and often most active at dawn or dusk. In many cases drivers, especially those of larger vehicles, may not be aware they have hit them. As such, it would be difficult to prosecute drivers if the law was changed.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to take any steps in light of the Committee for Privileges in the House of Commons, Matter referred on 4 September 2025: Actions of the Charity Commission; and in particular what steps they are taking to review appointments to, budgets of and use of powers by the Charity Commission.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Charity Commission has apologised unreservedly to Parliament in response to the House of Commons Committee for Privileges report, and has accepted the report in full. The Commission is considering wider lessons to be learnt from the Committee's report, and it has also commissioned a judge-led independent review into its handling of the two cases.
This work is supported by additional resources for the Commission allocated in the recent Spending Review. Recognising the growing range of threats facing charities and the corresponding demands upon the Commission, the Government is also working with the Commission to expand its regulatory powers, and has full confidence in the current leadership of the Commission to deliver this. Charity Commission board appointments are made by the Secretary of the State in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the safety and privacy risks of online age-assurance safety checks which require biometric or identity data to be submitted to online platforms via third-party providers for LGBT+ users.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Age assurance under the Online Safety Act should work effectively for all users regardless of their age or other characteristics.
Government, Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office have all been clear that age assurance methods should be safe, proportionate and secure, with services obliged to minimise the use of personal data, only collecting and retaining it where necessary and proportionate for age assurance purposes. Organisations failing to comply with these requirements may be subject to regulatory enforcement action.
Ofcom’s recently published report on age assurance found that services have demonstrated a strong awareness of privacy and data protection requirements.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the cost of the review by Sir Gary Hickinbottom into the Charity Commission’s handling of the Lara Hall and Damian Murray case.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Sir Gary Hickinbottom has recently commenced work on his independent review of the Charity Commission’s handling of the two cases. As the review is at an early stage it is not yet possible to accurately state the total costs of the work. The review is expected to conclude this Autumn.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the 8.2 per cent fall in the number of boarding pupils at independent schools recorded in the 2026 Independent Schools Council’s annual census, published on 24 June; and whether they plan to review the policy of applying VAT to boarding fees as a result of this figure.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The decline in pupil numbers is not out of line with expectations given the removal of the VAT exemption, population decline and historical trends in private schools. There are no plans to make any related policy changes.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of figures in Schools, pupils and their characteristics Academic Year 2025/26, published on 4 June, showing that the decline in pupil numbers at independent schools is three times the level of the overall fall in the pupil population in England; and whether they are considering any policy changes as a result.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The data is in line with expectations given the removal the VAT exemption for private schools and decline in the number of school-age children. HMT have published the attached tax policy impact statement.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the evidence from the Get Information About Schools dataset about the closures of independent schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
’Get Information About Schools’ is an information base which holds detail of independent schools’ registration and closures as reported. The share of pupils in independent schools has stayed broadly consistent at 6.3%, and more private schools opened than closed in 2025.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Nigeria about their laws criminalising homosexuality in light of the growing number of attacks on LGBT+ people.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
The UK Government is concerned by reports of discrimination against LGBT+ people in Nigeria and laws that criminalise homosexuality. The UK stands for the human rights of all people. No one should face violence, persecution, or exclusion because of who they are, who they love, or how they express themselves. We regularly raise human rights issues with the Government of Nigeria, including through our High Commission in Abuja and in multilateral fora. The UK-Nigeria Strategic Partnership underlines mutual commitments to human rights, and we remain committed to ongoing dialogue with Nigeria on these issues.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, what action they are taking to support the Charity Commission in improving the way it handles cases of whistleblowers following the Commission's application to pursue a judicial review of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman being refused.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Charity Commission for England and Wales spent £70,000 on external legal advice and representation in relation to this matter from 2024. In taking the legal action, the Commission was seeking legal clarity on questions of jurisdiction between it and the PHSO which the Commission felt was important to clarify for both the sector it regulates and complainants.
The Commission does not collate information on staff time spent on this matter, so it is not possible to provide an estimate of the total costs to public funds.
The Commission has established procedures for dealing sensitively with disclosures from whistleblowers. In light of the PHSO's reports on the two cases in question, the Commission has already taken steps to further improve how it records its risk assessments and how it communicates with those raising concerns about a charity.
This work is ongoing, supported by additional resources for the Commission allocated in the recent Spending Review. Recognising the growing range of threats facing charities and the corresponding demands upon the Commission, the Government is also working with the Commission to expand its regulatory powers.
A former member of the Court of Appeal, Sir Gary Hickinbottom, has been appointed to lead an independent review of the two cases and specifically to examine the Commission's regulatory decision making in these matters.