Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what consultations they undertook in advance of the establishment of the Prize Competition Council on 1 July; whether they included the Advertising Standards Authority, the Committee of Advertising Practice and the Institute of Promotional Marketing in any such consultations; and what was the result of those consultations.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Prize Competition Council (PCC) was established independently of the Government.
Whilst DCMS did not have a role in establishing the PCC, DCMS engaged extensively with a wide range of stakeholders, including regulatory bodies, to develop the Voluntary Code of Good Practice for Prize Draw Operators.
Published in November 2025, this Code sets a clear and uniform approach across the sector to strengthen player protections, increase transparency and improve accountability.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the tax information and impact note, Private School Fees â VAT Measure, published on 15 November 2024, given that pupil losses in the independent school sector have already exceeded the level forecast for the 2029/30 school year.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Introducing VAT on private schools will raise ÂŁ1.7 billion per year by 2029/30. Since the VAT measure on private school fees has come into effect, the Office for Budget Responsibility has continued to re-cost the revenue raised each year. At Autumn Budget 2025 the re-costing of the measure showed it will raise around ÂŁ40 million per year more than originally forecast, reaffirming the detailed analysis conducted when this policy was introduced.
The overall fall in private school pupil numbers since the policy came into effect is in line with expectations and reflects demographic change across the whole school system, not the VAT policy alone. We have seen pupil numbers fall across primary, secondary, and independent schools alike. This is primarily driven by falling birth rates, following a peak in 2012, as cohorts move through secondary school age and smaller year groups enter primary.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Merron on 6 July (HL Deb col 1), which two newly reconfigured Integrated Care Board (ICB) areas do not currently have a Fracture Liaison Service (FLS); whether the statement that 23 of the 25 newly reconfigured ICB areas have at least one FLS now represents the Governmentâs measure of progress towards national rollout by 2030; if so, when that measure was adopted; if not, by what metric the Government measures progress towards delivering FLS "across every part of the country"; and whether the Government would regard their commitment to universal coverage as fulfilled if every newly reconfigured ICB area had at least one FLS.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided on 1 September in response to Question HL2030, which, for ease of reference, is reproduced below.
Our 10-Year Health Plan is clear that the future National Health Service must be more preventative, more integrated, and deliver more care closer to home, including for people with osteoporosis.
The Plan committed to rolling out Fracture Liaison Services across every part of the country by 2030, and we are clear that everyone at risk of fragility fractures should be able to benefit from high-quality, timely care that supports prevention, early intervention, and effective management. We are pursuing those goals across the whole pathway of fracture prevention, including improving access to diagnosis, supporting the adoption of effective treatments, and encouraging local systems to develop services that identify people at the highest risk of future fractures and intervene early.
Earlier this year, the Government announced ÂŁ2.6 million of funding for 20 new DEXA bone density scanners across England. Tens of thousands of patients will benefit from faster access to bone scans as a result, helping to ensure that people with bone conditions, such as osteoporosis, get diagnosed earlier. This builds on the first wave of 13 DEXA scanners announced last year. In 2025, over 21,000 extra DEXA scans were delivered in England compared with 2024.
We continue to work closely with NHS England to improve access to fracture prevention services and to explore the best ways of supporting local systems to deliver high-quality care which meets the needs of their populations. The Government has been clear that integrated care boards are best placed to shape services for their localities and we have set expectations, through the Renewed Womenâs Health Strategy, that they should prioritise community-based models when commissioning new services.
Progress in this area can be monitored through activity and outcomes reported through the Fracture Liaison Service Database.
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 âExplore education statisticsâ 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 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 Councilâs 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 ask His Majesty's Government what was the cost of the review by Sir Gary Hickinbottom into the Charity Commissionâs 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 Commissionâs 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 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 Commissionerâs 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.
Ofcomâs 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 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.