Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish minutes of the meetings of the Occupational Health Taskforce chaired by Dame Carol Black.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Occupational Health Taskforce, chaired by Dame Carol Black, was established and last convened under the previous Government. The Taskforce brought together experts from across health, business, and academia to develop a voluntary framework for occupational health provision.

The Taskforce operated as an expert advisory group rather than a formal decision-making body and there are no plans to publish minutes of the Taskforce meetings that took place in 2024.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to update the Mental Capacity Act 2005 by bringing into force uncommenced sections of (1) the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019, and (2) the Powers of Attorney Act 2023, and on what timescale.

Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice has overall responsibility for the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. The Act provides a framework for making decisions on behalf of adults who are unable to do so for themselves.

The Department for Health and Social Care is responsible for the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019. This provides for a new system of safeguards (Liberty Protection Safeguards, or LPS) in care and treatment settings when a person lacks capacity and cannot consent to a deprivation of liberty.

The Government announced on 18 October the intention to consult on LPS. This consultation is planned to take place in 2026.

The Powers of Attorney Act 2023 introduced several provisions to enable modernisation of the Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) system, to increase safeguards in the process and improve access to LPAs. This is a complex project and it is important we take the time to get the new service design right. We will give more information in due course about readiness for testing the modernised service.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede on 10 April (HL6224), whether they have now started preparing a shadow body of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Commissioner.

Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Government has not started preparing a shadow body of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Commissioner. The Government remains neutral on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill which is still under consideration by Parliament.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the letter from the Chair of the Office for Environmental Protection to the Deputy Prime Minister on 2 May concerning the Planning and Infrastructure Bill which stated that “In our considered view, the bill would have the effect of reducing the level of environmental protection provided for by existing environmental law”, on what basis they made a statement under section 20(3) rather than subsection (4) of the Environment Act 2021.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill concerning development and nature recovery will not reduce overall levels of environmental protection.

Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs) can only be put in place where the Secretary of State is satisfied the delivery of conservation measures are likely to outweigh the negative effects of development.

EDPs and the conservation measures they propose must be evidence-based and properly scrutinised before being put in place. EDPs may include back-up measures that can be deployed if monitoring shows the environmental outcomes are not being achieved.

Natural England will be empowered and given the tools to deliver the conservation measures needed to secure the aims of the EDP.

The government is confident that this more strategic approach to the assessment of negative effects, and delivery of conservation measures, strikes the right balance and will result in better environmental outcomes that go further than simply offsetting harm as required under current legislation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of research projects funded through the Small Business Research Initiative regarding reform to occupational health services.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Projects funded through the Small Business Research Initiative have submitted self-reported outcomes to the Government for internal assessment. The reports suggest that the fund has helped to stimulate innovation in the occupational health market and encouraged the development of new models of occupational health tailored to the self-employed and small to medium enterprises with better use of technology.

Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether the Procedure and Privileges Committee has considered, or will consider, how members of the House of Lords can challenge the accuracy of statements made by Ministers on the face of the Bill under section 20(3) of the Environment Act 2021.

Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Following the passage of the Environment Act 2021 the Procedure and Privileges Committee added a factual paragraph to the 2022 edition of The Companion to the Standing Orders (now paragraph 8.28), which summarises the procedure laid down in section 20 of that Act. The Procedure and Privileges Committee has not sought to prescribe how noble Lords can challenge the accuracy of such statements, but all the normal procedures of the House, including asking written or oral questions, tabling questions for short debate and raising issues during proceedings on Government bills, are available to them.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) appointments, (2) tests, and (3) operations, were delivered by independent providers for NHS patients in 2024–25.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Independent sector providers have a role to play in supporting the National Health Service as trusted partners to recover elective services by using additional capacity to tackle the backlog whilst delivering value for money.

Independent sector providers delivered 5,098,290 outpatient appointments in 2024/25. This includes first and follow-up appointments.

They delivered 2,099,923 tests in 2024/25. This includes only the 15 key diagnostic tests that form the Diagnostics Waiting Times and Activity dataset and excludes activity subcontracted from NHS trusts where responsibility for the pathway remains with the NHS trust.

There were 986,480 inpatient admissions in independent sector providers in 2024/25. This includes ordinary electives and day case electives.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they conduct fingerprint checks on (1) prisoners, (2) convicts and (3) those on remand, upon being released from prison.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) does not require fingerprint checks to be conducted routinely at the point of release for prisoners, convicted individuals, or those held on remand. Where biometric data, such as fingerprints, is available, it will be checked as part of identity assurance during release procedures. The same discharge policy applies to remand prisoners who are released following a court appearance.

Dame Lynne Owens is conducting an independent review which will consider whether current discharge processes are robust and make recommendations in due course.

Found: Letter dated 21/11/2025 from Baroness Merron to Baroness Coffey regarding points made during the Terminally