Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government which Minister within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is responsible for ocean policy and legislation.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

The Minister for the Indo-Pacific and Minister for Equalities has overall responsibility for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) Legal Directorate, which includes Ocean Policy Unit, but some ocean policy issues have previously been covered by other Ministers. Ministerial leads on legislation are allocated on a case-by-case basis. The Minister for the Indo-Pacific and Minister for Equalities is responsible for the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Bill.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many officials (1) in total, and (2) in number of full-time equivalent staff, have been involved in supporting the promoters of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in the Department of Health and Social Care since November 2020.

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

The number of full-time equivalent staff working on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has fluctuated since January 2025; there was not a team working on this bill prior to this, and any work on assisted dying was delivered through existing policy teams. The primary function of the team now in place is to fulfil the Government’s duty to the statute book, with regards to the legal and technical coherence of the bill. This includes providing technical drafting support and advising on workability of the legislation, as well as supporting Ministers to fulfil their duties to Parliament, such as responding to questions and correspondence and Parliamentary debates and committee hearing. Matters of policy have remained solely for the Sponsoring Members, Kim Leadbeater MP in the House of Commons and Lord Falconer in the House of Lords, to determine.

As of 1 September 2025, there were 11.8 full-time equivalent (FTE) officials in the Department of Health and Social Care Bill Team, at its largest the Bill Team was 16.8 FTEs. Where required, contributions on specific issues may have been sought from other teams, however the FTE cannot be accurately quantified for these issues.

Found: present: Baroness Morris of Yardley (The Chair); Lord Blencathra; Lord Bradley; Baroness Cass; Baroness Coffey