Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the interests of children are assessed in the design and ongoing operation of the benefit cap; and what mechanisms exist to ensure that the welfare of children is considered when policy is being decided.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The benefit cap aims to incentivise work as, where possible, it is in the best interest of children to be in working households. Living in a working family has a positive impact on children’s educational attainment, mental health, and long-term aspirations. The Government is driving forward labour market interventions that will deliver a step-change in support and help parents to enter and progress in work.
The Government is committed to monitoring the impacts of the benefit cap and publishes quarterly statistics on the number of households capped. The most recent statistics were published in December 2025 for the quarter to August 2025.
The Government continues to review research from and engages with a range of organisations representing children and families, to ensure the social security system provides the support people need.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the relationship is between domestic food production, including increasing self-sufficiency and food security, and nature recovery schemes.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Restoring nature is not in competition with sustainable food production but is necessary to it. Protecting the environmental foundations of farming is essential to farm profitability, because all farms need healthy soils, abundant pollinators, and clean water to produce good food.
The Government has allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament. The department is targeting public money where it delivers most value, supporting nature. By investing in nature, Defra is helping secure the foundations of long-term food security.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to strengthen leak detection, odourisation and public health-related standards for gas used in domestic homes and other premises used for cooking fuelled by gas.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is already robust regulation in place to detect leaks and odourise gas. Gas Industry standards are set by the relevant industry standard setting bodies, for example, the Institute for Gas Engineers and Managers (IGEM), British Standards Institute (BSI) and Liquid Gas UK.
The Health and Safety Executive has regulatory responsibility for public health-related standards in commercial premises, but not in domestic homes.
Asked by: Lord Moylan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the availability of specialist rail plant used in the maintenance of the rail network.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Network Rail is responsible for assessing the availability of specialist rail plant used in maintaining the rail network. It is currently reviewing its long-term equipment requirements for track maintenance and renewals, to ensure that it has the capacity, flexibility, and technology it needs to meet future demand efficiently.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether UK imports of agricultural products from Mercosur countries will increase following the EU–Mercosur trade agreement.
Answered by Lord Stockwood - Minister of State (HM Treasury)
The EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement liberalises trade between the EU and Mercosur. As such, we do not expect that there would be a direct impact on UK imports of agricultural products from the bloc.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled ‘UK lenders step up with £11 billion push to back British businesses’ published on 26 January 2026, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs expected to be supported or created as a result of the lending package.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The package is a commitment from the UK’s top high-street banks to lend more to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) using UKEF’s guarantee, to boost UK exports and economic growth. It signals to SMEs that want to export that there is a dedicated pool of capital available for them from lenders whom they trust.
Each bank has agreed to make the funds available across the whole of the UK. While we have not made formal assessments of the impact of these commitments on exports, the UK economy or jobs, last year UK Export Finance provided £14.5 billion of support to UK exporters, in turn supporting up to 70,000 jobs and contributing £5.4 billion to the economy.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled, ‘UK lenders step up with £11 billion push to back British businesses,’ published on 26 January 2026, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the £11 billion lending package on UK exports.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The package is a commitment from the UK’s top high-street banks to lend more to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) using UKEF’s guarantee, to boost UK exports and economic growth. It signals to SMEs that want to export that there is a dedicated pool of capital available for them from lenders whom they trust.
Each bank has agreed to make the funds available across the whole of the UK. While we have not made formal assessments of the impact of these commitments on exports, the UK economy or jobs, last year UK Export Finance provided £14.5 billion of support to UK exporters, in turn supporting up to 70,000 jobs and contributing £5.4 billion to the economy.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled ‘UK lenders step up with £11 billion push to back British businesses’ published on 26 January 2026, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the lending package to economic growth.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The package is a commitment from the UK’s top high-street banks to lend more to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) using UKEF’s guarantee, to boost UK exports and economic growth. It signals to SMEs that want to export that there is a dedicated pool of capital available for them from lenders whom they trust.
Each bank has agreed to make the funds available across the whole of the UK. While we have not made formal assessments of the impact of these commitments on exports, the UK economy or jobs, last year UK Export Finance provided £14.5 billion of support to UK exporters, in turn supporting up to 70,000 jobs and contributing £5.4 billion to the economy.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance her Department has issued to airports and transport authorities on allergy safety in public spaces, specifically latex allergy.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Food Standards Agency works with businesses and consumers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to improve allergen management and information, including offering free training and running awareness campaigns. It has recently published new guidance to help people with allergies eat out safely. The guidance sets out how businesses can provide clear allergen information, encourage communication about allergens between staff and consumers, and ensure that a consumer with allergies receives the right meal.
We would also encourage passengers travelling with a severe allergy to carry their medication with them in case of emergency, and it is recommended that they notify staff throughout their journey of their allergy. Guidance on travelling with an allergy is available from organisations such as Anaphylaxis UK or from the NHS.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Sheffield (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 16 September 2025 (UIN HL10060), what plans they have to amend the International Education Strategy; and what the anticipated timeline for the publication of a revised strategy is.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government’s International Education Strategy (IES) was launched on 20 January 2026.
The strategy backs UK providers at all levels to expand overseas, strengthening global partnerships and giving millions more students access to a world-class UK education on their doorstep, all whilst boosting growth at home. It sets a clear ambition to grow the value of education exports to £40 billion a year by 2030.
We want to increase the UK’s international standing through education and make the UK the global partner of choice at every stage of learning. The IES is now co-owned between the Department for Education, the Department for Business and Trade and the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office.