Lords
Proceedings
13 July 2026
Civil Service Pensions
My Lords, this fiasco has made clear that Capita cannot deliver what its chief executive promises. Can the Minister tell the House how many contracts with government Capita still has, whether there is any overall evaluation of how those contracts are performing, and how confident the Government feel…
Lords
Debate
9 July 2026
Defence Readiness Bill
My Lords, I commend the noble Lord, Lord Harris of Haringey, on securing this important and timely debate and introducing it in such a persuasive way. I confess to being somewhat daunted to be following the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Jones, whose experience is so relevant to this debate and whose …
Lords
Proceedings
8 July 2026
Police Leadership Commission Report
My Lords, I welcome the report and the sensible recommendations in it. It highlights the current importance of cliques and networks in promotions in the police. There are comments such as:
“If you don’t have a network, you’re not going to get a promotion.”
The Met has decided that membership of or…
Lords
Proceedings
29 June 2026
Nottingham Maternity and Neonatal Services
The Ockenden report does a great job in looking at the problems in one specific trust. However, the problems go much deeper, as the Minister has said. It is cultural, and one of the cultural problems appears to be that there is a complete split between a contingent of midwives and the rest of the me…
Lords
Proceedings
18 June 2026
Child Poverty
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the clearly heartfelt remarks of the noble Baroness, Lady Nargund.
Child poverty is a scourge on society, and that it should be at such a high level in this country is truly appalling. The Government’s latest strategy to alleviate it is a positive move and shows…
Lords
Proceedings
17 June 2026
Thames Water
My Lords, given that Thames Water was saddled with unsustainable debts and a very poor level of investment, does the Minister accept that, however justified, continuing to levy massive fines on a company for underperformance will simply and inevitably worsen its financial situation, and therefore th…
Lords
Proceedings
11 June 2026
Misinformation: Social Market Foundation Report
My Lords, the Social Market Foundation report shows that misinformation flourishes particularly where conventional news has withdrawn from the market. Could the Minister consider ways in which schools might be encouraged to get their older students involved in producing local newspapers? For instanc…
Lords
Proceedings
21 May 2026
2 contributions
Higher Earners: Emigration
My Lords—
My Lords, does the Minister agree that the tax avoidance industry in this country appears to continue to thrive? If so, how does he explain that?
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
King’s Speech
My Lords, as we enjoy day 4 of the debate on the King’s Speech, I will concentrate my remarks on health, although inevitably that is inextricably linked with housing. I am happy to endorse the remarks of the noble Baroness, Lady Donaghy, because what she says about osteoporosis is absolutely right; …
Lords
Oral Questions
23 February 2026
V-levels
Nearly 85,000 students have started a T-level since the launch in 2020, and we saw considerable growth last year in the numbers of students taking them up. We are seeing improvements in the pass rate and in retention rates. There is a challenge to ensure that high-quality industrial placements are m…
Lords
Proceedings
12 February 2026
Better Prisons: Less Crime (Justice and Home Affairs Committee Report)
I congratulate the noble Lords on their maiden speeches. They were truly excellent contributions, and I look forward to the one that is yet to come in this debate. I am delighted that they have all chosen to speak and make the ground of their maiden speeches the topic of prisons, which is a topic ve…
Lords
Proceedings
11 February 2026
2 contributions
Ministry of Defence: Palantir Contracts
My Lords, on 5 January, I asked the Government if they could give us details of contracts with Palantir and Anduril. The noble Baroness, Lady Anderson, said that, as an honorary captain in the defence of the country through the Royal Navy, it was of prime importance to her and she would write to me.…
With Anduril.
Lords
Oral Questions
5 February 2026
Civil Service Pensions: Capita
With regard to Fujitsu, I think the noble Baroness will be aware that there are ongoing issues that relate to the Horizon scandal. With regard to Capita, there are two companies at play here: the company and whether it fulfilled its responsibilities for the previous provider and what Capita actually…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 February 2026
Land Covenants: Supermarket Chains
It is important to state that the reason for some of these restrictive covenants in business is that they are commercially negotiated and should be mutually agreed in the bounds of setting up a contract. This is quite a normal course of action, so I want to make sure that I am not stood here in any …
Lords
Proceedings
2 February 2026
Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO Report
My Lords, the Minister has made the case for why the Government did not provide any compensation. Quite clearly, the retirement age had to be aligned fairly quickly. In the interests of fairness, we would all support that. But will she accept that, in the wake of what the ombudsman said, the group o…
Lords
Oral Questions
27 January 2026
Best Start Family Hubs
I think the noble Baroness references the value of the voluntary, community and faith sector. I reassure her that we are investing £2.25 million in five organisations to help with exactly the areas she is suggesting, to break down barriers and enable people to access services. We know from the Sure …
Lords
Debate
23 January 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Would the noble Lord accept, however, that it would be deeply unfair if somebody whose major wish was to end their terminal illness, and the pain and intolerable suffering that was coming with it, was to be denied that right because they were also concerned about numerous other things? Very few peop…
Lords
Proceedings
20 January 2026
Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure
My Lords, the retail and hospitality industries are often where youngsters who find it difficult to get into the workplace get their first foothold. Understandably, there have to be increases in the overheads that these organisations are paying, but can the Minister look at ways in which these organ…
Lords
Proceedings
8 January 2026
Broadcasting: Recent Developments
I declare an interest as having worked for all five public service broadcasters, and I too thank the noble Lord, Lord Fowler, for procuring this debate.
I will concentrate in my speech on the future of the BBC in developing technology in the public interest. I found the Green Paper’s declaration th…
Lords
Oral Questions
5 January 2026
Government Communications: X
The noble Baroness raises a very important point about our defence supply chain. As an honorary captain in the Royal Navy, this is of key importance to me. I will have to write to her with the details of any contract.
Lords
Proceedings
18 December 2025
UK-EU Common Understanding Negotiations
My Lords, this is really good news and I welcome it on all counts, in particular the food and drink deal we are moving towards, because so many small businesses have simply stopped exporting to the EU. Can the Minister say how those small firms will now be encouraged to get back to work and back int…
Lords
Proceedings
15 December 2025
Resident Doctors: Industrial Action
My Lords, has not the time come for the BMA to reject the way the resident doctors committee is behaving? I do not believe that the NHS I know would be supportive of its actions.
Lords
Debate
12 December 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Can the noble Baroness tell the Committee whether she actually listened to what the GP in our midst said about how practices work?
Lords
Proceedings
11 December 2025
Grooming Gangs: Independent Inquiry
My Lords, many of the victims at the centre of the inquiry were victims at least twice over: they were abused by the gangs but also by those who were supposed to be caring for them. The inquiry will be looking at systemic failures in the system and will go on for three years. Can the Minister assure…
Lords
Debate
21 November 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
The point that the noble Lord has just made—that people are committing suicide because they are in abusive relationships—is absolutely dreadful. But would he accept that there is more likelihood of their death being prevented under this Bill?