Lord Leong — Hansard — Westminster Brief

Lords Statutory Instrument 20 October 2025

Companies (Directors’ Report) (Payment Reporting) Regulations 2025

That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 17 July be approved. Considered in Grand Committee on 15 October.

Lords Committee Stage 15 October 2025 6 contributions

Companies (Directors’ Report) (Payment Reporting) Regulations 2025

My Lords, late payments are estimated to cost the UK economy close to £11 billion per year. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, employing millions of people and enriching our lives. Late payments lead to 14,000 business closures each year—an average of 38 businesses per day. The Gover…

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his introduction. I have a few questions for him, mainly because I have been unable to answer them for the businesses that have written to me about the statutory instrument. First, can the Minister confirm that the payment practices disclosure regime—the PPRR—stil…

+4 more contributions in this session

Lords Oral Questions 14 October 2025 7 contributions

Jaguar Land Rover Cyberattack

My Lords, with the indulgence of the House, let me say that this weekend I came back from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, where there were heartfelt tributes to the work of my noble friend Lord Campbell of Pittenweem. He was held in very high esteem. It is one example of his dedication to defending…

My Lords, according to the National Cyber Security Centre’s latest report—and following on from the noble Lord, Lord Fox—in the year to September, there were 18 highly significant attacks, meaning attacks with the potential to have a serious impact on essential services. Given the increasing frequen…

+5 more contributions in this session

Lords Statutory Instrument 15 September 2025

Register of People with Significant Control (Amendment) Regulations 2025

That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 26 and 30 June be approved. Relevant document: 31st Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. Considered in Grand Committee on 8 and 10 September.

Lords Oral Questions 15 September 2025 8 contributions

Online Safety Act 2023: Virtual Private Networks

My Lords, there are concerns and some misinformation circulating about VPNs and other aspects of the Act. In this light, is the Minister confident that the Act is still fit for purpose, and that platforms have a clear existing responsibility to prevent children bypassing safety protections? Does all…

My Lords, will the Minister support calls for app stores not to provide VPNs to children in this country?

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Lords Oral Questions 11 September 2025

Merck Research Site

I am sorry, but I was actually in the doorway, coming in. I would be grateful if I could ask the question, if that is possible. My noble friend Lord Markham raised an important point about the Treasury’s view of how these pricing processes function. The reality is that if we do not have the drug com…

Lords Proceedings 10 September 2025 6 contributions

Jaguar Land Rover Cyberattack

My Lords, before I respond to the noble Lord’s question, I take this opportunity to thank my noble friend Lady Jones of Whitchurch for her sterling worth as a Minister in this House. I am sure that all noble Lords will thank her for her performance at this Dispatch Box and her support to all Members…

My Lords, the noble Lord made a couple of interesting points, which are crucial, and I will try to address them. Cybersecurity of the UK is a key priority for this Government. It is crucial to protect public services, the public, our way of life and a successful, growing economy. We have been taking…

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Lords Committee Stage 10 September 2025

Register of People with Significant Control (Amendment) Regulations 2025

That the Grand Committee do consider the Register of People with Significant Control (Amendment) Regulations 2025.

Lords Committee Stage 10 September 2025

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (Consequential, Incidental and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2025

That the Grand Committee do consider the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (Consequential, Incidental and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2025.

Lords Committee Stage 10 September 2025 3 contributions

Limited Liability Partnerships (Application and Modification of Company Law) Regulations 2025

My Lords, in speaking to these amendments I will also speak to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (Consequential, Incidental and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2025 and the Register of People with Significant Control (Amendment) Regulations 2025. These instruments form pa…

My Lords, I congratulate the Minister on retaining his position after the recent reshuffle of the Cabinet. Despite recent reforms of Companies House, several issues remain unaddressed and the legislation in front of us does not really deal with them. I will illustrate my concerns with three pieces …

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Lords Debate 10 September 2025 2 contributions

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

My Lords, before we start debate on the next group of amendments, I want to make a couple of points. The Committee will have to adjourn before 2 o’clock so that we can get the Chamber ready for Oral Questions. If noble Lords want to make the Whip very happy, they will speak very swiftly so we can co…

My Lords, it is approaching 2 pm. I suggest that, unless the next speaker can finish his or her contribution by then, we take a short break to allow the House to prepare for Oral Questions; and that the debate on this amendment be adjourned until after Questions.

Lords Committee Stage 8 September 2025 4 contributions

Online Safety Act 2023 (Qualifying Worldwide Revenue) Regulations 2025

My Lords, as set out in the Online Safety Act 2023, Ofcom is empowered to make regulations that define how the qualifying worldwide revenue—QWR—of a provider of a regulated service is to be determined, along with the relevant qualifying period. The Act requires Ofcom to send the draft regulations to…

My Lords, I welcome this SI, although I have some questions about it. I would be grateful if the Minister could respond to them and, if not, write to me about them. It is good to see progress being made on these issues. This was an area of considerable discussion and debate during the passage of th…

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Lords Debate 23 July 2025 3 contributions

Employment Rights Bill

This is Report.

Front Bench.

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Lords Debate 23 July 2025

Employment Rights Bill

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Jackson of Peterborough, and my noble friend Lady O’Grady of Upper Holloway, for contributing to this debate, and to the noble Lord, Lord Goddard, for setting out the Lib Dems’ position. I will now speak to Amendment 150, tabled by my noble friend Lord…

Lords Debate 21 July 2025 3 contributions

Employment Rights Bill

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, for tabling Amendment 127A. Although it rightly raises the important issue of pay inequality, it effectively duplicates a review process that we are already undertaking. It is undeniable that average salaries have stagnated. In fac…

My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken. I may not agree with some of the sentiments of some noble Lords, but I have listened to all the arguments in the last few years, such as when minimum wage was debated. The scaremongering that businesses will go bust does not hold water with…

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Lords Debate 21 July 2025

Employment Rights Bill

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who spoke—my noble friends Lord Hendy, Lady O’Grady, Lord Monks and Lord Berkeley, and the noble Baroness, Lady Verma. The noble Lord, Lord Sharpe of Epsom, tabled Amendment 125, which seeks to give workers the right to opt out of collective agreements. Workers are…

Lords Debate 21 July 2025

Renters’ Rights Bill

I am now getting congratulations from my noble friend, which are very warmly felt. We cannot, however, leave the Bill without giving profound thanks to my noble friend the Minister for her pioneering of the Bill through all stages of its passage through this House. I think I echo the words of the no…

Lords Debate 16 July 2025 8 contributions

Employment Rights Bill

My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken in this debate. Amendment 94 from the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, would exempt specific groups from all or some of the provisions within Part 1. Since the 1980s, UK reforms have stripped back workers’ employment rights and turned the countr…

Noble Lords opposite may laugh but this is the Lloyds Business Barometer, which I am sure many noble Lords across the aisle will know—with a second consecutive rise in workforce projections for the coming year. Deloitte recently ranked the UK as the joint top destination for investment.

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Lords Debate 14 July 2025

Employment Rights Bill

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to this short debate, and I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Llanfaes—I apologise if I have mispronounced that—for tabling these amendments. I reassure her that the Government are fully committed to protecting workers from workplace viole…

Lords Debate 14 July 2025 5 contributions

Employment Rights Bill

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lords, Lord Ashcombe and Lord Hunt of Wirral, for their contributions and I thank the noble Lord, Lord Goddard of Stockport, for tabling Amendments 10 and 11. The Bill currently sets out that eligible workers will be entitled to a payment when their shifts are c…

I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken: the noble Baronesses, Lady Coffey, Lady Lister, and Lady Tyler, and the noble Lord, Lord Sharpe of Epsom. Turning first to Amendments 31 and 32, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Palmer of Childs Hill, on the important topic of kinship care leave, I beg…

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Lords Debate 10 July 2025 4 contributions

Product Regulation and Metrology Bill [HL]

My Lords, I beg to move that this House do agree with the Commons on Amendment 1. With the leave of the House, I will also speak to Amendments 2 and 3. On Amendment 1, the Government have been clear in their intention to maintain strong, co-operative relations with the devolved Governments and to e…

My Lords, briefly, I welcome Commons Amendment 1. It is very pleasing to see this Government, in contrast to the last Government, acknowledging that we have nations on these islands which have devolved powers that need to be respected. Indeed, when we are talking about the standards here, hopefully …

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Lords Statutory Instrument 8 July 2025

Subsidy Control (Subsidies and Schemes of Interest or Particular Interest) (Amendment) Regulations 2025

That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 2 June be approved. Relevant document: 28th Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. Considered in Grand Committee on 7 July.

Lords Oral Questions 8 July 2025 8 contributions

Companies House: Filing of Annual Accounts by Small Companies

My Lords, the secrecy afforded to small companies has incubated financial crime. Just last month, HMRC said that 40% of corporation tax due from small businesses is not being paid. Numerous money laundering, sanctions-busting and employment scams are fronted by small companies; therefore, we need fa…

My Lords, we as a country are heavily legislated for small companies. We see a large number of UK companies leaving the London Stock Exchange for New York, and a large number of people leaving the country for good. We do not celebrate wealth creation any more. To further burden small companies that …

+6 more contributions in this session

Lords Committee Stage 7 July 2025 3 contributions

Subsidy Control (Subsidies and Schemes of Interest or Particular Interest) (Amendment) Regulations 2025

My Lords, I beg to move these regulations, which were laid before the House on 2 June 2025. The Subsidy Control Act came into force in January 2023. This legislation was designed to balance the need for streamlined processes to ensure that public authorities can quickly and effectively give subsidi…

My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing these regulations. It was in January 2023, under the previous Conservative Government, that the UK subsidy control regime was established by the Department for Business and Trade. The aim of the regime is to give public authorities, including local gove…

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Lords Debate 4 July 2025

Mortgage Prisoners Inquiry Bill [HL]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Sharkey, for his continued commitment to this important issue, and all noble Lords who have contributed their perspectives to the debate. As discussed at Second Reading, the origins and treatment of mortgage prisoners have been subject to close consideration by…