Lords
Proceedings
1 July 2026
Counterterrorism: AI and Facial Recognition
My Lords, while I welcome the Government’s approach to this, with the postponement of the EU-UK summit, which was to discuss security issues, from 22 July to another date, I am all the more concerned that the re-establishment of our links to SIS II, the information system which gives real-time infor…
Lords
Proceedings
15 June 2026
Immigration: Eurodac and SIS II
I thank the Minister for that. Of course, as a member of the EU, the UK was entitled, through Eurodac, to share the fingerprint information from illegal migrants, which, with the Dublin convention, gave us the means of identifying and removing them from this country. I know from my own work on SIS I…
Lords
Proceedings
10 June 2026
Best Start Family Hubs
My Lords, the Minister and I both know very well the work of PHAB in Leeds, under the guidance of its wonderful secretary Ann Hart, which has for many years been bringing together able-bodied people with those with disabilities and disadvantages. Will the Minister support me in congratulating Ann an…
Lords
Proceedings
8 June 2026
Royal Mail
My Lords, while there are delays in post being received, a considerable number of people are concerned at the amount of post that appears to be mislaid or lost or never even arrives at its destination. Has the Minister got any statistics on that which he can give us any information about?
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
Self-employed: Paternity Leave
Will the Minister confirm that, compared to years ago, when society put more responsibility on mothers than it should in bringing up children, society is now much better, in that fathers share responsibilities far more than they did then? Will she therefore join me in congratulating those parents wh…
Lords
Oral Questions
27 April 2026
Student Visas
It is important that the Government take a whole-government approach to this issue. I know that my colleagues in both the Foreign Office and the Home Office, and in some cases in the Ministry of Justice, are very focused on ensuring that we have a whole-government approach on the removal of individu…
Lords
Oral Questions
20 April 2026
Schoolchildren: Swimming
My ministerial responsibilities do not quite stretch to adults and swimming. However, it is a very fair point and, as we have discussed in response to this Question, I will continue working with my ministerial colleagues in DCMS and in MHCLG to ensure that there is provision for adults as well as ch…
Lords
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
Artificial Intelligence: Impact on Employment
Reducing the AI skills gap and understanding the impact of the labour market’s change due to AI is indeed something that we are looking at closely. DSIT regularly reviews the AI labour market and skills gap, and we are working with Skills England to fully understand the needs. I will need to update …
Lords
Oral Questions
24 March 2026
2 contributions
Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019
It is me again, I am afraid. The Government are committed to raising standards in the private parking sector. Last summer, my department consulted on proposals to raise standards across the private parking industry, ahead of implementing the new code and accompanying compliance framework for parking…
Oh!
Lords
Oral Questions
19 March 2026
Unpaid Carers: Patient Hospital Discharge
I am very grateful to the noble Lord. I and the Government are certainly cognisant of the role that unpaid carers play. That is why, last year, we increased the carer’s allowance weekly earnings limit. This was the largest cash increase ever and means that 60,000 additional carers will qualify. That…
Lords
Committee Stage
16 March 2026
Media Literacy (Communications and Digital Committee Report)
My Lords, I too served on the Select Committee that produced this excellent and timely report. I congratulate my noble friend Lady Keeley on her leadership and commend our recommendations to the Minister. Media literacy skills are key to protecting our democracy and the well-being of our society by …
Lords
Oral Questions
16 March 2026
NHS: In-house Software Capabilities
If the noble Lord has particular companies in mind, he is most welcome to raise them with me. It is important that we look at what NHS teams have done: they have designed, built and maintained national platforms. The NHS app is an example; I am sure that many noble Lords will be familiar with it. Th…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
EU Digital Services Act and Regulation
We have the Online Safety Act, which is enforced by Ofcom and other regulators and, as the noble Lord will know, we announced a consultation just recently on areas that we may seek to expand or take further measures on to enhance children’s well-being.
Lords
Oral Questions
5 March 2026
Class Inequality in the Arts
I am a big fan of philanthropy, but, if noble Lords read the report the original Question referred to, they will see that, in essence, our approach is about making sure that young people are aware of the opportunities and breaking down the systemic, widespread barriers to young people accessing the …
Lords
Oral Questions
23 February 2026
V-levels
The noble Lord makes a fair point, which is why at level 3 we want to ensure that there are three clear routes—through A-levels, T-levels and V-levels—while at levels 4 and 5, which is where HNDs sit, we want to improve our current position, where insufficient numbers of young people go on to get qu…
Lords
Committee Stage
23 February 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I will intervene briefly in support of my noble friend’s amendment—not on the specifics but because, having read again the 42nd report of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, which refers directly to this legislation, it has become ever more obvious that this skeleton, whi…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 February 2026
Smart Motorways
The raw facts of the cost of collisions and fatal and serious injuries in this country are staggering. It is estimated that over £3.1 billion was spent on medical and ambulance costs due to collisions on our roads last year alone. That is a crucial issue, and of course the lithium battery issue is a…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 February 2026
3 contributions
Land Covenants: Supermarket Chains
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper and, in doing so, I declare my interest as a holder of a number of loyalty club cards with various supermarket chains and also my membership of the Co-op.
My Lords, the Competition and Markets Authority is currently assessing whether additional retailers should be designated under the controlled land order and brought within its scope. We continue to engage with the CMA and will consider its findings carefully once it has concluded its assessment late…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
3 February 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I just want to touch on some basic principles here. As we go through the Bill in Committee, I go back to look at the whole basis of what the Government are trying to do, which I broadly support.
However, it essentially says here that members should benefit from these reforms and get bette…
Lords
Oral Questions
21 January 2026
Motorway Speed Cameras
The 20 mph speed limit is utilised in areas where local highway authorities believe that road safety would be enhanced by its imposition. The Government do not intend to try to write the rules for all those circumstances; it is for local highway authorities to make judgments about speed limits and t…
Lords
Committee Stage
21 January 2026
3 contributions
Local Government (Exclusion of Non-commercial Considerations) (England) Order 2026
My Lords, I am grateful for this statutory instrument, which I support and which will be hugely helpful for local taxpayers in the generation of local jobs. I note the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate; I look forward to the Minister’s response to all the points made by the nobl…
We are discussing a matter of semantics here, but the confusion might have occurred because, under the Local Government Act 1972, “county” includes metropolitan authorities. That might be the issue, but it is only fair that I set that out more clearly in writing to all the noble Lords who have taken…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
19 January 2026
2 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I will briefly intervene because the probing amendments here are important to how we look at the precise nature of surpluses. Clearly, the principle of making it easier to return a genuine pension scheme surplus to employers is worthy of support, particularly given how much has historicall…
I am sorry to interrupt the Minister. I raised the question of safeguards. There is a lot of evidence in the industry that there is a lot of pressure. The Minister talks about the driving seat, but the actual installation of the driver into the car is at the behest of employers. It seems to me that …
Lords
Committee Stage
12 January 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I declare my interests as a current member and director of a pension trust. I want to take us back to the amendment for a moment. I shall refer to the reference to surpluses made by the noble Viscount, Lord Thurso, because it is an indicator of how this Bill is going to move; I suspect we …
Lords
Oral Questions
6 January 2026
Channel Tunnel Infrastructure: Reliability
I am happy, because the principal constraint is actually the availability of trains compatible with the infrastructure on both sides of the channel and in the tunnel itself. They are very specialised; there are few manufacturers who can make them, and the constraint on Virgin starting its services w…
Lords
Debate
18 December 2025
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I declare my interests as a director of the London Stock Exchange and of Valloop Holdings Ltd. I also have experience engaging with local authorities and their pension funds, in relation to both funding proposals and policy. I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady White of Tufnell Park—she…