I beg to move, That this House has considered the potential merits of modernising marriage regulations. It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Christopher. The gateway to my constituency, and indee...

The right hon. Gentleman talks about anachronisms. Would he agree that the inequity between humanist marriages being legal in Scotland and not being permitted in England and Wales is an ongoing anachronism that should b...

I agree. The hon. Lady will be aware that many humanists come to Scotland, and indeed to Gretna Green, to get married for that very reason. That issue needs to be addressed in the context of modernising marriage regulat...

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to end the use of illegal accommodation for children in care and secure sufficient regulated care.

My Lords, the Government are clear: unregistered placements must stop. Powers in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will allow Ofsted to issue monetary penalties, enabling faster action against unregistered provi...

I thank the Minister for that Answer. It should shame all of us in this country that for many years, our system for protecting the most vulnerable children has been and is pushing hundreds of them each year into unregis...

I beg to move, That this House has considered Government support for carnivals. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for scheduling this important debate....

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I do not know whether you have had the opportunity to visit any of the Somerset carnivals, but they are spectacular and huge. One of the magnificent seven is,...

I look forward to that.

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether NHS services for heart valve disease support healthy ageing and ensure older adults receive equitable access to timely treatment.

My Lords, to accelerate the 10-year health plan ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% and to tackle unwarranted variation across the country, this year we will publish a new cardiov...

I thank my noble friend the Minister for her response. The guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology and the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery suggest that the UK is falling behind in terms of diag...

1. What recent progress he has made on improving parental rights at work.

9. What recent progress he has made on improving parental rights at work.

22. What recent progress he has made on improving parental rights at work.

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of peatland restoration for flood resilience and nature recovery.

My Lords, peatland restoration provides multiple benefits. It improves flood resilience by slowing water leaving the uplands and significantly reducing peak flows. Peatlands make up the UK’s largest extent of semi-natur...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for his reply. My understanding is that so far we have restored a quarter of a million hectares, against a target of 2 million hectares by 2040. That is only 10%. As the noble L...

2. What steps he is taking to help increase levels of private sector investment in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.

We are supporting private sector investment in Buckingham and Bletchley by working with partners across the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor to find new opportunities for businesses. I acknowledge the work of my hon. Fr...

As the Minister says, I launched the Bletchley investment taskforce last year to attract the businesses, investments, jobs and apprenticeships that local people need, and we are developing an investment prospectus to de...

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how the new non-statutory definition of anti-Muslim hostility will (1) protect Muslims, and (2) safeguard freedom of speech.

My Lords, the Government have adopted a definition of anti-Muslim hostility focused on protecting individuals. The definition provides a shared practical framework to help victims, communities and services respond to an...

I thank the Minister for her reply, and I appreciate that the Government have made a real attempt to balance protecting Muslims on the one hand and safeguarding freedom of speech on the other. While I can see that the d...

3. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to promote Scottish industry abroad.

Promoting Scottish industry overseas is one of our prime objectives. Whether it is opening up new markets such as India for Scotch whisky, securing new beef opportunities in the United States of America, securing contra...

With up to £8.2 billion of private investment, the Lanarkshire AI growth zone delivered by this Labour Government represents one of the largest industrial investments in the history of Scotland. At its heart is a partne...

4. What steps he is taking to help increase levels of private sector investment.

I thank my hon. Friend, who is an advocate and champion of businesses in Lichfield. As I am sure he is aware, we are making sure that the UK is the best place in the world to invest by backing priority sectors through o...

The quantum technology sector is hugely important for the UK. We have world-leading researchers and businesses innovating in healthcare, defence and many more industries, but quantum firms tell me that as they grow, the...