I reject the term “festering” in relation to what this Government have done. Helping touring artists and addressing issues around co-operation with Europe remain a priority. I am grateful to the noble Lord for reminding the House of why we ended up leaving the EU in the first place, which was not because of anything that this Government did but was down to the previous one.

Planning consent is a matter for the relevant planning authority, which varies by country. The UK Government would only be responsible for consenting pumped storage hydro (PSH) projects in England above 50MW. In practice, these do not exist given more suitable topography in other parts of Britain.

On 26 June 2026, Ofgem published its "minded-to" decisions on projects to be supported under the Long Duration Electricity Storage (LDES) cap and floor investment support scheme. This includes three PSH projects, all located in Scotland: Loch Kemp, Coire Glas and Earba. The latter two projects already have planning consent. No PSH projects in England applied to the scheme, and none in Wales passed an earlier eligibility assessment. Ofgem is now consulting on these decisions before confirming final awards in autumn 2026.

The Ministry of Defence does not hold a central record of all drones produced within the UK for military use.

Nevertheless, as highlighted by the Strategic Defence Review, drones now play an essential role in warfare across the land, maritime and air domains, which is why the Defence Investment Plan prioritises uncrewed systems, investing more than £5 billion in a plethora of platforms over the next four years alone. This funding will accelerate the transformation of our Armed Forces, rebuilding warfighting readiness and ensuring our forces are equipped for modern warfare.

To give just a few examples, £230 million will be spent on autonomous systems for seabed warfare to protect critical national infrastructure; £400m will be spent to deliver a suite of inexpensive, expendable autonomous systems and weapons to rapidly enhance the lethality of the Army, Commando Force and Special Forces; and we will invest £50 million on a variety of novel payloads, such as swarms of small drones, able to be launched from a wide range of crewed and uncrewed aircraft.

Since 7 May, UK Government Ministers and officials have continued to engage with the Welsh Government on police reform and future governance arrangements in Wales, including discussions between the Minister for Policing and Crime and Welsh Government Ministers on 7 July, and through established forums such as the Policing Partnership Board for Wales. These discussions have focused on future governance arrangements and the interaction between policing reform and devolved services.

It remains the view of the UK Government that policing in Wales should operate within an integrated England and Wales framework, supporting consistency, interoperability and resilience across both nations. The UK Government’s priority is delivering safer communities and stronger cross-border cooperation within the existing constitutional framework.

We will continue to work closely with the new Welsh Government, Welsh Policing and others to ensure that a new model for police governance works for Wales.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is the independent body responsible for investigating rail accidents and determining their causes. In its report on the collision between two passenger trains near Talerddig, Powys, RAIB did not identify dynamic passing, dynamic loops or their absence as a cause of the accident, nor as a factor that worsened its consequences.

As I made clear, we want the charter review to put broadcasting on a sustainable financial footing. I will speak to my colleague Ian Murray about the points the noble Lord raises. We are clear that minority languages are a minority only to people who do not speak them. For those who do, minority languages are such an important aspect of our cultural life, and it is important that minority-language broadcasting is funded from the centre and open to all.

A range of recreational board games, including chess, is available to prisoners in five of the six prisons located in Wales. Chess facilities are currently available at HMP Cardiff, HMP Swansea, HMP Usk, HMP Prescoed and HMP Parc. HMP Berwyn does not currently have chess-related facilities. Access to chess study materials is also available through the prison library arrangements at HMP Usk and HMP Prescoed.

Water companies in England and Wales have a statutory duty to provide a secure supply of water for customers, efficiently and economically and set out how they plan to continue to supply water to their customers through statutory Water Resources Management Plans (WRMPs).

As agreed in the Intergovernmental Protocol on Water Resources, Water Supply and Water Quality and with respect to WRMPs where there are cross border matters, WRMPs will be scrutinised by regulators on both sides of the border and decisions on WRMPs are made in consultation with the relevant administration.

The Government publishes UK-level data on people granted leave under resettlement schemes in the Home Office’s quarterly Immigration System Statistics, including those arriving via safe and legal routes; data on those resettled in Wales is published within these statistics with breakdowns by scheme and local authority.

Figures for those residing in Wales who have been given leave to remain or are awaiting a decision under the Asylum and Human Rights routes; or those who are awaiting a resettlement decision under safe and legal routes are not published and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

I refer the Noble Lord to the Written Ministerial Statement on the UK response to the Venezuela earthquakes, laid before the House on 6 July 2026 (HCWS185), which sets out the Government's financial contribution and wider support for the humanitarian response.

As at 1 April 2025, 2,800 Military (UK Regular Forces) and MOD Civilian Personnel were based in Wales.

Latest statistics on the stationed location of UK regular service and civilian personnel and international global locations as at 1 April 2026 will be published on 9 July 2026 on gov.uk at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/location-of-all-uk-regular-service-and-civilian-personnel-annual-statistics-index

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office for National Statistics.

The Rt Hon. the Lord Wigley

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

6 July 2026

Dear Lord Wigley,

As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what is the latest estimate of population growth over the most recent five year period in (1) England, (2) Wales, (3) Scotland and (4) Northern Ireland (HL1519).

The most recent available population estimates(1) for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for the five-year period between mid-2019 and mid-2024 can be found in table 1 below.

Population estimates are regularly revised to incorporate new data and methods and should not be taken to be accurate to the level of precision provided.

On 29 July 2026, we will be publishing population estimates for England and Wales for mid- 2025. On 14 July 2026 the National Records for Scotland will be publishing population estimates for Scotland for mid-2025. In September/October 2026, the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency will publish population estimates for Northern Ireland for mid-2025.

Yours sincerely,

Darren Tierney

1. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/annualmidyearpopulationestimates/mid2024

Table 1: Population estimates for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland from Mid-2019 to Mid-2024

Source: Population estimates from the ONS, the National Records of Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

Tolls and road user charges are levied on vehicles using the following public roads and private infrastructure on otherwise public roads in England:

• M6 Toll motorway

• Aldwark Bridge

• Batheaston (Bathampton) Bridge

• Blackwall and Silvertown Tunnels

• Cartford Bridge

• Clifton Suspension Bridge

• Dartford Crossing

• Dunham Bridge

• Eling Bridge

• Humber Bridge

• Itchen Bridge

• Kingsland Bridge, Shrewsbury

• Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee Bridges

• Mersey Tunnels

• Rixton and Warburton Bridge

• Swinford Bridge

• Tamar Bridge

• Tyne Tunnels

• Whitchurch Bridge

• Whitney-on-Wye Bridge

This list excludes zonal road user charging schemes where charges are applied over multiple roads to manage congestion or emissions, for example the Clean Air Zones in several English cities.

The Government has not made any estimate of what revenues or administrative costs would have been if tolling had continued at the Severn Crossings after 2018.

The power to levy tolls at the Severn Crossings expired on 7 January 2018 when the private sector concession operated by Severn River Crossing plc ended. During the concession, the Government received no income from tolls and did not incur any costs relating to the administration of the toll, except for a short period from 2 November 2017 to the end of the concession, when toll income was paid to the Secretary of State.

A road user charge under the Transport Act 2000 operated from 8 January to 16 December 2018 inclusive, with drivers charged reduced rates compared to the previous toll. In the 357-day period from 8 January to 31 December 2018, income from the charge was £96.2 million and expenditure was £18.7 million, of which £3.85 million related to the costs of removing toll collection infrastructure, with the remainder covering operating and maintenance costs.

At the last Budget, the Government announced a new discretionary power for Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) to introduce a visitor levy on short-term, commercially let overnight accommodation in England and launched a consultation on the design.

This power will give Mayors control of a new local revenue raising power to drive growth in their regions, including in the visitor economy. Mayors will need to decide whether to implement a levy, and, if so, they will need to consult on specific proposals, including the rate and how revenue will be used in their region.

The Government is regularly engaging the Welsh Government on its reforms to police governance and structures, including through ministerial and official-level discussions and established forums such as the Policing Partnership Board for Wales. We will continue to engage closely with the Welsh Government to ensure its views on police reform are considered as we design a new model for policing that works for England and Wales.

The Independent Review into Force Structures is ongoing and ran a formal Call for Evidence which closed on 22 May. The Review will report back in Summer.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office for National Statistics.

Lord Wigley

House of Commons

London

SW1A 0PW

18 June 2026

Dear Lord Wigley,

As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your

Parliamentary Question asking what the latest estimates of annual revenue to HM Treasury

from Value Added Tax (VAT) collected in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

are (HL847).

Certain public sector bodies can recover VAT incurred on selected purchases and

acquisitions made to support their non-business activities. The figures presented below in

Table 1 represent total VAT receipts, i.e. before any recoveries.

Table 1: Value Added Tax receipts for the financial year ending 31 March 2025

Source: Country and regional public sector finances[1], Office for National Statistics

Figures are estimates created by allocating total UK VAT revenue to countries. We allocate revenue to industry sectors using information from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC's) VAT theoretical tax liability model and apportion revenue from these sectors to countries of the UK using relevant demographic and expenditure Patterns.

Yours sincerely,

Darren Tierney

[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/countryandregionalpublicsectorfinances

According to the latest accredited data published by the Office for National Statistics, there are approximately 41,155 Civil Servants based in Wales, and 5,990 staff working for Senedd Cymru.

The Home Office publishes data on the Ukraine schemes in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.

As at the end of March 2026 237,300 individuals have arrived in the UK under the Ukraine schemes.

The statistics include the number of people who are believed to be out of the UK at the end of each quarter. See the chapter, “How many people come to the UK via safe and legal (humanitarian) routes?’

The chapter shows “…as of the end of March 2026, around 105,900 people (44%) who had previously arrived on the Ukraine schemes had exited the UK and were believed to be out of the country, although some may subsequently return.”

The Home Office does not publish information on whether those who exited the UK have returned to Ukraine or moved elsewhere.

The Government is deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK nuclear testing programme. We recognise their service and the huge contribution they made to the UK’s security. Since taking office, we have worked hard to listen, collaborate and work more closely with the nuclear test veteran community and to operate to a principle of maximum transparency.

I am aware of the concerns raised by some nuclear test veterans regarding the health impacts of their service and access to medical records. The government is keen to engage with that issue head on. Ministers commissioned officials to look at what information may be held by the Department in relation to the medical testing of Service personnel who took part in the UK nuclear weapons tests. This work is now nearing completion, and I will update the House in due course.