The Government is committed to minimising the impact of the EU’s removal of its low value import (LVI) relief for businesses and consumers in Northern Ireland.

LVIs that are considered ‘not at risk’ will not face the new EU customs duty on LVI goods. As a result of the Windsor Framework arrangements, we estimate that c.99% of parcel movements into Northern Ireland, including low value imports, fall into this ‘not at risk’ category.

A small number of LVIs may be considered ‘at risk’ and subject to the applicable rate of EU duty. This will include business to consumer parcels that are not eligible to move under the UK Carrier Scheme, such as goods subject to sanctions, and business parcels that are not eligible to benefit from the UK Internal Market Scheme. In these cases, businesses can continue to claim waivers or reliefs through the usual means.

The processes for moving goods into Northern Ireland and the facilitations under the Windsor Framework are unaffected by the EU’s change to Low Value Imports.

Where medical records are shared across National Health Service organisations, such as the Shared Care Record program, organisations should complete a Data Protection Impact Assessment. This allows them to consider the data protection and confidentiality risks involved, and outlines what actions they can take to mitigate the risk to an acceptable level. NHS England has published guidance on this subject, Information Governance Framework: Shared Care Records, a copy of which is attached.

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given by the Minister for Multilateral and Human Rights on 18 March to Question 119359, which I have included below for ease:

The UK is committed to championing Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all. We recognise that every day, people around the world face persecution or discrimination on the basis of their religion or belief, including Christians. The UK's FoRB Strategy, set out by the Special Envoy last July, continues to guide our international engagement. We regularly raise FoRB concerns with governments worldwide and support locally led interfaith initiatives in regions experiencing acute religious persecution.

Through the UN, G7, and the Article 18 Alliance, the UK works with partners to highlight violations, promote reform of discriminatory laws, and advocate for individuals facing persecution. At the Alliance's fifth‑anniversary event in November, the Special Envoy called for deeper collective action and greater integration of FoRB into responses to global challenges such as conflict, development, and displacement.

We are strengthening coordination with international partners, including the United States and European counterparts, to ensure more coherent global advocacy and more responsive mechanisms to address emerging FoRB crises. We also work closely with civil society, faith leaders and human rights defenders to ensure that the experiences of those most at risk shape our policy and international advocacy.

The UK will continue to champion the right to freedom of religion or belief for everyone, everywhere.

National Health Service trusts are required to maintain audit logs of access to patient information and have controls in place to prevent and identify unauthorised access. The Government is currently considering options for further action, and we will set out more detail in due course. In the meantime, NHS England will be launching a hard-hitting campaign telling staff Don’t let curiosity kill your career.

We expect the Single Patient Record to help strengthen ways to tackle this issue, including improving the audit trail for cases like this, so that trusts can take clear action when staff access records without due cause. Security and privacy of people’s health data are paramount, and as you’d expect we will build the strongest safeguards into the Single Patient Record. We’ll be confirming more on this as we develop the Single Patient Record in the coming months.

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided on 9 June in response to Question HL522.

1,445 cases of inappropriate access have been reported to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) between 2019 to 2025. Medical records are accessed all the time by staff with a legitimate need to deliver the best possible care. Inappropriate access is rare, as the vast majority of staff take their duty of confidentiality extremely seriously. With that said, we agree with the ICO that there have clearly been too many incidents of National Health Service staff accessing patient records inappropriately. Any unauthorised access to a patient’s medical record is completely unacceptable and NHS organisations must take action where it occurs, including disciplinary measures and referrals to the police and professional regulators where appropriate.

Further to the written ministerial statements I made to the House on 28 January (HLWS1285) and 29 April (HLWS1560), UK ministers and officials continue to support the efforts of the new Syrian government to build a more stable, inclusive, and representative country, where Christian communities and other religious minorities are protected from persecution and allowed to play their full part in Syria's transition. The importance of that inclusive political transition was further emphasised with President Al Sharaa, during his visit to the UK on 31 March.

We are concerned by reports of violence affecting communities in Ethiopia's Oromia region, including in Arsi Zone. The UK condemns all violence against civilians, including attacks against places of worship and people because of their religion. We continue to call on all parties to engage in dialogue to address the underlying causes of conflict. Through our Human Rights and Peacebuilding Programme, the UK supports dialogue efforts by local peacemakers, women's groups and the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia alongside Early Warning Human Rights Networks raising security alerts. The UK also supports the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission's capacity to monitor, investigate and act upon violations affecting civilians.

Border Force senior officials engage with Parliament in line with the Civil Service Code and relevant Cabinet Office guidance. This includes supporting Ministers in their accountability to Parliament and, where appropriate, engaging with Members on factual or operational matters through written correspondence or in-person briefings.

No specific assessment is made of the “willingness” of Border Force senior management to meet Members of either House. As such, engagement is considered on a case-by-case basis on direction from Home Office Ministers.

Requests for meetings are considered individually, taking into account the urgency of the issue, whether information has already been provided in writing, and operational demands. Border Force aims to engage with Members in a timely way where needed, with such engagement agreed in line with ministerial oversight. Ministers remain accountable to Parliament for the work of Border Force

There is no centrally held data on the average time taken for Border Force senior officials to meet Members of either House following a request.

The Government are committed to ensuring that people who need face-to-face banking can continue to access essential services. Therefore, the Government have commissioned an independent review into access to banking services to assess whether the change in branches is causing detriment, and to whom. The Financial Services and Markets Bill also includes a power to enable the Government to act, if necessary, to protect access to banking services should evidence from the review support intervention.

I thank the noble Lord for that question. We must take into consideration that 93% of adults now use online banking, but the Government still take access to face-to-face banking seriously. We have set a target of 350 banking hubs across the country through this Parliament, and 239 are already operational—including seven in Northern Ireland—with more in the pipeline. The figure of 350 is not a ceiling, and there is the potential for more to open, including in Northern Ireland. The Access to Banking Services review is currently in consultation, is open to the public and, I understand, is very popular. The consultation is attracting a lot of attention, and I therefore encourage the noble Lord to send comments to the review via the Government’s website. They would love to hear from him and, in fact, from every other noble Lord.

The UK champions Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all, including for Protestant congregations in Algeria. Our Embassy in Algiers is in regular contact with minority religious groups in the country on how best we can support FoRB, and we raise these issues regularly with the Algerian authorities, most recently when the Minister for the Middle East visited Algiers in October 2025. We will continue to advocate for freedom of religion in Algeria, including in relation to the operation of Protestant churches.

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 8 June in response to Question 5388 - which for ease of reference is reproduced below:

The UK is committed to promoting freedom of religion or belief and to the freedom of expression globally. We are concerned by reports of violence against indigenous and rural communities in Mexico. Any violence against indigenous communities must be fully investigated. We regularly engage with the Mexican authorities and civil society on the issue of the protection of civilians, as well as with the UN in Mexico on the effective investigation of crimes against human rights defenders.

The UK’s standard VAT rate of 20 per cent is close to the OECD average of 19.3 per cent and is forecast to raise almost £190 billion in 2026/27.VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT on services, including hospitality, does not fall within the scope of the Windsor Framework.

There are no current plans to introduce regionally differentiated VAT rates for hospitality, which would add complexity to the tax system.

The Government has announced the Great British Summer Savings scheme. This provides a temporary reduction in VAT from 20 per cent to 5 per cent from 25 June to 1 September 2026 on eligible children’s meals, family leisure tickets and admission to summer attractions across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, providing targeted support for families and for hospitality and tourism businesses across the UK.

The UK’s standard VAT rate of 20 per cent is close to the OECD average of 19.3 per cent and is forecast to raise almost £190 billion in 2026/27.VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT on services, including hospitality, does not fall within the scope of the Windsor Framework.

There are no current plans to introduce regionally differentiated VAT rates for hospitality, which would add complexity to the tax system.

The Government has announced the Great British Summer Savings scheme. This provides a temporary reduction in VAT from 20 per cent to 5 per cent from 25 June to 1 September 2026 on eligible children’s meals, family leisure tickets and admission to summer attractions across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, providing targeted support for families and for hospitality and tourism businesses across the UK.

The UK’s standard VAT rate of 20 per cent is close to the OECD average of 19.3 per cent and is forecast to raise almost £190 billion in 2026/27.VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT on services, including hospitality, does not fall within the scope of the Windsor Framework.

There are no current plans to introduce regionally differentiated VAT rates for hospitality, which would add complexity to the tax system.

The Government has announced the Great British Summer Savings scheme. This provides a temporary reduction in VAT from 20 per cent to 5 per cent from 25 June to 1 September 2026 on eligible children’s meals, family leisure tickets and admission to summer attractions across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, providing targeted support for families and for hospitality and tourism businesses across the UK.

I have to apologise to the noble Lord, I am afraid, because I do not know the answer to his question about the applicability of this relief to Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework. I will investigate that and write to him.

This policy has been developed jointly by the UK ETS Authority, which includes the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). As with all Authority decisions, DAERA have an equal say on policy positions.

The Authority has conducted extensive consultation with stakeholders over the period between the first consultation in March 2022 and the response to the second consultation in November 2025.

Detailed consideration has been given to Northern Ireland’s specific circumstances, including the convening of several in-person and online engagement sessions with Northern Irish stakeholders, including Stena Line, Warrenpoint Port and B9 Energy Storage Ltd.