The Government remains committed to holding organisations to account for the failings identified by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. Officials across Government continue to consider what further commercial measures may be appropriate while safeguarding the integrity of the criminal investigation. MHCLG does not enter into direct contracts with Arconic for the supply of cladding panels.

The Government keeps the effectiveness of the criminal law under review, including the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. The 2007 Act created a specific offence to ensure that organisations can be held criminally accountable where serious management failures leading to a gross breach of a duty of care result in death. The offence has been used to secure convictions and substantial fines where the evidential test has been met.

The Ministry of Justice has not undertaken a recent formal review of the 2007 Act but continues to monitor its operation through relevant criminal justice agencies and enforcement authorities.

The Government is deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK's nuclear testing programme and recognises their service and the significant contribution they made to the nation's security.

The Ministry of Defence does not hold information on how many British military personnel who participated in the UK's nuclear weapons testing programme are currently alive. It is estimated that around 22,000 Service personnel and civilians participated in the UK's nuclear testing programme between 1952 and 1967.

There is no dedicated compensation scheme for Nuclear Test Veterans and their families. However, veterans who believe they have suffered ill health as a result of their service may apply for no-fault compensation under the War Pension Scheme, provided they served before 6 April 2005.

War Pensions may be awarded for illness or injury caused by service in the Armed Forces, with the benefit of reasonable doubt given to the claimant. Claims are assessed on the basis of available service and medical evidence, medically certified, and carry a full right of appeal to an independent tribunal.

Arrangements and support for nuclear test veterans in other countries, including the United States and France, are matters for those governments.

In the United Kingdom, veterans who believe they have suffered ill health as a result of their service may apply for no-fault compensation under the War Pension Scheme, provided they served before 6 April 2005. Claims are considered on the basis of the available service and medical evidence, with the benefit of reasonable doubt given to the claimant, and decisions carry a full right of appeal to an independent tribunal.

The Government is deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK nuclear testing programme. We owe an enduring debt of gratitude to the more than 22,000 Service personnel, scientists and civilians whose contributions helped safeguard the nation's security.

The Government has carefully considered concerns raised regarding the handling of records relating to the UK nuclear testing programme. To address long-standing questions from nuclear test veterans about blood and urine testing policies, an extensive records discovery exercise was commissioned and completed, examining tens of thousands of documents held by the Ministry of Defence.

The exercise found no evidence of intentional concealment of medical records. The findings were published along with an accompanying Written Ministerial Statement on 15 July 2026.

The Government is deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK nuclear testing programme. We owe an enduring debt of gratitude to the more than 22,000 Service personnel, scientists and civilians whose contributions helped safeguard the nation's security.

The Government has carefully considered concerns raised regarding the handling of records relating to the UK nuclear testing programme. To address long-standing questions from nuclear test veterans about blood and urine testing policies, an extensive records discovery exercise was commissioned and completed, examining tens of thousands of documents held by the Ministry of Defence.

The exercise found no evidence of intentional concealment of medical records. The findings were published along with an accompanying Written Ministerial Statement on 15 July 2026.

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 20 February in response to Question 112133, in particular points three and four. For ease of reference, this is reproduced below.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood services in England and is delivering initiatives to increase blood donations. These include:

1. increasing awareness of donation through high-profile year-round campaigns including National Blood Week and World Blood Donor Day alongside the use of social media such as TikTok to reach additional audiences;

2. using direct marketing, including phone calls, emails, and text messages, to encourage previous donors to book appointments and attend local sessions;

3. increasing appointment availability and targeting communities where specific blood types are most needed through initiatives such as the Community Grants Programme, with further information available on the NHSBT website; and

4. increasing the number of successful donation appointments by: improving pre-donation haemoglobin (Hb) testing, with low‑Hb deferral rates having fallen since the full rollout of new testing in September 2025; implementing a pilot translation service to reduce language‑related deferrals; and enhancing vein-identification training using ethnicity-specific training arms to help staff recognise vein characteristics across different skin tones and body.

Equinity is a sub-contractor of Sopra Steria and pays approximately 477,000 Armed Forces Pensions annually on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. 335 individuals were overpaid a total of £5.1 million, owing to National Insurance (NI) abatement calculation errors by the paying agent Equinity. This represents a small proportion of payments and are not reflective of the overall payment service provided.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) exercises oversight through established governance, contract management, assurance and audit arrangements. These include contractual performance monitoring, regular service reporting, quality assurance activity undertaken by the service providers, independent assurance reviews commissioned by the Authority, and external scrutiny through established audit processes. The Armed Forces Pension Scheme is also subject to review by the Government Internal Audit Agency and examination by the National Audit Office as part of wider governance, risk and assurance arrangements. Following identification of the National Insurance abatement issue, additional oversight arrangements were introduced to monitor corrective activity, review root causes, validate proposed corrections, track progress against remediation plans and strengthen preventative and detective controls designed to reduce the risk of similar issues arising in future.

The MOD first identified that there was a potential issue relating to the application of National Insurance abatements in November 2024. Further extensive work was subsequently undertaken to establish the full extent of the issue, determine the affected population and validate individual cases before corrective action could commence. Corrective activity commenced following identification of the affected population, completion of calculation and assurance activity, and approval of the proposed corrective approach. Revision of affected awards and notification of individuals commenced in January 2026.

We recognise that this situation may cause uncertainty for those affected and continue to provide comprehensive one-to-one welfare support from Veterans Services Welfare managers. Anyone who believes repayment may not be possible, or could cause financial hardship should contact the Ministry of Defence using the details provide in their letters.

Individuals can make a defence against recovery based on an assessment of their personal circumstances. Guidance on valid reasons for disputing repayment can be found in Managing Public Money - Annex 4.11. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money

Equinity is a sub-contractor of Sopra Steria and pays approximately 477,000 Armed Forces Pensions annually on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. 335 individuals were overpaid a total of £5.1 million, owing to National Insurance (NI) abatement calculation errors by the paying agent Equinity. This represents a small proportion of payments and are not reflective of the overall payment service provided.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) exercises oversight through established governance, contract management, assurance and audit arrangements. These include contractual performance monitoring, regular service reporting, quality assurance activity undertaken by the service providers, independent assurance reviews commissioned by the Authority, and external scrutiny through established audit processes. The Armed Forces Pension Scheme is also subject to review by the Government Internal Audit Agency and examination by the National Audit Office as part of wider governance, risk and assurance arrangements. Following identification of the National Insurance abatement issue, additional oversight arrangements were introduced to monitor corrective activity, review root causes, validate proposed corrections, track progress against remediation plans and strengthen preventative and detective controls designed to reduce the risk of similar issues arising in future.

The MOD first identified that there was a potential issue relating to the application of National Insurance abatements in November 2024. Further extensive work was subsequently undertaken to establish the full extent of the issue, determine the affected population and validate individual cases before corrective action could commence. Corrective activity commenced following identification of the affected population, completion of calculation and assurance activity, and approval of the proposed corrective approach. Revision of affected awards and notification of individuals commenced in January 2026.

We recognise that this situation may cause uncertainty for those affected and continue to provide comprehensive one-to-one welfare support from Veterans Services Welfare managers. Anyone who believes repayment may not be possible, or could cause financial hardship should contact the Ministry of Defence using the details provide in their letters.

Individuals can make a defence against recovery based on an assessment of their personal circumstances. Guidance on valid reasons for disputing repayment can be found in Managing Public Money - Annex 4.11. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money

Equinity is a sub-contractor of Sopra Steria and pays approximately 477,000 Armed Forces Pensions annually on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. 335 individuals were overpaid a total of £5.1 million, owing to National Insurance (NI) abatement calculation errors by the paying agent Equinity. This represents a small proportion of payments and are not reflective of the overall payment service provided.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) exercises oversight through established governance, contract management, assurance and audit arrangements. These include contractual performance monitoring, regular service reporting, quality assurance activity undertaken by the service providers, independent assurance reviews commissioned by the Authority, and external scrutiny through established audit processes. The Armed Forces Pension Scheme is also subject to review by the Government Internal Audit Agency and examination by the National Audit Office as part of wider governance, risk and assurance arrangements. Following identification of the National Insurance abatement issue, additional oversight arrangements were introduced to monitor corrective activity, review root causes, validate proposed corrections, track progress against remediation plans and strengthen preventative and detective controls designed to reduce the risk of similar issues arising in future.

The MOD first identified that there was a potential issue relating to the application of National Insurance abatements in November 2024. Further extensive work was subsequently undertaken to establish the full extent of the issue, determine the affected population and validate individual cases before corrective action could commence. Corrective activity commenced following identification of the affected population, completion of calculation and assurance activity, and approval of the proposed corrective approach. Revision of affected awards and notification of individuals commenced in January 2026.

We recognise that this situation may cause uncertainty for those affected and continue to provide comprehensive one-to-one welfare support from Veterans Services Welfare managers. Anyone who believes repayment may not be possible, or could cause financial hardship should contact the Ministry of Defence using the details provide in their letters.

Individuals can make a defence against recovery based on an assessment of their personal circumstances. Guidance on valid reasons for disputing repayment can be found in Managing Public Money - Annex 4.11. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money

Equinity is a sub-contractor of Sopra Steria and pays approximately 477,000 Armed Forces Pensions annually on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. 335 individuals were overpaid a total of £5.1 million, owing to National Insurance (NI) abatement calculation errors by the paying agent Equinity. This represents a small proportion of payments and are not reflective of the overall payment service provided.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) exercises oversight through established governance, contract management, assurance and audit arrangements. These include contractual performance monitoring, regular service reporting, quality assurance activity undertaken by the service providers, independent assurance reviews commissioned by the Authority, and external scrutiny through established audit processes. The Armed Forces Pension Scheme is also subject to review by the Government Internal Audit Agency and examination by the National Audit Office as part of wider governance, risk and assurance arrangements. Following identification of the National Insurance abatement issue, additional oversight arrangements were introduced to monitor corrective activity, review root causes, validate proposed corrections, track progress against remediation plans and strengthen preventative and detective controls designed to reduce the risk of similar issues arising in future.

The MOD first identified that there was a potential issue relating to the application of National Insurance abatements in November 2024. Further extensive work was subsequently undertaken to establish the full extent of the issue, determine the affected population and validate individual cases before corrective action could commence. Corrective activity commenced following identification of the affected population, completion of calculation and assurance activity, and approval of the proposed corrective approach. Revision of affected awards and notification of individuals commenced in January 2026.

We recognise that this situation may cause uncertainty for those affected and continue to provide comprehensive one-to-one welfare support from Veterans Services Welfare managers. Anyone who believes repayment may not be possible, or could cause financial hardship should contact the Ministry of Defence using the details provide in their letters.

Individuals can make a defence against recovery based on an assessment of their personal circumstances. Guidance on valid reasons for disputing repayment can be found in Managing Public Money - Annex 4.11. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money

Equinity is a sub-contractor of Sopra Steria and pays approximately 477,000 Armed Forces Pensions annually on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. 335 individuals were overpaid a total of £5.1 million, owing to National Insurance (NI) abatement calculation errors by the paying agent Equinity. This represents a small proportion of payments and are not reflective of the overall payment service provided.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) exercises oversight through established governance, contract management, assurance and audit arrangements. These include contractual performance monitoring, regular service reporting, quality assurance activity undertaken by the service providers, independent assurance reviews commissioned by the Authority, and external scrutiny through established audit processes. The Armed Forces Pension Scheme is also subject to review by the Government Internal Audit Agency and examination by the National Audit Office as part of wider governance, risk and assurance arrangements. Following identification of the National Insurance abatement issue, additional oversight arrangements were introduced to monitor corrective activity, review root causes, validate proposed corrections, track progress against remediation plans and strengthen preventative and detective controls designed to reduce the risk of similar issues arising in future.

The MOD first identified that there was a potential issue relating to the application of National Insurance abatements in November 2024. Further extensive work was subsequently undertaken to establish the full extent of the issue, determine the affected population and validate individual cases before corrective action could commence. Corrective activity commenced following identification of the affected population, completion of calculation and assurance activity, and approval of the proposed corrective approach. Revision of affected awards and notification of individuals commenced in January 2026.

We recognise that this situation may cause uncertainty for those affected and continue to provide comprehensive one-to-one welfare support from Veterans Services Welfare managers. Anyone who believes repayment may not be possible, or could cause financial hardship should contact the Ministry of Defence using the details provide in their letters.

Individuals can make a defence against recovery based on an assessment of their personal circumstances. Guidance on valid reasons for disputing repayment can be found in Managing Public Money - Annex 4.11. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money

Equinity is a sub-contractor of Sopra Steria and pays approximately 477,000 Armed Forces Pensions annually on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. 335 individuals were overpaid a total of £5.1 million, owing to National Insurance (NI) abatement calculation errors by the paying agent Equinity. This represents a small proportion of payments and are not reflective of the overall payment service provided.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) exercises oversight through established governance, contract management, assurance and audit arrangements. These include contractual performance monitoring, regular service reporting, quality assurance activity undertaken by the service providers, independent assurance reviews commissioned by the Authority, and external scrutiny through established audit processes. The Armed Forces Pension Scheme is also subject to review by the Government Internal Audit Agency and examination by the National Audit Office as part of wider governance, risk and assurance arrangements. Following identification of the National Insurance abatement issue, additional oversight arrangements were introduced to monitor corrective activity, review root causes, validate proposed corrections, track progress against remediation plans and strengthen preventative and detective controls designed to reduce the risk of similar issues arising in future.

The MOD first identified that there was a potential issue relating to the application of National Insurance abatements in November 2024. Further extensive work was subsequently undertaken to establish the full extent of the issue, determine the affected population and validate individual cases before corrective action could commence. Corrective activity commenced following identification of the affected population, completion of calculation and assurance activity, and approval of the proposed corrective approach. Revision of affected awards and notification of individuals commenced in January 2026.

We recognise that this situation may cause uncertainty for those affected and continue to provide comprehensive one-to-one welfare support from Veterans Services Welfare managers. Anyone who believes repayment may not be possible, or could cause financial hardship should contact the Ministry of Defence using the details provide in their letters.

Individuals can make a defence against recovery based on an assessment of their personal circumstances. Guidance on valid reasons for disputing repayment can be found in Managing Public Money - Annex 4.11. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money