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Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has now rejoined MPs to make a statement on the terms of reference for a government review into the rail industry.

The review was announced last month following criticism of the way the franchising model is run.

It is likely to examine how issues such as those faced by the East Coast Mainline franchise, which was brought back under government control in May - for the third time in a decade.

Passengers on other lines have also faced strikes and disruption due to new timetables.

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Liberal Democrat Baroness Harris of Richmond says it is "astonishing" how "little regard" was paid to the consequences of Brexit for Northern Ireland.

"Northern Ireland only works on the basis of sharing and interdependence. Yet Brexit, and in particular a hard Brexit, entails new divisions and friction", she tells peers.

"The consequences of Brexit for Northern Ireland are much more fundamental than a economic consideration...It is about the future cohesion of society. That is the real threat of Brexit."

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Labour's Madeleine Moon raises a constituency case of a family who have been "traumatised" by the difficulty of registering a death.

She says Bridgend Council had no problems with registering the death, but Lambeth Council, where the death happened, left the family upset because of how unhelpful they were.

Ms Leadsom encourages Ms Moon to seek an adjournment debate on the matter so that a minister can reply to her.

House of Lords
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The Lords now move onto a debate on the impact of Brexit on the Good Friday Agreement.

Opening the debate, Labour's Lord Dubs says the 1998 accord was "the one argument" to vote for remain, even for those that wanted to leave the European Union.

"That in itself was going to cause such enormous difficulties if we were to leave the EU. And so it has proved", he adds.

He says the agreement was unlikely to have happened if it were not for EU membership, and rejects the suggestion that technology can overcome issues at the Irish border.

He warns there is a risk of "two classes of people in Northern Ireland having different rights," as some people have Irish passports.

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Chair of the Backbench Business Committee Ian Mearns says the children's services debate needs to be rescheduled after being moved following time constraints on Tuesday.

"This is an extremely important topic which we must give time to at the earliest possible moment". he says. Andrea Leadsom replies that she will reschedule the debate as soon as possible.

Labour MP John Cryer says that universal credit should be debated during parliamentary time allocated to the government, not the opposition.

He asks for all discussions on this issue to take place in the main chamber.

Andrea Leadsom says universal credit "helps people get back into work", and she is "pleased" that a debate on such an important matter is taking place next week.

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Labour education spokesperson Lord Watson of Invergowrie asks what action ministers will take following concerns from a statistics watchdog about school funding claims.

Education minister Lord Agnew of Oulton says the education secretary has responded to the concerns in writing. He adds that the department is working to strengthen fact checking.

Lord Watson says this is the fourth letter sent to Education Secretary Damian Hinds on the use of statistics since he took the role.

"In an era of fake news and alternative facts...it's completely unacceptable in a government department", he says. He calls for the department to apologise.

The minister says he accepts that context needs to be made clearer with the use of statistics.

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Pete Wishart, the SNP's business spokesman in the Commons, asks what is happening with the Brexit plan now that Chequers has become "a silent word".

He asks the leader of the house how the debate on a Brexit plan will be framed when it happens in the Commons, and what the options will be for MPs to be involved.

Andrea Leadsom says "the SNP rather than the DUP have caused more harm to Brexit negotiations, which are still ongoing."

In terms of the format for a debate on the Brexit plan, the leader of the house says "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed."

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Labour peer Baroness Thornton asks what is being done to protect women's sexual and reproductive health services following the September 2018 findings of the Advisory Group on Contraception.

The group found that nearly 50 per cent of local authorities have reduced the level of contraceptive services delivered since 2015.

Health minister Lord O'Shaughnessy says the government has "mandated local authorities to commission competent sexual health services."

He says he recognises there are some pressures, and ministers will considering this in the health spending review.

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Conservative peer Lord Lexden asks about the possibility of an inquiry into Operation Conifer, an investigation into historic abuse allegations against Sir Edward Heath by Wiltshire Police.

The government has decided not to institute an independent inquiry into the two-year investigation.

Police say the former prime minister would have been questioned over sex abuse claims if he were alive when they came to light, but no inference of guilt should be drawn from this.

A chief constable has been accused of hiding information relating to an abuse probe on the case.

Government spokesperson Baroness Williams of Trafford says she understands the continuing interest into the issue, but says there are no grounds for the government to intervene.

Lord Lexden says it is "disgraceful" that nothing has been done, and there is widespread expressions of frustration amongst the Lords.

There are calls for the government to "stop turning a blind eye to these huge breaches of human rights."

"British justice is being trashed and we're witnesses to it", he adds.

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The Leader of the House, Andrea Leadsom now sets out the forthcoming business to MPs in the Business Statement.

She says there will be debates on universal credit and social care on opposition day next Wednesday.

On Thursday, there will be a debate on world menopausal day. She says she hopes this will follow the "fantastic and important debate" held on baby loss awareness earlier this week.

Shadow leader of the house, Valerie Vaz, presses the government for the Christmas and Easter dates.

"The government is making it up as they go along as they are in chaos," she says.

Both the leader and shadow leader of the house suggest a prominent memorial should be erected to commemorate PC Keith Palmer who lost his life in the Westminster terror attack last year.

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Conservative MP Philip Hollobone says 900 British citizens have gone abroad to become foreign fighters, adding that "180 of them have been killed, 360 have returned, and the rest remain at large".

He asks why ministers are not stripping such individuals of their citizenship and not allowing them back into the country. He suggests if they are allowed back in, they should be tried for treason.

Security Minister Ben Wallace says "the safety of British citizens is paramount," and that the government is monitoring the terror suspects carefully.

"It is the policy of this government to seek justice for the victims", he adds.

The minister says there was not enough evidence in the case of the two individuals mentioned to try them in the UK, which is why mutual legal assistance with the US is taking place.

"If they were in this country, we would have much more powers to try them here and gain more information."

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The House of Lords begin their day with oral questions - the first is from Liberal Democrat Lord Chidgey, on the political situation in Sudan and the country's relations with the United States.

Government spokesperson Baroness Goldie says the government of Sudan must fulfill its obligation to support those in Darfur, and the government is encouraging them to undergo political reform.

She adds that the government is supporting efforts for the country to be removed from the United States terrorism list.

Lord Chidgey asks for the government to act to prevent refugees in Darfur "from being abandoned yet again."

He says pressure must be put on President Bashir to listen to the Sudanese people and stand down.

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Security Minister Ben Wallace says the government's "long-standing" policy on the death penalty "has not changed".

"We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle, regardless of nationality", he tells MPs.

Decisions to provide justice assistance to authorities overseas are taken in accordance with guidance introduced in 2011, he says.

Chris Bryant says the minister's reply was "sententious guff" which has nothing to do with his question.

He says that previously the UK would "seek assurances in every case" that suspects will not face the death penalty before co-operating with a foreign jurisdiction that applies it.

He adds that he suspects ministers "got the collywobbles" in the face of American opposition to such demands in this case, and secretly changed the previous policy without telling MPs.

Ben Wallace dismisses the accusation as a "Jackanory narrative".

It is not true to say the UK has sought assurances in every previous case, he says, adding that there were "strong reasons" not to do so in this instance.

Now we move on to the second urgent question on foreign fighters and the death penalty, asked by Labour MP Chris Bryant.

In July it was revealed that the UK would not oppose the use of the death penalty if two alleged members of Islamic State group are extradited to the US.

Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, from west London, were captured in Syria in January and have been stripped of their British citizenship.

An agreement from the Home Office to provide evidence to US prosecutors faces a legal challenge from Elsheikh's mother.

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SNP's Martyn Day asks how much of the student loan book the minister intends to sell off, and what long-term benefit this will achieve for the taxpayer.

Sam Gyimah, Education Minister, says the government is "trying to capture an income stream today that it will gather over 25-30 years," adding: "it is an efficient way to manage the student loan book."

Labour MP Barry Sheerman asks if students, many of whom have £50,000 worth of debt, should be extremely worried about what is happening to their debts.

Sam Gyimah assures Mr Sheerman that no data of any individuals will be passed on, and private companies cannot chase individuals for payments.

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Education minister Sam Gyimah says the sale of loans will "categorically not result in private investors setting the terms or offering the collection of payments."

He adds that government policies towards student finance are "not being altered by this sale."

Ms Rayner accuses ministers of having "snuck out" plans to sell the student loan book, and asks for further detail.

She questions how low the share price would have to fall before ministers would decide the sell-off of loans was "not worth it".

"How much public money do we have to lose before education ministers start learning their own lessons?", she asks.

Mr Gyimah says he objects to the suggestion the sale was "snuck" out by the government. He says the sell-off of loan books has regularly occured over the last two decades and "this is not new".

He says future student loan sale decisions will "ultimately depend on market conditions."

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Shadow education secretary, Angela Ryaner, now asks an urgent question on the sale of the student loan book.

In 2017, the government started the process of selling more student loan debt to the private financial sector.

It announced that loans made to students in England between 2002 and 2006 would be put up for sale - to be followed by other pre-2012 loans - with the aim of raising £12bn.

The Conservative party now plans to proceed with a second sale of part of the student loan book.

Angela Rayner says the last time the government sold off a slice of the student loan book, it lost hundreds of millions of pounds, and suggests they ministers learnt nothing from this.

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Labour MP Jim Cunningham says there has been a number of incidents between black cab drivers and Uber drivers in his constituency.

He asks when the government will introduce legislation on taxi and private hire vehicle licenses.

Transport minister Nusrat Ghani says the task group on this "only made their report available over the summer".

She adds that she will be evaluating the recommendations and "putting forward my judgement and statement shortly."

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SNP's Martyn Day asks whether the transport secretary can guarantee regional airports will not be forgotten about in the expansion of London airports, and asks what increased transport links will be created between the two.

Chris Grayling replies that "regional airports will be given designated slots in the expansion of Heathrow", and that "these spots will be safeguarded."

"Better connections between regional UK airports and London are a crucial part of the expansion of Heathrow Airport", he adds.

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Labour MP Justin Madders asks what steps are being taken to reduce sexual assaults on the railways, with shadow transport minister Rachel Maskell suggesting there has been a 167% increase in sexual crimes on trains since 2012.

Jo Johnson says the government is addressing this with Project Guardian - a reporting initiative launched in 2013.

He adds that ministers have made reporting easier and have created a "discreet texting service" to report crimes. He says this has encouraged greater reporting.

He says the opposition is wrong to suggest guards are being removed from trains, which he says is "misleading".

Ms Maskell then asks why the minister supports removing guards from trains.

He says trains are now safer than they were a decade ago, but they want crime to reduce further. He says they want "more staff on railways, not fewer."