Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any reasons for the 2.8 per cent take-up of His Majesty The King’s Portrait Scheme by hospitals.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
His Majesty The King’s free Portrait Scheme was a voluntary programme offering a free, framed portrait of The King to any eligible public institution that requested one.
The Cabinet Office did not require public bodies and institutions to ‘opt out’ of the scheme, and therefore the reasons for not applying for His Majesty's Official Portrait were not requested and so are not recorded.
Following the conclusion of the scheme, a breakdown of the take up, including percentage take-up figures was published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the Cabinet Office press release, Conclusion of His Majesty The King’s free Portrait Scheme, published on 28 November 2024, and the Social Cohesion Action Plan, published on 9 March, whether they plan to open a second round of the scheme to promote integration by ensuring all public buildings have a portrait of the Sovereign.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
His Majesty The King’s free Portrait Scheme was a voluntary programme offering a free, framed portrait of The King to any eligible public institution that requested one. The scheme ran from November 2023 to August 2024.
There are no plans to reopen the scheme. For those wishing to purchase a portrait of His Majesty The King, it is now available from Royal Images.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average cost of (1) drafting a Government bill, and (2) its passage through Parliament.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The drafting and passage of a Government bill requires resource from a number of departmental teams including legal and policy officials as well as shared resource such as the Office of Parliamentary Counsel.
Each Government Bill requires a different amount of resource based on its size and complexity. The Guide to Making Legislation sets out that bill teams must be properly resourced, with a dedicated bill manager, separate to the policy team, in place to oversee progress from an early stage.
In addition, the passage of Government bills requires resource in both the House of Commons and House of Lords.
Government does not hold data on the average number of people required to, nor the cost of, producing and passing Government bills.
Asked by: Lord Borwick (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Acts of Parliament include provisions that have not yet been commenced by the relevant Secretary of State; how many uncommenced provisions there are in total; and what is the distribution of these uncommenced provisions across Government departments.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Each Government department is responsible for ensuring adequate resourcing to keep uncommenced legislation under review.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Prime Minister has met the City Remembrancer Paul Wright; and if so, on how many occasions.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Details of ministerial meetings are published on gov.uk as part of the government’s transparency publications.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office on 18 March (HC119335), and with regard to Ministers' overseas travel and meetings: Publication Guidance, published on 30 January 2025, why the Palantir meeting did not meet the threshold for inclusion in the Prime Minister's quarterly transparency return in line with paragraphs 3(a), 3(b) and 16 of that guidance.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Noble Lady to the answer given on 5 March, Official Report, PQ HC110411:
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2025 to Question 77563 on Palantir, whether there is a record of who the Prime Minister (a) met and (b) spoke to during that visit.
Answer: The visit was part of the Prime Minister's trip to Washington. During this visit the Prime Minister listened to a short presentation about Palantir’s work, followed by a tour of the premises and an introduction to members of staff.
In December 2025, the MOD signed an extension to the Enterprise Agreement with Palantir that had been initially awarded in November 2022, by the previous Government, and via a direct award. This extension covered existing services and ensured there was no drop-off in MOD capability in critical areas.
This contract - and all other contracts for any firm - go through the usual rigorous departmental processes and their decision makers.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 24 March (HL14079), whether it is still their intention to set up teams modelled on the Vaccine Taskforce to deliver Prime Ministerial priorities; and, if so, whether these teams will be subject to the new departmental accountability framework.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government is reforming the spending control and accountability framework in order to drive better value for money and enable the public sector to deliver the government’s priorities efficiently. This ultimately means better and faster outcomes for citizens. The reforms will reinforce accountability, enable the central government functions to focus more of their efforts on building capability, and be supported by open and collaborative ways of working. From 1 April, ‘delegated authority limits’ have increased across most of government and duplication in the approvals process has been removed.
Taskforces will be given the authority to exercise unique freedoms, including the freedom to get on with the job with prioritised business case approvals and increased delegated authority limits from the Treasury as appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 17 March 2026 (HL14055), what is (1) the Prime Minister’s Office, and (2) their definition of a “meeting”.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 5 March, Official Report, PQ HC110411:
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2025 to Question 77563 on Palantir, whether there is a record of who the Prime Minister (a) met and (b) spoke to during that visit.
Answer: The visit was part of the Prime Minister's trip to Washington. During this visit the Prime Minister listened to a short presentation about Palantir’s work, followed by a tour of the premises and an introduction to members of staff.
In December 2025, the MOD signed an extension to the Enterprise Agreement with Palantir that had been initially awarded in November 2022, by the previous Government, and via a direct award. This extension covered existing services and ensured there was no drop-off in MOD capability in critical areas.
This contract - and all other contracts for any firm - go through the usual rigorous departmental processes and their decision makers.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration the Cabinet Office's Propriety, Ethics and Constitution Group gave to interviewing Lord Mandelson before his appointment as ambassador to the USA; and whether the Group offered to undertake such an interview.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Hon Member to the Government's statement and release of information on 11th March which sets out the process of appointment and the steps the Government is taking to strengthen the process going forwards.
Asked by: Lord Borwick (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the process for informing a newly appointed Secretary of State about all of the Acts of Parliament within their purview containing provisions that have not yet been commenced.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
It is for each department to manage the process of inducting and briefing new ministers.