Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to monitor (1) the level of political funding from companies and individuals associated with (a) the arms trade, (b) tobacco companies (c) private medical companies, (d) pharmaceutical companies, and (e) the financial sector, and (2) the percentage, individually and collectively, that funding by companies and individuals constitutes of the total amount of political spending.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Lawfully constituted UK companies may make permissible political donations. The Electoral Commission is responsible for regulating party financing. The Commission publishes information relating to donations and loans over £7,500, including the name of the donor and other appropriate such as their address and company registration number. Details are available online.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to respond to the findings of the Electoral Reform Society's report, Democracy in the Dark: Digital Campaigning in the 2019 General Election and Beyond, published on 24 September, and in particular, the finding that online campaigning spend and non-party campaigning activity increased significantly, although in an undocumented manner, during the 2019 general election campaign.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Government is taking forward a programme of work that will strengthen and update the UK’s electoral regulation to ensure it is fit for the modern age; provides a robust framework for campaign finance; and supports public confidence in our processes.
Political parties, registered third parties and candidates are already required to report expenses that qualify as electoral expenditure and this includes digital campaigning. We have launched a consultation on digital imprints which will require political parties, campaigners and others to clearly show who they are when promoting campaign content online.
Across all of this work the intention is to improve transparency to ensure voters can make informed choices, and to enforce spending rules.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the level of corporate debt in companies providing essential public services through outsourcing, and (2) any risks such outsourcing presents to the continuation of public services.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The private sector has a vital role to play in delivering good value, innovative, and high quality public services. We continue to regularly monitor the financial health of suppliers, including all of our strategic suppliers. Throughout these unprecedented times, suppliers have worked with Government to protect the delivery of vital public services and aid the response to the pandemic.
The Outsourcing Playbook, which was updated in June 2020, includes 11 key policy reforms which help government and industry work better together to deliver quality public services.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they have spent on paid for sponsored advertising in (1) the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, (2) the Times, (3) the Telegraph, (4) the Express, and (5) in total, since 23 March; what is their planned future spend for such advertising; and which department is responsible for overseeing such advertising and its cost.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Government has developed a strong national campaign to provide information and reassurance to the public about COVID-19. As part of this, we have utilised advertising in over 600 national, regional and local titles across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Cabinet Office is responsible for overseeing these advertising costs. Cabinet Office publishes expenditure, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling monthly basis on GOV.UK as part of routine government transparency arrangements.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they do not wish the UK to align with EU regulations on environmental standards and workers' rights at the end of the transition period when they have committed to maintain or go further than those regulations.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The UK is committed to high standards, and has led the way in areas such as workers’ rights and environmental protection.
After the transition period, which ends on 31 December 2020, the UK will choose its own standards and regulations. This is a fundamental right of a sovereign nation; our Government will uphold our high standards, not because of obligations to European institutions and courts but through our own free will and that of our democratically elected Parliament.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Evans of Bowes Park) on 3 February (HL Deb, col 1663), what is their timetable for COP26 negotiations.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Prime Minister demonstrated his focus on climate action on Tuesday 4 February 2020 by launching the COP26 Climate Summit. The text of the speech is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-at-cop-26-launch-4-february-2020
Regarding meetings of the Cabinet, it is a long established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not shared publicly.
The negotiations timetable for COP26 will be set by the UK, as President of COP26, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat. The timetable will be informed by the outcome of negotiations, including at the intersessional meeting in Bonn in June. Details of the timetable for high level and public events will be announced by the Government in due course.
The UK Government is working closely with the Scottish Government and with operational delivery partners, including Police Scotland and Glasgow City Council, to ensure the successful delivery of COP26 in Glasgow. The security plan for the COP26 venue will be jointly developed and agreed on by the United Nations security team and UK counterparts. Discussions with delivery partners regarding costs for COP26 are ongoing, and final budgets and details are yet to be confirmed.
The UK Government is committed to working with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive to deliver an ambitious and successful summit for the whole of the UK. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on GOV.UK
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they expect the COP26 venue to operate as one unit without internal security checks or other barriers for all its parts.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Prime Minister demonstrated his focus on climate action on Tuesday 4 February 2020 by launching the COP26 Climate Summit. The text of the speech is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-at-cop-26-launch-4-february-2020
Regarding meetings of the Cabinet, it is a long established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not shared publicly.
The negotiations timetable for COP26 will be set by the UK, as President of COP26, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat. The timetable will be informed by the outcome of negotiations, including at the intersessional meeting in Bonn in June. Details of the timetable for high level and public events will be announced by the Government in due course.
The UK Government is working closely with the Scottish Government and with operational delivery partners, including Police Scotland and Glasgow City Council, to ensure the successful delivery of COP26 in Glasgow. The security plan for the COP26 venue will be jointly developed and agreed on by the United Nations security team and UK counterparts. Discussions with delivery partners regarding costs for COP26 are ongoing, and final budgets and details are yet to be confirmed.
The UK Government is committed to working with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive to deliver an ambitious and successful summit for the whole of the UK. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on GOV.UK
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the First Minister of Scotland about COP26.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Prime Minister demonstrated his focus on climate action on Tuesday 4 February 2020 by launching the COP26 Climate Summit. The text of the speech is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-at-cop-26-launch-4-february-2020
Regarding meetings of the Cabinet, it is a long established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not shared publicly.
The negotiations timetable for COP26 will be set by the UK, as President of COP26, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat. The timetable will be informed by the outcome of negotiations, including at the intersessional meeting in Bonn in June. Details of the timetable for high level and public events will be announced by the Government in due course.
The UK Government is working closely with the Scottish Government and with operational delivery partners, including Police Scotland and Glasgow City Council, to ensure the successful delivery of COP26 in Glasgow. The security plan for the COP26 venue will be jointly developed and agreed on by the United Nations security team and UK counterparts. Discussions with delivery partners regarding costs for COP26 are ongoing, and final budgets and details are yet to be confirmed.
The UK Government is committed to working with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive to deliver an ambitious and successful summit for the whole of the UK. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on GOV.UK
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many times the Prime Minister has convened the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Climate Change; and when it will next meet.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Prime Minister demonstrated his focus on climate action on Tuesday 4 February 2020 by launching the COP26 Climate Summit. The text of the speech is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-at-cop-26-launch-4-february-2020
Regarding meetings of the Cabinet, it is a long established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not shared publicly.
The negotiations timetable for COP26 will be set by the UK, as President of COP26, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat. The timetable will be informed by the outcome of negotiations, including at the intersessional meeting in Bonn in June. Details of the timetable for high level and public events will be announced by the Government in due course.
The UK Government is working closely with the Scottish Government and with operational delivery partners, including Police Scotland and Glasgow City Council, to ensure the successful delivery of COP26 in Glasgow. The security plan for the COP26 venue will be jointly developed and agreed on by the United Nations security team and UK counterparts. Discussions with delivery partners regarding costs for COP26 are ongoing, and final budgets and details are yet to be confirmed.
The UK Government is committed to working with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive to deliver an ambitious and successful summit for the whole of the UK. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on GOV.UK
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to ensure that the Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission is unbiased, and perceived to be unbiased.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the noble Baroness to the answer I gave to PQ HL36 on 7 January 2020. Further details will be announced in due course.