Found: Letter from Lord Strathclyde, Chair of the Constitution Committee to Baroness Taylor of Stevenage, Parliamentary

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 17 March (HL Deb cols 757–758) that “it is not true that commissioners are blocking a viable deal”, whether they will confirm that those commissioners last year blocked a deal that had been reached between the chief executive of Birmingham Council and the Unite union to end the industrial dispute between the council and refuse workers, and if so, what steps they will take to clarify that point publicly.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

We have been clear that the government is not a party to the ongoing waste dispute, and this is a local matter that the relevant parties must resolve. Like all authorities, Birmingham City Council has legal duties with which its statutory officers must ensure compliance, including in relation to equal pay and the ongoing waste dispute. Throughout the all-out strike, Commissioners have consistently outlined that any resolution to the dispute must be lawful, must represent value for money and must not exacerbate unfairness relating to equal pay. Commissioners have also set out that any possible agreement with Unite must be approved through the Council's formal processes.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 16 March (HL Deb col 732), what steps, if any, they plan to take to ensure that university leaders who fail to take action to combat antisemitism are held accountable.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The E6 condition of registration, introduced by the Office for Students (OfS) on 1 August last year, requires registered higher education providers to have strong policies to prevent and address harassment, including antisemitic abuse. The government expects universities to comply fully with E6 and the OfS has powers to act where institutions breach this condition of registration.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 9 March (HL14751), and the remarks by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 5 March (HL Deb col 585GC), what steps they are taking to ensure that departments are resourced to meet their legal duty to keep under review the question of when uncommenced legislation should be brought into force.

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.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 4 March (HL Deb col 1269), whether Commonwealth citizens who do not also hold British nationality are subject to any qualifying period before they are entitled to vote in UK elections.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Qualifying Commonwealth citizens are entitled to register as Parliamentary and as local government electors provided that on the relevant date, they also fulfil the age and residence requirements for such registration and are not subject to any other legal incapacity. A ‘qualifying Commonwealth citizen’ is defined as one who has leave to remain in the UK or does not require it. To register in a particular area, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen must meet the same residency requirements as any other person seeking to register. There is no additional qualifying period in electoral law; if a Commonwealth citizen has been granted leave to remain, or does not require it, they are entitled to register to vote subject to the conditions above.

Found: Neil Sachdev Chair of HM Land Registry Board Baroness Taylor of Stevenage Parliamentary Under- Secretary