Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the (1) cost of, and (2) justification for, the cladding covering the scaffolding on the headquarters of MI5, Thames House; and what plans they have to recycle the cladding materials once the work on Thames House is complete.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
As has been the policy of successive governments, the government does not comment on matters relating to the intelligence agencies including the security of their buildings. The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament scrutinises the policies, expenditure, administration and operations of the intelligence agencies on behalf of Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which countries in the G20 (1) include, and (2) do not include, the number of unemployed in their calculations of productivity.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply and I will place a copy of their letter in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which (1) business, (2) industrial, and (3) public, sectors top the national statistics for productivity; and what percentage each one is of the whole.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply and I will place a copy of their letter in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why the question for written answer on whether they have any plans to commemorate in October the many millions who have died since the October Revolution 1917 which was asked on 13 July (HL791) has not yet been answered; and when they expect to answer that question.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
I refer my noble Friend to the answer I gave on the 14th September 2017.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to commemorate in October the many millions who have died, since the October Revolution 1917, as a result of the actions of the governments of the USSR, the National Socialist government of Germany, the Communist Party of China, the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic, the Republic of Cuba, the People's Republic of Angola, the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and other countries which established governments founded on Marxist-socialist principles.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
There are currently no such plans.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultations took place before the Government Digital Service changed its style guide to exclude the use of words such as eg, ie and etc.
Answered by Baroness Mobarik
Contrary to some reports in the media, the use of Latin has not been banned on GOV.UK.
Rather, the Government Digital Service style guide champions plain English, but also considers how the GOV.UK website can be more accessible to those with disabilities.
As an illustration, researchers have observed that screen reading software used by some people with visual impairments reads ‘eg’ aloud as ‘egg’. Consequently, the guidance suggests alternative words such as ‘for example’ or ‘such as’ - depending on the specific context.
If I may re-assure the noble peer: Caesar non supra grammaticos.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the costs of Larry the 10 Downing Street cat's veterinary treatment in July were met by donations from staff, and whether they plan to refund those staff.
Answered by Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
The costs were met by staff through voluntary staff donations due to their affection for Larry. There was no compulsion to donate and no refunds have been requested. The remaining funds will contribute towards the future upkeep of the Chief Mouser.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many civil servants, and of what rank, work in EU units or sub-departments within all UK Government ministerial departments.
Answered by Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
The Department for Exiting the European Union has responsibility for overseeing preparations for the withdrawal of the UK from the EU and conducting these withdrawal negotiations in support of the Prime Minister. In doing this it is working very closely with other government departments.
Workforce planning is primarily the responsibility of each individual department to determine and therefore the information requested is not held centrally.
The Civil Service constantly reviews its capabilities in order to deliver the Government’s agenda and following the EU referendum decision it is critical for the Civil Service to ensure it has the right skills and capabilities to deliver its manifesto commitments and consider all the implications of the EU exit.
Cabinet Office is working with all departments across the Civil Service to better understand their resourcing requirements following the decision to exit the EU.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which ministers have official ministerial Twitter accounts; and whether they have plans to close those accounts.
Answered by Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
Civil servants manage departmental social media accounts, but not individual MP Twitter handles.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the remarks by the Prime Minister on 9 May regarding the “risk” to “peace and stability on our continent” should the UK vote to leave the EU, what contingency plans they are preparing for deploying Army Reserves.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
In his speech on 9 May, the Prime Minister was clear that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off by remaining a member of the EU. If the UK were to leave the EU, the withdrawal negotiation would need to address a wide range of difficult issues, including co-operation on foreign policy.