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Written Question
History: Publications
Wednesday 28th June 2023

Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government when the last 10 Official History titles published by Routledge were commissioned by the Official History Programme.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

There are currently no Civil Servants allocated to the Official Histories Programme.

Works commissioned under the Official History Programme but not yet published are the fifth and final volume of the Official History of the Criminal Justice System and the second and final volume of the Official History of the Joint Intelligence Organisation.

It would not be possible to answer when titles were commissioned without disproportionate effort. However, this would have been well in excess of 10 years ago. We do not have any further prospective publishing dates at this time.

The Histories, Openness and Records Unit (HORU) was absorbed into the Knowledge and Information Management Unit (KIMU) in 2008. This is now known as the Cabinet Office Public Records and Archives (COPRA) Unit. The last Head of the Official History Programme retired from the Cabinet Office over 7 years ago.

The Government did not publish a response to the 2009 review of the Official History Programme led by Sir Joseph Pilling.


Written Question
History: Publications
Wednesday 28th June 2023

Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what its response was to the 2009 review of the Official History Programme led by Sir Joe Pilling.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

There are currently no Civil Servants allocated to the Official Histories Programme.

Works commissioned under the Official History Programme but not yet published are the fifth and final volume of the Official History of the Criminal Justice System and the second and final volume of the Official History of the Joint Intelligence Organisation.

It would not be possible to answer when titles were commissioned without disproportionate effort. However, this would have been well in excess of 10 years ago. We do not have any further prospective publishing dates at this time.

The Histories, Openness and Records Unit (HORU) was absorbed into the Knowledge and Information Management Unit (KIMU) in 2008. This is now known as the Cabinet Office Public Records and Archives (COPRA) Unit. The last Head of the Official History Programme retired from the Cabinet Office over 7 years ago.

The Government did not publish a response to the 2009 review of the Official History Programme led by Sir Joseph Pilling.


Written Question
History: Publications
Friday 2nd June 2023

Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether any new Official Histories have been commissioned since the publication of the Joe Pilling Review into the Official History Programme in 2008; and if so, what Official Histories have been commissioned and when.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office, as part of a consortium including the FCDO and MoD, has a non-exclusive contract with Taylor Francis, Routledge’s Parent Company, for the publication of Official Histories.

No new official histories have been commissioned since the Pilling Review and no histories of devolution or policy towards Yugoslavia have been commissioned.

The Official History Programme had a budget of £7,500 in 2016-17 but has not had a separate budget since then.


Written Question
Cabinet Office: Routledge
Friday 2nd June 2023

Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether Routledge has an exclusive right to publish Official Histories produced by the Official History Programme under its contract with the Cabinet Office.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office, as part of a consortium including the FCDO and MoD, has a non-exclusive contract with Taylor Francis, Routledge’s Parent Company, for the publication of Official Histories.

No new official histories have been commissioned since the Pilling Review and no histories of devolution or policy towards Yugoslavia have been commissioned.

The Official History Programme had a budget of £7,500 in 2016-17 but has not had a separate budget since then.


Written Question
Cabinet Office: Routledge
Friday 2nd June 2023

Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the contractual relationship between the Cabinet Office and the publisher, Routledge.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office, as part of a consortium including the FCDO and MoD, has a non-exclusive contract with Taylor Francis, Routledge’s Parent Company, for the publication of Official Histories.

No new official histories have been commissioned since the Pilling Review and no histories of devolution or policy towards Yugoslavia have been commissioned.

The Official History Programme had a budget of £7,500 in 2016-17 but has not had a separate budget since then.


Written Question
History: Yugoslavia
Friday 2nd June 2023

Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether Official Histories on ‘Devolution’ and ‘Policy towards the Former Yugoslavia’ have been commissioned.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office, as part of a consortium including the FCDO and MoD, has a non-exclusive contract with Taylor Francis, Routledge’s Parent Company, for the publication of Official Histories.

No new official histories have been commissioned since the Pilling Review and no histories of devolution or policy towards Yugoslavia have been commissioned.

The Official History Programme had a budget of £7,500 in 2016-17 but has not had a separate budget since then.


Written Question
History: Publications
Friday 2nd June 2023

Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total budget allocated by the Cabinet Office to the Official History Programme in each of the financial years: (1) 2016–17, (2) 2017–18, (3) 2018–19, (4) 2019–20, (5) 2020–21, and (6) 2021–22.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office, as part of a consortium including the FCDO and MoD, has a non-exclusive contract with Taylor Francis, Routledge’s Parent Company, for the publication of Official Histories.

No new official histories have been commissioned since the Pilling Review and no histories of devolution or policy towards Yugoslavia have been commissioned.

The Official History Programme had a budget of £7,500 in 2016-17 but has not had a separate budget since then.


Written Question
History: Publications
Friday 2nd June 2023

Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Official History Programme has its own budget.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office, as part of a consortium including the FCDO and MoD, has a non-exclusive contract with Taylor Francis, Routledge’s Parent Company, for the publication of Official Histories.

No new official histories have been commissioned since the Pilling Review and no histories of devolution or policy towards Yugoslavia have been commissioned.

The Official History Programme had a budget of £7,500 in 2016-17 but has not had a separate budget since then.


Written Question
Salah Hamouri
Wednesday 10th May 2023

Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to prevent Salah Hamouri, who was convicted in Israel in 2005 of plotting to murder a rabbi, from speaking at events in the UK.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office does not routinely comment on individual cases.

The Home Secretary has a range of powers and tools that can be used to prevent someone from entering to the UK on a case-by-case basis if it is assessed that they pose a threat to UK society.


Written Question
Schools: Blasphemy
Friday 28th April 2023

Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the new blasphemy guidance being developed by the Home Office and the Department for Education will be legally binding upon schools; how they are planning to make schools aware of their new responsibilities under that guidance; and how that guidance will be enforced.

Answered by Baroness Barran

In response to recent incidents, the Government has been clear that there is no blasphemy law in Great Britain. The Department has no plans to produce specific guidance on blasphemy for schools.

Head teachers are best placed to make the decisions on how to meet the needs of their pupils. In doing so, there are a range of considerations, supported by existing departmental guidance. This includes ensuring political impartiality and promoting respect and tolerance between people of different faiths and beliefs.