Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which members of His Majesty's Government are not in receipt of a ministerial salary.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The full list of ministers can be found on gov.uk at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministerial-appointments-november-2023
The ministers currently appointed who are not in receipt of a ministerial salary are: Richard Holden MP, Rt Hon John Glen MP, Baroness Nevile-Rolfe DBE CMG, Lord Ahmad, Rt Hon Lord Benyon, the Earl of Minto, Lord Bellamy KC, Rt Hon Sir John Whittingdale OBE MP, Andrew Griffith MP, Viscount Camrose, Lord Markham CBE, Rt Hon Earl Howe CBE, Lord Johnson CBE, Lord Offord of Garvel, Baroness Barran MBE, and Baroness Swinburne.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 21 September (HL9981), whether they will now answer the question put, namely, what has been the average tenure of office notwithstanding machinery of government changes, during the past 10 years, of (1) the Prime Minister, (2) the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and (3) the Secretary of State for (a) Foreign Affairs, (b) Home Affairs, (c) Education, (d) Health, (e) Defence, (f) Transport, (g) Culture, Media and Sport, (h) Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (i) Work and Pensions, (j) Northern Ireland, (k) Scotland, and (l) Wales.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office does not collate this data centrally. Notwithstanding, to assist the noble Lord’s scrutiny, a list has been compiled from public information. The 10 year period used is 4 October 2013 - 4 October 2023.
Where Ministers were in post on 4 October 2013, our calculations have used the start of their tenure, which may precede that date.
Minister | Average Tenure from 4/10/2013-4/10/2023 (Rounded to the nearest day) |
Prime Minister | 979 |
Chancellor of the Exchequer | 699 |
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | 699 |
Secretary of State for Home Affairs | 699 |
Secretary of State for Education | 489 |
Secretary of State for Health | 674 |
Secretary of State for Defence | 729 |
Secretary of State for Transport | 809 |
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport | 368 |
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 506 |
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions | 543 |
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | 578 |
Secretary of State for Scotland | 1219 |
Secretary of State for Wales | 674 |
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what has been the average tenure of office notwithstanding machinery of government changes, during the past 10 years, of (1) the Prime Minister, (2) the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and (3) the Secretary of State for (a) Foreign Affairs, (b) Home Affairs, (c) Education, (d) Health, (e) Defence, (f) Transport, (g) Culture, Media and Sport, (h) Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (i) Work and Pensions, (j) Northern Ireland, (k) Scotland, and (l) Wales.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office does not calculate the average tenure of ministerial office. However, details of ministerial office-holders are on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers. Details of the previous holders of each ministerial post dating back to 2010 are also available by selecting each ministerial role on this webpage, then 'previous holders’.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many private members’ bills starting in (1) the House of Commons, and (2) the House of Lords, have received Royal Assent since the 2019 general election.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Details on how many private members' bills starting in both the House of Commons and House of Lords from the 2019 General Election to the 2021-22 session are available on the Parliament website at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn04568/. In the current parliamentary session the following private members' bills have reached Royal Assent:
Bill title | House of introduction |
Ballot Secrecy Bill | Lords |
Carer’s Leave Bill | Commons |
Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Bill | Commons |
Co-operatives, Mutuals and Friendly Societies Bill | Commons |
Electricity Transmission (Compensation) Bill (formerly Electricity and Gas Transmission (Compensation) Bill) | Commons |
Employment (Allocation of Tips) Bill | Commons |
Mobile Homes (Pitch Fees) Bill | Commons |
Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill | Commons |
Offenders (Day of Release from Detention) Bill | Commons |
Pensions Dashboards (Prohibition of Indemnification) Bill | Commons |
Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill | Commons |
Shark Fins Bill | Commons |
Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Bill | Commons |
In addition, the following private members' bills are awaiting Royal Assent. These bills originated in the House of Commons:
Child Support (Enforcement) Bill
Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill
Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many life peers have been appointed on the advice of the former Prime Minster, Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP; and how these appointments were distributed between the following parliamentary groupings: (1) Conservative, (2) Labour, (3) Liberal Democrat, and (4) the Crossbenches.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Publicly available information shows that 87 peerages have been created on the advice of Rt Hon Boris Johnson. 44 of these were Conservative, 13 were Labour and 19 were Crossbench. Ultimately it is for the Prime Minister to recommend to the Sovereign which individuals ought to be appointed to the House of Lords.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 16 November (HL Deb col 888), how many additional Conservative peers they consider it will be necessary to appoint to ensure that the Conservative Party is not “underrepresented in the Lords”.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Appointments to the House of Lords are a matter for the Prime Minister to advise the Sovereign. There is a longstanding convention that the Leader of the Opposition may nominate political peers from, or representing, their own political party. Recent nomination lists include both government and opposition peers as well as cross bench and non-affiliated peers.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to require hereditary peers on the Register of Hereditary Peers to be subject to the same vetting procedures carried out by the House of Lords Appointments Commission to which new life peers are subject.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The House of Lords Appointments Commission recommends individuals for appointment as non-party-political life peers, and vets nominations for life peers, including those nominated by the UK political parties, to ensure the highest standards of propriety. There are no plans to amend the Commission’s remit.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether it is their policy to maintain the current party balance in the House of Lords, whereby the party of His Majesty’s Government has over 90 peers more than the Official Opposition.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Appointments to the House of Lords are a matter for the Prime Minister to advise the Sovereign. There is a longstanding convention that the Leader of the Opposition may nominate political peers from, or representing, their own political party. Recent nomination lists include both government and opposition peers as well as cross bench and non-affiliated peers.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government to list the peers who have been appointed to the House since 2010 to serve as ministers; and, in each case, how long the peer remained in ministerial office.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Life peers are appointed by Her Majesty the Queen to serve in the House of Lords for life, or until they retire from the House. Such peers may continue to provide public service long after they have ceased to be a Minister of the Crown – as the Noble Lord will, I am sure, attest himself.
The Government does not hold this information centrally.
Notwithstanding, to assist the Noble Lord’s scrutiny, the attached list of ministers who were appointed to the House of Lords within a month of appointment to Government has been compiled from information in the public domain. For completeness, we have provided information from 1997 to now.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ask the House of Lords Appointments Commission to vet the candidates who stand in the hereditary peer by-election to be held on 8 February.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
There are no plans for candidates who stand for election to hereditary seats in the House of Lords to be subject to vetting by the House of Lords Appointments Commission.