Asked by: Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many engagements the Prime Minister has undertaken in his capacity as Minister for the Union since the December 2019 general election.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
As Minister for the Union, all the engagements my Rt Hon friend the Prime Minister carries out are undertaken in that capacity. Details are published quarterly on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which minister of full Cabinet rank holds ministerial responsibility for the UK constitution.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the noble peer to the List of Ministerial Responsibilities, which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-ministers-and-responsibilities
As stated in that document, the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office has day to day oversight of constitutional affairs and efforts to maintain the integrity of the Union.
Asked by: Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of the funds allocated to Northern Ireland in support of the Confidence and Supply Agreement of June 2017 have been drawn down, broken down by category; what, if any, sums remain to be drawn down, broken down by category; and what is the schedule for the drawing down of any remaining funds, broken down by category.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The financial annex to the Confidence and Supply Agreement sets out the allocation of the £1 billion made available to Northern Ireland. This is available at:
£763 million of this funding has to date been allocated to the Northern Ireland Civil Service. Allocations by category are tabulated below.
Category | C&S commitment | Allocated |
Infrastructure | 400 | 400 |
Broadband | 150 | 3 |
Severe Deprivation | 100 | 40 |
Immediate pressures health and education | 100 | 100 |
Health Transformation | 200 | 200 |
Mental Health | 50 | 20 |
Total (£m) | 1000 | 763 |
Asked by: Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for transferring to the National Archives the post-1945 files from the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in the "AM" series.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
These records have been selected for permanent preservation but have been retained because they include reference material used in the formation of current legislation. The Knowledge and Information Management Unit will be carrying out a sensitivity review of these records and expects, before 2024, to begin transferring records that are no longer needed for this purpose.
Asked by: Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve leadership in the public services; and in particular whether they intend to establish the Centre for Public Services Leadership programme recommended by the Public Services Leadership Taskforce in October 2018.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Public Services Leadership Taskforce, chaired by Sir Gerry Grimstone, was commissioned in October 2017 to explore the challenges faced by public service leaders.
The Government has accepted the Taskforce recommendations in full and has committed £21m to a three-year pilot of a new Centre to support public service leaders, which will be named the National Leadership Centre. The Centre will launch in the coming months and will be the first of its kind in supporting senior public sector leaders in England to deliver world leading public services.
There are three strands to the Centre’s work to support public service leaders: a flagship leadership programme, open to around 100 senior leaders each year; a digitally-enabled network, open to over 1,000 leaders; and an ambitious research programme.
Asked by: Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to incorporate the Chilcot Checklist into the Cabinet Manual.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Chilcot Checklist is a guide to aid decision-making during planning and implementation, developed by Partners Across Government. It aligns with both military values and the Civil Service Code.
We will undertake an update of the Cabinet Manual once the UK has left the EU, and will determine at that time what revisions are necessary.
Asked by: Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Chilcot Checklist is being applied to the policy-making and decision-taking processes of the National Security Council and its sub-committees.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Advice to Ministers in support of NSC discussions is built around the elements of the Chilcot Checklist, covering UK interests & objectives; analysis; outlook (including best and worst case scenarios); and the UK’s contribution (including resourcing). The recent National Security Capability Review builds on this by introducing a new National Security Fusion Doctrine. The Fusion Doctrine creates a more accountable system to support collective Cabinet decision-making, and reinforces a Chilcot-compliant approach to strategies for NSC priorities.
In order to strengthen and systemise legal work in support of NSC decision-making, NSC(O)(Legal) was established in January 2017 to provide strategic oversight of the legal advice being developed and offer general legal support to NSC and NSC(O).
Asked by: Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to seek the consent of Her Majesty the Queen for a full decant of both Houses of Parliament.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
As a parliamentary programme, the delivery of the Restoration and Renewal (R&R) of the Palace of Westminster is a matter for both Houses of Parliament. I understand that the Queen’s consent may have to be sought in relation to the Bill to be brought forward in respect of R&R.
Asked by: Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many extended ministerial offices have been established in the home Civil Service; in which departments; how many are still in existence; and where.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
There are no longer any extended ministerial offices in existence. They were abolished in July 2016, when the current Prime Minister took office. Extended Ministerial Offices had previously been established in in the Cabinet Office, the Department for Communities and Local Government; the Department for Education, the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Scotland Office.
Asked by: Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
Her Majesty's Government whether there has been any review of the lessons learnt from the Iraq Inquiry; and if so, when they intend to publish that review.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Government has received the report of Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the Iraq Inquiry, and will be responding in due course, setting out the lessons learned.