Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 25 February, why the publication of the Civil Service diversity spending dataset is delayed, following the commitment made to publish the dataset in the Written Statement by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 14 May 2024 (HLWS462).
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The data from the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Expenditure Review will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 25 February (HL5027), whether the (1) Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, (2) Government Legal Department, and (3) Government Recruitment Service, are paid members or affiliates of Stonewall.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Neither the Government Legal Department nor the Government Recruitment Service are paid members or affiliates of Stonewall. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is independent of Government and we do not therefore hold information on any of its memberships or affiliations.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office on 22 October 2024 (HC8818), and further to the Written Statement by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 14 May 2024 (HLWS462), whether the equality, diversity and inclusion spending controls announced in that Written Statement apply to decisions by arm’s length bodies to use public funds to affiliate, or pay services, or renew subscriptions to Stonewall.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Expenditure Guidance applies to the Civil Service workforce. That includes arm’s-length bodies that fall within the Civil Service. Affiliations, services or subscriptions to external organisations fall within the scope of external EDI expenditure, as set out in paragraph 7 of the guidance.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office on 7 February (HC27716), what is the timetable for publishing the diversity dataset from the Civil Service equality, diversity and inclusion review; and why it cannot yet be published.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The data from the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Expenditure Review will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the European Commission on what action it is taking against member states who have failed to issue, in a timely fashion or at all, necessary documentation to UK citizens residing in the EU.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government engages with the European Commission and Member States on a range of issues relating to the rights of British nationals in the EU, including the issuing of documentation to UK citizens residing in the EU. We have consistently raised, both bilaterally with individual Member States and with the European Commission, the need to improve the speed at which documentation is issued in certain Member States. We also raise this issue through the structures created under the Withdrawal Agreement, such as the Specialised Committee on Citizens' Rights. We will raise this issue again at the upcoming Specialised Committee on Citizens' Rights on 14 November.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what infringement proceedings against the United Kingdom by the European Commission are ongoing in respect of citizens’ rights and freedom of movement; and whether they intend to report to Parliament on these proceedings, and if so, how.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There are currently no infringement cases against the UK before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
In 2020, the European Commission launched infringement case INFR (2020)2202 against the UK. The case concerns the implementation of aspects of the Free Movement Directive into UK law while the UK was an EU Member State and during the transition period.
The proceedings are ongoing, and on 25 October, the UK Government responded to a Reasoned Opinion which had been issued by the European Commission on 25 July.
There are no immediate plans to report to Parliament on these proceedings but this will be kept under review.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the (1) Cabinet Office Government People Group, and (2) Government Equalities Office, has a list of banned words and phrases.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government has no such list. The Government uses terms which are designed to be inclusive, easy to understand and accessible to everyone.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much network time, in terms of working hours and full-time equivalent, is given to the Civil Service LGBT+ Network.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Allocation of working time spent on cross-government staff networks is an agreement between the staff network volunteers and their departments as employers.
The majority of staff time spent on the Civil Service LGBT+ Network is voluntary and unpaid.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to respond to the findings of the Inclusion at Work Panel report, published by the Cabinet Office, especially as it relates to diversity and inclusion interventions in Government departments.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
Following the publication of this report on 20th March, the Civil Service will consider the recommendations as part of our strategic focus as outlined in the Civil Service Diversity & Inclusion Strategy, Civil Service People Plan and commitments to Government Reform.
The Civil Service Diversity & Inclusion Strategy, published in February 2022, places a focus on being data-driven, evidence-led and delivery focussed emphasising the need to take an evaluative approach.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what legal costs they have incurred to date as a result of their decision to seek a judicial review on the application of the Inquiries Act 2005 to the Covid-19 Inquiry.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
We do not yet have a figure for the costs incurred. We brought this judicial review to seek clarification on a point of law and we are pleased that the Court agreed that there was an important legal question to consider.
It acknowledged our concerns over respecting the privacy of individuals and ensuring that completely irrelevant information is returned and not retained.