Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps were taken to inform members of the Privy Council that they had been unsuccessful in the ballot to attend the meeting of the Accession Council on the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Privy Counsellors who applied to enter the ballot to attend the meeting of the Accession Council and were unsuccessful were advised individually of the outcome by the Privy Council Office shortly after the ballot was conducted.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they have not answered a Question for Written Answer (HL4285) which was tabled in December 2022.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
There was a technical issue on the answering system WQA – HL4258 was renumbered as HL5062 because Table Office are unable to resolve this technical issue.
HL5062 was answered on 3 February 2023.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to send Challenger II tanks to assist the Government of Ukraine; how many shells will be provided that are suitable for a rifled barrel; and whether any other government has those shells available, given that Challenger II is the only battle tank within the NATO alliance that is capable of using this type of ammunition.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
As confirmed by the Secretary of State on 16 January 2023, the UK will send a squadron of 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, together with armoured recovery and repair vehicles. The gifting of these tanks is part of a significant new package of combat power to increase Ukraine's capabilities and accelerate Ukrainian success on the battlefield.
The UK will provide Ukraine with thousands of rounds of tank ammunition.
The UK is the only NATO nation which holds the required ammunition for Challenger 2.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Leader of the House why Written Questions HL2182 (tabled on 5 September), HL2307 and HL2308 (tabled on 8 September) have yet to be answered.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
As Leader of the House, I have stressed that I take my responsibility to ensure all Ministers provide full, timely and accurate responses to Questions for Written Answers (QWAs) very seriously.
Of the three QWAs mentioned in your question, all have now been answered. HL2182 was answered on the date you submitted this question, 8 November.
HL2307 and HL2308 were delayed due to the death of Her Majesty The Queen on 8 September and were subsequently answered within the 10 working day target on 28 September.
For more information on what we are doing to address late QWAs please see my previous response to you on 11 October (HL2274) and my answer to Lord Scriven (HL2615) on 27 October.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many members of the Privy Council were put into the ballot for the Accession Council on the death of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; and how many of those entered in the ballot received an invitation.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
All Privy Counsellors who were not eligible to attend the Accession Council on an ex officio basis were invited to apply by ballot for a summons to attend the Accession Council. The ballot was conducted on an annual basis and took place in April 2022. A total of 236 Privy Counsellors chose to apply this year; all of those who applied were entered into the ballot. Thirty summonses were available in this year’s ballot.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many members of the Privy Council were given an automatic invitation to the Accession Council on the death of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; and what criteria they used in choosing them.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
A total of 158 Privy Counsellors were eligible on an ex-officio basis to be summonsed to attend the Accession Council on 10th September 2022.
The criteria for ex-officio eligibility was based primarily on whether individuals were serving in a senior parliamentary, judicial or Church post at the time of Demise. Privy Counsellors selected using this criteria included the Great Offices and Great Officers of State; Cabinet ministers; the Leader of the Opposition; shadow Cabinet Ministers who are Privy Counsellors; the Archbishops of Canterbury and York; leaders of the political parties in the House of Commons; the First Ministers of the Devolved Governments; the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker; and representatives of the senior judiciary.
Former Prime Ministers, former Lord Presidents, former Archbishops, and Privy Counsellors who were formerly leaders of political parties in the House of Commons were also summonsed to attend on an ex-officio basis.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Leader of the House what plans he has to seek explanations from (1) the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and (2) the Home Office, concerning their failure to respond to Questions for Written Answer tabled in June and July, contrary to the convention that answers should be provided within 10 working days.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
As Leader of the House, I shall take my responsibility to ensure all Ministers provide full, timely and accurate responses to Questions for Written Answers (QWAs) very seriously.
On 7 September 2022 there were four overdue QWAs directed to the Home Office (HO), and one directed to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). As of 28 September 2022, the number of outstanding QWAs from June and July had reduced: the Home Office had two late answers and the FCDO had none.
My office contacted the FCDO who explained that a technical error prevented their response from being uploaded to the website by the deadline. They have confirmed that a response was issued on 20 July 2022 and a copy was sent via email to the Peer.
Similarly, the HO has confirmed their two outstanding QWAs were cleared on 11 July but due to a separate technical error, were not uploaded to the website. This issue is being investigated by the HO to prevent it reoccurring. The tabling Peer has been contacted.
As Leader, I will undertake to remind colleagues of the importance of answering QWAs within the 10 day target, as well as their obligation to the House and Parliament’s important role in scrutinising the Government. My office will continue to work closely with all Departments across Government, and, upon the House’s return, I will write to colleagues to ensure all Ministers in the House of Lords are aware of their duties and what is expected of them in fulfilling their duty to be accountable to your Lordships’ House.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Leader of the House when she last drew the attention of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries to the fact that several Departments have not answered Questions for Written Answer within ten working days; in particular (1) the Department of Health and Social Care, (2) the Home Office, and (3) the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Answered by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
As Leader of the House, I take my responsibility to ensure all Ministers provide full, timely and accurate responses to Questions for Written Answers (QWAs) very seriously.
I regularly remind Front Bench colleagues of their obligation to the House as stipulated in the Companion and of the importance of answering QWAs within the 10 day target. This has been raised regularly at Front Bench meetings and I have previously written to colleagues on the issue.
My office works closely with all departments across Government to ensure prompt responses to all QWAs. This is a process that has been followed with the Department of Health and Social Care, the Home Office, and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what constraints are imposed on ministers who receive no ministerial salary in relation to their capacity to receive non-Parliamentary income.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
All Ministers are subject to the Ministerial Code, which provides guidance to Ministers on how they should act and arrange their affairs in order to uphold the standards set out in the Code.
Under the terms of the Code, Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise.
Ministers are personally responsible for deciding how to act and conduct themselves in the light of the Code and for justifying their actions and conduct to Parliament and the public.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Leader of the House what assessment she has made of the delay in scheduling debates for Select Committee reports in the House of Lords; and what plans she has to provide for the scheduling of Select Committee report debates on Fridays when the House is not otherwise expected to sit.
Answered by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
We have debated 18 Select Committee reports so far this session, including most recently on 24 January. We have seen an increase in the number of committees, with the number of Sessional Committees doubling over the last decade and six new ones set up since 2020.
The Government Whips Office will continue to work closely with the Usual Channels and the Committee Office to schedule time for debate on reports as regularly as possible. This includes an additional Friday sitting on 25 February to debate committee reports.