Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the risk to British–Iranian journalists in the United Kingdom after threats from the government of Iran, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in particular.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Whilst we do not routinely comment on operational matters or specific threats, Iran has been clear in its intentions, publicly calling for the capture or killing of those holding it to account, either in the UK or abroad. Since the start of 2022, Iran has attempted to carry out these threats on numerous occasions, with over 15 credible threats to kill or kidnap British or UK-based individuals.
The UK Government is committed to the promotion of media freedom and takes protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety very seriously. It is paramount that all media professionals are free to work without fear and journalists must be able to investigate and report independently.
We continually assess potential threats to individuals and take a proactive approach to identifying and investigating them. Wherever a threat is identified, we use all measures, including through the Police and security and intelligence services, to mitigate risk to individuals.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the timetable for the launch of the British ISA announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget Statement on 6 March.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Spring Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced the creation of a UK ISA. Alongside this, the Government published a consultation seeking responses on the policy design and implementation. The consultation closes on 6th June 2024, after which we will consider responses and next steps.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the quality of customer services provided by His Majesty's Revenue and Customers to taxpayers; and whether they will undertake a review or ask an independent third party to do so.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The quality of HMRC's customer service is regularly assessed by various bodies, including the Treasury Select Committee, National Audit Office, independent Adjudicator's Office, and Public Accounts Committee. HMRC also has internal customer surveys and key performance metrics to monitor its customer service objectives as outlined in the HMRC Charter.
HMRC Performance is published on a monthly and quarterly basis on GOV.UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to The Angiolini Inquiry: Part 1 Report published on 29 February, which territorial and national police forces outsource their recruitment vetting to other police forces or other law enforcement agencies.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
All Home Office (territorial) forces in England and Wales conduct their recruitment vetting internally.
This is also the case for all non-Home Office national police forces, aside from the Royal Military Police who are assisted by Warwickshire Police for vetting checks.
The Part 1 report of Angiolini’s Inquiry highlighted that in 2010, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary had outsourced its force vetting to Thames Valley Police. They now carry out their own recruitment vetting.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide an update on their Gov.uk 'One Login' programme; and what is the programme’s plan of work over the next year.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The GOV.UK One Login system is fully operational providing a simple and secure way for people to access government services online.
Users can create an account, login and prove (and then reuse) their identity - through either a web-based journey, smartphone app or in-person route - to access an initial set of 30 government services. This includes important services such as ‘Request a Disclosure and Barring Service Basic Check’ and ‘Apply for an HM Armed Forces Veteran Card’. More than 3.8 million people have so far proven their identity through GOV.UK One Login, while its app has been downloaded more than 5 million times. GOV.UK One Login’s customer contact centre and technical service desk are now live.
Further government services - from HMRC to DWP and DVLA - are due to come on board over the next year. GDS will also continue to optimise GOV.UK One Login’s user journeys, for example by broadening the range of documents and evidence that people can use to prove who they are online.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the number of ministerial directions made in each year since 2010 under the 'Managing Public Money' principles; and whether they will include a figure for unpublished or confidential ministerial directions.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Details of Ministerial Directions can be found on the GOV.UK website[1].
As set out in Managing Public Money, where confidentiality is required, the accounting officer will share the direction request and the direction itself with the chairs of the Committee of Public Accounts and the relevant departmental select committee, along with an explanation of the reasons for requiring confidentiality, and when they expect the need for confidentiality to fall away and publication to take place.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministerial-directions
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the central Government administrative estate has installed smart meters.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Within the Government Property Agency managed estate of 65 sites, 100% of these are confirmed to have smart meters installed. Data for other sites would need to be provided by the utility provider or by Departments managing those sites.
The transition to a more flexible energy system plays a vital role in decarbonising the Government office portfolio. Smart meters are one simple step on this journey and that is why one of the work streams identified for investment by Government Property Agency is the adoption of programmes to install smart meters and ensure automatic meter readings across their portfolios.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many designated smoking and vaping areas are currently located within the central Government administrative estate.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Within the Government Property Agency managed estate there are 6 designated smoking and vaping areas. These are at the following GPA locations:
10 South Colonnade
Whitechapel Building
70 Whitehall
Leicester
Stoke on Trent
Mold
These are either legacy arrangements or provided by the superior landlord for all tenants.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government to provide an update on the principles or guidelines that are currently in place for the design and execution of public consultations by central Government; and whether the Government holds a cross-departmental register of all consultations across departments and their public bodies.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The UK Government has a set of consultation principles which give guidance to government departments and other public bodies on the principles they should adopt for engaging with stakeholders on developing policy and legislation.
These principles encourage policy makers to consider what they are seeking to achieve through any consultation when determining when, with whom and how to consult. The guidance directs policy teams to design consultations on a case-by-case basis to best engage the cohorts of relevance to the subject of the consultation and gather the best possible information to assist with policy development. The consultation principles were last updated in 2018 and are published on gov.uk at the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consultation-principles-guidance
A list of policy papers and consultations is also published on gov.uk at the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/search/policy-papers-and-consultations
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent comments by the President and government of Argentina regarding the future status of the Falkland Islands.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to upholding the Falkland Islanders' right of self-determination: only they can decide their own future. As the Foreign Secretary made clear on his recent visit to the Falkland Islands, as long as the Islanders wish to remain part of the UK family, there can be no discussions on sovereignty. The UK looks forward to developing a strong and constructive relationship with Argentina where we can agree to disagree politely on the issue of the Falkland Islands, but restart mutually beneficial co-operation on areas of shared interest.