Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 7 May (HL Deb cols 1637–1638), whether they have had contact with any Palestinian representatives, other than from Hamas, in their efforts to promote peace in the Middle East.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
A long-lasting ceasefire is the only credible pathway towards a sustainable peace, a two-state solution and the reconstruction of Gaza. The Government regularly engages with counterparts in the Palestinian Authority, the Palestine Liberation Organization and Fatah in support of this. The Foreign Secretary has engaged with President Abbas and Prime Minister Mustafa, including during Prime Minister Mustafa's visit to the UK on 28 April 2025. Minister Falconer also met Prime Minister Mustafa in Madrid on 25 May. An effective Palestinian Authority is vital for lasting peace and progress towards a two-state solution, and the UK has offered its support to the Palestinian Authority as it delivers much-needed reforms.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further the answer by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 29 April (HL Deb col 1188), whether the question of Palestinian children’s textbooks advocating violence was raised with Prime Minister Mustafa on his visit to the UK; and if not, when it will next be raised with the Palestinian Authority.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have a regular dialogue with both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Government of Israel in which we reiterate the need for both sides to prepare their populations for peaceful coexistence, including by promoting a more positive portrayal of one another to contribute to building the conditions needed for a peace. We continue to urge the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to avoid engaging in, or encouraging, any type of action and language that makes it more difficult to achieve a culture of peaceful coexistence and a negotiated solution to the conflict. Instead, we encourage promoting a more positive portrayal of one another to contribute to building the conditions needed for a peace. Our partnership with the PA includes a commitment from the Palestinian leadership to adhere to the principle of non-violence and to tackle language and actions that could incite violence or hatred. We have been clear that any incitement to hatred or violence in children's textbooks is unacceptable and has no place in education. The UK regularly raises this issue with the Palestinian Authority, including most recently at official level on the 9 May.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the first 100 days of their administration has resulted in good governance; and whether they intend to undertake an evaluation of those 100 days.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Good governance has been and continues to be integral to our administration as we deliver our Plan for Change.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether (1) the Prime Minister’s Office, or (2) the Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics Team, ask (a) a specific question on past criminal convictions, or (b) a generic question on potential activities in the past that might cause embarrassment for the Government, when vetting Ministers on appointment.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There is an established process in place for the appointment of ministers. Any conversations held take place in confidence. All ministers are expected to adhere to the high standards of conduct set out in the Ministerial Code.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024, published on 12 December 2024, and specifically to pages 21 and 69, which senior officials had use of the official car services contracted from the Government Car Service, other than the Cabinet Secretary.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government Car Service (GCS) offers vehicles to government departments as a shared resource. Each department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles in line with the Civil Service Management Code. For security reasons the details of specific allocations are not released.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 11 February (HL4630), whether the Treasury Permanent Secretary has been informed of the identity of the ultimate donors who are financing the donations from Labour Together to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are established processes in place for the declaration and management of private and financial interests held by ministers (as set out in the Ministerial Code). These have been followed.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (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 22 April (HL6565), how, if at all, the policy of salary transparency applies to transparency on (1) severance payments, and (2) cash equivalent transfer value pension amounts, with respect to (a) senior civil servants and (b) special advisers.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government financial reporting manual (FReM) is the technical accounting guide for the preparation of financial statements. The FReM sets out a number of transparency requirements when it comes to severance payments and cash equivalent transfer values specifically, which are separate from the salary transparency requirements.
For severance payments, departments are broadly required to report the number and value of compensation payments made under the terms of any approved compensation schemes, as well as certain detail on any special severance payments made. The FReM also provides that information about the cash equivalent transfer values at the start and end of the report year must be disclosed in relation to directors, together with the real increases.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the salary level or grade of seniority of a (1) permanent civil servant, (2) direct ministerial appointment, (3) public appointment and (4) special adviser at which there is a policy of public transparency on the individual public servant’s remuneration.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In the Civil Service, the Senior Civil Service (SCS) is subject to pay transparency arrangements. Departments publish the remuneration of their staff operating at Board level in their Annual Accounts (Remuneration and staff report). Departments also publish the salaries of their SCS staff in quarterly 'organograms' on GOV.UK.
The Cabinet Office also publishes an annual ‘high earner’ list of senior officials in departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies. The previous administration did not update this list prior to the General Election. The Cabinet Office will publish a new 2025 list in due course.
Below SCS, delegated grades are not subject to pay transparency arrangements as pay and grading below the SCS has been delegated to departments since 1996, and the publication of permanent civil servants’ remuneration within these grades is at the discretion of each organisation.
Direct ministerial appointees and public appointees are officeholders rather than employees, and do not have a grade of seniority. Most such roles are unremunerated. Where an individual role does attract remuneration, this would usually be made public either in the recruitment advertisement, when made via an open competition, or in the announcement of the appointed individual.
The salaries of special advisers earning equivalent to senior civil servants (£75,000 and above) are given in bands of £5,000 and are published in the Special Adviser Annual Report.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many mobile phones issued by the Department for Transport have been reported as (1) lost, and (2) stolen, by (a) the Department as a whole, and (b) ministerial private offices in the Department, since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The response below covers the central department (DfTc) and the five Executive Agencies: Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and Active Travel England (ATE).
Please note: DfT(c) handle all IT devices for Active Travel England (ATE) and so they are included in the returns for DfT(c). The figures provided for Private Offices are included in the central department’s returns, not in addition to.
Since 4th July 2024 | ||||||
Whole Department |
| Ministerial Private Offices | ||||
| Lost | Stolen |
|
| Lost | Stolen |
DfTc | 57 | 6 |
| DfT | 3 | 0 |
DVLA | 0 | 0 |
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|
|
DVSA | 15 | 1 |
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|
VCA | 0 | 1 |
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MCA | 4 | 0 |
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Total | 76 | 8 |
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Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much of the £63 billion of inward investment announced as a result of the International Investment Summit had been previously identified or announced.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The International Investment Summit resulted in £63 billion of private investment commitments. It will see billions of pounds flowing into our tech, digital, manufacturing and life sciences sectors, spurring growth in all four nations of the United Kingdom and creating almost 38,000 new jobs in the process.