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Written Question
House of Lords: Public Appointments
Monday 14th July 2025

Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Baroness Smith of Basildon on 19 June (HLWS717) on nominations to the House of Lords, what consultations took place with the House of Lords Appointments Commission and other relevant bodies prior to the statement.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal

The Government is grateful for the work of the House of Lords Appointments Commission in nominating individuals to the crossbenches and vetting all candidates for appointment to the House of Lords for propriety.

The written statement set out how the Prime Minister will approach appointments to the House of Lords and reflects the existing roles and responsibilities of all parties in the appointments system, including the Prime Minister, the Commission and party leaders.


Written Question
House of Lords: Public Appointments
Monday 14th July 2025

Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Baroness Smith of Basildon on 19 June (HLWS717) on nominations to the House of Lords, what is the limit on the number of recommendations they will make directly each year of candidates to sit as crossbench peers.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal

It is established practice that the Prime Minister can appoint individuals with a record of service to the public to the crossbenches. As set out in the written statement, the Prime Minister will continue to make a limited number of appointments via this route.

The number of appointments to the House of Lords is a matter for the Prime Minister and any future appointments will be announced in the normal way.


Written Question
House of Lords Appointments Commission: Public Appointments
Monday 2nd June 2025

Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (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 14 May (HL7117), when they plan to conclude their review of membership of the House of Lords Appointments Commission and by what date a full complement of members will be in place.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal

There is an ongoing recruitment campaign to appoint two independent members to the Commission. Ministers are in the process of considering the next steps for this campaign and updates will be made in due course.


Written Question
Legislation
Wednesday 9th April 2025

Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government which Acts of Parliament are undergoing post-legislative review by Government departments.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

This information is not held centrally. All bills that have reached Royal Assent are eligible for post-legislative scrutiny three to five years after they are enacted, though it is open to the department and relevant Commons departmental select committee to agree that a memorandum is not required.

Post-legislative scrutiny memoranda have been published on GOV.UK where bills have undergone the process. In addition, the Lords Special Inquiry Committee appointed to carry out post-legislative scrutiny on specific Acts publishes information on its inquiries on parliament.uk.


Written Question
Parliamentary Scrutiny
Monday 10th February 2025

Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Hanson of Flint on 22 January (HLWS374), what plans they have to encourage other Departments to emulate the Home Office in (1) undertaking detailed post-legislative scrutiny of Acts, (2) engaging with key government and operational stakeholders, and (3) in making written statements when memoranda are produced and laid as Command Papers.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Cabinet Office has written to departments reminding them of the importance of post-legislative scrutiny.

It is a matter for each department to determine whether a written statement should accompany publication, and which stakeholders to engage when conducting post-legislative scrutiny.

While all bills that have reached Royal Assent are eligible for post-legislative scrutiny, it can be agreed between the department and the relevant Commons departmental select committee that a memorandum is not required.


Written Question
Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010
Friday 10th January 2025

Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what mechanisms they have introduced to monitor compliance by each government department with section 3(6) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Civil Service Code sets out the responsibility of civil servants to advise ministers in accordance with section 3(6) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. The Government takes seriously its commitment to uphold and support our constitutional arrangements including the conventions which underpin the relationship between Government and Parliament. The Leaders of both Houses are responsible for representing the interests of Parliament in Government and ensuring that the customs and principles that make Parliament unique are properly represented. The Parliamentary Capability Team provides training for civil servants which emphasises the importance of these constitutional principles. Each Government department has a parliamentary team which works with civil servants to give advice on how parliament works.


Written Question
Legislation
Monday 12th August 2024

Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that Acts of Parliament are subject to post-legislative review by sponsoring government departments three to five years after enactment.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

It continues to be Government policy that all bills that have reached Royal Assent are eligible for post-legislative scrutiny three to five years after enactment. It can be agreed between the department and the relevant Commons select committee that a review is not required. Post-legislative scrutiny memoranda have been published on GOV.UK where Acts have undergone the process.


Written Question
British Constitution
Monday 4th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 13 September 2023 (HL10154), what steps the Deputy Prime Minister has taken to ensure that senior ministers are aware of, and have regard to, the core principles of the UK constitution, and what consultation there has been with the Lord Chancellor to ensure that the rule of law is upheld.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)

As set out in the Ministerial Code, there is an overarching duty on all ministers to comply with the law. Ministers are personally responsible for deciding how to conduct themselves in light of the Code.


Written Question
Inquiries
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 8 February (HL1937), whether they will list the 19 non-statutory and 23 statutory inquiries established under the Inquiries Act 2005, along with the (1) length, (2), cost, and (3) sponsoring department, for each of those inquiries.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)

The Cabinet Office collects data on the duration and cost of inquiries from departments, inquiries’ own reports, and other publicly available information.

We have provided details on all statutory and non-statutory inquiries established since 2005 in the table below.

In some cases, information in the table below has come from reports from outside the Government. We have not included the costs for ongoing inquiries, which are published at different frequencies on inquiry or departmental websites, and we have not included the details for any investigations commissioned by NHS England (some of which were counted in the total number of non-statutory inquiries in our previous response, answered on 8th February 2024, UIN HL1937). It has been noted where the publicly available information provides the cost excluding VAT.

Inquiry

Sponsor Department

Legislative Basis

Year established

Duration in months (from announcement to publication of final report)

Reported final costs where publicly available

Jalal Uddin Inquiry

HO

Inquiries Act 2005

2023

Ongoing

-

Cranston Inquiry

DfT

Non-statutory

2023

Ongoing

-

Andrew Malkinson Inquiry

MoJ

Non-statutory

2023

Ongoing

-

Thirlwall Inquiry

DHSC

Inquiries Act 2005

2023

Ongoing

-

Inquiry into the preventability of the Omagh bombing

NIO

Inquiries Act 2005

2023

Ongoing

-

Independent inquiry relating to Afghanistan

Ministry of Defence

Inquiries Act 2005

2022

Ongoing

-

Dawn Sturgess Inquiry

HO

Inquiries Act 2005

2022

Ongoing

-

Fuller Inquiry

DHSC

Non-statutory

2022

Ongoing

-

Angiolini Inquiry

HO

Non-statutory

2022

Ongoing

-

UK Covid-19 Inquiry

Cabinet Office

Inquiries Act 2005

2022

Ongoing

-

Lampard Inquiry

DHSC

Inquiries Act 2005

2021

Ongoing

-

Jermaine Baker inquiry

HO

Inquiries Act 2005

2020

29

£4.1m

Post Office Horizon IT inquiry

DBT

Inquiries Act 2005

2020

Ongoing

-

Manchester Arena inquiry

HO

Inquiries Act 2005

2019

41

£35.6m

Brook House Inquiry

HO

Inquiries Act 2005

2019

46

£18.7m

The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review

Department of Health

Non-statutory

2018

29

£1.7m

Independent Inquiry into the issues raised by Ian Paterson

Department of Health

Non-statutory

2018

26

£1.9m

Grenfell Tower Inquiry

Cabinet Office

Inquiries Act 2005

2017

Ongoing

-

Infected Blood Inquiry

Cabinet Office

Inquiries Act 2005

2017

Ongoing

-

Independent inquiry into the award of the Magnox decommissioning contract by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and its subsequent termination

BEIS

Non-statutory

2017

48

[unknown]

Anthony Grainger Inquiry

HO

Inquiries Act 2005

2016

40

£2.6m

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

HO

Inquiries Act 2005

2015

99

£192.7m (as of Dec 2022)

Undercover Policing Inquiry

HO

Inquiries Act 2005

2015

Ongoing

-

Gosport Independent Panel

Department of Health

Non-statutory

2014

42

£13m

The Litvinenko Inquiry

HO, FCO and 3 x Intelligence Agencies

Inquiries Act 2005

2014

18

£2.4m (exc. VAT)

Harris Review / Independent review of self-inflicted deaths of young adults in custody aged between 18 and 24

MoJ

Non-statutory

2014

17

£0.2m

The Morecambe Bay Maternity and Neonatal Services Investigation

Department of Health

Non-statutory

2013

18

£1.1m

Daniel Morgan Independent Panel

HO

Non-statutory

2013

97

£17.6m

The Leveson Inquiry

DCMS and HO

Inquiries Act 2005

2011

16

£5.4m

The Azelle Rodney Inquiry

MoJ

Inquiries Act 2005

2010

40

£2.6m

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Inquiry 2013 / The Francis Inquiry

Department of Health

Inquiries Act 2005

2010

36

£13.7m

The Detainee Inquiry

Cabinet Office

Non-statutory (Committee of Privy Counsellors)

2010

45

£2.3m (exc. VAT)

The Hillsborough Independent Panel

HO

Non-statutory

2009

33

Less than £5m

The Al Sweady Inquiry

MoD

Inquiries Act 2005

2009

61

£24.9m (exc. VAT)

Independent Inquiry into care provided by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust January 2001 – March 2009

Department of Health

Non-statutory

2009

7

-

The Iraq Inquiry / The Chilcot Inquiry

Cabinet Office, FCO, DfID

Non-statutory (Committee of Privy Counsellors)

2009

85

£13.1m

The Bernard (Sonny) Lodge Inquiry

MoJ

Inquiries Act 2005

2009

10

£0.4m

The Baha Mousa Inquiry

MoD

Inquiries Act 2005

2008

39

£13m

Inquiry into Human Tissue Analysis in UK Nuclear Facilities / Redfern Inquiry

DTI - BERR - DECC

Non-statutory

2007

43

-

Contaminated Blood and Blood Products Inquiry

Department of Health

Non-statutory

2007

48

£75k


Written Question
Inquiries
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many statutory and non-statutory inquiries they have undertaken since 2005, and what were their (1) length, (2) cost, (3) sponsoring department, and (4) subject matter.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)

Since 2005, our records show that His Majesty’s Government has established 19 non statutory inquiries and 23 statutory inquiries under the Inquiries Act 2005 on a broad range of subject matters. 28 of the total 42 inquiries have been completed. Several of these statutory inquiries had previously been established as non statutory inquiries or inquests. The length of completed inquiries in this period ranges from 7 to 99 months and published costs vary significantly from between £0.2m and £194m. Most Whitehall departments have sponsored public inquiries. Further information can be found on inquiry and departmental websites and in the National Archives.