Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which Cabinet minister has overall responsibility for constitutional issues.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Prime Minister has overall responsibility for constitutional issues. How responsibilities across government are allocated and how the Prime Minister is supported in the discharge of responsibilities is set out in the List of Ministerial Responsibilities, the last version of which was published on 3 March 2022.
Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Acts of Parliament enacted in the 2010–15 and 2015–17 Parliaments and eligible for post-legislative review by Government departments have not yet been the subject of such review; and what plans they have to increase the number that are reviewed.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
There is no centrally held record of the number of post-legislative reviews submitted by Government departments. The decision on whether a review should be submitted to the relevant departmental select committee is a matter for discussion between departments and the committee. There will be occasions when the department and committee may agree that a memorandum is not required, for example where an Act has already been repealed, has only a very limited policy or practical significance, a review has already been committed to or carried out (e.g. following a pilot); or a department has already submitted relevant evidence in connection with another inquiry by the committee.
Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) Cabinet ministers and (2) other ministers have undertaken professional development programmes to prepare for their roles in government in the current Parliament.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Information on professional development programmes taken by individual Ministers is not held centrally by the Government.
Ministers are able to access advice on specific subjects, including professional development programmes, such as the short modular training programme on major project delivery, designed by the Infrastructure Projects Authority and University of Oxford Saïd Business School.
The declaration on government reform published in June states a commitment to ensuring Ministers receive training in how to assess evidence, monitor delivery, and work effectively with Civil Service colleagues. This work is underway.
Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they put in place in 2020 to ensure that Government Departments complied with the requirements of section 3(6) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Civil Service Code sets out that civil servants advising ministers should be aware of the constitutional significance of Parliament, and of the conventions governing the relationship between Parliament and the government.
The Code is part of the terms and conditions for civil servants. Each department or agency has a duty to make civil servants aware of the Code and its values.
Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord True on 11 August (HL7467), whether a feasibility study of using a site in York for the House of Lords or a government department has been commissioned by the Cabinet Office; and whether discussions about such a site have taken place with York Central Partnership.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
There are already Civil Servants based in York. Through the Places for Growth Programme, the Cabinet Office is exploring opportunities to relocate Civil Service roles across the UK. By relocating more Civil Service roles, including senior grades and decision-making roles, out of London, the Government wants to create and distribute opportunity, jobs and investment across the whole United Kingdom.
In that context, the Government has engaged with the York Central Partnership, and, as part of this, explored whether the space would allow for Parliamentary activity, should it be required.
Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord True on 14 July (HL Deb, cols 1542–6), whether any feasibility study or costings have been undertaken by the Cabinet Office on moving the House of Lords to York; and, if so, which minister authorised the study.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
As part of the strategic review for the Restoration and Renewal Programme, the Government believes the Sponsor Body should consider decant locations outside London, including York. The location of the House is a decision for a sovereign Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many post-legislative reviews by Government departments have been completed and published since 1 January 2018; and in what form they were published.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
Effective post-legislative scrutiny is fundamental to driving up standards of legislation. The Government is committed to providing Parliament with information to assist in this vital role through the submission of a memorandum to the relevant departmental select committee with a preliminary assessment of how the act has worked in practice within five years of Royal Assent.
The Government does not centrally hold information on the post-legislative reviews completed by Departments and published since 1 January 2018; the optimum moment for post legislative memoranda to be submitted is a matter for individual departments in discussion with the relevant departmental select committee. Memoranda are laid before Parliament as command papers and published on gov.uk. It is of course for the relevant committee to decide whether it wishes to conduct further post-legislative scrutiny but the Government would welcome further scrutiny of these memoranda.
Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of the recommendations in the report of the House of Lords Constitution Committee The Legislative Process: Preparing Legislation for Parliament (HL Paper 19), published in October 2017, they have not accepted and implemented.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The then Leader of the House of Commons responded to the Committee's report on 26 January 2018. In her response she committed to asking officials to consider carefully where the Committee's recommendations can be factored into our processes.
The Committee made two recommendations that the Government cannot support, relating to consultations and a legislative standards committee. First, on consultations, the Government agrees that timelines for consultations should be proportionate and realistic to allow stakeholders sufficient time to provide a considered response. However, within these parameters, consultation lengths should be adaptable to the complexity of policy and legislative. Second, on a legislative standards committee, the Government is committed to bringing forward well-drafted legislation of the highest quality but does not believe a legislative standards committee would add to this process.The PBL Committee already serves as a strict gatekeeper to legislation being introduced to Parliament. Furthermore, it is generally not possible to separate views on the standards of a bill from views on the appropriateness of the underlying policy, for which the bill stages in each House already provide the appropriate forum for debate and scrutiny. The Committee’s remaining four recommendations continue to be useful to Government and, as the then Leader of the House of Commons said in her response, are being factored into our processes as appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Cabinet Office is presently structured at official level to address holistically the constitution of the UK; and, if so, how.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Constitution Group, based in the Cabinet Office, sits within the wider UK Governance Group which is also made up of the Scotland Office, the Office of the Advocate General and the Wales Office. Close links are also maintained across Whitehall departments in order to ensure constitutional issues are properly considered including in the appropriate Cabinet Committee.
Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which Cabinet committee has responsibility for addressing constitutional issues.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
Constitutional issues are regularly considered by Cabinet and a number of Cabinet sub-Committees. The Social Reform (Home Affairs) sub-Committee and the EU Exit and Trade (Domestic Preparedness, Devolution and Legislation) sub-Committee are the principal Committees at which constitutional issues are considered. A full list of all the Cabinet Committees is attached.