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 Baroness Smith of Basildon on 19 June (HLWS717), how the Prime Minister recommending a limited number of candidates to sit as Crossbench peers will differ from the responsibility vested in the House of Lords Appointments Commission to nominate Crossbench peers.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
As set out in the written statement, the Prime Minister will continue to ask the House of Lords Appointments Commission to make nominations for individuals to sit as Crossbench peers. The Commission invites applications from the public and assesses candidates against the criteria set out on its website.
It is established practice that the Prime Minister can recommend a limited number of individuals to sit as Crossbench peers, based on their public service, including both distinguished public servants on retirement and individuals with a proven track record of service to the public. These nominations will continue to be vetted for propriety by the House of Lords Appointments Commission.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of state secondary schools currently have teachers who have qualified as citizenship education teachers, and what plans they have to increase the number of schools with such teachers.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
Delivering the government’s objective to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child relies on a highly skilled workforce in schools, with high quality teaching the in-school factor that makes the biggest difference to a child’s outcomes.
There are now 468,693 full time equivalent teachers in state-funded schools in England but numbers have not kept pace with demand. Of the 3,435 state-funded secondary schools in England, 71.2% employed a teacher with a relevant qualification in citizenship. This figure relates to schools that supplied teacher qualification data. In some cases, teachers with a qualification in another subject may also teach citizenship in the school.
We are focused on the need to boost teacher numbers in priority subjects across the country. This is why the government has set out the ambition to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers across our schools, both mainstream and specialist, and colleges over the course of this Parliament.
Measures will include getting more teachers into shortage subjects, tackling retention issues and supporting areas that face recruitment challenges. The government will continue to work alongside the sector as we develop our delivery plan and seek to re-establish teaching as an attractive profession.
We have made good early progress towards this key pledge by ensuring teaching is once again an attractive and respected profession, key to which is ensuring teachers receive the pay they deserve. That is why this government has accepted in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation of a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools for 2024/25.
Alongside teacher pay, we have made £233 million available from 2025/26 recruitment cycle to support teacher trainees with tax-free bursaries of up to £29,000 and scholarships of up to £31,000 in shortage subjects. The department has also expanded its school teacher recruitment campaign, ‘Every Lesson Shapes a Life’, and the further education teacher recruitment campaign ‘Share your Skills’.
Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker how many items of postal correspondence were received in the Palace of Westminster in 2024; and, of those, how many were received in the House of Lords.
Answered by Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall
The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf. 856,751 mail items were received on the Parliamentary Estate in 2024. The Administration does not count which House each item goes to but estimates that approximately 10 to 15 per cent of these items were destined for the House of Lords. These figures do not include courier items or internal mail.
Please note that this figure refers to the whole Parliamentary Estate, not just the Palace of Westminster.
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.
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.