Lord Palmer
Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary
Became Member: 2nd October 1990
Left House: 10th July 2023 (Death)
3 Former APPG memberships
British Jews, Energy Costs, IsraelDivision Voting information
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Department Debates
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Legislation Debates
(665 words contributed)
Lords initiatives
These initiatives were driven by Lord Palmer, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
Lord Palmer has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Lord Palmer has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Latest 50 Written Questions
(View all written questions)29 Other Department Questions
I agree with the noble Lord that members should aim to keep their contributions concise and, in accordance with the Companion, confined to no more than two points. This enables as many peers from across the House as possible the opportunity to scrutinise the Government.
It is the responsibility of the whole House to work collectively on this issue and I am sure the usual channels will make every effort to ensure their members keep to this standard of practice. In June 2022 the usual channels wrote collectively to all members to remind them of these rules and the courtesies of the House more generally.
I will also remind colleagues of the importance of ministers providing succinct answers to questions, in accordance with the practice of the House, to enable the House to operate in the most effective manner including the recommendation that initial answers should be no more than 75 words.
Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
The total cost of providing over 350 new uniforms for parliamentary security staff was £150,000. The proportion of that cost paid by the House of Lords was £45,000.
The new clocks in the House of Lords Chamber were procured together with new clocks for Grand Committee. Together the new clocks for the Chamber and Grand Committee cost £23,709.60. This includes the cost of the bespoke design, software, hardware and installation. It is inclusive of VAT.
The clocks are maintained by the same company that maintains the clocks in the House of Commons. Together the two Houses pay an annual maintenance fee of £3,596 per annum. The House of Lords pays 40% of this cost.
The total cost of production for issue 1 of the House of Lords Library Magazine The Library published in April was £2,642.50 plus VAT (template and printing). The magazine is available in print and digitally, and the cost of future issues will therefore depend upon the demand for printed copies. Likely subscriber numbers indicate a cost for printing of £185 plus VAT per issue, and it is expected that The Library will be published approximately nine times per year.
There have been no additional costs to Parliament. The additional security staff fall into two categories, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and private security provision for the broadcasters. The resources for the police officers who are part of the wider MPS response to Brexit do not fall within the contractual arrangement between MPS and Parliament, therefore Parliament is not paying any extra for policing these protests. Private security provision for the broadcasters is contracted by various broadcasters on Abingdon Green, which Parliament does not pay for.
The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chairman of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf.
The saving projected when the outsourced switchboard provider, 3C Ltd, changed to Capita PLC in May 2012 was £1.53m. The saving was projected over the course of 7 years, meaning that the average forecast annual saving was £218.57k. Saving over the full 7 year term is now forecast to be £1.88m, providing an average annual saving of £269.33k. The actual saving after 6 years has been £1.45m, with an average annual saving of £242.36k.
Until 31 March 2015, 20% of costs were apportioned to the House of Lords and 80% to the House of Commons. Since 1 April 2015, 30% of costs are apportioned to the House of Lords and 70% to the House of Commons.
Boiler House Court is used for temporary storage of items for disposal awaiting weekly collection by the House's Approved Authorised Treatment Facility.
The total cost of the electricity bill for the Palace of Westminster for 2016/17 was £1,778,860. The House of Lords contribution to such running costs is 40%, meaning a payment of £711,544 for 2016/17.
The 2016-17 edition of the Work of the House of Lords cost £7,229 for a print run of 20,000 copies. Of these, 3,728 copies were sent to libraries and universities at the time of publication. Further copies will be distributed to people outside of the parliamentary estate through various outreach activities over the course of the current session.
The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chairman of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf.
The carpet in the Cholmondeley Terrace marquee was replaced with oak wooden flooring during the summer recess. This change was made alongside other improvements to the structure, including installing air conditioning and lining the roof space to improve insulation. These improvements were necessary to enhance the customer experience and reduce on-going repair costs.
The carpet in the Cholmondeley Room itself has not been altered.
The planning assumption made by the House Administration each year is that there will be a sitting in September. Most activities are scheduled on that basis and costs of September sittings are factored into the original budgets.
On that basis, the main additional cost arising from the House sitting in September is an estimated £4k for cleaning and porterage at the end of maintenance and project works to prepare for the sitting and around £1k of staff overtime for the Parliamentary Maintenance Services Team.
The production and distribution costs of the 2015/16 edition of the Work of the House of Lords as at 3 November were £10,218.34 for a print run of 20,000 copies.
The works to the Cholmondeley Room toilets are not yet completed. They should be completed in the next month. The estimated budget is £650,000 (of which the Lords’ share is 40%).
A number of unforeseen technical difficulties mean that the works are slightly behind schedule; although two of the toilets have re-opened, some underlying problems are still being resolved.
The Lords Members’ Personal Safety and Security booklets cost £673.02 to design and print. We take the security of Members extremely seriously and regularly update our advice and guidance on the steps they can take to help keep themselves, their staff and their families safe. This was a longstanding, routine update on a booklet which has previously existed in a number of different editions.
The works are due to be completed before June 2016. Alternative facilities are available down the corridor, which are signposted. The refurbishment of these toilets includes replacement of worn and damaged fixtures, and addressing a number of issues including drainage and ventilation. The Administration and Works Committee is received regular updates on progress.
The House of Lords is recruiting to fill two Sous Chef vacancies which have recently arisen. These posts have been advertised on the Parliamentary Website, The Caterer and the House of Lords external recruitment portal. No agency has been asked to recruit to these vacancies on our behalf.
There have been no redundancies in House of Lords Catering and Retail Services. In June 2015 three sous chefs applied to take Voluntary Exit following a restructuring of back of house services and received a Voluntary Exit package.
The Accommodation Steering Group (comprising the Chairman of Committees, Government Chief Whip, Opposition Accommodation Whip, Liberal Democrat Chief Whip and Convenor of the Crossbench Peers) decided in July that that the Peers’ TV Room (on the Committee Corridor) should be converted into additional hot-desk space, initially for use by new Members. That decision was reported to the Administration and Works Committee, and was recorded in Red Benches and the Committee’s published minutes.
There are no plans to provide an alternative facility. I feel sure that Noble Lords will agree that limited space must be used efficiently to enable the House and its members to carry out their parliamentary functions effectively.
The postholder has been transferred to lead the Catering and Retail Services Change Programme on a full time basis until programme closure and then to embed its success into the Department’s business as usual activities. He reports to the Director of Facilities.
Catering and Retail Services staff are provided with meals without charge during shifts, in accordance with arrangements made by the Head of Catering and Retail Services. This is standard practice in the hospitality industry.
There have been no redundancies in House of Lords Catering and Retail Services this year. Three sous chefs left via a voluntary exit scheme following a restructuring of back of house services.
The last Executive Chef was employed by the House for just over a year. We paid £360to publicise the permanent vacancy in relevant forums. Reasonable travel expenses of several candidates were reimbursed at £83.40. An external consultant already engaged by Catering and Retail Services assisted with the selection process - a reasonable estimate of the cost of his time is £278. There were also marginal costs for the refreshment for the panel and ingredients to support a work-based skills test. The successful candidate had previously been employed on a fixed-term contract for which we paid an agency fee of £3,600.
The recruitment exercise for an executive chef is ongoing. We have paid £346.61 to publicise the vacancy in relevant forums. Other anticipated costs include a £350 fee for an external recruitment panel member and the marginal cost of ingredients for a cooking test. Other costs are not envisaged, although we do reimburse reasonable candidate travel expenses.
The chairs recently placed in the River Restaurant were previously in storage and so there was no cost in this financial year. The new chairs provide greater back support than the benches formerly used. Those benches have been placed into storage; no estimate has been made of their salvage value.
Specialist advisers to House of Lords Committees are typically paid a daily rate of between £240-280 pro rata. Certain expenses, including travel, are also met. The specialist adviser to the Special Public Bill Committee on the Insurance Bill will be remunerated within these parameters. I am grateful for the valuable public service provided by those people who act as specialist advisers to House of Lords Committees.
The list of Ministerial responsibilities is available on gov.uk. An updated list will be published in due course. Ministerial salaries are published on gov.uk and set in accordance with the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975.
Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
It is not possible to provide a reliable estimate of the total cost of the sitting of the House on Saturday 19 October at this stage. The costs incurred will relate to additional staff costs and claims that Members may submit in relation to their attendance on that date. Such claims can be submitted up to the end of November and once the figures are available an update will be provided. Other directly attributable costs will be disclosed if available. However, for some general running costs, for example heating and lighting etc., it will not be possible to attribute those to a specific date.
1 Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Questions
(View all Lord Palmer's BEIS questions)The Traffic Light System for monitoring induced seismicity was introduced after consideration of advice from three scientists, following operations at Cuadrilla’s Preese Hall site in 2011. The level of magnitude 0.5 at which operators must pause operations, was set in consultation with industry as an appropriate precautionary measure. There are no plans to review the traffic light system.
It is important that all children have the opportunity to engage in physical activity and sport in a way that interests them. We want all schools to understand the importance of being physically active in keeping children healthy and the positive impact it can have on a child’s health and wellbeing. The government has doubled the PE and sport premium from September 2017 using revenue from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.
Use of the primary PE and sport premium is already considered as part of school inspections. The inspection framework is the specific responsibility of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector at Ofsted. Ofsted expect all schools to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum, which includes sporting opportunities for pupils.
The premium is intended to support schools to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE and sport they offer. Play and activity is essential for children’s development in the early years and is a therefore an integral part of all aspects of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The EYFS Statutory Framework sets out a requirement that educational programmes must provide opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement to aid their physical development. In addition, the programmes set out each area of learning and development and must be implemented through planned, purposeful play through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity.
Schools were required to publish information on use of the PE and sport premium on their websites by 4 April 2018. The department has committed to sample a number of schools in each local authority, with the schools chosen based on a mix of random selection and prior non-compliance with the online reporting requirements. We are considering what further use we might make of that, and other sources of information, in making an assessment of the use and impact of the premium and reviewing our future approach.
It is important that all children have the opportunity to engage in physical activity and sport in a way that interests them. We want all schools to understand the importance of being physically active in keeping children healthy and the positive impact it can have on a child’s health and wellbeing. The government has doubled the PE and sport premium from September 2017 using revenue from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.
Use of the primary PE and sport premium is already considered as part of school inspections. The inspection framework is the specific responsibility of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector at Ofsted. Ofsted expect all schools to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum, which includes sporting opportunities for pupils.
The premium is intended to support schools to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE and sport they offer. Play and activity is essential for children’s development in the early years and is a therefore an integral part of all aspects of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The EYFS Statutory Framework sets out a requirement that educational programmes must provide opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement to aid their physical development. In addition, the programmes set out each area of learning and development and must be implemented through planned, purposeful play through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity.
Schools were required to publish information on use of the PE and sport premium on their websites by 4 April 2018. The department has committed to sample a number of schools in each local authority, with the schools chosen based on a mix of random selection and prior non-compliance with the online reporting requirements. We are considering what further use we might make of that, and other sources of information, in making an assessment of the use and impact of the premium and reviewing our future approach.
It is important that all children have the opportunity to engage in physical activity and sport in a way that interests them. We want all schools to understand the importance of being physically active in keeping children healthy and the positive impact it can have on a child’s health and wellbeing. The government has doubled the PE and sport premium from September 2017 using revenue from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.
Use of the primary PE and sport premium is already considered as part of school inspections. The inspection framework is the specific responsibility of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector at Ofsted. Ofsted expect all schools to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum, which includes sporting opportunities for pupils.
The premium is intended to support schools to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE and sport they offer. Play and activity is essential for children’s development in the early years and is a therefore an integral part of all aspects of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The EYFS Statutory Framework sets out a requirement that educational programmes must provide opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement to aid their physical development. In addition, the programmes set out each area of learning and development and must be implemented through planned, purposeful play through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity.
Schools were required to publish information on use of the PE and sport premium on their websites by 4 April 2018. The department has committed to sample a number of schools in each local authority, with the schools chosen based on a mix of random selection and prior non-compliance with the online reporting requirements. We are considering what further use we might make of that, and other sources of information, in making an assessment of the use and impact of the premium and reviewing our future approach.
2 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Questions
(View all Lord Palmer's Defra questions)Under normal rules, if the value of payments made after the 30 June deadline exceeds 5% of the value of payments made before the deadline, then penalties apply. The reductions would be 10% on payments made in July, 25% on payments made in August and 45% for payments made in September.
Commissioner Hogan, however, confirmed his intention to extend the date by which Member States may make CAP direct payments without the usual reductions in the rate of reimbursement from the EU to the Member States concerned.
We are currently assessing the UK position in terms of the value of payments made by 30 June and the expected value of payments to be made before 15 October for each of the four UK paying agencies. Once this assessment has been completed we will be in a position to decide whether the UK needs to submit a request to take up the provisions outlined by the Commission.
Sir Philip Dilley will work until the end of January to allow a measured transition. He will receive no severance package.
The Government has no plans to review the imposition of fines on people who ride bicycles on the footway.
Except in designated areas (such as shared used paths), cycling on the pavement (“footway”) is an offence under Section 72 of the Highways Act 1835. Officers can issue verbal warnings, fixed penalty notices or report the road user for formal prosecution.
The enforcement of cycling on the footway and other cycling offences is an operational matter for the police.
The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf. A full refurbishment of the seating area, fridges and payment stands in the River Restaurant was carried out in September and October 2019. The new design has increased the number of available seats by four and improved the accessibility and flow of the area.
The costs for this project are laid out below:
Enabling and redecoration works: £35,000
Equipment and fittings: £83,207
Total Cost of Project: £118,207
The British Transport Police Authority (BTPA), an arm’s length body of the Department, is responsible for setting the BTP’s strategy, policing plans and budget, holding the BTP force to account, and ensuring its effectiveness and efficiency. The Chief Constable of the BTP is responsible for making operational decisions on the deployment of BTP officers on the rail network across England, Scotland and Wales.
The British Transport Police (BTP) is responsible for policing the rail network across England, Scotland and Wales, providing a service to rail operators, their staff and passengers. It also polices the London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, the Midland Metro tram system, Croydon Tramlink, Tyne and Wear Metro, Glasgow Subway and Emirates AirLine. The BTP has 3107 police officers, 303 police community support officers, 311 special officers and 1567 police staff (as at 31 March 2019).
The Department has not had any discussions with Westminster City Council about obstructions around Parliament Square. Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor of London and managed by Transport for London (TfL). Roads in London are managed by TfL and the relevant London Borough. It therefore falls to TfL and Westminster City Council to deal with traffic management around Parliament Square.
The cost of advertising connected with brand awareness and the launch of London North Eastern Railway (LNER) was approximately £936,000, which includes print, radio and digital marketing. This activity was critical to ensure that customers were aware that the change from Virgin Trains East Coast to LNER would not involve any disruption to services and that the change did not lead to any loss of revenue. This level of marketing spend is comparable with that of other normal intercity train operators.
The estimated cost of rebranding the existing rolling stock and issuing new uniform items to staff is approximately £550,000. The incurring of these costs are normal at the end of any franchise where the operator changes as LNER could not use the Virgin brand following the transfer of the services to LNER.
It was also important to spend this money in order to help establish this new brand in the market and maintain customer awareness of the services on offer. Further expenditure will be incurred in the future on developing and marketing the LNER brand as the operator of the East Coast route. This will be a matter for the LNER Board and decisions will be taken by them on a commercial basis.
The Department has consulted with a range of experts in tobacco control, including Professor David Hammond of the School of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo, Canada; Rob Cunningham, Senior Policy Analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society; and Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of Action on Smoking and Health. None of the experts consulted have links to the tobacco industry.
Over the last year, and at no cost, the Department has consulted with a range of experts in tobacco control, none of whom have any connections with the tobacco industry. The Department has also consulted with the Health Ministries of other countries that have world leading tobacco control programmes.
The external advice provided to the Department has been part of the formulation of Government policy and therefore, we have no plans to publish the advice at this current time.
It is possible that tattoo removal procedures could be classified to a number of ‘skin excision’ codes within the OPCS-4 Classification. These procedures codes would be assigned for any type of skin excisions, for example, the removal of benign and malignant neoplasm. It is not possible to separately identify data specific to tattoo removal procedures.
Public Health England’s (PHE) health campaigns are developed with expert guidance from the relevant PHE teams to ensure messaging is comprehensive and evidence-based.
Change4Life is PHE’s flagship social marketing campaign, inspiring families to eat well and move more. Dental health content is included in the campaign and has been developed with guidance from PHE’s Diet and Obesity and Dental Public Health teams. The Top tips for teeth dental toolkit includes materials to help support dental professionals in their engagement with parents. The toolkit focuses on delivering three key messages to parents: cut down on sugar; brush twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste; and visit the dentist regularly. The toolkit is available for National Health Service dental practices to order.
The Start4Life Information Service for Parents email programme also encourages pregnant women to take up free dental care and advises expectant and new parents on caring for the oral health of their babies and young children.
In addition, NHS England has launched Starting Well: A Smile4Life Initiative. This programme of dental practice-based initiatives aims to reduce oral health inequalities and improve oral health in children under the age of five years. The programme has been launched in 13 high priority areas chosen on the basis of decay experience at a local authority area level, existing oral health improvement plans and trends in oral health.
The current contract for the provision of support to local authorities in the enforcement of tobacco control legislation will end in September 2018. The Chartered Trading Standards Institute, who hold the contract, provide regular updates to the Department on agreed milestones and deliverables and will submit a final report at the end of the contract to aid the Department in its evaluation. No decision has yet been taken on any future agreement to support local authorities in tobacco control.