Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the criteria for a town being considered for City status.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
City status is a rare distinction conferred by The Queen acting on the advice of Ministers. Every application for city status is judged on its merits. Guidance for local authorities on the Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours Competition, which closes on 8 December, is published on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/platinum-jubilee-civic-honours-competition.
On Monday 18 October, the Prime Minister announced that Southend-on-Sea would be accorded city status in honour of Sir David Amess. This was made in exceptional circumstances and outside of the ongoing competition.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) delaying local, mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections taking place in May, or (2) making these elections entirely postal.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Primary legislation states that the elections will go ahead in May 2021.
We continue to work closely with the electoral community and public health bodies to resolve challenges and ensure everyone will be able to cast their vote safely and securely - and in a way of their choosing.
Measures are planned to support absent voting at short notice. Guidance will be published in good time ahead of the polls and this matter will be kept under review.
Any elector is able to register to vote by post on demand, if they wish. As confirmed in a letter from the Minister of State for the Constitution and Devolution, the UK Government is of the view that it would not be appropriate to impose an all-postal vote for the elections in May 2021, as this increases fraud risks and removes choice from voters who wish to cast their vote in person.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of holding elections in 2021 entirely through postal voting.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The UK Government is of the view that it would not be appropriate to impose an all-postal vote for the local and mayoral elections in England, and the Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales, in May 2021. All-postal voting increases fraud risks, and removes choice from voters who wish to cast their vote in person.
Postal voting on demand already allows any registered elector to apply for a vote by post.
The Government is working with the electoral administrators and Public Health England to identify and resolve challenges involved in delivering the May 2021 elections, including ensuring polling stations are safe and COVID-secure places to vote. People will be able participate in the polls safely, and in a way of their choice, whether by post, proxy or in-person.
This work is outlined in the recent letter of the Minister of State for the Constitution and Devolution to Electoral Returning Officers, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-chloe-smith-mp-to-returning-officers.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether people under the age of 18 have been allowed to submit questions to the daily Downing Street Covid-19 briefings; and if not, why not.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer I gave to HL5693 on 29 June.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) which Ministers are working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) whether they have taken a reduction in their salary as a result.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The business of government continues, and Ministers continue to work full time; their associated officeholder status accordingly is unchanged. In line with prevailing Government guidance, Ministers are working from home where they are able to do so.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for preparing for the postponement of the local, mayoral, metro mayors and police and crime commissioners elections; and whether they have contingency plans for postal ballots.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Further to the Written Ministerial Statement HLWS169 which I laid on 19 March 2020, the Government has confirmed that the scheduled local, mayoral and Police and Crime Commissioner elections that were due to take place on 7 May this year will be postponed until the next ordinary day of election on 6 May 2021.
Other polls that had already been set for dates from 16 March 2020 and which arise over coming weeks and months will also be addressed in legislation being brought forward as part of the Coronavirus Bill.
The decision was taken following advice from the Government’s medical experts in relation to the response to the Covid-19 virus and the advice of those delivering elections.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many members of staff working in Government departments provided fraudulent qualifications between 2014 and 2019.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The information requested is not collected centrally. Individual departments have responsibility for investigating cases of qualification fraud.
The Government Recruitment Service checks qualifications when a qualification is a mandatory requirement of the vacancy - for example, a suitable degree for a graduate programme. When instances of qualification fraud are discovered, they will be managed by the internal disciplinary procedure of that department.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the protocols governing the redaction of parts of ministerial speeches that appear on Government departments' websites.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
Individual government organisations publish speeches to GOV.UK. The Government Digital Service, part of Cabinet Office provides guidance on how speeches should be presented. This guidance is published in content design guidance on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/content-design/content-types#speech). GOV.UK supports both ‘draft text’ and ‘speaking notes’, neither of which are verbatim records of ministerial speeches.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the total immigration figures for each of the last five years from (1) the EU, and (2) outside the EU; and of which nationalities were immigrants from outside the EU in each of those years.
Answered by Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the Public Duty Cost Allowances were in (1) 2013–14, (2) 2014–15, and (3) 2015–16.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The costs of the Public Duties Cost Allowance are published annually in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.
The cost of the PDCA in 2013-14 was £331,348 and in 2014-15 was £331,818.
Details of costs for 2015-16 will be included in the 2015-16 Annual Report and Accounts which will be published in due course.