Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Freedom of Information (FOI) requests they have not responded to within 20 working days; and whether they have any plans to improve the efficiency of the FOI request system.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Cabinet Office publishes information on the handling of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests across Government on a quarterly basis on Gov.uk.
Covid-19 has put particular pressures on public officials, but as the published figures demonstrate that between July and September 2020, departments received around 8,000 freedom of information requests and responded to almost 90% of them within 20 working days or with a permitted extension. This reflects the Government’s commitment to fulfill its freedom of information obligations, despite the pressures of responding to COVID-19.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Prime Minister last spoke to President Trump.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Prime Minister last spoke to the President of the United States on 7 October 2020 to wish him a speedy recovery from Covid-19.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to enable further Parliamentary scrutiny of the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Government is committed to facilitating appropriate parliamentary oversight of the UK’s relationship with the EU and is carefully considering appropriate scrutiny processes.
The House of Lords scrutinised the TCA further in an extensive debate on 8 January, and Ministers will continue to engage with the appropriate Select Committees in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the fourth factsheet of the UK COVID-19 news and information project published by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism on 1 June, what assessment they have made of the results of the survey fielded from 21–27 May which reported that trust in Her Majesty's Government as a source of information about COVID-19 had “declined substantially since April”, and which showed a “significant increase in the percentage of people who say they are concerned about false or misleading information about coronavirus from the UK government”; and how they intend to tackle the issue of the loss of public trust in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
In responding to this unprecedented pandemic, the Government has been guided by the very best scientific and medical advice from our world-leading experts, and we believe their advice to be trustworthy. This approach is illustrated in the advice received and followed from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). Protecting the health and safety of the British public is, and must always be, our number one priority. Minutes of SAGE meetings have been published and are available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies-sage-coronavirus-covid-19-response
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what final budget has been agreed for the cost of hosting the COP26 Summit in Glasgow in November 2020.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Prime Minister demonstrated his focus on climate action on Tuesday 4 February 2020 by launching the COP26 Climate Summit. The text of the speech is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-at-cop-26-launch-4-february-2020
Regarding meetings of the Cabinet, it is a long established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not shared publicly.
The negotiations timetable for COP26 will be set by the UK, as President of COP26, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat. The timetable will be informed by the outcome of negotiations, including at the intersessional meeting in Bonn in June. Details of the timetable for high level and public events will be announced by the Government in due course.
The UK Government is working closely with the Scottish Government and with operational delivery partners, including Police Scotland and Glasgow City Council, to ensure the successful delivery of COP26 in Glasgow. The security plan for the COP26 venue will be jointly developed and agreed on by the United Nations security team and UK counterparts. Discussions with delivery partners regarding costs for COP26 are ongoing, and final budgets and details are yet to be confirmed.
The UK Government is committed to working with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive to deliver an ambitious and successful summit for the whole of the UK. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on GOV.UK
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the Prime Minister’s key strategic priorities for the G20 Leaders’ Summit taking place in Buenos Aires on 30 November–1 December 2018.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Prime Minister will attend the G20 Summit to discuss a range of global issues and meet with leaders.
The G20 will be an opportunity to push for progress on shaping the rules governing the global economy and advance UK priorities such as agreeing an ambitious and urgent process for reform of the World Trade Organisation, making the global economy work for everyone, climate change and Modern Slavery.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, during the UK visit of the President of the United States in July, the Prime Minister raised with him the importance of accuracy in statements concerning the proportion of US military expenditure spent in Europe on NATO-related defence.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Prime Minister and the President discussed a wide range of foreign policy and security issues both during his visit to the UK and at the NATO summit in Brussels immediately prior.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to consider changes to the gender identity question in the 2021 Census.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information to publish its report.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The Independent Commission on Freedom of Information will report as soon as possible after the oral evidence sessions it has announced for 20 and 25 January.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the Strategic Defence and Security Review to be (1) completed, and (2) published.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
Work on the Strategic Defence and Security Review is progressing well and we expect it to be completed and published by the end of the year.