Questions for Written Answers

Debate between Viscount Waverley and Earl Howe

Monday 22nd February 2021 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe (Con)]

My Lords, the Department of Health and Social Care has done so: the parliamentary team has expanded from nine civil servants to 17 and its ministerial correspondence team has more than doubled in size to 111 members of staff. The effort has been huge. I am happy to report that it is making a difference. Four or five months ago, the average turnaround time for a Question in the department was 23 days; it is now seven days.

[Viscount Waverley (CB)]

My Lords, this situation goes back a long while; I understand that Mr Speaker has also expressed concern. While agreeing that timeliness is important—there is little point in belabouring that it took one year to answer a Question of mine—meaningful content would also be helpful. Does the Deputy Leader concur that it might be preferable if officials presented for ministerial sign-off the answer to a Question, rather than seemingly avoiding doing so? An example was the Question “Which francophone countries has the Trade Minister responsible visited to extol the undeniable virtues of British goods and services?”, to which the Answer was “Our Minister has visited Moscow, amongst other destinations”.

[Earl Howe (Con)]

My Lords, I am sure the noble Viscount’s question will be noted in the relevant department. I endorse his general point; your Lordships’ House has resolved that:

“It is of paramount importance that Ministers should give accurate and truthful information to Parliament”


and that they should be “as open as possible” in answering questions.

House of Lords: Future Location

Debate between Viscount Waverley and Earl Howe

Monday 20th January 2020 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, the noble Lord puts forward an extremely imaginative idea, which again will be listened to.

[Viscount Waverley (CB)]

My Lords, the interaction between Government and Parliament was mentioned earlier. How would the Minister feel if he had been called in to answer the Question posed today but the trains affected his ability to get to York on time?

[Earl Howe]

Well, my Lords, we all know what happens to Ministers when they arrive late for your Lordships’ Oral Questions. It is certainly a risk.

Afghanistan Update

Debate between Viscount Waverley and Earl Howe

Wednesday 11th July 2018 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

Again, I very much pay tribute to the noble Lord’s experience and first-hand knowledge of the situation in Afghanistan. I am not as pessimistic as he has just sounded; recent events have shown some encouraging signs that a peace process is possible. As the Statement made clear, only a political settlement will finally secure the safety and peace of that country. President Ghani’s offer of peace talks without preconditions and the recent ceasefire were steps in the right direction, as I hope the noble Lord will agree, and a definite sign of progress. We now want and have to build on those historic steps taken by the Government of Afghanistan. I believe that the uplift in NATO representation will provide the right climate for those peace initiatives to continue.

[Viscount Waverley (CB)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady D’Souza, touched on an important point about the contribution of infrastructure. I am reminded about the region at large, not least Tajikistan, which has water and therefore energy that could be supplied to the north of Afghanistan and would make a big contribution. Also, the Uzbeks should be commended for the railway down to Mazar, which has also played a role.

The noble Lord, Lord West, touched on poppies. To what extent is it believed that the opium industry continues to be a root cause of the conflict in Afghanistan? Will the Minister urge those who are minded to look for a long-term solution to take account of this, not least the need for access into markets? Farmers can have a market for agricultural products, rather than the need to supply or cultivate poppies.

[Earl Howe]

I am grateful to the noble Viscount for his pertinent insights. As he will know, the whole issue of the poppy harvest has been near intractable since we became involved in Afghanistan. I am not in a position to offer ready solutions, but I can tell him, from a political point of view, that the need to resolve the endemic problems arising from the poppy harvest and the opium trade in Afghanistan is high on the list of political imperatives. It is undoubtedly the source of great corruption in Afghanistan and a source from which the Taliban derives funding. We therefore need to hit the supply side, not least by means of a peace settlement. If we can achieve that, there will be far less incentive for the proceeds of the poppy harvest to be used for nefarious ends.