Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Deloitte drafted answers to written parliamentary questions on behalf of Government departments other than the Department of Health and Social Care.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Further to the answer to PQ175784 on 13 April 2021, departments are responsible for their responses to written Parliamentary Questions. Deloitte has not drafted answers to written Parliamentary Questions on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the administrative costs for British businesses who are seeking to trade goods into Northern Ireland after the transition period.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether an invitation has been extended to the UNFCCC Secretariat for that Secretariat to visit the UK as part of a fact-finding mission prior to hosting the COP26 UN Climate Conference in 2020.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The UNFCCC Secretariat will be crucial partners in delivering a successful COP. We have had extensive dialogue with the Secretariat over the course of the year and will shortly be making arrangements to host an inward visit. The Secretariat has advised that this should take place after COP25.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Interministerial Group on Clean Growth plans to continue to meet.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Clean growth continues to be a priority for this Government. The full list of Interministerial Groups is currently being finalised.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many meetings of the Inter-Ministerial Group on Clean Growth have discussed the fifth carbon budget since November 2015; and which departments have been involved in those meetings.
Answered by Oliver Letwin
I chair an inter-ministerial group on Clean Growth, which considers issues relating to air quality and de-carbonisation, where these have a cross-departmental aspect. The group meets as and when required and its members include ministers and officials from the relevant departments, including Defra, DECC, DfT, DCLG and BIS.
To protect the integrity of the policy-making progress, we do not comment on the specific timing or agendas of cabinet committees or inter-ministerial groups.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to appoint a new Charity Commissioner to replace Peter Clarke.
Answered by Rob Wilson
We are currently recruiting three new board members for the Charity Commission in England and Wales, including a replacement for Peter Clarke. We are specifically seeking skills and experience in the charity sector, in law enforcement and in IT. The posts were opened for applications in early June and we intend to appoint as soon as this process is successfully concluded. The recruitment process follows the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies and its core principles of merit, openness and fairness.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he plans to take to ensure the independence and neutrality of the Charity Commission Board when reappointing commissioners whose terms are due to end.
Answered by Rob Wilson
By law, the Charity Commission for England and Wales is not subject to Ministerial direction or control, ensuring its operational independence. Several factors are considered in making appointments and reappointments to the Charity Commission board. These include taking account of the mix of skills and experience of the board as a whole, along with any conflicts of interest and any declarable political activity. For reappointments the performance of the relevant board member is also considered. Appointments and reappointments to the Charity Commission’s board are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's news story of 27 April 2016, Update on a new clause to be inserted into grant agreements, whether his Department plans to hold a formal consultation on the proposed anti-lobbying clause.
Answered by Matt Hancock
As I made clear in the House on 27 April, we are committed to protecting taxpayers' money from being wasted on government lobbying government. We are pausing the implementation of this clause into grant agreements, pending a review of the representations made.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's news story of 27 April 2016, Update on a new clause to be inserted into grant agreements, how long his Department plans to spend on the review of representations received on the anti-lobbying clause; and whether his Department will continue to consider representations made after the date of that announcement.
Answered by Matt Hancock
As I made clear in the House on 27 April, we are committed to protecting taxpayers' money from being wasted on government lobbying government. We are pausing the implementation of this clause into grant agreements, pending a review of the representations made.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's news story of 27 April 2016, Update on a new clause to be inserted into grant agreements, what guidance his Department has given to departments which have already inserted an anti-lobbying clause into grant agreements made with organisations since the start of the current financial year.
Answered by Matt Hancock
As I made clear in the House on 27 April, we are committed to protecting taxpayers' money from being wasted on government lobbying government. We are pausing the implementation of this clause into grant agreements, pending a review of the representations made.