Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a Ministerial Direction was issued in regards to the decision to award a contract to Peters and Peters in relation to the opinion published regarding the Committee of Privileges' inquiry into the Rt. hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
As the Privileges Committee inquiry relates to the conduct of the now former Prime Minister making statements at the despatch box on behalf of the Government as a Minister, the Government is supporting his response to Parliament, as with any Minister, and has instructed legal support. No Ministerial Direction was issued.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to Sir Brian Langstaff’s interim report on the Infected Blood Inquiry, if he will make it his policy to adopt the report’s recommendation that interim payments should be immediately made to those infected and affected by contaminated blood.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
I refer the Hon. member to the answer given to PQ 42184 on 6 September 2022.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer to the Question from the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion at Prime Minister's Questions on 22 June 2022, Official Report, column 840, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of (a) 22 June, (b) 5 July and (c) 11 July 2022 from the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion.
Answered by Boris Johnson
A reply will be sent by the relevant Minister in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his evidence to the Liaison Committee on 6 July 2022 that he probably did meet The Lord Lebedev in Italy on 28 April 2018 without officials from his Department, whether he informed his personal protection team that he was attending that meeting; whether any security services attended that meeting; and whether he received any documents at that meeting.
Answered by Boris Johnson
I have committed to write to the Liaison Committee with further details. A copy of that letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, if he plans to hold a gathering at Chequers to mark his 2021 wedding.
Answered by Michael Ellis
I have been asked to reply.
As I outlined in my answer of 18 October 2021 to PQ 54006, Chequers is not a government building; it is run and managed by an independent trust. As has been the practice under successive Premiers, the incumbent Prime Minister uses Chequers consistent with the wishes of the donor, the late Sir Arthur Lee, who gave it to the nation for the use of the serving Prime Minister, for both official and private use. This is set out in the Chequers Estates Act 1917.
Notwithstanding the above, it is in the public domain that the Prime Minister does not intend to make use of Chequers in such a way.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer to the Question from the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion at Prime Minister's Questions on 27 April 2022, Official Report, column 759 and the letter to him from Lord McDonald of Salford, former Permanent Under Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, dated 5 July 2022, on complaints about the behaviour of the Right hon. Member for Tamworth, for what reasons the principle set out in that Answer were not applied following the in person briefing he received on the complaint about that Member being upheld.
Answered by Boris Johnson
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to the right Hon. Member for Holborn and St Pancras during Prime Minister’s Questions on 6 July 2022.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2022 to Question 23263 on Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests, how many times he sought advice from the Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests on matters relating to the national interest since 23 July 2019.
Answered by Boris Johnson
As I noted in my previous answer to the hon. Member (PQ 23263), the Terms of Reference state that the provision of such advice is confidential.
The Independent Adviser publishes an annual report which summarises their work over the year.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, through what mechanism a civil servant can raise a complaint of (a) bullying, (b) sexual harassment and (c) other misconduct against a minister during any time the post of Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interest is unfilled; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Michael Ellis
In the event of a complaint against a minister relating to potential misconduct, the dispute resolution procedure in place in all departments would be used. The matter would be escalated to the department’s Permanent Secretary, who would handle the complaint in conjunction with the Cabinet Office and the member of staff concerned.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 21 June 2022 to Question 19605 on Lord Geidt, what criteria he uses for deciding when to request the advice of the Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests on matters relating to the national interest.
Answered by Boris Johnson
From time to time, issues may arise relating to the national interest, and in these cases it is helpful to obtain advice on how those issues may be best addressed to avoid or mitigate potential conflicts under the Ministerial Code.
I also refer the Hon. Member to the Terms of Reference on the Independent Adviser (as of May 2022), which sets out the Adviser’s role in providing confidential advice to the Prime Minister. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/terms-of-reference-for-the-independent-adviser-on-ministers-interests--2/terms-of-reference-independent-adviser-on-ministers-interests
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, for what reasons he sought the advice of Lord Geidt in his former role as Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests on the matter relating to the Trade Remedies Authority referred to by the Prime Minister in his letter of 16 June 2022 in response to Lord Geidt's resignation letter of 15 June 2022.
Answered by Boris Johnson
As I set out in my letter of 16 June, this request for advice related to a matter in the national interest on protecting a crucial industry that would otherwise suffer material harm.