Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether private email accounts, WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal or other encrypted services or email accounts have been used by special advisers, ministers or senior civil servants to discuss Government policy on prorogation, dissolution or a no-deal Brexit.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Government information must be handled in accordance with the requirements of the law, including the Official Secrets Act, Freedom Of Information Act, Data Protection Act and Public Records Act.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary have agreed to any exemptions for Dominic Cummings, Special Political Advisor to the Prime Minister, from the Cabinet Office Code of Conduct for Special Advisers.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The provisions of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers apply to all special advisers.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Prime Minister or Cabinet Secretary first discussed prorogation with Sir Edward Young, the Private Secretary to Her Majesty the Queen.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Since communications between the Ministers or officials and Her Majesty the Queen or her advisers are confidential, I am not able to provide you with any details.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Young of Cookham on 15 July (HL16909), whether they will now (1) cancel existing future contracts, and (2) commit to not taking out any future contracts, with Bain and Company in the light of its consultancy work for the South African Revenue Service.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
I refer the noble Lord to my answer given to Question HL16911 on 15 July 2019.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Young of Cookham on 15 July (HL16911), whether they will cease using Bain and Company for consultancy work.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
I refer the noble Lord to my answer given to Question HL16911 on 15 July 2019.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration, if any, they have given to the probity and quality of Bain & Company's consultancy work for the South African Revenue Service in regard to any work by that consultancy for government departments.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Government is aware of this situation and is monitoring it. Assessments on the probity and quality of work on individual UK Government contracts are undertaken on a department by department basis.
A UK Government department seeking bids for contracts covered by the Public Contracts Regulations would need to follow the rules on exclusions as defined within Regulation 57.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any government department has used Bain & Company for any consultancy or advisory work since 2010.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
In order to enable government departments to quickly secure resource for critical work on preparations and implementation of EU exit at pace, the Cabinet Office have put in place a set of contracts for all government departments to access. This includes a contract with Bain and Co. The contracts have been published on contracts finder and spend under this arrangement is published monthly on GOV.UK titled ‘Central EU Exit Consultancy’.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many consultancy contracts they have with Bain & Company, broken down by each government department.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
In order to enable government departments to quickly secure resource for critical work on preparations and implementation of EU exit at pace, the Cabinet Office have put in place a set of contracts for all government departments to access. This includes a contract with Bain and Co. The contracts have been published on contracts finder and spend under this arrangement is published monthly on GOV.UK titled ‘Central EU Exit Consultancy’.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the comments by the Deputy Director General of the South African Treasury in relation to Hogan Lovells LLP; and what plans, if any, they have to let government contracts to Hogan Lovells LLP in future.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Government is aware of this situation and is monitoring it. Any bidder, including Hogan Lovells, which bids for a Government contract covered by the Public Contracts Regulations, would be subject to the rules on exclusions.
Asked by: Lord Hain (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they intend to take, if any, to review the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 following Bell Pottinger's expulsion from the Public Relations and Communications Association.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Government is of the view that the Transparency of Lobbying Act 2014 has increased transparency around the work of consultant lobbyists. This legislation complements the existing framework of industry-led regulation such as subscription to industry codes of conduct, alongside the publication of ministerial diaries. Therefore, the Government has no plans to review the current legislation to expand the remit of the Registrar or her office.