Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 6 June (HL132), how many sections of, and Schedules to, Acts passed since 2010 have yet to be commenced because ministers have not made a relevant commencement order.
Answered by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
The Cabinet Office does not keep a central record of when each section and Schedule is commenced, but do monitor progress in implementing key policy commitments across the Government's programme. It is Government policy to only legislate where legislation is required to deliver a policy.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to require applicants for jobs in the public sector to state whether they went to an independent school.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
Appointments should always be made on merit. Her Majesty’s Government do not have plans to require applicants for jobs to state whether they went to an independent school. We are engaging on proposals to develop a set of potential measures for employers to understand the socio-economic backgrounds of their workforces and applicant pools. Type of school attended (primary and secondary) make up two of twenty-six measures which employers and organisations have been asked to consider
Over the past few years’ real effort has been put into broadening access to the Civil Service. It is important to be able to measure, overall, the success and impact of these policies. Any background measures would be collected on an entirely voluntary basis and used anonymously. They will not form the basis of any individual recruitment decision.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the review of electoral fraud being undertaken by Sir Eric Pickles will be completed and its recommendations published.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
Sir Eric Pickles will issue his report to the Prime Minister in due course.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether their planned legislation to enfranchise British citizens resident abroad for over 15 years will be introduced in the current Session.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The Government is committed to removing the 15 year time limit on the voting rights of British citizens living overseas, and will bring forward a Bill to make a permanent change on overseas voting rights as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Acts of Parliament have been passed since 2010; and how many of those have not been implemented.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
212 Government and non-Government Bills have been passed by the United Kingdom Parliament since 2010. The Government monitors implementation of its policy commitments rather than individual legislative measures.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the comment by the Paymaster General, Matthew Hancock MP, reported in <i>The Daily Telegraph</i> on 15 February, whether the Cabinet Office has allocated money to pay for Acts of Parliament to continue to be printed on vellum; if so, whether an offer so to pay has been made to the parliamentary authorities; and if such an offer has been made, in what terms that offer was made.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
I refer the Noble Lord to the statement by my Hon Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General on 20 April 2016. This is available at: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2016-04-20/debates/584554e7-fb8f-44d6-8df0-8b3af8476d1e/CommonsChamber
As my Hon Friend made clear during the debate the printing of Acts onto vellum is a matter for Parliament. The Government is keen to work with the House authorities to explore all avenues for continuing to print on vellum [in line with the will of the House of Commons.]
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 8 December (HL4345), and in the light of recent electoral statistics from the ONS regarding the 40 per cent decrease in the proportion of 16 and 17 year-old attainers registered to vote, whether they will now issue special guidance to Electoral Registration Officers in Great Britain reminding them of their powers to work with schools and colleges to register young people to vote in the same way that the Northern Ireland Chief Electoral Officer does.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are fully aware of their powers and their duties and their performance is monitored by the independent Electoral Commission. The Cabinet Office periodically reminds EROs of democratic engagement resources, including those specifically aimed at young people, which are available to them. The Government has no plans to issue special guidance along the lines suggested.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to release files held by the Cabinet Office on the activities of Anthony Blunt and other files on the intelligence services due for release now being sought by historical researchers, in accordance with their obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Public Records Act 1958.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The files will be released in due course.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many newspaper journalists and publishers received awards in honours lists published between December 2011 and December 2015, broken down by individual list.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
This information is published on GOV.UK.
The number of newspaper journalists and publishers receiving awards in honours lists published between December 2011 and December 2015, broken down by individual list, is given below:
New Year 2012 - 1
Birthday 2012 - 3
New Year 2013 - 4
Birthday 2013 - 1
New Year 2014 - 3
Birthday 2014 - 1
New Year 2015 - 2
Birthday 2015 - nil
New Year 2016 - 1
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to bring forward a Bill to enfranchise British citizens living overseas for more than 15 years.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
As set out in its manifesto, the Government is committed to removing the 15 year time limit on the voting rights of British citizens living overseas. The Government believes that the current 15 year time limit is arbitrary and that if British citizens want to vote in the UK Parliamentary elections, then they should be able to do so. The Government intends to bring forward a Bill to make a permanent change on overseas voting rights as soon as Parliamentary time allows.