Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many leak enquiries are extant; when he expects them to be concluded; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The government takes any unauthorised disclosure of official information extremely seriously, and each Department is responsible for investigating potential losses or leaks of its information. It has been the policy of successive administrations not to comment on leaks or leak investigations.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, if she will review the Ministerial Code of Conduct in respect of security.
Answered by Theresa May
The Ministerial Code was updated and reissued in January 2018. As the Code already makes clear, Ministers are expected to behave in a way that upholds the highest standards of propriety, and the Code expressly should be read against the background of the overarching duty on Ministers to comply with the law, uphold collective responsibility and to protect the integrity of public life.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the recommendations of the Reducing Regulation Committee are; and what steps the Government is taking to implement those recommendations.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Reducing Regulation Committee (RRC) is the primary forum in Government for securing collective agreement on issues related to reducing regulation. There are no definitive criteria for which issues engage collective responsibility but, as set out in the Cabinet Manual, issues which are likely to lead to significant public comment or affect more than one department will usually require collective agreement through Cabinet or a Cabinet Committee.
As the RRC is a Cabinet Committee, correspondence or discussions between its members are not publicly disclosed to protect the principles of collective responsibility. The Committee's function is to collectively agree the Government position on the matter that has been put to it, which will then be taken forward by the relevant department, almost always in a manner which will enter the public domain. As such, the Committee is just one element of the Government's wider efforts to reduce regulation led by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who the members are of the Reducing Regulation Committee.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Details of the membership of Cabinet Committees are available on Gov.UK. The Reducing Regulation sub-Committee is comprised of the Business Secretary, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Lord Chancellor, the Trade Secretary, Environment Secretary, the Leader of the House of Commons, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Minister of State for Employment, the Minister of State for Exiting the EU and the Parliamentary Secretary at the department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on how many occasions the Reducing Regulation Committee has met; what decisions have flowed from those meetings; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Reducing Regulation sub-Committee considers issues related to reducing regulation. Information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including when and how often they meet and minutes of their proceedings, is not publicly disclosed to protect the principles of collective responsibility.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the (a) legislative requirements and (b) timetable required to hold a second referendum on the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Chloe Smith
An Act of Parliament is required before any UK-wide referendum can be held. It is for Parliament to debate and agree the terms under which any referendum would take place, including provisions for setting the date, franchise and the question that would appear on the ballot paper. Processes to hold any referendum must, in addition, incorporate adequate time to prepare for the poll and a minimum campaigning period. The Electoral Commission recommends that legislation relating to a poll should be clear at least six months before it is required to be implemented or complied with.
A majority of the electorate voted to leave the EU in June 2016. The British people made their choice and they want their Government to deliver on that choice. It is a matter of Government policy that there will not be a second referendum on our exit from the EU.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, on how many occasions the Prime Minister has attended the Royal Visits Committee in each of the last three years.
Answered by Theresa May
The Prime Minister is represented by one of her/his Private Secretaries.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the current number of vacancies in the (a) hospitality and (b) food preparation industries.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply and will be depositing the response to the libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, what the five most serious risks are to the (a) security and (b) prosperity of the UK that have been identified by her Government.
Answered by Theresa May
The Government assesses the most significant risks to the UK and our interests through the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA).The NSRA is used to inform the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review. Copies are available in the libraries of the House.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, what are her objectives are for her two years as the Commonwealth Chair-in-Office.
Answered by Theresa May
I refer the right hon. Member to my speech on 20 April and which is available on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speaks-at-commonwealth-press-conference-20-april-2018