Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to begin post-legislative scrutiny of Part 1 of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
As the Minister for the Constitution and Devolution set out in a letter to the Executive Secretary of the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) Secretariat, the Government will commence post-legislative scrutiny of Part 1 of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 Act (the Act) this year.
The letter is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/903767/Letter_of_24_July_from_Chloe_Smith_to_Gianluca_Esposito.pdf
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures have been put in place for enhanced monitoring of contracts awarded using the exemptions in Regulation 32(2)(c) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The information requested is not held centrally. Details of central government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search
The Government has rigorous controls in place to challenge spend robustly and ensure that the actions of central government contracting authorities are open, fair and transparent.
Cabinet Office commercial spend controls aim to improve the value public spending delivers by leveraging expertise from Cabinet Office’s central functional teams in commercial contracting to scrutinise all contract awards with a value greater than £10m. These contract awards are subject to approval by the Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service and Minister of State, Lord Agnew.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many contracts awarded using the exemptions in Regulation 32(2)(c) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 during the COVID-19 pandemic have been published more than 20 days after being awarded.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The information requested is not held centrally. Details of central government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search
The Government has rigorous controls in place to challenge spend robustly and ensure that the actions of central government contracting authorities are open, fair and transparent.
Cabinet Office commercial spend controls aim to improve the value public spending delivers by leveraging expertise from Cabinet Office’s central functional teams in commercial contracting to scrutinise all contract awards with a value greater than £10m. These contract awards are subject to approval by the Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service and Minister of State, Lord Agnew.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are planning to introduce a Public Services Ombudsman.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
I refer the noble Baroness to the answer given to HL2091 on 2 March 2020.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by the Institute of Government The civil service after Brexit: lessons from the Article 50 Period, published on 15 May, what plans they have to (1) amend, or (2) strengthen, the Ministerial Code with regard to the messages authorised to be used in government communications.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
As has been the case under successive administrations, the Government keeps the Ministerial Code and the managing of public money under review. There are, however, no plans to amend or strengthen the Ministerial Code in the way suggested.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by the Institute of Government The civil service after Brexit: lessons from the Article 50 Period, published on 15 May, what plans they have to consider whether the ability of a civil servant to request a ministerial direction should be extended to actions other than just expenditure.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
As has been the case under successive administrations, the Government keeps the Ministerial Code and the managing of public money under review. There are, however, no plans to amend or strengthen the Ministerial Code in the way suggested.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which statutory instruments can be made as an Order in Council without parliamentary approval.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
An Order in Council made under an Act of Parliament is a form of secondary legislation. The enabling Act will specify whether or not an Order in Council is subject to a Parliamentary procedure, and if so what that parliamentary procedure is.
There are over 400 Acts of Parliament which provide Order in Council making powers to Her Majesty in Council. Orders in Council made under Act of Parliament without a parliamentary procedure cover a range of subject matter, including the commencement of primary legislation, the UK armed forces and devolution issues, as well as fishing limits, the carriage of goods by sea, and the implementation of international agreements such as those on child abduction, reciprocal enforcement of court judgements, and the Geneva Conventions.
Some other prerogative business made on the advice of the Privy Council by Order in Council is not subject to parliamentary procedure and relates almost exclusively to the affairs of Chartered bodies.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they informed the Welsh Government of the change of COVID-19 messaging to "stay alert"; and whether this was before the change had been reported in the media.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
We have confronted this virus as one United Kingdom and have worked closely with the devolved administrations throughout with regular meetings and discussions with ministers and officials.
For example, during the week prior to the change in messaging, the Prime Minister had a call with First and deputy First Ministers of the Devolved Administrations, and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster had a further call with them. This was on top of the ongoing work at official level on how we would tackle the virus together.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of their proposals for the Northern Ireland Protocol on Welsh ports.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Our proposals on the Northern Ireland Protocol will strengthen Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom and its internal market. In taking our proposals forward we will continue to engage with businesses and ports, to ensure that right across the UK we can take advantage of the opportunities there will be as the UK grows its trade with countries around the world.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reported comments by the First Minister of Wales that there had not been a "regular rhythm" to engagement between the UK Government and the devolved administrations in respect of proposals to ease the COVID-19 lockdown.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The UK Government is working constructively with the devolved administrations to keep the whole of the UK safe.
There have been frequent discussions between UK Government ministers and officials and their counterparts in devolved administrations. This includes through COBR and the Cabinet Committee structure established to deal with the health, economic, public sector and international impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak on behalf of the whole of the UK. We will continue positive engagement with the Devolved Administrations.