Asked by: Lord Boswell of Aynho (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each government department, from July to December 2015, on how many occasions the scrutiny reserve resolution in (1) the House of Lords, and (2) the House of Commons, was overridden, and in respect of how many documents an override occurred in (1) both Houses, or (2) either House.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Between July and December 2015, 434 Explanatory Memoranda on EU documents were submitted for scrutiny. There were 54 occasions when the Government supported decisions in the EU Council of Ministers before the scrutiny procedures had been completed by either one or both Scrutiny Committees. In each case the Government wrote to the Scrutiny Committees to explain the reasons why it was important for the Government to support the proposal before the scrutiny process could be completed or where the Committees were unable to provide a waiver for the Government to support the proposal whilst retaining the issue under scrutiny. As with previous six-monthly periods, the largest category of instrument were fast-moving EU restrictive measures where there were overrides on 40 such measures (74 per cent of the total number) of which 12 measures addressed the situation in Iran.
The figures requested are set out below:
Department | (1). House of Lords Override | (2). House of Commons override | (1). No. of overrides in both Houses | (2). Total no. of overrides |
Foreign and Commonwealth Office | 42 | 44 | 41 | 45 |
HM Treasury | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
Culture, Media and Sport | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Food Standards Agency | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Totals | 50 | 53 | 49 | 54 |
I refer the noble Lord to my answer of 29 July 2015 (HL1633) which presented the figures for overrides for the period January-June 2015. That answer contained two errors. In a letter dated 16 September 2015 to the Chairs of the two Scrutiny Committees, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), undertook to correct the errors when providing figures for the period July-December 2015. One Foreign and Commonwealth Office override on the Council decision extending the mandate of the EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina had been counted twice. This brings the overall total down from 90 to 89. The total in the House of Lords (54) is unchanged since the Committee cleared that proposal before adoption, but it does reduce the number declared for the House of Commons from 86 to 85. The answer also stated that the 39 measures (the largest category of the total) were the Common Foreign and Security Policy restrictive measures. A recalculation has shown the figure to be 38. The earlier answer also highlighted an unresolved issue of whether an override needed to be recorded against a Commission Communication on the Paris Protocol (‘A Blueprint for tackling Global Climate Change beyond 2020’) because discussion with the European Scrutiny Committee had at that stage not been concluded. It was subsequently agreed that agreement of the document did not need to be recorded as a scrutiny override.
Asked by: Lord Boswell of Aynho (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each government department, from January to June 2015, (1) on how many occasions the scrutiny reserve resolution in the House of Lords was overridden, (2) on how many occasions the scrutiny reserve resolution in the House of Commons was overridden, (3) in respect of how many documents an override occurred in (a) both Houses or (b) either House.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Government strongly supports an effective Parliamentary scrutiny system and will always seek to avoid breaching the Scrutiny Reserve Resolution. Where this is not possible, the Government will continue to account for the circumstances of each override in writing to the Committees.
Between January to June 2015, 368 Explanatory Memoranda were submitted. Of the 90 overrides in this period, 73 (81 per cent) of overrides occurred after the dissolution of Parliament when one or both Houses were unable to carry out their scrutiny function. Of the 90 overrides across both Houses, 39 were on fast-moving EU restrictive measures including 11 measures to address the situation in Ukraine.
The figures requested are set out in the table below, which excludes reference to a Commission Communication on the Paris Protocol (‘A Blueprint for tackling Global Climate Change beyond 2020’) because discussion with the European Scrutiny Committee has not yet concluded whether this constitutes an override.
Department | (1). House of Lords Override | (2). House of Commons override | (a). No. of overrides in both Houses | (b). Total no. of overrides |
Foreign and Commonwealth Office | 46 | 47 | 42 | 51 |
HM Treasury | 1 | 30 | 1 | 30 |
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Ministry of Justice | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Department for Culture, Media and Sport | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Home Office | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Department for Transport | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Totals | 54 | 86 | 50 | 90 |
Asked by: Lord Boswell of Aynho (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total cost of the Review of the Balance of Competences between the United Kingdom and the European Union to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its associated agencies, broken down by (1) staff time, (2) printing costs, (3) running of engagement events, (4) witness expenses, (5) publicity of the reports, and (6) any and all other associated costs.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Balance of Competences Review concluded in December. It was the most comprehensive analysis of the UK’s relationship with the EU ever undertaken. The Review involved a large number of Departments across Whitehall to produce the 32 reports. The Review was based on the evidence and views received through widespread consultation with interested parties from across society. Across the whole review, departments received close to 2,300 evidence submissions. Departments held over 250 events, attended by around 2,100 stakeholders.
The breakdown of costs requested are as follows:
(1) Providing a full breakdown of staff time and costs would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold, but the staff cost of the Review was borne entirely within existing staff budgets.
(2) The printing and publication costs for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) were £20,366. These costs covered copies of all 32 reports.
(3) The FCO spent approximately £15,740 on running engagement events.
(4) Across the whole of the Balance of Competences Review witness expenses amounted to approximately £2,255 which were borne by the FCO.
(5) The FCO did not spend any money on publicity of the reports utilising existing free social media and internet channels.
(6) The FCO spent approximately £17,450 on other associated costs.
Asked by: Lord Boswell of Aynho (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each government department, from July to December 2014, (1) on how many occasions the scrutiny reserve resolution in the House of Lords was overridden, (2) on how many occasions the scrutiny reserve resolution in the House of Commons was overridden, and (3) in respect of how many documents an override occurred in (a) both Houses or (b) either House.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Government seeks to avoid breaching the Scrutiny Reserve Resolutions, continuing to account for overrides in writing to the Committees. The European Union Committee’s Report on 2013-14 (House of Lords Paper 6) published on 1 July 2014, recognised that continued positive engagement between the Committee’s secretariat and Departments has seen the number of overrides fall significantly since 2010, noting that many of the overrides that continue to be recorded relate to sensitive and fast-moving foreign policy matters, which cannot be made public beforehand, and where a scrutiny override may be difficult to avoid. That remained the case in the period July-December 2014 where, of the 49 overrides across both houses, 36 (73%) were in this category, including 22 measures to address the continuing crisis in Ukraine and the Crimea and Sevastopol region and 6 measures against Syria. The Government regrets that a small number were the result of substandard handling of the scrutiny process – this is clearly not good enough, and in these cases the Department concerned has taken action to strengthen scrutiny and prevent reoccurrences. This includes holding scrutiny workshops and talks from Ministers and Senior Civil Servants to make clear that effective scrutiny is a top priority. The European Scrutiny Committee has recorded 1 additional override not in the total figure of 49 relating to the Government’s support for a partial general approach on the draft Data Protection Regulation. The Government is considering the Committee’s view and will shortly respond to the Committee. During this period, 412 Explanatory Memoranda were submitted.
The figures requested are set out below:
Department | (1). House of Lords Override | (2). House of Commons override | (a). No. of overrides in both Houses | (b). Total no. of overrides |
Foreign and Commonwealth Office | 34 | 32 | 32 | 34 |
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Cabinet Office | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
HM Treasury | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Home Office | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Ministry of Justice | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Totals | 45 | 47 | 43 | 49 |
Asked by: Lord Boswell of Aynho (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total cost of the Review of the Balance of Competences between the United Kingdom and the European Union, broken down by (1) staff time, (2) printing costs, (3) running of engagement events, (4) witness expenses, (5) publicity of the reports, and (6) any and all other associated costs.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
There is no central record of the overall cost of the review. Each Department was responsible for allocating its own resources to meet its priorities, including delivering the reports on which it led or to which it had an interest in contributing.
Asked by: Lord Boswell of Aynho (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each government department, from January to June 2014, (1) on how many occasions the scrutiny reserve resolution in the House of Lords was overridden, (2) on how many occasions the scrutiny reserve resolution in the House of Commons was overridden, and (3) in respect of how many documents an override occurred in (a) both Houses or (b) either House.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Government seeks to avoid breaching the Scrutiny Reserve Resolutions, continuing to account for overrides in writing to the Committees. The European Union Committee’s Report on 2013-14 (House of Lords Paper 6) published on 1 July 2014, recognised that continued positive engagement between the Committee’s secretariat and Departments has seen the number of overrides fall significantly since 2010, noting that many of the overrides that continue to be recorded relate to sensitive and fast-moving foreign policy matters, which cannot be made public beforehand, and where a scrutiny override may be difficult to avoid. That remained the case in the period January-June 2014 where of the 25 overrides across both Houses, 21 were in this category in the House of Lords and 22 in the House of Commons. During this period, 476 Explanatory Memoranda were submitted.
The figures requested are set out below:
Department | (1). House of Lords Override | (2). House of Commons override | (a). No. of overrides in both Houses | (b). Total no. of overrides |
Foreign and Commonwealth Office | 19 | 21 | 19 | 21 |
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Totals | 23 | 23 | 21 | 25 |
Asked by: Lord Boswell of Aynho (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each government department, from July to December 2013, (1) on how many occasions the scrutiny reserve resolution in the House of Lords was overridden, (2) on how many occasions the scrutiny reserve resolution in the House of Commons was overridden, and (3) in respect of how many documents an override occurred in (a) both Houses or (b) either House.
Answered by Baroness Warsi
The Government seeks to avoid breaching the Scrutiny Reserve Resolutions, continuing to account for overrides in writing to the Committees. The last EU Committee report recognises that engagement between the Committee’s Secretariat and Departments helped the number of overrides fall, the largest category of override being on sensitive, fast-moving Common Foreign and Security Policy matters (16 of the 20 overrides across the two Houses) which cannot be publicised beforehand, making overrides difficult to avoid. During this period, 568 Explanatory Memoranda were submitted, the 20 overrides representing the lowest number since 2010.
The figures requested are in the attached Table 1.
Overrides July-December 2013
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