Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the cancellation of the Manchester leg of HS2, whether they will list the proposed new rail schemes, indicating in each case (1) the estimated cost, and (2) the estimated date of completion.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The full list of rail infrastructure schemes has been published on gov.uk and can be found by searching for the title ‘Network North: transforming British transport’.
Officials are in the early stages of planning, including delivery timelines and estimated costs, for these schemes and are working closely with Network Rail and other partners to develop and deliver these Government priorities.
All schemes will be subject to the development and approval of business cases and will undergo all formal governance, in line with relevant fiscal and legal duties.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money has been spent to date on the Manchester leg of HS2.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Spending up to and including February 2023 was reported in the Department’s last HS2 report to Parliament in June 2023. Updated figures will be provided in the Department’s next six-monthly report on HS2.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 21 September (HL9981), whether they will now answer the question put, namely, what has been the average tenure of office notwithstanding machinery of government changes, during the past 10 years, of (1) the Prime Minister, (2) the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and (3) the Secretary of State for (a) Foreign Affairs, (b) Home Affairs, (c) Education, (d) Health, (e) Defence, (f) Transport, (g) Culture, Media and Sport, (h) Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (i) Work and Pensions, (j) Northern Ireland, (k) Scotland, and (l) Wales.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office does not collate this data centrally. Notwithstanding, to assist the noble Lord’s scrutiny, a list has been compiled from public information. The 10 year period used is 4 October 2013 - 4 October 2023.
Where Ministers were in post on 4 October 2013, our calculations have used the start of their tenure, which may precede that date.
Minister | Average Tenure from 4/10/2013-4/10/2023 (Rounded to the nearest day) |
Prime Minister | 979 |
Chancellor of the Exchequer | 699 |
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | 699 |
Secretary of State for Home Affairs | 699 |
Secretary of State for Education | 489 |
Secretary of State for Health | 674 |
Secretary of State for Defence | 729 |
Secretary of State for Transport | 809 |
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport | 368 |
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 506 |
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions | 543 |
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | 578 |
Secretary of State for Scotland | 1219 |
Secretary of State for Wales | 674 |
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what has been the average tenure of office notwithstanding machinery of government changes, during the past 10 years, of (1) the Prime Minister, (2) the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and (3) the Secretary of State for (a) Foreign Affairs, (b) Home Affairs, (c) Education, (d) Health, (e) Defence, (f) Transport, (g) Culture, Media and Sport, (h) Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (i) Work and Pensions, (j) Northern Ireland, (k) Scotland, and (l) Wales.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office does not calculate the average tenure of ministerial office. However, details of ministerial office-holders are on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers. Details of the previous holders of each ministerial post dating back to 2010 are also available by selecting each ministerial role on this webpage, then 'previous holders’.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government who are the Trade Envoys; to which country each Trade Envoy has been assigned; and what is the party affiliation of each Trade Envoy and the length of time in post.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There are currently 36 Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys and information as below.
Country | Trade Envoy | Date of PM Appointment | ||
LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN | ||||
Colombia, Chile, Peru, Argentina | Mark Menzies MP (Con) | September 2016 & September 2017 for Argentina | ||
Panama, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica | Baroness Hooper of Liverpool (Con) | October 2020 | ||
Brazil | Marco Longhi MP (Con) | August 2021 | ||
AFRICA | ||||
Algeria | Lord Risby of Haverhill (Con) | November 2012 | ||
Uganda & Rwanda (watching brief for DRC) | Lord Popat (Con) | January 2016 | ||
Egypt and Cameroon | Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP (DUP) | January 2016 & August 2021 for Cameroon | ||
Nigeria | Helen Grant MP (Con) | October 2020 | ||
Kenya | Theo Clarke MP (Con) | Reappointed May 2023 | ||
South Africa & Mauritius | Andrew Selous MP(Con) | September 2017 & January 2023 for Mauritius | ||
Tanzania | Lord Walney (Non-Affiliated) | August 2021 | ||
Ghana | Baroness Hoey (Non-Affiliated) | August 2021 | ||
Tunisia & Libya | Yvonne Fovargue MP (Lab) | March 2022 | ||
Angola, Zambia & Ethiopia | Laurence Robertson MP (Con) | Reappointed March 2023 | ||
MIDDLE EAST | ||||
Israel | Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated) | October 2020 | ||
Iran | Lord Lamont of Lerwick (Con) | January 2016 | ||
Lebanon | Lord Risby of Haverhill (Con) | August 2019 | ||
Iraq | Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (Con) | January 2014 | ||
Jordan, Kuwait & Palestine Territories | Baroness Morris of Bolton (Con) | November 2012 | ||
UAE | Gareth Thompson MP (Con) | March 2023 | ||
| ||||
Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan | Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (Con) | April 2016 & Kazakhstan July 2017 | ||
Mongolia | Daniel Kawczynski MP (Con) | October 2020 | ||
Ukraine | Baroness Meyer (Con) | October 2020 | ||
Turkey | Lord Hutton (Lab) | May 2022 | ||
EUROPE | ||||
Switzerland & Liechtenstein | Sir Stephen Timms MP (Lab) | August 2021 | ||
Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia) | Martin Vickers MP (Con) | October 2020 | ||
APAC | ||||
Australia | Lord Botham (Crossbench) | August 2021 | ||
Taiwan | Lord Faulkner (Lab) | January 2016 | ||
Japan | Greg Clark MP (Con) | May 2022 | ||
Thailand, Myanmar, Brunei & Vietnam | Mark Garnier MP (Con) | October 2020 & for Vietnam January 2023 | ||
Singapore | Lord Sarfraz (Con) | January 2022 | ||
Republic of Korea | Sir John Whittingdale (Con) | May 2022 | ||
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines & ASEAN | Richard Graham MP (Con) | Reappointed March 2023 | ||
Cambodia & Laos | Heather Wheeler MP (Con) | Reappointed March 2023 | ||
New Zealand | David Mundell MP (Con) | Reappointed March 2023 | ||
SOUTH ASIA | ||||
Bangladesh | Rushanara Ali MP (Lab) | March 2016 | ||
Sri Lanka | Lord Mervyn Davies of Abersoch (Crossbench) | October 2020 | ||
North America | ||||
Canada | Dame Maria Miller MP (Con) | May 2022 | ||
USA (specific focus on driving trade promotion with existing MOU states) | Sir Conor Burns MP (Con) | May 2023 | ||
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many private members’ bills starting in (1) the House of Commons, and (2) the House of Lords, have received Royal Assent since the 2019 general election.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Details on how many private members' bills starting in both the House of Commons and House of Lords from the 2019 General Election to the 2021-22 session are available on the Parliament website at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn04568/. In the current parliamentary session the following private members' bills have reached Royal Assent:
Bill title | House of introduction |
Ballot Secrecy Bill | Lords |
Carer’s Leave Bill | Commons |
Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Bill | Commons |
Co-operatives, Mutuals and Friendly Societies Bill | Commons |
Electricity Transmission (Compensation) Bill (formerly Electricity and Gas Transmission (Compensation) Bill) | Commons |
Employment (Allocation of Tips) Bill | Commons |
Mobile Homes (Pitch Fees) Bill | Commons |
Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill | Commons |
Offenders (Day of Release from Detention) Bill | Commons |
Pensions Dashboards (Prohibition of Indemnification) Bill | Commons |
Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill | Commons |
Shark Fins Bill | Commons |
Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Bill | Commons |
In addition, the following private members' bills are awaiting Royal Assent. These bills originated in the House of Commons:
Child Support (Enforcement) Bill
Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill
Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many police officers have (1) joined, and (2) left, the police force since 2019.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police officers joining and leaving the police service in the “Police workforce, England and Wales” statistical bulletin. The table below shows the full-time equivalent (FTE) police officer joiners and leavers, in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, since 1 April 2019.
Table 1: Police officer (FTE) joiners and leavers, England and Wales
Financial year | Joiners | Leavers |
2019/20 | 12,883 | 7,141 |
2020/21 | 12,127 | 6,018 |
2021/22 | 12,789 | 8,117 |
Note: Excludes those transferring between forces.
Separately, as part of the “Police officer uplift, England and Wales” statistical bulletin, the Home Office publishes data on new police officer recruits, on a headcount basis.
The latest data, covering recruitment up to 30 September 2022, shows there have been 37,773 new police officer recruits (headcount) to the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales since November 2019. This refers only to new police officer recruits joining the Police Service. Those returning to the police service, such as after a period of absence and transfers from other forces are not included.
Leavers data are not published as part of the “Police officer uplift” statistical bulletin.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many life peers have been appointed on the advice of the former Prime Minster, Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP; and how these appointments were distributed between the following parliamentary groupings: (1) Conservative, (2) Labour, (3) Liberal Democrat, and (4) the Crossbenches.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Publicly available information shows that 87 peerages have been created on the advice of Rt Hon Boris Johnson. 44 of these were Conservative, 13 were Labour and 19 were Crossbench. Ultimately it is for the Prime Minister to recommend to the Sovereign which individuals ought to be appointed to the House of Lords.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether he will publish a list of each peer on the Register of Hereditary Peers that has contested a hereditary peer by-election; and in each case, on what date or dates those by-elections took place.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The information is given in the attached table. Hereditary peers who have been successful candidates in by-elections, and who are therefore no longer included in the Register, are not listed. The ‘by-election name’ in each case is the title of the former member whose death or resignation from the House precipitated the by-election.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 16 November (HL Deb col 888), how many additional Conservative peers they consider it will be necessary to appoint to ensure that the Conservative Party is not “underrepresented in the Lords”.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Appointments to the House of Lords are a matter for the Prime Minister to advise the Sovereign. There is a longstanding convention that the Leader of the Opposition may nominate political peers from, or representing, their own political party. Recent nomination lists include both government and opposition peers as well as cross bench and non-affiliated peers.