Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is a reason why the meeting of the Accession Council on the death of the Sovereign needs to be held in St James’ Palace.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
St. James’s Palace is the senior Royal Palace in the United Kingdom and the Court of St. James is the Royal Court to which all Realm High Commissioners are accredited. St. James’s Palace has therefore long been agreed to be the most appropriate setting for the Accession Council.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps were taken to inform members of the Privy Council that they had been unsuccessful in the ballot to attend the meeting of the Accession Council on the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Privy Counsellors who applied to enter the ballot to attend the meeting of the Accession Council and were unsuccessful were advised individually of the outcome by the Privy Council Office shortly after the ballot was conducted.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many members of the Privy Council were put into the ballot for the Accession Council on the death of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; and how many of those entered in the ballot received an invitation.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
All Privy Counsellors who were not eligible to attend the Accession Council on an ex officio basis were invited to apply by ballot for a summons to attend the Accession Council. The ballot was conducted on an annual basis and took place in April 2022. A total of 236 Privy Counsellors chose to apply this year; all of those who applied were entered into the ballot. Thirty summonses were available in this year’s ballot.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many members of the Privy Council were given an automatic invitation to the Accession Council on the death of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; and what criteria they used in choosing them.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
A total of 158 Privy Counsellors were eligible on an ex-officio basis to be summonsed to attend the Accession Council on 10th September 2022.
The criteria for ex-officio eligibility was based primarily on whether individuals were serving in a senior parliamentary, judicial or Church post at the time of Demise. Privy Counsellors selected using this criteria included the Great Offices and Great Officers of State; Cabinet ministers; the Leader of the Opposition; shadow Cabinet Ministers who are Privy Counsellors; the Archbishops of Canterbury and York; leaders of the political parties in the House of Commons; the First Ministers of the Devolved Governments; the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker; and representatives of the senior judiciary.
Former Prime Ministers, former Lord Presidents, former Archbishops, and Privy Counsellors who were formerly leaders of political parties in the House of Commons were also summonsed to attend on an ex-officio basis.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what constraints are imposed on ministers who receive no ministerial salary in relation to their capacity to receive non-Parliamentary income.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
All Ministers are subject to the Ministerial Code, which provides guidance to Ministers on how they should act and arrange their affairs in order to uphold the standards set out in the Code.
Under the terms of the Code, Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise.
Ministers are personally responsible for deciding how to act and conduct themselves in the light of the Code and for justifying their actions and conduct to Parliament and the public.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many special advisers were engaged with supporting the Prime Minister in 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office in (1) 1995, (2) 2005, (3) 2015, and (4) currently.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Information about special advisers is published on GOV.UK.
To assist the noble Lord:
the 2021 data is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1002880/Annual_Report_on_Special_Advisers_2021_-_Online_Publication.pdf,
the 2015 data is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486829/List_of_Special_Advisers_in_post_at_17_December_2015.pdf,
the 2005 data is available at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/vo050721/wmstext/50721m12.htm,
and the 1995 data is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/336889/9th_report.pdf.
Special advisers only represented 0.06 per cent of the Civil Service pay bill in 2021. They protect the integrity and impartiality of the civil service by clearly separating out the provision of political advice to Ministers.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were employed in 10 Downing Street or associated buildings, connected directly to serving the Prime Minister of the day, leaving aside cleaning, maintenance, and security staff in each of the years (a) 1995, (b) 2005, (c) 2015, and (d) 2021; and in each case, how many of those were permanent civil servants.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The information requested is not centrally held or collated, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
10 Downing Street is a constituent part of the Cabinet Office; information on its staffing is provided within the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.
To assist the noble peer:
the 2020-21 accounts are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-2021,
The 2015-16 accounts are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2015-to-2016 and
the 2005 accounts are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-annual-report-and-resource-accounts-2005-to-2006.
The Cabinet Office accounts for 1995 were presented to Parliament; the House of Lords Library can assist members in retrieving reference copies from 1995.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord True on 27 October 2021 (HL3353), why there are more unsalaried Ministers in the House of Lords, who are not in receipt of a parliamentary salary, compared to unsalaried Ministers in the House of Commons, who do receive a parliamentary salary; and how many unsalaried ministers are currently members of each House.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Ministerial and other Salaries Act (1975) sets limits on the numbers of salaries that can be paid and for individual offices. Within those statutory limits the organisation of the Executive is a matter for the Prime Minister and at his discretion.
There are currently fourteen unsalaried Ministers, of which eleven are Members of the House of Lords, and three are members of the House of Commons.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord True on 20 October (HL3106), whether they will now answer the question put, namely, what criteria are used in deciding which Ministers are not in receipt of a ministerial salary.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The recommendation of Ministerial appointments to the Sovereign is a matter for the Prime Minister, taking into account such factors as the Prime Minister sees fit. The main determinant will be whether or not there are salaries available within the limits set out in the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) how many ministers are not in receipt of a ministerial salary from public funds, and (2) in which House they sit.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Prime Minister has overall responsibility for the organisation of the Executive. It is for the Prime Minister alone to advise the Sovereign on the exercise of the Royal Prerogative powers in relation to government, such as the appointment, dismissal and acceptance of resignation of other Ministers.
The Ministerial and other Salaries Act (1975) sets limits on the numbers of salaries that can be paid, and for individual offices. As per the act, there are:
Up to 21 salaries payable to the Cabinet, excluding the Lord Chancellor, available under Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the act
1 salary payable to the Lord Chancellor as per Part 2 of Schedule 1 of the act,
Up to 29 salaries payable under Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the act (non-Cabinet) at Minister of State level, assuming all 21 salaries in the Cabinet are used,
3 salaries payable under Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the act for the Law Officers,
Up to 33 salaries payable to Parliamentary Secretaries (other than the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury) under Part 4 of Schedule 1 to the act, assuming all 50 Cabinet and Minister of State salaries are used,
and 22 salaries payable to office holders other than Parliamentary Secretaries under Part 4 of Schedule 1 to the act
Parliamentary Private Secretaries are not members of the Government and, therefore, are not paid as such.
There are currently thirteen Ministers who do not receive a ministerial salary. Of these, three sit in the House of Commons and ten sit in the House of Lords.