Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 26 March (HL3210), when they anticipate that officials will complete their work and that a decision will be taken by ministers.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
As per my response on 26th March, I will return to the House in due course after receiving advice from officials on the considerations of whether the type of review of Operation Conifer the noble Lord and colleagues call for is necessary.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have issued guidance to public institutions and universities concerning security arrangements for the protection of historic portraits of past statesmen.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The vandalism against the portrait of A.J. Balfour at Trinity College, Cambridge, last month is rightly being investigated as a criminal act by Cambridgeshire Police. The shoddy sense of history by those who perpetrated and promoted it is also a reminder of the importance of historic portraits in improving our awareness and understanding of the past.
The famous declaration made by Balfour as Foreign Secretary in November 1917 made clear that ‘nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country’. At the time Balfour issued it, the man who had painted his portrait three years earlier, Philip de László, was (despite having become a British citizen, with the former Prime Minister as one of his sponsors) interned, having been arrested on suspicion of treason on account of letters he had written to family members in Austria. As the historian Giles MacDonogh has noted, it appears ‘the fact that de László was born of Jewish parents had some bearing on the case’; his interrogation by Special Branch dwelt on his Jewish ancestry, and an unsympathetic biography included in the recommendation from MI5 to the Home Secretary that he be interned noted that de László was the ‘son of a Jew tailor’. In May 1919, his case was raised in a debate in Your Lordships’ House; the following month, it was brought before the Certificates of Naturalisation (Revocation) Committee, which took just fifteen minutes to throw it out and exonerate him.
It is thanks to portraits like this that such fascinating insights into our past can be gleaned.
I have spoken to the Vice-Master of Trinity College following the attack, and hope that this magnificent portrait can be swiftly repaired and shared with students and visitors to the college for many years to come.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks of Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 11 March (HL Deb col 1806) when, and in what form, he will “report back” to the House about inquiries that are to be made by Home Office officials.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
I will return to the House in due course after receiving advice from officials on the considerations of whether the type of review of Operation Conifer the noble Lord calls for is necessary, possible and/or viable.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether all police forces in England, including the Metropolitan Police, work with independent schools in implementing Operation Encompass, through which schools and police work together in safeguarding children at risk from domestic abuse.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Operation Encompass is currently active in all 43 police forces across England and Wales. Implemented on a voluntary basis by police forces, the scheme works by directly connecting the police with schools. When officers have attended a domestic abuse incident, police share the information with a school’s trained Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) before the start of the next school day, so that appropriate support can be given at the earliest possible opportunity.
Aligned with police forces’ operational independence, each police force operates the scheme differently, in terms of the notification pathway and which institutions receive notifications. Importantly, the scheme does not discriminate on what type of schools these notifications should be sent to.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks of Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 17 January (HL Deb col 466), whether the Home Secretary has had the opportunity to read the relevant section of Hansard for that date; and what was his response.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Having considered the Hansard record of the debate of 17 January 2024 titled Sir Edward Heath: Operation Conifer, the Government has no plans to commission a review of either the conduct of the investigation into allegations made against Sir Edward Heath or the findings of that investigation.
The Operation Conifer investigation has already been subject to considerable external scrutiny, and its Summary Closure Report emphasises that no inference of guilt should be drawn from the fact that, had he been alive, Sir Edward Heath would have been interviewed under caution concerning seven allegations to obtain his account of events.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 17 January (HL Deb col 463), when and in what circumstances Mr Mike Veale, former chief constable for Wiltshire, agreed that the manner in which he publicised allegations against Sir Edward Heath was “inappropriate”.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The reference to Mr Veale agreeing that the manner in which he publicised allegations against Sir Edward Heath was “inappropriate” was paraphrased from articles in The Guardian newspaper on 5 October 2017.
The Guardian reported that ‘, the chief constable, Mike Veale, finally acknowledged it a mistake that tainted the investigation by implying the presumption of guilt’ and ‘Veale apologised for an appeal for complainants to come forward being made outside Heath’s house in August 2015, which critics said would encourage false claims.’
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to scrutinise the record and policies of the United Arab Emirates on women’s rights and LGBT rights in the course of the review of the bid by Redbird IMI for acquisition of the Telegraph Media Group (TMG), in view of the potential impact of such an acquisition on journalists and employees at TMG.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport issued a Public Interest Intervention Notice on 30 November 2023 in relation to the anticipated acquisition of the Telegraph Media Group by RedBird IMI on the grounds of the need for accurate presentation of news, and free expression of opinion, in newspapers.
The Notice triggers a requirement for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to report to the Secretary of State on jurisdictional and competition matters, and for Ofcom to report on the specified media public interest considerations. Ofcom and the CMA have now both launched invitations for public comment, and will report to the Secretary of State on the issues specified in the Notice by midnight on 26 January 2024.
Ofcom will carry out such investigations as it considers appropriate. Exactly how it undertakes its role to report to the Secretary of State on the public interest is a matter for Ofcom.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on 30 November to issue a Public Interest Intervention Notice regarding the proposed acquisition of the Telegraph Media Group (TMG), what steps are being taken to assess the views of individual employees of TMG and the Spectator Magazine as to the proposed purchase of the publications by Redbird IMI.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Public Interest Intervention Notice only applies to the anticipated acquisition of Telegraph Media Group. The Notice triggers a requirement for the Competition and Markets Authority to report to the Secretary of State on jurisdictional and competition matters, and for Ofcom to report to her on the specified media public interest considerations. These are the need for accurate presentation of news, and free expression of opinion, in newspapers.
The legislation provides that Ofcom will carry out such investigations as it considers appropriate. Exactly how Ofcom undertakes its role to report to the Secretary of State on the public interest is a matter for Ofcom.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on 4 December (HCWS86) relating to the sale of the Telegraph Media Group (TMG), whether they plan to ensure that steps are not taken to integrate the business with any other enterprise; which organisation they have employed for this purpose; and whether they intend to provide information about the remuneration of the three independent Directors of TMG.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
On 1 December 2023, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport made an Order under Schedule 7 to the Enterprise Act 2002 for the purpose of preventing pre-emptive action relating to the anticipated acquisition of the Telegraph Media Group by RedBird IMI.
This Order has been made to prevent actions by the parties to the merger which might prejudice the process or impede the Secretary of State’s ability to protect the public interest during the period in which the Public Interest Intervention Notice issued under the Order in relation to the proposed acquisition is in force. The Order prohibits the transferral of the ownership of the business without the Secretary of State’s prior written consent. It also requires the parties to ensure that steps are not taken to integrate the business with any other enterprise, to take action to ensure that no significant changes are made to the management and oversight of the business, and to do what is within their power to ensure that key editorial staff in the business are not removed or transferred without the Secretary of State’s prior written consent, or that they are at least encouraged to remain.
HM Government has not employed any organisation with regard to enforcing the terms of this order.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the scope under existing law for levying VAT on the fees charged by independent schools with charitable status.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has no plans to make changes to the VAT regime for independent schools. The VAT regime does not treat school fees differently based on whether schools have charitable status or not. All school fees are exempt from VAT.
The government has made no assessment of the scope under existing law for levying VAT on the fees charged by independent schools with charitable status. Other organisations, including EDSK, Baines Cutler Consulting, and Oxford Economics have published their own assessments related to this issue.
It is also worth noting that in practice, VAT on school fees would be passed on to parents. Schools would be required to pay the difference between the VAT they have charged to parents and the VAT they have themselves paid to other businesses.