Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total net immigration into the UK between 1997 and 2015.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether charities in receipt of donations from the Government, or other public institutions and bodies financed wholly or partly by taxpayers, will be debarred from campaigning in the EU referendum.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
Under charity law, political activity by charities is subject to strict rules. In addition, there is a prohibition, in the 28 days ending with the referendum, on certain publications relating to the referendum by bodies whose expenses are met wholly or mainly out of public funds.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by the Lord Privy Seal on 28 October (HL Deb, col 1176) concerning the review by Lord Strathclyde of the House of Lords powers, whether it is intended that the opinion of peers will be invited.
Answered by Baroness Stowell of Beeston
The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston):
Lord Strathclyde is being supported in his review by a panel of external experts and a small secretariat of civil servants in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat does not include political advisers. The expert panel comprises Sir Stephen Laws, former First Parliamentary Counsel; Jacqy Sharpe, a former Clerk in the House of Commons and Clerk to the Joint Committee on Conventions; and Sir Michael Pownall, former Clerk of the Parliaments.
Several reviews have examined the powers of the House of Lords, including the Royal Commission on the reform of the House of Lords (2000) and the Joint Committee on Conventions referenced above (2006).
The review led by Lord Strathclyde is due to consider how to protect the ability of elected Governments to secure their business in Parliament in the light of the operation of certain conventions. The review will consider in particular how to secure the decisive role of the elected House of Commons in relation to its primacy on financial matters; and secondary legislation.
Ministers regularly discuss a wide range of issues with the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.
Lord Strathclyde will determine the way in which the review is undertaken and the content of his recommendations, including any definitions required. It is not possible to provide an estimate of the cost of the exercise at this stage, but neither Lord Strathclyde nor his panel of experts will be paid a fee. Lord Strathclyde is expected to seek views from a wide range of Parliamentarians, parties and groups in undertaking his review, and has issued a letter to all Parliamentarians inviting their input. He is also seeking views from the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk of the House. Lord Strathclyde will report to the Prime Minister, and the Government will decide how to proceed upon receipt of his recommendations.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 21 July (HL1392), whether, in the light of the collapse of Kids Company, they will now publish a list of charities receiving significant donations from government departments or the National Health Service.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The 2014/15 government Grants Register will be published in the coming months by the Grants Efficiency Programme in the Cabinet Office. The Register includes high level details on all central government grant schemes, not just those to charities. It does not include details of all recipients or grants made by the NHS or local authorities. To improve sharing of information on grant awards, the Grants Efficiency Programme is developing a grants data repository.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to discuss with the Charity Commission the need for charities to include in their requests for donations the level of support they receive from the Government and other public bodies; the salaries paid to the Chief Executive Officer and other senior staff; and the number of full-time and part-time paid staff employed.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
Ministers regularly meet with the Charity Commission to discuss the legal and regulatory framework for charities in England and Wales. Charities are already required to provide information relating to income sources, senior staff remuneration, and the number of employed staff in their annual accounts and trustees’ annual reports. The accounts and reports of registered charities with an annual income of over £25,000 are publicly available from the Charity Commission at www.gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 16 June (HL204) concerning non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies, whether they intend to (1) make further cost savings, and (2) reduce the number of agencies, in the period 2015 to 2020.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The Government is finalising the schedule for reviewing arm's-length bodies in this parliament. In the period 2010-15 the Government reduced the number of public bodies by a third, reducing administrative costs by over £2.6bn.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 29 June (HL523), why they have ruled out holding a referendum in England on the maintenance of the union with Scotland; whether they have any plans to review their policy; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The Government will do it all it can to maintain the integrity of the United Kingdom, and the institutions which underpin it. While no part of the UK should be forced to remain in or leave the UK against its wishes, in last year's referendum people in Scotland voted to remain in the UK and both the UK and Scottish Governments have committed to respect the result in the Edinburgh Agreement. Therefore we have no plans to hold another referendum on this issue.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 23 June 2014 (HL216), how many charities shared in the £5.9 billion of government and NHS funding, and which charities those were.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of recent statements by the Scottish National Party seeking further devolution of powers, whether they plan to arrange a referendum in England on whether to maintain the union with Scotland.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The Government has no such plans.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they expect the report of the Chilcot Inquiry to be published before the summer recess; and, if not, why not.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
Sir John Chilcot and the Prime Minister exchanged letters on 15 and 17 January . In his letters, Sir John said that once the essential Maxwellisation process was complete, it was his intention to provide the Prime Minister with a timetable for the completion of the Inquiry’s report.