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 (WA 113), what guidance they issue to local government and non-governmental organisations regarding making charitable donations.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
Cabinet Office has issued no specific guidance on this.
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 Gardiner of Kimble on 3 July (WA 280) concerning the reimbursement of expenses to former Prime Ministers, whether they will reconsider their policy of non-disclosure of their claims in the light of the fact that expenses claimed by MPs and allowances paid to peers are published on a monthly basis.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
I have nothing further to add to my previous answers.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government to what extent they use focus groups to assist in framing policy; and what is the average number of people making up the focus groups.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
The government uses focus groups for a variety of reasons and the number of people in focus groups varies by subject and purpose. As there is no central record of all focus groups the average 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, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 18 June (WA 75), what impact they consider that equality legislation has had on their policy of recruiting the best civil servants regardless of background.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
The Government wants to recruit and retain the best civil servants, on the basis of merit, regardless of who they are and what their background is. The process allows decisions to be made based on an individual's skills and experience, meeting the requirements of the equality legislation.
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 13 May (WA 467), whether the annual gross income of charities included contributions from central government; and, if so, what was their total contribution.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
Central government does contribute to the total income of registered charities, but the Charity Commission does not keep figures on this. According to the 2014 UK Voluntary Sector Almanac, published by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, in 2011/12 voluntary sector organisations received over £5.9 billion of central government and NHS funding.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the rates of (1) misuse of postal votes, and (2) voting fraud, in the light of the recent local elections and the European Parliamentary elections.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
The integrity of our elections is central to our democracy. The introduction of Individual Electoral Registration will make the electoral register more accurate and secure.
The Government will carefully consider any findings by the Electoral Commission in relation to the elections held on 22 May 2014 to determine whether any further measures may be needed to support electoral integrity.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the event that Scottish voters opt for an independent Scotland, what plans they have in relation to the status of Scottish constituencies at the 2015 general election.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
If the people of Scotland vote to leave the UK, the UK would continue in its current form and with its existing Parliament, laws, institutions and responsibilities for governing Scotland up to the point that independence were given legal effect, unless the UK Parliament were to pass legislation to change existing arrangements. It would be for the UK Parliament to determine, in the event of a ‘yes' vote, what, if any changes should be made to existing arrangements.