Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it is the Government's policy to pay (a) legal costs and (b) damages in relation to allegedly defamatory comments made by Ministers.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In line with the established practice under multiple administrations of all political colours, Ministers are provided with legal support and representation where matters relate to their conduct and responsibilities as a Minister.
Statistics relating to costs of settling claims, costs of legal support, and the number of times the provision of legal support has been authorised or declined are not maintained by the Cabinet Office. Funding for appropriate legal costs, including any out-of-court settlements, would be met by the relevant department's budget.
As set out in Chapter 6 of the Cabinet Manual, Ministers are indemnified by the Crown for any actions taken against them for things done or decisions made in the course of their ministerial duties. The indemnity covers the cost of defending the proceedings, as well as any costs or damages awarded against the minister. Decisions about whether to provide legal support are made by the relevant department’s Accounting Officer.
This reflects an important principle that Ministers should be able to carry out their official duties, supported by official advice, in a way which they see fit, without the risk of personal liability constraining their ability to take those official actions. Of course, Ministers remain accountable to Parliament and the wider public for their actions as a Minister.
It would have a chilling effect on public life if Ministers faced the prospect of personal financial harm from those seeking to pressure the Government through vexatious or hostile litigation (or the threat thereof).
More broadly, the principle of legal support from the public purse for official duties is not confined to government. I would observe that there is insurance available to MPs provided by the House at taxpayers’ expense, designed to protect hon. Members when carrying out parliamentary and constituency duties. This includes professional indemnity insurance that covers defamation. I also note that the House of Lords Commission is due this week to discuss the provision of professional indemnity insurance to peers.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many ministerial redundancy payments have been repaid since 2019; and by whom those repayments have been made.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Departments are responsible for making salary and loss of office payments to their Ministers. This information would only be held by individual departments.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the letter of 14 November 2023 to the Prime Minister from the rt hon. member for Fareham, if the Prime Minister will publish the document with clear terms agreed in October 2022 referred to in that letter.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Senior politicians will routinely discuss policy priorities with colleagues during a party leadership election. The Prime Minister has set out his priorities to tackle illegal and legal migration.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2023 to Question 196542 on Death, what assessment the Government has made of the causes of excess deaths in 2022.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 24th October is attached.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2023 to Question 187732 on Former Ministers: Public Inquiries, how many occasions has legal support been provided to former ministers on matters relating to their personal conduct.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Former ministers may be supported with legal representation after they have left office when matters relate to their time and conduct as a Minister of the Crown.
The Cabinet Office does not maintain statistics on the total number of occasions legal support has been provided to former ministers.
The Ministerial Code and the Cabinet Manual provide guidance on personal liability in the context of legal proceedings for ministers and, in the case of the latter, former ministers.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will place in the Library of the House copies of all correspondence between his Department and the Right Honourable Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip on funding for his legal representation for the official covid-19 inquiry.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Cabinet Office does not ordinarily publish correspondence for ongoing legal matters.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his Department's policy is on meeting the legal fees for former ministers called to give evidence to public inquiries.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
There is an established precedent across multiple administrations that former Ministers may be supported with legal representation after they have left office when matters relate to their time and conduct as a Minister.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which companies have contracts with his Department for delivering the emergency alerts system; and what the value of each of those contracts is.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Following a compliant procurement process through Crown Commercial Services Tech Services 3 framework RM6100, the WP2083 Emergency Alerts contract was awarded on 10 October 2022 to Fujitsu.
Details of the contract can be found here.
The Cabinet Office operates a triple gateway process of approvals to ensure compliance and transparency in procurements. All contracts are reviewed and approved by delegated Cabinet Office Commercial Heads and then published. All procurements over £10,000 are subject to Commercial approvals. All contracts are then managed by accredited Contract Managers in accordance with Cabinet Office Commercial guidance.
Contract agreements are published within 30 days in accordance with our obligations.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have been identified as not being suitable to invite to speak at Government events following the vetting of their social media histories; and if she will publish the names of those individuals.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
It is not our intention to publish the guidance, as cross departmental networks may wish to adapt it.
We do not collate information on the number of people who are identified as unsuitable for speaking at Government events, nor would we publish the names of these individuals.
Civil Service Human Resources who sit within the Cabinet Office developed the guidance for all Cross-Government Diversity networks, and this requires the networks to carry out checks on external speakers prior to inviting them to participate in Civil Service events.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish his Department's guidance on the vetting of the social media histories of people invited to speak at Government events.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
It is not our intention to publish the guidance, as cross departmental networks may wish to adapt it.
We do not collate information on the number of people who are identified as unsuitable for speaking at Government events, nor would we publish the names of these individuals.
Civil Service Human Resources who sit within the Cabinet Office developed the guidance for all Cross-Government Diversity networks, and this requires the networks to carry out checks on external speakers prior to inviting them to participate in Civil Service events.