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1255622

registered interest
date	25/11/2020
answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
answering dept id	204
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
hansard heading	Palace of Westminster: Fire Extinguishers
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what plans there are to install fire extinguishing systems which use water mist or water spray in (1) the roof, and (2) other inaccessible parts, of the Palace of Westminster.
tabling member printed	Lord Berkeley
uin	HL10693
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/12/2020 answer text <p>The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf. Both Houses recognise the value that suppression systems can add to an overall package of Fire Safety. A requirement to install suppression systems when major refurbishment works are undertaken in all Parliamentary buildings is part of our current fire safety strategy, any decision to use suppression assesses risks and takes account of the historic fabric of our buildings.</p><p><br>As part of the recent Fire Safety Improvement Works a High Pressure Water Mist suppression system was installed in the Palace basement, and the Elizabeth Tower refurbishment has included the installation of a full sprinkler system. Further works on the roof and other parts of the Palace are subject to future projects likely to be delivered through Restoration and Renewal. Design of the plans, including Fire Safety, is the responsibility of the Sponsor Board and Delivery Authority, with input from House Officials. I understand that suppression is being considered, as part of a suite of fire safety options, in the ongoing work to create the outline business case.</p> answering member printed Lord Laming question first answered 09/12/2020 12:23:53 answering member 2079 label Biography information for Lord Laming
tabling member	3526 label Biography information for Lord Berkeley

1255116

registered interest
date	24/11/2020
answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
answering dept id	204
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
hansard heading	Parliament: Security
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what are the current rules on (1) eligibility, and (2) sponsorship of Parliamentary passes for lobbyists.
tabling member printed	Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top
uin	HL10656
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/12/2020 answer text <p>Nobody is entitled to a parliamentary pass by virtue of being a lobbyist. Any passholder who has an external lobbying role separate to their parliamentary role is not permitted to use their pass for lobbying purposes. The rules governing the sponsorship of passes by members of the House of Lords, which were recently amended, say: &quot;Such passholders must use their Parliamentary pass only to provide Parliamentary support to the sponsor and other members of the House, and not in furtherance of any other interests of their own or of other organisations for which they work. Members may not sponsor a pass for anybody whose primary role is to support an All-Party Parliamentary Group.&quot;</p><p>The Code of Conduct for House of Lords Members’ Staff requires them to register their outside interests, including &quot;any … financial interest in businesses or organisations involved in parliamentary lobbying&quot;.</p><p>Anybody who has evidence that an individual is breaching any of these rules may complain to the independent Commissioner for Standards at <a target="_blank">lordsstandards@parliament.uk</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord McFall of Alcluith question first answered 02/12/2020 17:34:16 answering member 4148 label Biography information for Lord McFall of Alcluith
tabling member	4150 label Biography information for Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top

1250566

registered interest
date	10/11/2020
answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
answering dept id	204
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
hansard heading	Electronic Voting: WhatsApp
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what plans there are to use WhatsApp to alert members of the House about votes taking place using the remote voting system.
tabling member printed	Lord Myners
uin	HL10181
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2020 answer text <p>The Remote Voting system currently alerts Members of the House of Lords to a Division via text message (if they have opted in and provided a mobile number) and email to their Parliamentary account using Notify, which is a secure government service. Members have the option of adding an alternative email address. Notify complies with the National Cyber Security Centre's Cloud Security Principles, and is protected with encryption and secure tokens.</p><p>There are no plans to accredit any further tools or apps and develop the remote voting system to use them as notification tools. A greater number of elements within the notification system would introduce an undesirable level of complexity and increase the risk of faults.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord McFall of Alcluith question first answered 23/11/2020 13:10:14 answering member 4148 label Biography information for Lord McFall of Alcluith
tabling member	3869 label Biography information for Lord Myners

1246967

registered interest
date	29/10/2020
answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
answering dept id	204
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
hansard heading	House of Lords: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what consideration the House of Lords Commission has given to the operation of the House in the event of (1) London entering Tier 3 of the COVID-19 restrictions, and (2) a 'circuit-breaker' lockdown across England lasting two or more weeks to address the pandemic.
tabling member printed	Lord Greaves
uin	HL9775
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2020 answer text <p>The House of Lords Commission met on Monday 2 November to consider the implications of the restrictions announced by the Prime Minister on 31 October. On Tuesday 3 November the Lord Speaker, together with the other members of the Commission, wrote to all members of the House to set out the decisions taken at that meeting.</p> answering member printed Lord McFall of Alcluith question first answered 11/11/2020 17:05:31 answering member 4148 label Biography information for Lord McFall of Alcluith
tabling member	2569 label Biography information for Lord Greaves

1246678

registered interest
date	26/10/2020
answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
answering dept id	204
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
hansard heading	House of Lords: Catering
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what assessment has been made of the continued application of the catering subsidy for food and drink purchased by members of the House of Lords; and what plans there are, if any, to discontinue the application of that subsidy for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
uin	HL9578
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2020 answer text <p>The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf.</p><p>The net cost of catering has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic caused by a reduction in revenue because there have been limited catering outlets open (due to fewer Members and staff on site each day) and no banqueting events have taken place since March. The largest cost which impacts the subsidy is payroll and the Administration has continued to pay staff in full each month. Arrangements have been made for variable hours staff to receive pay averaging that which would have been expected prior to the pandemic. Catering management have reviewed the catering operations in view of the continuing effects of COVID-19 and have put mitigations in place, including:</p><ul><li>Stopping the recruitment process to fill current vacancies and any leavers;</li><li>Reducing the items available in the outlets currently open without detriment to quality. This means reducing food costs, production time, and food waste;</li><li>Curtailing expenditure on trading overheads where possible;</li><li>Ensuring the staffing rotas are managed effectively to offer resilience in the COVID-secure workplace.</li></ul><p>The financial impact of the pandemic on catering services will remain under review.</p> answering member printed Lord Laming question first answered 09/11/2020 13:41:03 answering member 2079 label Biography information for Lord Laming
tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

1244738

registered interest
date	19/10/2020
answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
answering dept id	204
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
hansard heading	Members: Committees
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker how many current members of the House have not (1) attended a sitting of the House, Grand Committee or committee meeting, (2) spoken, and (3) voted, since 1 January.
tabling member printed	Lord Mann
uin	HL9305
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2020 answer text <p>(1) 42</p><p>(2) 192</p><p>(3) 91</p><p> </p><p>The answer is based on the total number of members who were members on 20 October (819). The total includes members on leave of absence and those yet to be introduced, and excludes those who were members from 1 January but have since died or retired.</p><p>Office holders, or the holders of ceremonial roles, may speak rarely or not at all, and for some voting is not appropriate to their role.<br></p> answering member printed Lord McFall of Alcluith question first answered 30/10/2020 14:22:53 answering member 4148 label Biography information for Lord McFall of Alcluith
tabling member	1387 label Biography information for Lord Mann

1242910

registered interest
date	13/10/2020
answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
answering dept id	204
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
hansard heading	Members: Allowances
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, following the example of the government of New Zealand and to reflect the economic costs of the COVID-19 pandemic being felt by the general public, whether there are plans to reduce the allowances paid to Members by 10 per cent.
tabling member printed	Lord Jones of Cheltenham
uin	HL9133
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2020 answer text <p>On 6 May the House agreed that a reduced daily allowance, at 50% of the usual rate, would be paid for virtual and physical attendance. This change was retrospective and applied to attendances from 20 April. On 22 July the House agreed to a revised allowance scheme. This reinstated the full daily rate for physical attendance in the Chamber or Grand Committee, while retaining the reduced 50% rate for virtual attendance in both fora. The House of Lords Commission will continue to keep the situation under review.</p> answering member printed Lord McFall of Alcluith question first answered 27/10/2020 14:30:19 answering member 4148 label Biography information for Lord McFall of Alcluith
tabling member	248 label Biography information for Lord Jones of Cheltenham

1240978

registered interest
date	06/10/2020
answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
answering dept id	204
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
hansard heading	House of Lords: Oral Questions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what plans there are to provide training to members of the House of Lords to assist them with preparing concise and succinct supplementary questions.
tabling member printed	Lord Blencathra
uin	HL8802
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/10/2020 answer text <p>There are no plans to provide training to members of the type described. The Procedure and Privileges Committee agreed last month that all supplementary questions should be limited to no more than 30 seconds and ministerial replies should be succinct. This has been incorporated into the guidance that sets out the procedures for hybrid proceedings.</p> answering member printed Lord McFall of Alcluith question first answered 09/10/2020 11:02:28 answering member 4148 label Biography information for Lord McFall of Alcluith
tabling member	497 label Biography information for Lord Blencathra

1237751

registered interest
date	24/09/2020
answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
answering dept id	204
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
hansard heading	House of Lords: Furs
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what plans there are to replace fur used in House of Lords robes with a fur substitute.
tabling member printed	Baroness Gale
uin	HL8449
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/10/2020 answer text <p>Members may use their own robes for ceremonial occasions or hire them from outside suppliers who offer a choice of real or artificial fur. The House has a small stock of robes which members can borrow for occasions such as introduction and prorogation ceremonies. These robes have been gifted to the House over many years by former members and there is a choice of real or artificial fur. The House has no plans to purchase new robes, nor to replace any real fur in this existing stock.</p> answering member printed Lord McFall of Alcluith question first answered 05/10/2020 16:23:16 answering member 4148 label Biography information for Lord McFall of Alcluith
tabling member	2503 label Biography information for Baroness Gale

1237326

registered interest
date	23/09/2020
answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
answering dept id	204
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
hansard heading	Parliamentary Estate: Charging Points
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what plans there are to provide electric vehicle charging points on the Parliamentary Estate.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL8428
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/10/2020 answer text <p>The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf. There are currently no plans to provide electric vehicle charging points on the Parliamentary Estate. The Services Committee will be considering a paper on the provision of electric vehicle charging points at a future meeting, before the end of the year.</p> answering member printed Lord Laming question first answered 07/10/2020 13:47:32 answering member 2079 label Biography information for Lord Laming
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey