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423184

registered interest
date	22/10/2015
answering body	The Lord Chairman of Committees
answering dept id	200
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Chairman of Committees (HoL)
hansard heading	House of Lords: Consultants
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Chairman of Committees how many consultants have been employed in the House of Lords in the last three years; and what has been the cost of each firm or independent consultant.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL2934
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2015 answer text <p>Payments for the last three financial years are as follows:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Firm</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012-13 £</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013-14 £</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014-15 £</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Work undertaken</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Beamans Ltd</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>31,050</p></td><td><p>Costs related to a pay and grading review</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>BHBi Consultancy Ltd</p></td><td><p>14,800</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>Audit of an ongoing capital project</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bostock Marketing Group</p></td><td><p>23,025</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>20,238</p></td><td><p>Costs of the independently-managed Member and staff surveys</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Capita Business Services</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>6,913</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>Support for an equal pay audit</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Catering Consultancy Bureau</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>6,128</p></td><td><p>13,662</p></td><td><p>Branding project for Catering and Retail Services (CRS) outlets and delivery of communications workshops</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>23,118</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>Support for a review of procurement services</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Government Actuary’s Department</p></td><td><p>5,400</p></td><td><p>5,000</p></td><td><p>7,500</p></td><td><p>Annual accounting valuation of the House of Lords staff pension scheme</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Helena Bayler</p></td><td><p>275</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>825</p></td><td><p>Design and amendment of specialist forms</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Information Accreditor</p></td><td><p>2,125</p></td><td><p>13,770</p></td><td><p>24,735</p></td><td><p>Proportion of costs to provide the two Houses with assurance on the security of new IT systems</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>JM HR Solutions Limited</p></td><td><p>15,000</p></td><td><p>7,750</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>Human resource review support</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Panache Consultancy Limited</p></td><td><p>2,952</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>Review of staffing requirements for certain CRS outlets</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sage Food Design and Development</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>10,761</p></td><td><p>8,269</p></td><td><p>CRS consultancy regarding food covering: menus, kitchen production, kitchen organisations and structure</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Stern Consultancy</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>3,468</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>Income generation project support</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>The Litmus Partnership Limited</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>7,982</p></td><td><p>18,400</p></td><td><p>CRS smarter procurement support and related services including supplier price challenge</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>The Mystery Dining Company</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>555</p></td><td><p>395</p></td><td><p>Mystery shopping of catering venues</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Turpin Smale</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>4,400</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>CRS outlet-specific consultancy to support the Change Programme</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>University of Portsmouth Ltd</p></td><td><p>4,157</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>Specialist support to develop a facility to search for records from the Parliament Archives online catalogue by place</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>TOTAL</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>68,775</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>90,720</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>125,074</strong></p></td><td><p>N/A</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br>The House seeks only to engage external consultant support when it is more economical to engage specialist services on a fixed term basis than to embed capacity in-House, when specific external advice is beneficial, or when capacity issues necessitate it.</p><p>Most of the spending on consultancy in Catering and Retail Services has been to support an ambitious Change Programme which is seeking to deliver a step change in food quality and service by empowering individuals in order to provide better value for money to both the Member and the taxpayer. This investment should help the House reduce the cost of catering provision.</p> answering member printed Lord Laming question first answered 05/11/2015 11:55:31 answering member 2079 label Biography information for Lord Laming
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

422798

registered interest
date	21/10/2015
answering body	The Lord Chairman of Committees
answering dept id	200
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Chairman of Committees (HoL)
hansard heading	House of Lords: Catering
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Chairman of Committees, further to the Written Answer by the Chairman of Committees on 18 September (HL2226), what costs were incurred in recruiting the last House of Lords Executive Chef, and for how long that postholder was employed.
tabling member printed	Lord Palmer
uin	HL2845
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2015 answer text <p>The last Executive Chef was employed by the House for just over a year. We paid £360to publicise the permanent vacancy in relevant forums. Reasonable travel expenses of several candidates were reimbursed at £83.40. An external consultant already engaged by Catering and Retail Services assisted with the selection process - a reasonable estimate of the cost of his time is £278. There were also marginal costs for the refreshment for the panel and ingredients to support a work-based skills test. The successful candidate had previously been employed on a fixed-term contract for which we paid an agency fee of £3,600.</p> answering member printed Lord Laming question first answered 29/10/2015 15:51:26 answering member 2079 label Biography information for Lord Laming
tabling member	3192 label Biography information for Lord Palmer

421816

registered interest
date	15/10/2015
answering body	The Lord Chairman of Committees
answering dept id	200
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Chairman of Committees (HoL)
hansard heading	Parliament: Textiles
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Chairman of Committees what the arrangements are for the disposal of discarded textiles, such as uniforms, from the Houses of Parliament and Portcullis House.
tabling member printed	Baroness Young of Hornsey
uin	HL2687
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2015 answer text <p>Different departments have different approaches to the disposal of discarded textiles. For example, some have contracts for the replacement of uniforms (and suppliers must reuse, dispose or recycle them securely, as appropriate); others recycle them themselves. We are working towards a more consistent approach to the recycling of discarded textiles including uniforms. Members of the House will be kept updated on these efforts.</p> answering member printed Lord Laming question first answered 29/10/2015 17:46:41 answering member 2079 label Biography information for Lord Laming
tabling member	3696 label Biography information for Baroness Young of Hornsey

421817

registered interest
date	15/10/2015
answering body	The Lord Chairman of Committees
answering dept id	200
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Chairman of Committees (HoL)
hansard heading	Parliament: Uniforms
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Chairman of Committees whether the process for procuring uniforms for parliamentary staff includes criteria for sustainable and ethical sourcing of textiles throughout the supply chain.
tabling member printed	Baroness Young of Hornsey
uin	HL2688
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2015 answer text <p>New uniforms are procured through a Parliamentary framework for corporate clothing. The new Procurement Regulations (Public Contracts Regulations 2015)which came into force earlier this yearallow the two Houses to specify much more by way of social and ethical criteria. In line with the values contained within the House of Lords Strategy for the Administration of &quot;obtaining value for money while recognising our corporate responsibility to wider society” and &quot;environmental sustainability&quot;, the framework for corporate clothing includes the following criteria relating to sustainable and ethical procurement:</p><ul><li>All suppliers must have ISO certification or an acceptable environmental policy.</li><li>All suppliers must have an acceptable equal opportunities policy.</li><li>All clothing must be inclusive and take into consideration the needs of all groups particularly in relation to protected characteristics such as: disability, gender, religion, ethnicity and the provision of maternity wear.</li><li>The materials used must be ethically sourced, durable and hard wearing while retaining aesthetic and design elegance.</li><li>Within their business objectives the two Houses are aspiring to be seen both in the UK and abroad as a model of good practice. The contractor is required to support the two Houses to further develop these aims in relation to this contract i.e. to maximise responsible purchasing, ensuring compliance with employment legislation and good practice, and reducing environment impacts during the life of this contract.</li><li>To support the two Houses’ environmental aims and contribute to sustainability, it is preferable that the majority of garments supplied are machine washable at lower temperatures.</li><li>The contractor must ensure that any changes in suppliers used in the delivery of the contract will ensure full compliance with appropriate environment and equalities considerations as detailed in the specification.</li></ul> answering member printed Lord Laming question first answered 29/10/2015 15:50:37 answering member 2079 label Biography information for Lord Laming
tabling member	3696 label Biography information for Baroness Young of Hornsey

420484

registered interest
date	12/10/2015
answering body	The Lord Chairman of Committees
answering dept id	200
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Chairman of Committees (HoL)
hansard heading	House of Lords: Catering
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Chairman of Committees what plans he has to end the subsidy for catering services in the House of Lords.
tabling member printed	Lord Avebury
uin	HL2459
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2015 answer text <p>Catering and Retail Services seek to provide an appropriate level of service to support an active and busy parliamentary chamber, and to provide excellent value to the taxpayer. The catering subsidy has been reduced by 32% since 2007 and we are working hard to reduce it further through an ambitious Change Programme.</p><p>The unpredictable nature of parliamentary business – in terms of sitting days, recesses, the length of each sitting, and the level of attendance at the House for each sitting – means that staffing costs and wastage are higher than would be the case in purely commercial catering outlets. This makes an operating loss extremely difficult to avoid.</p><p>Furthermore, catering facilities are used by a wide range of people, not just Members. Venues such as the River Restaurant and Millbank House cafeteria are mainly intended to provide facilities for staff and other users such as the Metropolitan Police, contractors and others working on the Parliamentary Estate. It is good practice for large employers to provide cafeteria facilities for staff, particularly for organisations that operate outside normal office hours as is the case in the House of Lords. We pay all catering staff at least the London Living Wage and provide them with workplace pensions. We are proud to do so but it means our costs are higher than some commercial restaurants.</p><p>Given these factors, some element of tax-payer funding is appropriate, but the Administration is vigilant to ensure that public money is stewarded responsibly. Catering and Retail Services are also exploring novel ways to generate income in quieter times, such as opening the Peers’ Dining Room to the public in longer recesses. This helps to reduce the overall cost of the refreshment service to the tax payer, and so the subsidy.</p> answering member printed Lord Laming question first answered 21/10/2015 15:32:12 answering member 2079 label Biography information for Lord Laming
tabling member	1665 label Biography information for Lord Avebury

418791

registered interest
date	15/09/2015
answering body	The Lord Chairman of Committees
answering dept id	200
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Chairman of Committees (HoL)
hansard heading	House of Lords: Catering
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Chairman of Committees what costs were incurred in the recruitment of the House of Lords Executive Chef.
tabling member printed	Lord Palmer
uin	HL2226
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/09/2015 answer text <p>The recruitment exercise for an executive chef is ongoing. We have paid £346.61 to publicise the vacancy in relevant forums. Other anticipated costs include a £350 fee for an external recruitment panel member and the marginal cost of ingredients for a cooking test. Other costs are not envisaged, although we do reimburse reasonable candidate travel expenses.</p> answering member printed Lord Laming question first answered 18/09/2015 13:19:10 answering member 2079 label Biography information for Lord Laming
tabling member	3192 label Biography information for Lord Palmer

418174

registered interest
date	10/09/2015
answering body	The Lord Chairman of Committees
answering dept id	200
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Chairman of Committees (HoL)
hansard heading	House of Lords: Electronic Cigarettes
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Chairman of Committees whether the Administration and Works Committee will reconsider the ban on e-cigarettes in rooms in the House of Lords which formerly permitted smoking, in the light of the conclusions of a report by Public Health England that e-cigarettes are a good substitute for tobacco cigarettes and should be available on the NHS.
tabling member printed	Lord Blencathra
uin	HL2145
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/09/2015 answer text <p>The Administration and Works Committee agreed that the e-cigarette policy should ideally be a bicameral one; it presently is. This has ensured that the policy is simple and applied across the whole Estate. The decision to ban the use of e-cigarettes across the Estate (except in smoking shelters and a dedicated e-cigarette use area) was based on the advice available at the time about uncertainty over the impact of e-cigarettes, safety concerns and the practice of other organisations. I recognise that the position on e-cigarettes is changing and we will keep this matter under review.</p> answering member printed Lord Laming question first answered 18/09/2015 13:19:32 answering member 2079 label Biography information for Lord Laming
tabling member	497 label Biography information for Lord Blencathra

390062

registered interest
date	15/07/2015
answering body	The Lord Chairman of Committees
answering dept id	200
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Chairman of Committees (HoL)
hansard heading	Peers: Freemasonry
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Chairman of Committees whether Members of the House of Lords who are Freemasons are required to register that fact in the Register of Interests.
tabling member printed	Lord Marlesford
uin	HL1474
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2015 answer text <p>No. Paragraph 84 of the Guide to the Code of Conduct states that “Other non-financial interests are not normally registered, though it may be necessary in certain circumstances to declare them. Such interests include: other trusteeships, for example of private estates; unpaid ordinary membership of voluntary organisations or pressure groups; membership of churches or other religious bodies or organisations. The Registrar is available to advise Members in cases of uncertainty.”</p> answering member printed Lord Sewel question first answered 23/07/2015 11:17:55 answering member 2124 label Biography information for Lord Sewel
tabling member	1854 label Biography information for Lord Marlesford

389190

registered interest
date	13/07/2015
answering body	The Lord Chairman of Committees
answering dept id	200
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Chairman of Committees (HoL)
hansard heading	Political Parties: Finance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Chairman of Committees how much Cranborne money will be given to (1) the Liberal Democrat Party, and (2) the Labour Party; and over what period of time.
tabling member printed	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
uin	HL1376
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2015 answer text <p>The maximum amount of financial assistance available to opposition parties will be: £259,357 to the Liberal Democrat party in the period 8 May 2015 to 31 March 2016; and £577,871 to the Labour Party in the period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016. The amount given may be less, depending on claims.</p><p>For each subsequent year, the maximum amount for the previous year is increased by the percentage (if any) by which the retail prices index for the previous March has increased compared with the index for the March before that, and (if the resulting amount is not a whole number of pounds) rounded to the nearest pound. The full-year equivalents on which the calculation will be based are £288,525 for the Liberal Democrat party and the amount set out above for the Labour party.</p><p>Financial assistance is available to assist the Opposition, the second largest opposition party and the Convenor of the Cross-Bench Peers in carrying out their Parliamentary business.</p> answering member printed Lord Sewel question first answered 20/07/2015 12:17:38 answering member 2124 label Biography information for Lord Sewel
tabling member	3153 label Biography information for Lord Pearson of Rannoch

388444

registered interest
date	08/07/2015
answering body	The Lord Chairman of Committees
answering dept id	200
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Chairman of Committees (HoL)
hansard heading	All-party Parliamentary Groups
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Chairman of Committees what role the House of Lords authorities had in agreeing the new rules for All-Party Parliamentary Groups issued by the House of Commons Committee on Standards to take effect at the start of the Parliament.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
uin	HL1219
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2015 answer text <p>In June 2012 a working group established by the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker reported on the operation and funding of all-party groups. The working group had three members of the House on it. It heard from the then chairman of the House of Lords Sub-Committee on Lords’ Conduct; conducted an email survey of members of the House; and held a discussion meeting open to all members of the House.</p><p>Following the working group’s report the House of Commons Committee on Standards began an inquiry into all-party groups, taking its first evidence in June 2013. In view of concern that the inquiry had yet to hear from any member of the Lords, in July 2013 the Lord Speaker wrote to the party whips and the Convenor of the Crossbench peers to alert them to the inquiry and the fact that members of the House of Lords were entitled to make submissions.</p><p>Shortly before the Standards Committee’s report on All-Party Parliamentary Groups was published in November 2013 the chair of that committee wrote to the Lord Speaker alerting her to its emerging thinking and enclosing the new rules which that committee was proposing. The Committee’s report, and the proposed new rules, were agreed by the House of Commons on 13 May 2014.</p><p>Since the House of Commons passed the first resolution regulating all-party groups in 1985, decisions on the rules for all-party groups have been for the House of Commons. The Register of All-Party Groups is maintained by the House of Commons Registrar and complaints of breach of the rules are investigated by the House of Commons Commissioner for Standards.</p> answering member printed Lord Sewel question first answered 23/07/2015 11:19:15 answering member 2124 label Biography information for Lord Sewel
tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath