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1694356

registered interest
date	06/03/2024
answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
answering dept id	92
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
hansard heading	House of Lords: Select Committees
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy on civil servants giving evidence to House of Lords committees, and under what circumstances a request for such evidence may be declined.
tabling member printed	Lord Watts
uin	HL3091
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2024 answer text <p>The Government, including the Civil Service, is committed to being as accommodating as possible when requests are made by Select Committees. The Cabinet Office has dedicated guidance for Civil Servants about giving evidence to House of Lords Select Committees. Officials will always carefully consider requests to give evidence. When they do accept such invitations, they require Ministerial agreement and are there to represent the Minister's views.</p><p>In the event that a Select Committee requests a named civil servant from a department and the department feels that they are not the most appropriate person to represent the Minister, the department has the right to suggest an alternative to the Committee. There may be rare examples where the Department and Ministers feel an official is unable to attend, but the guidance is clear that if a Department considers it is unable to meet any requests from the Select Committee, they should inform the Committee as soon as practicably possible and set out the reasons why.</p><p>As Leader of the House of Lords, I have made it clear to my Ministerial Colleagues, that Ministers in both Houses should make every effort to facilitate Select Committee requests, including evidence session attendance.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord True question first answered 19/03/2024 16:38:16 answering member 4200 label Biography information for Lord True
tabling member	489 label Biography information for Lord Watts

1688855

registered interest
date	13/02/2024
answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
answering dept id	92
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
hansard heading	Government Departments: Written Questions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Leader of the House, with regard to the 19 questions for written answer that remained unanswered after 10 working days on 12 February, how many of the answering bodies have not sent an apology to the questioner for the delay in responding.
tabling member printed	Lord Jopling
uin	HL2441
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2024 answer text <p>As Leader of the House, I take my duty to represent the House to His Majesty’s Government with the utmost seriousness. Central to this is ensuring that Peers have their questions answered in a timely fashion by all departments. Over the recent months, I have reminded all Front Bench Ministers of their duty to respond to Written Questions within the 10 day target.</p><p>In addition to this, my Office routinely contacts departments who have breached this target to ascertain the reasons why their deadlines have been missed. As an indication of how seriously I have taken this issue, I have also written to the Permanent Secretaries of departments and met individually with Front Bench Ministers who repeatedly miss the target.</p><p>I believe an apology is appropriate in such circumstances, but that it is a matter for each individual department to determine.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord True question first answered 27/02/2024 12:30:16 answering member 4200 label Biography information for Lord True
tabling member	883 label Biography information for Lord Jopling

1655036

registered interest
date	24/07/2023
answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
answering dept id	92
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
hansard heading	Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Leader of the House, further to the Written Answer by Lord True on 19 June (HL8246), what explanations he has had from the Department of Health and Social Care concerning the number of questions allocated to that department that remain unanswered after 10 working days.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
uin	HL9624
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/08/2023 answer text <p>As Leader of the House of Lords I have reiterated to all Front Bench Ministers the importance of adhering to the 10 day target for responses to questions for written answer. As stated in my response on 19 June (HL8246) the Department for Health and Social Care faced significant disruption to the delivery of parliamentary support due to the pressures they faced during the Covid-19 pandemic. They have since implemented a Written Parliamentary Question Recovery Plan to deal with the backlog of written questions. At the time of writing, DHSC’s PQ on-time rate for July is 89.6%, the highest percentage during a sitting month since early 2020.</p><p><strong><br></strong>The Permanent Secretary has further reassured me that they are committed to improving the process and have taken further steps to bring performance levels back to pre-pandemic levels including streamlining the drafting process. I will be looking for further improvements on their record as a result of the Department's Recovery plan. It is important that the highest standards are achieved by all Departments in replying to members of the House.</p> answering member printed Lord True question first answered 03/08/2023 09:31:05 answering member 4200 label Biography information for Lord True
tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

1642409

registered interest
date	06/06/2023
answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
answering dept id	92
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
hansard heading	Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Leader of the House what explanations he has had from the Department for Health and Social Care concerning their failure to answer 18 questions for written answer, dating back to 19 April, within the recommended time.
tabling member printed	Lord Jopling
uin	HL8246
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2023 answer text <p>As Leader of the House I see it as essential that Noble Lords receive accurate and timely responses to all written questions tabled to His Majesty's Government. For that reason, I have spoken to all Front Bench Ministers regarding the importance of adhering to the 10 working day window for response to questions for written answer. I have also written to the Permanent Secretary of DHSC to reiterate the importance of his department responding to peers within this timeframe, as well as urging them to clear the backlog as soon as possible.</p><p>My office has contacted DHSC regarding their repeated failure to meet the 10 day target for response. After the significant disruption caused to the delivery of parliamentary support to the House of Lords by the COVID-19 pandemic, the DHSC parliamentary team has implemented a Written Parliamentary Question Recovery Plan to deal with the backlog of written questions. This recovery plan has led to significant improvements in their performance. However, your question clearly highlights that there is more work to do to ensure that all questions are answered within the 10 day target. Parliament rightly expects that more work will be done on this matter.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord True question first answered 19/06/2023 16:28:12 answering member 4200 label Biography information for Lord True
tabling member	883 label Biography information for Lord Jopling

1581655

registered interest
date	30/01/2023
answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
answering dept id	92
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
hansard heading	House of Lords: Legislation
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Leader of the House, further to the request made to the Leader by Lord Blencathra on 12 January (HL Deb col 1535), whether he will (1) send a printed copy of the Cabinet Office Guide to Making Legislation to every civil servant in the Office of Parliamentary Counsel with an instruction to read it, and (2) amend section E of the Guide which begins with the sentence “The House of Lords is usually the more difficult House to take legislation through…”.
tabling member printed	Lord Blencathra
uin	HL5192
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2023 answer text <p>On instruction from the relevant policy department, the Office of Parliamentary Counsel are responsible for the drafting of Government legislation.</p><p>In light of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee's report Democracy Denied? The urgent need to rebalance power between Parliament and the Executive (HL 106), the Guide to Making Legislation was updated last summer. This included integrating a link to the Committee's revised guidance. Along with the Committee's report and the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee's report Government by Diktat: A call to return power to Parliament (HL 105), the guide was circulated to all officials in Whitehall responsible for preparing and passing primary legislation.</p><p>The Guide to Making Legislation is usually updated annually and I have asked the responsible officials to consider how to best express in the Guide the different procedures, practices and challenges posed by legislating in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. I hope very much that in that process officials will take carefully into account points made by Your Lordships in what was an important debate.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord True question first answered 10/02/2023 14:11:04 answering member 4200 label Biography information for Lord True
tabling member	497 label Biography information for Lord Blencathra

1546224

registered interest
date	28/11/2022
answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
answering dept id	92
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
hansard heading	Oral Questions: House of Lords
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Leader of the House what steps he is taking to encourage members to keep supplementary questions short and succinct.
tabling member printed	Lord Palmer
uin	HL3812
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/12/2022 answer text <p>I agree with the noble Lord that members should aim to keep their contributions concise and, in accordance with the Companion, confined to no more than two points. This enables as many peers from across the House as possible the opportunity to scrutinise the Government.</p><p>It is the responsibility of the whole House to work collectively on this issue and I am sure the usual channels will make every effort to ensure their members keep to this standard of practice. In June 2022 the usual channels wrote collectively to all members to remind them of these rules and the courtesies of the House more generally.</p><p>I will also remind colleagues of the importance of ministers providing succinct answers to questions, in accordance with the practice of the House, to enable the House to operate in the most effective manner including the recommendation that initial answers should be no more than 75 words.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord True question first answered 09/12/2022 12:13:24 answering member 4200 label Biography information for Lord True
tabling member	3192 label Biography information for Lord Palmer

1540894

registered interest
date	08/11/2022
answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
answering dept id	92
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
hansard heading	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Written Questions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Leader of the House why Written Questions HL2182 (tabled on 5 September), HL2307 and HL2308 (tabled on 8 September) have yet to be answered.
tabling member printed	Lord Jopling
uin	HL3280
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/11/2022 answer text <p>As Leader of the House, I have stressed that I take my responsibility to ensure all Ministers provide full, timely and accurate responses to Questions for Written Answers (QWAs) very seriously.</p><p>Of the three QWAs mentioned in your question, all have now been answered. HL2182 was answered on the date you submitted this question, 8 November.</p><p>HL2307 and HL2308 were delayed due to the death of Her Majesty The Queen on 8 September and were subsequently answered within the 10 working day target on 28 September.</p><p>For more information on what we are doing to address late QWAs please see my previous response to you on 11 October (HL2274) and my answer to Lord Scriven (HL2615) on 27 October.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord True question first answered 22/11/2022 11:40:16 answering member 4200 label Biography information for Lord True
tabling member	883 label Biography information for Lord Jopling

1522075

registered interest
date	13/10/2022
answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
answering dept id	92
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
hansard heading	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Written Questions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Leader of the House why Written Question HL1408, tabled on 30 June, remains outstanding as of 13 October.
tabling member printed	Lord Scriven
uin	HL2615
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2022 answer text <p>Further to my answer to Lord Jopling on 11 October (HL2274), the FCDO experienced technical difficulties in uploading their answer to this question to the Parliamentary website, but a response was issued by email, at the time. My office has since been in touch with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and received assurances that a response has now been uploaded to the website. The Department has also written directly to apologise for the delay in responding with an explanation for the delay.</p><p>I regret the error and will be reminding all Departments of their duty to offer prompt responses to questions in the House.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord True question first answered 27/10/2022 14:05:00 answering member 4200 label Biography information for Lord True
tabling member	4333 label Biography information for Lord Scriven

1505800

registered interest
date	07/09/2022
answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
answering dept id	92
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
hansard heading	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and Home Office: Written Questions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Leader of the House what plans he has to seek explanations from (1) the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and (2) the Home Office, concerning their failure to respond to Questions for Written Answer tabled in June and July, contrary to the convention that answers should be provided within 10 working days.
tabling member printed	Lord Jopling
uin	HL2274
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2022 answer text <p>As Leader of the House, I shall take my responsibility to ensure all Ministers provide full, timely and accurate responses to Questions for Written Answers (QWAs) very seriously.</p><p>On 7 September 2022 there were four overdue QWAs directed to the Home Office (HO), and one directed to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). As of 28 September 2022, the number of outstanding QWAs from June and July had reduced: the Home Office had two late answers and the FCDO had none.</p><p>My office contacted the FCDO who explained that a technical error prevented their response from being uploaded to the website by the deadline. They have confirmed that a response was issued on 20 July 2022 and a copy was sent via email to the Peer.</p><p>Similarly, the HO has confirmed their two outstanding QWAs were cleared on 11 July but due to a separate technical error, were not uploaded to the website. This issue is being investigated by the HO to prevent it reoccurring. The tabling Peer has been contacted.</p><p>As Leader, I will undertake to remind colleagues of the importance of answering QWAs within the 10 day target, as well as their obligation to the House and Parliament’s important role in scrutinising the Government. My office will continue to work closely with all Departments across Government, and, upon the House’s return, I will write to colleagues to ensure all Ministers in the House of Lords are aware of their duties and what is expected of them in fulfilling their duty to be accountable to your Lordships’ House.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord True question first answered 11/10/2022 16:52:48 answering member 4200 label Biography information for Lord True
tabling member	883 label Biography information for Lord Jopling

1462908

registered interest
date	16/05/2022
answering body	Leader of the House of Lords
answering dept id	92
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name	Leader of the House of Lords
hansard heading	Environment Protection: Policy
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask the Leader of the House what steps she is taking to facilitate parliamentary scrutiny of the draft Environmental Principles Statement.
tabling member printed	Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
uin	HL258
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2022 answer text <p>Section 18 of the Environment Act 2021 sets out the routes for parliamentary scrutiny of the draft Environmental Principles Policy Statement recently laid before Parliament by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This includes consideration by relevant Select Committees.</p><p> </p><p>The Chief Whip will work with the Usual Channels to schedule any business resulting from these routes in the usual way during the scrutiny period.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Evans of Bowes Park question first answered 06/06/2022 16:40:47 answering member 4329 label Biography information for Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
tabling member	3792 label Biography information for Baroness Jones of Whitchurch