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1379697

	registered interest
	date	17/11/2021
	answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
	answering dept id	204
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
	hansard heading	Peers: Correspondence
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to the Written Answer by Lord Touhig on 15 November (HL3572), what financial assistance is available to backbench members to employ the three secretarial and research support staff who are entitled to passes.
	tabling member printed	Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
	uin	HL4132
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/11/2021 answer text <p>Members are entitled to claim a daily allowance and certain travel expenses as detailed in the <em>Guide to Financial Support for Members</em>, which is available on the intranet. No financial assistance is specifically made available for those members who sponsor passes for secretarial or research staff.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 22/11/2021 16:22:00 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	579 label Biography information for Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

1603363

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2023
	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: Security
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to his Written Answer on 9 March (HL5913), what legislation gives the Clerk of Parliaments and the Clerk of the House the legal responsibility for safety on the Parliamentary Estate.
	tabling member printed	Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
	uin	HL6404
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2023 answer text <p>Under the powers conferred on the Clerk of the Parliaments by the Clerk of the Parliaments Act 1824 and the Parliamentary Corporate Bodies Act 1992, the Clerk of the Parliaments is the Corporate Officer of the House of Lords and acts as the employer of the great majority of staff in the House of Lords Administration. As such he meets the various health and safety duties imposed on employers under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and regulations made under it (including the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012). The Clerk of the Parliaments also has safety-related duties under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and, in relation to visitors, the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957.</p><p>The Clerk of the House of Commons, who is the Corporate Officer of that House by virtue of the Parliamentary Corporate Bodies Act 1992, has very similar powers, although he is not the employer of House of Commons staff. He shares the responsibility for the physical premises under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 with the Clerk of the Parliaments.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 16/03/2023 12:07:35 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	579 label Biography information for Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

1138557

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2019
	answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
	answering dept id	204
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
	hansard heading	Bullying and Harassment in the House of Lords Independent Inquiry
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether the work of Naomi Ellenbogen QC has now been completed.
	tabling member printed	Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
	uin	HL17115
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>Naomi Ellenbogen QC was appointed by the House of Lords Commission to conduct an Inquiry into Bullying and Harassment. The independent Inquiry has now concluded and her report was published on 10 July.</p> answering member printed Lord McFall of Alcluith question first answered 23/07/2019 16:16:58 answering member 4148 label Biography information for Lord McFall of Alcluith
	tabling member	579 label Biography information for Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

1347931

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2021
	answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
	answering dept id	204
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
	hansard heading	Conduct Select Committee (HL): Public Appointments
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker when the terms of appointment for each member of the Conduct Committee will expire.
	tabling member printed	Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
	uin	HL2149
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2021 answer text <p>The terms of the five peers on the Committee are due to end in January 2022, though the Committee is considering seeking extensions for some of them in order to ensure continuity by staggering departure dates. The terms of the four current lay members will expire in July 2023. The lay members may be reappointed for one further three year term.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 22/07/2021 15:22:27 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	579 label Biography information for Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

1364827

	registered interest
	date	01/11/2021
	answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
	answering dept id	204
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
	hansard heading	Lord Speaker and Senior Deputy Speaker: Staff
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what was the cost of the administrative team supporting (1) the office of the Lord Speaker, and (2) the office of the Senior Deputy Speaker, for each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.
	tabling member printed	Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
	uin	HL3571
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/11/2021 answer text <p>The Lord Speaker’s Office is a team which is part of the wider Clerk of the Parliaments’ Office. The cost of the staff within the Lord Speaker’s Office over the last 10 financial years is as follows:</p><p>2011/12: £145,933</p><p>2012/13: £142,839</p><p>2013/14: £136,500</p><p>2014/15: £147,770</p><p>2015/16: £166,852</p><p>2016/17: £192,297</p><p>2017/18: £197,142</p><p>2018/19: £200,654</p><p>2019/20: £182,904</p><p>2020/21: £205,692</p><p>These figures include on-costs such as pension and National Insurance contributions.</p><p>As explained in my answer to HL3097, a number of other staff are also co-located with the Lord Speaker’s Office and provide support to the Lord Speaker alongside other duties, but their costs are not included within these figures as they are not formally part of the Lord Speaker’s Office.</p><p>The post of Senior Deputy Speaker was created in 2016. Since then the Senior Deputy Speaker has been supported by a Private Secretary (grade HL8). Since 2018, they have also been supported by an Assistant Private Secretary (grade HL6). Given the limited number of people who have held these posts it would not be appropriate to give a detailed breakdown of salary figures, but the mid-range average annual rates for posts across the Administration at the same grade, at current rates, are as follows:</p><p>Grade HL8 post (including on costs such as pension and NI contributions): £77,368</p><p>Grade HL6 post (including on costs such as pension and NI contributions): £46,748</p><p>In 2017 an apprentice also provided support to the Senior Deputy Speaker. Their costs included time spent supporting the Senior Deputy Speaker as well as training as part of the apprenticeship programme.</p><p>Additional support, such as diary management, has also been provided to the Senior Deputy Speaker by other staff, but this has been done alongside other duties so it is not possible to split out what proportion of staff time would have been spent supporting the Senior Deputy Speaker specifically.</p><p>For both the Lord Speaker and Senior Deputy Speaker, the figures outlined above are for the staffing costs only. There will be other costs associated with the running of these teams, such as stationery, computers and other costs, but as these have been accounted for as part of the costs of running the wider departments within which these teams sit, it is not possible to quantify what proportion of those costs would have been incurred in specific support of the Lord Speaker or Senior Deputy Speaker.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 15/11/2021 15:59:53 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	579 label Biography information for Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

1365257

	registered interest
	date	02/11/2021
	answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
	answering dept id	204
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
	hansard heading	Peers: Allowances
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what was the value of allowances for (1) Day Subsistence, (2) Overnight Subsistence, and (3) Office Costs, when they were last available to Peers; and what would be the value of those allowances today if they had been uprated in line with inflation.
	tabling member printed	Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
	uin	HL3621
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2021 answer text <p>These allowances were last available to Members in 2010 when they were valued as follows:</p><p>• Day Subsistence - £86.50</p><p>• Overnight Subsistence – £174.00</p><p>• Office costs – £75.00</p><p>Applying the relevant rates of inflation the values today would be:</p><p>• Day Subsistence - £123.50</p><p>• Overnight Subsistence – £249.00</p><p>• Office costs – £108.00</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 09/11/2021 12:35:25 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	579 label Biography information for Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

1347928

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2021
	answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
	answering dept id	204
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
	hansard heading	Conduct Select Committee (HL): Recruitment
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what was the recruitment process for the lay members of the Conduct Committee; how many people applied for each lay member vacancy; who conducted the interviews for these positions; and what remuneration the lay members receive.
	tabling member printed	Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
	uin	HL2146
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2021 answer text <p>I have consulted the Chair of the Conduct Committee in preparing this answer.</p><p>The four lay members of the Conduct Committee were appointed following an open and rigorous recruitment process. In common with other senior, lay member or non-executive positions, the House engaged a recruitment consultancy to conduct a search and initial sift of candidates. A total of 322 candidates were identified through this process. Of these, 12 were invited to interview by a panel consisting of two members of the Conduct Committee (Lord Mance, Chair, and Baroness Anelay of St Johns), the then Clerk of the Journals and two external members (Sheila Drew Smith and Emily Jackson), with the four top-ranked candidates accepting the offer of appointment. Lay members are remunerated at the rate of £600 per eight hour day.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 22/07/2021 15:21:28 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	579 label Biography information for Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

1599690

	registered interest
	date	27/02/2023
	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: Security
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what is the latest estimate of the cost of the work currently underway at Peers' Entrance; by whom this expenditure was authorised; and what was the cost of the works that required the temporary closure of Peers' Entrance in August and September 2022.
	tabling member printed	Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
	uin	HL5913
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2023 answer text <p>The work at Peers’ Entrance during August and September 2022 was part of the same project as the work currently underway at Peers’ Entrance. For security reasons the Houses do not publish capital expenditure on security mitigating projects as providing this level of detail could enable an individual to infer the extent and nature of the works, and thus the vulnerabilities which they were intended to mitigate.</p><p>The Clerk of the Parliaments and Clerk of the House, as Accounting and Corporate Officers, have responsibility for approving final business cases for security projects across the Parliamentary Estate, subject to advice from the Finance Directors and other relevant officials. The Clerk of the Parliaments’ decisions on security projects are informed by consultation with the House of Lords Commission, which ensures that the impact on Members is taken into account, and by the Finance Committee which receives regular reports regarding security expenditure. The Clerk of the House is informed by the equivalent groups and individuals in the House of Commons. Ultimately it is not the House that makes the final decision because security is a bicameral issue, and legal responsibility for safety sits with the Clerk of the Parliaments and Clerk of the House.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 09/03/2023 17:09:32 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	579 label Biography information for Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

1236793

	registered interest
	date	22/09/2020
	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: Reviews
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what is the estimated cost of the external management review of the House of Lords.
	tabling member printed	Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
	uin	HL8368
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/10/2020 answer text <p>The current estimate is that the External Management Review is likely to cost in the region of <del class="ministerial">£100,000</del><ins class="ministerial">£135,000</ins>, based on the estimated number of days work involved, which may vary. This estimate includes <ins class="ministerial">the costs of recruiting the Reviewer, and</ins> the fees which will be paid to the Reviewer, as well as to any external supporting staff, but does not include the costs of any internal staff time spent working on the Review.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord McFall of Alcluith question first answered 05/10/2020 16:22:32 question first ministerially corrected 12/10/2020 11:56:35 answering member 4148 label Biography information for Lord McFall of Alcluith previous answer version 51899 answering member printed Lord McFall of Alcluith answering member 4148 label Biography information for Lord McFall of Alcluith
	tabling member	579 label Biography information for Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

1364829

	registered interest
	date	01/11/2021
	answering body	The Senior Deputy Speaker
	answering dept id	204
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name	Senior Deputy Speaker (HoL)
	hansard heading	Peers: Correspondence
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what arrangements are available to help backbench Peers deal with correspondence.
	tabling member printed	Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
	uin	HL3572
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/11/2021 answer text <p>The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf.<br></p><p>All external physical correspondence received by Parliament is security screened off site before being brought to the estate. Appropriate cyber-security measures are in place to protect the Parliamentary network from malicious e-mails and spam.<br></p><p>Members are able to specify how they wish to receive internal and external correspondence including delivery to pigeon holes, member desks or Prince’s Chamber and the option of forwarding to external addresses. Member preferences can be treated as temporary or permanent arrangements and can be varied between sitting and non-sitting days.</p><p>Internal and External mailboxes are located across the estate for members sending correspondence, with stationery available from Peers’ Lobby or Millbank House Reception on request.<br></p><p>There are also a number of arrangements available to help members with parliamentary business more widely, including responding to correspondence:</p><ul><li>Sponsorship of passes for members’ staff: members may apply for up to three passes for secretarial or research support staff.</li><li>IT support: Digital Services available to members to help them manage their correspondence include the provision of Microsoft Office 365, which includes email and Teams (for telephony and videoconferencing), and file storage within their Parliamentary Network Accounts. One-to-one digital coaching sessions are available to members; these are tailored to suit the specific requirements of the individual member and can be used to focus on making the most of these tools. Members are also provided with an IT allowance, which, as well as an iPhone, entitles them to choose between two different devices out of a desktop, laptop, or iPad. Members are also entitled to a printer provided by PDS, and are expected to share this where they occupy an office with other members, with printer consumables provided by the Attendants’ office.</li><li>The Library: the library offers a range of research and information services, resources and products to members in support of their parliamentary work.</li></ul><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Touhig question first answered 15/11/2021 15:33:28 answering member 542 label Biography information for Lord Touhig
	tabling member	579 label Biography information for Lord Foulkes of Cumnock