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  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to meet the objectives outlined in the Impact Assessment of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 in relation to in-house lobbyists, specifically increasing the transparency of lobbying by opening it up to public scrutiny and increasing public accountability and public trust in the system of Government.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Transparency of Lobbying Act created a statutory register of lobbyists. The Register has increased transparency by requiring that, for the first time, people who are paid to lobby the Government on behalf of others must disclose their clients on a publicly available register. The statutory Register has also enabled the activities of consultant lobbyists to be more effectively scrutinised by requiring lobbyists to declare whether they subscribe to a code of conduct.

    In addition, the Register of consultant lobbyists complements the Government’s existing transparency commitment to regularly publish details of the meetings of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries with external organisations and individuals and tackles the problem that it was not always clear whose interests were being represented by “third-party" or consultant lobbyists.

    The Register does not include in-house lobbyists because it is, by definition, clear who they are working for when their details are published in the list of meetings of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to amend the meaning of consultant lobbying to include communications with special advisers, as allowed for in section 2(5) of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Register complements the existing government transparency regime whereby Ministers and Permanent Secretaries proactively publish quarterly details of their meetings with external organisations and individuals. The Government has no plans to increase the scope of the Register. It is usual practice to publish an updated Code of Conduct for Special Advisers after an election. The updated Code, published on 15 October, does not change the role and powers of special advisers.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any plans to expand the scope of the Register of Consultant Lobbyists to include in-house lobbyists.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Register complements the existing government transparency regime whereby Ministers and Permanent Secretaries proactively publish quarterly details of their meetings with external organisations and individuals. While it is clear whose interests are being represented by other individuals and organisations when they meet with Ministers and Permanent Secretaries, that was not the case for consultant lobbyists. That is why the Register was created. The Government has no plans to increase the scope of the register.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many lobbying consultancies would need to sign up to the Government’s Register of Consultant Lobbyists in order for the Register to be self-funding.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Transparency Act requires that the regulations are set to recover the costs of the Registrar’s activities from the industry via subscription charges. The Register of Consultant Lobbyists is nearing the end of its set-phase but ongoing running costs would still be different from projections. The total annual charge paid by each registering consultant lobbyist increased from £750 to £1000 on 1 January 2016. The Government will keep the funding arrangements for the Register under review.

  • Lord Chidgey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Chidgey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Verma on 29 February (HL Deb, cols 573–5), whether the UK Mission to the UN, following receipt of a UN Security Council briefing on the humanitarian situation in South Sudan, has called for the immediate imposition of an arms embargo; and if so, why such an embargo should not also be applied to Sudan.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK has made clear our strong support for a UN arms embargo in South Sudan. We welcome that the UN Security Council will return to this issue by 15 April and we will continue to make the case to other Council members in the interim. We fully support the existing UN arms embargo for Darfur and the EU arms embargo that applies to Sudan as a whole. We remain deeply concerned by the impact of the devastating conflicts in Sudan and will continue to press all sides to engage in the African Union-led peace talks.

  • – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take in the light of the findings of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspectorate of Constabulary’s recent PEEL: Police legitimacy 2015 report, and the comments by HM’s Inspector of Constabulary that far too many forces were not complying with the Home Office and College of Policing Best Use of Stop and Search scheme

    Lord Bates

    HM Inspector of Constabulary’s (HMIC’s) findings on stop and search powers, particularly compliance with the Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme, as published in their National Legitimacy Report, are concerning. The voluntary Scheme was launched fully in December 2014 and all 43 forces, as well as the British Transport Police, signed up to it to demonstrate that their force is using stop and search powers fairly, effectively and in a way that builds community confidence. HMIC found 13 forces non-compliant in three or more components of the Scheme, and a further 19 were found to be non-compliant with at least one. This represents an unacceptable breach of the Scheme’s terms and, accordingly, membership of the 13 forces was immediately suspended on 10 February; the remaining 19 forces not fully compliant have been put on notice.

    HMIC will inspect forces suspended from the Scheme to assess progress with compliance over the next 6 months. Forces are also required to set out details on how full compliance with the Scheme’s requirements will be achieved as part of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s duty to respond to HMIC reports, as set out in section 55 of the Police Act 1996. This information, as well as the findings from HMIC’s follow-up visits to determine the progress made, will inform the decision in the summer on whether to lift the suspension from the Scheme or remove forces altogether.

  • Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wasserman on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Chief Constables, or equivalent, in England and Wales have a university degree, and how that figure compares to those on 1 March 2011.

    Lord Bates

    The Government is clear that increasing diversity in our police forces is not an optional extra. It goes right to the heart of this country’s historic principle of policing by consent. We must ensure that the public have trust and confidence in the police, and that the police reflect the communities they serve.

    The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of chief officers by gender and ethnicity on the Gov.uk website, using self declared diversity data. As well as chief constables, the chief officer group also includes assistant chief constables and deputy chief constables, and their equivalents in the Metropolitan police and City of London police. The data is provided in the attached tables (The Association of Chief Police Officers referred to in the data has been replaced by the National Police Chiefs’ Council).

    The statistics do not separate chief constables from the chief officer cohort, therefore we are unable to provide a breakdown relating to chief constables specifically.

    The Home Office does not collect information about how many chief constables, or equivalent, in England and Wales have a university degree.

  • Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wasserman on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Chief Constables, or equivalent, in England and Wales are (1) female, and (2) members of the BME communities, and how those figures compare to those on 1 March 2011.

    Lord Bates

    The Government is clear that increasing diversity in our police forces is not an optional extra. It goes right to the heart of this country’s historic principle of policing by consent. We must ensure that the public have trust and confidence in the police, and that the police reflect the communities they serve.

    The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of chief officers by gender and ethnicity on the Gov.uk website, using self declared diversity data. As well as chief constables, the chief officer group also includes assistant chief constables and deputy chief constables, and their equivalents in the Metropolitan police and City of London police. The data is provided in the attached tables (The Association of Chief Police Officers referred to in the data has been replaced by the National Police Chiefs’ Council).

    The statistics do not separate chief constables from the chief officer cohort, therefore we are unable to provide a breakdown relating to chief constables specifically.

    The Home Office does not collect information about how many chief constables, or equivalent, in England and Wales have a university degree.

  • Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wasserman on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many staff, including part-time workers and workers under a contract for services, are presently employed in each of the 41 offices of the Police and Crime Commissioner in England and Wales, and how many full-time equivalent posts each office has.

    Lord Bates

    The Home Office does not hold this information.

    The Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are statutorily required to recruit a Chief of Staff (Chief Executive) and a Chief Financial Officer. However, it is then for the PCC to determine what further staff they require to support them in their duties.

    Under paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 of the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) Order 2011, PCCs are obliged to publish certain staffing information, including an organisational chart showing the structure of their office.

    This level of transparency enables the public to effectively hold them to account in a way that was not possible under the police authority governance model.

    The Home Office does not hold further information centrally.

  • Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wasserman on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of the 41 persons presently employed to discharge the function of Chief Executive of the Office of Police and Crime Commissioner in police forces in England and Wales are (1) women, (2) members of the BME communities, (3) legally qualified, and (4) former police officers.

    Lord Bates

    The Home Office does not hold this information.

    The Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are statutorily required to recruit a Chief of Staff (Chief Executive) and a Chief Financial Officer. However, it is then for the PCC to determine what further staff they require to support them in their duties.

    Under paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 of the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) Order 2011, PCCs are obliged to publish certain staffing information, including an organisational chart showing the structure of their office.

    This level of transparency enables the public to effectively hold them to account in a way that was not possible under the police authority governance model.

    The Home Office does not hold further information centrally.