Tag: Baroness Barker

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-04-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what meetings or other communications took place between Cabinet Office officials and Mr Chris Snowdon of the Institute of Economic Affairs relating to government funding of voluntary organisations in the twelve months prior to the announcement on 6 February of the new clause in grant agreements restricting the use of government grants for lobbying purposes.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Institute of Economic Affairs’ written research into the misuse of government grants was acknowledged at the time that the clause was first introduced by the Department of Communities and Local Government before the last general election, and also by the Cabinet Office when it published its guidance on the new clause.

Details of Cabinet Office Ministers’ meetings, and those of the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretaries, are centrally collated and routinely published in transparency returns available on the Gov.uk website.

Information relating to the meetings and communications of Cabinet Office civil servants, including special advisers, is not routinely collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-04-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what meetings or other communications took place between Mr Sheridan Westlake, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister, and Mr Chris Snowdon of the Institute of Economic Affairs relating to government funding of voluntary organisations in the 12 months prior to the announcement on 6 February of the new clause in grant agreements restricting the use of government grants for lobbying purposes.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Institute of Economic Affairs’ written research into the misuse of government grants was acknowledged at the time that the clause was first introduced by the Department of Communities and Local Government before the last general election, and also by the Cabinet Office when it published its guidance on the new clause.

Details of Cabinet Office Ministers’ meetings, and those of the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretaries, are centrally collated and routinely published in transparency returns available on the Gov.uk website.

Information relating to the meetings and communications of Cabinet Office civil servants, including special advisers, is not routinely collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-04-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice the Department for Work and Pensions gives to trans individuals about how their confidentiality is maintained by that department on its database.

Lord Freud

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) provides its staff with information about providing services for transgender customers but does not provide information relating to data confidentiality specifically for transgender customers. DWP has a Personal Information Charter which informs all customers of the standards they can expect when we handle their personal information.

The DWP Special Customer Records (SCR) policy provides additional controls to transgender customers. These additional controls include clerical records being held securely by a senior manager, and access to computer records only being allowed to specific employees for specific business reasons and automatic notification of any unauthorised attempt to access records.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-04-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice trans individuals are given about how to manage the accuracy and maintain the integrity of their data on the Department for Work and Pensions database.

Lord Freud

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) provides its staff with information about providing services for transgender customers but does not provide information relating to the management of data accuracy or maintenance of data integrity specifically for transgender customers. DWP have a Personal Information Charter which informs all customers of the standards they can expect when we handle their personal information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-05-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there will be UK ministerial attendance at the UN High Level Meeting for ending AIDS in June.

Baroness Verma

The UK government will be represented at the UN General Assembly high-level meeting on ending AIDS at the UN headquarters in New York in June 2016 and the International AIDS Conference in Durban in July. Precise attendance has still to be finalised.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-05-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there will be UK ministerial attendance at the International AIDS Conference in Durban this year.

Baroness Verma

The UK government will be represented at the UN General Assembly high-level meeting on ending AIDS at the UN headquarters in New York in June 2016 and the International AIDS Conference in Durban in July. Precise attendance has still to be finalised.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-07-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many employers offered a package the value of which was above that normally permissible under a Cycle to Work Scheme in circumstances in which an employee had specific needs that required a specialist cycle due to a recognised disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 in (1) 2013–14, and (2) 2014–15.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

As this is not a Government scheme the Department for Transport does not collect data on how many employers offered or refused to offer, a package the value of which was above that normally permissible under a Cycle to Work Scheme under circumstances in which an employee had specific needs that required a specialist cycle due to a recognised disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 in (1) 2013–14, and (2) 2014–15.

This is because the Cycle to Work scheme is an employee benefit covered by an exemption and therefore employers do not have to make an annual tax return regarding the benefit; meaning the Department does not collect the data.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which lobbying campaigns organised by charities have been funded by government grants since May 2010.

Lord Bridges of Headley

Information on lobbying campaigns organised by charities is not collected by government.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-07-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many employers refused to offer a package the value of which was above that normally permissible under a Cycle to Work Scheme under circumstances in which an employee had specific needs that required a specialist cycle due to a recognised disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 in (1) 2013–14, and (2) 2014–15.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

As this is not a Government scheme the Department for Transport does not collect data on how many employers offered or refused to offer, a package the value of which was above that normally permissible under a Cycle to Work Scheme under circumstances in which an employee had specific needs that required a specialist cycle due to a recognised disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 in (1) 2013–14, and (2) 2014–15.

This is because the Cycle to Work scheme is an employee benefit covered by an exemption and therefore employers do not have to make an annual tax return regarding the benefit; meaning the Department does not collect the data.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which, if any, ministers and officials have met representatives of the Institute of Economic Affairs since May 2012 to discuss proposals that resulted in the change announced on 6 February to the terms and conditions attached to all grant agreement letters issued by public-sector grant providers to recipients of grant funding.

Lord Bridges of Headley

Information of all government meetings is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The details of ministerial meetings are provided in transparency documents available on Gov.uk website.