Tag: Baroness Smith of Basildon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by the Lord Privy Seal on 28 October (HL Deb, col 1176), whether Lord Strathclyde’s review of the powers of the House of Lords will define financial measure”.”

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston):

Lord Strathclyde is being supported in his review by a panel of external experts and a small secretariat of civil servants in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat does not include political advisers. The expert panel comprises Sir Stephen Laws, former First Parliamentary Counsel; Jacqy Sharpe, a former Clerk in the House of Commons and Clerk to the Joint Committee on Conventions; and Sir Michael Pownall, former Clerk of the Parliaments.

Several reviews have examined the powers of the House of Lords, including the Royal Commission on the reform of the House of Lords (2000) and the Joint Committee on Conventions referenced above (2006).

The review led by Lord Strathclyde is due to consider how to protect the ability of elected Governments to secure their business in Parliament in the light of the operation of certain conventions. The review will consider in particular how to secure the decisive role of the elected House of Commons in relation to its primacy on financial matters; and secondary legislation.

Ministers regularly discuss a wide range of issues with the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.

Lord Strathclyde will determine the way in which the review is undertaken and the content of his recommendations, including any definitions required. It is not possible to provide an estimate of the cost of the exercise at this stage, but neither Lord Strathclyde nor his panel of experts will be paid a fee. Lord Strathclyde is expected to seek views from a wide range of Parliamentarians, parties and groups in undertaking his review, and has issued a letter to all Parliamentarians inviting their input. He is also seeking views from the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk of the House. Lord Strathclyde will report to the Prime Minister, and the Government will decide how to proceed upon receipt of his recommendations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-09-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether new guidance has been issued to the police on female genital mutilation following the Serious Crime Act 2015, and if so, when.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. We will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls.

On 1 April we published multi-agency guidance on FGM for all professionals which we have put on a statutory footing for the first time. The guidance outlines the new measures to tackle FGM introduced by the Serious Crime Act 2015, and includes information specific to the police.

The College of Policing published Authorised Professional Practice (APP) for the police on investigating FGM in March 2015. The APP includes guidance on how officers can spot the signs of FGM, the reasons why it is practised, how it is carried out and the role of the police in tackling it.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-02-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been provided this session to ministers or senior officials in (1) HM Treasury, (2) the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, (3) the Department for Education, (4) the Department for Energy and Climate Change, (5) the Department for Health, and (6) the Department for Work and Pensions, about whether to use secondary legislation or primary legislation for significant legislation.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Details of the proposals for restricting in-work benefits for EU nationals will be subject to further negotiation and we cannot speculate on these.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-09-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken under the national Female Genital Mutilation Prevention Programme.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department’s Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Prevention Programme was launched in 2014 to improve the way in which the National Health Service responds to the health needs of girls and women who have had FGM, and to actively support prevention. As part of the FGM Prevention Programme, working in partnership with NHS England, we have delivered a comprehensive change programme, with practical guidance and materials to support professionals and NHS organisations to understand how best they can tackle FGM. The programme outputs have:

– Introduced the first ever FGM data collection across the NHS, now published quarterly by NHS Digital as an official statistic;

– Published specialist FGM safeguarding guidance to help health professionals protect against FGM;

– Published specialist guidance to help health professionals commission appropriate FGM services;

– Commenced the early adopter phase for a new national safeguarding system linked to a child’s electronic health record;

– Awareness-raising roadshows and outreach work across the country have directly reached over 3500 professionals;

– Published educational films about FGM and updated content on the NHS Choices website.

– Delivered a patient and public facing FGM prevention advertising campaign using African satellite television, radio and Facebook. This has generated over 650,000 views on social media since its launch in July 2016;

– Launched comprehensive e-learning on FGM, free of charge to all NHS staff. This was developed by Health Education England, with more than 4000 staff having used this to date;

– Supported a number of projects with health partners including Royal Colleges, delivering a range of practical measures to improve clinical skills, awareness and preparedness to treat and safeguard women and girls with FGM;

– Sent all GPs, approximately 8,000 practices, FGM information packs containing resources to enable them to support patients living with FGM; and

– Worked with the York Health Economics Consortium to cost FGM treatment in the NHS and consider tariff implications. This work is nearing completion.

In this next phase of the Programme we have launched an ambition to make sure FGM survivors are aware of and have access to the right mental health support. We are also focusing on embedding recent developments across NHS systems.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-02-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been provided this Session for ministers or senior officials in HM Treasury on whether to use secondary legislation or primary legislation for significant legislation.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

There has been no change in approach to the use of primary and secondary legislation since the General Election. Each piece of legislation is approached within the context of the policy and the existing legislative framework. There is no evidence of an increase in the number of statutory instruments laid since 2010 or since the General Election. Briefing produced by the House of Commons Library (CBP 7438) shows that the number of statutory instruments laid before the House of Commons peaked at 1,885 in the 2005-06 session, compared to 1,378 last session and 540 so far this session.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-02-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been provided this Session for ministers or senior officials in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on whether to use secondary legislation or primary legislation for significant legislation.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

There has been no change in approach to the use of primary and secondary legislation since the General Election. Each piece of legislation is approached within the context of the policy and the existing legislative framework. There is no evidence of an increase in the number of statutory instruments laid since 2010 or since the General Election. Briefing produced by the House of Commons Library (CBP 7438) shows that the number of statutory instruments laid before the House of Commons peaked at 1,885 in the 2005-06 session, compared to 1,378 last session and 540 so far this session.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-02-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been provided this Session for ministers or senior officials in the Department for Education on whether to use secondary legislation or primary legislation for significant legislation.

Lord Nash

There has been no change in approach to the use of primary and secondary legislation since the General Election. Each piece of legislation is approached within the context of the policy and the existing legislative framework. There is no evidence of an increase in the number of statutory instruments laid since 2010 or since the General Election. Briefing produced by the House of Commons Library (CBP 7438) shows that the number of statutory instruments laid before the House of Commons peaked at 1,885 in the 2005-06 session, compared to 1,378 last session and 540 so far this session.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-02-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been provided this Session for ministers or senior officials in the Department of Energy and Climate Change on whether to use secondary legislation or primary legislation for significant legislation.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

There has been no change in approach to the use of primary and secondary legislation since the General Election. Each piece of legislation is approached within the context of the policy and the existing legislative framework. There is no evidence of an increase in the number of statutory instruments laid since 2010 or since the General Election. Briefing produced by the House of Commons Library (CBP 7438) shows that the number of statutory instruments laid before the House of Commons peaked at 1,885 in the 2005-06 session, compared to 1,378 last session and 540 so far this session.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-02-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been provided this Session for ministers or senior officials in the Department of Health on whether to use secondary legislation or primary legislation for significant legislation.

Lord Prior of Brampton

There has been no change in approach to the use of primary and secondary legislation since the General Election. Each piece of legislation is approached within the context of the policy and the existing legislative framework. There is no evidence of an increase in the number of statutory instruments laid since 2010 or since the General Election. Briefing produced by the House of Commons Library (CBP 7438) shows that the number of statutory instruments laid before the House of Commons peaked at 1,885 in the 2005-06 session, compared to 1,378 last session and 540 so far this session.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-02-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been provided this Session for ministers or senior officials in the Department for Work and Pensions on whether to use secondary legislation or primary legislation for significant legislation.

Lord Freud

There has been no change in approach to the use of primary and secondary legislation since the General Election. Each piece of legislation is approached within the context of the policy and the existing legislative framework. There is no evidence of an increase in the number of statutory instruments　laid　since 2010　or since the General Election. Briefing produced by the House of Commons Library (CBP 7438) shows that　the　number of statutory instruments laid before the House of Commons peaked　at 1,885　in the 2005-06 session, compared to 1,378 last session and 540 so far this session.