Tag: Lord Lester of Herne Hill

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-11-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their plans to release files from their Special Collections archive during this Parliament.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Files outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) standard corporate file plan are now known as non-standard files.

Estimated at around 600,000, the non-standard files are generally older than the standard departmental files.

We have divided most of the non-standard material into four main categories in order to prioritise the preparation of these files for transfer to The National Archives (TNA): High Priority (around 60,000 files), Medium and Low priority (around 290,000 files across both categories) and a separate category for the Hong Kong government records (around 270,000 files). The Hong Kong records require further assessment before we can prioritise them for release (most are on microform).

Our prioritisation of the non-standard files has taken into account feedback from a wide variety of sources and interested parties including Professor Tony Badger, Professor of History at Northumbria University, the Independent Reviewer of the non-standard files.

We aim to prepare for transfer to TNA all high priority non-standard files (10% of the total) by 2019.

The first of the high priority records have now been released at TNA. They include 445 Colonial Reports, which are bound volumes of reports submitted annually to the Colonial Office by colonial governors. In October 2015, 254 files relating to the defection of Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean were released to the public.

Our current estimate is that we will be able to prepare the medium and low priority records for transfer to TNA by 2027.

The FCO is committed to complying with the Public Records Act and to full transparency with respect to our record holdings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-01-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 11 January (HL4752 and HL4753), whether they regard the preaching and teaching of Wahhabism in mosques and Muslim education bodies in Britain, and its funding from overseas, as creating a risk of extremism threatening national security.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

As noted in the recent National Security Strategy, extremism divides communities and weakens the social fabric of our country, and extremist ideas are often used to try to justify terrorism.

Anyone promoting the use of violence to promote any ideology, or using any ideology to incite violence and terrorism will have the full force of our laws brought against them. Countering extremist ideologies that create division in our country is the fundamental aim behind the new Counter Extremism Strategy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-03-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the BBC’s Royal Charter should be for at least 10 years.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

These issues are being considered as part of Charter Review. The Government will set out its proposals in the forthcoming White Paper.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-05-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to protect British girls in the Dawoodi Bohra community from female genital mutilation, in the light of the sermon by Supreme Leader Mufaddal Saifuddin on 25 April urging that all girls must undergo that procedure.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

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.

We will not stop FGM until we have changed attitudes within communities. The Government works closely with a range of community and faith groups, including Muslim women’s groups, to tackle FGM. Over 350 faith leaders from all the major faiths have signed a declaration condemning FGM. They have declared that it is not required by their religions and is a form of child abuse. The declaration makes clear that all religions will work together to end FGM for good. We continue to work with community organisations and survivors through the Governments FGM Unit’s stakeholder group and outreach programme to drive this work forward.

In 2014 the Government ran a national communications campaign to raise awareness. We also funded 29 community engagement projects, including a network of community champions, who are reaching thousands of women and girls affected by FGM, and, importantly, their families. The work of these projects has included training for teachers, awareness sessions in local mosques, and the establishment of a new national website for, and by, young people giving information about how to prevent FGM. The Department for Communities and Local Government has established a network of community champions which is operating in London, Bristol, Manchester and Birmingham. Champions are working with local people to address the myths that sustain FGM and to help keep girls safe.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-11-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they use to process requests for the disclosure of information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Government is committed to transparency and the Freedom of Information Act. Requests for information are examined on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the requirements of the Act.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-01-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why chairing the Environment Agency is a part-time post.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Agency has a full time Executive and CEO who are responsible for all operational decisions.

The role of the Chairman is to hold the Executive to account through regular meetings and committees and provide leadership and strategic vision for the Board.The Chairman does not operationally manage day to day business and is therefore part-time. This is the usual case for Chair appointments to Public Bodies across Government.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-03-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the BBC new board members should (1) be appointed without ministerial influence, and (2) include audience and staff representatives.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

These issues are being considered as part of Charter Review. The Government will set out its proposals in the forthcoming White Paper.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-06-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 3 June (HL311), whether one of the ideologies they are directly challenging is Wahhabism.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Counter-Extremism Strategy set outs our approach to tackling extremist ideologies. We will challenge all those groups or individuals who vocally or actively oppose our fundamental values, who seek to promote, encourage and spread intolerance of individuals of different faith and beliefs. We are clear that this approach tackles all forms of extremism: violent and non violent, Islamist and neo-Nazi.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-11-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Answer by Lord Faulks on 18 November (HL Deb, col 133), what is their assessment of whether they have the power under section 26 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 to give direction to the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland to secure their compliance with the European Human Rights Conventions; and whether the Secretary of State has considered exercising any such power to secure full compliance in Northern Ireland with its obligations under the Convention in relation to equal marriage, blasphemy and defamation.

Lord Faulks

Under section 26 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (NIA) the Secretary of State may by order direct that action be taken by a Northern Ireland Minister or department if required for the purpose of giving effect to international obligations. However, international obligations in this context are defined as “any international obligations of the United Kingdom other than obligations to observe and implement EU law or the Convention rights” (Section 98 of the NIA). As such, the power under section 26 cannot be used for the purpose of bringing about action in Northern Ireland to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the official records from 1987 relating to the ban on the publication of Spycatcher by Peter Wright have not been released to the National Archives under the 20-year rule.

Lord Bridges of Headley

Moving from a 30 year to 20 year rule has meant a doubling of the amount of information to be considered for release. The Cabinet Office is actively reviewing the remaining 1987 and 1988 records and will complete this work as quickly as possible.