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.
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 the case for the BBC’s service licences being reviewed and strengthened by an independent regulator at an early date.
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 2016-06-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will seek assurances from the government of Iran that Nazanin Ratcliffe will be granted access to a lawyer and due process rights.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We regularly lobby the Iranian government on all of our consular cases; requesting consular access for our officials, and to ensure that they have access to lawyers and are receiving appropriate medical care. Most recently the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised the issue with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif on 17 May, and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), raised the subject with the Iranian Charge d’Affaires in London on 18 May. The Iranian government do not recognise dual nationals of any country, therefore we cannot gain direct access to dual nationals held in custody.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-12-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have evidence that Saudi Arabia funds Wahhabi mosques and Wahhabi communities in the UK.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
HM Government does not collect information on the denomination of religious institutions, nor of communities in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-01-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 13 January (HL4703 and HL4704), what were the other administrative reasons for retaining documents to which she refers.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The administrative grounds for retaining public records referred to in my answer to HL4703 are: records or series of records which have not been selected for transfer to The National Archives or a place of deposit, but which the department has retained after they are defined as historical records because they are required for its own administrative purposes; records or series of records that have been selected for transfer to The National Archives or place of deposit but are still required for administrative purposes; records or series of records which are awaiting appraisal or preparation for transfer.