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 files they hold at Her Majesty’s Government Communications Centre, and what are their plans to make the files held there available to the public during this Parliament.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Foreign and Commonwealth (FCO) archive records are held by the FCO rather than Her Majesty’s Government Communications Centre (HMGCC). Most of these archive records are held in the FCO main archive at Hanslope Park in Buckinghamshire, which houses approximately 1.2 million files. The FCO has published its archive file inventory and the review programme for its files. The FCO is committed to complying with the Public Records Act and to full transparency with respect to our record holdings.

HMGCC, which is also at Hanslope Park, is one of the Government’s science and technology establishments, responsible for ensuring that the Government’s communications systems in the UK and around the globe are effective, reliable and secure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-12-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 15 December (HL3615), whether they will place retention instruments 111 to 119 in the Library of the House.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

As set out in the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended), public records selected for permanent preservation are transferred toThe National Archives or an approved place of deposit no later than 20 years after creation, unless an department is authorised to keep them for longer. Such decisions are undertakenwithadvice from the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives.

The Access to Public Records Manual published by the National Archives sets out the seven broad grounds for retention, which is attached.

Retention instruments can cover multiple applicationsby departments to retain records and the number of applications covered by Lord Chancellor’s Instruments 111-119 ranges from 37 to 253, which were submitted by between 8 and 15 departments.

The grounds provided by departments that were given permission to retain records under Instruments 111, 113, 114 and 119 are 1,2,4 and 6. Records under Instruments 112, 115, 117 and 118 were retained on grounds 1, 4 and 6 and records under Instrument 116 were retained on grounds 4 and 6. Each of the Instruments therefore covers documents retained on grounds of national security, as well as other administrative reasons.

There is a strong public interest in not releasing information which could undermine the safeguarding of national security.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-03-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether local authorities that engage in foreign boycotts risk acting in breach of the common law as well as the UK’s regime of procurement rules.

Lord Bridges of Headley

On 17 February, the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) published procurement guidance for public authorities that makes clear that boycotts in public procurement are inappropriate outside where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions have been put in place by the UK Government.

This new guidance gives no consideration to matters of common law, which is a matter for the courts. However, the guidance makes it clear that local level boycotts can be unlawful and lead to severe penalties against the contracting authority and the Government.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have evaluated the possible risks to national security and social cohesion of the spread of the Wahhabi ideology.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

HM Governement’s Counter Extremism Strategy and Counter – Terrorism strategy, CONTEST, set out approach to tackling the full range of factors that allow extremist and terrorist groups to grow and flourish. These include directly challenging ideologies, including those which have a theological basis.

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.