Tag: Lord Palmer

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-01-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 8 December 2015 (HL3862), what legal basis the World Health Organization’s treaties have in English law.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Where the United Kingdom is party to a treaty which is in force, the United Kingdom government must comply, as a matter of international law, with its obligations under the treaty in good faith. This is required by the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

Where a particular obligation under a treaty has not been implemented in domestic legislation it does not directly form part of English law and the English courts do not have jurisdiction to apply it. However, there is also a strong presumption in the common law that all domestic legislation will, where possible, be interpreted so as to ensure that the United Kingdom is acting compatibly with its treaty obligations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-01-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 8 December 2015 (HL3861), what assessment they have made of why, when the UK ranks number one in tobacco control activity of 34 European countries, nine other European countries have lower levels of smoking prevalence.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Countries use different ways to assess smoking prevalence within their population and there is variation as to whether they include daily, weekly, or occasional smokers within the figures. It is therefore not always possible to compare smoking prevalence rates directly between countries. In contrast, Joossens and Raws’s Tobacco Control Scale in Europe, which ranks the United Kingdom as number one in tobacco control activity of 34 European countries, uses a set criteria to assess the implementation of tobacco control policies across European countries, enabling a direct comparison to be made between the countries of tobacco control measures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Chairman of Committees which members of House of Lords’ staff are entitled to free food or refreshments in the House’s facilities.

Lord Laming

Catering and Retail Services staff are provided with meals without charge during shifts, in accordance with arrangements made by the Head of Catering and Retail Services. This is standard practice in the hospitality industry.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Chairman of Committees what is the new role of the previous manager of Catering and Retail Services; what are his responsibilities; and to whom he reports.

Lord Laming

The postholder has been transferred to lead the Catering and Retail Services Change Programme on a full time basis until programme closure and then to embed its success into the Department’s business as usual activities. He reports to the Director of Facilities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Chairman of Committees, further to his Written Answer on 10 February (HL5554), whether partners and spouses of Catering and Retail Services staff are also entitled to receive meals without charge.

Lord Laming

Partners and spouses are not entitled to receive meals without charge.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Chairman of Committees, further to his Written Answer on 23 March (HL7048) about the change of use of the Peers’ TV Room, what happened to the armchairs that used to be in that room.

Lord Laming

The chairs are in existing storage facilities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Chairman of Committees, further to his Written Answer on 9 November 2015 (HL3053), whether the three sous chefs who left via a voluntary exit scheme were offered voluntary redundancy pay.

Lord Laming

There have been no redundancies in House of Lords Catering and Retail Services. In June 2015 three sous chefs applied to take Voluntary Exit following a restructuring of back of house services and received a Voluntary Exit package.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Chairman of Committees how many members of staff in Catering and Retail Services are being made redundant.

Lord Laming

There have been no redundancies in House of Lords Catering and Retail Services this year. Three sous chefs left via a voluntary exit scheme following a restructuring of back of house services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Chairman of Committees how much is the agency fee to engage three new sous chefs, as recently advertised by Berkeley Scott.

Lord Laming

The House of Lords is recruiting to fill two Sous Chef vacancies which have recently arisen. These posts have been advertised on the Parliamentary Website, The Caterer and the House of Lords external recruitment portal. No agency has been asked to recruit to these vacancies on our behalf.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2015-11-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to quantify the overall impact on independent retailers of the tobacco control measures introduced in the last Parliament.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department assesses the impact of all proposed measures before laying legislation using standard government methodology. These assessments are set out in Impact Assessments which are scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee before publication alongside the Statutory Instrument. Impact Assessments specifically look at the impacts on small and micro businesses including retailers. All of the tobacco measures contain commitments to further review the impact of the legislation within five years of them coming into force.