Tag: Lord Stoddart of Swindon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 1 February (HL5390), whether the consent of both Houses of Parliament will be required before the granting of the BBC Royal Charter.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The BBC’s Royal Charter is granted by the Privy Council and all appropriate steps will be taken in advance of this, including debates in both Houses of Parliament. The format of these debates has not been decided.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 21 March (HL6874) about the accession of Turkey to the EU, whether they will now answer the question asked, namely whether they will hold a referendum in the UK before they agree to the accession of Turkey”.”

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Government supports Turkey’s EU accession process, which remains the most effective mechanism for us to support continuing reform in Turkey. However, Turkey’s accession is not on the cards for many years to come. Turkey first applied for associate membership of the European Economic Community in 1959, and there remains a very significant amount of detailed work to do before Turkey is ready to join the EU. The question of whether to hold a referendum would therefore be for the Government of the day, at that time, and for Parliament at that time, when it came to consider the primary legislation which, under the European Union Act 2011, is required before the UK can ratify any new accession.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-09-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the cost to date of keeping Peter Sutcliffe at Broadmoor Hospital, and what is the projected annual cost of keeping him at a category A high security prison.

Lord Keen of Elie

Decisions over whether prisoners are to be sent back to prison from secure hospitals are based on clinical assessments made by independent medical staff.

The Department for Health advise that information quantifying the costs to date of treating Peter Sutcliffe (now known as Peter Coonan) at Broadmoor Hospital between 1984 and 2016 is not available and would vary throughout the period of detention according to the care and interventions provided to meet his clinical needs and security requirements.

The annual cost in 2014/15 of keeping a prisoner in a High Security prison was £57,000. This information can be found in the attachment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-11-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 9 November (HL3057), whether they will now answer the additional questions asked about whether planning consent is required for farmers to erect notices advertising receipt of EU grants; and whether they will require all such advertising notices to include information about the ratio of UK contributions to the EU budget and the sums returned by way of grants to farmers and others.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Local planning authorities can provide advice on whether consent is required for a notice in a specific location and decide whether such advertisements fall within any of the classes of advertisements that do not require express consent. General advice on advertisement consent is set out in national planning guidance on the GOV.UK website.

There is no requirement to include information about the ratio of UK contributions to the EU budget and the sums returned by way of grants to farmers and others.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether charities in receipt of donations from the Government, or other public institutions and bodies financed wholly or partly by taxpayers, will be debarred from campaigning in the EU referendum.

Lord Bridges of Headley

Under charity law, political activity by charities is subject to strict rules. In addition, there is a prohibition, in the 28 days ending with the referendum, on certain publications relating to the referendum by bodies whose expenses are met wholly or mainly out of public funds.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether student unions are in receipt of public funds, and whether all university students are obliged to join unions.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Individual students’ unions are principally funded through their university/college on either a per capita or a block grant basis, alongside funds raised through their commercial activities.

The Government does not provide funding to student unions directly, but student unions may receive some public funding indirectly through payments made by their establishment. .

The Education Act 1994 requires publicly-funded universities to take reasonable steps to ensure that their students’ union observes the right for students to opt out of membership. Students who exercise this right cannot be unfairly disadvantaged with regard to the services at the university. The university must draw up a code of practice setting out how these requirements will be put into effect.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it remains their policy to put the UK at the heart of the EU and if so, how this will be achieved outside the Eurozone.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

At the February European Council the Government negotiated a new settlement giving the UK special status in a reformed EU. The Government’s position is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU. The settlement protects the UK’s rights as a country outside the Eurozone, and makes it clear that the UK is not committed to any future political integration.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-09-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government at what stage of the process of leaving the EU they will invoke the Vienna Accord on the denunciation of treaties.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Treaty on the European Union contains provision for withdrawal in Article 50. It is this process which accordingly applies and has to be followed for the United Kingdom to leave the EU in accordance with international law.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-11-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action, if any, they plan to take to ensure that sections 406 and 407 of the Education Act 1996 are complied with between now and 2017 to ensure that lessons and discussions relating to the UK membership of the EU are balanced and impartial.

Lord Nash

My earlier response to Lord Stoddart‘s PQ HL 521 refers:

‘Schools are aware of their duties regarding impartiality and treatment of political issues. Sections 406 and 407 of the Education Act 1996 require maintained schools to prevent political indoctrination and secure the balanced treatment of political issues. This duty is reflected in the model funding agreement for academies and free schools.

In Citizenship education, pupils are taught about local, regional and international governance and the United Kingdom’s relations with the rest of Europe, the Commonwealth, the United Nations and the wider world. Pupils will be equipped with the skills to think critically and debate political questions.’

School governing bodies and academy trusts are responsible for considering if a member of staff has acted improperly in presenting their own views or beliefs to pupils.

The Department’s ‘Teacher Misconduct: the prohibition of teachers’ advice is used by those involved in the teacher regulatory process, professional conduct panels and NCTL officials, to identify factors that should be taken into account when considering whether prohibition is appropriate. This advice makes clear that in considering the seriousness of a teacher’s behaviour it is important to consider the influential role that a teacher can play in the formation of pupils’ views and behaviours. A teacher’s behaviour that is judged to promote extremist political or religious views or actions should be viewed very seriously in terms of its potential influence on children and young people and as a possible threat to the public interest, even if no criminal offence is involved.

This advice can also be used to indicate to teachers the sorts of behaviour that could constitute serious misconduct, and so lead to prohibition and to help employers make a judgement on which cases should be referred to the NCTL.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Faulks on 10 December 2015 (HLWS380), whether they will continue to oppose common EU standards relating to online hate speech and insist that such a matter is for decision by the Member States.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Yes. This is a decision for individual member states.