Tag: Lord Storey

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Chairman of Committees how many consultants have been employed in the House of Lords in the last three years; and what has been the cost of each firm or independent consultant.

Lord Laming

Payments for the last three financial years are as follows:

Firm	2012-13 £	2013-14 £	2014-15 £	Work undertaken
Beamans Ltd	–	–	31,050	Costs related to a pay and grading review
BHBi Consultancy Ltd	14,800	–	–	Audit of an ongoing capital project
Bostock Marketing Group	23,025	–	20,238	Costs of the independently-managed Member and staff surveys
Capita Business Services	–	6,913	–	Support for an equal pay audit
Catering Consultancy Bureau	–	6,128	13,662	Branding project for Catering and Retail Services (CRS) outlets and delivery of communications workshops
Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply	–	23,118	–	Support for a review of procurement services
Government Actuary’s Department	5,400	5,000	7,500	Annual accounting valuation of the House of Lords staff pension scheme
Helena Bayler	275	–	825	Design and amendment of specialist forms
Information Accreditor	2,125	13,770	24,735	Proportion of costs to provide the two Houses with assurance on the security of new IT systems
JM HR Solutions Limited	15,000	7,750	–	Human resource review support
Panache Consultancy Limited	2,952	–	–	Review of staffing requirements for certain CRS outlets
Sage Food Design and Development	–	10,761	8,269	CRS consultancy regarding food covering: menus, kitchen production, kitchen organisations and structure
Stern Consultancy	–	3,468	–	Income generation project support
The Litmus Partnership Limited	–	7,982	18,400	CRS smarter procurement support and related services including supplier price challenge
The Mystery Dining Company	–	555	395	Mystery shopping of catering venues
Turpin Smale	–	4,400	–	CRS outlet-specific consultancy to support the Change Programme
University of Portsmouth Ltd	4,157	–	–	Specialist support to develop a facility to search for records from the Parliament Archives online catalogue by place
TOTAL	68,775	90,720	125,074	N/A

The House seeks only to engage external consultant support when it is more economical to engage specialist services on a fixed term basis than to embed capacity in-House, when specific external advice is beneficial, or when capacity issues necessitate it.

Most of the spending on consultancy in Catering and Retail Services has been to support an ambitious Change Programme which is seeking to deliver a step change in food quality and service by empowering individuals in order to provide better value for money to both the Member and the taxpayer. This investment should help the House reduce the cost of catering provision.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-10-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the costs set initially for the regional schools commissioners, and what are the budgeted running costs.

Lord Nash

The first financial year set up and running costs of the Regional Schools Commissioners (RSC) and their offices were approximately £4.5 million. This includes the election of head teacher boards and their expenses. This was not new additional funding, but was met from within the Department for Education’s existing budget envelope.

The budgeted running costs for 2015-16 are approximately £6 million. These costs have been provided from the department’s allocated funding, following a robust business planning exercise.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-10-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many schools were placed in special measures in (1) 2013–14, and (2) 2014–15.

Lord Nash

This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. I have asked him to write to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in the libraries of the House of Commons.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-10-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what protocols should be followed when a pupil is interviewed by the police on school premises.

Lord Bates

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Codes of Practice set out the procedures that the police must follow in the exercise of their powers. The interviewing of suspects and witnesses is covered in paragraphs 11 and 12 of PACE Code C. In relation to interviewing pupils on school premises, I would refer you to paragraph 11.16 and Note for Guidance 11D:

11.16 Juveniles may only be interviewed at their place of education in exceptional circumstances and only when the principal or their nominee agrees. Every effort should be made to notify the parent(s) or other person responsible for the juvenile’s welfare and the appropriate adult, if this is a different person, that the police want to interview the juvenile and reasonable time should be allowed to enable the appropriate adult to be present at the interview.

If awaiting the appropriate adult would cause unreasonable delay, and unless the juvenile is suspected of an offence against the educational establishment, the principal or their nominee can act as the appropriate adult for the purposes of the interview. Note: Paragraph 1.5A extends the requirement in this paragraph to 17-year-old suspects. 11D Juveniles should not be arrested at their place of education unless this is unavoidable. When a juvenile is arrested at their place of education, the principal or their nominee must be informed. Paragraph 1.5A extends this Note to 17-year-old suspects.

In addition, Note for Guidance 2A in PACE Code G specifically relates to the investigation of the use of force by school staff. PACE Codes of Practice must be followed by all police officers in England and Wales. At a local level, police forces may provide their officers with additional guidance to that contained within the PACE codes. This guidance could relate to the protocols to be followed when interviewing pupils on school premises. Such guidance is not held centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-10-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made on the Law Commission review of taxi and private hire cars, and rickshaws.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Law Commission has proposed extensive reform to the legislation around taxi and private regulation which requires careful consideration before recommending a way forward. We will share this the outcome of this consideration once it is completed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-10-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the personal taxation requirements when a local authority pays the legal costs of an industrial tribunal or court case for an individual councillor.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The payment of a councillor’s legal costs by a local authority are subject to the same tax rules as the payment of such fees by any employer for an employee or office-holder. The tax treatment that applies will depend on the particular facts of the case.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-10-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 22 July (HL1498), whether they plan to bring forward regulations regarding rickshaws in London in order to protect tourists from excessive charges.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government is continuing to consider the Law Commission’s recommendations for reforming taxi and private hire legislation, including the proposal that rickshaws in London are brought within the regulatory regime for taxis and private hire vehicles.

We are already engaged with the Mayor of London in discussing the implementation of the recommendations from the Law Commission.

The Government will formally respond to the Law Commission and announce its intentions once this scrutiny is completed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 3 February (HL4358), what assessment they have made of the placement of defibrillators in schools in Liverpool; and whether there are plans to increase the number of defibrillators in schools across the country.

Lord Nash

The Department for Education is encouraging schools to purchase automated external defibrillators (AEDs) as part of their first aid equipment. To help them do this, on 26 November 2014, we announced new arrangements to allow schools to purchase AEDs at a competitive price. This is the result of a unique agreement between the Department for Education and the Department of Health, enabling NHS Supply Chain to purchase devices in batches from approved framework suppliers via a reverse auction process. The discount achieved on each batch is then passed on to schools through a reduced unit price.

The Department for Education does not collect information about the placement of defibrillators in schools but is able to provide details of which schools have purchased an AED under the arrangements described above.

To help schools in considering whether to purchase a defibrillator, the Department has also published advice on installing and maintaining AEDs on school premises. This has been developed drawing on the expertise of NHS ambulance services and voluntary and community sector organisations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that consent and emotional safety in relationships are given enough emphasis with sexual and relationship education.

Lord Nash

Education has an important role to play in encouraging young people to build healthy relationships, and to identify those relationships which are unhealthy. The statutory sex and relationships education (SRE) guidance, which schools must have regard to when teaching SRE, makes clear that teaching should ensure young people develop positive values and a moral framework that will guide their decisions, judgments and behaviour. This is particularly relevant to sexual consent and the guidance makes clear that all young people should understand how the law applies to sexual relationships.

We have commissioned the PSHE Association to produce guidance for teachers on teaching about consent, which will be published shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made in the last six months of Sustainable Mode of Travel to School strategies; how well they consider that they are being implemented; and when they last reviewed them.

Lord Nash

The duty to promote the use of sustainable modes of travel to school and to develop a strategy for sustainable local travel is a statutory duty for the local authority (LA). LAs are best placed to address the needs of children and young people in their area and local walking, cycling and bus strategies should inform their approach. The Department for Education does not monitor or review these plans.

Guidance issued by the Department advises LAs of their duties and makes it clear that it is for the LA to monitor the implementation of their strategies and revise these as they feel necessary. LAs are also required to publish their Sustainable Modes of Travel Strategy on their website by 31 August each year. The guidance issued by the Department is published online at:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel-and-transport-guidance

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