Tag: Lord Tyler

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department of Health will publish records of external meetings held by special advisers to its ministers.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government publishes an unprecedented amount of data; departments publish details of Ministers’ and Permanent Secretaries’ meetings with external organisations, and special advisers’ meetings with senior media figures. The information requested is not held centrally and there are no plans to extend current arrangements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Home Office will publish records of external meetings held by special advisers to its ministers.

Lord Bates

The Government publishes an unprecedented amount of data; departments publish details of Ministers’ and Permanent Secretaries’ meetings with external organisations, and Special Advisers’ meetings with senior media figures.

The information requested is not held centrally and there are no plans to extend current arrangements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to reallocating public funds presently allocated to (1) candidate and party election addresses, and (2) government advertising, to enable a cost-neutral package of reform of the rules on political party finance, including a cap on donations.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Government is open to dialogue on practical measures to reform the funding of political parties. This can only be achieved by cross party discussions from the political parties themselves.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Chairman of Committees what have been the (1) security, and (2) other, costs to the House administration in preparing for and conducting the State Opening of Parliament in each of the last five years.

Lord Laming

State Opening is the major ceremonial event of the parliamentary calendar and the Estate is significantly reconfigured for hosting it. Its traditions date back as far as the sixteenth century and it is the only regular occasion when the three constituent parts of Parliament meet: the Sovereign, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The event is broadcast to the nation by the main UK TV channels and also to many international networks with high viewing figures across the globe.

The security costs to the House administration in preparing for and conducting the State Opening of Parliament in each of the last five years are set out in the table below. These figures are additional to the fixed cost base for police officers and staff, tasked daily with protecting the Parliamentary Estate. They are indicative, due to the complex nature of police officer and staff allocation for a large scale operation.

Year	Amount (£)
2012	c.15,000
2013	17,234
2014	10,300
2015	15,814
2016	c.15,000

Estimates of other costs are set out in the table below. These include supply and fit of additional structures, preparations of the interior, additional lighting, move and reinstallation of the vehicle security barrier, construction costs of reconfiguring the Lords chamber and Royal Gallery, building media facilities within the Palace of Westminster, storage of equipment throughout the year, and other domestic and administrative costs.

The costs for 2016 are based on estimates only at this stage, because not all invoices have yet been received from relevant suppliers. Some costs are annual rather than tied to a particular State Opening of Parliament; these annual costs have been attributed to the next State Opening.

Since 2015, a proportion of overtime has been captured specifically in relation to the State Opening of Parliament. This accounts for the apparent steep increase in overall ‘other’ costs for that and the subsequent year, but it should be noted that these costs always existed, but were assigned to separate budgets.

Year	Amount (£)
2012	251,341
2013	261,504
2014	280,707
2015	325,937
2016	c.326,000

The House of Lords pays a proportion of these costs, many of which are costs from services shared with the House of Commons. This information does not represent the full cost of State Opening, as costs will also have been incurred by other bodies, which may include Westminster City Council, the Metropolitan Police and the Royal Household.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Chairman of Committees what is the capital value for which (1) ermine robes, and (2) other garments, used by Peers and Officers of the House during the State Opening of Parliament are insured.

Lord Laming

The capital value of Members’ robes donated to the House is £217,453 (as reported in the House of Lords Resource Accounts: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/lords-information-office/2015/HL-resource-accounts-2014-15.pdf). No public money was spent on acquiring these robes. The Administration does not capitalise other garments used by Members and staff of the House during the State Opening of Parliament. The House is self-insuring.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether HM Treasury will publish records of external meetings held by special advisers to its ministers.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

This Government regularly publishes an unprecedented amount of transparency information including Special Advisers’ meetings with senior media figures.

There are no plans to extend current arrangements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will publish records of external meetings held by special advisers to its ministers.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government publishes an unprecedented amount of data; departments publish details of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries meetings’ with external organisations, and Special Advisers’ meetings with senior media figures. The information requested is not held centrally and there are no plans to extend current arrangements”

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department of Energy and Climate Change will publish records of external meetings held by special advisers to its ministers.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

The Government publishes an unprecedented amount of data; departments publish details of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries meetings’ with external organisations, and Special Advisers’ meetings with senior media figures. The information requested is not held centrally and there are no plans to extend current arrangements.”

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for Education will publish records of external meetings held by special advisers to its ministers.

Lord Nash

The Government publishes an unprecedented amount of data; departments publish details of Ministers’ and Permanent Secretaries’ meetings with external organisations, and Special Advisers’ meetings with senior media figures. The information requested is not held centrally and there are no plans to extend current arrangements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2015-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many recipients of the Winter Fuel Payment are higher rate taxpayers.

Lord Freud

Eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments is based on female State Pension age. The latest estimates we have show that there are currently around 600,000 higher and additional rate taxpayers in Great Britain in 2014/15 who are above the female State Pension age and therefore qualify for Winter Fuel Payments¹.

We ask people who want to return their payment to do so by post so that it can be dealt with securely under existing Departmental financial processes and recorded against their Winter Fuel Payment account. We also ask for a covering letter indicating whether or not they wish us to continue to issue payments in future years.

Returned payments should be sent to the address on the issuing letter or to the office that pays the claimant’s benefit.

The latest estimates we have show that treating Winter Fuel Payments as taxable income would bring in around £250 million a year of additional revenue².

Notes:

1. This estimate is based on the 2011/12 Survey of Personal Incomes using economic assumptions consistent with the OBR’s November 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.

The estimate uses ONS population projections at mid year 2012 adjusted for financial years.

The estimate is rounded to the nearest 100,000.

2. This estimate is based on DWP modelling using HMRC taxpayer data from November 2012 and Winter Fuel Payment caseload data from Winter 2013.

This takes into account revenue from Basic, Higher and Additional rate taxpayers.

Winter Fuel Payment rates are assumed to be £200 per year for recipients under 80 and £300 a year for recipients aged 80 and over.