Contributions
1,892 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDCabinet ManualI thank the noble Lord. The Cabinet Secretary made it clear in his letter to the committees that the plan was to complete the work so that the new and revised Cabinet Manual could…24 Jul 2023HANSARDCabinet ManualMy Lords, the Government’s current intention is to share draft material for review in the autumn. The Cabinet Secretary wrote to the House of Lords Constitution Committee and the…24 Jul 2023HANSARDOfficial Statistics Order 2023First, I thank all those who have taken part in this debate. I am delighted that it is a bit longer than the equivalent debate that my colleague, Minister Burghart, took in the…19 Jul 2023HANSARDOfficial Statistics Order 2023That the Grand Committee do consider the Official Statistics Order 2023.19 Jul 2023HANSARDOfficial Statistics Order 2023My Lords, I will begin with the purpose of the order and briefly take the Committee through what we are considering. The order updates the list of non-Crown organisations that…19 Jul 2023HANSARDOfficial Statistics Order 2023Bodies such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission use extensive guidance on official statistics, which is available on the website and elsewhere. The Office for Statistics…19 Jul 2023HANSARDNuclear Test VeteransThe noble Lord was kind enough to mention to me that he had written to the Government on this matter. His letter has been passed to the Ministry of Defence, which will reply to…18 Jul 2023HANSARDNuclear Test VeteransI very much agree that the veterans, because they played such a valuable role in developing our nuclear deterrent, which has kept Britain safe for decades, need to be helped. That…18 Jul 2023HANSARDNuclear Test VeteransIn the circumstances, I forgive my noble friend for the breadth of her question, and certainly join her in welcoming this event today. It is very important for the future of this…18 Jul 2023HANSARDNuclear Test VeteransI can certainly confirm that no information is withheld—transparency is very important in this area. Any medical records taken before, during or after participation in the nuclear…18 Jul 2023HANSARDNuclear Test VeteransThe noble Baroness is right that the rollout of the medals has been a little slower than we had expected. We were keen to make progress on this, and we announced last November…18 Jul 2023HANSARDNuclear Test VeteransThe Government are dedicated to acknowledging and honouring the contribution of nuclear test veterans. The Government hosted an event at the National Memorial Arboretum in…18 Jul 2023HANSARDNuclear Test VeteransI look forward to discussing the point that the noble Baroness raised in more detail. That is another question of breadth. Clearly, the nuclear test medal was designed…18 Jul 2023HANSARDNuclear Test VeteransI thank my noble friend for that history, of which I was not aware. I point out that any veteran, including those of the nuclear tests, who believes that they have suffered ill…18 Jul 2023HANSARDVetting Social Media AccountsThe guidance was developed because of certain things that were happening, notably to remove the risk of extremist views being engaged in some of these diversity networks; it was a…21 Jun 2023HANSARDVetting Social Media AccountsI entirely agree with my noble friend. The balance between free speech and Civil Service impartiality is exactly what we are trying to strike.21 Jun 2023HANSARDVetting Social Media AccountsOf course we need expertise in policy development—I am as keen on that as the noble Lord—but the guidance was developed by the Government People Group for the specific use of the…21 Jun 2023HANSARDVetting Social Media AccountsWe certainly are not. I think the noble Lord does not understand what we are trying to do. In the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, the Prime Minister recently stressed…21 Jun 2023HANSARDVetting Social Media AccountsThe guidelines apply to cross-government diversity networks and they should follow the guidelines, although, obviously, there can be local interpretation.21 Jun 2023HANSARDVetting Social Media AccountsThe HR people group within the Cabinet Office produces different guidance on different things. It has a network in which people regularly discuss how things are operating. The…21 Jun 2023