Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (HL4061):
Question by Lord Alton of Liverpool:
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office are taking to ensure transparency in relation to ministerial recusals. (HL4061)
Tabled on: 24 April 2024
Answer:
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon:
Under the terms of the Ministerial Code, Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their ministerial position and their private interests, financial or otherwise.
There is an established regime in place for the declaration and management of interests held by ministers. This ensures that steps are taken to avoid or mitigate any potential or perceived conflicts of interest. Interests judged, by the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests, to be relevant to a ministerial role are published in the List of Ministers’ Interests, which is available on GOV.UK.
As set out in the Ministerial Code, it is the personal responsibility of each Minister to decide whether and what action is needed to avoid a conflict or the perception of a conflict, taking account of advice received from their Permanent Secretary and the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ interests.
Date and time of answer: 09 May 2024 at 17:06.
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Baroness Neville-Rolfe, the Cabinet Office, has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (HL4059):
Question by Lord Alton of Liverpool:
To ask His Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the guidance provided to Ministers on recusing themselves from decision making; and what plans they have, if any, to review that guidance. (HL4059)
Tabled on: 24 April 2024
Answer:
Baroness Neville-Rolfe:
As set out in the Ministerial Code, there is an established regime in place for the declaration and management of interests held by ministers. This ensures that steps are taken to avoid or mitigate any potential or perceived conflicts of interest. Under the terms of the Ministerial Code Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their ministerial position and their private interests, financial or otherwise. The Ministerial Code is the responsibility of the Prime Minister. There are no current plans to update the Ministerial interests’ provisions in the Code.
Chapter 7 of the Ministerial Code provides detail on the procedure ministers must follow regarding their private interests. In particular it states, “it is the personal responsibility of each Minister to decide whether and what action is needed to avoid a conflict or the perception of a conflict”.
More information about the process by which ministerial interests are managed is available in the Annual Report of the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests and the List of Ministers Interests. These are available on GOV.UK.
Date and time of answer: 09 May 2024 at 17:04.
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (HL4058):
Question by Lord Alton of Liverpool:
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken in response to the issuing of practice recommendations to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office by the Information Commissioner’s Office, following its assessment that the information request handling processes of that department “do not conform to parts 1, 4 and 5 of the section 45 Freedom of Information Code of Practice”. (HL4058)
Tabled on: 24 April 2024
Answer:
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon:
The FCDO takes its responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act very seriously and will continue to strive to answer Freedom of Information (FOI) requests within the required timescales.
We welcome the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) Practice Recommendations and have agreed to publish a full response by the 31 May 2024 as requested. We are considering all of their recommendations and are constructing a detailed implementation plan to improve our timeliness.
Date and time of answer: 09 May 2024 at 16:59.
