In an earlier post, on 27 August, I drew attention to the result of a survey of showing that 98 per cent of electoral registration officers favoured getting rid of the practice of selling the electoral register to commercial bodies. Citizens have by law to supply data about themselves for electoral purposes. I have always…
This Sunday (30 November) BBC Parliament will be showing an evening of programmes to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the passage of the Life Peerages Act. It will include a feature on one of the first women peers, Baroness Wootton of Abinger. The 1958 Act has been the basis for the transformation of the second…
There were a great many answers to written questions appearing in Hansard yesterday, the last day of the session. Among them was the answer to the question I tabled on the issue of Government Department websites. It shows some welcome development in terms of ensuring consistency and user-friendly sites. As Departments have control of their own…
I have now received answers to the questions I tabled about government consultation exercises. I thought I would reproduce the two fullest and most constructive responses: on making available a co-ordinated list of consultation exercises and on making consultation documents available in machine-readable form. _______________ Cabinet Office: Website Lord Norton of Louth asked Her Majesty’s Government:…
The recent death of Conservative peer Lord Cuckney has meant that the Conservative strength in the House of Lords has now dipped below 200, leaving it with seven less seats than the cross-benchers. According to the latest issue of The House Magazine, the composition of the House is now: Labour 214 Cross-benchers 206 Conservatives 199…
