House of Lords written statement – made at on 25 October 2013.
Viscount Younger of Leckie
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable) has made the following statement.
It is normal practice when a Government department proposes to undertake a contingent liability in excess of £300,000 for which there is no specific statutory authority, for the Minister concerned to present a departmental minute to Parliament giving particulars of the liability created, explaining the circumstances and to refrain from incurring the liability until fourteen parliamentary sitting days after the issue of the statement, except in cases of special urgency and/or confidentiality.
During the preparatory phase of the Royal Mail transaction, there was a need for strict confidentiality as to the content of the preparatory work, including the scope of the Royal Mail transaction liabilities and the transaction timetable.
On 10th September 2013, following the “non-standard notification” procedure outlined in Managing Public Money (Annex 5.4), I wrote to the Chairs of the Public Accounts Committee and the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee outlining the proposal to provide certain indemnities on behalf of Government.
As a matter of record I have placed a departmental Minute in the libraries of both Houses explaining the procedure followed and containing a description of the liabilities undertaken.
The house of Lords is the upper chamber of the Houses of Parliament. It is filled with Lords (I.E. Lords, Dukes, Baron/esses, Earls, Marquis/esses, Viscounts, Count/esses, etc.) The Lords consider proposals from the EU or from the commons. They can then reject a bill, accept it, or make amendments. If a bill is rejected, the commons can send it back to the lords for re-discussion. The Lords cannot stop a bill for longer than one parliamentary session. If a bill is accepted, it is forwarded to the Queen, who will then sign it and make it law. If a bill is amended, the amended bill is sent back to the House of Commons for discussion.
The Lords are not elected; they are appointed. Lords can take a "whip", that is to say, they can choose a party to represent. Currently, most Peers are Conservative.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
