House of Lords written question – answered at on 24 May 2007.
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay
Spokesperson in the Lords, Treasury, Spokesperson in the Lords, Work & Pensions
asked Her Majesty's Government:
In relation to the Deputy prime minister's forthcoming trip to Barbados (a) what is the estimated total cost of this trip to the United Kingdom taxpayer; (b) how many officials will accompany him, and whether he will be accompanied by a family member; (c) what proportion of the visit will be spent on official duties; and (d) what proportion of the cost will be met by the Deputy Prime Minister personally as he will be visiting a family member.
Lord Evans of Temple Guiting
Government Whip, Government Whip
Since 1999, the Government have published, on an annual basis, details of overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing over £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial overseas travel. Information for 2007-08 will be published in the usual way.
There is no expenditure by the Deputy prime minister's Office other than the cost associated with the official party.
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.
The office of Deputy Prime Minister is one that has only existed occasionally in the history of the United Kingdom. Unlike analogous offices in other nations, the Deputy Prime Minister does not have any of the powers of the Prime Minister in the latter's absence and there is no presumption that the Deputy Prime Minister will succeed the Prime Minister.
The post has existed intermittently and there have been a number of disputed occasions as to whether or not the title has actually been conferred.
More from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deputy_Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
