Questions
Asked by
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many petitions the Northern Ireland Office received in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008; what steps the office has taken to publicise them; and whether they will place the text of the petitions received and the number of signatures in the Library of the House. [HL2006]
To ask Her Majesty's Government what procedures the Northern Ireland Office has for receiving, acknowledging, dealing with and responding to petitions that it receives from members of the public. [HL2007]
The Northern Ireland Office was petitioned on two issues in 2007 and 2008 as follows:
postcard campaigns, for and against, amendments made to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill relating to access to abortion in Northern Ireland; and
an e-mail campaign against the request made by the Government of Germany for the extradition of Roisin McAliskey.
No special arrangements are in place for dealing with petitions. When received, they are passed to the relevant policy division within the department, in the same way as all other general correspondence from the public. The views expressed in any petitions are noted by the department, and where appropriate, are taken into account during the process of policy formulation.
Publicity is a matter for the organisers of the petitions. Petitions are considered as correspondence and there are no plans to place details of any received by the Northern Ireland Office in the Library.
Asked by
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 5 March (WA 182–83), whether the Ministerial Code or any other document issued to Ministers that relates to the appropriate relationship between them and their civil servants offers any advice or guidance on how to respond to a petition submitted to their department by members of the public that mentions a civil servant of their department and calls for them to be held to account. [HL2032]
I refer the noble Lord to the Answer I gave him on 5 March 2009 (Official Report, House of Lords, col. WA 182).
The respective duties and responsibilities of Ministers and civil servants are set out in the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Code.