§ Lord Hanningfieldasked Her Majesty's Government:
What percentage of time the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster works on (a) ministerial and Duchy responsibilities; and (b) other political responsibilities; and, in respect of other political responsibilities, what work has been undertaken since his appointment in September. [HL579]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonMinisters spend as long as is necessary to fulfil their ministerial duties.
My right honourable friend has a cross-government role in the co-ordination of government policy. He is also responsible for the work of the Strategy Unit and the Policy Directorate.
He is a member of Cabinet and sits on a number of Cabinet Committees. He is also responsible for Duchy of Lancaster business.
He takes parliamentary Questions in the House on his government responsibilities and deals with correspondence from Members of the House on these issues.
As a Minister, he is of course bound by the ministerial code and is therefore required to ensure that he keeps separate his government and party political activities and does not use official resources, including the Civil Service, for party political purposes.