Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of applications to the Civil Service Fast Stream from poorer and disadvantaged backgrounds.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The proportion of ethnic minority groups overall being appointed to the Civil Service Fast Stream in 2021 was 23.3%, this aligns with the 2019/20 Higher Education Statistics Agency graduate population level of 23.7% for ethnicity.
Steps to ensure that students from black and minority ethnic backgrounds are successful in their application to the Civil Service Fast Stream start with outreach, attraction and marketing activity, which is designed to encourage applications from individuals from all backgrounds and locations. This is undertaken via early stage schools, college and apprenticeship engagement, along with industrial and internship placements. We have developed an inclusive website, social media strategy, and refreshed the target university list for outreach.
Further to this, the Cabinet Office is:
expanding the range of internships we offer,
undertaking cultural bias reviews of our selection processes,
increasing assessor diversity, and
improving our fair and inclusive selection processes by incorporating more regional/virtual assessment.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of black applicants in the Civil Service Fast Stream.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The proportion of ethnic minority groups overall being appointed to the Civil Service Fast Stream in 2021 was 23.3%, this aligns with the 2019/20 Higher Education Statistics Agency graduate population level of 23.7% for ethnicity.
Steps to ensure that students from black and minority ethnic backgrounds are successful in their application to the Civil Service Fast Stream start with outreach, attraction and marketing activity, which is designed to encourage applications from individuals from all backgrounds and locations. This is undertaken via early stage schools, college and apprenticeship engagement, along with industrial and internship placements. We have developed an inclusive website, social media strategy, and refreshed the target university list for outreach.
Further to this, the Cabinet Office is:
expanding the range of internships we offer,
undertaking cultural bias reviews of our selection processes,
increasing assessor diversity, and
improving our fair and inclusive selection processes by incorporating more regional/virtual assessment.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect on the environment of the Prime Minister's use of a private jet to travel from London to Cornwall on 9 June 2021 ahead of the G7 Summit.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ 14211 on 29 June 2021.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to pay the cost of providing voter cards to people with no other forms of photographic document for identification purposes.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Everyone who is eligible to vote will have the opportunity to do so.
Any voter who does not have one of the wide range of accepted documents will be able to apply for a free, locally issued Voter Card from their local authority.
Cabinet Office will cover costs of Voter Cards for local authorities.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposed Voter ID reforms on the number of eligible voters in Haringey.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Everyone who is eligible to vote will have the opportunity to do so.
Any voter who does not have one of the wide range of accepted documents will be able to apply for a free, locally issued Voter Card from their local authority.
We continue to work with local authorities and other stakeholders, including charities and civil society organisations, to make sure that voter identification works for all voters.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has plans to discuss (a) EU touring for musicians and other creatives professionals and (b) the proposal for a bespoke UK-EU visa waiver for the creative industry at the next meeting of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement Partnership Council.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
At the first UK-EU Partnership Council on 9 June, the UK raised the issues faced by touring performers and noted work under way with Member States to try to resolve the barriers presented by visa and work permit requirements.The UK and EU have not yet agreed a date or agenda for the next Partnership Council. We continue to discuss these issues with all EU Member States to find solutions that work for our great creative industries.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he made of the potential merits of including a question on disability in the 2021 Census.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the scientific advice for the decision to close outdoor sports facilities during the covid-19 lockdown announced in January 2021 and keep children's playgrounds open.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Throughout the pandemic, we have consistently adapted our response as we have learnt more about the virus and how best to tackle it. Decisions on when to lift restrictions, and in which order, seek to strike a balance between the epidemiological evidence and advice, the impact lockdown is having on people’s health (including mental health and disproportionate impacts on certain groups), wellbeing, and the economy. Scientific evidence supporting the government response to coronavirus is regularly published here - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/scientific-evidence-supporting-the-government-response-to-coronavirus-covid-19.
On 22 February the Government published its 'COVID-19 Response - Spring 2021'
roadmap to recovery. The roadmap outlines four steps for cautiously easing restrictions across England. The first measures of Step 1 took place on the 8th March. Schools breaking up for the Easter holidays will provide an opportunity for further, limited relaxation particularly in outdoor settings where there is less risk. Therefore from 29 March, outdoor sports and leisure facilities will reopen and organised sport (for adults and children) will resume.
The design of the roadmap has been informed by the latest scientific evidence and seeks a balance between our key social and economic priorities, whilst preserving the health and safety of our country.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to support (a) veterans and (b) recently discharged personnel during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Government continues to provide a full range of support services for veterans and recently discharged personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic, with appropriate adjustments to keep people safe. Veterans continue to access a range of NHS services, including Op COURAGE, a new single point of access for all veterans’ mental health and wellbeing services in NHS England. Veterans can also access support through Veterans UK and MOD services including its welfare services, employment support for service leavers through the Career Transition Partnership, the Defence Transition Service, and a helpline telephone call back service.
The Office for Veterans’ Affairs has also funded a new study with King’s College London, exploring the impact of COVID-19 on veterans, and given £6m in grants to over service 100 charities across the UK whose operation had been severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, directly supporting over 90,000 members of the Armed Forces community. In this year’s Budget, an extra £10m has been allocated to help deliver charitable projects across the UK that support veterans with their mental health and wellbeing needs in the wake of the pandemic.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have died of covid-19 as a proportion of the overall death toll to the start of January 2021 have been people with a known pre-existing condition and would meet the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.