Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) party manifestos, (b) voter registration information and (c) polling booths are made accessible to people with learning disabilities during the parliamentary general election.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Government, through the Cabinet Office chaired Accessibility of Elections Working Group, has taken a number of steps to remove barriers that people with a learning disability face in registering to vote and voting at elections. These include:
(a) Facilitating direct engagement between the Royal Mencap Society and political parties through the Westminster Parliamentary Parties Panel on the benefits and timings of producing Easy Read versions of party manifestos, to assist people with a learning disability to make an informed decision when voting at elections.
(b) Introducing on the Register to Vote homepage an ‘Easy Read’ guide produced in partnership with the Royal Mencap Society, to enable people with learning difficulties to apply online without difficulty.
(c) Improving training materials for polling station staff, including the Electoral Commission and the Royal Mencap Society producing videos setting out the voting experience of people with a learning disability at the polling station. A disabled voter can be assisted to vote in the polling booth to mark their ballot paper by the presiding officer or their companion.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to safeguard the electoral process in respect of postal voting.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Electoral Fraud is unacceptable on any level. We have processes in place to defend against electoral fraud and there is ongoing work with electoral administrators and Royal Mail to implement these. In response to the Pickles report on electoral fraud, the Government accepted recommendations to strengthen the postal vote system and, in line with our manifesto commitment, we are working to reform postal voting to ensure our elections are secure.
Cabinet Office coordinates cross-Government work to protect and secure our democratic processes and ensure those involved in delivering our elections receive cyber, physical and personnel security advice from experts at the National Cyber Security Centre and the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans his Department has to work with the devolved administrations on their proposed pilots of online voting.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Government engages on a regular basis with the Scottish Government and Welsh Government on a range of matters relating to elections. The Government currently has no plans to pilot electronic voting at polls for which it is responsible, although we are interested to hear about the responses received by the Scottish Government and Welsh Government on this issue.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps would be required for a local council in England to initiate a pilot of online voting.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Government currently has no plans to pilot online voting and is committed in its 2017 manifesto to retain the traditional method of voting by pencil and paper.
Section 10 of the Representation of the People Act 2000 enables electoral pilot schemes to be held at local level elections in England and Wales. Under section 10, a local authority that wishes to hold a pilot must submit proposals for a scheme to the Secretary of State who will decide whether or not to approve the scheme. If the proposals are approved, the Secretary of State will make an order making the necessary provision to implement the scheme.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many regulations were repealed in calendar years 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Answered by David Lidington
Cabinet Office does not maintain a central database of all regulations made and repealed. All secondary legislation is available at www.legislation.gov.uk . The regular business impact target reports available on gov.uk include details of the regulatory provisions that have come into force or ceased to be in force.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many new regulations were introduced in calendar years 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Answered by David Lidington
Cabinet Office does not maintain a central database of all regulations made and repealed. All secondary legislation is available at www.legislation.gov.uk . The regular business impact target reports available on gov.uk include details of the regulatory provisions that have come into force or ceased to be in force.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many regulations have been repealed since July 2014.
Answered by David Lidington
Cabinet Office does not maintain a central database of all regulations made and repealed. All secondary legislation is available at www.legislation.gov.uk . The regular business impact target reports available on gov.uk include details of the regulatory provisions that have come into force or ceased to be in force.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress has been made on the inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
I refer the Honourable Member to the Prime Minister’s written statement of today’s date.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many meetings of the Reducing Regulation sub-Committee have taken place since June 2016.
Answered by Damian Green
Information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including when and how often they meet, is not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion. A full list of the Cabinet Committees and Implementation Task Forces, with their membership and terms of reference, can be found on the Cabinet Office's webpage:
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis under the age of 35 died in England in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14, (e) 2014-15, (f) 2015-16 and (g) 2016-17.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.