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Written Question
Import Controls
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2024 to Question 11319 on Import Controls, what checks will be carried out on consignments which require a safety and security declaration but which are not subject to sanitary and phytosanitary requirements.

Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)

The forecast number of Safety & Security (S&S) declarations includes declarations for those goods which will also be subject to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements. The numbers referred to by the Hon Lady are not directly comparable, as a single S&S declaration may correspond with multiple SPS requirements for the same shipment.

All goods, including those not subject to SPS requirements, will be subject to occasional intelligence-led checks by Border Force. S&S declarations are an important part of Border Force’s frontier risk assessment processes. The data gathered informs intelligence-based checks to identify and seize illicit goods. Increased S&S data will help us better target illicit goods, and allow legitimate goods to continue to move freely.

If a consignment is not subject to SPS requirements, it will not be subject to the Common User Charge.


Written Question
Cabinet Office: Legal Costs
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total cost to the public purse was of legal (a) support and (b) representation to Ministers in his Department in relation to their official conduct in each of the last three years.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Such information is not centrally recorded or collated in the form requested. More generally, I would refer the hon. Member to the long-standing policies on legal expenditure, as set out recently by Cabinet Office Ministers on 12 March 2024, Official Report, PQ 17709 and 12 March 2024, Official Report, House of Lords, Cols. 1901-1904


Written Question
Infected Blood Inquiry
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2024 to Question 17717 on Infected Blood Inquiry: Pay, on what dates the expert group has met.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Infected Blood Inquiry response expert group meets weekly and have met in full seven times as of 20th March. As the work of the expert group relates to the formulation and development of Government policy, their advice, evidence and methodologies as well as the terms of reference, minutes and agendas of their meetings have not been published at this time.


Written Question
Blood: Contamination
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what dates four nations ministerial meetings have taken place on the topic of infected blood in the last 12 months.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

I, and my predecessors in this role, have met with Ministers across the four nations a number of times in the last 12 months, and will be doing so again ahead of tabling a Government amendment for Report Stage of the Victims and Prisoners Bill.


Written Question
Blood: Contamination
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the joint letter to him from Scottish and Welsh Ministers in relation to Infected Blood Compensation and Interim Payments, dated 22 January 2024, when he plans to make interim compensation payments to bereaved parents and children.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

In October 2022, we made interim payments of £100,000 to chronic infected beneficiaries and bereaved partners registered with existing support schemes. I recognise the importance the infected blood community places on interim payments relating to those deaths not yet recognised, and the Government is working through the technical implications of recommendation 12.


Written Question
Unpaid Work: Equality and Social Mobility
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of unpaid internships on (a) social mobility and (b) equality of opportunity.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Office is only responsible for the Civil Service Summer Internship Programmes and the Autism Exchange Internship Programme. It does not oversee any unpaid internships. Both programmes pay the National Living Wage. Internships provide a fantastic opportunity for individuals at the beginning of their career to gain valuable experience in their field regardless of background. Last year, we offered over 500 internships to undergraduates through our Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme and 21.5% of these were to students from Lower Socio-Economic backgrounds.


Written Question
Special Forces: Afghanistan and Iraq
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2024 to Question 18400 on Special Forces: Afghanistan and Iraq, what the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs' planned timetable is for concluding his review.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Minister for Veterans' Affairs' will await the findings of the Inquiry before assessing the record.


Written Question
Blood: Contamination
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the oral contribution by the Leader of the House at Business Questions on 7 March 2024, Official Report, column 974, how (a) individual people and (b) organisations can register to meet him during his tour on the infected blood scandal.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

I am committed to engaging with the Infected Blood community and updating Parliament on progress of the Government response to the Infected Blood Inquiry as appropriate. Plans are currently being developed at my request to meet those infected and affected by Infected Blood across the United Kingdom to talk about their priorities ahead of the publication of the Inquiry’s final report. Further information on this will be shared soon.


Written Question
Blood: Contamination
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the oral contribution by the Leader of the House at Business Questions on 7 March 2024, Official Report, column 974, where he plans to visit as part of his tour on the infected blood scandal; and when he will be undertaking this tour.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

I am committed to engaging with the Infected Blood community and updating Parliament on progress of the Government response to the Infected Blood Inquiry as appropriate. Plans are currently being developed at my request to meet those infected and affected by Infected Blood across the United Kingdom to talk about their priorities ahead of the publication of the Inquiry’s final report. Further information on this will be shared soon.


Written Question
Civil Servants: Remote Working
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants have conditions of employment which impose (a) no and (b) a four day limit on the number of days each week that they can work from home; and whether he has made a comparative assessment of the productivity of those who work from home for four days or more each week and those who do not.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

There is no information available centrally on how many civil servants have conditions of employment that impose no, and a four day limit on the number of days each week they can work from home. Decisions on terms and conditions of employment are made by the employing department, depending on their specific business requirements and nature of the role. Where business requirements allow for it, departments will operate flexible working arrangements.

Civil servants are expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in the office with decisions on implementing and evaluating this expectation made by departments. A small number of home working contracts are in place but these are not routinely approved other than for a very small number of roles, or where a workplace adjustment is agreed for conditions recognised under the Equality Act. Equally, there are also employees who work only from the workplace, due to the nature of their roles, or through personal choice.

There have been no specific central comparative assessments within the civil service of productivity of those who work from home for four days or more each week. It is recognised within departments that there are clear benefits of face-to-face working, including productivity, with complex tasks and problem solving undertaken more efficiently.