Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the reported award of a £108 million contract for personal protective equipment to PestFix, where and when the contract was advertised for tender; whether the contract was awarded under Regulation 32(2)c of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/102) which covers Direct Award due to reasons of extreme urgency; if so, how the Direct Award met the requirement under Regulation 32(2)(c) that the events were unforeseeable, given the contract was awarded on 10 April and the UK had reportedly been warned about a shortage of PPE supplies at a meeting with the World Health Organisation on 4 February; why a 12-month contract was awarded; whether they have supported PestFix’s cashflow, and if so, by how much; and why the contract has not yet been published.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The award of this contract is the subject of a Judicial Review which has been brought against the Department. The Department is taking legal advice and considering its response. In these circumstances it would inappropriate to respond to the issues and points raised in this question as this might prejudice the Department’s legal position.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government sought advice from officials as to whether the Westferry Printworks scheme would proceed if the Community Infrastructure Levy was applied to it; and, if so, what advice he received on this matter.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
All the advice requested and received from officials on this case, other than personal information and that subject to legal professional privilege, was placed on gov.uk and in the Libraries of the House. The Planning Inspector’s report noted that if the decision was taken after the adoption of the new Local Plan and CIL schedule, the viability of the scheme might be compromised.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the (1) mean, (2) median, (3) 25th percentile, (4) 75th percentile, and (5) variance, of the time taken between testing for COVID-19 and receiving the result.
Answered by Lord Bethell
To provide a more comprehensive response to a number of outstanding Written Questions, this has been answered by an information factsheet Testing – note for House of Lords which is attached, due to the size of the data. A copy has also been placed in the Library
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government will publish (1) the specific purposes of the contracted services, (2) a cost-benefit analysis of the contracted services, and (3) the Data Protection Impact Assessment, for its contract with Faculty for data science services.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) are planning to publish the amended version of the Faculty contract that will include the specific purposes of the contracted services that were carried out. This is anticipated to be published on the Contract Finder website the week commencing the 27 July.
No cost benefit analysis of the contracted services has been undertaken at this time. A robust selection process was carried out through the Crown Commercial Service's G-Cloud Digital Marketplace.
MHCLG does not routinely publish Data Protection Impact Assessments completed by the Department.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to establish an ethics board to oversee the National COVID-19 Chest Imaging Database.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Research and Ethics Committee (REC) at the Health Research Authority granted ethical approval for the National COVID-19 Chest Imaging Database (NCCID) on 16 April 2020.. The REC made no recommendation to establish an ethics board to oversee the NCCID. Access to data contained in the NCCID is governed by a committee of independent experts, which includes patient representatives, and is tasked with ensuring that applications comply with high ethical standards.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether patients’ consent will be required before their data can be collected for the National COVID-19 Chest Imaging Database.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The data collected for the National COVID-19 Chest Imaging Database is done so under the Control of Patient Information notices issued by the Secretary of State for Health. Consequently, no patient consent is required to collect the data from National Health Service trusts. No patient identifiable data is shared with developers. Images and clinical data points are anonymised before they are sent from each NHS trust to the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust for collation. The Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust further verifies that any identifiable data burnt onto the images is removed. Once this step is completed, the anonymised data is uploaded on a cloud-based repository owned by NHSX, and having NHS England as the data controller.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the members of the Intelligence and Security Committee will be nominated.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Intelligence and Security Committee was reconstituted on 14 July 2020.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Prime Minister and Richard Desmond have ever talked on the telephone or sent messages in any form to each other; and if so, what was the subject of those messages.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on GOV.UK.
Mr Desmond attended an official business reception in Downing Street in September 2019 alongside a wide range of business representatives.
Otherwise, such requested information would not be centrally collated or held. Notwithstanding, as has been previously noted in Parliament, neither the Prime Minister nor No 10 Downing Street has had any contact with Mr Desmond or his representatives in relation to the Westferry planning application or appeal.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many times the Prime Minister has met Richard Desmond in the last 12 months; where each meeting took place; and what was discussed on each such occasion.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on GOV.UK.
Mr Desmond attended an official business reception in Downing Street in September 2019 alongside a wide range of business representatives.
Otherwise, such requested information would not be centrally collated or held. Notwithstanding, as has been previously noted in Parliament, neither the Prime Minister nor No 10 Downing Street has had any contact with Mr Desmond or his representatives in relation to the Westferry planning application or appeal.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any aide of the Prime Minister has communicated with Richard Desmond or his staff; if so, when; and what was the subject of those communications.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on GOV.UK.
Mr Desmond attended an official business reception in Downing Street in September 2019 alongside a wide range of business representatives.
Otherwise, such requested information would not be centrally collated or held. Notwithstanding, as has been previously noted in Parliament, neither the Prime Minister nor No 10 Downing Street has had any contact with Mr Desmond or his representatives in relation to the Westferry planning application or appeal.