Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support BAME women during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
This Government is working to support all people through COVID-19, including BAME women. Guided by medical and scientific expertise, we have implemented specific measures to reduce the spread of the virus in all communities for everyone including women from BAME backgrounds.
This Government has taken unprecedented steps to support lives and livelihoods, including increasing the generosity of Universal Credit, introducing the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, and made changes to ensure women do not miss out on parental leave and childcare support. In addition, Equality Hub officials regularly meet with organisations representing women and BAME communities and continue to do so. We are also working to alert and encourage relevant grassroots charities to apply for funding that has been made available including through the National Lottery Community Fund.
Public Health England has now completed its review into ‘Disparities in the risk and outcomes of COVID-19’, which confirms that COVID-19 has replicated, and in some cases increased, existing health inequalities related to risk factors, including age, gender, ethnicity and geography. The Minister for Equalities is working with the Race Disparity Unit and the Department for Health and Social Care to carry forward work to address the disparities outlined in the Public Health England report.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they selected Wednesday 13 May as the appropriate day on which unlimited outdoor exercise could resume.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
Throughout the period since the Government imposed restrictions due to Coronavirus, people have been encouraged to exercise outdoors, alone or with members of their households. The Government's advice was to limit this to once a day during the early phases.
The Government has developed specific guidance to mitigate transmission risks and communicated that guidance on 11 May, giving people time to understand and prepare for the changes to the regulations and guidance before the measures were implemented on 13 May. We will keep all of these measures under review, as required by the law.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce a COVID-19-related identity card system after lockdown restrictions have been lifted.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
The Government has no plans to introduce identity cards.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to pause their negotiations with the EU due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
Given the latest coronavirus developments, Round 2 of negotiations did not formally start on the 18th March.
We remain in regular contact with the European Commission to explore alternative ways to continue discussions, and will be guided by scientific advice.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to review the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
The Government currently has no plans to review the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019, which will commence on 8 April 2020.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to relocate the House of Lords to York.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Government has an aspiration that all parts of the United Kingdom should feel connected to politics and indeed to politicians.
We are looking at options to further that objective.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to make public advice available to prepare for the threat of a category one cyberattack.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
In the event of any major cyber incident, the National Cyber Security Centre will ensure that the right technical advice is issued quickly and directly, and that the public are kept informed. As no two cyber incidents are identical, public communications will always be tailored to the specifics of a cyber attack.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to invest in the digital transformation of government services.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The UK is recognised internationally as a world leader in digital government. The Government Digital Service (GDS) was set up in 2011 with the purpose of digitally transforming government and its services. It leads government’s Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) function, helping departments build and run services that are digital by default and focused on the needs of citizens.
Departments have built their digital professionalism and capability and there are now approximately 800 digital services, including applying online for a UK passport, applying for your full or provisional driving licence, checking your state pension, and the voter registration digital service. As an example, over 90% of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Association’s (DVLA) transactions (over 1 billion in 2017/18) are now completed online. Government continues to update current and create new digital services to benefit citizens in their interactions with government.
GDS this month published the Government Technology Innovation Strategy which looks at creating the right foundations to use emerging technologies in government. This will help digitally transform government even more by using innovative technology solutions to make government more efficient and save taxpayers’ money. Alongside this, ‘A guide to using artificial intelligence in the public sector’ was published following a review of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in government by GDS and the Office for Artificial Intelligence (OAI).
The £20m, 3-year GovTech Catalyst Programme has supported central and local government, devolved administrations, and public sector bodies to find innovative solutions to operational service and policy delivery challenges. It provides public sector organisations a safe space to experiment with innovative technologies by providing them with funding, purely for research and development. The Catalyst also encourages the sharing of digital learning and resources, which allows public sector organisations to identify other groups across the UK working on similar problems. The Programme helps government deliver on a key principle of the UK’s Digital Strategy, to improve the digital business sector in the UK, by providing tech companies of all sizes opportunities with the public sector.
Over 10,000 civil servants have also now been trained by the GDS Academy; new standards have made services across government consistent, accessible and intuitive; and departments have delivered digital services to make essential transactions with citizens easier and more efficient.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of an analysis by the National Infrastructure Forum suggesting there may be instability in the construction sector as a result of government infrastructure projects.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Government welcomes The National Infrastructure Forum’s report and the contributions it makes to how government and industry can best work together to deliver vital infrastructure.
The National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline sets out planned infrastructure and construction investment across the public and private sectors. By providing Government with the data that informs the creation of the Pipeline, both the public and private sectors are demonstrating commitment to the planned projects and programmes within the Pipeline. These will be in various stages of delivery and each publication of the Pipeline includes a delivery progress update. The National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline therefore gives greater transparency and certainty to the construction sector, rather than creating instability.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to extend the scope of freedom of information laws to include bodies in the private sector that provide public services.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Government has already introduced a range of measures to increase transparency in public sector contracts and is publishing more data than ever before. At present, the Government has no plans to legislate in this area.