Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the UK has an equivalent of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States or Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board; and if so, what it is.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
As set out in the recently published ‘National Security and Infrastructure Investment Review’ Green Paper, the Government has established the ‘Investment Security Group’, a cross Government forum to bring together relevant departments and agencies to consider the implications of foreign investment for national security and ensure that Ministers are provided with timely advice on such investment.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
Her Majesty's Government what lessons they have learned from the duration and cost of the Chilcot Inquiry.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
A number of lessons about inquiry processes were learned from the Iraq Inquiry, and government has absorbed these so that future inquiries can benefit from the experience. Government has received the report of Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the Iraq Inquiry, and will be responding in due course, setting out the lessons learned.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
Her Majesty's Government how they plan to ensure that critical national infrastructure is protected to safeguard national security post-Brexit.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The security and resilience of UK Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) is a key priority for the Government. The 2015 National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review said that the Government will work with infrastructure owners and operators to mitigate risks to our CNI, and committed Government to ensure the right regulatory framework is in place to ensure our CNI is resilient to future threats.
Along with Lead Government Departments, the Cabinet Office is reviewing the resilience implications of leaving the EU. This will involve close collaboration with the Department for Exiting the European Union, which is working with all departments to ensure our preparations for exit are on track.
Matters of national security are often handled bilaterally, and we do not anticipate this changing after leaving the European Union. We will continue to strengthen and grow our close relationships with the CNI community in Ireland and across Europe, as well as our partners in NATO.
Each year the Government publishes a short public summary of the detailed plans being taken forward by Lead Departments to tackle threats to critical infrastructure. The 2016 summary can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/568546/sector_security_resilience_plans_14_11_2016.pdf
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to review (1) the National Cyber Security Strategy, and (2) the role and powers of the National Cyber Security Centre.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Government launched its five year National Cyber Security Strategy in 2016 to ensure that the UK has the right capability and capacity to defend our people, businesses, and assets; deter our adversaries; and develop the skills and capabilities we need across the public and private sectors.
A significant early milestone to support delivery of the Strategy was the formation of the National Cyber Security Centre. Implementation of the Strategy including the role and powers of the National Cyber Security Centre are subject to continual review to ensure that we are responding at the scale and pace required to meet the challenges we face.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 11 January (HL4782), what assessment they have made of the terms of reference, composition, duration and cost of the Chilcot inquiry.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The Chilcot Inquiry was set up by the Labour Government following consultation with other political parties and with the support of Parliament. The Government looks forward to the publication of the Inquiry’s report in June or July, in accordance with Sir John Chilcot’s most recent letter to the Prime Minister.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 11 January (HL4782) whether they have any plans to cap or curtail the Chilcot Inquiry’s expenses or costs before it reports.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
No.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the current weekly costs of the Chilcot Inquiry.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The Iraq Inquiry, which is independent of Government, publishes its annual costs after the end of each financial year. The Inquiry’s costs for FY 2014/15 were £1,358,500, providing an average weekly cost in the last financial year of £26,125.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the value for money of the estimated £46 million of public funds provided to Kids Company over the last 15 years.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
Kids Company delivered important work for vulnerable young people and received support from successive governments over a 15 year period, beginning in 2002.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will provide a detailed breakdown of the costs of the Chilcot Inquiry to date.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave to Lord West of Spithead on 3 November 2014, Official Report, Column 1425. A detailed breakdown of these costs is available on the Inquiry’s website.