Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2017 to Question 62917, for what reason the meeting of 11 February between David Cameron and Lord Rothermere was omitted from the original record on gov.uk.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
We have taken the opportunity to review the returns, and have updated the records on GOV.UK to ensure full transparency on meetings with senior media executives.
This was simply an administrative oversight by diary officials. This was an informal occasion in a social setting, and not a formal government meeting, it was not recorded on the return by accident.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2017 to Question 62917, whether any other such meetings have been omitted from the official records on gov.uk.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
We have taken the opportunity to review the returns, and have updated the records on GOV.UK to ensure full transparency on meetings with senior media executives.
This was simply an administrative oversight by diary officials. This was an informal occasion in a social setting, and not a formal government meeting, it was not recorded on the return by accident.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether representations were made by or on behalf of the former Prime Minister to the former Mayor of London on the regulation of the taxi and private-hire industry in London.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The information requested is not centrally held and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
More broadly, I would note that the Government is aware of concerns regarding the increase in the size of the private hire market and the impact of new and innovative ways of working on traditional business models. The Government supports choice for consumers and wants to see both taxis and private hire vehicles prosper.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he plans to take to support UK digital technology companies to access public sector procurement contracts.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Government Transformation Strategy and the UK Digital Strategy set out how this Government will lead a step-change in procurement, making it easier than ever for digital technology companies of all sizes to access public sector procurement contacts through the Digital Marketplace.
As part of this, we will be heavily promoting the use of the Digital Marketplace by local and wider public sector bodies to lower barriers for all digital and technology suppliers. The Government’s aim is that the public sector should spend at least £750 million a year with SMEs by 2020.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to the digital economy of releasing government data sets.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Open data is already delivering enormous value across the economy and society. The UK is a world leader in open data and we have released over 41,000 non-personal datasets, powering over 400 apps and enabling transformational change in sectors as diverse as transport, agriculture and housing. The UK is committed to being the world’s most open and transparent government and the UK’s third Open Government National Action plan sets out an ambitious agenda to achieve this.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister's predecessor met Lord Rothermere in February or March 2016.
Answered by Ben Gummer
I understand David Cameron met Lord Rothermere socially on the evening of 11 February. The records on Gov.uk now reflect this.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to prevent the right hon. Member for Tatton from accessing copies of Government, Cabinet or Cabinet Committee papers relating to the period when he was in the Government while he is the Editor of the London Evening Standard.
Answered by Ben Gummer
It is a longstanding convention that former Ministers are allowed reasonable access to the papers that were issued to them when in office. However, such access is at the Government's discretion and is conditional on potential authors undertaking to comply with the Radcliffe principles. The detail of the Radcliffe principles can be found in the Directory of Civil Service (volume 2), which is available on Gov.uk. I believe that the continued application of these provisions will provide the suitable reassurance that the Hon. Member is seeking.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether future meetings between Ministers and the right hon. Member for Tatton will be required to be published in the Departments' transparency data concerning meetings with proprietors, editors and media executives after his appointment as editor of the London Evening Standard; and whether any such meetings will be exempt from declaration in such transparency data.
Answered by Ben Gummer
All meetings between Ministers and newspapers and other media proprietors, editors and senior executives held in an official, social and political capacity are (and will continue to be) published on a quarterly basis.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has spent on record management systems in the last five years.
Answered by Ben Gummer
This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of his Department's records management system.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The Department’s records are maintained in accordance with the Public Records Act 1958. The Department is also implementing the recommendations of Sir Alex Allan’s Review of Government Digital Records and the Better Information for Better Government report, available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/better-information-for-better-government