Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the level of carbon emissions from his Department's buildings in each year since 2015.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Figures for the department's overall carbon emissions are published annually in the Cabinet Office's Annual Report & Accounts. Carbon emissions from the Cabinet Office estate are as follows:
2015 - 5,950.34 Tonnes of CO2e
2016 - 5,092.77 Tonnes of CO2e
2017 (Jan-Mar) - 1425.5 Tonnes of CO2e
Total CO2e emissions = 12468.61
The Cabinet Office is fully committed to meeting the Government's Greening Government Commitments (GGC). The GGC departmental commitment is to reduce carbon emissions from a 2009/10 baseline by 35% by 2020; to date the department has achieved a reduction of over 50% in its overall emissions reductions.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many receptions his Department has hosted for representatives of print and broadcast media since 2015; how much each such reception cost; and how many people attended each such reception.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Costs of hospitality for the Cabinet Office are published in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts which is available on the gov.uk website. The annual report and accounts for 2016/2017 will be released in due course.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much was spent on advertising by (a) his Department and (b) each of its (i) non-departmental public bodies and (ii) executive agencies in each year since 2015.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The information requested is not held centrally and therefore can only be provided at disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether, and at what cost, consultants have been contracted to carry out (a) marketing, (b) polling, (c) focus group and (d) other promotional activity relating to his Department's responsibilities in the last three years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The information requested is not held centrally and therefore can only be provided at disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how the National Crime Agency, the National Cyber Security Centre and other relevant agencies are identifying and helping to address the cyber security vulnerabilities of third sector health providers.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has a key objective to understand the cyber security environment, share knowledge, and use that expertise to identify and address systematic vulnerabilities.
The NCSC provides guidance to organisations on how to protect themselves from cyber attack, and CareCERT was established in 2015 to provide national cyber support services for the health and care system. It is delivered by NHS Digital, working with the NCSC.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) leads the law enforcement response to cyber crime, including the recent 'WannaCry' cyber attacks, working with NCSC and partners across Policing to identify cyber criminals and bring them to justice.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to introduce measures to require voter ID in the 2017-2019 Parliamentary session.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Government intends to legislate to ensure that a form of identification must be presented before voting. It is intended that this requirement be tested through pilot schemes at the May 2018 elections. Pilots will help to identify how and when it would be best to introduce this new requirement more widely.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many surveys his Department commissioned from independent companies in (a) 2014, (b) 2015 and (c) 2016 by (i) polling company, (ii) category of polling project and (iii) geographical location.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The information requested is not held centrally and therefore can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his Department's total expenditure on independent polling was in the financial years (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 2016-17.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The information requested is not held centrally and therefore is only available at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has read the six recommendations in the WebRoots Democracy report, Democracy 2:0: Hitting refresh on the Digital Democracy Commission; and what plans he has to (a) reform political education in schools and colleges and (b) pilot the option of online voting in elections.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
I have read the six recommendations in The Institute for Digital Democracy’s report ‘Democracy 2:0: Hitting refresh on the Digital Democracy Commission’. The Government is committed to building a modern democracy that works for everyone, and I am visiting all nations and areas of the UK to hear how the government can promote political participation and voter registration. This includes listening to ways in which we can contribute to citizenship teaching in schools and colleges.
With regards to e-voting, there are no plans to introduce this at this time.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, whether she discussed a two-state solution with the Prime Minister of Israel during his visit to the UK of February 2017.
Answered by Theresa May
During my meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel we discussed the Middle East Peace Process and the UK’s firm commitment to a two-state solution as the best way to bring stability and peace to the region. I also reiterated the UK’s opposition to settlement activity.