Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has assessed the potential impact of AI-enabled cyber attacks on UK critical national infrastructure; and whether he plans to publish any updated resilience guidance.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is working closely with CNI owners and operators in both the private and public sector to ensure resilience and preparedness to cyber threats, to better understand and manage cyber risk, and to minimise the impact of cyber incidents when they occur.
Artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities are accelerating, presenting both risks and opportunities for cyber security. The government is already taking significant steps, including working across government and industry to understand the latest developments, publishing evaluations of the latest AI models, and taking widespread action to improve cyber resilience across the economy and help organisations protect against AI-driven threats.
On 22 April, the Government announced further measures to improve UK cyber resilience, including £90m of new funding to boost cyber security, and the new Cyber Resilience Pledge companies can take to demonstrate their commitment to cyber security.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on (a) formally notifying and (b) engaging with Members of Parliament during significant environmental or public safety incidents affecting their constituencies.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The government issues a range of guidance on the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, its associated regulations and wider non-statutory arrangements for civil protection. This supports local responders, which includes Local Authorities, to understand how to fulfil their duties under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and how to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies taking place in the UK, including environmental and public safety incidents.
Cabinet Office guidance, including the ‘Emergency Response and Recovery’ guidance and ‘National Resilience Standards for Local Resilience Forums’ guidance, provides information on protocols that local responders should have for ensuring appropriate political involvement in the management of emergencies, particularly in the recovery phase. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has also issued ‘Local authorities’ preparedness for civil emergencies: a good practice guide for chief executives’ guidance which provides assistance to chief executives of local authorities to make sure they are well-prepared to respond and recover from emergencies. This includes the need to provide clear information to politicians on what is happening during an emergency.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Unfair dismissal in the UK is governed by the Employment Rights Act 1996 and other legislation, which stipulates that you must have worked for your employer for a minimum period before you qualify for the right to claim unfair dismissal at a tribunal.
An employee usually has the right to make an unfair dismissal claim to an employment tribunal if they: a) are legally classed as an employee and b) have worked for their employer for 2 years.
In line with legislation, permanent Cabinet Office employees and those on fixed term appointments with over 2 years’ service have unfair dismissal rights, provided they have been recruited through Fair and Open Competition in accordance with the Recruitment Principles.
As with any changes to employment legislation, internal policies and processes will be updated as appropriate in line with the Government’s legislation on employment rights.