Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last four years.
Answered by David Lidington
Before travel is booked members of staff are asked to consider whether video conferencing, Google Hangouts or meeting rooms with telephone conferencing facilities could negate the need to travel.
The CO travel provider ensures that our travel policy is embedded within their booking processes to ensure compliance is maximised.
Following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the following information is held for Cabinet Office corporate travel contracts (travel data outside of the travel corporate contracts is not readily available and could only be acquired at a disproportionate cost).
a) Taxis
The guidance for using a taxi for official travel allows for the use of a taxi when:
This guidance is embedded in the supplier booking process.
Taxi costs
2013-2014 £78,955.13
2014-2015 £89,988.76
2015-2016 £87,981.44
2016-2017 £92,348.78
b) First class train tickets
The Cabinet Office policy is that all rail journeys should be Standard Class. First Class is only permitted if they are cheaper than Standard Class tickets
First class train ticket costs
2013-2014 £40,937.17
2014-2015 £45,252.20
2015-2016 £37,084.95
2016-2017 £30,912.25
c) Business class air travel
The Cabinet Office policy is that for flights less than 5 hours, all journeys should be Economy Class. For flights more than 5 hours, Economy Premium is permitted.
Business class air travel costs
2013-2014 £941,171.11
2014-2015 £832,884.99
2015-2016 £479,220.07
2016-2017 £474,427.33
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to provide funds from the public purse for programmes to encourage students to register to vote before the next General Election.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The government recently published the Democratic Engagement Plan that set out strategies for democratic engagement with under registered groups including students. The Plan is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-voice-matters-building-a-democracy-that-works-for-everyone
The Cabinet Office is continuing to work with the Electoral Commission, local authorities, universities, colleges and other organisations to ensure citizens have every chance to be registered. The Government is also working to enact the student registration provisions of the Higher Education and Research Act (HERA) 2017, which encourages Higher Education providers to share information with EROs’ in order to encourage registration.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2017 to Question 111537, on Deloitte, on how many occasions Deloitte reported to Government significant cyber security incidents in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
It is at the discretion of a company to choose whether to report cyber incidents to Government. The Government maintains the confidentiality of these reports and does not disclose the number of occasions an organisation has reported to us. The advice from the National Cyber Security Centre is that timely notification is strongly recommended.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many requests for financial support the Government has (a) received and (b) granted as a result of the 2017 Manchester terrorist attack.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
(a) The Government has received five direct requests to departments for financial support as a result of the appalling Manchester terrorist attack.
(b) The Government has to date provided financial assistance on a wide range of areas to support the ongoing recovery operation in Manchester. This includes £185,000 for an Education Psychologist Programme to help young people impacted by the attack; £337,000 in 2017/18 for support to victims of terrorist attacks, including £79,000 specifically to support services in Manchester and a £276,000 donation to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund. Government is in conversation with VisitBritain to explore ways in which we continue to support and promote Manchester and the surrounding region. Furthermore, charitable payments from the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund have been disregarded in the calculation of income-related benefits since June 2017. The Prime Minister has committed to responding in full to the outstanding requests for additional funding from the Greater Manchester Mayor before 26th November 2017.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what date the Government was made aware of the Deloitte cyber attack.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Deloitte notified the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to a cyber incident affecting their US
operations in September 2017.
Based on current information, there is no indication of impact to the UK branch of the organisation,
which operates a separate infrastructure to their American counterparts. The NCSC are working
with partners to better understand the threat and identify any mitigation measures.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, what meetings she has had with (a) hon. Members and (b) external experts on (i) hormone pregnancy tests and (ii) the Expert Working Group on hormone pregnancy tests.
Answered by Theresa May
The Expert Working Group of the Commission on Human Medicines on hormone pregnancy tests is independent of Government. It published its report on Wednesday 15 November. The Department of Health is now focused on implementing the review’s recommendations to safeguard future generations by further strengthening the systems in place for detecting, evaluating and communicating safety concerns with use of medicines in pregnancy.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of Wifi-enabled devices issued to Government employees are reliant on the WPA2 standard.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Government Wi-Fi devices and networks use industry-standard security technologies, including WPA2, in line with good security practice. Internet security is a key priority for the National Cyber Security Centre, who continuously update their advice on issues such as Wi-Fi safety, device management and browser security, and make this available on their website. Government also recommends a ‘defence in depth’ approach to security where no single control is relied upon exclusively.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of Government departments utilise the WPA2 standard on their WiFi networks.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Government Wi-Fi devices and networks use industry-standard security technologies, including WPA2, in line with good security practice. Internet security is a key priority for the National Cyber Security Centre, who continuously update their advice on issues such as Wi-Fi safety, device management and browser security, and make this available on their website. Government also recommends a ‘defence in depth’ approach to security where no single control is relied upon exclusively.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of people in work in (a) Greater Manchester, (b) the North West and (c) Denton and Reddish constituency earn less than the full-time equivalent of the national living wage.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2017 to Question 109984, in public sector: cybercrime, if he will meet representatives of Deloitte to discuss the need for more timely reporting to Government.
Answered by Damian Green
Cabinet Office Ministers frequently meet with representatives from the private sector to discuss a range of issues including cyber security. There are no plans to meet with Deloitte specifically to discuss their reporting to government.
It is at the discretion of the company to choose how they report to Government on significant cyber security incidents. The advice from the National Cyber Security Centre is that timely notification is beneficial.