Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will reintroduce Lords Spiritual from the Church of Ireland to the House of Lords.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Bishops of the Church of Ireland previously sat in the House of Lords as Lords Spiritual, from the coming into force of the Union with Ireland Act 1800 until the disestablishment of the Church in 1871. Given the Church of Ireland is no longer part of the established church, there are no plans to reintroduce Church of Ireland bishops to the House of Lords as Lords Spiritual.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the value of trade between the UK and Tuvalu in each year since 2020.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman or lady Parliamentary Question of 26th June is attached.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the policy paper entitled UK-EU Summit - Common Understanding, published on 19 May 2025, whether the UK will have a veto over new EU laws that apply under dynamic alignment provisions.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The details of new agreements described in the Common Understanding are subject to negotiation. The Common Understanding is clear that where the UK Government decides to align with EU rules as part of an agreement this will give due regard to the UK’s constitutional and Parliamentary procedures. The UK will be involved, as a sovereign nation outside of the European Union, at an early stage and contribute to the decision-shaping process of European Union legal acts.
The Common Understanding does not provide for oversight of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) within Great Britain or Northern Ireland. Instead it provides that the CJEU will have a limited role in assisting an independent arbitration tribunal responsible for deciding a dispute between the UK and the EU, and only where there is dynamic alignment of laws under any future SPS agreement, ETS linking agreement or an electricity agreement. The CJEU does not rule on the substantive outcome of the dispute - that is a matter for the independent arbitration panel.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the policy paper entitled UK-EU Summit - Common Understanding, published on 19 May 2025, whether the EU will be permitted to station inspectors in the UK to monitor compliance with EU law.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The details of new agreements described in the Common Understanding are subject to negotiation. I remind the Hon Member that EU inspectors are stationed in the United Kingdom under the Windsor Framework, negotiated by the previous government.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the policy paper entitled UK-EU Summit - Common Understanding, published on 19 May 2025, whether the EU will be entitled to claim damages through arbitration if the UK fails to implement new EU laws.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The details of new agreements described in the Common Understanding are subject to negotiation. The Common Understanding is clear that new agreements will be subject to independent arbitration.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2025 to Question 22583 on Government Departments: Procurement, what further discussions he has had with the Institution of Civil Engineers on releasing a new edition of the Construction Playbook.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Cabinet Office officials regularly engage with the ICE and other industry leading organisations, many of which are signatories to our ‘Compact with Industry’. The Construction Playbook is regularly refreshed in collaboration with industry and the public sector, ensuring it remains relevant and effective. The Government remains committed to publishing an update to the Construction Playbook. The revised version of the Construction Playbook is expected to be published in Q2 2025.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many government cyber security roles were vacant on 4 February 2025; and what steps he is taking to recruit more people into cyber security roles.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government Security Group gathers data from cyber security teams across government through planned bi-annual commissions, providing updates on vacant roles in our workforce. In 2023, 251 cyber roles were reported vacant.
The 2025 Government Security Workforce Commission, being undertaken currently, will provide updated data on current vacancy levels.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to improve the cyber security of government digital infrastructure.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
We are committed to strengthening security across all aspects of the Government digital estate.
The Government Cyber Security Strategy sets a clear target for all government organisations to be resilient to known vulnerabilities and common attack methods by 2030.
The recent report from the National Audit Office into Government Cyber Resilience showed that the response needs to be accelerated given the changing threat picture. Its recommendations include development of a whole of government approach, addressing the long-standing shortage of cyber skills, strengthening accountability for cyber risk, and better managing the risks posed by legacy IT. We welcome this report and are taking immediate steps to address its recommendations.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the value of investments in the UK that are held by the sovereign wealth funds of each state in the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 3rd February is attached.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to help support the Northern Ireland Executive to prepare for extreme weather events.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK government is committed to working closely with the devolved governments to support climate adaptation across the UK and build resilience to risks such as those from extreme weather. Adaptation is a devolved matter, and the Northern Ireland Climate Change Adaptation Programme sets out the steps being taken to build resilience to climate risks in Northern Ireland. The policies and actions in the third National Adaptation Programme include those taken by the UK Government for the UK as a whole on reserved matters.
The UK government also has an important role to play in coordinating the response to the impacts of extreme weather on the UK as was most recently seen during and after Storm Éowyn. Where UK Ministers and officials were in close contact throughout the response with their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive to facilitate the deployment of support as needed.