Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the Government has to increase the budget for the Office for Veterans' Affairs; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
HMG has recently announced an additional £5 million in funding to assist veteran charities in addition to the £3 million already invested into mental health support through NHS England’s Op Courage. This additional funding is provided with the aim of ensuring that veterans are able to receive the support they may need. The OVA continues to engage with other departments and external stakeholders, including charities to deliver the Strategy for our Veterans and improve coordination of veterans’ work across Government.
We are not prepared to comment on ongoing budget discussions during this spending review period. However, the Office for Veterans' Affairs continues to increase in size and capability, and is making progress in delivering the Strategy for our Veterans. The Office for Veterans’ Affairs has all the necessary resources and support from the rest of government to continue its work making the UK the best place in the world to be a veteran.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, if he will meet with the M10 network of Metro Mayors.
Answered by Boris Johnson
Details of my public engagements will be announced in the usual way. We want to empower local people to make decisions in areas that matter to them – on infrastructure, transport, housing – and for their future to be in their hands. Last month’s Metro Mayor elections built on the biggest transfer of powers to local areas since the Second World War. And we will introduce a Levelling Up White Paper too – allowing every community across the country to have more local control and boosting livelihoods across the country as we recover from the pandemic.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the oral evidence session on 8 December 2020 of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committe,: The Government’s Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission HC892, what steps his Department is taking to ensure reviews remain independent; and how review topics will be selected.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government remains absolutely committed to looking at the broader aspects of the constitution and the relationship between the Government, Parliament and the courts as pledged in our Manifesto. As set out to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, we are taking forward this work through a number of separate workstreams to ensure all policy development is given the utmost consideration.
Of those workstreams which have already been announced, two of these have been subject to independent review including an expert panel. These are the Independent Review of Administrative Law chaired by Lord Faulkes which presented its findings to Government earlier this year, and the current Independent Review of the Human Rights Act chaired by Sir Peter Gross.
We will consider the composition and focus of future workstreams carefully including whether these should be the subject of an independent review.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer from the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice to Q90 on 8 December 2020 during the oral evidence session of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, The Government’s Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission HC892, for what reason his Department decided against establishing a Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government remains absolutely committed to looking at the broader aspects of the constitution and the relationship between the Government, Parliament and the courts as pledged in our Manifesto. As set out to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, we are taking forward this work through a number of separate workstreams to ensure all policy development is given the utmost consideration.
Of those workstreams which have already been announced, two of these have been subject to independent review including an expert panel. These are the Independent Review of Administrative Law chaired by Lord Faulkes which presented its findings to Government earlier this year, and the current Independent Review of the Human Rights Act chaired by Sir Peter Gross.
We will consider the composition and focus of future workstreams carefully including whether these should be the subject of an independent review.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the planned timetable is for publishing the levelling up White Paper announced in the Queen's Speech 2021.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Levelling up is at the heart of the Government’s agenda to build back better after the pandemic and to deliver for citizens in every part of the UK. The Government will publish a landmark Levelling Up White Paper later this year, setting out bold new policy interventions to improve livelihoods and opportunity in all parts of the UK. The Levelling Up Unit will be resourced in line with the PM’s ambitions for this agenda.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants will be assigned to the levelling up task force.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Levelling up is at the heart of the Government’s agenda to build back better after the pandemic and to deliver for citizens in every part of the UK. The Government will publish a landmark Levelling Up White Paper later this year, setting out bold new policy interventions to improve livelihoods and opportunity in all parts of the UK. The Levelling Up Unit will be resourced in line with the PM’s ambitions for this agenda.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many women are employed by construction companies with Government contracts.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not usually disclosed.
The Government fully recognises the importance of diversity and acknowledges that women are currently underrepresented in many occupations in the Construction and Built Environment sectors. The Construction Leadership Council recently published a Skills Plan for the sector that sets out a series of clear actions and commitments for both industry and Government to help tackle this.
We expect all suppliers in all sectors to lead by example by upholding the values of the Supplier Code of Conduct, including supporting key government corporate social responsibility policy areas, such as diversity and inclusion, sustainability, apprenticeships and skills development and addressing the gender pay gap.
Through our policy to extend the use of the Social Value Act, effective from 1 January, all major central government procurements will, where appropriate, explicitly evaluate social value.
The information on the number of women employed by construction companies with Government contracts is not held centrally.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) other Cabinet colleagues on the (i) feasibility and (ii) potential effect of introducing a gender quota requirement as part of Government contracts to help tackle sexism in the construction sector.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not usually disclosed.
The Government fully recognises the importance of diversity and acknowledges that women are currently underrepresented in many occupations in the Construction and Built Environment sectors. The Construction Leadership Council recently published a Skills Plan for the sector that sets out a series of clear actions and commitments for both industry and Government to help tackle this.
We expect all suppliers in all sectors to lead by example by upholding the values of the Supplier Code of Conduct, including supporting key government corporate social responsibility policy areas, such as diversity and inclusion, sustainability, apprenticeships and skills development and addressing the gender pay gap.
Through our policy to extend the use of the Social Value Act, effective from 1 January, all major central government procurements will, where appropriate, explicitly evaluate social value.
The information on the number of women employed by construction companies with Government contracts is not held centrally.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of reducing the Office for Veterans' Affairs budget on (a) veterans and (b) their dependants; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Office for Veterans’ Affairs’ budget has not been confirmed and the Cabinet Office budget for 2021/22 will be published in due course. Support for veterans is funded through a variety of Government channels, including the OVA and individual departments delivering veterans’ services. This year, more funding than ever before has been made available to veterans’ mental health services in NHS England, and unprecedented support has been offered to the service charity sector.
The OVA works to champion veterans across government, driving new approaches and policies in areas that will improve the support the nation offers veterans over the long term, in line with the commitments made by all four nations of the Union in the Strategy for our Veterans. Examples of this are through better use of data to drive change, improved digitisation to make services easier to access and navigate, developing a coherent research strategy to improve our understanding of issues affecting veterans and to improve collaboration across the veterans sector.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the Government has to reduce the budget of the Office for Veterans' Affairs; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Office for Veterans’ Affairs’ budget has not been confirmed and the Cabinet Office budget for 2021/22 will be published in due course. Support for veterans is funded through a variety of Government channels, including the OVA and individual departments delivering veterans’ services. This year, more funding than ever before has been made available to veterans’ mental health services in NHS England, and unprecedented support has been offered to the service charity sector.
The OVA works to champion veterans across government, driving new approaches and policies in areas that will improve the support the nation offers veterans over the long term, in line with the commitments made by all four nations of the Union in the Strategy for our Veterans. Examples of this are through better use of data to drive change, improved digitisation to make services easier to access and navigate, developing a coherent research strategy to improve our understanding of issues affecting veterans and to improve collaboration across the veterans sector.