Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in their Department were dedicated to their Department's responsibilities associated with the delivery of the Industrial Strategy in (a) 2017, (b) 2018, (c) 2019, (d) 2020 and (e) 2021.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This information is not held centrally. The Industrial Strategy spans a wide array of policy areas across multiple government departments, agencies and bodies, including the Cabinet Office of which the Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to Command Paper CP 239, The UK Government's COVID-19 recovery strategy, when the Government plans to allow people to gather in slightly larger groups to facilitate small weddings.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Our Plan To Rebuild, the Government's COVID-19 Recovery Strategy, is published on gov.uk and includes details on plans for weddings. We understand the frustration couples planning a wedding must be feeling at this time. We are keeping these restrictions under review and will ease them as soon as it is safe to do so. We will continue to work closely with faith leaders and local government over the coming weeks to go through the practicalities of doing so.
Marriages and civil partnerships under the special procedure for those who are seriously ill and not expected to recover, are taking place in some cases where it is safe to do so in line with PHE guidance.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Cabinet Committee on Climate Change will next meet; and what topics will be discussed at that meeting.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given by Earl Howe to PQ HL1347 on 13 February 2020.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect of climate change on the work of his Department; and what steps he is taking in response to that effect.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The UK is a world leader in cutting emissions while growing the economy, and has set an ambitious net zero target which will require transformation across the economy.
Tackling climate change is a priority for the whole of government, which is why the Prime Minister has set up the Cabinet Committee on Climate Change. This committee will hold departments to account for their actions to combat climate change and oversee the UK’s preparations to host the COP26 summit.
The Government is leading from the front, and delivering on the Greening Government Commitments. Cabinet Office monitors and reports performance against these Commitments through the annual publication of the State of the Estate Report. The Report describes the size and cost, efficiency of use and sustainability of property for central government buildings.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2018 to Question 191484 on Civil Service: Secondment, whether the Civil Service collects data on the number of secondees from the private sector to the civil service.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
As part of the Civil Service Statistics collection, figures are collected on the number of secondees from outside the Civil Service, however this does not distinguish between secondees from the private sector and the wider public sector.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people from the private sector are seconded to work in the civil service in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
This data is not held centrally.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the recommendations of the WebRoots Democracy report, entitled Military Voting: Enhancing access to elections for the armed forces abroad, published on 1 August 2017; and what assessment he has made of the potential effectiveness of undertaking a pilot for an online voting option for UK military personnel based overseas.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Government notes the recommendations in WebRoots Democracy report. This is an important issue that we take seriously. We are committed to supporting our servicemen and women in exercising their democratic rights and overcoming the barriers that might prevent them from voting.
However, the introduction of electronic voting (‘e-Voting’) would raise a number of issues which would need to be considered carefully. The selection of elected representatives for Parliament is regarded as requiring the highest possible level of integrity and, at present, there are concerns that e-Voting, by any means, is not seen by many to be suitably rigorous and secure, and could be vulnerable to attack or fraud. Furthermore, the Electoral Commission in their reports on the 2007 e-Voting pilots found that it had little direct effect on increasing turnout. To provide a system over which there are doubts to part of the electorate would not be appropriate.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding from the public purse was allocated to the 2016 EU referendum for the (a) hire of accommodation for counting votes, (b) printing of polling cards, (c) distribution of polling cards and (d) accommodation for the opening of postal votes.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The responsibility for managing the funding for national referendums using monies from the Consolidated Fund rests with the Electoral Commission. Counting Officers are given an overall maximum recoverable amount to cover the costs of running the poll. This is based on expenditure on the previous poll, updated for current circumstances, and is aimed to support flexibility in use of the monies by Counting Officers to make it work for the particular needs of their voting area.
In reference to the overall costs of the 2016 EU Referendum, please see the following Written Statement, presented to Parliament on 23rd March 2016 by the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, John Penrose MP:
The European Union Referendum (Counting Officers’ and Regional Counting Officers’ Charges) Regulations 2016 lists the maximum recoverable amounts (MRA) for the services and expenses of counting officers and regional counting officers:
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many hours were worked by public servants opening postal votes for the 2016 EU referendum.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
This information is not centrally held by either the Cabinet Office or the Electoral Commission.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many voters in the (a) 2016 EU referendum and (b) 2017 UK General Election voted (i) at a polling station, (ii) by post and (iii) by proxy.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Electoral Commission publishes data on voting at elections and referendums on its website. The information can be found at https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/our work/our-research/electoral- data/electoral-data- new