Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the £20 million for veterans’ housing announced in the Spring Budget 2023, what funding has been allocated for veterans' housing in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The £20 million Veteran Housing Capital Grant Programme is designed to contribute to the Government's commitment of ending veteran homelessness across the UK, by ensuring veterans have access to good quality, affordable accommodation that meets their needs.
Applications for funding will be open to housing organisations supporting veterans from across the four nations, including Northern Ireland, and we expect the initial £2 million grant to be open for applications later this year.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on how many occasions his Department has exercised powers under the Enterprise Act 2002 to intervene in transactions which raised national security concerns in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Between July 2020 and January 2022, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has issued Public Interest Intervention Notices under the Enterprise Act 2002, on national security grounds, in relation to the following acquisitions:
the proposed acquisition of Ultra Electronics Holdings plc by Cobham Ultra Acquisitions Limited;
the proposed acquisition of The Perpetuus Group by Taurus International Ltd and others; and
the proposed acquisition of Meggitt plc by Parker-Hannifin corporation
In addition, the then Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport used the same powers in relation to the proposed acquisition of Arm by NVIDIA in April 2021.
Since 4 January 2022, the Government has had powers under the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act 2021 to scrutinise and, where necessary, intervene in acquisitions which may raise national security concerns. These powers replaced the national security limb of public interest intervention powers under the Enterprise Act 2002. In February 2023, responsibility for NSI moved from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to the Cabinet Office, under the Deputy Prime Minister.
The Government promised to deliver a regime that is as business-friendly as possible while protecting our national security. The National Security & Investment Act Annual Report demonstrates that we are succeeding in that mission.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the most recent meeting of the Border and Protocol Delivery Group took place; and where that meeting took place.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Borders Group, formerly known as the Border and Protocol Delivery Group, is a group of teams within the Cabinet Office, rather than a standing body. It is responsible for coordinating the Government's approach to the border, both in relation to our leaving the EU and in developing our longer term strategy for the most effective border in the world. As a result these teams work together on an ongoing basis.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many calls were made to the COVID Fraud Hotline 0800 587 5030 since October 2020; how many cases were forwarded for consideration for prosecutions; and how many convictions were obtained.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
4772 calls were made to the COVID Fraud Hotline between its launch in October 2020 and its closure on 30 September 2022. Of these, 4300 were disseminated to the relevant department or organisation for investigation. The remainder are being processed and will be disseminated before March 2023.
Investigations take time to get to the stage where the Crown Prosecution Service can consider prosecution, and further time to go through the court system to secure convictions. Our Hotline intelligence is forwarded to the relevant department/agency for consideration for investigation, with the decision to investigate sitting with the relevant department/agency. The department/agency then submits cases for consideration for prosecution, with the decision being taken by the CPS in most cases.
The value of intelligence is not only for progressing prosecutions - the sharing of intelligence with the BBL accredited lenders has led to interventions and recoveries by the lenders. In addition, the Hotline intelligence has helped government to better understand the threat across Government and significantly contributed to media campaigns by providing guidance to the general public.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to his oral Answer to the Question from the hon. Member for Foyle, at Prime Minister's Questions on 30 November 2022, Official Report, on BBC Radio Foyle, when he plans to meet the BBC.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
I met the Director–General of the BBC, on 1 December 2022. I raised the proposed changes to Radio Foyle.
While the BBC is editorially and operationally independent and it is for it to decide how to deliver its services and meet the BBC’s Charter responsibilities, we expect the BBC to consider the views of stakeholders when it makes the decision over whether to proceed with these plans.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information he holds from the European Commission on the average number of weekly checks which being undertaken at EU ports compared to the number of similar weekly checks at Belfast port.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
This information is not held by the UK Government. However, as indicated by the Chief Veterinary Officer for Northern Ireland, on the 15 April 2021 in the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, the Northern Ireland Executive has estimated that from January to March, the number of entry documents for products of animal origin, germinal products, and animal by-products (CHED-Ps) processed in Northern Ireland represented approximately 20% of the EU total. This is more than any single EU Member State - even though the population of Northern Ireland is just 0.5% of that of the EU as a whole.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people died between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 with covid-19 being mentioned on the death certificate; and how many of those people were (a) over 65 and (b) had underlying health conditions.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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 of 23 December 2020 to Question 130109 on Cybercrime, what the outcome was of his Department's work on developing the UK’s strategic direction and funding for cyber security beyond 2021.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Integrated Review published in March set a goal of cementing the UK’s position as a leading responsible and democratic cyber power, and committed to launching a new comprehensive cyber strategy in 2021 to implement this vision. The strategy will set out how we will build up the UK’s cyber resilience; deter our adversaries; and influence tomorrow’s technologies so they are safe, secure and open. Work is underway to develop the new strategy, and the government plans to continue engaging with partners before publishing it later this year and aligning with funding decisions in the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to respond to changes in the cyber security challenge over the 2019 Parliament.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Cyber security is a key priority for this Government. Advances in cyber technologies are revolutionising the way in which we live our lives and guard our national security, and our aim is to ensure citizens can enjoy the benefits this brings while mitigating the risks. The Covid pandemic has made the UK more reliant on digital technologies and we are seeing a growth in damaging threats such as ransomware.
Our National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) continues to work closely with law enforcement, government and industry to tackle cyber threats and support the country’s response to the covid-19 crisis, publishing guidance and identifying and removing malicious sites. This includes ramping up the Active Cyber Defence Programme, launching the Suspicious Email Reporting tool and working closely with the NHS to keep their systems and the healthcare sector safe. We are able to draw upon these resources because of the implementation of the 2016 National Cyber Security Strategy.
We are also planning for the future to strengthen our approach and maintain the UK’s position as a leading responsible and democratic cyber power. Later this year we will be launching a new comprehensive Cyber Strategy, setting out how we will build up the UK’s cyber resilience; detect, disrupt and deter our adversaries; and shape, influence and unlock tomorrow’s technologies and opportunities so they are safe, secure and open.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Border Delivery Group made an assessment of matters arising from the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol at its most recent meeting.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Border and Protocol Delivery Group is an organisational unit within the Cabinet Office, not a standing body. The UK Government has made clear, though, that there are outstanding issues that must be addressed as to the operation of the Protocol to restore confidence among the people of Northern Ireland following the EU’s invocation of Article 16 on 29 January. The Joint Committee meeting on 24 February underlined the importance of dealing with these issues and of continuing to engage with businesses and other stakeholders as they proceed.