Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the additional support for veterans and military charities announced by the Government on 6 September 2021.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The Government is fully committed to helping our veterans receive the support they need. Last month, the Defence Secretary and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care met service charities, academics and other relevant experts to discuss the impact of the withdrawal from Afghanistan on the mental health of veterans and their families. In response to this meeting, the Prime Minister announced an additional £5M for the service charity sector to improve the accessibility of services, and better signpost the range of statutory and charitable support available to veterans, including those affected by events in Afghanistan.
The Cabinet Office, Office for Veterans’ Affairs is working at pace with key partners and the sector to determine how to distribute and use this funding most effectively and efficiently. Charities will be asked to report on the impact of the additional funding they receive.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government is taking steps ahead of the UK’s Presidency of the G7 in summer 2021 to ensure that (a) the safe reopening of borders and (b) restart of international aviation is a priority of the G7.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the findings by the Royal National Institute of Blind People in their report entitled Turned out 2019 that 68 per cent of blind postal voters and 22 per cent of partially sighted postal voters at the December 2019 General Election had to use assistance from another person to enable them to vote, what plans he has to review the accessibility of the postal vote system.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Government is committed to ensuring that elections are accessible for all those eligible to vote and has already been working with the RNIB to improve the voting process for voters with sight loss.
It is important for security purposes that a physical poll card is sent to every elector at the property where they are registered, but we have already considered how electoral information might additionally be made available in more accessible format for those who request it.
Returning Officers already publish details of candidates in the order they will appear on the ballot paper online. We will work with partners in the electoral sector to ensure this information is accessible.
The Government will continue to work with the RNIB, the Electoral Commission and other relevant organisations to make blind and partially sighted voters aware of the support available to them at the polling station, and to consider what additional support could be provided to help blind and partially sighted people to vote including by post.