Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what procedures are in place for Ministers to respond appropriately to correspondence from children and young people.
Answered by David Lidington
Government Departments have worked with the Welsh Language Commissioner to develop their schemes.
Under the principle of equality, departments will write in Welsh to an individual, group or organisation which they know works mainly in Welsh, or which has already notified us that it prefers to receive letters in Welsh. It will also respond in Welsh following a face-to face meeting or telephone call conducted in Welsh where follow-up correspondence is required (unless they have indicated they would prefer a response in English).
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what translation arrangements his Department has put in place to enable efficient and accurate handling of Welsh language correspondence from (a) MPs and (b) the general public.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Cabinet Office has worked with the Welsh Language Commissioner to develop its scheme.
Under the principle of equality the Cabinet Office will write in Welsh to an individual, group or organisation which we know works mainly in Welsh, or which has already notified us that it prefers to receive letters in Welsh. It will also respond in Welsh following a face-to face meeting or telephone call conducted in Welsh where follow-up correspondence is required (unless they have indicated they would prefer a response in English).
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department plans to spend on projects relating to the UK leaving the EU in the next five years; and if he will list the projects to which that funding has been assigned.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
HM Treasury has already allocated departments nearly £700 million to prepare for Brexit: £412m for DIT, FCO and DExEU over the parliament at Autumn Statement 2016 and nearly £300m across a number of departments from the Reserve in 17/18.
At Autumn Budget 2017 HM Treasury made another £3bn of additional funding available over 18/19 and 19/20 – £1.5bn in each year. We are currently working with HM Treasury to determine our allocation for 18/19 with the aim to agree this soon.
Departmental allocations for 19/20 will be agreed later on in the year and decisions on funding in 20/21 and beyond will be decided at the next Spending Review. This is because requirements in these years will be heavily affected by what is agreed in our negotiations with the EU.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Government will make it its policy to include in the 2021 census a question on people who can speak Welsh who do not live in Wales.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he last met the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union to discuss the Welsh Government's priorities for the UK's negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Damian Green
On 16 October 2017, I chaired the latest meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee (EU Negotiations). This was attended by the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union and representatives from the devolved administrations, including the Welsh Government. The Committee discussed priorities for the future relationship with the EU and agreed the principles that will underpin common UK frameworks.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the number of non-UK EU citizens who have left the UK since 23 June 2016.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff in his Department have responsibilities relating to the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
I refer the honourable member to my answer given on 19 th July to PQ 5019.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what amount of his Department's annual expenditure is allocated to work relating to the UK's exit from the EU.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
I refer the honourable member to my answer given on 25 th July to PQ 5371.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the formal relationship is between himself and the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union.
Answered by Damian Green
The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union is a colleague and fellow member of Cabinet.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what model the Boundary Commission will employ in its new review of constituency boundaries in Wales.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The rules for boundary Reviews are set out in the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, as amended by the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011.
The rules stipulate that the number of constituencies is 600 and that all constituencies, subject to a limited number of exceptions, must be between 95% and 105% of the United Kingdom electoral quota, which is the average number of electors per constituency. Reviews are to be conducted every five years.
The rules are designed to ensure that there is fairness in the setting of parliamentary constituencies and having seats of an equal size will ensure everyone’s vote will carry equal weight.