Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether covid-19 infections and hospitalisations among people who have been offered but refused to accept a covid-19 vaccine will be included in the data when deciding whether to ease restrictions on 19 July 2021.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The move to Step 4 will be based on the four tests outlined in the roadmap. The first of these tests - that the vaccine deployment programme continues successfully - will consider vaccine coverage across regions and demographics and ethnicity groups. The third of these tests - that infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS - looks at data on hospital admissions, patients in hospitals, and their vaccines status, in order to assess the likely pressure on the NHS in coming months.
The Delta variant is already driving the growth we are seeing in infection rates and hospitalisations, and at the same time non-COVID emergency demand on the NHS is the highest it has been since the start of the pandemic. The Government has consistently followed the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advice on vaccine deployment. We have implemented a range of initiatives to drive vaccine uptake, and to mitigate the impact of the Delta variant in areas of concern. Data on the number of COVID-19 vaccinations provided by the NHS in England can be accessed here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a full list of the forms of photographic identification that will be acceptable for Voter ID.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As legislation is brought forward to enable the national roll out of voter identification, appropriate impact assessments, which include information on costs, will be provided for Parliament in the normal way.
The list of approved photographic identification will not be limited to passports and driving licences. A broad range of documents will be accepted, including, for example, various concessionary travel passes, Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) cards and photocard parking permits issued as part of the Blue Badge scheme. The full list of accepted photographic identification will be made available in due course.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of providing voter cards to people with no other form of photographic document for identification purposes.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As legislation is brought forward to enable the national roll out of voter identification, appropriate impact assessments, which include information on costs, will be provided for Parliament in the normal way.
The list of approved photographic identification will not be limited to passports and driving licences. A broad range of documents will be accepted, including, for example, various concessionary travel passes, Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) cards and photocard parking permits issued as part of the Blue Badge scheme. The full list of accepted photographic identification will be made available in due course.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 February 2021, Local Elections, HCWS773, how much of the £92 million of government grant funding that will be provided to local authorities for the local elections in 2021 will be allocated to (a) Wakefield Council and (b) other local authorities in West Yorkshire.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Government will now make available an increased estimated total of £95 million to support the running of the May 2021 elections. Of this, £15 million will be paid to local authorities in the form of additional funding grants to support the delivery of the local elections in May, given the additional costs associated with COVID-19 precautions that will be incurred. The grant funding allocations for the five local authorities in the West Yorkshire area are listed below. These allocations reflect the particular circumstances of each local authority area and the level of poll combination expected on 6 May.
Local Authority Name | Funding Allocation |
Bradford | £205,779 |
Calderdale | £103,443 |
Kirklees | £175,995 |
Leeds | £295,271 |
Wakefield | £145,910 |
The remainder of the £95 million is to fund the conduct of the Police and Crime Commissioner elections and will be paid directly to Returning Officers in line with statutory requirements.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding his Department provided to veteran’s groups in Wakefield in 2020.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Government provides a range of financial support to veterans groups including through regular allocations of £10million per annum to the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, to be distributed amongst the service charity sector. In 2020, as it has this year, the Government provided an additional £10million to deliver charitable projects and initiatives that support veterans with mental health needs. A further £6m was provided to over 100 charities through the COVID-19 Impact Fund, to sustain charitable operations through the pandemic.
These figures include both funding for local projects and for organisations who operate nationally. The Government does not hold a central breakdown of all funding received by veterans groups that operate in Wakefield. However, an example of local funding is the grant awarded to Age UK Wakefield District, which received £18,747 enabling them to reach out to over 100 local Veterans dealing with issues such as Shopping and other practical help to emotional and wellbeing calls to people struggling on their own in this uncertain time.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to encourage civil servants to take-up their covid-19 vaccinations when eligible.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are encouraging Civil Servants in the same way as we encourage all UK citizens to take up the offer of a vaccine. As a responsible employer, we continue to highlight the latest factual information on the vaccine and support employees in attending appointments for vaccinations.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department has issued to candidates in Mayoral elections on campaigning across their region during the covid-19 national lockdown.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Campaigning is an essential part of democracy. Voters deserve to be well informed before going to the polls and there must be a level playing field for candidates. However, all those involved in the electoral process must also ensure that public health is protected. There is therefore a necessary balance to be struck in allowing campaigning activity and continuing to protect the NHS and save lives.
On 22 February the Prime Minister announced the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown and on 26 February, we published further guidance on campaigning for all forthcoming polls, reflecting the updated COVID restrictions and guidance. All campaigners should follow the guidance on how to stop the spread of coronavirus at all times.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average pay is of civil servants in Wakefield constituency.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Cabinet Office does not hold the data requested by constituency.
As at 31 March 2020, HM Revenue & Customs was the largest employer of civil servants in West Yorkshire.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Department has the largest number of staff working in (a) Wakefield constituency and (b) West Yorkshire.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Cabinet Office does not hold the data requested by constituency.
As at 31 March 2020, HM Revenue & Customs was the largest employer of civil servants in West Yorkshire.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of civil service jobs in (a) Wakefield, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) the rest of the UK outside London.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Further to my answer to PQ72996 on 21 July 2020, we are working to increase civil service presence throughout the regions and nations of the UK. We want to ensure our geography of locations covers as large and representative an area of the UK as possible, including West Yorkshire.