Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 41 of his Department’s Integrated Review 2021, how many critical vulnerabilities in the cyber systems of the public sector has the National Cyber Security Centre addressed as at 13 May 2021.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
It is for each public sector organisation to remediate vulnerabilities in their systems and this information is not held centrally. This is achieved through activities such as designing systems to be secure, regularly patching, continuous monitoring, security testing and vulnerability disclosure programmes. The NCSC and Cabinet Office provide expert advice and guidance to help public sector organisations address critical vulnerabilities.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) policy, (b) administrative and (c) advisory support the civil service provides to select committees.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The civil service does not provide policy, administrative or advisory support to select committees.
The Government supports the work of select committees by providing information and evidence to their inquiries.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of recent trends in the rate of unemployment among veterans.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
Veterans offer a vast range of skills and talent to civilian employers and the Government recognises that having a job is one of the key foundations for those leaving the Armed Forces to transition into civilian life. This is why the Government is taking a number of steps to support veterans into employment such as making it easier to join the Civil Service and introducing a national insurance tax break for their employers. The MOD’s Careers Transition Partnership supports Service leavers entering the job market. Of the 2018/19 UK regular service leavers who used a CTP service, and reported their employment outcomes, 86% were employed, 8% economically inactive, and 6% unemployed six months after using the service.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent suicide among veterans.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
In January 2019, the Government published the first Cross-Government Suicide Prevention Workplan, which sets out an ambitious programme across national and local government and the NHS. This includes actions being taken forward by MoD and NHS England for veterans and armed service personnel. The Government has committed to publishing an updated workplan and progress report against the National Strategy, expected in Spring 2021.
The majority of veterans successfully access mental health programmes available to the general population through the NHS, however for those veterans who need extra support, the NHS in England offers bespoke and specialist mental health services, which benefit from over £10m investment per year. Recent months have seen the rollout of the new NHS England High Intensity Service, which will provide further specialist care for veterans with acute mental health needs or who are in a mental health crisis. The Government has also provided £6 million in funding to support 100 service charities during the Covid-19 pandemic, including charities supporting veterans with their mental health.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2020 to Question 25623 on Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Public Appointments, if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract entered into with the search company appointed to recruit a replacement panel member.
Answered by Chloe Smith
As part of the Government transparency agenda, it is a legal requirement for central Government Departments to publish all awarded contracts over £10,000 in value on the Contracts Finder website. Once a contract for this recruitment has been finalised and signed it will be published in the usual way.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2020 to Question 25623 on Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Public Appointments, which search company has been engaged to identify a shortlist of candidates; and by what date that company has been asked to return a shortlist.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Further announcements will be made in the usual way.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2020 to Question 25623, if he has set a deadline for a replacement panel member to be appointed.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Further announcements will be made in the usual way.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when a new panel member will be appointed to the Grenfell Tower inquiry; and what discussions he has with people affected by the Grenfell Tower fire on that appointment.
Answered by Chloe Smith
In February, the Prime Minister, as Sponsor Minister for the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, wrote to the Inquiry Chair to confirm his intention to appoint a replacement panel member. He also confirmed that Cabinet Office officials would engage a search company to identify a shortlist of candidates.
As soon as a suitable new panel member has been identified, the Prime Minister will write to the Inquiry Chair to seek his consent to the appointment as required by the Inquiries Act. The successful candidate will be announced once the process has been completed so they start work as soon as possible.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2020 to Question 8952 on Public Appointments: Standards, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the due diligence process for appointments to the panels of statutory public inquiries following the resignation of Benita Mehra from her role as a panel member on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Due diligence and consideration of conflicts of interest are important parts of any appointment process. The Inquiries Act 2005 sets out the suitability and impartiality requirements of inquiry panel appointments. Appointments to statutory public inquiries are made in accordance with the Act.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the due diligence process for public appointments following the resignation of Benita Mehra from her role as a panel member on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Ms Mehra's appointment was not a public appointment. She was appointed to the panel of a statutory public inquiry in line with the Inquiries Act 2005.