Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the organisation of the Census.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Please note that the UK Statistics Authority is responsible for delivering the Census in England and Wales. The National Records for Scotland and the Scottish Government are responsible for the Scottish Census, and NISRA cover the Census in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to allow weddings and civil partnership ceremonies to recommence.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Government understands the huge significance of weddings. We recognise that because weddings have not been able to take place in recent months this has caused difficulty and distress for many people. As set out in the Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy, published in May, the Government has been examining how to enable people to gather in slightly larger groups better to facilitate small weddings. We have worked closely with faith leaders and local government on how best to achieve this. The Prime Minister announced on 23 June that wedding and civil partnership ceremonies will be able to take place in England from 4 July. People should avoid having a large ceremony, and should invite no more than thirty family and friends. Venues should ensure they are COVID-19 secure.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the Threats, Hazards, Resilience and Contingency Committee was disbanded.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The body referred to in the Hon. Members' questions was one of a number of sub-Committees of the National Security Council. Since July 2019, the National Security Council itself now consider matters relating to national security, foreign policy, defence, international relations and development, resilience, energy and resource security. This includes oversight of the National Security Risk Assessment. This administrative measure simply reflected a wider consolidation of Cabinet Committee sub-Committees.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to prevent individuals seeking information from Government Departments being diverted to fee-charging websites.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Government Departments have processes in place to ensure users seeking information from Government Departments are not diverted to fee-charging or misleading websites.
We work to ensure that government information and services are correctly listed and rank highly in search engine results so that they are easy for people to find and identify as government information and services.
We also challenge sites that pay for prominent positioning in search returns, by reporting them to the relevant search provider.
If fee-charging websites are operating outside of legal boundaries, we will pursue site owners through trading standards bodies or legal challenge.
GOV.UK is the government's website and online brand. We take steps to ensure people can rely on it as a trusted source for information.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of Capita's performance in administering the Royal Mail Pension Scheme.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Following the transition of services from Royal Mail Group to Capita in October 2017, Capita’s performance fell short of expected levels. However, due to the close monitoring that has been in place through the governance arrangements, Capita’s performance has improved and is now operating closer to the contracted levels.
There is a robust governance framework in place that provides Cabinet Office with the relevant oversight to manage the contract. This framework enables Cabinet Office to monitor performance and continuous improvement but also provides an escalation route for any issues that may be encountered throughout the term of the contract. The Governance model includes an advisory board, called the Royal Mail Pension Scheme Governance Group, which is made up of representatives from stakeholders of the scheme including Union (on behalf of members), employer and Pensioner representatives
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his oral contribution of 5 July 2017, Official Report, column 1151, how many of the 2394 alleged cases of electoral fraud since 2010 led to a (a) police investigation, (b) charge, (c) court case and (d) conviction.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
This Government is committed to creating a secure and clear democracy that works for everyone and, as part of this, wants to ensure that fraud is stamped out in elections. Any instance of electoral fraud is one instance too many.
The Electoral Commission publishes annual analysis of electoral fraud on their website. (http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/find-information-by-subject/electoral-fraud/data-and-analysis?)
Further breakdown and analysis of information on electoral fraud is available in the reports.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to prevent third-party websites from reselling Government services by deception.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Copycat websites undermine trust in online services, and this government is committed to stopping them. We are taking action on three fronts.
First, we are taking action to shut down such sites and prevent them from appearing in search engines. We are working with search engine providers to ensure they implement their terms and conditions on copycat website advertising - this has helped to increase the click-through to official Government websites by 30%. Security teams in departments across government are also actively monitoring the internet for bogus sites, and taking action accordingly.
Secondly we are improving the consistency and quality of Government websites, so that consumers can recognise and trust official sources of information.
Finally we are working closely with other bodies such as the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the National Trading Standards Board (NTSB) and Which? to raise awareness of this issue and ensure action is taken where appropriate
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department's purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Government is committed to doing all it can to ensure UK suppliers can compete effectively for public sector contracts in line with our current international obligations. To this end we are seeking to ensure the huge purchasing power of government supports the task of boosting growth, and enables us to actively shape the UK market for the long term.
We are providing industry with visibility of up to £191bn of potential procurement opportunities across 19 sectors. In addition, we are working with businesses to identify and address any key capabilities needed to meet future demand; actively helping them to remove barriers and supporting growth through additional benefits that boost exports and drive innovation.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of financial controls and reporting systems for charities in response to the liquidation of Kids Company.
Answered by Rob Wilson
In the light of the events surrounding Kids Company the Cabinet Office has launched a detailed review of how it makes grants under Section 70 of the Charities Act. The review is considering the criteria used to assess risk and is developing a proposal for a new and more rigorous approval process. The review will also take into account recommendations made by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee and the Public Accounts Committee.