Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many House of Commons employment severance agreements included the use of a non-disclosure agreement in each of the last five years.
Answered by Charles Walker
The House’s approach to the use of NDA clauses follows the 2015 Cabinet Office Guidance on Settlement Agreements, Special Severance Payments and Confidentiality Clauses on Termination of Employment. Since January 2015, it was decided that NDA clauses should no longer be included as a matter of course. Each case is considered on its merits.
The figures for each of the last five years are:
2021 – nil
2020 – nil
2019 – nil
2018 – 2 agreements with NDAs
2017 – 6 agreements with NDAs
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Government departments have policies in place designed to prevent the misuse of non disclosure agreements or confidentially clauses in employment severance agreements.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Government has published guidance on the use of confidentiality clauses and is clear that these types of clauses should not be used to stifle or discourage staff from raising concerns, and that they should only be used when necessary and not be included in settlement agreements as a matter of course.
All Government departments are expected to follow this guidance which can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-settlement-agreements-special-severance-payments-and-confidentiality-clauses.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the Government’s policy on the use of non-disclosure agreements in employment severance agreements is.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Government has published guidance on the use of confidentiality clauses and is clear that these types of clauses should not be used to stifle or discourage staff from raising concerns, and that they should only be used when necessary and not be included in settlement agreements as a matter of course.
All Government departments are expected to follow this guidance which can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-settlement-agreements-special-severance-payments-and-confidentiality-clauses.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many confirmed positive covid-19 tests there have been among Parliamentary pass holders who work on the Parliamentary estate for each of the last 10 weeks; and what estimate the House Authorities have made of the number of Parliamentary pass holders who were working on the Parliamentary estate for each of the last 10 weeks.
Answered by Charles Walker
Following further review of cases linked to the estate, UKHSA have identified 143 positive cases occurring between the 4th October–16th November. However, due to delays in reporting, additional cases may yet be identified that tested positive between 12th November and 16th November.
This review identified that over 50% of positive cases had not been reported by members of the Parliamentary community to the Parliamentary test and trace team.
Data recorded by the House is held solely for the purpose of supporting test and trace and is only recorded for 21 days where an individual notifies us.
Details on weekly cases are held for the last five weeks only following the UKHSA review. The maximum number of passholders working on the estate for any day in the relevant week are included for the equivalent periods.
Week | Positive Cases | Maximum daily number of passholders |
5/11 – 11/11 | 20 | 4018 |
29/10 – 4/11 | 28 | 4364 |
22/10 – 28/10 | 43 | 4398 |
15/10 – 21/10 | 21 | 4504 |
08/10 – 14/10 | 12 | 3158 |
01/10 – 07/10 |
| 2204 |
24/09 – 30/09 |
| 2108 |
17/09 – 23/09 |
| 3644 |
10/09 – 16/09 |
| 4280 |
03/09 – 09/09 |
| 4261 |
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What steps her Department is taking to help ensure that girls throughout the world receive a high-quality education.
Answered by Wendy Morton
2021 is a year of UK leadership. With the G7, we agreed new targets to get 40 million more girls in school and 20 million more girls reading by 2026.
We raised $4 billion [£2.9 billion] for the Global Partnership for Education, boosting the world’s poorest countries’ COVID recovery. At COP26, we will show girls’ education is essential for responding to the climate crisis.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the Law Commission plans to publish its report on Taking, Making and Sharing intimate images without consent; and what the Government's timescale is for taking forward the recommendations of that report.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Activities involving the taking and sharing of intimate images are captured by existing offences, for example those tackling revenge pornography, voyeurism, harassment, malicious communications, blackmail, and coercive or controlling behaviour.
To strengthen further the law in this area, the Government recently announced that the “revenge porn” offence will be extended to capture those who threaten to disclose such material. Provisions to extend the parameters of the offence in this manner were introduced in the Domestic Abuse Act.
The provisions will come into force two months after Royal Assent: on 29 June this year.
However, the Government recognises that there is concern over the growth of new technology and the impact on the law in this area.
We have asked the Law Commission to review the law in this area to ensure victims are properly protected. The Law Commission published a public consultation to this review on 26 February this year.
The consultation period ended on 27 May and I understand the Law Commission intends to publish its findings by Spring 2022.
The Government awaits the Law Commission’s findings with interest and shall consider them carefully.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of the Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020.
Answered by Robin Walker
I recognise the Rt Hon Lady’s work on this important issue to date. We have worked hard for a year now to encourage progress from the Department of Health on proper commissioning of the services set out in the regulations a year ago but without success.
While over 1,100 abortions had been provided locally in Northern Ireland since April 2020, services have not been formally commissioned by the Department of Health.
That is why we recently laid further Regulations which provide the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with a power to direct the Department of Health and others to take the action necessary to implement the recommendations in paragraphs 85 and 86 of the CEDAW Report. Women and girls in Northern Ireland should have the same rights in this space as those across the rest of the UK.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on employers' attitudes towards flexible working.
Answered by Paul Scully
During the pandemic, up to 47% of the workforce have worked from home. While this is not the only form of flexible working, we hope this will have a positive impact on attitudes towards greater flexibility in when and where work is done. We will build on this as we look to make flexible working the default.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which senior police officer is responsible for the police’s national strategy for digital Intelligence and investigations including online abuse.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Commissioner Ian Dyson, City of London Police and Chair of IMORCC (Information Management & Operational Requirements Coordination Committee), is the senior police officer who led on the development of the National Policing Digital Strategy (Digital, Data and Technology Strategy 2020-2030).
One key ambition of the Strategy is investment to ensure policing, from leadership through to the front line, are equipped with the right digital knowledge, skills and tools to deal with increasingly complex crimes. A further ambition of the Strategy is to harness the power of digital technologies and behaviours to identify the risk of harm and protect the vulnerable in both the physical and the digital world.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
What plans he has to ensure that courts are able to respond to increases in domestic abuse cases (a) during and (b) after the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Domestic abuse cases are amongst the highest priority work being dealt with by the courts. Domestic Violence Protection Orders and Non-Molestation orders have been placed in the highest category of work in the magistrates’ and family courts, and they continue to be listed for urgent hearings despite the current restrictions.
The magistrates’ courts have been focusing on cases where the defendant is being held in custody, but their work is now being extended to include bail cases where there is a vulnerable victim, such as domestic abuse cases, and these cases are being reviewed by the judiciary.
Domestic abuse cases will continue to be afforded a higher priority as social distancing restrictions are eased after the Covid-19 outbreak.