Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of reinstating former civil servants on public finances.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Individual departments are responsible for the recruitment of their staff and are able to set their own policies accordingly, subject to the framework of instructions set out in the Civil Service Management Code and the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. This includes the reinstatement of former civil servants under exception five of the Recruitment Principles.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) male and (b) female former civil servants have applied for reinstatement after taking time off for caring responsibilities in the last five years.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The information requested is not held by the Government Recruitment Service (GRS). Reinstatements are managed by each individual Department who will hold their own data rather than centrally by GRS.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that AI generated misinformation and disinformation does not impact elections in the UK.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government works continuously to understand, assess and address the risks presented by emerging and critical technologies. To date, the Cabinet Office has drawn on a significant range of analysis to inform Government understanding of the risks associated with Artificial Intelligence and the UK elections; we continue to coordinate with other Lead Government Departments.
We keep our assessments of these issues under constant review. For example, in the lead up to the AI Safety Summit, a suite of products was published by the Government to help inform the public and Summit participants of our assessment of the risks and opportunities associated with the use of AI. The risk to the information environment was included within this: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/frontier-ai-capabilities-and-risks-discussion-paper.
More broadly, the security of elections is considered a priority task across HMG and touches on work being undertaken by the Defending Democracy Task Force, DSIT and within the National Security Secretariat in Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of AI generated misinformation and disinformation on elections in the UK.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government works continuously to understand, assess and address the risks presented by emerging and critical technologies. To date, the Cabinet Office has drawn on a significant range of analysis to inform Government understanding of the risks associated with Artificial Intelligence and the UK elections; we continue to coordinate with other Lead Government Departments.
We keep our assessments of these issues under constant review. For example, in the lead up to the AI Safety Summit, a suite of products was published by the Government to help inform the public and Summit participants of our assessment of the risks and opportunities associated with the use of AI. The risk to the information environment was included within this: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/frontier-ai-capabilities-and-risks-discussion-paper.
More broadly, the security of elections is considered a priority task across HMG and touches on work being undertaken by the Defending Democracy Task Force, DSIT and within the National Security Secretariat in Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that AI generated deepfakes do not impact elections in the UK.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government works continuously to understand, assess and address the risks presented by emerging and critical technologies. To date, the Cabinet Office has drawn on a significant range of analysis to inform Government understanding of the risks associated with Artificial Intelligence and the UK elections; we continue to coordinate with other Lead Government Departments.
We keep our assessments of these issues under constant review. For example, in the lead up to the AI Safety Summit, a suite of products was published by the Government to help inform the public and Summit participants of our assessment of the risks and opportunities associated with the use of AI. The risk to the information environment was included within this: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/frontier-ai-capabilities-and-risks-discussion-paper.
More broadly, the security of elections is considered a priority task across HMG and touches on work being undertaken by the Defending Democracy Task Force, DSIT and within the National Security Secretariat in Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of AI generated deepfakes on elections in the UK.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government works continuously to understand, assess and address the risks presented by emerging and critical technologies. To date, the Cabinet Office has drawn on a significant range of analysis to inform Government understanding of the risks associated with Artificial Intelligence and the UK elections; we continue to coordinate with other Lead Government Departments.
We keep our assessments of these issues under constant review. For example, in the lead up to the AI Safety Summit, a suite of products was published by the Government to help inform the public and Summit participants of our assessment of the risks and opportunities associated with the use of AI. The risk to the information environment was included within this: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/frontier-ai-capabilities-and-risks-discussion-paper.
More broadly, the security of elections is considered a priority task across HMG and touches on work being undertaken by the Defending Democracy Task Force, DSIT and within the National Security Secretariat in Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Prime Minister plans to respond to the letter of 27 November 2023 from the hon. Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk and Lord Scriven on Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As stated in the answer of 7 December 2023, Official Report, House of Lords, PQ HL571, this is a matter for the Conservative Party, rather than the Government.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to ensure that all Government contracts include a requirement to pay staff (a) the Living Wage Foundation’s real Living Wage and (b) occupational sick pay.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
This government is committed to paying properly, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage. This is based on the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission. In April 2023, the National Living Wage increased to £10.42 per hour, an increase of 9.7%. By 2024, the Government has committed that the National Living Wage will reach 66% of median UK earnings.
Departments are responsible for setting the terms and conditions of employment for their civil servants, in accordance with the rules of the Civil Service Management Code. This includes matters related to sickness absence.