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Written Question
Members: Correspondence
Tuesday 8th October 2019

Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Wakefield of 3 September 2019 to the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Mark Sedwill, on the Get ready for Brexit campaign.

Answered by Kevin Foster

I apologise for the delay in replying to the letter from the hon. Member and can assure her she will receive a response as soon as possible.


Written Question
Brexit: Publicity
Tuesday 8th October 2019

Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 1 October 2019 to Question 291346 on the Get ready for Brexit campaign, if he will publish (a) the details of all contracts over £10,000 awarded by Manning Gottlieb OMD on behalf of the Government and (b) a list of where and when all Get ready for Brexit campaign events have been held.

Answered by Kevin Foster

The Cabinet Office has undertaken to publish information relating to ongoing expenditure as part of the department’s monthly data transparency releases. The published information will be available on a regular basis on GOV.UK here: (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-spend-data)

“Get Ready for Brexit” is a public information campaign that provides the facts citizens and businesses need to know about the preparations they need to take to be ready for when the UK leaves the EU. The campaign has many direct and local elements including business roundtables, public meetings, ministerial visits and local authority events. A full list of the events that have taken place since the campaign launched on 1 September can be found at Annex A.


Written Question
Brexit
Monday 7th October 2019

Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to ensure that the Get Ready for Brexit campaign complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR); and whether a data protection impact assessment has been produced in accordance with Article 35 and 36 of the GDPR.

Answered by Michael Gove - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations

We take the protection and privacy of personal data very seriously. The Government Communication Service adopts the highest professional standards, including complying with data protection legislation. We have GDPR clauses in our contract with our media buying agency to help ensure compliance.

A Data Protection Impact Assessment is only required when the processing of personal data is likely to result in a high risk to individuals. For the Get Ready for Brexit campaign, we did not use personal data to target advertising, and only bought media space using contextual placements (for example, buying media space in the travel or business sections of papers or websites).

We are regularly engaging with the ICO to ensure that our campaign activity continues to meet best practice and is fully compliant with the data protection standards.


Written Question
Cabinet Office: Data Protection
Monday 7th October 2019

Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 1 October 2019 to Question 291339 on Cabinet Office: Data Protection, (a) who the decision-maker was and (b) when the decision was made to create a separate account to hold centralised data collected from GOV.UK services; and was that decision reviewed by the Information Commissioners Office.

Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)

The work to create a centralised anonymised analytics account is part of the Government Digital Service’s wider strategy for GOV.UK. It has been GDS’ intention to move towards this model for a while. This is standard practice for industry, and is how a modern government should operate.

The GDS takes the privacy of citizens’ data extremely seriously. In developing this project, GDS have taken into account both the data protection regime and other guidance like the Government’s Data Ethics Framework. Holding the anonymised cross-domain data in a separate account is just one of a range of technical, privacy and information assurance measures put in place before the start of the project.


Written Question
Cabinet Office: Data Protection
Monday 7th October 2019

Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to Answer of 1 October 2019 to Question 291339 on Cabinet Office: Data Protection, how many (a) Ministers, (b) civil servants and (c) special advisers have access to that data.

Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)

No ministers or special advisers have access to the Google Analytics account containing the data referred to in the Answer of 1 October 2019 to Question 291339. To date, 24 security cleared staff working on the project have access to the data. Access is granted on a case-by-case basis as required by business need to further ensure that only appropriate people have access to the data.


Written Question
Brexit
Thursday 3rd October 2019

Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 September 2019 to Question 290970 on Brexit, when he plans to publish the costs of the Get Ready for Brexit campaign for (a) August and (b) September 2019.

Answered by Kevin Foster

The Cabinet Office has undertaken to publish information relating to ongoing expenditure on the public information campaign as part of the department’s monthly data transparency releases. The published information will be available on a regular basis on GOV.UK here: (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-spend-data)


Written Question
Cabinet Office: Data Protection
Tuesday 1st October 2019

Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how information and data in the Cabinet Office or Government Digital Service which is collected centrally or shared by Departments is held; what the security clearance required to access such data is; who has access to such data; and what measures are in place to ensure such data does not leave the Cabinet Office.

Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)

The Government Digital Service (GDS) and the wider Cabinet Office take their responsibilities in relation to the handling of data extremely seriously. We always take into account both the data protection regime and other guidance like the Government’s Data Ethics Framework.

Different types of data and information are stored in different ways in accordance with our information assurance policies. In relation to the specific project to join up performance analytics across the GOV.UK estate, GDS has created a separate account within its existing Google Analytics account to hold the anonymised performance data collected from GOV.UK services managed by other government departments. Data within the two accounts is not linked together.

Currently Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) cleared personnel working on the project have access to this anonymised data. BPSS is the minimum required security clearance, and access is granted on a case-by-case basis to further ensure that only appropriate people have access to the data. Data is stored in an encrypted format when it is in transit between service systems and the centralised Google Analytics account, and when stored in the account data store. These measures, together with GDS’s secure by default approach ensure that no data will leave the Cabinet Office by accident or malicious intent.


Written Question
Government Communication Service: Brexit
Tuesday 1st October 2019

Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government Communications Service is taking to ensure that (a) transparency and (b) the values of the civil service code are maintained through effective governance of communications on the UK's departure from the EU.

Answered by Kevin Foster

As with all Government communications activity, the highest professional standards are adhered to. The ‘Get Ready for Brexit’ campaign is a cross-government campaign coordinated by the Cabinet Office, DExEU and No.10. It will be delivered by the Government Communications Service.

The purpose of the GCS is to deliver world-class public service communications that support ministers’ priorities, enable the efficient and effective operation of public services, and improve people’s lives.

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of all civil servants. The Government Communication Propriety Guidance gives information to all members of the GCS. It is also available through this link: https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Government-Communication-Propriety-Guidance-Feb-16-1.pdf The Government Communications Functional Standard GovS0.11, underpinned by extensive GCS guidance and resources, sets the expectations for the management and practice of government communications. The Functional Standard is available here: https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/180808-GovS011-Comms-Standard-Approved-1.0.pdf


Written Question
Cabinet Office: Anomaly
Tuesday 1st October 2019

Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has (a) awarded a commercial contract to and (b) purchased digital services from (i) Anomaly LLP and (ii) Anomaly UK London Ltd in the last six months.

Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)

Cabinet Office records show that the Department has not awarded a commercial contract to, or purchased digital services from Anomaly LLP or Anomaly UK London Ltd in the last six months.

Records of central Government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search


Written Question
Government Departments: CDL Group
Tuesday 1st October 2019

Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what is (a) the nature of services purchased by the Government from CDL Group, (b) the value of the contract, (c) the length of the contract, (d) the process by which the contract was awarded and (e) whether any interests were declared by Ministers and civil servants, including special advisers, in relation to the award of the contract.

Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)

Records of central Government contracts above £10,000 and information on how they are awarded are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search