Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
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 Lord Hart of Tenby
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
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will (a) publish the memorandum of understanding between the Government Digital Service and Government departments on data ethics and compliance that enables cross tracking of Gov.UK, (b) state which Departments and non-departmental bodies the MOU was sent to and (c) set out the departments and non-departmental public bodies that have agreed the MOU.
Answered by Lord Hart of Tenby
The Government Digital Service (GDS) is implementing end-to-end performance monitoring so that GOV.UK can be designed to ensure that people can access the information and services they need as easily as possible. Government departments are enabling GDS to centrally collect data on site usage across the GOV.UK estate, to provide an end to end, anonymised view of how people interact with government online. In developing this project, we have taken into account both the data protection regime and other guidance like the Government’s Data Ethics Framework.
We are using clear and robust Memorandums of Understanding to set out the terms of the project. The MOUs outline the responsibilities of both the GDS and departments in a number of areas, including handling the relevant data to ensure there is no unauthorised access, loss, misuse, modification or disclosure.
The MoUs were sent to the following departments: the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Department for Education (DfE), the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU), the Department for Transport (DfT), the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), the Home Office, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), HM Treasury (HMT), the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the Department for International Trade (DfID), the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Cabinet Office (CO) and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). We have received signed MOUs from all Departments apart from FCO, CO, DWP and DCMS as we are still working through some points of detail, to facilitate their response.
The MoUs will be regularly updated in line with the government’s commitment to continuous improvement in digital services and best practice in data and privacy standards. It is a long standing policy of the Government Digital Service to operate in the spirit of full transparency, and we plan to publish the document in due course.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much is being spent by each Department in the Get ready for Brexit campaign; and whether the media buying for this campaign is taking place by OMD Group Ltd under the Crown Commercial Services for media buying services.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In law, the UK is set to leave the EU on 31 October 2019. “Get Ready for Brexit” is a public information campaign providing 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 is a cross-government campaign using national advertising including TV, radio, press, digital and outdoor advertising. It also includes direct engagement and local elements including business preparedness events, ministerial visits and local authority activity.
The cost of the public information campaign will be published monthly on a rolling basis, as part of routine government transparency.
For maximum economies of scale, media for all Government campaigns is bought centrally through a new Crown Commercial Service framework with Manning Gottlieb OMD. The framework maximises value for the UK taxpayer through robust pricing guarantees that are defined for the life of the contract and rates which are benchmarked against other public and private sector organisations.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
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 9 September 2019 to Question 286169 on Government Communication Service: Brexit, what amendments to the Get ready for Brexit campaign have been made following the European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 6) Bill receiving Royal Assent.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In law that the UK is set to leave the EU on 31 October 2019. “Get Ready for Brexit” is a public information campaign providing 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 is a cross-government campaign using national advertising including TV, radio, press, digital and outdoor advertising. It also includes direct engagement and local elements including business preparedness events, ministerial visits and local authority activity.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Government plans to spend on the Get ready for Brexit campaign via (a) websites, (b) newspapers, (c) television, (d) search engine optimisation, (e) social media by platform, (f) billboards and (g) any other medium in (i) total and (ii) each month.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In law the UK is set to leave the EU on 31 October 2019. “Get Ready for Brexit” is a public information campaign providing 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 is a cross-government campaign using national advertising including TV, radio, press, digital and outdoor advertising. It also includes direct engagement and local elements including business preparedness events, ministerial visits and local authority activity.
The cost of the public information campaign will be published monthly on a rolling basis, as part of routine government transparency arrangements.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
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 are 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 Lord Hart of Tenby
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
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 are taking to ensure (a) value for money from and (b) rigorous evaluation of Government communications of the UK's departure from the EU.
Answered by Kevin Foster
All the paid for elements of the campaign are competitively procured through a tender to ensure we get value for money. The procurement of the required services is done using frameworks set-up by Crown Commercial Service, the biggest public procurement
organisation in the UK.
In addition to internal governance and assurance procedures, the Cabinet Office have contracted external auditors to conduct a comprehensive analysis of media buying spend. Ebiquity will provide real time and post campaign assessments of cost effectiveness to
ensure a high quality and value for money service is provided by agencies.
Campaign activity will be continuously monitored and refined. We will measure changes in public awareness of the campaign and the specific calls to action that direct both citizens and businesses to relevant information. In addition, we will monitor visits made to the dedicated Brexit information pages over the coming weeks. We will also measure public understanding of changes in key issues that will affect both citizens and businesses so that the campaign continues to be responsive to the public's needs.
This will be done through a mixture of online data analysis and in-depth surveys. The campaign will also utilise ongoing polling, metrics and management information from departments in order to ensure that we are reaching the right audiences and that our messages are prompting the required action from individuals and organisations.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Coventry East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government Communication Service are taking to fact-check the content of Government communications on the UK's departure from the EU.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government has a robust process in place to fact-check all guidance it publishes,
including information relevant for preparing for Brexit. Content that is created by
departments is fact-checked by relevant experts within that department.
All content relating to Brexit is underpinned by policy decisions taken at a departmental
level and drafted with the support of content editors. A dedicated team will ensure
GOV.UK Brexit content continues to meet users’ needs on an ongoing basis.