Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the value of goods (a) imported from and (b) exported to the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara was in 2019.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the value of goods (a) imported from and (b) exported to Morocco was in 2019.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will establish a full public inquiry into the Government's awarding of contracts during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The National Audit Office, the public spending watchdog, has published its report on Government procurement activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, as outlined in the statement on gov.uk.
The Government has always been clear that there will be opportunities to look back, analyse and reflect on all aspects of COVID-19. This will include an independent inquiry at the appropriate time. For now the Government is focused entirely on responding to the pandemic and saving lives, particularly as the country is experiencing a second wave of the virus.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, what plans he has to appoint a new Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
Answered by Boris Johnson
An appointment will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a response to the Early Day Motion tabled by the hon. Member for Glasgow North on 23 January 2020 entitled Scotland's representation in the European Parliament.
Answered by Chloe Smith
We have notified the Regional Returning Officer for Scotland of the MEP vacancy and asked them to take the necessary steps to fill the MEP seat in accordance with the European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 2004.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the policy paper Confidence and Supply Agreement between the Conservative and Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party, what plans the Government has to review the (a) aims and (b) principles of that agreement.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The 2017 Confidence and Supply Agreement, which was for the duration of this Parliament, has provided certainty and stability that the country needed as we embarked on Brexit and beyond.
The Conservative and Unionist Party has worked with the Democratic Unionist Party to govern in the national interest.
Parliament has now resolved to hold an early general election, which will bring this Parliament and the 2017 Agreement to a close.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government has (a) paid for and (b) booked advertising space for the Get ready for Brexit campaign for dates beyond 31 October 2019.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The EU has now accepted the request for a Brexit extension. Up until this point, the UK was set to leave the EU on 31 October 2019. On that basis it was important that businesses and citizens prepared themselves for leaving the EU on 31 October. Some of those citizens and businesses may still have needed to take action after 31 October.
Cabinet Office publishes the costs of the public information campaign monthly on a rolling basis as part of routine government transparency. This will be broken down by supplier.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many designs for posters and adverts produced as part of the Get ready for Brexit awareness campaign mentioned 31 October 2019 as exit day.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The EU has now accepted the request for a Brexit extension. Up until this point, the UK was set to leave the EU on 31 October 2019. On that basis it was important that businesses and citizens prepared themselves for leaving the EU on 31 October.
Therefore all advertising designs for the “Get Ready for Brexit” campaign, which provides the facts citizens and businesses need to know about the steps they need to take to be ready for when the UK leaves the EU, mentioned 31 October. Not undertaking such communication would have risked unnecessary disruption to people’s lives and businesses.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 5 February 2019 to Question 215222 on Brexit: Festivals and Special Occasions, whether the Government has since developed any further plans for ceremonial and official events to mark the formal exit of the UK from the European Union.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Any further plans will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will issue a response to the recommendations published by FullFact on 12 April 2019 on reform of electoral laws governing online campaigning.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government is committed to increasing transparency in digital campaigning. On 5 May 2019, the Government announced that candidates, political parties and non-party campaigners will be required to brand or ‘imprint’ their digital election materials, so the public is clear who is targeting them. The Government will bring forward the technical proposal for this regime later on this year.
Whilst there are no current plans for a database of online political adverts, we are encouraging action to increase transparency of wider political advertising online. Several social media companies have already implemented tools to enhance transparency about the origins of political and electoral adverts on their platforms, including political advert libraries. However, these efforts have been inconsistent and the Government is clear that more could be done. As such, the Online Harms White Paper, published on 8 April 2019, proposes that under the new online safety regulatory framework platforms could be required to improve transparency of political advertising, as part of their duty of care to protect their users from disinformation.