Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if his Department will make an assessment of the (a) prevalence of the use and (b) reliance on the supply of Chinese-made cellular internet of things modules in energy infrastructure.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK takes its national security extremely seriously, including the security of its critical infrastructure. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero works with other government departments and agencies, as well as with industry partners, to ensure threats to energy infrastructure are understood and appropriate mitigations are established including for the supply chain and in line with NPSA and NCSC guidance. The Department is working with the National Cyber Security Centre to monitor risks to the energy sector from increasing digitalisation in the UK’s energy system, including security issues associated with internet-facing components.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department is taking steps to monitor the potential threat posed by Chinese-made cellular internet of things modules to energy infrastructure.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK takes its national security extremely seriously, including the security of its critical infrastructure. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero works with other government departments and agencies, as well as with industry partners, to ensure threats to energy infrastructure are understood and appropriate mitigations are established including for the supply chain and in line with NPSA and NCSC guidance. The Department is working with the National Cyber Security Centre to monitor risks to the energy sector from increasing digitalisation in the UK’s energy system, including security issues associated with internet-facing components.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the (a) prevalence of the use and (b) reliance on the supply of Chinese-made cellular internet of things modules in (a) aviation, (b) cars, (c) roads, (d) the rail network and (e) other parts of the UK transport system.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The UK’s transport sector employs a limited amount of cellular internet of things module technology. Reliance on this technology across the various transport modes is low. The Department encourages the transport sector to follow Government Security Group, National Cyber Security Centre and National Protective Security Authority supply chain guidance when selecting a technology supplier.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure people on transitional Severe Disability Premium are not adversely financially affected as a result of Universal Credit uprating.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The transitional Severe Disability Premium (SDP) element’s (SDP TE) serves as part of the wider transitional protection in place and is designed to support eligible claimants in their transition from legacy benefits to Universal Credit (UC).
The Social Security Up-rating Regulations 2023 amended the rates used to calculate SDP TE for eligible new claims from 10th April 2023. This uprating aligns awards of the transitional element with the rate of uprating for wider benefits within the annual uprating order.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to support the development of Ukraine's tourism industry following its recovery; and what steps he plans to take with Cabinet colleagues to encourage tourists from the UK to visit Ukraine.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The FCDO continues to advise against all travel to Ukraine while Russia's illegal invasion continues. The UK is committed to helping Ukraine secure support for its recovery and reconstruction needs. The Ukraine Recovery Conference (21-22 June) raised over $60 billion in new support, including a further $3 billion in UK guarantees to World Bank lending and up to £240 million of UK bilateral assistance. We are focused on supporting the Government of Ukraine's immediate recovery priorities including health, energy and critical infrastructure, which have suffered damage in Russia's indiscriminate airstrikes. The UK-Ukraine Strategic Partnership Agreement sets parameters for longer-term co-operation on tourism.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of how the UK's contribution to the reconstruction of Ukraine will be financed if there is a shortfall in the amount expected to be raised by Russian sanctions.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK is helping Ukraine secure support for its recovery and reconstruction needs. The Ukraine Recovery Conference on 21-22 June raised more than $60 billion in new support, including a further $3 billion in UK guarantees to World Bank lending and up to £240 million of UK bilateral assistance. We are working with partners to ensure that Russia pays for the consequences of its illegal war. We have sanctioned over 1,600 individuals and entities, freezing over £18 billion of assets in the UK. On 19 June we introduced legislation enabling sanctions on Russia to be maintained until Moscow pays compensation to Ukraine.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled More than 200 companies named for not paying staff minimum wage, published on 21 June 2023, how many employers were (a) named and (b) fined; how many people received pay arrears; and what amount of wages were recovered as a result of unpaid trial shifts at the outset of employment.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In the latest naming round, 202 employers were named for failing to pay almost £5 million to 63,000 workers. The employers were also ordered to pay nearly £7 million in penalties.
Unpaid working time, which can include unpaid trial shifts, was a factor in 39% of these cases. Unpaid working time can arise for a number of reasons, outlined in our recently published educational bulletin, which can be found here: National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme R19 Educational Bulletin.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what progress the Government has made on a ban on all forms of conversion therapy.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government remains committed to protecting everyone who is at risk of conversion practices from harm, and will shortly publish a draft Bill and consultation response setting out our approach to banning these abhorrent practices. The draft legislation will go for pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee in this parliamentary session.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with Capita on the potential impact of the cyber attack on their systems on members of the USS pension fund.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has not held discussions with Capita on the potential impact to members of the USS pension fund from the recent cyber incident.
HM Treasury has worked closely with the Bank of England, Financial Conduct Authority, and the National Cyber Security Centre to monitor any impacts in the finance sector of the cyber incident. The financial regulators have engaged directly with Capita.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that people affected by the infected blood scandal receive compensation.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government accepts there is a moral case for compensation. Interim payments were made last year to recognise the urgent need of infected people and bereaved partners enrolled on the existing support schemes.
We are now considering Sir Brian Langstaff’s second interim report. As my Right Hon. Friend, Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office (Jeremy Quin) said on 19 April, we are very focused on responding as soon as possible after the Inquiry concludes this autumn.
This does not preclude earlier announcements as we progress our work.