Valerie Vaz

Following the change to Government guidance in February 2022 individuals were no longer required to inform their workplace if they tested positive for Covid. The figures below therefore represent the number of positive cases where an individual chose to share their result.

As the original case information has now been deleted in line with our privacy policies, only a summary per week is available.

25 March–1 April: 47
18–24 March: 75
11–17 March: 51
4–10 March: 47
25 February–3 March: 11
18–24 February: 15
11–17 February: 18

The numbers below represent the number of validated case numbers, using data held by the UKHSA and the Parliamentary test and trace team.

4–10 February: 63
28 January–3 February: 61
21–27 January: 89
14–20 January: 68
7–13 January: 69
31 December–6 January: 110
24–30 December: 119
17–23 December: 128
10–16 December: 193
3–9 December: 66
26 November–2 December: 38
19–25 November: 34
12–18 November: 31
5–11 November: 20
29 October–4 November: 28

The Church Commissioners have not made any such assessment.

The application of the Catholic Relief Act 1829 to the Sovereign’s advisers is a matter for the Government, not for the Church Commissioners.

Advice and support for parishes and cathedrals is available via the Church of England’s platform ‘Church Care’, this website acts as a portal for advice on management, maintenance, development and grants available to parishes and cathedrals.

During the pandemic period, £30m of grants that have been awarded to Church of England churches and cathedrals from a combination of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) and the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Emergency Fund. The Church of England is grateful for this support and recognition by the Government of the key role these buildings play in their local communities.

The grants awarded by the Culture Recovery Fund were allocated to 227 churches and cathedrals with 43% of this money is going to the 30% most deprived parishes – over £12.9m; 20% of the money going to the 10% most deprived parishes, totalling over £5.9m.

The Lichfield Diocese received of six grants totalling £342,825 from the Culture Recovery Fund and the National Lottery Heritage Emergency Fund, this included five awards to parish churches totalling £199,925 and a grant to Lichfield Cathedral of £142,900

A second Culture Recovery Fund has now launched, and churches with listed buildings are being encouraged to apply for support.

While the primary responsibility for decisions on resourcing mission and ministry rests with the dioceses, the Church Commissioners have provided an extra resource to dioceses (distributed by The Archbishops’ Council) to support mission and ministry in deprived communities in the form of Lowest Income Communities Funding. Across England, £82.1m has been allocated by the Commissioners for this purpose in 2020-22. Recipient dioceses are required to report on their use of this funding to The Archbishops’ Council each year. The Diocese of Lichfield, which covers Walsall South, will receive over £1.7m of this funding in 2021. In 2019, the diocese allocated some £200,000 of this to support ministry and mission in parishes in Walsall.

The dioceses can also apply for Strategic Development Funding (SDF) for significant projects which support their mission and financial strength, in line with their own strategies. The criteria for this funding seeks to focus on areas of deprivation, and on work with children and young people and within large urban areas. In 2019, £1.7million was awarded to Lichfield Diocese to fund a project to enhance mission and ministry in Telford, which includes some of the diocese’s most deprived areas.

A further £35m Sustainability Funding has also been made available to help diocese whose income has been reduced by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This funding is focused on those dioceses with fewer historic assets and whose populations have lower average incomes. Grants worth £15m were made to 24 dioceses in 2020.

Under reforms introduced in 2007 by the then Prime Minister, The Rt Hon Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister does not choose bishops or advise on the choice of bishops. His or her role is confined to putting the name of the nominated candidate to Her Majesty The Queen.

The Government does not have any current plans to review the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829.

We have established the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry chaired by Sir Wyn Williams to find out what happened. We can look at accountability in relation to the Post Office and Fujitsu only when we have Sir Wyn’s findings.

We have established the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry chaired by Sir Wyn Williams to find out what happened. We can look at accountability in relation to the Post Office and Fujitsu only when we have Sir Wyn’s findings.

We have established the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry chaired by Sir Wyn Williams to find out what happened. We can look at accountability in relation to the Post Office and Fujitsu only when we have Sir Wyn’s findings.

BEIS is committed to recovering money from fraudulent applications under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) as soon as reasonably practicable given the nature and stage of the scheme. We seek recoveries in numerous ways.

Lenders are responsible for undertaking recovery action once it becomes due in the first instance, whether fraud or otherwise.

Whilst lenders are the first line of defence, the National Intelligence Service (NATIS) supplements our capacity to investigate the most serious cases of fraud. In the current financial year, NATIS (for all matters including BBLS) has already recovered over £3 million. HM Treasury has also recently announced an additional £13.2m for NATIS which will double their investigative capacity on Bounce Back Loans.

The enforcement strategy also includes utilising Insolvency Service (INSS) resource to investigate misconduct in relation to insolvency and corporate abuse which, like NATIS, is designed to drive recoveries and set a deterrent to those who intend to abuse the scheme. For cases arising out of Bounce Back Loan abuse this includes director disqualification, bankruptcy restrictions, winding up companies operating against the public interest and criminal prosecution.

We are also taking steps to prevent companies attempting to dissolve with an outstanding BBL by blocking such applications, forcing companies to use legitimate liquidation processes thus improving recovery prospects.

UKAS is appointed by Government as the National Accreditation Body for the United Kingdom to assess, against nationally and internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide conformity assessment services such as certification, testing, inspection, calibration and verification.

UKAS has stated they do not operate in Myanmar or provide accreditation services to companies owned by the Myanmar military. UKAS treats these matters very seriously and would investigate any such claims thoroughly.

The Government has published its response to the recommendations made by the Independent Fan Led Review of Football Governance. This was in April 2022.

The Government accepts or supports all of the ten strategic recommendations which set out the government’s planned reform of football. The Queen’s Speech confirmed our commitment to an independent regulator for English football and we will bring forward proposals in this Parliamentary session. A White Paper will be published in the summer that will set out the details on the implementation of our football governance reforms. We are working at pace to deliver these measures that will bring sustainable reform that ensures current and future fans continue to enjoy our national game.

We do recognise the importance of this scheme and the reliance which is placed on it. We are presently working through the implications of DCMS's Spending Review settlement with HMT and within DCMS. We will be able to provide an update shortly on the Listed Places of Worship grant scheme.

This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Dr Jo Saxton, to write to the right hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The government’s priority, in our response to the report of the Independent Panel of the Review of Post 18 Education and Funding, is to put the student finance system on a sustainable footing for the long term.

As part of our response, we are introducing the Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE). We are considering if and how Alternative Student Finance (ASF) could be delivered as part of the LLE.

We believe it is sensible to align future delivery of an ASF product with these major reforms to ensure fair treatment for all students.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data about students enrolled at UK higher education (HE) providers.

Statistics on the total number of overseas students at each HE provider in the UK can be found in Table 1 of HESA’s Open Data tables. This data is available here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-1.

Further detail, which includes the country of domicile prior to study, is available in Table 28. This data is available here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-28.

The statistics available in HESA’s Open Data tables refer to the academic years 2014/15 to 2019/20. Figures for the academic year 2020/21 will be published by HESA in February 2022.

The government fully recognises the important contribution that international students make to the UK’s HE sector, both economically and culturally. International students enrich the university experience for all students, including those from the UK themselves. They bring greater diversity to university and college campuses adding an international dimension to the experience of all students. We are proud that so many international students choose to study here each year and look forward to welcoming many more in the future.

The International Education Strategy update published in February 2021, reaffirms the government’s commitment to the two key ambitions of the International Education Strategy to increase the value of our education exports to £35 billion per year, and to sustainably increase the number of international HE students hosted in the UK to at least 600,000 per year, both by 2030.

As outlined in the guidance for education and childcare settings on new national restrictions from 5 November 2020, out-of-school activities such as private tuition may continue to operate during the period of national restrictions: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-and-childcare-settings-new-national-restrictions-from-5-november-2020#ooss. Providers of these activities who are operating out of their own homes or private studios should ensure they are only being accessed for face-to-face provision by parents if their primary purpose is registered childcare. If they are providing other activities for children, this should be done only where it is reasonably necessary to enable parents to work or search for work, to undertake training or education, or for the purposes of respite care.

Out-of-school activities that are primarily used by home educating parents, as part of their arrangements for their child to receive a suitable full-time education, may also continue to operate for face-to-face provision for the duration of the national restrictions. This could include, for example, private tutors.

Where online lessons are not reasonably possible, providers are permitted to offer face-to-face provision in pupils’ homes, where it is necessary for them to continue to work.

Tutors that continue to operate face-to-face provision during this period should continue to undertake risk assessments and implement the system of controls set out in the protective measures for holiday clubs, after-school clubs and other out-of-school clubs for children during the COVID-19 outbreak: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/protective-measures-for-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. Providers operating out of other people’s homes should also implement the guidance on working safely in these environments: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/homes.

All other out of school activities, not being primarily used by parents for these purposes and that can offer remote education, should close for face-to-face provision for the duration of the national restrictions. This will minimise the amount of mixing between different groups of people and therefore reduce the risk of infection and transmission of COVID-19.

The call for evidence on music education was launched on 9 February and closed on 13 March, the findings from which will inform the refreshed National Plan for Music Education. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the refresh of the plan is currently on hold but will be published in due course.

The Government has been clear in its intention to keep schools open throughout the COVID-19 outbreak and ensure all pupils get a high-quality education. Schools should undertake a COVID-19 risk assessment by following the advice set out in the Department’s guidance for full opening of schools. The guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools. There may be an additional risk of infection in environments where singing and the playing of wind or brass instruments takes place. The guidance also includes advice on how schools can teach music safely, including on musical equipment. Guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/performing-arts.

The guidance is also clear that the curriculum should remain broad so that the majority of pupils are taught a full range of subjects over the year, including the arts. In Key Stages 4 and 5, the majority of GCSE and A-level students are expected to continue to study their examination subjects, including those who are due to take exams in music, to support them towards their preferred route to further study.

The UK Land Carbon Registry is operated on behalf of the UK and Devolved Governments. It contains information about projects registered under the UK Woodland Carbon Code and the UK Peatland Code, the location of registered projects, and the quantity of carbon units issued to date and expected to be issued in future subject to verification of the carbon savings delivered ( https://www.woodlandcarboncode.org.uk/uk-land-carbon-registry).

Agricultural and planning policies are devolved matters. In England Her Majesty's Land Registry publishes information on all companies (UK and overseas) which own property in England and Wales ( https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry).

The Department for Transport has been engaging regularly, through meetings and working groups, with representatives of the specialist haulage industry that provides logistics services for the creative sectors. The Department continues to explore ways to support the industry as it adapts to the requirements of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19^th January to question number 104377.

I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19^th January to question number 104377.

I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19^th January to question number 104377.

I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19^th January to question number 104377.

The success of the COVID-19 vaccination and booster programme and the availability of antiviral treatments has reduced the risk of severe illness or hospitalisation for the majority of the population. For those unable to mount a full immune response, testing pathways to evidence based effective COVID-19 treatments will be available. We will continue to monitor prevalence and other factors, keeping testing policies under review.

The Department does not hold data in the format requested.

The latest available data shows that as at 30 September 2021, there were 847 full time equivalent doctors in general practice working in the Black Country and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). This CCG was established on 1 April 2021 following the merger of Dudley CCG, Sandwell and West Birmingham CCG, Walsall CCG and Wolverhampton CCG. The data is not held for Walsall South as general practice workforce figures are not collected by constituency.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) ensures that documents forming the basis of the valproate Pregnancy Prevention Programme are available electronically and distributed regularly as hard copies to prescribers and pharmacists to support discussions of the risks of taking sodium valproate during pregnancy with women and girls who require this medicine. Healthcare professionals have been reminded of their responsibility to inform women and girls taking valproate of the risks, through letters from the United Kingdom’s Chief Medical Officers and Chief Pharmaceutical Officers and by articles in the MHRA’s electronic bulletin Drug Safety Update. The conclusions of a safety review by the Commission of Human Medicines of the risks of other epilepsy medicines in pregnancy have recently been published to aid discussions about the most suitable treatment options.

The MHRA is working with the wider healthcare network to explore additional ways of improving the reach of regulatory communications through platforms in the healthcare and patient setting. The MHRA is working to establish a registry to monitor the use of valproate in women and girls and clinician and patient compliance with the current regulatory position.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is working with NHS Digital to develop a registry to monitor the use of valproate and compliance with the current regulatory position, and to monitor any children born to women on valproate. A report detailing the findings from the first stage of the registry, which linked data to provide information on all women currently prescribed valproate in England and any exposed pregnancies, is planned shortly. This will then be extended, including to women in the devolved regions, and further developed to include all women prescribed an antiepileptic drug.

The UK strongly condemns the military coup and the violence against the people of Myanmar. Any decision to declare a foreign diplomat "persona non grata" under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations would need careful consideration in view of the wider implications of such a decision.

Since the military coup in February 2021 the UK has been working to protect the civic space, human rights and media freedom. This includes supporting human rights organisations to gather evidence of human rights violations across Myanmar, including around gender-based violence, as well as emergency funding to help journalists and media organisations continue their work in Myanmar. This year, the UK has provided over £1.5 million on human rights monitoring. This includes establishing Myanmar Witness; a human rights monitoring mechanism which collects and verifies open-source information on serious human rights violations and ensures there is a spotlight on the military's actions.

The UK has been a world leader in ensuring developing countries can access vaccines, through our early support to the COVAX scheme and commitment to donate surplus vaccines. The Prime Minister has been clear that no one is safe until we are all safe.

The UK has fulfilled its pledge to donate 30 million coronavirus vaccine doses by the end of 2021, with 25.4 million of these doses already deployed to countries in need. We are managing our vaccine supply so that all vaccines are either used as quickly as possible in our domestic programme or shared internationally. Decisions on vaccine donations will continue to depend on supply chain reliability, Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advice and the ability of countries to absorb and deploy vaccines.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office currently owns 98 UK missions overseas. The number includes British Embassies, High Commissions, Deputy High Commissions and Consulates. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office publishes a list of locations where there are HMG Overseas Missions that is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-foreign-office-posts.

As of 31 March 2021, 5% of FCDO Heads of Missions, Heads of Posts and Governors declared an ethnicity as Black, Asian or minority ethnic. Further details, including on countries where Heads of Missions, Posts and Governors serve, can be found at https://www.gov.uk/world/organisations.

As part of the FCDO's Inclusion Framework, the Achieving Potential pillar actively supports all staff to achieve their potential. This supports the FCDO's objectives, taking personal action to address barriers faced by groups and individuals and demonstrate all staff are valued for their contributions. The FCDO continues to make progress developing the talent pipeline and supporting participation from under-represented groups in Civil Service Talent Schemes.

The temporary 5p cut to duty on petrol and diesel represents a £2.4 billion tax cut in 2022-23, to help consumers with high fuel prices.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. It would cost over £6 billion to cut VAT on road fuel from 20% to 5%.

The Government keeps all taxes under review.

The government introduced the Advisory Electric Rate (AER) in 2018. It applies to employees who use a fully electric vehicle as a company car.

The Advisory Electric Rate (AER) was changed in December 2021 from 4 pence per mile (ppm) to 5ppm. This was calculated using published consumption rates, adjusted to reflect real driving conditions, and the average cost of electricity.

However, employers are not required to use the AER. Instead, they can use different rates to reflect their employee’s circumstances. Provided they show that the bespoke rates do not result in a profit for the employee, there will be no tax to pay. Otherwise, when employers reimburse employees at a higher rate than the published AER (5ppm), the excess is subject to Income Tax and NICs.

The government keeps this policy under review.

The government has prioritised support for SMEs by cutting business rates by 50% for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, providing a 95% subsidy for apprenticeships, and supporting them to invest and grow by increasing the Annual Investment Allowance to £1 million. The Help to Grow scheme provides eligible SMEs with a 90% subsidy for world class management training and subsidises the cost of new software up to £5,000.

The Spring Statement 2022 went further and cuts the cost of employment for half a million small businesses, by increasing the Employment Allowance from £4,000 to £5,000. This means that from April, 670,000 businesses will not pay NICs and the Health and Social Care Levy. In addition, the main rates of petrol and diesel duty will be cut by 5 pence per litre, the largest cash terms cut that has ever been applied to fuel duty rates at once.

The Government keeps all tax policy under review and regularly receives proposals for sector-specific tax reliefs. When considering a new tax relief, the Government must ensure it supports businesses in a fair way and that taxpayer money is effectively targeted. A tax relief to encourage music production is not currently under consideration.

The Government recognises the impact that the changing path of the virus has had on the self-employed, including those in peripatetic professions, and has taken action to increase the level of support available.

The support given to the self-employed via the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme Grant Extension (SEISS GE) will now be doubled, increasing the amount of profits covered from 20 per cent to 40 per cent. This means the maximum grant available has increased from £1,875 to £3,750. This will provide a further £3.1 billion of support to the self-employed through November to January alone, with a further grant to follow covering February to April. The Government is now providing broadly the same level of support for the self-employed as is being provided to employees through the Job Support Scheme (Open).

For those requiring further assistance, the SEISS continues to be just one element of a comprehensive package of financial support for the self-employed. The Government has temporarily increased the Universal Credit standard allowance for 2020-21 and relaxed the Minimum Income Floor for the duration of the pandemic meaning that where self-employed claimants' earnings have significantly fallen, their Universal Credit award will have increased to reflect their lower earnings. In addition to this, the self-employed also have access to other elements of the package, including Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, and other business support grants.

UKVI are currently facing extremely high pressure globally and this has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

To tackle this the Home Office is pursuing a programme of transformation and business improvement initiatives which will speed up decision making, reduce the time people spend in the system and reduce the numbers who are awaiting an interview or decision. This includes increasing the number of decision makers and providing improved training and career progression opportunities to aid retention of staff.

We are continuing to develop existing and new technology to help build on recent improvements such as digital interviewing and moving away from a paper-based system. We are streamlining and digitalising the case working process to enable more effective workflow, appointment booking and decision-making.

The MP Account Management team (MPAM) is a national team that handle all enquiries received from MPs on both general immigration matters and case specific enquiries.

The MPAM team has 119 staff in several different locations across the UK, one of which is in Solihull. Resources are used flexibly in accordance with enquiry intake levels and staff from each of the regional hubs may respond to enquiries from any MP and not just those exclusive to their region.

There are currently 11 MPAM staff based in Solihull.

We’ve seen over 300 local authorities come forward with commitments to take in displaced Afghans as part of our resettlement plans. We thank those local authorities who are taking their fair share and would encourage others who haven’t yet stepped forward to work with us.

Data on relocation will be published as part of our quarterly release which can be found at this link: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The Home Office publishes quarterly data on grants and refusals of leave to remain (visa extensions) in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’ on GOV.UK:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

The latest published statistics show that 464 people with Afghan Nationality were granted leave to remain in the third quarter (July to September) 2021. Of this, 385 grants were via a Family route.

We are working at pace with local authorities to source appropriate accommodation for Afghan families who were evacuated to the UK. Data on relocation will be published as part of our quarterly release which can be found at this link: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Over 4000 individuals have either moved into a settled home, are in the process of doing so or are being matched.

This Government has a manifesto commitment to protect and enhance the Green Belt. Our National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that most new building is inappropriate in Green Belt and should be refused permission unless in very special circumstances. When considering any planning application affecting Green Belt land, the local authority should ensure that substantial weight is given to any harm to the Green Belt. ‘Very special circumstances’ will not exist unless the potential harm is clearly outweighed by other considerations.

The latest NPPF published in July 2021 expects planning policies and decisions to support transitioning to a low carbon future by requiring renewable/low carbon energy generation and identifying areas for this infrastructure. It is rightly for the individual local authority to assess each case and judge whether an applicant has successfully argued that ‘very special circumstances’ would justify a planning permission in Green Belt.

The Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities has used a range of approaches to determine how funding is distributed through our levelling up funds, depending on the outcomes the department wants to achieve in places.

The Department recently published explanatory notes setting out the assessment and decision-making process for the Levelling Up Fund and the Community Renewal Fund. Information on the selection process for Town Deals is also on gov.uk.

This Government is committed to levelling up, and delivering the economic and social priorities to boost living standards across the UK. As part of this agenda, the following funds have been announced and more information is available on the gov.uk website: £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund, £3.6 billion Towns Fund, £830 million Future High Street Fund, £220 million Community Renewal Fund that will help to shape the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and £150 million Community Ownership Fund.

Walsall will receive up to £42.6 million (£21.3 million Bloxwich, £21.3 million Walsall) as part of the Towns Fund, subject to approval of the full business case, and over £11 million from the Future High Street Fund. The West Midlands Combined Authority, the lead applicant, will receive over £5 million as part of the Community Renewal Fund, with direct and indirect funding benefit Walsall. The Levelling Up Fund is a competitive fund, with funding distributed to places across the UK based on successful project selection. Further detail on how future rounds of the Levelling Up Fund Fund and UKSPF will operate from 2022-23 onward will be set out in due course.

A public inquiry, overseen by an independent Planning Inspector, is scheduled to begin in September. The inquiry will hear the evidence for and against the proposal, and once completed, the Inspector will prepare a report and recommendation for Ministers, based on that evidence. As this application will come before Ministers for decision it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.

A public inquiry, overseen by an independent Planning Inspector, is scheduled to begin in September. The inquiry will hear the evidence for and against the proposal, and once completed, the Inspector will prepare a report and recommendation for Ministers, based on that evidence. As this application will come before Ministers for decision it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.

The number of appeals in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) that have either not had a final hearing or been resolved prior to hearing, as at 31 March 2020, is 17,661, a reduction of 4,475 appeals from the same period in 2019.

Published statistics can be found at:

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2019 and

www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmcts-management-information.

As my Right Hon Friend the Prime Minister set out to the House (https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-02-03/debates/20020316000004/DepartmentForExitingTheEuropeanUnionClosure) the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) closed on 31 January. Those of its functions which are still required have been transferred to relevant government departments. The administration of the closure of DExEU is being carried out by the Cabinet Office.

The Government department responsible for answering written questions will depend on the subject of the question. Questions can be transferred between departments to ensure that they are answered by the relevant department. The Government department responsible for answering oral questions will depend on the subject of the question.

Once the Exiting the European Union Select Committee members are nominated and it is fully constituted, the Committee may wish, in the first instance, to take up any questions it has with the Cabinet Office.

Taskforce Europe is a unit within the Prime Minister’s Office. Parliamentary scrutiny will be exercised in the usual way for the Cabinet Office and the Prime Minister, including through responding to written and oral questions. Questions on specific issues arising from the negotiations with the European Union will be answered by the department or departments most directly responsible; including the Cabinet Office.

As my Right Hon Friend the Prime Minister set out to the House (https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-02-03/debates/20020316000004/DepartmentForExitingTheEuropeanUnionClosure) the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) closed on 31 January. Those of its functions which are still required have been transferred to relevant government departments. The administration of the closure of DExEU is being carried out by the Cabinet Office.

The Government department responsible for answering written questions will depend on the subject of the question. Questions can be transferred between departments to ensure that they are answered by the relevant department. The Government department responsible for answering oral questions will depend on the subject of the question.

Once the Exiting the European Union Select Committee members are nominated and it is fully constituted, the Committee may wish, in the first instance, to take up any questions it has with the Cabinet Office.

As my Right Hon Friend the Prime Minister set out to the House (https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-02-03/debates/20020316000004/DepartmentForExitingTheEuropeanUnionClosure) the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) closed on 31 January. Those of its functions which are still required have been transferred to relevant government departments. The administration of the closure of DExEU is being carried out by the Cabinet Office.

The Government department responsible for answering written questions will depend on the subject of the question. Questions can be transferred between departments to ensure that they are answered by the relevant department. The Government department responsible for answering oral questions will depend on the subject of the question.

Once the Exiting the European Union Select Committee members are nominated and it is fully constituted, the Committee may wish, in the first instance, to take up any questions it has with the Cabinet Office.