Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister will chair the National Science and Technology Council; and for what reason that group is no longer a Cabinet subcommittee.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
In October 2022, the National Science and Technology Council was established as an inter-ministerial group responsible for delivering an ambitious UK science and technology strategy and to consider key science and technology issues.
The Cabinet Committee list and membership is decided by the Prime Minister.
GOV.UK is updated regularly with the list of Cabinet Committees, their terms of reference, and membership.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) remit and (b) objectives of the new National Science and Technology Council are.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The National Science and Technology Council was a Cabinet Committee which was established in October 2021 to consider matters relating to strategic advantage through science and technology.
The National Science and Technology Council, established in October 2022, is an Interministerial Group responsible for delivering an ambitious UK science and technology strategy.
The council will allow Ministers to coordinate efforts across government to create the very best conditions for science and technology in the UK as a crucial driver of economic growth, prosperity and security.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how the National Science and Technology Council, announced on 12 October, differs from its predecessor of the same name.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The National Science and Technology Council was a Cabinet Committee which was established in October 2021 to consider matters relating to strategic advantage through science and technology.
The National Science and Technology Council, established in October 2022, is an Interministerial Group responsible for delivering an ambitious UK science and technology strategy.
The council will allow Ministers to coordinate efforts across government to create the very best conditions for science and technology in the UK as a crucial driver of economic growth, prosperity and security.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason a new National Science and Technology Council has been established to replace its predecessor.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
A new National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) has been established with responsibility for delivering an ambitious UK science and technology strategy. The committee will allow Ministers to coordinate efforts across government to create the very best conditions for science and technology in the UK as a crucial driver of economic growth, prosperity and security.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) skills and (b) experience the Government has identified as a priority for the role of Government Chief Scientific Adviser.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
A competition to recruit a new Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) is currently underway. A breadth of skills and experience are essential for the role; not only should the postholder possess a first-class reputation in the scientific field, they should also have excellent policy and analytical skills at the strategic level, and the ability to assimilate, evaluate and interpret scientific findings. In addition, they will need to command the confidence and respect of ministers, senior officials and their peers in the scientific community. They will also need to be an excellent communicator who is able to communicate with a broad range of audiences.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his Department's expected timeframe is for Minister or Department to respond to an hon. Member's email on behalf on a constituent; and what steps his Department is taking to tackle incidences of responses being outstanding for several months.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Cabinet Office attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from MPs and Peers. On 26 May 2022, we published data on the timeliness of government responses to correspondence from MPs and Peers for 2021 on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers-2021. Cabinet Office timeliness improved each quarter of 2021, with 89% of correspondence received from hon. Members in quarter four responded to within 20 working days.
As per the Guide to Handling Correspondence, updated by the Cabinet Office in July 2021, the target response time set by Departments for correspondence must not exceed 20 working days. The Cabinet Office continues to keep its own processes under review to further improve the time taken to respond.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to his oral contribution of 15 June 2022, Official Report, col 281, that in the first five months of this year this country has attracted £16 billion of investment in its tech sector, helped by the 130 per cent super deduction for business investment from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) the evidential basis is for his remarks, (b) the sources are for the figures cited and (c) proportion of the £16 billion was eligible for the super deduction.
Answered by Boris Johnson
I refer the Hon. Member to the Official Report, 6 July 2022, col. 11MC.
The source was the Dealroom Tech Health Check which is available at https://dealroom.co/blog/uk-tech-health-check-london-tech-week-2022.
This Government has been creating the right tax environment to promote investment and innovation. That is why we introduced the 130% super-deduction for capital investment and increased the Annual Investment Allowance from £200,000 to £1 million. We also have specific tax reliefs aimed at encouraging Venture Capital and early-stage investment, such as the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to his oral contribution of 22 June 2022, Official Report, col 840, that there is record venture capital investment in this country, which has now overtaken China as a venue for venture capital investment, what (a) data and (b) sources he is citing.
Answered by Boris Johnson
I refer the Hon. Member to the Official Report, 6 July 2022, col. 11MC.
The source was the Dealroom Tech Health Check which is available at https://dealroom.co/blog/uk-tech-health-check-london-tech-week-2022.
This Government has been creating the right tax environment to promote investment and innovation. That is why we introduced the 130% super-deduction for capital investment and increased the Annual Investment Allowance from £200,000 to £1 million. We also have specific tax reliefs aimed at encouraging Venture Capital and early-stage investment, such as the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed reduction of civil servants on employment in the North East.
Answered by Jacob Rees-Mogg
The Prime Minister has told Secretaries of State and Permanent Secretaries to work together on producing a plan for returning the Civil Service workforce numbers to 2016 levels over the next three years. This work will be overseen by the Efficiency and Value for Money Cabinet Committee.
Places for Growth is contributing towards the Declaration on Government Reform and the Levelling Up priority by increasing the geographic spread of Civil Servants across the UK, increasing opportunities for people from a wider range of places, including establishing the Darlington Economic Campus where more than 110 HM Treasury staff are now in post. As the Levelling Up White Paper set out, departments have committed to moving more than 15,000 Civil Service roles out of Greater London by 2025, and 22,000 by 2030.
Secretaries of State will lead the drive for reductions within their departments and the Civil Service organisations for which they have responsibility. Planning is underway, with departments considering opportunities and the potential impacts that need to be mitigated. As plans are still in development, no decisions have yet been made.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the level of risk to UK citizens' data where that data is hosted on public cloud providers; and steps his Department takes to protect UK citizens' data on public cloud providers.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
It is the responsibility of every government department, including the Cabinet Office, to make a risk-based assessment of their use of cloud providers for the storage of government data up to “OFFICIAL” level, including UK citizens’ data. When considering a commercial provider, departments should take into account the cloud security principles developed by the National Cyber Security Centre (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/implementing-cloud-security-principles).
The Cabinet Office carries out this risk assessment for each service it delivers to ensure that appropriate controls are in place to protect citizen data.
Departments are required to follow the Technology Code of Practice when choosing a cloud provider, and this is assessed as part of the spend controls function. Departments must show that they have chosen the technology which provides the best value for money while meeting user needs. The Central Digital & Data Office carries out ongoing engagement with departments to review their decision-making about hosting. This includes qualitative analysis through user research as well as spend controls.