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Written Question
Special Forces: Afghanistan and Iraq
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2024 to Question 18400 on Special Forces: Afghanistan and Iraq, what the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs' planned timetable is for concluding his review.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Minister for Veterans' Affairs' will await the findings of the Inquiry before assessing the record.


Written Question
Blood: Contamination
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the oral contribution by the Leader of the House at Business Questions on 7 March 2024, Official Report, column 974, how (a) individual people and (b) organisations can register to meet him during his tour on the infected blood scandal.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

I am committed to engaging with the Infected Blood community and updating Parliament on progress of the Government response to the Infected Blood Inquiry as appropriate. Plans are currently being developed at my request to meet those infected and affected by Infected Blood across the United Kingdom to talk about their priorities ahead of the publication of the Inquiry’s final report. Further information on this will be shared soon.


Written Question
Blood: Contamination
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the oral contribution by the Leader of the House at Business Questions on 7 March 2024, Official Report, column 974, where he plans to visit as part of his tour on the infected blood scandal; and when he will be undertaking this tour.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

I am committed to engaging with the Infected Blood community and updating Parliament on progress of the Government response to the Infected Blood Inquiry as appropriate. Plans are currently being developed at my request to meet those infected and affected by Infected Blood across the United Kingdom to talk about their priorities ahead of the publication of the Inquiry’s final report. Further information on this will be shared soon.


Written Question
Civil Servants: Remote Working
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants have conditions of employment which impose (a) no and (b) a four day limit on the number of days each week that they can work from home; and whether he has made a comparative assessment of the productivity of those who work from home for four days or more each week and those who do not.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

There is no information available centrally on how many civil servants have conditions of employment that impose no, and a four day limit on the number of days each week they can work from home. Decisions on terms and conditions of employment are made by the employing department, depending on their specific business requirements and nature of the role. Where business requirements allow for it, departments will operate flexible working arrangements.

Civil servants are expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in the office with decisions on implementing and evaluating this expectation made by departments. A small number of home working contracts are in place but these are not routinely approved other than for a very small number of roles, or where a workplace adjustment is agreed for conditions recognised under the Equality Act. Equally, there are also employees who work only from the workplace, due to the nature of their roles, or through personal choice.

There have been no specific central comparative assessments within the civil service of productivity of those who work from home for four days or more each week. It is recognised within departments that there are clear benefits of face-to-face working, including productivity, with complex tasks and problem solving undertaken more efficiently.


Written Question
Defence: Nuclear Weapons
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps he has taken to (a) assess and (b) enhance preparedness in response to nuclear threats.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The United Kingdom has well-developed contingency plans to respond to a wide range of eventualities. The plans and supporting arrangements have been developed, refined and tested over many years.

The scale of these capabilities is driven by classified planning assumptions derived from the United Kingdom’s National Security Risk Assessment. The Government sets out some of the main risks and emergencies that drive this common consequence planning in the National Risk Register.

As part of the UK’s broad emergency response capabilities, there are Local Resilience Forums (LRFs), multi-agency partnerships made up of representatives from local public services such as the NHS, local authorities, emergency services, and others.


Written Question
Civil Servants: Training
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether materials used in civil service diversity, equity, and inclusion training make reference to white privilege.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The cross Civil Service diversity, equity and inclusion training designed for the Civil Service does not make reference to white privilege. We cannot comment on content not designed for the Civil Service or training designed for departments and professions to meet specific needs or that which is purchased outside of the centrally managed contracts.


Written Question
European Court of Human Rights
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to the oral answer to the hon. Member for Glasgow North of 13 March 2024, for what reasons he considers the European Court of Human Rights to be a foreign court.

Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union

Because it is based in Strasbourg.


Written Question
Public Sector: Artificial Intelligence
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Merron (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence, in its work to improve lives and the delivery of public services, will consider the needs of people with facial palsy, as they may lack the full range of facial expressions.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The incubator for Artificial Intelligence focuses primarily on early stage piloting of AI based productivity improvements. We do not currently have any work in the pipeline that involves facial recognition, but we recognise the need for government services to be fully inclusive.

All Government Departments are required by our Service Standard to provide support via alternative channels for all their online services that are available to citizens. Our Roadmap for Digital and Data focuses on enabling the confident and responsible use of AI to improve efficiency and services including accessibility requirements.


Written Question
Civil Servants: Veterans
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2024 to Question 15551 on Civil Servants: Veterans, how many minority ethnic veterans were employed through the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative in the last 12 months.

Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)

This Government is committed to making sure that all veterans have equal opportunities and can access valuable, sustainable careers, including in the Civil Service, after they leave the Armed Forces.

There are a range of Civil Service recruitment initiatives for veterans, offering a fulfilling career in public service which makes the most of the skills and capability they have to offer. Over 1,000 veterans to date have secured a job in the Civil Service through the ‘Great Place to Work for Veterans’ initiative and a further 200 veterans have been recruited through the 'Going Forward Into Employment' initiative.

Whilst a breakdown of demographics of veterans who apply to Civil Service roles is not currently available, the Office for Veterans’ Affairs is committed to enhancing the collection, use and analysis of data across the public, private and charitable sectors to build our evidence base to effectively identify and address the needs of veterans


Written Question
Vetting
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the factors contributing to the average waiting time for Developed Vetting clearances; and what steps his Department is taking to help tackle these factors.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The National Audit Office (NAO) investigation into the performance of UK Security Vetting published in January 2023 and the subsequent Public Accounts Committee in February 2023 identified that United Kingdom Security Vetting’s (UKSV) performance was affected by a range of issues including rising customer demand. The demand increased as the employment landscape grew following national lockdowns. Societal pressures and wider events (including conflict in Ukraine) also added to the demand impact.

In 2023, UKSV implemented a stabilisation programme which included an increase in headcount. Under Ministerial direction, UKSV prioritised the recovery of initial Developed Vetting turnaround times, followed by Security Check and Counter Terrorist Check turnaround times. These first two targets were met on time and are now being processed within agreed timescales with a focus on supporting recruitment. UKSV is currently focussing efforts to maintain the performance of these and is making good progress to meet the third target to recover the turnaround times of Developed Vetting review cases.

Departments and relevant Ministers receive regular updates on UKSV’s performance through governance boards and from the UKSV Customer Management Team. Sponsored individuals undergoing a clearance application are able to obtain updates relevant to their own application from the UKSV helpdesk.

The security of our people, assets and information is a Government priority. UKSV are working with departments to better forecast demand and working on both efficiency and technology solutions to maintain long term stability. Furthermore, there is a clear and robust policy in place to support departments in ensuring their employees and contractors are security cleared to the appropriate level based on the information they need to access for their role.

Though often concurrent, National Security Vetting (NSV) is distinct from recruitment processes and only required in some roles.

In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.