Lord Marlesford

For security reasons, the Houses do not publish capital expenditure on security mitigating projects as providing this level of detail could enable an individual to infer the extent and nature of the works, and thus the vulnerabilities which they were intended to mitigate.

The Daily Allowance rate was introduced on 1 October 2010 at £300 per day. Retail Price Index (RPI) figures for October 2024 are expected to be released by the Office for National Statistics on 20 November 2024. It is therefore not yet possible to calculate a figure for the Daily Allowance adjusted for inflation by RPI for the month of October 2024.

Based on September 2024 RPI figures, if the Daily Allowance rate had been adjusted annually for inflation, it would be £515 oer day from 1 September 2024.

The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf. The Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS) were made aware of a potential issue affecting Polycom telephone handsets, used with the Microsoft telephone service (MS Teams) on Friday 12th April 2024. Following a thorough investigation, a root cause was identified and resolved on Tuesday 16th April 2024. Restoration of service following a major telephony incident depends on third parties. The Voice Programme is upgrading and replacing the existing telephony infrastructure with a streamlined and less complex support arrangement. PDS are expecting to rollout the service over the summer 2024.

The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf. In 2016, a procurement process was completed adhering to EU procurement regulations (OJEU) for a unified communications solution to replace the previous telephone system which was end of life and could no longer be supported or maintained. This restricted OJEU process was open to all vendors. Siemens (Unify) made an initial application but were not taken through to stage two of the process to tender.

The cost of the Skype for Business Programme, which included key steps in Parliament’s transition from a copper wire telephone system to Voice over Internet Protocol, was £8.3 million and included the cost of the Polycom handsets currently in use. Implementation of the Polycom handsets began in November 2017.

The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf. The Voice Programme has been set up to address service quality and user experience priorities regarding telephony in Parliament. The programme’s high-level benefits include increasing business resilience and value for money and improving customer experience across telephony services. The programme is upgrading and replacing the existing telephony infrastructure (a combination of on premise MS Teams and Skype for Business) and has completed procurement of a unified communications service, to be implemented later this year, that will deliver resilient telephony. Initially, the new service is expected- to re-utilise the existing Polycom telephone handsets, however, replacement telephone handsets will be introduced as part of product lifecycle replacement.

The House of Lords Services Committee, the House of Commons Administration Committee and the Business Resilience Board are being consulted on implementation plans for the new service.

The Investment Committee and Accounting Officers have approved a business case for the Voice Programme which has an approved whole life cost of £6.37m. These costs cover implementation, programme resources, licences, and support costs until FY28/29.

All Civil Service recruitment is subject to the Baseline Personnel Security Standard. The Government Baseline Personnel Security Standard check is not a formal security clearance but is a recognised standard for pre-employment screening. These checks ensure departments comply with current legislation (e.g. Right to Work in the UK) and are essential to assure the integrity of our organisation and the safety of staff and individuals.

Once a job offer is made a Basic Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check is undertaken. The certificate will contain details of convictions and conditional cautions that are considered to be unspent under the terms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

If the DBS check is returned with a positive marker (an unspent convention in a basic check, any conviction in a standard check), the vacancy holder/department undertakes a risk assessment to decide whether to make a final offer.

Information on all Special Advisers, including names and pay bands, is published annually in the Annual Report on Special Advisers, as required by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.

The latest iteration of the report is scheduled to be published in the Summer.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician

Lord Marlesford

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

4 November 2021

Dear Lord Marlesford,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what percentage of those who died with COVID-19 in each of the last 20 weeks had received no vaccination against the disease (HL3492).

The data requested is provided, for England, in Table 1, using the most recent data we have available. Information on vaccination status is not included on the death certificate. It is obtained by linkage to the vaccination data from the National immunisation Management Service (NIMS) produced by NHS-E. While the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are responsible for the production of mortality data for England and Wales, we do not hold similar data for Wales. National Records Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for statistics pertaining to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Please note that the numbers of deaths of unvaccinated persons will depend on the changing number of people who are unvaccinated and the changing characteristics of unvaccinated people, which vary due to the selective vaccination roll-out and differences in uptake.

To compare the risk of death in unvaccinated and fully vaccinated individuals, we advise using the age-standardised mortality rates (ASMRs) for deaths involving COVID-19 for unvaccinated persons and for other vaccination statuses in our publication “Deaths involving COVID-19 by vaccination status, England: deaths occurring between 2 January and 24 September 2021” [1]. These take into account the changing size and age structure of the populations with different vaccination status. This data is for England only and covers approximately 86% of all deaths.These ASMRs show that the risk of death involving COVID-19 is much lower in fully vaccinated than in unvaccinated people.

Please note, other factors such as the health of the people who are unvaccinated may differ from the vaccinated population and change over time, which will affect the age-standardised mortality rates.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsinvolvingcovid19byvaccinationstatusengland/latest

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician

The Lord Marlesford DL
House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

03 March 2021

Dear Lord Marlesford,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of the first 100,000 people to die as a result of COVID-19 died in (1) England, (2) Scotland, (3) Wales, and (4) Northern Ireland; how many of those died (a) in hospital, (b) in care homes, and (c) elsewhere; and how many of those were (i) over 80 years old, (ii) over 70 years old, (iii) under 50 years old, (iv) BAME, (v) male, and (vi) female (HL13602).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes statistics on deaths in England and Wales and produces a weekly report[1] on provisional numbers of deaths involving COVID-19. Mortality statistics are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration. National Records for Scotland[2] and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency[3] are responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

We cannot precisely organise deaths involving COVID-19 into the ‘first 100,000’ at this time. However, we have provided figures for deaths registered up to the end of Week 2 of 2021 (ending 15 January 2021) which is when deaths involving COVID-19 first passed 100,000 in total.

Table 1 below provides the number of deaths involving COVID-19 in the UK, and the proportion of these in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Table 2 provides the number of deaths involving COVID-19 by place of death in each UK country. Table 3 provides the number of deaths involving COVID by age group and sex. Please note that the UK totals in Table 3 are slightly different from Tables 1 and 2, as published data by age group and sex are only available for England and Wales combined (including non-residents) rather than England and Wales as individual countries.

The ONS has published a report on ethnic contrasts in deaths involving COVID-19 in England and Wales[4]. Table 4 shows the number of deaths involving COVID-19 in England and Wales; data have been published for deaths that occurred (rather than were registered) between 2 March 2020 and 28 July 2020. Please note this data includes only deaths that could be linked to the 2011 Census, as this was necessary to obtain ethnic group data. Because the method of calculation is different, the numbers do not relate directly to those in Tables 1 to 3.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Table 1: Number and proportion of deaths involving COVID-19, weeks ending 13 March 2020 to 15 January 2021, England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland [5][6][7][8][9]

Source: ONS, NRS, and NISRA

Table 2: Number of deaths involving COVID-19, weeks ending 13 March 2020 to 15 January 2021 by place of occurrence, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland [10][11]

Source: ONS, NRS and NISRA

Table 3: Number of deaths involving COVID-19, weeks ending 13 March 2020 to 15 January 2021, by broad age group and sex, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Source: ONS, NRS and NISRA

Table 4: Number of deaths involving COVID-19 by ethnic group and sex, deaths occurring 2 March 2020 to 28 July 2020, England and Wales[12][13]

Source: ONS

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/latest

[2]https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/

[3]https://www.nisra.gov.uk/

[4]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/updatingethniccontrastsindeathsinvolvingthecoronaviruscovid19englandandwales/deathsoccurring2marchto28july2020

[5] Weeks for Scotland run Monday to Sunday rather than Saturday to Friday, so Week 2 of 2021 is week ending 11th January 2021 rather than week ending 15 January 2021

[6] Figures for individual countries exclude deaths of non-residents. Figures for “England and Wales” totals include non-residents of England and Wales; for this reason, UK totals in Table 3 differ from Tables 1 and 2.

[7] Data in Tables 1, 3 and 3 are based on date a death was registered rather than occurred. Data in Table 4 are based on the date a death occurred, registered up to 24 August 2020. There is a delay between a death occurring and it being registered

[8] All figures for 2020 and 2021 are provisional.

[9] The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition (ICD-10) definitions are as follows: coronavirus (COVID-19) (U07.1 and U07.2). We use the term “involving COVID-19” when referring to deaths that mentioned these ICD-10 codes anywhere on the death certificate, whether as the underlying cause of death or elsewhere.

[10] Deaths at home are those at the usual residence of the deceased (according to the informant)‚ where this is not a communal establishment. Other Communal Establishments include (for example) prisons, student residences, and hotels. Elsewhere includes all places not covered above.

[11] "Other" includes deaths in communal establishments other than hospitals and care homes, in hospices, and that occurred "elsewhere".

[12]Data in Table 4 includes only death records that could be linked to the 2011 Census, to obtain ethnic group data.

[13]The detailed composition of each ethnic group is available to download: https://www.ons.gov.uk/download/table?format=xlsx&uri=/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/updatingethniccontrastsindeathsinvolvingthecoronaviruscovid19englandandwales/deathsoccurring2marchto28july2020/22f0c996.json

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

Dear Lord Marlesford,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking, further to the Written Answer by Lord True on 28 May (HL4424), about the total number of deaths from COVID-19 in the UK in each week since 1 May (HL7234).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing numbers of deaths registered in England and Wales. The most recent annual figures published are for deaths registered in 2019[1]. However, we do publish provisional weekly deaths registrations, which are currently available for deaths registered up to 10 July 2020[2]. National Records Scotland (NRS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for publishing the number of deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition (ICD-10). Deaths involving COVID-19, as either a contributory or underlying cause of death, are identified by the ICD-10 codes U07.1 and U07.2.

The accompanying dataset² to our provisional weekly deaths bulletin includes UK data on deaths involving COVID-19, which refer to deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate.

Table 1 shows the provisional number of deaths involving COVID-19 registered each week in the UK from the week ending 8 May up to the week ending 10 July 2020, broken down by country.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Table 1: Number of deaths involving COVID-19 registered each week in the UK, week ending 8 May up to the week ending 10 July 2020[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/deathsregisteredinenglandandwalesseriesdrreferencetables

[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/weeklyprovisionalfiguresondeathsregisteredinenglandandwales

[3]Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes U07.1, U07.2

[4]Figures are based on deaths registered up to 1 May 2020

[5]All figures for 2020 are provisional

[6]Weekly deaths for Scotland are produced by NRS: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/covid19stats

[7]Weekly deaths for Northern Ireland are produced by NISRA: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/covid19stats

[8]England, Wales and Northern Ireland weekly deaths run from Saturday to Friday, Scotland deaths run from Monday to Sunday

[9]Northern Ireland week allocation differs from other countries. For example, week 1 is week ending 10-Jan. This has been adjusted for the purpose of aggregating the data

In 2016, the Government negotiated the Contract for Difference for Hinkley Point C which fixes the cost of electricity provided by Hinkley Point C. There is no cost to the consumer until Hinkley Point C starts to produce electricity. The strike price is £92.50 per Megawatt-hour. The household bill impact depends on a variety of factors such as the future electricity generation mix, wholesale gas price, wholesale electricity price and decarbonisation pathway.

The Government is a co-shareholder in the Sizewell C project company with EDF. The Government has committed to invest c.£1.2bn in Sizewell C’s development. The project has been designated to benefit from the new Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model for nuclear, which will entail a levy on all licensed electricity suppliers in Great Britain; suppliers may choose to pass those costs to their consumers. The RAB model will include incentives on cost and schedule control, with the exact details finalised at the project’s Final Investment Decision.

The capital costs for Sizewell C are commercially sensitive, and subject to ongoing development and a live equity raise. We are therefore unable to discuss this further at this time.

In 2016, the Government negotiated the Contract for Difference for Hinkley Point C which fixes the cost of electricity provided by Hinkley Point C. There is no cost to the consumer until Hinkley Point C starts to produce electricity. The strike price is £92.50 per Megawatt-hour. The household bill impact depends on a variety of factors such as the future electricity generation mix, wholesale gas price, wholesale electricity price and decarbonisation pathway.

The Government is a co-shareholder in the Sizewell C project company with EDF. The Government has committed to invest c.£1.2bn in Sizewell C’s development. The project has been designated to benefit from the new Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model for nuclear, which will entail a levy on all licensed electricity suppliers in Great Britain; suppliers may choose to pass those costs to their consumers. The RAB model will include incentives on cost and schedule control, with the exact details finalised at the project’s Final Investment Decision.

The capital costs for Sizewell C are commercially sensitive, and subject to ongoing development and a live equity raise. We are therefore unable to discuss this further at this time.

The Secretary of State granted development consent for the Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station on July 20^th 2022, after thorough consideration of all relevant information.

Commercial negotiations on the project are strictly separate from consideration of the application for development consent. To date these negotiations have been constructive, but are ongoing and no decisions have been made.

The decision on the application for development consent for Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station was announced on 20 July 2022. The then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Paul Scully took the decision on behalf of the Secretary of State who had confirmed that his delegation of the decision-making powers to Minister Scully in respect of the Sizewell C application should continue, notwithstanding Minister Scully’s move to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

The Government does not hold information on the area of land in England used for solar installations.

Further information is available on GOV.UK.

The Government has been holding constructive negotiations with the developer of Sizewell C since January, CGN has a stake in the project up to the point of Final Investment Decision (FID), however no decisions on the project have been taken, including the potential final configuration of investors. The Government has committed to bring at least one large-scale nuclear project to the point of FID by the end of this Parliament and have entered negotiations with Sizewell C on that basis. Any investment in nuclear projects is subject to thorough scrutiny and needs to satisfy our robust legal, regulatory and national security requirements.

As we stated in our response to the consultation on a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) for nuclear published on 14^th December 2020, we believe that a RAB is a credible model for funding nuclear projects, as it should reduce the cost of finance and thereby reduce consumer bills.

We are also considering whether a RAB model could be applied to other low carbon technologies, including transport and storage infrastructure for carbon dioxide (outlined in the government’s response to the carbon capture, usage and storage business models consultation).

We have always been clear that any new nuclear project must provide value for money for consumers and taxpayers.

Currently no decisions have been taken concerning Government financing of the Sizewell C nuclear power project, ahead of the final investment decision.

The Government continues to explore the use of a Regulated Asset Base model for new nuclear projects and believes that this could be a viable means by which to finance new projects. Decisions on how the model would be applied to new projects have yet to be taken and would be subject to value for money and all relevant approvals.

BEIS officials are engaged regularly with representatives from both EDF Energy and the Office for Nuclear Regulation (the ONR) on a wide range of matters relating to nuclear reactors.