Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Joint Election Security and Preparedness Unit still exists; and if so, when it last held a meeting.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Joint Election Security and Preparedness Unit (JESP) remains active and continues to convene regular cross-government meetings. These meetings are attended by representatives from government departments, relevant technical authorities, the UK intelligence community, devolved administrations, the police, and the Electoral Commission.
At present there are no plans to introduce a Canadian-style ’critical election incident protocol’ given the processes that are already in place. When an election is called, the JESP Unit stands up an Election Cell to monitor and respond to emerging issues, including information incidents. Protecting our democracy is a priority for this Government and following the 2024 general election the JESP Unit will continue to strengthen resilience ahead of future electoral events.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to consider introducing a Canadian-style 'critical election incident public protocol' for the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Joint Election Security and Preparedness Unit (JESP) remains active and continues to convene regular cross-government meetings. These meetings are attended by representatives from government departments, relevant technical authorities, the UK intelligence community, devolved administrations, the police, and the Electoral Commission.
At present there are no plans to introduce a Canadian-style ’critical election incident protocol’ given the processes that are already in place. When an election is called, the JESP Unit stands up an Election Cell to monitor and respond to emerging issues, including information incidents. Protecting our democracy is a priority for this Government and following the 2024 general election the JESP Unit will continue to strengthen resilience ahead of future electoral events.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government who attends meetings of the Joint Election Security and Preparedness Unit.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Joint Election Security and Preparedness Unit (JESP) remains active and continues to convene regular cross-government meetings. These meetings are attended by representatives from government departments, relevant technical authorities, the UK intelligence community, devolved administrations, the police, and the Electoral Commission.
At present there are no plans to introduce a Canadian-style ’critical election incident protocol’ given the processes that are already in place. When an election is called, the JESP Unit stands up an Election Cell to monitor and respond to emerging issues, including information incidents. Protecting our democracy is a priority for this Government and following the 2024 general election the JESP Unit will continue to strengthen resilience ahead of future electoral events.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many times the Defending Democracy Taskforce has met since it was established in 2022.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Defending Democracy Taskforce has met 19 times since it was convened in November 2022 (inclusive).
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the Defending Democracy Taskforce (1) has protected, and (2) continues to protect, UK political parties.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Defending Democracy Taskforce is an enduring Government function which seeks to reduce the risk to the UK's democratic processes, institutions and society. This includes supporting political parties and others participating in our political processes.
This work includes:
· Ahead of the last General Election, the Joint Election Preparedness Unit provided political parties with security advice and guidance, including on protective and information security which was made available on gov.uk. This guidance was jointly developed drawing on expertise from across the Government security community including the National Protective Security Authority and the National Cyber Security Centre.
· More broadly, the National Cyber Security Centre invests a significant amount of resources into defending the UK's democratic processes and improving the UK's cyber resilience, from attributing malicious cyber activity conducted by nation states through to providing bespoke advice and guidance to political parties and elected representatives.
· Protective Security advice and guidance have been provided to all MPs by the House, the police, and the Parliamentary Security Department.
The Taskforce will take every possible step to safeguard the people, processes, and institutions - including political parties - upon which our democracy relies.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support UK political parties have received through the Defending Democracy Taskforce.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Since the Taskforce was established in November 2022 it has driven forward work to ensure the UK's democratic institutions and processes are safe and secure from threats to democracy. Supporting political parties is a key part of this.
This work includes:
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government who attends the meetings of the Defending Democracy Taskforce.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Taskforce is made up of Government departments, ministers, operational leaders, and senior officials and brings together HMG's work on defending democracy to ensure we take a whole-of-Government response to the threats we face.
Ministerial members are:
· Minister of Security - The Home Office
· Parliamentary Secretary - The Cabinet Office
· Minister for the Future Digital Economy and Online Safety - Department for Science Innovation & Technology
· Minister for Skills - Department for Education
· Minister for Media and Data - Department for Culture Media and Sport
· Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories - Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Minister for Homelessness and Democracy - Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the budget for the Defending Democracy Taskforce.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Taskforce, chaired by the Security Minister, brings Government Ministers together with operational partners so that we take a whole-of-Government response to the threats we face.
The Taskforce, coordinated by a small dedicated Secretariat, draws on expertise and skills from across Government departments. The resources for the Taskforce's work, as well as related costs, are based in member departments. Each department is responsible for delivery of their respective policy issues.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the Defending Democracy Taskforce last met.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Defending Democracy Taskforce has met twice since the general election - on 25 July and 27 November 2024. It has reflected on last year's elections and is now taking forward a programme of work to ensure lessons are learned.
This includes work to tackle the unacceptable instances of harassment and intimidation of our elected representatives.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what research they are undertaking on the long-term effects of deep-sea mining.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In 2022 the UK government commissioned an independent deep sea mining evidence review conducted by the British Geological Survey, National Oceanography Centre and Heriot Watt University and it was published in October 2022.
The government, through UK Research and Innovation and National Environment Research Council, (UKRI-NERC) is also funding the 5-year SMARTEX (Seabed Mining and Resilience to Experimental Impact) project which aims to build a better understanding of the ecosystem in the Pacific abyss and add to the scientific evidence base for informed decision-making by understanding the long-term environmental impacts of mining and whether this will have serious consequences for the ecosystem.