Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the cost of the application for judicial review of the UK covid-19 inquiry.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
We do not yet have a figure for the costs incurred. We brought this judicial review to seek clarification on a point of law and we are pleased that the Court agreed that there was an important legal question to consider.
It acknowledged our concerns over respecting the privacy of individuals and ensuring that completely irrelevant information is returned and not retained.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to monitor departments' performance against the Cabinet Office consultation principles, updated in March 2018.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The consultation principles are high level guidance to help departments manage their consultations. The Cabinet Office provides advice to departments on these principles on request. Individual departments are legally responsible for the consultations they run, and will determine how to practically apply the principles to each of their consultations.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of whether goods produced by the slave labour of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang are present in Government procurement contracts.
Answered by Jacob Rees-Mogg
HM Government is committed to preventing modern slavery occurring in public sector supply chains. The Cabinet Office has published commercial policy and guidance setting out the steps that all Government departments must take to identify and mitigate modern slavery and labour abuse risks throughout the commercial life cycle - focusing on the areas of highest risk. This policy is mandatory for all Central Government Departments, their Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies.
The Government has taken a number of measures to help ensure that no British organisations are profiting from or contributing to human rights violations against the Uyghurs or other minorities. We have introduced new guidance for UK businesses on the risks of conducting business in Xinjiang, implemented enhanced export controls, and committed to introducing new procurement guidance for Government bodies as well as financial penalties for non-compliance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act.
The Procurement Bill, which was recently introduced to Parliament, will strengthen the approach to exclude suppliers from bidding for public contracts where there is clear evidence of their involvement in forced labour or other Modern Slavery practices.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2021 to Question 11654, when he plans to the announce the (a) membership and (b) terms of reference of the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration.
Answered by Michael Ellis
While the Government's immediate focus is on protecting lives and livelihoods, the Government fully recognises the need to mourn those who have died and how this period in our history should be remembered and commemorated.
The Government will set out the membership and terms of reference of the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration in due course.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, what proportion of correspondence sent to him by hon. Members received a substantive response within the service standard in each month of (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.
Answered by Boris Johnson
This information is not centrally collated in the form requested. Where a Hon. Member writes to me about a matter that is directly the responsibility of another Department, it has been the long-standing practice of successive administrations for that matter to be passed to that Department for a substantive reply, on my behalf.
This means that the data on such response times will be included in that Department’s broader figures.
Further information on departmental performance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the timetable is for publishing his Department's response to the consultation on the expansion of the National Fraud Initiative data matching powers.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Over the 12 week consultation period, a high volume of responses were received and are currently being analysed. A statement will be published on GOV.UK in due course with further details, including the anticipated timetable.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his timetable is for announcing the (a) membership and (b) terms of reference of the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
While the Government's immediate focus is on protecting the lives and livelihoods of the nation, there is nonetheless the need to mourn those who have died, and to mark and remember this period as one of immense struggle.
The Prime Minister announced on 12 May that the Government will establish a UK Commission on COVID Commemoration to consider the appropriate way to remember those who have lost their lives and to recognise those involved in the unprecedented response. The Government will set out the Commission membership and terms of reference in due course.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to Answer of 27 May 2021 to Question 6457 on Department of Work and Pensions: Correspondence, when data on the timeliness of responses to hon. Members from Government departments and agencies will be made available to hon. Members.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Further to the answer to PQ6450 on 27 May 2021, we expect this data to be released and made available to members ahead of Parliament rising for Summer recess.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of correspondence sent by hon. Members to his Department received a substantive response within the service standard in each month of (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government recognises the great importance of the effective and timely handling of correspondence.
The Cabinet Office is currently compiling data on the timeliness of responses to Hon. and Rt Hon. members from Government Departments and Agencies. This data will be released, and made available to Members, in due course.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of correspondence sent by hon. Members to the Prime Minister's office received a substantive response within the service standard in each month of (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government recognises the great importance of the effective and timely handling of correspondence.
The Cabinet Office is currently compiling data on the timeliness of responses to Hon. and Rt Hon. members from Government Departments and Agencies. This data will be released, and made available to Members, in due course.