Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Office for Statistics's press release entitled New partnership between statistical authorities of the UK and the EU, published on 9 October 2024, what role Ministers had in approving this arrangement; and if he will publish the text of the agreement and any associated documentation.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Article 730 of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) negotiated between the UK and EU in 2021 provides that ‘Eurostat and the United Kingdom Statistics Authority may establish an arrangement that enables cooperation on relevant statistical matters’.
The 2024 Lievesley Review of the UK Statistics Authority included a recommendation to prioritise the establishment and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Eurostat in line with Article 730 of the TCA. The Government’s response, led by then Minister Baroness Neville Rolfe, was to agree and stated that: ‘The Cabinet Office supports these recommendations. Given the UKSA’s international standing there should be a continued emphasis on their role as a thought leader among our international peers.’
Following the July election Cabinet Office Ministers have received progress reports on activity to deliver against this recommendation and welcome the new arrangements that are now in place.
The publication of the text is a matter for the Office for National Statistics, which operates independently as a Non Ministerial Department.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to enact reforms to the House of Lords other than those set out in the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government’s manifesto set out a number of commitments to reform of the House of Lords. The manifesto was clear that, as an immediate reform, it would introduce legislation to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill has now completed its passage through the House of Commons and had its first reading in the House of Lords on 13 November 2024.
This is the first step in reform of the House of Lords and it is right that the Government focuses on completing the passage of this Bill.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Government response of January 2024 to the17th Report of the House of Lords Constitution Select Committee of Session 2022/23 on Permanent Secretaries: their appointments and removal, HL 258, published on 20 October 2023, what progress he has made on updating the Senior Appointments Protocol; and if he will publish the updated Protocol.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Senior Appointment Protocol is being updated and will be published in due course.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a list of the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals' sub-committees.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (known as the HD Committee) has one sub-committee, the Advisory Military Sub-Committee. The terms of reference for this committee can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether non-executive director appointments to HM Revenue and Customs are classified as regulated public appointments.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The bodies and offices that are classified as regulated appointments are listed, by department, in Schedules 1 and 2 of the Public Appointments (No. 2) Order in Council 2023. Appointments to the Board of HM Revenue and Customs, as a non-ministerial department, are not classified as regulated public appointments.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether senior representatives of Tiktok are classified as as senior media executives for the purposes of gov.uk transparency returns by Ministers, special advisers and senior officials.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Guidance on ministers’, special advisers’, and senior officials’ transparency returns is published on GOV.UK and includes details of who would be considered senior media figures for these purposes.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to use 36 Whitehall.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The 36 Whitehall building is not in use and there are no current plans to bring it back into use.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 37 of his Department's publication entitled Transforming public procurement, what progress has been made on readying the Central Digital Platform.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Central Digital Platform is an online system that will be established by the Procurement Act 2023 to improve transparency and efficiency in public procurement.
The Central Digital Platform is currently being developed and will be operational and ready for use when the new procurement regime comes into force on 24 February 2025. Cabinet Office is working with e-procurement systems providers and contracting authorities to ensure their readiness.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) purpose and (b) function is of the 10 Downing Street data science team.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The purpose of 10 Downing Street Data Science Team is to ensure that the best available data and evidence is available for use in government decision making, in particular to advise the Prime Minister, other senior ministers and senior civil servants.
The function of the team is to build predictive models, to assess metrics and to provide advice on the evidence base for policy making; and to track and monitor delivery of government priorities. We use data from government departments, other public sector bodies and open source data.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his planned timetable is for appointing the Head of the National Security Unit for Procurement.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Head of the National Security Unit for Procurement has been appointed.